Heavy Human loss
Terrorism not only damaged the social fabric of Pakistan but also became the
cause of uncertainty with the people have been physiologically affected by it.
The immediate consequences of terrorism are human and economic loss but the fact
is that the whole society of Pakistan is affected with terrorism and political
instability. Not only terrorists but also the government is responsible for
promoting terrorism in Pakistan because government has been issuing the licenses
to those who are associated with their political parties and support them in
election days. The big dilemma of Pakistani government is this that the children
are being used in terrorist activities. Why the government of Pakistan seems
facing challenges? When we study the Pakistan we get many facts that are
affecting on social fabrics. The first and foremost reason is the government
instability, protests and strikes on daily basses, lawlessness, political blame
games, police terrorism, insecurity, energy crisis, economic deprivation, black
marketing and no check and balance on different commodities.
A report present to Supreme Court by a spy agency in which the spy agency told
the Supreme Court that Pakistan has lost 49,000 lives since the 9/11 and the
report covered to two period first was 2001 to 2008 between this period 24000
people were killed including civilian and security officials due to terrorist
attacks when the last five years period was very costlier as compared to the
(2001-2008) because the people were killed in last fiver years 25000 in
terrorist attacks. It has been told by the attorney for the intelligence
agencies to the court in a report. Not only the civilian has becoming the
victims but also the Pakistan armed forces is sacrificing more the 15,681 the
soldiers in tribal areas with fighting the Talban militants since 2008. Civilian
causalities in bomb blast are more than 5152 while the injuries are 5678 up to
2008. (M. Raja, 3013). A Senator Haji Ghulam Ali criticized the west Foreign
Policy because Pakistan has been sacrificed more than 49000 people in War and
Terror and has to spoiled its economic and social fabrics but the west is
providing the free trade zone to the Bangladesh, Bhutan, Srilanka and Maldives.
He regretted that the foreign debt of Egypt and other countries were written off
but Pakistan was not granted this facility. (Staff Reporter)
Terrorism not only affected the civilians but also affected the military
persons, police forces, government entities, media persons, foreign visitors and
also the cricketers. A non stop serious of terrorist attacks badly affected the
human life. Terrorists attacked the foreign visitors in Gilgit valley and these
foreigners lost their lives in these incidents.
Deteriorating Economic Conditions
State without sound economy is like a sick animal because the economic
activities provide the financial blood to the depreciative economy. Pakistan is
a developing country and is on the rank of 17th of world in GDP per capita
income but less stable due to lawlessness, insecurity, uncertainty, trade policy
and terrorism is the main reason of poor economy. While the developed countries
have better economic opportunities, market and have the capacity to bear the
terrorism loss and also provide the necessary incentive to absorb the terrorism
effect. The developing and underdeveloped countries are not in this position to
bear terrorism loss itself because these countries are dependent on other
independent countries. (S. Haider, N. Akram & I. Ul Haq pada, 2015)
A collection of rules and regulations made by the public officials who are
relevant to trade is called the trade policy. A trade policy formulate after the
evaluation of state available resources that which would be appropriate for the
nation. When they formulate any policy they develop the consciences about this
policy and the some major polices discuss at the time of annual budget in the
assembly. The policy maker follow the international patterns because the trade
directly engage with other internationally through import and export and they
policy maker must draw taxes, tariffs and quotas can all be part of a nation’s
trade policy. (P. Khalil, N. Rafiq, M. Yousaf, Z. Ali, S. Shahid & M. Naveed,
2012)
Terrorism has become major threat to economy and business nationally and
internationally. Terrorism affects business by many ways of death, damage of
infrastructures, impact on imports and exports, markets ups and downs, FDI,
increasing risk perception, reducing confidence, uncertainty and flow of
investment to other economic zone. The war on terror has negatively affected
Pakistani economy because Pakistan is a developing country and seems less
develop always since the day of its independence however Pakistan was not in
this position to absorb the economic loss after the 9/11 and keep stable its
economy. (W.Ali, 2013, April, 18)
Investors are hesitating to invest in Pakistan because the security situation is
a not satisfactory of law enforcement agencies. It is the duty of government to
provide the security to the local investors and foreign investors. Karachi, the
former capital of Pakistan, is considered the hub of economics but it has become
the most insecure place of Pakistan because of target killing, kidnapping,
blackmailing, gang war and terrorism. Now we can say Karachi has become the city
of criminals. In this city criminals have been settled and are engaged in
different types of criminal activities after the 9/11. It has been observed that
most economic opportunities have abandon by the terrorist activities. Developed
countries are not much affected, as developing countries are affected by
terrorism, because the terrorists’ attacks are not frequent there. If any attack
happens, they rehabilitate it due to large economic market and better
managements and law and order institutions.
Although Pakistan is under developed country and is based on agriculture but
unfortunately from the last two decades it has been facing many challenges
internally and externally in which one of them which is the most important is
terrorism. It has impacts on politics, economics and social life. Due to
political instability, the government is unable to give attention on economic
development and economic reforms because the government is trying to improve
security system and want to defeat the terrorism. So the attention of Pakistani
government has diverted after the 9/11 because the Pakistan has joined the war
on terror.
Terrorists are not only damaging the political system but also destroying the
whole economy of Pakistan with target killing, suicide bombing, and kidnapping.
Terrorism not only Reduce the confidence but also increase the risk perception
among the local investors and foreign investors .So it the fact that Pakistan
has become very insecure place for the businessmen, Therefore the investors give
preference to invest in Bangladesh, India, south east Asia and United Arab
Emirates instead of Pakistan. Before the 9/11 and the Mushraf era, the European
Union was interested to invest in industrial sectors of Pakistan especially in
garments but after the 9/11Pakistan has become victim of terrorism itself and
did not provide the secure economic zone to foreign investors and the investors
have gone away from the Pakistan due to the threat of increasing loss.
The terrorists have linkages with each other and have to provide tanning,
sharing information, providing logistic support and financial assistance. The
question arises here that why the phenomenon of terrorism occurred and why the
people have become terrorists and what are the reasons of behind terrorism? The
phenomenon of the terrorism has occurred due to many reasons in Pakistan,
socio-economic injustice, poverty, illiteracy, corruption and political
instability is the reason of terrorism. After the joining of war on terror,
Pakistan has been directly involved with counter terror policy and has been
playing its role effectively to curb terrorism. Militant groups however have
started the terrorism in Pakistan with a very strong reaction.
Political and economic deprivations are the main root causes of terrorism.
Terrorism occurs when people are not granted the economic and political rights
or the certain groups or people. The deprivation encourages the effected groups
to adopt the violent ways. According to well known philosopher Aristotle had
agreed on the assertion stating that “poverty is mother of terrorism and
Revolution”. Economic reforms, fundamental and political rights should be
ensured for the masses and should try to improve the living standard of human
life. Unequal distribution of wealth, resources, political rights, economic
opportunities and property are also the root causes of terrorism in Pakistan.
Only the 20% of people have captured the 80% of the total resources and the 80%
having 20% of total resources and are leading average life but 35-50% of
Pakistani people are spending their lives below the poverty line.
When we analyze the poverty in Pakistan at provincial level, it tells us that
the poverty in Baluchistan is 52% that is very high as compare to other
provinces, similarly the poverty in Sindh 33%, in KPK 32% and in Punjab19%.
There is an urgent need to develop Baluchistan and provide all the basic
facilities to them. KPK and Sindh are also demanding attention of the government
to develop and provide the basic necessities these provinces. All have greater
impact on our socio-political and economic issues of Pakistan. A lock of
coordination among the provincial government is not only declining the social
indicator of Pakistan but also becoming the cause of ethnic conflict. According
to World Bank report of 2010-2011 Pakistan’s poverty reached up to 70% after
disasters but the government not responded on this report. If SDPI and World
Bank figures are correct then it shows that 120 million Pakistani souls are
under poverty trap (below the poverty line), which is highly alarming situation.
(A, Khuwaja, 2012)
These small issues have been converted into violent forms of terrorism when the
government did not take initiative in time and does not rehabilitate the
effected people. It not only creates the sense of fear but also damages the
mental growth of human beings. These days, Pakistan is going through the
critical situation and facing the similar challenges because the terrorism has
damaged the mental growth of human beings. Behavioral change happened in the
society because frustration has become very common among the people, on the
other hand the role of media is not as satisfactory as it should be, however the
media is a reliable source for information but the negative factor is this, it
provides the extra coverage to the militant groups and highlights the terrorist
incidents with live coverage, play the video of dead bodies and wounded people
that is very dreadful, so the role of news channels should be constructive.
Investment and international trade are highly correlated with each other but the
terrorism has negative impacts on financial system and international trade
.However the assistance that was provided to Pakistan in the aftermath
participation Afghan war and the war against terrorism is in the form of aid,
grants and debt rescheduling etc. It had positive impacts on the economic growth
for short time but it could not sustain further because the allied forces in the
beginning got many successes but after short time, terrorists have gone
underground and adopted the strategy of guerrilla warfare and they have done
heavy losses with limited resources.
When they did not achieve the desired objectives, then all types of assistant
has been reduced by the United States. There are many reasons that cut down the
financial assistance, military assistance and economic aid. First reason was the
lack of trust on each other because the United States think tanks believe that
the Pakistan is the big sponsor of terrorism and Pakistan provide safe roots to
the terrorist organizations and is not sincere with the allied forces whether
western allies have to approve the debt reschedule , financial assistance and
economic aid.
The fact is that Pakistan considered that US is not a reliable and doesn’t have
trust on west because her past experience with United States was not good.
Because after the cold war United States had left the Pakistan at the mercy of
militant groups and imposed the sanctions because the Pakistan was acquiring the
nuclear arsenals and United States did not want this that Pakistan acquire the
nuclear technology. After achieving his objectives in Afghanistan, United States
returned back to home, but United States did not know that what will be the
consequences of the production of Talban after this war, somehow Pakistan
survived in this all scenario with the economic sanctions but with the 9/11
incidents again provided the chance to Pakistan to become the front ally and
join the war on terror with US.
The international community has lifted the sanctions and provides the financial
assistance and reschedule the debt of Pakistan which has positive impacts on
economic growth from 2002 to 2005 but with the 2007 the economic growth slowed
down and GDP fall from 7.7% to 6.7% and continually fall down in 2009 the GDP
was 1.7 % .Why the economic growth and GDP fall down whether the Pakistan is the
front line ally in the war on terror? Because the United States has imposed the
conditions on aid, the first reason is lack of trust and 2nd is misuse of this
aid. No doubt in Pakistan corruption is the main challenge after the terrorism
and energy crisis. So the Pakistani government wastes the national resources due
to unnecessary protocol, unnecessary foreign visits, luxury vehicles, luxury
apartments, precious gifts and delay on implementation of any project.
Graph of GDP since 2001 to 2014
Why the United States imposed the condition with the financial and economic aid?
The United states and the its allies want the transparent use of this aid in
Pakistan because Pakistani government waste the resources on unnecessary
protocols and these protocols not only make hostage the visiting areas large
area but also the community suffers from due to these protocols. Pakistani
delegations traveled with the PM or the President including with staff to visit
abroad. Very panic matter is this, a government announces a project and start
the work on that announced project but as the government changes and power shift
to other government as the project which is in process bring to a close because
of contradiction or the newly created government doesn’t like after the
completion of this project credit goes to the previous government this is
because of contradiction.
Various corruption scandals were highlighted on different news channels and in
newspapers but all these are fruitless. The presence of Osama Bin Laden in
Pakistan has become the question mark for the Pakistani government and the
security agencies. According to US-Pak business council report (2009) a report
published with cooperation of United States and Pakistan in 2009 that is called
business council report which stated that Pakistan has become the prime victim
of Afghan instability and its gross domestic gross production consistently
falling. The share of agriculture in the gross domestic production is also not
satisfactory and falling down gradually .Economic survey of Pakistan report
shows that 25.9 percent of GDP in 1999-2000 but after the 9/11 its share reduces
gradually to 21.3 percent in 2007-2008.
Foreign Direct Investment
Foreign Direct Investment provides the financial blood to any economy and with
this create the now jobs for the locals. FDI not only boost the economy of any
country bust also, provide the managerial skills, develop the new infrastructure
and improve the technology of that country. At that time FDI is essential for
Pakistan to reestablish its economic activities after the great war with
terrorists, now again Pakistan is ready to facilitate foreign inventors and
ready to improve its technology, managerial skills, strengthen its industrial
sectors, enhancing productivity and output, improving balance of payments,
foreign exchange reserves, physical infrastructure and human resources and
ultimately achieving higher rate of economic growth. (J. Zahid, 2013)
Most of the developing and developed countries in the world adopted aggressive
economic strategies to get better the economic growth rate for real domestic
product. Political stability and economic growth are highly interlinked to each
other, if there is political instability, the growth rate will be low and in
Pakistan political system seems very unstable due to military intervention and
terrorist activities. No doubt Pakistan is a nuclear power and its military is
known the best military of the world but its interference in the politics cannot
be ignored. Because the military, many times had to take over the government and
established their own government which increased the risk perception and reduced
the confidence and had immediate impacts on Foreign Direct Investment and also
on the all types of economic activities such as export, exchange rate and local
investment. On the other hand economic activities are also affected due to
terrorism because any terrorist incidents increase the risk perception and lose
the confidence of the investors because of the objectives of the terrorist
groups to destabilize the government when the government destabilizes the rate
of economic growth and it becomes low.
Ministry of commerce formulates the trade policy. So it is the responsibility to
bring the trade reforms not for the local investors but also for the foreign
investors. FDI can be increased if the government offers the liberal trade
policies with good security, good infrastructure and good economic environment.
After the 9/11 incident the foreign Direct Investment immediately stopped inward
to Pakistan because the United States and the allied forces attacked on
Afghanistan which is existed in the neighbor of Pakistan. After that Pakistan
also has to join the allied forces and became the front line partner by joining
the war on terror and the war was started in the neighbor of Pakistan.
Unfortunately Pakistan shares the border with Afghanistan and doesn’t make
ensure the surveillance this area when the war started, the risk perception
increased. Once again Pakistan has engaged in the proxy war but this time
against her own former ally Talban. As Pakistan joined the war on terror within
Pakistan, resistance movements started against the government, it has become the
other reason to stop the inflow of investment. With the terrorist attacks in
Pakistan not only the foreign investor but also the local investors started to
withdraw their investments from Pakistan and they preferred to invest in
Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates and in South East Asia .The FDI decreases with
the passage of time. With the decrease of FDI, economic activities also
decreased because FDI and economic growth are interconnected with each other. If
the FDI increases, the economic condition flourish, it creates the opportunities
for others and if the FDI decreases the economic condition, it becomes the
reason of unemployment.
Pakistan has never experienced a trade surplus but they can reduce the trade
deficit to impose the heavy tariff on imports and also increase the exports.
Multinational Corporations have the ability to crowd out the domestic
investments by raising cheap funds in the host countries. The efficient and more
effective allocation of FDI is possible if the host country provides a pro-trade
infrastructure and solid policies. Before the 9/11 and the joining the war on
terror, the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment was very remarkable but with the
military cope and after terrorist incidents, the European consignment and many
orders have been cancelled. The European Union supported the democracy but at
that time the government of the dictator General Parvez Mushraf established and
the European Union ordered to replace aid of Pakistan with Bangladesh. However
the government has failed to stop the terrorist incidents and terrorism. So many
multinational companies have to wind up their business from Pakistan and settled
in Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong and in United Arab
Emirates. At that time, the FDI was present in the country. They could introduce
the trade reforms and attract the foreigners but they unfortunately were engage
in the war on terror.
Empirical study indicates the perception of risk, uncertainty and war
discourages the Foreign Direct Investment but the case of Pakistan is quite
different. FDI inflow into Pakistan increased subsequently after the 2002 but
when the war cost jumped from $ 2.669 million in 2001-2002 to $ 17. 8 Billion,
By 2010-2011.
Derailing Pak-India Peace Process
Kashmir was a disputed area between Pakistan and India and it has become a
permanent issue between them. Kashmir was a Muslim populated area ruled by Hindu
Maharaja Hari Singh where Muslims are in majority while the Hindus are in
minority. At the time of independence both countries India and Pakistan, the
Maharaja of Kashmir preferred to remain independent without association to India
or Pakistan. Maharaja Heri Singh offered a standstill agreement to both India
and Pakistan which is accepted by Pakistan but rejected by India. So at this
agreement, the Pakistani forces were dispatched into Kashmir but the Pushton
tribes invaded to Kashmir. The Maharaja requested to India to provide the
military assistance for safeguard of Kashmir. The Indian Prime Minister was read
to provide the financial assistance but the acting Governor General Lord
Mountbatten advised the Maharaja to accede to India and also signed the treaty
of accessions to the Union of India on 26 Oct, 1947. Both India and Pakistan
have fought many wars on the issue of Kashmir which is still unresolved.
When we study the Kashmir after 9/11 it comes in our knowledge due to war on
terror, India will get maximum benefits with the change of international opinion
in its favor against terrorism. India advocated the US to include the Kashmir
issue in its war on terror priority due to attack on state assembly in Srinagar
on 1st Oct 2001. In this attack 27 people killed and subsequent attack on the
Indian parliament on Dec, 13, 2001. Therefore for 10 months military was deputed
on borders between two countries. . (U. Javed, 2014). With this incident the
Indian government tried to get international support against the terrorism and
gave the perception that Pakistan is involved in terrorist’s attacks both in
India and Kashmir. During Parvez Mushraf regime composite dialogue for peace
started between India and Pakistan after a meeting in Islamabad, in which
Islamabad meeting both countries member Parveez Mushraf and Atal Behari Vajpayee
were determined to resolve all the issues including the Kashmir in spite of many
ups and downs in 2004.
Kashmir, according to the Partition formula, was likely to be part of Pakistan
but the Indian government acted otherwise and occupied a large part of the state
by military action. The people of Kashmir have invariably been challenging this
occupancy, initially through peaceful means and subsequently by armed
resistance. Islamabad stands with the opinion that the people of Kashmir should
have the right to decide their destiny in a fair and free plebiscite under the
relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. (Gaershdma, n.d)
The ‘covert’ US engagement with Islamabad, Delhi and Kashmiries is no longer a
secret. Washington has expressed its desire at number of times to settle the
Kashmir issue within the existing territorial parameters but with minor
realignment. It views that India has a potential and a rival to China, not only
in the region but also in global affairs. After the 9/11, a number of events
occurred that favored New Delhi. Mumbai was attacked in 2008 by ten Pakistani
terrorists in which 173 were killed and 308 were wounded. The sole survived
gunman Ajmal kasab was arrested during the attack and was found to be a
Pakistani national. During interrogation, it was proved that this terrorist
attack was planned by Lashker e Taiba, which is existed in Pakistan and is
working for the liberation of Kashmir. Indian government is of the opinion that
Kashmir is the integral part of India.
Under the international pressure, the president Mr. Parveez Mushraf defined the
parameters for Kashmir struggle. We will never budge an inch from our principle
stand on Kashmir. Kashmir issue will be resolved by dialog and by peaceful
negotiations with the wishes of Kashmiri people and the united nation
resolution. Pakistan always looked at Kashmir struggle as freedom struggle.
Islamabad strongly supported the self determination for the Kashmir’s and
pledged moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmir cause. After the
9/11 concerted efforts were made that war on terror should not affect the
Kashmir’s fight for the right of self determination. 2007 Smajhotta express was
attacked on 8 February in which at least 68 people were killed in this incident.
The sole surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab who was arrested during the attacks was
found to be a Pakistani national. This fact was acknowledged by Pakistani
authorities. In May 2010, an Indian court convicted him on four counts of
murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism offences, and
sentenced him to death. India blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based
militant group, for planning and executing the attacks. Islamabad resisted the
claims and demanded evidence. India provided evidence in the form of
interrogations, weapons, candy wrappers, Pakistani Brand Milk Packets, and
telephone sets. Indian officials demanded Pakistan extradite suspects for trial.
They also said by giving the sophistication of the attacks that the perpetrators
must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan.
Both India and Pakistan have launched several mutual confidence-building
measures (CBMs) to ease tensions between the two. These include more high-level
talks, easing visa restrictions, and restarting of cricket matches between the
two. The new bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad has also helped bring
the two sides closer. Pakistan and India have also decided to co-operate on
economic fronts. An Indian man held in Pakistani prisons since 1975 as an
accused spy walked across the border after freedom on 3rd March 2008.It was an
unconditional release that Pakistan said was done to improve relations between
the two countries.
On 10 February 2011, India agreed to resume talks with Pakistan which were
suspended after 26/11 Mumbai Attacks. India had put on hold all the diplomatic
relations saying it will only continue if Pakistan will act against the accused
of Mumbai attacks. On 13 April 2012 there was a thaw in relations when India
gained MFN status in the country, India announced the removal of restrictions on
FDI investment from Pakistan to India. (web)
The US needed India-Pak cooperation to fight its war on terrorism. Hence it did
not include the Kashmir in war on terror as per suggested by India but
persistent pressure was on Pakistan to address Indian concerns on terrorism.
While the United States considered it the source hub of terrorism and offered
the unconditional support of US, all material and operational support for the
military camps. US supported the Mushraf proposal of self governance,
de-militarization and joint management. The cost of the conflicts has been
increasingly unbearable for all involved members. According to the official
estimates, some 40,000 lives have been lost since the onset of insurgency in
1989, though other estimates put the toll much higher. Large-scale displacement
was done from different parts of the state is an integral part of the Kashmir
conflict. An estimated one million people have been displaced in the state due
to militancy. (D. A.Mahapatra & S. Shekhawat, 2006)
Declining Education Standard
Education doesn’t mean to provide the degree but the actual purpose of education
is to change the behavior of the people and make the people of this able to
differentiate between wrong and right that what is right and what is wrong?, not
only for their but also others, share the experiences and provide the skills but
at that time Education has become a profitable business which is providing the
only degrees and producing the aggressive generations. According to realist
school of thought men is not good by nature, when any state does not provide the
basic needs and necessary education to their people then they receive the
alarming results that create the challenge for the whole world.
Terrorism also affected the educational system of Pakistan and terrorists also
targeted the schools, colleges and universities. One of the most prominent
examples is of Malala Yousf Zai. She is one of the million affected school girls
and school boys in Federal Administrative Tribal Area, Swat and other areas of
Pakistan. The terrorist organizations targeted the schools, colleges and
universities and many students lost their lives because the terrorists wanted to
implement their ideology. They consider that school education misguides the
local bodies and this is against the Sharia. Therefore they should attack the
girl’s school in tribal areas.
While the most horrible incidents was the couple of suicide attacks on the
international Islamic University Islamabad ,in which six innocent people passed
away including three female students in October. The enrollment of new students
in Pakistan is very low due to security reasons, poverty and lack of awareness.
In tribal areas, people are not ready to send their children in schools due to
terrorist incidents. The female enrollment in education sector is very low as
compare to male students because the parents consider that it is a waste of time
and resources. They think that their participation in the Pakistani society is
not as satisfactory as there is the west. After getting the education, they will
busy in the house, so there is an urgent need to educate the parents with
different sources, packages and advertisements.
International organizations are interested in Pakistan to improve the education
sector and to increase the literacy rate while the terrorists are not in the
favor of social education. Therefore they attacked on school buses, Mangora,
Sawat, 9 October 2012. A gunman attacked on bus near the Mangora in which Malala
Yousf Zai was seriously injured by gunshot and two other school students were
injured. The report also revealed that 1030 schools and colleges were destroyed
by Talban insurgents in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw from 2008 to 2013. Although females
have fundamental rights to get education and can differentiate between good and
evils and they should serve not only the country, (M. Raja, 2013) but also the
local community when they become doctors because a female doctor can better
understand the female problems and can also treat them properly. There is a need
to introduce the reforms in tribal areas and provide the economic, educational
and social opportunities and to develop these areas from all aspects.
At that level, the government should coordinate the local Mullas and make ensure
to convey the real concept of Islam to the local communities and by assigning
the duty to the Mullas to educate them about the fundamental rights of both male
and female. There should be no objection on any type of education because in
Islam there is a Hades “to get education even if you have to go to China” Islam
does not give the concept to get only Islamic education but also encourages to
get every type of education. Already in Pakistan literacy rate is not up to the
mark. On the other hand, insurgency and other issues are creating bad effects on
education system. Results of our education system are not good due to lack of
interest. There is no proper security and insufficient budget is allocated for
the education sector.
After joining the war on terror, the cost of war on terror has been increased
because of higher insurance cover while the cost of Pakistan involvement in this
war on terror amounts $ 67.93 billion or Rs 5037 billion which has affected the
education budget. Economics firmly opine that Pakistan needs to get out of this
war immediately. We can earn a lot of revenue from tourism and unemployment can
be reduced in these areas because majority of these areas enhance the tourism
industry but after the 9/11 and joining the war on terror Pakistan not only
became the unsafe place but also a place of threat when the allied states
prohibited their natives to travel towards Pakistan. It destroyed the Pakistan
tourism industry and increased the unemployment.
Live broadcasting of terrorist activities and incidents has become the cause of
physiological effects not only on the local community but also on the
international community. Due to this reason, people are bound to their homes.
Pakistan at this time should play very constructive role and should remove the
threat from the minds of community and international community and should try to
promote the education, sports activities and should fight for the educational
promotion. It is the flaw of Pakistan that there are only 51 Universities in
which mostly are situated in urban areas. It creates the problems for majority
students because universities are situated on the divisional level .If the
government is really interested to improve the literacy rate, then at least one
university must be build at District level.
Government should try to maintain balance between Islamic education and state
education not only in NWFP and FATA but also in many other areas which are
affected by terrorism. On one side the terrorism decreased the Pakistan literacy
rate and on the other hand government herself pushes back the literacy rate due
to the lack of interest in education sector. The government doesn’t allocate the
sufficient budget for education. Another reason is this; there is no proper
check and balance over the education sectors. There are many schools in which
many teachers are absent from schools. So the government should ensure the
attendance of the teachers through biometric system. It should assign the duty
to the District Coordinator Officer to check the attendance at his own office on
both arrival and departure times. The primary education setup of Baluchistan,
FATA and NWFP is not satisfactory due to terrorism. So the government must pay
attention and try to improve the basic education system in this area.
Literacy rate varies in Pakistan regionally due to many reasons such as lack of
resources, lack of government attention and lack of awareness. Some areas in
Pakistan are developed and there literacy rate is sufficient like Islamabad
literacy rate is 96% when the literacy rate in Kohlu district is 28% that is
alarming. When we analyze the literacy rate between Urban and Rural areas, the
people belong to Urban area are more educated and the literacy rate in Urban
areas is sufficient when the literacy rate is alarming in Rural areas due lack
of awareness among them and the lack of access to the resources. A survey
conducted in which they got different age groups and through their report the
literacy rate among the age group 55 to 64 was 38%, age groups 45 to 54 was 46%,
age group 25 to 34 57% and the age group 15 to 24 was 72% during 2002 to 2004.
(Education in Pakistan, n.d)
Dissipating Tourism Industry
Through tourism, not only we can exchange our culture but also can pass through
different experiences. We can get the opportunity to learn something about
culture, people, area and nature. When we travel, we make the contact with
unknown people and we are ambitious to know about different culture, language,
history and their traditions. Tourism is a learning process in which we share
our culture, language and we get the knowledge about nature and nature elements
form lack views, flowing river water, fertile lands, forests and high mountains.
A success of any tourist industry to provide the safe and pleasant environment
to the tourists because a safe and healthy environment shows the ability of this
country and it is widely accepted by the international community. While the many
countries spend millions on their market to attract the tourists however the
visitors are hesitate to select the country. (V. Chahucan & S. Khanna, 2008)
Geographically and strategically Pakistan is an important country and is located
in South Asia, the specialty of Pakistan is this that people here enjoy four
seasons: summer, winter, autumn and spring that is the blessing of God. Pakistan
is an attractive land for tourists due to its geographical location because it
is famous for its lush green plains, deserts, mountains, rivers and lakes and
due its great monuments. Pakistan not only attracts the local tourists but also
attracts the foreigners and is doing lot of efforts to promote the industry of
tourism. Majority of the tourists visit the northern sides due to lush greenery
and mountainous area while many people like to visit the historical places where
the monuments of the great rulers and worriers can also be seen. Unfortunately
the Pakistan terrorism industry has been destroyed by terrorist with terrorist
incidents.
Nine foreign tourists excluding one Pakistani killed in the Himalaya
Gilgit-Baltistan in which there were five Ukrainians and other were Chinese
while according to official report, the only one Chinese survivor has been
recovered. Threke Talban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the killing.
(S. Mir, 2013) While the whole country condemned the attack especially those who
are the lovers of nature or environment but the incident raised the serious
questions about security failure and embarrassed the country. It is fact that
Pakistan is already facing the poor image due to terrorism. Before this
incident, Sawat became the base camp for the terrorists and has become the
attractive place for them. With the consent of Pakistan government, military
launched operation against the terrorists groups in these areas and cleared it
successfully from the terrorists and now again the local government and the
federal government is putting lot of efforts to normalize the life in Sawat for
the tourists.
Hotels in these tourist places especially in Northern Areas, Sawat and Chitral
were closed for all kinds of tourists because the security threats were very
high and the people or businessmen who associated with tourist industry suffered
a lot. After the wave of terrorism, people have been bound to their houses and
this situation sustains not only for locals but also for the foreigners. They
were not ready to visit Pakistan for tourist places. After the 9/11 United
States and the United Kingdom had issued warning to stop their citizen’s visit
to Pakistan. This warning had been issued due to the security concerns.
Pakistan is rich for its culture, history and civilization. People also visit
Pakistan due to its culture and civilization. Every province has a unique
culture, heritage, language and history which make it different from each other.
In these areas, different languages are used in different areas in Pakistan but
the terrorism has damaged the industry of tourism and has become victims
thousands of people including foreigners. When Pakistan joined the war on terror
ultimately affect the Pakistan tourism because more then hundred local guest
houses shut down in Northern Areas. Similarly the tourism activity had minimized
in Swat and Chitral because many militant groups were active after the joining
war on terror and they were declared the war against the Pakistan forces and
banned the entry for all local and foreigner tourists. While a warring issued by
many countries for their citizen and intimate them to prevent the visit for
Pakistan especially Northern Areas. At that time these militant groups tried to
impose the ideology of local peoples and had also banned the all social activity
of women.
Frittering Sport Activities
Sports not only refresh the mind of man but also provide a healthy nation but
unfortunately Pakistan sports have been damaged due to terrorism. Sports teams
of other countries not ready to visit Pakistan and their attention shifted to
Bangladesh, India and Middle East due to security concerns. A terrorist attack
carried out on Sri Lankan team on 3rd July, 2009 when a bus was carrying Sri
Lankan Cricketers in Lahore near the Gaddafi stadium, meanwhile the terrorists
attacked on cricketers carrying bus in this attack.6 members of Sri Lankan
Cricket team were injured, 6 Pakistani Policemen and 2 civilians were killed in
this attack. (Attach on national Sri Lankan team, 2009) Already many
international Cricket teams have refused to play with Pakistan due to security
concerns after 9/11, although Pakistan is a front ally of war on terror.
During a test series between Pakistan and New Zeeland the terrorist conducted a
suicide bomb attack outside the hotel where the New-Zeeland cricketers were
accommodated. After this incident they abundant the test series and sent back to
their homeland. After the 9/11 the Australian team was not willing to ply in the
Pakistani grounds because they considered the security arrangement is not
sufficient. The Indian team had refused visit in Pakistan after the Mumbai
attack so with the replacement of India Sri Lankan team visited the Pakistan.
Pakistan many time offered he high security arrangements International Cricket
teams to visit the Pakistan and promote the International Cricket once again.
The local militant groups heated this type of activity and considered against
the Islam therefore thy forbidden many times but the July, 2009 attack totally
destroyed the Pakistani sports.
Now it has become the responsibility of international organizations, US and
western allies to arrange international tournaments in Pakistan and rehabilitate
the sports activities in Pakistan. In this perspective, they should encourage
the western cricket teams to visit the Pakistan and help to decrease the level
of insecurity because this is the motive of the terrorist groups to create
threat and after the Sri Lankan team incident they have succeeded. The world cup
2011 was to be co-hosted by Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka but after
the 2009 attack, the Sri Lankan team and International Cricket Council forced to
strip Pakistan of its hosting rights.
After the 9/11 not only Pakistan Cricket but also other sports in Pakistan have
been affected by terrorism and Pakistan have become isolated in sports field,
although the Pakistan had won cricket world cup , hockey world cup, Snooker
world cup and Squash world cup. Now the Pakistan has a need to get international
attention to get the opportunity again hosting and promoting the sports
activities. International community should play to role for promoting the sports
activities because it will divert the attention of the Pakistanis people who are
suffering from the terrorist activities and have been bound to their homes.
Their economic activities have disturbed because many businesses are interlinked
with the sports.
Imran Khan now the Chairman of Pakistan Tahrek e Insaf and the ex cricketer of
Pakistan cricket team criticized the policy of Parvez Mushraf the former
President of Pakistan blindly joined the war and terror against the terrorism
due to effect the social, economic, supports and tourism industries of Pakistan.
Now the Pakistan is suffering because Mushraf follow the United States polices
that Mushraf would not join, now the fact is this many tourists and cricket
teams have refused to visit in Pakistan due to security reasons and terrorism. (Hassan,
2011)