After Musharraf admits using Kashmir militants as tools, Pakistan defence minister calls Hafiz Saeed a threat

Hafiz Saeed can pose a serious threat to the society, claims Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Defence Minister. Asif was quoted by ‘The Nation’ at the Munich Security Conference. Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people, is a religious preacher with apparent political ambitions in Pakistan.

The Nation report doesn’t elaborate on Khawaja Asif’s statement but there is a debate in Pakistani media about the need to stop the distinction between good terrorists (like Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Syed Salahuddin of Hizbul Mujahideen along with Haqqani network and Afghan Taliban) and bad terrorists (Jamatul Ahrar, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan and a number of other assorted Pakistani terrorist organizations once raised by Pakistan army and ISI, now having turned against their mentors).

Is Hafiz Saeed now Pakistan’s Frankenstein’s monster or ‘Bhasmasur’ out to destroy its creator?

Commentators in India see Pakistan Defence minister Asif’s statement more as efforts to deflect US and global pressure.

Hafiz Saeed has been detained under the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act since January 30. Asif claims he has been arrested in the larger interests of the country. But is this interest only to keep Saeed under so called house arrest till the time international attention is diverted so that Saeed can return to his terror ways subsequently. So far there is no evidence that Pakistan has collected any evidence to prosecute Hafiz Saeed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks or a series of other terror attacks in India and on Indian interests in Afghanistan.

Because of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) scrutiny Pakistan was compelled to take action against Hafiz Saeed and the terrorist organization he heads – the Jamat-ud-Dawa, at least on paper. The Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FiF) and the JuD continue to function as before as was evident by the movement of their men and ambulances after the Lahore terror attack. Charity is just a front for JuD to carry out its terror activities and recruitment in calamity affected areas.

FATF has been deliberating on action taken by Pakistan so far on organized terror. By all accounts the new face of FIF the Tehrek-e-Azadi Kashmir has been collecting funds for jihad (Pak sponsored terror) in India. Given the international scrutiny on terror financing Pakistan is bending over backwards seeking China’s assistance to block similar action against JeM’s founder Masood Azhar.

China and Pakistan again tried to make common cause at the Munich Security Conference but China’s defence of Pakistan sponsored terror continues to ring hollow. There are reports to suggest China echoed Pakistan’s line of a non-partisan approach to combat terror in order to ensure peace and development.

These words clearly mean nothing. China is desperate to use the Pakistan terror card to block India’s rise as a regional super power. Now India has decided to bash on regardless and the world appears to have seen through Pakistan’s double speak on terror. China may continue to side with Pakistan state sponsored terror, but that plea is unlikely to have takers globally.

When Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi talks of cooperation to achieve common goals of peace and development – can he explain how can there be peace and development in the region when Pakistan continues to send terrorists into India, Afghanistan and even Bangladesh. Several countries have quietly resorted to extreme scrutiny of holders of Pakistani passports. Pakistani citizens stand accused of being directly involved in terror activities across the world including in the US and UK.

Regional cooperation on terror is only possible if Pakistan takes decisive, demonstrable and irreversible steps to prosecute and bring to justice terrorists like Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Syed Salahuddin, Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network.

Until Pakistan takes steps to dismantle the military-jihad complex, its leaders will only utter meaningless words the world has no time for.

AFGHANISTAN’S INTELLIGENCE AGENCY BEING USED AS A TOOL TO FACILITATE TERROR GROUPS IN PAKISTAN: MUSHARRAF

Pakistan’s former dictator General Pervez Musharraf has said his administration ‘managed freedom fighters’ in Kashmir but later realised a political process was needed to negotiate the issue with India, a media report today said.

“In my tenure as a military chief and president of the country, we were succeeding. We were able to bring India to the negotiating table and to sort out issues that India was not ready to discuss,” he told Dunya News in an interview.

He said his government was managing freedom fighters in Kashmir, and later they realised that a political process was required to negotiate further with India, the report said.

The 73-year-old said Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, was playing into India’s hands and was being used as a tool to facilitate terror groups in Pakistan.

 

 

 

 

Source:- India Today

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