War on terror turns a corner

It is quite risky to write anything about Mr. Laden in general. Not least because he was the biggest goon of the world and the organization he spearheaded still lurks in some murky hole. More importantly, in view of recent developments the number of new snippets on his death far outnumber his alleged sightings while he was still alive (which is really saying something) running the bigger risk of sounding stale or redundant (or both)!

But I am ready to take this huge personal risk on this momentous occasion in the history of modern world. This is because it is so important to believe and record this event. Even though Al-Qaeda still survives, maybe as a mere shadow of its former powerful self, and the terror it perpetrated has metamorphosed into a faceless form defying boundaries - impossible to be contained within the 18 feet high walls of the triangular compound in which its head was captured; the capture and assassination of its head had become far too important to assert the 'don't mess with us' attitude of any human being who despises the dangerous world it wanted to bequeath our generations to come. This war has come a long way from being a struggle between good and evil and attained the status of a battle for survival. It has become the fight for the right to live, the right to choose and the right to progress.

The circumstances and details of his capture also underscore a significant shift in the way we perceive international diplomacy. The fact that he was sniffed out on Pakistan soil by USA does not undermine the tenet of sovereignty, rather adds a corollary to the idea of a free nation. The right to existence and independence as a nation or an individual is not absolute but comes riddled with responsibility, in absence of which it becomes obsolete. If you harbor a terrorist in your house, it can be bombed without issuing you a memo on a on a paper carrying official stamp and duly signed by the local municipal authorities. The fact or fiction about Pakistan's establishment being oblivious from start (= osama being right under their nose) to finish ( = US choppers, how and when ??? ) does not really stand its ground as a counter-argument for more than one reasons. It, in fact, gives us a cause for even greater worry and calls for more stringent international vigilance for Pakistan. A nuclear-capable state full of incompetent oblivious authorities, with "helpful" agencies like ISI at close call can be an inviting haven for any terrorist seeking refuge.

Pakistan will do well to learn from the recent uprisings in the middle east which have ushered the Islamic world into an era of International liberalism after a long winter. The extremist organizations like Al-Qaeda were conspicuous in the recent Arab spring by their absence. Its opportune coincidence with the killing of global mascot of intolerance has thrown us a rare opportunity to uproot the diffuse, yet weakening, global network of terror from its very roots.