Pakistan’s Continued Grey Status: Things To Get More Difficult For Pakistan With Its Three Decades Of Terrorist Baggage
By Tara Kartha
Nov 16,
2020
IT seems
Pakistan is in quite a pickle. Recently, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation
Agency released a list of no less than 1,210 ‘most wanted’ persons, which
essentially means those who have managed to evade arrest. For India, the
interest in the list is that it does include the names of 19 accused in the
26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, and what it does not — the major perpetrators
of the attack. The list, however, is of interest in itself, and also merits
scrutiny in terms of Pakistan’s continued ‘grey’ status in terms of various
clauses of the Financial Action Task Force ( FATF) and the adventurous
Pakistani state itself.
Ominous
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First is
the question of the names of those who plotted the Mumbai attacks, which
includes Amjad Khan, who purchased the boat and its engine which was used for
the attack, the ‘Tandel’ (captain) of the boat, and other sundry names who
donated money, essentially the small fry whose names have been widely
publicised in independent analysis, from non-Indian sources. All of the 19 are
referred to as ‘ex-Lashkar-e-Taiba’ members, which is meant to reference the
ostensible ban on the group. That would be laughable if its wasn’t so
dangerous. Needless to add, the Lashkar or the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its various
arms continue to operate. New Delhi’s rejection of the list arises from the
fact that nowhere does it mention top Lashkar commanders like the elusive Sajid
Mir, who persuaded US citizen David Headley to work for him, or Yusuf Muzzamil,
who is also an accused in the 2006 train blasts as well as 26/11. The fact that
some names have been mentioned at all is, however, probably due to the fact
that Islamabad has the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on its case, with its
October 2020 report continuing to urge Pakistan to fulfil all recommendations.
The second
part of the list names those from within Pakistan. Unsurprisingly, the largest
number are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the army has been engaged in
‘operations’ against those whom they call terrorists from 2007. Those
operations have included the burning down of houses, lifting and then killing
of young men, and the dreaded raids in the night. These ‘counter terrorism’
operations led directly to the Pashtun Tahaffuz movement, the largest and most
peaceful resistance movement that Pakistan has seen in years. Next on the list
are those from Baluchistan where the problem of ‘enforced disappearances’, a
curious term that also refers to the same rampant human rights abuse, but with
the difference that this one has been going on for decades. The least number of
terrorists listed are from Punjab, the heartland of Pakistan. Yet it is here
that the Lashkar has its home, as well as the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The ‘Punjabi
Taliban’ refers to those who are fighting in Afghanistan, whilst cadres from
the state have been found across the world from the US to China, including most
recently the Paris knife attacks. That was Ali Hassan, whose father
congratulated him for having the ‘heart of a lion’.
The
district is home to Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TeL), a group that violently opposes
blasphemy, and which challenged Nawaz Sharif in his bastion during the 2018
elections. The TeL and others like it managed only 10 per cent of the vote, but
they split the vote for Sharif in a move widely seen as backed by the Pakistani
intelligence. That, in the end, is the key. Just who is a ‘terrorist’ is
decided by the Pakistani establishment, with some groups being used to
politically backstab the elected government; others are being used to train
terrorists that hit neighbours, including Afghanistan, Iran and India, and yet
others being churned out, with the world at large the target.
This list
is, therefore, largely about one thing and one thing only. This is Pakistan,
being dragged step by reluctant step into actions it doesn’t want to take, even
as it continues to not just shelter, but encourage core terrorist elements.
But times
are changing. Pakistan has long deceived and manipulated its way using
terrorism as a currency for barter, with friends and neighbours alike. But,
once the Joe Biden administration takes up the Oval office, Islamabad will find
no takers for its terrorist baggage. Biden has dealt with Pakistan in the past,
partnering the tabling of the Enhanced Partnership Act in 2008 that provided
generous aid, but also required that the President certify that the Pakistani
army was “not materially interfering in Pakistan’s political or judicial
processes.”
List or no
list, things are likely to get more difficult for this state with its three
decades of terrorist baggage.
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Tara Kartha is Former Director, National
Security Council Secretariat
Original Headline: List or no list, writing’s
on the wall for Pak
Source: The Tribune India
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/pakistan’s-continued-grey-status-things/d/123479
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