All over the world, a new day begins with hopes and aspirations. Students head for their educational institutes and people leave for work; they share a common goal; a better tomorrow. Sadly this is not the case in Pakistan. Bomb blasts in major cities has become a daily affair. Initially the terrorists targeted military sensitive areas only but now they have started to target innocent civilians especially women and children. These terrorist attacks are well planned and take place at peak hours when the casualties would be a maximum.

The terrorist attacks have crippled the already dwindling Pakistani economy. Whereas other countries have started to recover from recession, Pakistani economy has taken a nose dive.

First of all the terrorist attacks in the beautiful and picturesque NWFP have ruined our tourism industry. The breathtakingly beautiful valleys of NWFP which were the hub of summer tourism once have been merciless destroyed by the Taliban. They burnt Malam Jabba the only ski resort of Pakistan to ashes. Tourist both local and foreign no more visit the Northern areas as they are safe no more. The launch of the Operation Cleanup in Waziristan and other adjoining valleys saw the biggest internal displacement in the history. The historic cities of Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi have been badly affected by the bomb blasts as well. The loss of life and property has been great and as mostly shopping centers were targeted, businesses have suffered. The stock markets plunge further with every single blast. Foreign investors are no more interested in investing in Pakistan and even Pakistani businessmen have started to set up their businesses abroad. Joblessness is at its height and people are “selling their children” as they cannot feed them. The government faces the additional task of looking after the internally displaced people as well. With so many problems at hand, do you seriously think Pakistan is capable of terrorism internationally?

The motive behind these systematic bomb blasts is to destroy the economy of the country so that it becomes totally dependent on aid from other countries and like other things in this world, aid does not come free. The aid is offered but at the cost of compromising our nuclear program. There are many countries which stand to benefit if Pakistan loses its nuclear capability.

Why did these so called civilized nations keep mum when America’s love child Israel brutally butchered Palestinians last year? Did any one condemn Israel? Were any sanctions imposed on it? Was it labeled a “terrorist state”? Are any of the Israeli citizens humiliated at International airports? Are their students denied visas? The answer to all of the above questions is “no”. This only shows that the so called civilized nations of the world are two faced hypocrites.

Every country has its fair share of black sheep. Unfortunately the biased International Media gives more coverage to our black sheep than to those working selflessly to alleviate poverty and suffering from our society.

The only reason Pakistan a victim of terrorism itself is called a terrorist state is that it is an Islamic country. Well for your kind information, true Islam is nowhere to be found in Pakistan. As a matter of fact true Islam does not exist in any Islamic country of the world. We have adopted some Islamic values and grotesquely distorted the rest to suit our needs.

All those who label Pakistan as a terrorist state must realize that Pakistan is a nation which has been robbed, gang raped, stabbed and then left in a corner to perish not only by its friends and neighbors but also by its leaders.

We dare you to label other countries where human rights are being violated on a gross scale daily as “terrorist states” as well.

Pick any newspaper and you will see the headlines “Carnage in Peshawar”, “Blasts rock Lahore”, “Bomb blasts rip Pindi” every other day. The newspapers are full of horrifying details of death and destruction. No one is safe here. You do not know whether your children will come back from their educational institutions or not. You do not know if your spouse will make it back from the office. You do not know that you are meeting your friends or relatives for the last time as they would be blown up the following day in a blast in the market. Ask a woman how it feels when the men of her family will not return from the mosque to eat the meal she had so lovingly prepared. We Pakistanis live in a perpetual fear of losing our lives or our loved ones and yet we are accused of abetting and funding terrorists. Whenever there is a terrorist attack in any part of the world, fingers are raised at Pakistan. Our neighbors especially deserve a Noble Prize when it comes to blame games. There is much hype about ISI but what about RAW and KHAD even they do not have a clean record especially KHAD the Afghan secret service which is responsible for bomb blasts in Peshawar back in the 1980s. The point to be noted is that KHAD is still very much active and gets its training from Indian and Israeli agents.

Generally Taliban are accused of these dastardly attacks on civilians and policemen but then who created and armed the Taliban is no secret. Pakistan is accused of harboring and aiding terrorists then how would you explain the American patronage of the Xe Company a successor of the Blackwater.

The main reason why terrorism is synonymous with Pakistan is the weak and ineffective foreign policies of the inept and corrupt rulers as well as the strong anti Pakistan propaganda of India. The venomous statements given by their politicians are filled with anti Pakistan statements. What they fail to realize is that Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism. Many innocent people lose their lives daily. We have not recovered from the shock of lives and property of one blast when we hear about the second one often at a bigger scale.

Under these circumstances Pakistan needs sympathy instead it is being cornered by everyone and labeled as a terrorist state. Is this fair?