There's a very old saying - as you sow, so shall you reap. Indian political leaders, journalists and security analysts from time to time held the 'mirror' in front of Pakistan.
But Islamabad - inspired by their military establishment - always looked the other way. They did not learn any lesson. Hillary Clinton was not from RSS-background.
She was Secretary of State under America's one of the worst 'Muslim appeasing' bosses - Barack Obama. And yet she said the 'snakes' in your courtyards will not bite only your neighbours. Still there was no corrective step.
Today, Pakistan is faced with a surge in terrorism, ranging from suicide bombings and targeted assassinations.
Look at the fallout. The escalating terror attacks and insurgency have finally exposed the nation's weakening grip over its restive provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Worse, for Pakistan's own security point of view -- over the years the terrorists and separatist groups have grown bolder.
The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 now ranks Pakistan as the world’s second most terrorism-affected country, after Burkina Faso — an unfamiliar name to many Indians and Pakistanis.
The terrorism-related deaths surged by 45 per cent in 2024 to 1,081, while attacks more than doubled from 517 to 1,099.
"This worsening security crisis stems from a complex concoction of domestic, regional, and global factors," says an article in Pakistan's own newspaper 'Dawn'.
The article penned by Zia Ur Rehman (Published March 13, 2025); notes:
"With terror networks expanding and state authority eroding, Pakistan’s security challenges are reaching a breaking point. The question now is whether the government can reclaim control or will the insurgency further spiral out of hand."
Of course India will be loving it ... and not without good reasons. On the other hand, look at their idiotic planning. When a stooge regime was imposed in Bangladesh; Pakstani top military brass were too busy visiting a country -- which has a record of facing gross atrocities before 1971. That probably days of Yunus regime in Bangladesh are numbered could be gauged from Donald Trump's assertion that he has "left Bangladesh" with Narendra Modi.
And there are chances, New Delhi will always do the needful especially at multiple levels.
Even before the Jaffar Express hijacking, Pakistan has witnessed near-daily terror attacks in Balochistan and KP in recent weeks, with several incidents standing out due to their scale, sophistication, and lethality.
On March 4, 2025 suicide bombers affiliated with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a North Waziristan-based terror outfit, drove vehicles packed with explosives into a military base in KP’s Bannu district.
The attackers subsequently stormed the compound, resulting in at least 18 deaths, including five soldiers, and numerous injuries.
For our part, India always favoured peace and a befitting fight against terror. Pakistan was never serious.
Generally, conventional wisdom about the motives for the Pathankot attack is that peace and normalization between India and Pakistan will generate rents for all groups in the region except the ones that thrive on conflict.
It is true for many state and non-state actors based in Pakistan; the bread and butter and oxygen to good career is often 'India-hatred'.
The theory is that by perpetrating a terrorist attack so soon after a highly successful albeit symbolic meeting between the leaders of the two countries, non-state actors and others in Pakistan could manipulate the bilateral dynamics.
The BLA is a separatist group that emerged in the early 2000s. It is considered a terrorist organisation by the Pakistani authorities and several western countries.
Unlike more moderate Baloch nationalist groups, which are committed to remaining part of the Pakistani state despite longstanding grievances with it, the BLA aims to achieve an independent Balochistan.
Some of the grievances expressed by the Baloch include a lack of representation both in the federal government and the armed forces. Baloch nationalists also allege the Pakistani state has exploited the province’s coal, gold, copper and gas resources while providing very little for the Baloch people in return.
There are a few critically vital trends.
The terror attacks - big or small - reflect the evolving tactics of terror outfits, their growing brazenness, and their increasing operational capabilities.
Pakistan was created in the name of Religion.
The tragedy element in the parable is that the "Religiously inspired militancy" in Pakistan is not a new phenomenon.
It is part of a broader trend -- regional and global.
Groups such as the TTP, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and Lashkar-i-Islam emerged as key players in the conflict, capitalising on instability and using Pakistan’s tribal areas as a battleground for violent extremism.
For a time, these groups suffered major setbacks due to Pakistan’s counter-
terrorism operations, US drone strikes, and internal divisions.
The 2014 Operation Zarb-i-Azb proved particularly effective in dismantling terrorist strongholds in North Waziristan, significantly weakening the TTP’s operational capacity.
So where does thing seem to be going now? In Pakistan, no one is sure who is the ultimate boss.
The military is particularly against the idea of accepting the dominance of the political leadership. But one thing is clear, Pakistan cannot handle its problems related to terrorism and insurgency only with military power.
On the other side, the greatest foreign policy difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh has been related to Pakistan itself.
Modi believes -- Dealing with Pakistan may not yield any result at all. Still it tried. The sincerity was taken as weakness by Islamanad.
Earlier, Dr Singh believed in dialogue with Pakistan at almost any cost. And hence India paid a big price.
Now, panic button may be pressed anytime.
Officials and analysts in Islamabad would point to a range of structural issues that have hampered progress — political instability and left a very weak governance.
So there is no cohesive national security strategy. There is a lack of consensus among political parties and civil society groups, Netas know the hollow big claims of the military.
There is a dwindling public support for counter-terrorism operations.
There are issues of resource crunch.
Pakistan’s intelligence-sharing capabilities are weakened and resurgent terrorist groups have emboldened by Taliban-ruled Afghanistan that provide ideological and logistical support.
Ends
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