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When allegations and defences are repeated for a long time, they acquire a safe diplomatic quality and become emblematic of difficulties in international relations. For Pakistan, this has been the story of at least a decade. Terrorism in the country covers a broad canvas – claims, for instance, that Pakistan is the most dangerous place in the world,1 or that it offers safe havens to militants,2 or that it does not do enough to bring them to justice, or most dangerously, that it sponsors terrorism.3 The usual defence is a reminder that Pakistan itself is a victim and has suffered tremendous casualties,4 and that it is fighting to its full capacity against an enemy that people know little about. While these become mundane debates, they can lead to irreparable damage if one side takes control of the narrative at the expense of the other.
The unilateral operation by the United States that led to the reported assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad was one of those instances when the safe rhetoric appeared to lose its benign diplomatic strength. With the al-Qaeda returning to the front pages, the meta-narrative of its ideological and physical dominance will become a concern in the coming months and years. A recent and more realistic assessment of its influence divides a core group of bin Laden and his associates from affiliated networks and „al-Qaeda-inspired [but] non-affiliated cells and individuals all over the world.5 It is in the latter that many militant groups in Pakistan are categorized even if they do not adhere ideologically and institutionally to al-Qaeda-ism.
There are fears that bin Laden s assassination would reinvigorate many such militant groups. It is debatable how many owe allegiance to al- Qaeda or bin Laden beyond misjudged admiration, but it has become conventional wisdom to see terrorist organizations as a monolith in the overarching theme of Islamic fundamentalism, itself a misnomer. However, even a crude analysis would show that while spreading terror in the name of religion, many have little in common in their institutionalization, ideologies and targets. Indeed, a media and politically- inspired manufacturing - whether out of apprehension, lack of understanding or political agendas - the created connections between local and global terrorist groups become real as life ends...