LAHORE : President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the extremists and militants were created decades ago by a deliberate policy to employ religious fanaticism for the achievement of certain strategic objectives.
The President made this comment in his wide ranging address and discourse with British intelligentsia gathered at London’s International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) - a prestigious and one of the high profile Think Tanks, a day after he arrived in the British capital from Dubai.
Militants and militancy were not created in a vacuum, he said, adding that they have been the product of a deliberate policy to fight the rival ideology.
The free world adopted a novel strategy that was based on the exploitation of religion to motivate Muslims around the world to wage jehad, stated President Zardari.
The President reminded the audience that Afghan Jehadi leaders were described as “Moral equivalents of George Washington.”
President Zardari further said that the strategy may have worked well but some serious mistakes were also made as the world abandoned Afghanistan in a hurry and no thought was given to its stability after the withdrawal of foreign forces.
After the retreat of foreign forces, Afghanistan was abandoned and left at the mercy of the warlords and the jehadis which, he said was a grave mistake.
Zardari also recalled the conversation Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had with the then American President George Bush Senior in 1989, warning of the grave implications of abandoning Afghanistan in a hurry. She told the US President, “Mr. President, I fear we have created a Frankenstein that will come back to haunt us,” President Zardari told the audience.
Zardari said that Pakistan paid the heaviest price of this policy as it ended up with over 2.5 million drug addicts, stunted economic activity and millions of Afghan refugees on its soil which it has been hosting for decades and is still hosting.
He said that the situation of Pakistan was further compounded when the international community gave material and moral support to dictatorships in Pakistan for its own ends.
The dictatorship in Pakistan has been running with the hare and hunting with the hound and played hide and seek with militants for its own political survival, the President viewed adding, “Years of dancing with the dictator has encouraged the crisis of today.”
About fighting the militants, the President said that there was no doubt that Pakistan faced enormous challenges but “greater is our resolve to overcome those challenges.”
He said it was a crisis situation which also offered opportunities. “In times like these we must recognize and seize opportunities, he said and called for taking urgent and bold decisions.
“We can no longer avoid taking firm decisions,” the President said, adding that a decision delayed was “not a problem avoided but a crisis in waiting.”
He said that contrasted with the dictatorship of the past the democracy in Pakistan had taken on the militants head on. “We are determined to fight and we know how to fight,” he said.
He said that democracy in Pakistan had given political ownership to the war against militants as a result of which the Parliament, the state institutions and the whole nation was united against terrorists.
About the wonders achieved by national consensus against militancy, the President said that the dramatic power of national consensus was demonstrated recently in Swat and Malakand where the militants were on the run and the internally displaced persons had started returning their homes in safety.
Extremists and militants who challenge the state and our ideology wherever they may be in Pakistan will be chased and eliminated, the President said.
Reinforcing his commitment to end militancy, the President declared, “Let me assure you that we have not come this far at this price, to fail.”
The President also urged the international community for its support and understanding in “our national efforts to fight militants.” “We expect our friends and allies to make a correct assessment of the challenges we face and to help us,” the President said.
While acknowledging that some support had come from the world community the President said, “This support needs to be reinforced.”
Zardari also rejected the blames that were being laid at the door of Pakistan and said “We need active regional co-operation and understanding rather than resorting to blame game.”
The President also reminded the audience of the struggle in Pakistan for the restoration of democracy. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto made the ultimate sacrifice, so that our nation may live in democracy, he said.
The President said that democracy was gaining ground in Pakistan. Today there was a functional Parliament, an independent judiciary, a vibrant civil society, a fiercely free media and a robust political discourse among political parties, he added. The President said that the real challenge that lay ahead was “to make democracy sustainable, indeed irreversible.”
“The challenge could be met easily if we demonstrated to our people and the world that democracy indeed was delivering,” he observed.
The President said that although some difficult decisions had already been taken to stabilize the economy, Pakistan needed greater economic opportunities to better the lot of its teeming millions.
“It is important that Pakistan is allowed market access to the countries of European Union. We need trade and not aid,” he stressed.
About peace in the region the President said that Pakistan was confronted with the challenge of building a peaceful neighbourhood.
The government was pursuing a conscious policy of building cooperative relationships with Afghanistan and India, he stated adding, “We believe that regional dialogue and cooperation is the way forward.
The president further said that the terrorist attacks were also directed against the peace process with India.
“Terrorist attacks are always directed at democracy. They are also directed against the peace process with India that we have initiated,” is how the President described the terror attacks.
The President called upon the international community to beef up support for the democratic government to fight the militants by strengthening Pakistan’s economy and democracy.
Voicing hope that the democratic world will play its part in assisting Pakistan, the President assured that “Pakistan will deliver on its part to make the world a safer and better place to live.”
The President said that a democratic Pakistan is the world’s best guarantee for the triumph of moderation among Muslims of the world.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Spokesman to the President Farhatullah Babar, Secretary General to the President Salman Farooqi, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Sanam Bhutto, Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan, writers, intellectuals and diplomats also attended.
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