LONDON: Pakistan is no more a most dangerous place in the world because terrorist incidents and suicide attacks are on decrease, but on the other side corruption and bad governance is becoming a more serious problem than terrorism.
Political government is reluctant in implementing superior court orders and this irresponsible behaviour is becoming a threat to democracy. It was claimed by Geo TV journalist Hamid Mir at London School of Economics (LSE) in a public lecture, which was attended by a big number of students, teachers and diplomats. This public lecture was part of the “Pakistan Week” celebrated by the Pakistan Society of LSE.
Speaking on the subject “Can Pakistan defeat extremism”? Hamid Mir said that New York Times was the first one to declare Pakistan the most dangerous place in the world on May 30, 2002 and then US military advisor David Kilcullen said on March 23, 2009 that Pakistan could collapse in coming six months, but in fact Pakistan defeated Taliban in Swat in the year 2009.
Hamid Mir said that Pakistani media played a very important role in creating public opinion against suicide bombings. Political parties and Army were also on board for a military operation against Taliban in Swat. There were 3,393 terrorist incidents in 2010 as compared to 3,816 terror incidents in 2009 which is 11% decrease. Suicide attacks were also decreased 22%. There were 68 suicide attacks in 2010 as compared to 87 suicide attacks in 2009, he noted.
Hamid Mir said that extremism is a big problem today in Pakistan but it is not the core problem. Core problem is poverty, illiteracy, injustice, corruption and bad governance. He said that 60 million Pakistanis were living below the poverty line in Pakistan. In Pakistan, there are 20 million children between the age of 5 to 9 and only half of them are going to school. Most of the government schools are without buildings and teachers. Poor children go to religious schools and rich children go to English medium schools and this divide is the main cause of extremism in Pakistan, he said. Hamid Mir said that transparency international figures show that corruption is increasing in Pakistan and security-monitoring bodies are claiming that suicide attacks are decreasing in the country. If corruption will not be controlled it will become a bigger threat than terrorism, he said.
He proposed a one education system, rule of law and some political reforms for combating extremism. He said that killer of former Governor Salman Taseer and killer of two Pakistanis Raymond Davis must be prosecuted in Pakistan under local laws. If Raymond Davis will be released then extremist forces will gain more strength, he added.
Hamid Mir said that drone attacks are against the spirit of law. Pakistan Army sacrificed more than 3,000 soldiers in war against terror and sometimes US drone target our security forces, he said. He said that most of the Pakistani militants belong to tribal areas and tribal areas are just 3% of the total area of Pakistan. Five million population of tribal areas is just 2% of the total 170 million population of Pakistan which clearly proves that whole of Pakistan is not facing the cancer of extremism. Tribal areas need writ of the state, rule of law, education and health facilities, he said.
While answering question from the big audience, Hamid Mir said that there were more than 350 illegal entry points on a more than 2,000 kilometres long Pak-Afghan border. Nato and US troops have failed to secure the border and without securing the border we cannot stop terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He expressed disappointment that political government is reluctant to implement Supreme Court orders and this attitude will only help anti-democracy forces in Pakistan. He said that worst democracy is always better than good dictatorship but Pakistani political leaders should not behave like dictators. They must show respect for law, as if law will become a joke then democracy will also become a joke, he said.
Hamid Mir said that media is free in Pakistan but media is still facing many pressures from state and non-state actors. He said that 18 journalists were killed in 2010. Many parts of Balochistan and Fata are no-go areas for media, but media must use its freedom with responsibility to make a terror-free Pakistan with a clean and transparent democracy. He said initially some TV anchors supported the killer of Salman Taseer but majority of the journalists in Pakistan supported rule of law and opposed the killing. Hamid Mir faced many questions on blasphemy laws. He said that supporting the killer of Taseer means discrediting the blasphemy laws. He made it clear that these laws were part of a superior court judgment in 1991 and these laws were approved by the elected parliament of Pakistan in 1992. All the liberal, secular and religious political parties have a consensus on these laws. These laws could be reformed but nobody can replace these laws, he said.
Source: The News
Date:2/26/2011
