‘Endangered’ Pak must neutralise plethora of militant outfits on its own volition: Editorial

ISLAMABAD - As the US continues to pile up pressure on Pakistan to act against terror groups based in country’s semi-autonomous tribal areas following officials claiming to have established links between Faisal Shahzad, the failed Times Square bomber and Pakistani ‘jihad’ groups, an editorial in one of the country’s leading English dailies has stressed that it is time for Islamabad to take on the militants before its get too late.

The editorial in The Dawn pointed towards the recent recovery of jihadi paraphernalia from a Karachi mosque, which it said is a ’sobering reminder of the fact that militant outfits are quietly carrying’ on their business in the country.

It may be noted that during the raid on the mosque several copies of computerised national ID cards and registration cards belonging to Afghan nationals and local supporters of the Jaish-i-Muhammad (JeM), the terror group which has been banned way back in 2002, were recovered.

Hate speeches of JeM commander Maulana Masood Azhar were also confiscated.

Hate literature, compact discs and other jihadi materials are being sold openly across he country, and the editorial said it was hard to believe that the country’s intelligence apparatus is unaware of these activities.

But the more important question here, the editorial asked, is to why the Pakistani leadership always acts against these jihadi groups only when it is under immense international pressure and not on its own.

“Though actual training camps for militants are active largely in the tribal northwest, it is the nation’s urban centres that serve as potential recruiting grounds for the jihadis. Sadly, our security establishment only acts when Pakistani or Pakistan-based militants attack or threaten to attack others and we, in turn, are threatened with “severe consequences,” it went on to add.

The editorial noted that Pakistan has no option but to flush out every single trace of militancy from its soil, failing which it would certainly result in ‘dire consequences’.

“The state must neutralise the plethora of militant outfits that earn opprobrium for Pakistan internationally and weaken it internally. The networks that help spread hate and promote jihad ust be decisively dismantled. Militant leaders and hardened terrorists must be brought to justice, while less lethal supporters must be urged to renounce violence and reintegrated in ociety,” the editorial concluded. (ANI)