"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
" The dilemma of Pakistan today is aptly described in these wise old words of Sun Tzu.
And here lies the remedy as well.
To win the battle identifying the identities of the two sides is crucial.
The problem in Pakistan is that the enemy lies within us and in order to separate it from ourselves we need to identify ourselves first.
This should be the first task of any counter terrorism strategy in Pakistan.
Teaching Pakistan Studies and history at different levels in Pakistan gives one a clear idea about the contribution of our education system in creating an enabling environment for terrorism.
For the last three decades we have been moving in opposite directions; from Islamization of education to enlightened moderation the policies have remained obscure.
Ask a Pakistani graduate class ''what do we stand for" and "what do the militants stand for', their confusion becomes apparent.
It is this very confusion which enables the terrorists to kill in the name of religion and get away with it.
The emphasis on rhetoric and absence of critical thinking in our education creates mindsets which are unable to make reasoned judgments.
The endless arguments on Pakistani media is another source of confusion in young minds.
The constant debate among conservative right, liberal left, moderates, religious scholars and clergy has developed patterns which are quite predictable and adding to the polarity of thought and confusion among the masses.
The terrorists keep selling their narratives to this divided mindset.
In order to develop an effective counter narrative all these segments of the society have to jump out of their comfort zones, and establish a genuine dialogue to resolve conflicting issues.
The biggest responsibility lies with the religious scholars.
They have to build a consensus amongst themselves first.
A convincing and honest narrative should be built which when taught in schools should be backed by honest history and while we do this we should be very clear that it is honesty which is Islamic, not any justification of the acts of the past Muslim empires and dynasties.
Our children need to be taught the inherent values of respect, tolerance and honesty in Islam.
They need to be told clearly why the extremist ideas are not Islamic at all.
Terrorism will be defeated in this country the day a child can tell an extremist that his understanding of religion is flawed and needs to be corrected.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
" The dilemma of Pakistan today is aptly described in these wise old words of Sun Tzu.
And here lies the remedy as well.
To win the battle identifying the identities of the two sides is crucial.
The problem in Pakistan is that the enemy lies within us and in order to separate it from ourselves we need to identify ourselves first.
This should be the first task of any counter terrorism strategy in Pakistan.
Teaching Pakistan Studies and history at different levels in Pakistan gives one a clear idea about the contribution of our education system in creating an enabling environment for terrorism.
For the last three decades we have been moving in opposite directions; from Islamization of education to enlightened moderation the policies have remained obscure.
Ask a Pakistani graduate class ''what do we stand for" and "what do the militants stand for', their confusion becomes apparent.
It is this very confusion which enables the terrorists to kill in the name of religion and get away with it.
The emphasis on rhetoric and absence of critical thinking in our education creates mindsets which are unable to make reasoned judgments.
The endless arguments on Pakistani media is another source of confusion in young minds.
The constant debate among conservative right, liberal left, moderates, religious scholars and clergy has developed patterns which are quite predictable and adding to the polarity of thought and confusion among the masses.
The terrorists keep selling their narratives to this divided mindset.
In order to develop an effective counter narrative all these segments of the society have to jump out of their comfort zones, and establish a genuine dialogue to resolve conflicting issues.
The biggest responsibility lies with the religious scholars.
They have to build a consensus amongst themselves first.
A convincing and honest narrative should be built which when taught in schools should be backed by honest history and while we do this we should be very clear that it is honesty which is Islamic, not any justification of the acts of the past Muslim empires and dynasties.
Our children need to be taught the inherent values of respect, tolerance and honesty in Islam.
They need to be told clearly why the extremist ideas are not Islamic at all.
Terrorism will be defeated in this country the day a child can tell an extremist that his understanding of religion is flawed and needs to be corrected.
Source...