Terrorism and Massacre in Karachi:The Birds have Come Home to Roost

Pakistan has had a love hate relationship with terrorism.  This has now culminated in gruesome massacres the like of which were never seen. Massacres like 156 children being shot to death in a school in Islamabad and now 46 Muslims belonging to the Ismail  sect being shot in a bus in Karachi. Where is the en fante terrible Pakistan heading ?

A look at the past history of Pakistan will perhaps give us a  clue to the state of affairs in Pakistan today. In 1987 the then President of Pakistan General Zia  ul Haq  conceived a diabolical plan to bleed India with a 100 cuts and at the same time launch a terror movement in the Kashmir valley to wrest the state from India. this was the genesis of nurturing terrorist groups in Pakistan as a part of state policy.

The Pakistan army and its intelligence wing, the ISI  took to this policy like  a fish to water. . They set up terror training camps in Pakistan that imparted terrorist training to teh recruits and were imbibed with an ideology to bleed "Hindu" India. The second facet of this policy was to support the Taliban in Afghanistan and the general staff came up with a doctrine called " defence in depth" and use this terrorist network to Pakistan's advantage. All this took place as the Pakistan army realized that militarily it was not possible to defeat India  and the only way India could be defeated was by terrorist activity and a insurrection launched by the so called Mujaheddin , trained and armed by Pakistan.

This was an extremely short sighted policy and the Pakistan leadership and military general staff had not understood the true nature of the men they were supporting. These were die-hard Islamic fundamentalists who believed in the rule of the Sharia and wished to create a pristine pure Islamic state  or caliphate stretching from Africa to Asia. In such a state there was no place for the minorities and other sects of Islam like the Shia's, Ismail's, Ahmadiyya and others. In addition these hard-line Islamic groups were hell bent also in removing the democratic set up in Pakistan and establishing a pure Islamic regime based on the Wahhabi concept of Islam.

Matters were not helped by the approach of general Musharraf who authorised that the noted terrorist Osama bib Laden be kept in protective custody of the army. the bubble was bound to burst and now there is a full scale attack on institutions and the army and terrorist activity in entire Pakistan.  The government and army are bewildered, that what had been planned for India , has turned on them. Its like the recoil of gun that carries a tremendous after shock.

The battle is now for the soul of Pakistan and the latest attack may be the handiwork of the ISI. Some pamphlets of the ISI were found at the site. It looks comical when one notes and sees general Rahil Sharif and the Pakistan Prime minister Nawaz Sharif  scurrying to Karachi like Kittens and vowing to put down this terrorist menace. It wont be easy as the roots are now very deep and one cane safely say that the birds have come home to roost in Pakistan.  Pakistan has played with fire. The age old adage " You reap  what you sow" is true for Pakistan.