The Peshawar massacre by the TTP terrorists is worst kind of terrorism and brutal act in the entire history of mankind. In the past, there have been many incidents of bomb blasts and massacre by this terrorist group, but, the way Children and teachers of Peshawar APS were killed has no parallels. About the terrorism and growth of terrorists in Pakistan, a lot has been written and said. However, “The hate and bigotry being spread from Pakistan’s pulpits and madressahs; the corruption that allows terrorists to roam the streets and infiltrate institutions; the crimes that generate financing for terrorist organizations; the fear which provides them impunity from prosecution for their crimes, and the absence of employment which results in recruits for their ranks, must all be addressed through comprehensive and courageous policies.”
Indeed, this single sentence points towards the surfeit of causes behind the entire menace of extremism and terrorism in Pakistan, and the same sentence provides a guidelines for the decision makers, as how to get-rid of this menace in a most efficient and effective manner. After the Peshawar carnage, the nation has stood up that, enough is enough and let’s there be no more genocide at the hands of terrorists. This nation cannot have extinction its next generation by leaving them at the mercy of TTP led terrorists, who preach and practice extremism and terrorism by forcing the people to accept their ideology, which is nothing else, but anti Islam and anti-Pakistan. Terrorists cannot be called Pakistanis, Muslims or even human beings because of their deplorable acts.
After losing over 53,000 lives in last over a decade, this is high time that we take these terrorists and their terrorist acts very seriously. Like past, we cannot have meeting of political parties, their working groups and zero output at the end of the day. Many leaders of our political parties have more sympathies with various groups of terrorists and they even do not condemn their acts, except for the public consumption at times. Rather, these terrorists are their assets, to give them election support, as they have strong influence in their respective areas.
Pak Army has already taken some of very bold and decisive actions and even compelled the Govt to give a freedom of action against the terrorists and their accomplices. There is a strong need that, the political leadership should continue backing the valiant acts of Pak Army in combating the terrorism and terrorists. Political leadership may be lacking the capacity and will to formulate the policies, indeed the counterterrorism strategy; however, they should not block the Army in countering the terrorists through military formulated policies. It is not a time to compete, but a real time to cooperate and move forward to counter the menace of terrorism once and for all.
As immediate measures, the actions of Pak Army and its sister arms, against the terrorists and their hideouts are quite encouraging. These acts would further put their heads down and they would be on run. However, on the long-term, there is a need that, we should have a permanent strategy to eliminate the terrorism from the Pakistani society once for all. This needs a social mobilization programme. The people of Pakistan, who otherwise sick of the menace of terrorism, need clear guidelines from the Govt. Indeed, in some of the areas, these terrorists are keeping the local populace as hostage, thus, they act upon their directive; not by choice, but by compulsions. The people need Govt’s support and facilitation, mainly the security. And if some political or religio-political party has otherwise inclination then, the society and masses have very limited choice and scope.
There is a need that, people should have a counter-narrative to follow and counter the terrorist’s narrative. The society should be mobilize in such a way that, there is no space for the terrorists to preach their version of Islam, which indeed has nothing to do with the true teaching of the Quran and Sunnah, a negation of Islam. The hate culture, which has proliferated into the Pakistani society either through a spirit of intolerance for other religions or within Islam on the sectarian basis, has to be subsided through a gradual process. This a gigantic task, where the true Islamic scholars, the mature academicians and over and above politicians with clean past character have to play a decisive role. Indeed, the biggest weapon, to play a real role is the social mobilization in Pakistan. If we are able to mobilize our society, there would be no chances that, terrorists can find a pace for them to hide and carry on their ill-practices. This very meticulous and steady job would need massive efforts and awareness campaigns, through educational reforms, re-assessment of syllabi, and induction of quality teachers.
Since, this process of social mobilization would take more time, therefore, other actions which need immediate and visible acts must go on side by side. There is a need that, our political parties and religious parties must put a ban on their armed wings, which implement their political motives through the use of terrorists, rather, these terrorists are instrumental to some political parties and groups. This would relieve the masses too from coming out of this tricky and inescapable social web.
At the level of Govt, there is dire need to eliminate the political influence over the police, the basic and very important law enforcement agency.  There is a need to do away with this ill practice, if law enforcement has any importance for the Govt. Then, the proposed National Counter-Terrorism Agency (NACTA) should be activated with clear mandate of coordination and supervision of all terrorism-related developments. Let there be no politics involve in its establishment and working, rather appointments should be made on the bases of merit.
At the end; sincerity, determination and statesmanship are the most significant aspects, Pakistani leadership have yet to demonstrate through their actions in tangible terms. Let, the Peshawar massacre become a real cause for the end of terrorism from Pakistan and unity of the nation.