By Obaidullah Khan
Today was seemed to be an ordinary day when I woke up from a good sleep. Everything was seemed to be normal. I, as a normal routine, picked up my phone to update myself what was happening in the world. And there it was. A news was smiling at me. Firstly I rolled down while having glimpses but then there was a moment in which my mind grasped what I just saw. I saw it again. The news, the real breaking news was sparkling there like sunshine. I suddenly got up to ensure myself if I was not having a dream. It was perhaps the biggest news in the last few decades of Pakistan history. The news was that “Government” has decided to ban Haqqani Network and JuD. Now here the word “Government” is something we know very well of whom are we talking about.
The body language of our establishment was vivid and unprecedented right after the APS attack. Our politicians and political government was in a routine flow though, without a single exception, as one can expect them to be. Yet I was not expecting such a big paradigm shift that much early by our establishment. What a pleasant surprise it is.
We have been hearing much hue and cry for a new Pakistan, a revolution and a change, for quite some months now. But believe me all this was nothing but just a mere political gimmickry. The real change, a true revolution and the actual new Pakistan is, in fact, coming through the action plan which has been forced upon our politicians by our military establishment and the modus operandi it has adopted to achieve the goals, to eradicate the menace of terrorism, so far. Much of the evidence lies in this very news.
It seems the APS Peshawar’s sacrifices, along with many other, have been appreciated by the Providence and He decided to bless us with a peaceful and prosperous future. Thanks to Allah almighty at first for all what good is happening or about to come up now. Blessed was our country when Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was replaced by such a fine replacement that could make history and he is doing so as well. I salute our commander General Rahil Sharif for being such a clearheaded leader in this time of chaos and confusion. It was just yesterday, I was thinking that while all other political, so called, leaders are busy in either enjoying their being in power or doing politics just to grab the power, only Rahil Sharif is fighting on all national and international fronts for the cause of Pakistan. A few days ago I was having an argument with a friend, who often blames me for having a pro army stance, about the action against the terrorists and the role of army. We concluded the debate by agreeing upon two litmus tests to verify the perfection of the approach of our army against the terrorism in the country. The first litmus test was the disbanding of JuD and all its ancillary organizations and the second one was the decision of Army courts against the terrorist who attacked the two Ahmadiyya worship places in Lahore on 28th May 2010. I was certain that our army means business this time and here it was. The first litmus test was passed in my favour. Not only in my favour but in the favour of our dear homeland and in favour of our professional army, who has proved now that it is one of the most disciplined and professional institute in the whole world that can not only learn from its past misdeed but is capable of mending its ways and usher our country towards a better and successful future. I believe and pray may our army pass the second litmus test soon. May Allah strengthen all those hands that are fighting and striving for the peace, prosperity and well being of our country.
I also hope and pray that may this paradigm shift in our foreign policy bring better results than our previous policies. The world should understand that now as Pakistan renounces all forms of terrorism, it does have some serious issues with its neighbours. There are genuine disputes the international community should pay heed to. We have to fight now diplomatically on all the fronts. China is another example who is fighting its cause of Taiwan on international fronts diplomatically. Now the situation of this part of the world is changing rapidly. One might call it a wishful thinking, but I am having a smell of good days to come in the near future.
The writer is a social and political commentator and he tweets @Obaidullahkhan