It started in the 1980s in the right earnest, although the overarching idea of terror shaped the very genesis of Pakistan as a nation. When Jinnah could not ram through his insistence on subverting the democracy via Proportional representation, he announced “Direct Action Day”, where violent action along the Battle of Badr was planned. The same idea of terror to achieve ideological goals are also behind the attack on Kashmir in 1948, when Pakistan Army led the tribals in a gory endeavor of bloodshed, rape and plunder.
In 1980s, it took a more institutional format, formalized by Zia-ul-Haq. Called “Strategic Depth”, terrorism was upheld as a national strategy by the government of the day.
Since then, it has been a downward spiral. From a time in the early 1980s, where Pakistan’s per capita GDP was higher than India’s, to a point where even Bangladesh’s per capita is almost 1.5 times Pakistan’s – terrorism as a strategic national asset has ruined the dream – however perverted, because of its inherent and stated exclusivism – of the founders and people of Pakistan.
It is in that backdrop that one needs to listen and ponder on the heartfelt rendition of the poetic lines by this young man, who is probably from the NorthWest Frontier province or Balochistan area in Pakistan. That he sings these poignant lines so beautifully and powerfully make them all the more amazing to experience.