Lahore, Apr. 4 : An editorial in a leading Pakistan daily has expressed its surprise that while immediate funds were needed to stop the Taliban from expanding its writ over new regions of the country, millions were being spent on a monument which marked hatred against India.

According to The Daily Times, a whopping 2.5 billion rupees have been spent so far on a national monument, Bab-e-Pakistan, and on the other hand the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti is crying for funds to wage war against the Taliban which on any given day could establish its writ over the province just like it did in Swat.

Hoti admitted that governance in NWFP was becoming difficult with the Taliban inching dangerously close to Peshawar, and lack of funds to tackle the issue has only made the matter worse.

"The NWFP is at war, and governance of the province is becoming difficult. FATA-like conditions are slowly developing in other parts of the country. There is a need for the other three provinces, in collaboration with the federal government, to help us because ignoring these conditions today could cause severe problems tomorrow," the editorial quoted Hoti, as saying.

Hoti expressed lament over inadequate funds for the people who have lost everything due to the increasing insurgency, but Zardari administration has no time to hear his plea.

With Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud threatening to strike at his will anywhere in the country, Pakistan government need to rethink its strategy of spending millions of rupees on a monument that will only infest hatred and anger in the heart of people against its neighbor, when it is urgently required to strengthen its security forces to thwart the rising threat of extremism which has raised questions over the very existence of the state. (ANI)