The issue of internally displaces people (IDP) is a serious one. United Nations has estimated the number of displaced people to be about 2.4 million and has asked the world community for about $ 543 million to help these folks. The situation is too bad for people to sit idle and not do anything.

Regretfully, the world community has been giving tons of aid to Pakistan for decades for one reason or another and it is only natural to expect donor fatigue, but this is not the time for the world community to hold back. Pakistan on its part has to be vigilant against the waste that has been the subject of intense reporting in the media in the past.

At this point, nobody has either asked, nor has the military (or the government) explained that why didn’t anyone take into account the factor of civilians who would be caught in the fight between the Taliban and the army. Did anyone even consider the fact that people might leave and flee the fighting and if they did, where would these people go and how would be they be cared for? This should be the central focus of conversation as Pakistan Army is recapturing Pakistan ’s territory that was temporarily lost to Taliban.

As always, there are some people, especially those in opposition in Pakistani politics are using this tragedy to score political points. These people must be shamed into giving up their political ambitions and asked to mobilize to assist those who are struggling to survive in the camps. No question every politician understands the difficulties being faced by the IDPs and most of them seriously want to help too, but unless a united effort is launched, nothing significant would be done. Here is what I suggest:

All leaders, both in government and in opposition, regardless of their electoral status (elected or otherwise) must park themselves at these camps with their political workers to coordinate, monitor and organize everything possible to provide relief to the residents of these camps, otherwise knows as IDPs.

These leaders must announce to stop all political activities (rallies, meeting, press releases, interviews, and meetings with foreign and domestic leaders) unless they accomplish their goal of successfully helping and safely returning all IDPs to their homes.

All political, social and business leaders must ask their followers, both inside and outside Pakistan to give not whatever they can, but what actually is needed on the ground. Right now, the entire country is gathering material, but if the material gathered is not relevant or can’t be used, the entire exercise is futile.

Special teams comprising of government and opposition leaders, coupled with businessmen must visit donors wherever possible to get help, instead of pledges. Remember, it is going to cost mountains of cash to rebuild the roads, cities and the infrastructure that has been destroyed in the fighting in Swat and other areas. Those going back to their homes would also need financial help and these teams can raise cash to repatriate the victims.

Committees of local politicians, businessmen, and law enforcement officials (minus the damn mullah) must be formed in the affected areas so that the Taliban are unable to come back to terrorize the population like the past.

Every elected member of the current assemblies must be assigned a special task (raise cash or done time) for at least six months to help stabilize the financial, political and overall situation in affected areas.

Once the situation become normal and the Taliban are defeated, PPP, PML (N & Q) MQM and ANP (no need to take other parties seriously) must come together to formulate a long term comprehensive anti terrorism strategy because this fight between Pakistan and the nihilists is not over, even as Pakistan Army is brilliantly liberating Pakistan’s lost territory to Taliban. The ideological battle against the forces of hateful ideology is going to be long, rough & tough, and at times it would be tempting to give in to the easy, but ridiculously wrong notion of India , Israel and America are working to destabilize Pakistan .

Pakistan, its leaders and most importantly, its people have the courage and the capacity to emerge triumphant. In fact, Pakistan will win, but it will take serious efforts, honest self assessment, and a clear vision where there is no room for conspiracy theories.

Bilal Qureshi

Religion and politics

Iran shuts its border with Pakistan

Humanitarian situation grave in Mingora; residents flee

Energy crisis (in Pakistan)

From much sought after to ‘most wanted’

Subsidy on petrol, gas and electricity to end

Military seeks ‘hardcore’ Taliban

Pakistanis uniting against Taliban

Jamaat-e-Islami proposes 4-nation bloc against US and NATO

Sami, Fazl say army operation no solution, urge talks with Taliban

Pakistani cities the new battleground

‘Nukes bring no economic benefits, no deterrence’

Taliban grooming teens as suicide bombers: report

An exodus that is beyond biblical

Anti-US rally outsmarts Lahore Police

Taliban’s arms coming from Afghanistan: ISPR

Bombs seen stiffening Pakistan’s resolve on Taliban

Number of displaced persons exceeds three million

It’s a do or die situation for nation, says Mian Iftikhar

US weapons being used against Pak forces: Military

Not a war of choice

US satisfied with Pakistan’s Swat offensive

Neutrality is sometimes a graver sin than belligerence

Curriculum of hatred

‘Clinton couldn’t have offered Pakistan $5bn for not testing nukes’

Mayhem in our midst

More information needed

Where are Muslim countries in Pakistan’s hour of need?

Four blasts kill at least 10, hurt over 80 in northwest

Petraeus paid secret visit to Islamabad

Death toll from Lahore car bomb attack rises to 26

Timeline: Terror attacks in Lahore

‘Now I hate them, now I don’t’ dilemma

Taliban threaten to target big cities in retaliation

Pakistani militant groups uniting

Pakistan seeks US corporate sector’s support on IDPs

Baitullah retaliates in Lahore

insight: Deployment calculus II

UN issues desperate appeal to help Pakistanis

The horrific tragedy in Lahore has done little to bring the country together. There is the usual condemnation; people voice their anger, especially if they are in front of the camera or talking to a reporter. The talking heads on television channels repeat the same mantra – India with the help of Israel and America wants to destabilize Pakistan because of its nuclear capabilities, etc. In other words, nothing new, and no effort to actually examine internal facts that might be a cause of suicide bombings or terrorists acts in the country.

I have believed it for a while that unless people of Pakistan take a good hard and realistic look at themselves, they will never understand their standing in the world today. They would also fail to understand that yes, there is always the possibility of external involvement, but we can’t shift the entire blame to a “foreign hidden hand” every time we are attacked. There should be a process of self examination.

Democratic environment, coupled with freedom of speech might help Pakistan become the kind of society that overcomes hardships, and where citizens make the ultimate decision about their lives and the future of their country. Otherwise, in a closed and fearful atmosphere, Pakistan will always find itself at war with Taliban like forces determined to destroy humanity. But the nation has to decide about its future course very quickly.

The time is about to run out as for as changing the trajectory is concerned.

It is also time to reexamine the role of mullah in our society. If the country is really interested in giving the powers that he enjoys today, the nation will have to equip the mullah with contemporary knowledge so that he can balance life and the demands of today’s busy life style. Right now, all mullah does is voice anger over how people are living their lives, and on every occasion, he chastises those who are unable to live up the standard of daily life set by the mullah. This creates frustration on both sides. We need to fight common ground so that the terrorists are unable to find safe heavens or people in agreement with their hateful ideology. Like everything else, this is not going to be easy, but, it is time to explore this option.

The fight against terror will only be won if mullah is on board.

Taliban are losing ground and in the process, they are realizing that it is one thing to be a bully around weak people, but bravado doesn’t mean that they were capable of fighting as well. Thank God, the Taliban are losing faster then everyone would have imagined. Still, astonishingly, people in are protesting the operation against the Taliban and this opposition to defeat the Taliban is nauseating.

On the hand, Fazllulah, one of the commanders of the Taliban has his men to not fight back when the army comes, after trying for weeks to stand up the military, and Major General Athar Abbas has correctly dismiss this as a tactic to escape. Fortunately, Pakistan army is not ready to be fooled anymore.

America has also requested China to help Pakistan in the fight to defeat the Talibans. It would be utterly surprising to note if China was already not helping Islamabad defend itself.

However, the most critical blow to Pakistan can still come from other sources. First, the situation in Balochiston is deteriorating by the minute. The unrest in the province has reach alarming proportion and there is great concern that at this stage, it is already extremely difficult to calm the anger and the fury that has been on the rise in the province.

Sindh too is burning as Sindhis are protesting against the influx of internal refuges, especially people from Swat who are traveling to Karachi to find work and shelter. The overall situation in Sindh, just like Baluching and N.W.F.P. is not good, not good at all.

Another freighting news for the people in Pakistan is the ever increasing price for electricity. As reported today, the government is about to repeal the subsidy on electricity that has been in place for God knows how long and now that it would go away, there is going to a firestorm of fury, anger and protests all over the country. This is a very tough decision, but Islamabad has no option, but to force people to pay more, or the country runs the risk of going broke.

All in all, the situation in Pakistan is bad, very bad. Worse, there is nothing anyone can do to fix the country. Let’s hope that it works out for the best.

Anti Americanism doesn’t seem to go away in Pakistan. Normally, you’d think that because of America’s aid and assistance to help Pakistan, there would be widespread support for Washington in the country, but that is not the case. On the contrary, everyone in the country is all worked up and listening to these people, and their leaders who are the anchors on different T.V. channels in Pakistan, it seems that if only Pakistan cuts off all links with America, everything will change and change for the good in Pakistan.

Because of this non serious and unrealistic attitude displayed by the people, I am tempted to think that this resentment and anger towards America is the result of lack of understanding on the part of Pakistan, but given the media explosion in the country, there is no justification for this attitude. In fact, there is no reason to be angry with America if people and leaders of Pakistan have failed to fix their problems on their own. Also, the people in Pakistan should not worry about American presence in Iraq or Afghanistan because Pakistan has too many issues to tackle and their energies and efforts should be directed towards internal issues that threaten Pakistan’s existence.

America, just like any other country is not perfect. But, this imperfection should not be seen in Isolation. People in Pakistan should understand that America, and for that matter, every other country would do whatever these countries believe is in their national interest. Therefore, if it is not in Pakistan’s interest to certain things, the country must learn to say no, especially to Washington, if that is what it takes, but one should also be realistic and honest about the options at Pakistan’s disposal. Pakistan has not, and it cannot survive without the aid and help that it receives from America and there is no point in trashing America or American policies day and night. People of Pakistan must learn to be thankful that Americans have always given to Pakistan generously and blaming American for all Pakistan’s fault is just stupid.

Today, America is the biggest contributor if one looks at the total aid that has been given to the people of Swat who were forced to leave their hones and ended up living in the tents. Before this, America was the single largest contributor for the victims of earthquake that devastated Pakistan’s northern areas. And this list of bailing out Pakistan goes on and one, but there is no effort, neither by the Americans, or by the Pakistani governments or the media to let the public know that the big Satan, the U.S.A. is actually one of the biggest donor for Pakistan. Otherwise, the country would have defaulted long time ago given Pakistan’s overall economic deterioration over the decades. So, while acknowledging the room for disagreement, there has to a thank you as well for Washington for being a friend for a very long time.

Thank you American for doing so much for the country!!!

Finally, Pakistan army is reporting success against the vicious and brutal Talibans in Swat. Thank God!

The fact is, these nut jobs were destined to lose because they are only good for intimidating unarmed civilians. These so-called fighters lack every trait necessary for success on the battlefield.

But, I am not ready to celebrate, at least not yet. There is a long, and a very difficult fight ahead for Pakistan with the very same religious nuts, because as reported in Dawn, Taliban are being allowed to escape and leave.

This is insane.

How can anyone either from the civilian side or from the army let these crazy psychopaths go? Taliban history tells us that they can’t be reasoned with and if allowed to leave, they would come back more prepared, more armed and much more committed to create mayhem. Therefore, it is really perplexing to read these stories of Taliban leaving, instead of being defeated and captured for good.

Here, it is also important to note the brilliant work done by Pakistan Army. Once committed, they showed professionalism and they did a fantastic job of cleaning the areas considered no-go areas for a very long time. Fortunately, army’s casualty rate has remained relatively low and this too is an evidence of army’s professional approach towards fighting.  

Going forward, the question is not whether Swat is clear of nuts or not, but can the country come together to root out the ideology of division, hatred and fear championed by the Taliban, using religion as a smoke screen. And judging from the public support for the offensive, it seems obvious that people across the country are solidly behind Pakistani soldiers. Yes, there is a lot opposition to the operation as well, most notably from some T.V. anchors and right wing parties, but overall, the nation has realized that the Taliban were a threat and it had become necessary to defeat them instead of signing peace deals with them.  

The credit should also go to Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N), Altaf Hussain, founder and leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and other leaders who openly and decisively supported the efforts to root out the Taliban. The operation would not have been possible if these leaders had not agreed to support the military. Hopefully, this spirit of cooperation would continue for the benefit of the country.

It is awful to hear that some political parties, especially those who don’t have any representation in the parliament have come out, once again, in opposition to the plan to wipe out terrorists, otherwise known as the Taliban in Swat and other areas of Pakistan. These parties who are now convening press conferences to voice opposition to militarily defeating the thugs, but they did not say a word when they were sitting with the Prime Minister and other leaders of all political parties in Islamabad, but now, when the time is gone, they are trying to create confusion about the need or the effectiveness of the military strategy to clear out areas taken over by the Taliban.

No need to repeat the fact that everything is on the line in Pakistan and the country can only be saved if everyone comes together to help the armed forces liberate certain parties of the country previously taken over by armed gangs. There is no question that these armed gangs framed their offensive as an effort to make Sharia the supreme law of these territories. Obviously, these Taliban were not serious in anything, but total control of everything. They declared everything in the country un-Islamic and everyone else non-Muslim, and only should have been enough to launch the offensive. These Taliban terrorized and brutalized the population in Swat, and after trying everything possible to solve the crisis peacefully, the government had no option, but to accept the challenge to fight back. And now, because the government is fighting back, certain elements in the society are just doing a tremendous disservice to the country and the nation by not strengthening the government and the armed forced by supporting them.

Even though the opposition to the offensive won’t make too much of a differences as the public opinion is solidly against in favor of the government. Nonetheless, the government should make sure that every Pakistani is fully aware of the role of these opponents of the offensive. These people who are against the operation have nothing, but one line to offer – America is trying to create confusion in Pakistan and this statement is outrageous and preposterous by every standard.

It is not necessary for anyone to support American efforts in the region. But, people should use common sense because if anti American feelings are allowed to color the reality on the ground, and if American efforts to defeat nihilists fail in the region, then everyone loses everything, and this is something the country must not allow to happen.

It is extremely heartwarming to read a positive story about Pakistan amid news of constant gun battles, suicides, police brutalities, strikes by different segments of the society, water shortage, traffic congestions, pollution, missing electricity for hours in extremely hot weather. As reported in the New York Times, bunch of kids, or I should say brave individuals decided to take action instead of whining and complaining non-stop about lack of services by the government.

As mentioned by the paper, the students draw their motivation from the recent success of lawyer’s movement in Pakistan when the lawyers forced the government to re-instate the fired Chief Justice. Now, these students have started a social campaign to clean up the garbage from the city of Lahore. Essentially, these students gather on Saturday and clean up the garbage from the city.

This, I must admit is a very noble and sincere effort!!! 

Another astonishing angle of this story is the fact that these students started this mini movement on Facebook.

This shows that despite tremendous odds, it is still not too late for Pakistan as a country and as a nation to come together and fix the problems that the country if facing. If only everyone agrees to put aside, at least temporarily to fix the social problems pushing the country deeper and deeper into chaos and mayhem, the tide of perpetual poverty, negativity and the overall sense of doom and gloom can be overturned. And, the country doesn’t need lots of money or instructions from the World Bank or the I.M.F. What is needed is the spirit to taking charge and I have no doubt that the colossal problems that Pakistan faces today would melt away one by one. No, it won’t happen overnight, but the country needs to start and start soon to tackle these issues one by one!