By IANS,
Islamabad : The Pakistani government must replace the bulk of the seminaries in the country with “mainstream schools” and address the issue of terrorism from a “much more holistic perspective” if it is to be defeated, an editorial in a leading English daily maintained Saturday.
Another lamented that suicide attacks were occurring “with such numbing regularity” that it was “difficult to pause and reflect” on the fate of the victims.
“Thousands of seminaries operate everywhere. The fact is that many of them have to be closed down and replaced by mainstream schools if we are to see an end to terrorism. The task is a difficult – but necessary – one,” The News said in an editorial headlined “Life in fear”.
“The lack of strategy in this respect is distressing. Terrorism has to be addressed from a much more holistic perspective if it is to be defeated. The events of the past week have diminished hopes that this can happen quickly. The government must work to rekindle them,” the editorial added.
Pakistan has been in turmoil for the past 10 days with two audacious attacks in Rawalpindi and Lahore and four suicide bombings – three of them in the northwestern city of Peshawar, two of which occurred on successive days – that have claimed 124 lives and injured many more.
On Oct 10, heavily armed Taliban fighters attacked the Pakistan military headquarters in Rawalpindi. The two-day standoff ended with 19 people, including a brigadier and a lieutenant colonel, being killed.
On Thursday, the Taliban laid siege to Lahore city with simultaneous attacks on three police establishments that killed 25 people, including 10 of the attackers. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Also on Thursday, a suicide bombing claimed 10 lives in the northwestern city of Kohat while an eight-year-old child was killed in a similar attack in Peshawar, a city that is frequented by the Taliban.
On Friday, a suicide bombing in Peshawar claimed 16 lives.
On Oct 9, a suicide bomber detonated a car stuffed with explosives in a busy market in Peshawar, killing 53 people.
“Once more, terrorism has forced its way into the flow of ordinary lives,” The News said, adding: “Several cultural events in Lahore have been cancelled. The Pakistan Olympic Association has indefinitely postponed the 31st National Games that were scheduled to be held in Peshawar next month.
“Fears expressed by parents whose children were due to participate are one factor in the decision. People who had gradually returned to bazaars and public spots in Peshawar have slipped back into the relative safety of their homes following the recent terrorist onslaught in the city,” the editorial maintained.
It also noted that “suspicions still linger that the spate of attacks could continue indefinitely, putting us all at risk. This is especially true as we are still not seeing the long-term measures that could put a stop to terrorism”.
The editorial in Dawn said: “Suicide and fidayeen attacks are occurring with such numbing regularity that it is difficult to pause and reflect on the fate of the victims and their families because the next attack is only days, or even hours, away.
“What becomes of the maimed and the injured, the families that have lost their breadwinners or their young in the blink of an eye? Soon after an attack, government officials announce compensation for the victims: X rupees for security personnel, Y for civilians, A for the injured, B for the dead. And then, nothing.
“The public does not know if the compensation is paid on time, if the victims and their families have to suffer indignities and humiliations to simply get what is promised to them or if the money is paid at all. And the public does not know how the victims cope in the weeks and months after the attacks or whether the state does anything to help heal the psychological scars and physical wounds.
“Violence is blighting huge swathes of the country, but we know next to nothing about how it is affecting the population in those areas other than from a security perspective, said the editorial, headlined “What about the victims?”