Terrorism is the biggest threat to Pakistan’s progress. It roots can be traced back from 1979, when there was an effort to kick out Russia from Afghanistan. But the problem became severe after 9/11. And now in 2011, it’s become a menace for our motherland. I do not want to go into detail history of terrorism in Pakistan. But the million dollar question is: what are the ways to eradicate or to overcome this most dangerous problem. So that as a result our nation can be brought back to the road of progress in all fields of life.Religious leaders in any society can play an effective role in times of crises. But the case of Pakistan is different regarding war on terror. These influential leaders were in some respect close to the terrorist organizations and to their self-professed ideology in the past. But it is the requirement of time that these leaders must come forward to use their influence in the society against all type of terrorism. They can play their effective role using mosques, speeches and writings to guide the ignorant masses of the country. There is still a large section of the society in Pakistan who prefers to listen these religious leaders at any cost. So why we are not utilizing the influence and potentials of these leaders in true sense?

Good governance is another area which needed more attention in this regard. The important work in this regard which has been done so far is only to equip security personnel’s with latest weapons and to increase their salaries, and compensation in case of casualties. But Policy makers of Pakistan (after entering into the dangerous war on terror) did not create a suitable mechanism through which terrorism can effectively be checked. For example, there is no clear data of people residing in the country. There is no check and balance on foreigner’s activities in the country. There is no effective way to check cross border terrorism from Afghanistan and Indian side. There is not sufficient training mechanism for security personnel’s to counter terrorist organizations plots. There is still time our intelligence and law and order agencies can start door to door campaign for checking and registration, and to monitor it effectively. Also institutional working should be done according to rules and regulations. This will give a sense to the citizens of the country that Pakistan’s future largely depends on good governance, and ultimately they will participate in this process. 

The role of parents and teachers can’t be denied in times of crises. Because they are the main architects of nations. But we see no efforts from any side (nor from them itself) to utilize their full potentials regarding elimination of terrorism. We are not observing any type of collective efforts within homes, schools, Colleges and universities against terrorism. It is time that these builders of nation must come forward to save the country future. After all, terrorism is our common enemy, and we can’t see a prosperous Pakistan without eradicating it.

All these major efforts must be initiated at the same time and must be communicated to all citizens through electronic and print media. This is also one of the most demanding area for the media to work on. As it is also badly required from the media to channelize their work in a constructive manner to inform people how they can beat terrorist designs. After all, united approach and combined efforts for a good cause can only make a nation stronger and prosperous in all respects.