Peshawar attack: Will Pakistan crackdown on terrorists that target India?
The young television correspondent broke down on air reporting the story of a mother who lost all three children in the Peshawar Army Public School terror strike. Instead of school buses there is a hearse in every by-lane in Peshawar, she wept. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan strike at Peshawar Garrison's Army Public School could well be Pakistan's 9/11 moment.
Eyewitness accounts of terrorists dressed in camouflage fatigues kicking open doors, going from classroom to classroom and spraying bullets with clinical precision, is mind numbing. Taliban spokesperson Mohammed Umar Khorasani has not only claimed responsibility for the attack but gave out details of why the Army School was chosen. "We chose the army school to teach the army a lesson, so that they feel our pain. They have targeted our women and children," he said.
Pakistan's army chief General Raheel Sharif insists Operation Zarb-e-Azb - which means a sharp strike by the sword of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - will continue in Waziristan and Khyber till terrorists are eliminated. The terrorists chose their target well. Mercilessly targeting children at an army school is aimed at breaking the morale of the army - slicing their soft emotional underbelly - their children. The Pakistan army has sworn to fight these terrorists to the finish.
While there is pain, anguish and outrage in Pakistan and across the world, the question is - will the Pakistan Deep State now stop its practice of targeting terror selectively? While the Pakistan army, under General Raheel Sharif has carried out extensive operations against the TTP and other assorted terror networks in the west, the Deep State continues to provide patronage, training, resources and launch pads to India-centric terrorists in Pakistan's Punjab and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan may have faced the brunt of its Frankenstein's monsters today, India has been at the receiving end of Pakistan sponsored terror for decades on end, and there is no evidence on ground to suggest that the all powerful military leadership has had a change of heart post the Peshawar strike.
Pakistan Deep State has sponsored terrorists not only in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir as part of state policy but also trained, armed, funded and launched Indian Mujahideen modules (exploiting misguided Indian Muslims) across the country. Will the Peshawar terror strike result in Pakistan channelising its agony, anguish and outrage to launch an all out war on all hues of terror?
India continues to face clear and present danger from the Pakistan Deep State and its proxies like Hafiz Mohammed Saeed of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Muhammamed (JeM), Dawood Ibrahim and several other terror groups. Does Pakistan have the wherewithal to carry out operations at two fronts? Counter terror experts say that the Pakistan Deep State lacks the will to target the India-centric terror complex. The Pakistan army, including general Raheel Sharif, the chief of the army staff sees terror as a legitimate low cost weapon and fear of reprisal option against India.
At one point of time Pakistan army saw the Taliban as a strategic asset for gaining strategic depth in Afghanistan. Now Pakistan army is fighting an existential war with the Taliban, still fooling itself with the Good Taliban (Haqqani network - for strategic depth) and bad Taliban (TTP targeting it). Similarly if it doesn't wake up and rein in terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who are operating in Punjab, the snakes in its backyard will turn around and bite it in Lahore and Islamabad sooner rather than later.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif late last evening and condemned the brutal terrorist attack in Peshawar in the strongest possible terms. He said that this savage killing of innocent children who are the epitome of the finest human values, in a temple of learning was not only an attack against Pakistan but an assault against humanity.
Modi told Sharif that this moment of shared pain and mourning is also a call for India and Pakistan to join hands to decisively and comprehensively defeat terrorism. Is Pakistan willing to do that? Will Pakistan act against Hafiz Saeed or Masood Azhar who is spreading his tentacles across southern Punjab or close down the terror launch pads in PoK?
On Twitter #IndiawithPakistan is trending. But the question remains is Pakistan with India? India does not spread terror in Pakistan. Will Pakistan stop spreading terror in India? India does not hate Pakistan. Will Pakistan stop teaching and preaching hatred towards India in its textbooks and from pulpits? In India, hearts are bleeding for Pakistan. But will Pakistani hearts stop bleeding for Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar and the terrorists who have been launched to destabilise India and target its people?
If the answer to all or any of the above is no, then clearly despite 132 young children having lost their lives, Pakistan has learnt no lessons from the terror strike in Peshawar. And the sacrifices of the children, teachers and security forces will be in vain.