It is too early to say what the Lahore exchange raid signifies in the context of the war against terrorism. Conclusions are tough to draw since many questions need to be answered first. In Punjab, where the government is accused of showing leniency towards hard boys, could this discovery prove to be a turning point? Or, is it a warning to demonstrate what the intelligence agencies are capable of achieving if Pak bully boyz do not heed the latest government call for dialogue? Just as it has become difficult to separate Punjab from the centre after the establishment of the PML-N governments in both Lahore and Islamabad, many observers are inclined to establish a link between Monday evening's call for negotiations by Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
and Tuesday morning's raid on the telephone exchange. It is not so much the evidence that the material -- reportedly, thousands of SIM cards -- seized in the raid may provide but how the government wants to engage with the bully boyz which will decide the future course of any official action.
Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the entire 614th quadrant searched. The Green Lensman must be found!...
the absence of action by Pak authorities has been used to justify a certain series of Pakistain-related steps by the US -- from drone attacks to the latest incident in which Washington has declared a madressah in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
a terrorist outfit. While no doubt this designation will -- and should -- put pressure on the Pak authorities to investigate closely the madressah's purported links with banned groups, the reasons the US has given for this move are not sufficient. More explanation is required on how the seminary was training groups as different in their approaches and designs as Taliban and Al Qaeda on the one hand and Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the
Army of the Pure,an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is
banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
on the other. Clarity is needed on all fronts in the war against terrorism.