A suicide bomb blast martyred 11 security personnel, including an officer near a military camp in Sawat. 13 people were injured in this blast that took place near the Pakistan army sports unit in the Kabal area of Swat. The soldiers were playing volley ball outside the military base when a suicide bomber managed to blew himself up. Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the credit for the attack that took place in the Sharif Abad of Kabal Tehsil.
The suicide bomb attack near a military camp shows that Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan is still strong enough to strike the targets of their choosing. They are operating from their sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. They have the support of local facilitators and handlers. Frequent interaction with Afghanistan can help workout a mechanism for action against Maulana Fazal ullah group and other factions of TTP. However, the use of force alone cannot eradicate the menace of terrorism from the country unless the National Action Plan (NAP) is implemented in totality. The piecemeal approach will not bring the desired results. The mindset of extremism, built over the past 40 years will not change by merely announcing a belated National narrative “Paigham-e Haq.”The ruling elite is reluctant to show political will and moral courage to implement the 22 points of this important documents approved by 1800 hundred religious scholars from all school of thoughts across the country. Its fate seems not to be different from NAP and will remain on the backburner because of political expediency. The National Narrative rejects extremism, sectarian hatred and declares use of force to impose Shariah as rebellion against the state. It calls suicide attacks ‘Haram’in the light of the teachings of Holy Quran and Sunnah. It also states that the core objective of all educational institutions shall be enlightenment and character building but this objective can be achieved only when the curricula of these institutions are reformed the task which the government does not seem willing to perform. The intolerant legacy of the last four decades and growing tendency towards extremism is devouring the state from within which must be fought headlong by implementing the National Narrative in letter and spirit besides law reforms to strengthen the justice system. The detailed judgment of the Supreme Court in attack on General (R) Musharaff case released on Saturday provides guidelines in this regard. Hopefully, the political leadership will make elimination of the scourge of terrorism as their first priority.
