THE whole nation is shocked over the recent tragedy against the Sri Lankan team. As a citizen I have some recommendations to make.

We should at once stop this baseless and useless blame game on anyone and each other. We should realise that the police force is small and they are underpaid, overworked, politically victimised and certainly no angels like the rest of us.

We need a new anti-terrorism police force immediately. They should be highly innovative in their approach with an in-built think tank. They should not be politically victimised and be appointed as a constitutional appointment.

We should immediately devise our own anti-terrorism policy. This should not reflect any other country`s view. Our own people should be employed to work on it and immediately divert the focus of our intelligence agencies towards fighting terrorism. The area of intelligence gathering with reference to terrorism should be separate from that for political purpose.

I think now the line between terrorism and paid Mafioso-style groups is blurred. Now the new terror game seems to be for money. Gone are the days of ideology, passion, perspective, beliefs and thinking.

Thanks to globalisation and such theories, poverty has increased and as the poor have no control over their own lives and destiny, this terror-style Mafioso seems more attractive and logical.

We have to see it in this perspective. We should stop blaming India and others and do our own house right. We love Pakistan, we love Quaid, and we love the Prophet (PBUH). So let`s be honest to ourselves and our people.

DR MEHER A ZAIDI
Karachi

(II)

THE armed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team convoy and the resulting loss of life of our brave police officers have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that Pakistan has been taken hostage. It has become hostage to the whims of armed extremists, obscurantists and politicians who would use this security lapse as a means of extracting political mileage.

The terrorists, regardless of their grievances, have succeeded in crushing the national morale and also eliciting a passive ambivalence from our populace, who have no idea how to deal with such terrorists, except at the most, and verbally condemn their actions.

We, Pakistanis, are plagued by terror and fear-and the time is ripe for the president, and PM to take the nation into confidence and launch a massive military operation against the terrorists and their sympathisers across the country.

It is another `either you are with us or against us` moment for them. Terrorist safe havens should be mowed down with extreme prejudice by utilising all resources at the disposal of the state the Army, Air Force and other security forces. Any action initiated right now should have reasonably widespread public support. The president, PM and lawmakers should stress that the militants do not wish Pakistan well and we cannot afford to be ambivalent anymore towards how to deal with them.

No one has the right to take life and challenge the writ of the state, regardless of the enormity of their grievances.

This is the time to strike as the iron is red hot. Failure to act or a less than emphatic response to the attacks on Sri Lankan cricket team will likely lead to more brazen attacks by terrorists.

We have already wasted much time looking for ad hoc solutions. This is also needed to pull back the country from the brink of a military takeover — the more brazen the attacks by the terrorists become, the closer the country will slide towards military intervention. May God protect all Pakistanis.

MIR USMAN ALI
United States

(III)

WE have heard of women, children, mourners in funeral processions and other innocent bystanders getting killed or maimed in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. But, why sportsmen like cricketers? And again, why Sri Lankans?

Sri Lanka is a small and weak country which had always maintained excellent relations with Pakistan. And there are no festering disputes like Kashmir or Siachen between the two countries waiting to be resolved.

We can only conclude that these are just mindless killings, not motivated by any kind of religious or political ideology, but by a sheer sadistic and maniacal desire to kill and/or be killed as suicide attackers.

We can only sympathise with President Asif Ali Zardari who has nothing better to offer the Sri Lankan government except a bland apology. He looks so helpless before the steady and relentless march of the terrorists towards Islamabad.

KANGAYAM R.RANGASWAMY
United States

(IV)

MARCH 3 has been a very depressing day. Sri Lankans were our guests, who have always been very generous to us as a nation, be it sports, diplomacy or personal one to one friendship.

I have personal experience while working abroad in different countries coming across people from different walks of life from Sri Lanka, they have always been very cordial, but such a tragedy on our soil and that too in the heart of the city of Lahore.

Isn`t it a point of concern for every citizen of Pakistan?

Watching different TV channels and listening to the news/comments on our media the whole day, I felt sad about what happened. While the terrorists fired sporadically for quite some time, the video coverage continued and none of the private security agencies/guards (present in that business centre/vicinity) came out to support the police, who presumably were surrounded from all corners by the terrorists in the middle of the roundabout.

None of the armed security guards came out to engage the terrorists or open fire on them, at least to injure/disable one of the culprits as they ran/walked out from that area easily without any hesitation. While TV channels were competing in trying to break the news first, politicians were busy cashing in on the sad incident. Civil society on the other hand was panicking for its own safety.

Most of us get sucked into hype very conveniently and convincingly that there was a foreign hand functioning on their agenda to destabilise us, and our intellectuals debated for hours on such topics.

But can we ask ourselves one question? Why is everyone looking after one`s own vested interests and indifferent to the mutual or national cause?

ZIA KHAN
Via email

(V)

AFTER a few years while passing by the Qadhafi Stadium, we will be telling our young generation that was the place where thousands of fans used to gather to cheer the selected eleven. The spot was the hub of the international glitterati of the cricket world.

I may sound too pessimistic and while the situation may improve with the passing time, at the moment the future of any kind of sports in Pakistan looks bleak. I pay gratitude to those officers who fought and sacrificed their lives to save the guests but the fact cannot be denied that there were security lapses.

The people accountable are those in the government but unfortunately they have been playing the blame game. The loss of the families of the martyrs cannot be recovered and the administration should provide full compensation. We all hope that the matter resolves soon and Pakistan once again becomes a safe place for the cricket lovers.

SARA BATOOL
Lahore