Defenders of the Green Skies - Source: PAF Website

Pakistan Air Force today conducted vigilance exercises throughout the central Punjab and North-Eastern parts of the country including Azad Kashmir. We all saw as fighter jets swooped the skies over Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, boosting the public morale and the feeling of patriotism and pride among the citizens. People climbed up the roofs and at some places shouted slogans in favour of the armed forces as all Civil Aviation activity was stopped for at least 25 minutes all across Pakistan.

Only yesterday, Indian political leadership including Congress Leader Sonia Gandhi and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee went more aggressive in declaring that India has not ruled out an option of offensive strikes within Pakistan fueling the tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbours to new heights. This comes after repeated claims of the Pakistani Government that India has not yet shared any information or evidence relating to involvement of any Pakistan-based group or individuals. Accusations of a Pakistani hand behind Mumbai attacks did not surprise us as Pakistan has become used to the Indian rhetoric and many times, false allegations ignoring the basic fact that Pakistan is itself at war with extremist elements and terrorists on its Western front and inside its own cities and towns.

Pakistan Air Force’s flights over three major cities and Azad Kashmir this afternoon are both symbolic and extremely important a response to reports that India has started moving its forces to bases near the Pakistani border areas and that it might conduct offensives as deep as in the vicinity of Lahore; our home town; Pakistan’s heart and the country’s second largest city.

Finally, we have made it clear that we love peace but our forces won’t sit idle if any Indian adventure in our country’s territory is undertaken.

Peace; but not on the expense of our country’s sovereignty and defense…

What happened in Mumbai is condemnable and no one today can understand or feel the pain better than us; the Pakistanis living in Lahore, Karachi, Balochistan, Swat, FATA or anywhere else. After all we are paying the biggest price for making Pakistan the front-line state in fighting the global war on terror. With the highest number of suicide attacks taking place in Pakistan since the dawn of 2007, we have lost hundreds of innocent civilians, a national leader, and the peace of our minds. Who can say we do not know or cannot realize the horrendous nature of such an incident.

Despite of all this it makes one feel sad when the Indian authorities and media so casually shatter all confidence built during the last few years and blame it all on Pakistan. It was not even a few hours when the Indian media outspokenly started naming Pakistan as being the culprit. It later came up with amusing stories of how someone could have transported ammunition from Karachi to Mumbai through sea not realizing the stringent watch both countries keep over Run of Kucch; so extensive that every year hundreds of fishermen are arrested by either country’s sea-patrol just for roaming into other’s sea-territory.

It is so easy for them to blame it on foreign hands but they do not even qualify for this job. No one is vary of the dozens of separatist movements in full swing all across India and the militant nature of extremist factions, some political as well as religious groups, in the Indian society. Who has forgotten the Gujarat massacre and if anyone has, just turn on an authentic news outlet and see what happened to Muslim students there just yesterday.

We were so ‘Peace Loving’ to ignore the incidence of an ex-Army Indian general’s involvement in burning of Samjhota Express in the Indian territory. And we were indifferent enough to not blame India for sponsoring military uprising against the Pakistani state in NWFP and Balochistan when Indian weapons were discovered in terrorist hideouts and the fact that India has five diplomatic missions in a country like Afghanistan.

We have extremism, sectarianism, fundamentalism, suicide bombings, militant resistance movements and a crashing economy as troubles more than we can take at home, inside or on the borders. Hence, Pakistan is in no position to be so insensitive to its own security by carrying out or sponsoring such a horrific act of terrorism in any neighbouring country.

Alas, those who should have understood it long before actually have never done so. That is where terrorists have been successful…