Pakistan and jihadism

Need to heed COAS Bajwa

Pakistan has got temporary reprieve over terrorist financing watch list. European Union has granted GSP Plus status to Pakistan. Sergei Lavrov has said Russia will continue to assist Pakistan to bolster its counterterrorism capabilities, and the two countries will also form a commission for military cooperation. The reports are heartening but these must not let anyone to gloat over. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has deferred action for three months only at the end of which the issue will again be taken up. Pakistan was granted GSP Plus status after a voting where its supporters outnumbered the naysayers. The Russian support is confined only to a limited sale of military equipment exclusively for conducting anti-terrorism operations.

The US was first asking for action only against the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network. Later it included jhadi networks which according to Washington target Indian interests besides killing US citizens. The US motion in FATF to add Pakistan to the “grey list” of countries which are not doing enough to comply with terrorist-funding regulations was backed by Britain, France and Germany. The latter two are influential members of the EU.

In his speech at the Munich Security Conference last week COAS Bajwa described the present jihadism as a misnomer. He maintained that jihad is ‘a highly evolved concept that underlines myriad struggles against tyranny of all types’ and ‘Qitaal’, or the aspect of armed jihad comes at the lowest end of the spectrum of actions and beliefs that comprise the concept of jihad and can only be sanctioned by a state authority and nobody else. The speech should have been reported in full by the ISPR which it did not, one wonders why?

Whether it is FATF, EU or Russia, everyone is keenly watching if Pakistan is really distancing itself from the so called jihadi outfits irrespective of their hue or colour or which country they are targeting. On this will depend whether Pakistan is subjected to isolation or is accepted as a respectable member of the comity of nations who should be extended full cooperation.