Go where?

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The DG ISPR and the interior minister on April 28 said that the Taliban would be forced to withdraw from Dir and Buner and go elsewhere. Is that enough? Where will the Taliban go from these places? The 19-month-long military operation did not succeed in capturing or killing Fazlullah, Muslim Khan and others whose men have killed 2,000 innocent people. The armed forces only claimed that the Taliban were being forced to withdraw and we observed that this policy resulted in spreading the writ of the Taliban in surrounding areas. Now it is high time that the security forces should immediately arrest Fazlullah, Muslim Khan and all other killers of innocent people.
They should seize the FM radio channels and give a message to all other militants. This should be the first step in the ongoing operation. If it is not done, we shall believe that there is something wrong at the bottom. Withdrawal of the Taliban is meaningless unless their leaders are arrested and tried for their crimes. Otherwise, all that will happen is that they will move from one place to another.

Bashir Hussain Azad
Chitral