Arms for terrorism coming from Afghanistan, says Ghani

ISLAMABAD: Weapons being used for terrorism in Pakistan come from Afghanistan, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said on Monday.

Addressing a conference on ‘Improving Governance: Towards Sustainable Growth, Peace and Equity’, he said, “Every bullet, gun, bomb, rocket and explosives being used in acts of terrorism in Pakistan comes from Afghanistan.” The NWFP governor was chairing the session ‘Sustainable Governance Strategies to Counter Terrorism’ on the second day of the three-day conference.

He said external factors were the main cause for the increasing terrorism across the country.

“Religious seminaries and economic problems in the country existed before the advent of terrorism in the country, therefore, these things cannot be attributed as the reason behind the menace. Terrorism has actually been triggered by external factors, primarily anarchy and unrest in Afghanistan,” he said. “The question that needs answering is that who is providing the resources to the insurgents,” Ghani said, adding that around Rs 40 billion had been spent by terrorists in the NWFP and FATA in the last 10 years.

He said Pakistan did not need any “strategic depth” in Afghanistan, as stable, prosperous, developed and progressive Afghanistan was necessary for the stability of Pakistan and the region.

“There will be no dialogue with militants. But the process should engage non-militants of the restive regions to take them on board against supporting the militants,” he said. The governor said the support of the people in defeating terrorists in Swat and South Waziristan was remarkable. “Though poor governance is not the cause of terrorism, it provides a friendly environment to the terrorists to advance their agenda rapidly in any locality,” he said, adding that economic progress and development of terrorist organisations could easily be controlled through good governance.

PATTAN National Coordinator Sarwar Bari said successive civilian governments had not liked democracy at the local level. He said local government system was in danger and it was the duty of the civil society to protect it. Senator Abdul Malik Baloch of the National Party said his party supported the local government system. Dr Syed Riffat Hussain, chairman Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Quaid-e-Azam University, said good governance could mitigate both greed and grievances and could reduce violent behaviour.

Dr Akmal Hussain, professor at Beaconhouse National University, said the war on terror had consumed a huge amount of the nation’s resources, while a large part of the country’s population was deprived of basic needs.

Source:dailytimes.com.pk/