GENERAL BAJWA AND PAKISTAN
General Qamar Javed Bajwa has apparently fun-loving and smiling personality, but he became the army chief at a time when threats and terrorism were rampant. General Bajwa vowed to end terrorism. On February 22, 2017, Operation Rad-ul-fasad was launched under the leadership of General Bajwa. The operation was launched across the country. The goal was to make Pakistan look peaceful, stable and normal, to restore the confidence of the Pakistani nation. The operation began when terrorists sought refuge in the tribal areas and tried their best to paralyze life. A strategy was devised for this operation. There were three main points of counter-terrorism:
1. The use of force is at the discretion of the state only.
2. Make the western borders secure and stable.
3. Eliminate basic support for terrorists from across the country.
Similarly, there were three main points for the elimination of extremism:
1. Implementation of the National Action Plan
2. Integration of the tribal areas into the national mainstream
3. Reforms in educational institutions, madrassas as well as in the police
There were four phases to a successful war on terror: clearing areas, stabilizing, rebuilding construction programs, and restoring civil administration. Under Operation Rad-ul-fasad, more than 375,000 intelligence-led operations were carried out. MI, ISI, IB, CTD, Rangers, FC and police took part in these operations. Terrorist networks were dismantled through operations. For example, in May 2017, suicide bombers were arrested from Chaman, an operation was carried out against terrorists in the difficult hills of Mastung, and terrorist attackers were killed in Gwadar. Apart from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the attacks on the stock exchange and the Chinese consulate in Karachi were not only foiled but also killed. Precious lives were saved by thwarting a major terrorist attack on Easter in Punjab.
A large number of weapons were recovered from the terrorists. To secure and stabilize the borders through fences, 84% of work has been completed on the Pak-Afghan border while 43% of work has been completed on the Pak-Iran border. Border posts and terminals have been set up at these borders. Under difficult circumstances, 423 check posts were set up in the tribal areas. Due to the improvement in law and order, there are now 248 posts. Meanwhile, the security forces trained 37,000 police personnel, the process is still ongoing. Locals have resettled in the evacuated areas. Military courts were set up to bring terrorists to justice, the action was taken against more than 78 terrorist organizations, money laundering, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and targeted killings were curbed.
Advertising of extremist content was stopped. In consultation with the Federation of Madrassas and Ulema, more than 1,800 religious leaders became united against extremism under the message of Pakistan. Pakistan saved the youth from falling prey to terrorism in the name of religion. The sixth census was conducted during the operation. The operation improved the law and order situation. Karachi was ranked sixth in terms of crime in 2014, now it is ranked 106th. 831 development projects are being implemented in the tribal districts for Rs 31 billion. Apart from CPEC, several major projects are also underway in Balochistan. Now the playgrounds are inhabited. The world is looking to Gwadar, Gilgit-Baltistan and K2 for tourism, but now we are facing a pandemic. China gave the vaccine as a gift to Pakistani forces. General Bajwa handed over the vaccine to the NCOC purely nationally and said that the vaccine should first be given to the front-line health workers who are our heroes who have worked day and night to save precious human lives.
Work was also done on food security. The education system was also reviewed as we are far behind in the world’s education index. We have 25 million children out of school. We have more than one education system. Public institutions, private and madrassas, are the cause of the nation’s division. In 1947 we had 247 madrassas and today the number of madrassas is thirty thousand. After the Afghan war and the Iranian revolution, the number of madrassas increased rapidly. Most madrassas are not militant, few madrassas are prone to extremism. The fact is that poor students are given free education and accommodation in madrassas, Pakistanism is taught along with religious education but sectarianism also emerges from some madrassas, their students are attracted to militancy. Because of such losses, material that incites sectarianism is now being eliminated. Teachers will also be appointed by adding other subjects, madrassas will be subordinate to the government, all madrassas will have accounts, the government will be in charge, the Higher Education Commission and the board will be in charge, so a changed Pakistan will be seen.
There was a time when terrorism was visible everywhere, our cities were resounding with explosions, cities were made safe through Operation Rad-ul-fasad. We sacrificed more than 70,000 precious lives to save the world from terrorists. The backs of terrorists have been broken. General Bajwa has done all this work with great diligence and wisdom. General Bajwa is not only a general but also a great strategist.
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