Pakistan turns around picture from `Victim to Victor of Terrorism’: Ahsan
ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT ONLINE):Minister for Interior, Ahsan Iqbal Tuesday said Pakistan had overcome a long and dark
decades of terrorist victimization and instead of letting detractors define
its identity, the country had turned around picture from `Victim to Victor
of Terrorism.’
“Pakistan has showed strength and perseverance of its people
through political leadership who stood united in dealing with menace
of extremism and terrorism and that Pakistan no longer to be treated
as victim of terrorism rather a country that has established its
credentials as a victory against the menace,’ he said this while
inaugurating a three-day Islamabad International Counter Terrorism
Forum (IICTF).
National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) is organizing the
Forum to provide an ample opportunity to portray the country’s positive and
soft image and a nation of courage, perseverance and resilience.
Ahsan Iqbal said successive policies of the government enabled
in tackling militancy and extremism in the country through robust
kinetic and non-kenatic measures.
“We are determined to eliminate extremism from the society in
all its manifestation through adoption of appropriate counter
violent extremism strategies and narratives,” he said.
Ahsan Iqbal said, “The road to peace and stability has been
very rough and full of challenges, but I can say with pride that our
efforts have borne fruits. The incidents of terrorism have fallen
sharply since 2013 when the present government came to power. Our
resolve to fight forces of extremism and terrorism is unmatched and
will continue unabated.”
The Minister said political leadership supported NACTA in all
its endeavours to make Pakistan a country free from extremism and
violence.
He said the government had managed to reshape course of national
economy as per promise made in 2013 which was evident from the fact
that the international rating agencies were now acknowledging Pakistan
as one of the top few emerging economies of the world, who were earlier describing it a sinking economy.
The Minister said the country also witnessed tremendous
progress in energy sector and succeeded in breaking the backbone of
terrorism, which were now on the run.
He said the menace of extremism had almost been eliminated,
economy witnessed rapid growth while energy crisis also had overcome.
The Minister strongly condemned brutalities in Occupied
Jammun & Kashmir by the Indian forces and said voice of Kashmiri
people could not be suppressed through guns, bullets and force.
The Indian forces must stop bloodshed of the innocent people.
He said the world should focus on Kashmir issue and play
their role to resolve the long standing issue.
In his welcome address, NACTA’s Coordinator, Ihsan Ghani
said basic objective of the Forum was to highlight Pakistan’s
endeavors and achievements in war against terror.
He said Pakistan had suffered huge human and financial losses
in its war against terrorism, yet its journey from “victim to victor
of terrorism” had no parallel in contemporary world.
“This story of sacrifices needs to be shared with the world.
This also necessitates a discussion on upcoming challenges and
threats not only to Pakistan’s security but also to the regional and
global stability,” he added.
He said the objective of the forum was to bring together
leading international and Pakistani experts, scholars, practitioners,
think tanks and opinion makers in the area of counter-terrorism to
deliberate on the current situation and future challenges and
response.
The target audience is think tanks, academia and
researchers relating to security, terrorism and counter violent
extremism.
The Forum has also engaged diplomats, governmental officials, parliamentarians, politicians, United Nation
Agencies, international organizations, aid agencies, media, civil society and world community
at large.
There would be nine sessions in all, three Plenary Sessions
and 12 panel discussions. One minute silence at beginning of each
day would also be observed for victims of terrorism.
A documentary, depicting efforts of people, the government and
security agencies of the country against terrorism, was also shown on
the occasion.