As the situation has been changing in the world with each passing day, my way of thinking has also been changing.
Sometimes, I wholeheartely support President of the United States George W. Bush in the war on terrorism, as I think by launching the war on terror he saved the world from destruction and killing.
But when I see how he drained down huge resources, which could have been spent on the welfare of humanity, on the war on terrorism, I still see terrorism strengthening its roots and then, my thinking starts changing.
Here the question arises as why with so much power the US President failed in eradication of terrorism?
According to the people of tribal areas, the cause of his failure is the selection of wrong allies. His allies have been deceiving him. Allies of the US President are busy filling their pockets with dollars and have very little interest in the cause for which they were selected.
There are officials in Pakistan, who have been working for the United States, but at the same time they have been providing financial support to Taliban and terrorists.
On the one hand they have been creating Taliban, and on the other, fighting against them on the instructions of the US President. They have just been playing the game. The Lal Masjid issue has exposed the rulers of Pakistan.
According to a newspaper report, there are enough indications that the Lal Masjid/Jamia Hafsa standoff is heading for a final showdown.
A day after the Rangers were deployed around the seminary, General Musharraf told journalists that an operation could be launched but that would lead to heavy casualties on both sides because a large number of suicide bombers were inside the mosque.
This was also confirmed by the Lal Masjid Administration which showed more defiance, with Maulana Abdul Aziz sounding a warning that they would carry out suicide strikes as a last resort if the government launched an operation.
The President's assertion that potential loss of human lives has been preventing him from taking any action against the seminary is understandable. And he is right when he says that it is going to be a complex operation since the seminary houses women and children, numbering 3,000, as well as male occupiers, equipped with sophisticated weapons and explosives.
In the meanwhile, he was quoted as saying that he would order action against the Lal Masjid if the media guaranteed him that the dead bodies were not shown on the television screens, nor the pictures carried by newspapers. But one would want to take issue with him when he criticises the media for its 'negative coverage' of what is happening in the tribal areas.
The President should not ignore that the media has only mirrored the feelings of people of the restive region, protesting against the massacre of fellow tribesmen by our own troops or in attacks from across the border.
The government will however need to explain why it simply looked the other way when these people gathered in the heart of the federal capital, amassed dangerous weapons and started kidnapping people and raiding business centres.
It is also time the Lal Masjid Administration seriously thought about peacefully resolving the deadlock rather than indoctrinating the seminary students with flawed beliefs and preparing them to lay down their lives without a cause.
According to tribesmen of Bajaur Agency, tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border, the US administration instead of relying on rulers should come to the people. Direct contact with the people can solve the problem forever. Most of the tribesmen favour the closure of Madrassahs. Actually the children are being brainwashed in these Madrassahs and they are being prepared for terrorism.
The End
