Tazeen Akhtar
What is happening in Bannu? It is a mystery that is disturbing every Pakistani. The peace march by all local organizations and citizens was not against military but 6 protestors have been killed so far and no one knows who fired at the protestors? Social media reports are about dozens of killings in protests but certainly they are not confirmed neither can be checked because Bannu is almost Banned for the time being.
Mohsin Dawar MNA has said at a youtube program that military fired at the protestors. Many died while large number of people are injured. However he admitted that terrorists were free in Bannu. They had their full control in the region. They had warned police not to petrol or come out of police stations after evening. He said that good taliban and bad taliban both used to set up check posts and loot the people.
Former Senator Mushtaq Ahmad who was leading the protest has shared that American Air force aircraft was in the space over Bannu at the time of our march. He has asked security officials why US aircraft was there ?
As neither gov of Pakistan nor the military is sharing anything officially, the social media information or disinformation whatever, is the only source to rely upon. Indian media is reporting that firing on the protestors was done by military. Coinciding reports are about the protestors entered into sensitive areas of Bannu Cantonment that resulted in firing from the other side.
Voice of America has reported that the military firing after a terror attack on Bannu Cantonment took lives of 3 citizens also but it has not been confirmed by independent sources. Earlier on 15 July Monday , ISPR shared that 8 soldiers were martyred while all 10 terrorists were killed. VoA reported on 19 July, Friday that 76 injured soldiers were brought to hospitals while ISPR did not mention any injured, number.
Interestingly, no confirmed information from the hospitals has been shared. Most probably the number of casualties is exaggerated as propaganda against the military. But military should come forth with official information.
The repercussions of Bannu attack were still on when only few hours after the attack, a Rural Health Center was attacked by the terrorists at midnight in Dera Ismail Khan District. 2 soldiers, 2 lady health staff, 2 children and one watchman were among martyred by the terrorists. 3 terrorists were killed by the forces here as ISPR shared.
This is the background that led the citizens of Bannu to stage a big march for peace in the region and demanded all armed persons/groups be ousted from their areas. It is worth mentioning here that the place in Cantonment where the terrorists rammed their explosive laden vehicle is near a market where many traders were also affected by the attack.
Therefore the peace march that turned into a shutter down and wheel jam strike consisted of mainly the traders who complain continuous losses of business due to the ongoing law and order situation in the region. The protestors marched towards Bannu Cant to register their concern and there the incident of firing happened that killed many protestors. Different number is being reported by different sources.
In the meanwhile, KPK assembly passed a resolution against the expected or feared Operation Azm e Estehkaam in the province. Military leadership in corp commanders conference expressed strong resolve to nip the evil of terrorism in the bud.
ISPR press release about the Corp Commanders Conference on 05 July noted, “The forum undertook a comprehensive review of internal and external security situation of the country and had detailed discussion on various aspects of “Azm-e-Istehkam”, which is aimed at harnessing the national counter terrorism efforts in a synchronised manner to dismantle the nexus of terrorism and illegal spectrum in the country for enduring stability and economic prosperity.”
KPK Assemblies resolution expresses the sentiments of the provincial population. It is known that provincial government is led by PTI that is carrying anti military narrative since when Imran Gov was removed apparently by no trust move but the number of 4 of BAP Party is seen in another way by PTI.
These 4 MNA’s were considered the representatives of establishment who turned their backs to Imran on the behest of big boss. That is why PTI is going anti military and PTI is in power in the province where the military is facing the biggest challenges of terrorism.
Maulana Fazl ur Rehman of JUI, Aimal Wali Khan of ANP, Mehmood Khan Achakzai of PMAP and Manzoor Pishtin are all against the military doctrines of Azm e Estehkam whatsoever. They are all powerful in the same province. This political opposition is bigger challenge for military than terrorism but they think and plan with their own minds. But still we feel it is our national duty to draw their attention to at least one thing….. that is…. who is with you ?
A sane mind can easily conclude how much successful a military operation against unknown people the terrorists can be when the most of the local population is not standing by your side. They are not neutral even. Actually they are against military and that is what should be seen and addressed as early as possible.
As long as, political system of the country is concerned that is already collapsed and media people are talking about emergency or marshal law. This state of affairs is enough to find that the powerful quarters of this country including gov, judiciary and military are not cognizant of the critical situation the country is passing through.
Gov is in front of Judiciary after the decision of reserve seats in favor of PTI. Judiciary is more active in political cases than the matters of public interest like electricity overcharging and other millions of pending cases of the public. Military leadership does not feel comfortable with PTI while PTI is adding to the anger of the people especially in KP province. This is the state of the state that is very hard to state and elaborate. This can lead toward nothing but a big bang only.
State of the State hard to State – Part 3 – by Tazeen Akhtar
