Our children have become terrorists and the general public must know the whole truth about our children. We cannot treat them as enemies to be killed by police as ordinary criminals. Human rights bodies and civil rights leaders must meet police high officials to know truth publicly. Terrorism is not ordinary crimes to be a matter for police only.
Security experts and students on Monday urged the government to identify the root causes of extremism for complete elimination of this growing menace from society.
They said countering violent extremism requires public, private and community-based initiatives for strengthening resistance against violent extremism and a better understanding on the agendas perused by various radical groups.
“The government needs to regain confidence of the people which has been lost otherwise,” Major General (Retd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, a security analyst, told The New Nation on Monday.
He said the government should shun its ego and create broad-based national consensus involving all-stakeholders irrespective of political parties, leaders of civil society organizations and human rights bodies.
“Only application of law will not help improve the situation,” he added.
Major General (Retd) Md Abdur Rashid and a student of a private university claiming unanimity also shared their view on the issue suggesting to build a consensus on combating militancy and also why it is growing.
In fact many believe that leaders of civil society organizations and human rights bodies should sit with police to share police’s view on extremism and how they want to define it. Shooting extremists in unclear circumstance will not help to end terrorism and establish peace.
They are of the view that police are telling their stories and people will have to believe it. But what militants actually want, why they turn militants the nation want to understand clearly before forging the strategy to defeat them.
Even Director General of RAB Benazir Ahmed wanted to talk to militants who attacked Gulshan Café to end the stand off peacefully. It did not however work. But his intention makes sense.
Police can’t be able to defeat militants alone; they surely need people’s cooperation and unity against the threat and therefore the cause of the crisis should be clearly identified whether it is politically driven, home grown or part of international terrorism.
Politicians, political thinkers, sociologists and such other thinking people should join in dialogue to help police and the government to develop the right plan of action to deal with the threats.
Families are losing children but don’t know who are recruiting them or misguiding them on the way to radicalization. Why even their children were being instantly killed without handing them over to be legally tied.
Many believe keeping suspected militants alive is important to produce them before courts and to public scrutiny to know the bigger truth behind their taking the path of self emulation and death.
They have therefore suggested objective discussion on militancy. We can’t see our universities are turning into den of militants, it was not the case only few years ago.
Many believe that unemployment is a big issue that lures young people to militancy. But it is not true in case of young people coming from wealthy families.
It is true an evil network is radicalizing people, said a private university student. They are ruining lives of innocent students and unless this evil network is destroyed more valuable lives will be lost.
“The ongoing militant campaign is very much politically motivated rather than ideological,” Major General (Retd) Md Abdur Rashid, another security analyst, told The New Nation.
He said repeated attacks on foreigners, members of minority communities and bloggers are nothing but to premeditated use of violence against non-combatants in order to achieve a political agenda.
Md Abdur Rashid said radicalism poses a serious threat to state security and what’s happening here must also have international implications.
The government has to take people into confidence for the people must know the whole truth.
It is not right to say the people are united behind the government for the police power to arrest their children indiscriminately and killed by them by bullet injuries in their back.
It is also true that all terrorism starts first with the government, so we want to see police accountability in this regard.
