ANSWERING FROM OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE

Gulshan Rafique

In a recent interview to Nidhi Razdan on NDTV, Hussain Haqqani, a former diplomat has raised some questions pertaining to the intentions of

Pakistan

to fight terrorism and eliminate militancy. His doubts corroborated the views of his Indian interviewer but were largely ignorant of the current scenario. In the wake of the Peshawar massacre of 144 school children on December 16, 2014 the government’s response has come out in the form of the 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) and according to some media sources more than 600 terrorists have been arrested since the approval of the NAP . The response by the government is widely considered as natural, demanding corrective and punitive action. Some of the major steps taken by the government are as follows:

The NAP not only promises establishment of special trial courts for two years for speedy trial of terror suspects but it also chokes financing for terrorists and terrorist organisations, and ensures against re-emergence of proscribed organizations. A serious battle against various militant groups has started with the launch of a military operation called the Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan.

Pakistan

army is making sure that the area does not again become a sanctuary for jihadi groups. Besides Operation Zarb-i-Azb, Operation Khyber -1, Operation Khyber – 2 and ongoing Rangers’ Operations in Karachi are being conducted as a consequence of NAP.

Moreover, the government is also taking steps to develop a national discourse which Mr. Haqqani has claimed to be missing in his interview and a positive narrative to stand together against terrorism and militancy is continuously building up. The number of banned terrorist outfits has reached to seventy-two and a national consensus is being reached against militant outfits of all hue and color. In this regard, the protests of civil society against the statement of a religious cleric, Maulvi Abdul Aziz, in Islamabad made him apologies for his comments. This shows that the government and the society have joined hands in the fight against extremism. Lashkar-Taiba is banned in

Pakistan

. Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) is a charitable and not terrorist organization but the bank accounts of JuD have also been frozen and foreign travel restrictions have been imposed on Hafiz Saeed by the government of

Pakistan

India

blames Hafiz Saeed for Mumbai attacks but it did not provide any credible evidence to Pakistani courts for his involvement. So, the governments of

Pakistan

cannot put him in jail without judicial orders.

Madaris reform is another vital point of NAP. Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, has made sure via Ministry of Religious Affairs that 90 per cent madaris have no link to terrorism. Mr. Haqqani also expressed his disapproval to Zakiur Rehman’s bail. It is pertinent to mention that Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi’s hanging case is sub judice. These are legal matters and media trials serve no purpose.

In 2007, at least 50 Pakistanis were killed in Samjhota Express terrorist attacks in

India

. The investigations and the confession of the mastermind of the attack, Swami Aseemanad, pointed to the involvement of the Indian military officers and some organizations linked to major political parties. When he was granted bail on August 28, 2014, Pakistani government and media did not make an issue out of it unlike their Indian counterparts.

Similarly, a Delhi court recently acquitted 16 Uttar Pradesh police personnel accused in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre, in which more than 40 Muslims were killed in cold blood. The policemen have been set free on account of lack of evidence, and the failure of the state government to establish the identity of the accused policemen. So, again Mr. Haqaani’s criticism of

Pakistan

’s criminal justice system was slanted and he must have reminded Miss Razdan that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.

He further talked of a change in Pakistan’s approach to Kashmir and suggested that the two countries need to move ahead of Kashmir dispute. Pakistan is always ready to resolve all issues with India, be it the issue of Kashmir, demilitarizing Siachen, Sir Creek, or the water issues of eastern rivers; but it is the Indian side which is always reluctant to talk to

Pakistan

over these contentious issues.

As for “5000 years of shared history”, there were no Hindu-Muslim riots. Partition is a consequence of majority community’s chauvinism, e.g. in 2002 in the State of Indian Gujarat, as many as 2000 Muslims were massacred and since the last “67 years” Muslims in Kashmir are being brutally suppressed by Indian armed forces. BJP, a single majority party in Indian legislature with 282 seats, does not have a single Muslim member although they constitute about 15% population of

India

. urthermore, Mr. Haqaani blamed the establishment for influencing the peace process with

India

, which is not true. It is well-known that the Agra Summit of 2001 that had asked to reduce nuclear arsenal, resolution of all issues including the Kashmir dispute and cross-border terrorism was rejected by Indian military establishment.

In 2013, a retired Indian Army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh admitted that India sponsored bomb blasts in

Pakistan

and doled out money to the separatist elements for terrorist activities in Balochistan. The current Indian Minister of State for External Affairs was criticized by the Indian extremist elements when he visited the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Dehli on March 23, 2015. Terrorists have no space in

Pakistan

and there is no difference between “Good” or “Bad” Taliban, especially after the APS attacks. As long as

Pakistan

is in a state of war against terror, the government cannot live in a state of denial. The whole nation is united and government is fighting for peace in the country against terrorism and extremism without discrimination.