Pakistan's democratic leadership has remained cognisant of and fully alert to the dangers that extremist terror has been posing to Pakistan and the rest of the world for more than a decade now. While resolving to restore a democratic dispensation in the country, the leadership put a premium on tackling the scourge of extremism and terrorism once the People's Government took charge of Pakistan's destiny.
Fired by this resolve and undeterred by a direct threat to her own life, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007 to complete her democratic mission. On December 27, 2007, she became the greatest martyr of a war that she had declared openly on forces of extremism that are terrorising the State and the people of Pakistan.
The martyrdom of Pakistan's democratic leader, however, could not stop the grand march of history in the country that finally heralded a new dawn of democracy when the PPP and its allies won the February 2008 general elections and formed a PPP-led coalition government.
The People's Government wasted no time in prioritising the most urgent matters of governance and nation-building. Of these, fighting back an increasing incidence of militancy and terrorism Ð particularly in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Swat and Malakand Divisions -- and ridding Pakistan of this menace became the People's Government's top priority, and for the right reasons.
"The war against terrorism is our own war because countless of our innocent children and jawans have fallen martyrs as a result of it, said Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in his first speech on the floor of the Parliament after his unanimous election to office.
Backed and further encouraged by a series of successive shows of national unity on the issue. The Government launched on May 8, 2009 military Operation Rah-e-Rast (The True Path) to rid Swat and Malakand Divisions of terrorists and restore law and order to the region.
The People's Government had pursued a policy of dialogue before using force against terrorists in this region. In accordance with the demand of the people of Swat, the Government had held talks and enforced NAR 2009. But when terrorists flouted the law of the land, abused NAR, terrorised the local people, and challenged the writ of the State through arms, the Government took a decisive action against them.
'In Pakistan today, democracy must succeed, wrote President Asif Ali Zardari in The Washington Post, calling upon the international community to provide urgent assistance to Pakistan in its fight against terrorism. 'The forces of extremism must be vanquished. Failure is not an option; not for us, not for the world. In the battle against international terrorism, we are in the trenches for ourselves but also for the world.
"Terrorism was born in the bowels of dictatorship, which recruited, trained, armed and financed extreme factions while marginalizing the moderate, democratic and pluralistic forces. History teaches us that democracies do not wage war with each other, nor do democracies promote international terrorism.
The PPP will dismantle militant groups who seek to take hostage the foreign policy of the country and impose their writ through force on the tribal areas of Pakistan and elsewhere. Distinctions between and amongst terrorist groups will no longer be maintained. Pakistan Peoples Party Manifesto, 2008
Comments
Comments are closed.