Sir: When the Taliban started arriving in Pakistan’s tribal areas after the US ousted them from a post-9/11 Afghanistan, our rhetoric was that these were only a few hundred people and we would tackle them in no time. Within a few years, the Taliban had killed a number of tribal leaders (Maliks) and had occupied a place to form their own mini-Emirate to take the war to Pakistan’s towns and cities. When the Taliban occupied the strategic valley of Swat, we surrendered in unison and did not act until they started knocking at Islamabad’s gates. Is history going to repeat itself? Again our rhetoric is the same: there is no Islamic State (IS) here; it is a Middle East-based organisation with nothing to do with Pakistan. It is now on record that the Safoora Goth carnage was carried out by militants having indirect links with IS. All signs indicate that IS is no longer a distant, bloodthirsty monster; it is very much here with all of its ideology, pan-Islamic targets and sectarian narrowness. Pakistan’s education system, right-wing media and intellectuals have been working for decades to keep inspiring generation after generation about the glory of past Muslim kingdoms, empires and caliphates. Now, many educated young men find IS a real game-changer for Muslims, establishing its own state and implementing the rule of extreme sharia. There is no point in denying the presence of IS in Pakistan. There may be no Iraqi or Syrian militants here but its ideology is attracting sectarian outfits such as Lashker-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and a number of urbanised, educated young men and women. It is time to chalk out a strategy to tackle the cancer spreading not only from seminaries but from schools and universities as well. Soon they will have their counterparts in Afghanistan in a commanding position wherein money will change hands to bring the Taliban into the IS fold. That moment will be a real game-changer! MASOOD KHAN Jubail Saudi Arabia