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| Now, declare Pakistan a terror state! | | 
By Farooq Ganderbali
The United States is a close ally of Pakistan. Both have a deep and abiding relationship despite mutual suspicion. The US has often come to the rescue of Pakistan whenever it went down. In the 90s when there was a move afoot in the US to declare Pakistan a terrorist state, too many powerful friends of Rawalpindi came to the rescue. Not only did they rescue their friend and ally Pakistan from being tagged as terrorist, they campaigned to declare India as one!
So if the same United States were to state, in a Congress testimony, that Pakistan would not abandon Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), it bears significant meaning. The first implication is that the Pakistan will continue to shelter and assist a global terrorist group to carry on without any check. This negates in one go Pakistan’s loud claims of taking on terrorist groups.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the other day that his country would make no distinction between a `good` or `bad` Taliban or terrorist. Army chief, General Raheel Sharif, said terrorism was an existential threat and no distinction would be made in hunting down terrorists. These exhortations came after the dastardly killing of over 130 school children in Peshawar on December 16 last.
Little less than two months down the line, the US exposes Pakistan’s continuing duplicity. This time the Pakistani leadership, both civilian and military, is not only duping the world but their own people. They promised, on the bodies of the dead children, that they would hunt down those who carried out the carnage.
Military operations were launched in public glare but with little to show on the ground. Within weeks, as the world was aghast at the Paris attack, over 60 Shias were killed in a bomb attack carried out by terrorists who were supposed to have been hunted. A month later, another bomb blew up an imambara in Shikarpur, Sindh, killing another 69 again by the same set of terrorists who the army had been hunting since December 2014. Either the Pakistan Army is grossly inefficient or it is befooling its people, or worse, both and more. It is simply shooting at some terrorists while keeping a whole lot of others protected for whatever grand strategies they might have in mind.
The US statement has another even more serious ramification. It means the US acknowledgement that Pakistan shelters and protects terrorist groups like LeT. This is perhaps the most direct indictment of a country which Washington calls an ally. If Pakistan, according to the US Congress testimony, is protecting a global terrorist group like LeT, it must be designated as a Terrorist Sponsoring State, if not a terrorist state. Not yet.
Therefore, the US must do what is the next obvious sequence—move to declare Pakistan as a terrorist-sponsor state. This will not antagonise Pakistan any more than it already is. It is no secret that there are only a handful of Pakistan who love America. The country as a whole, including the military, highly suspicious of the US of A. The US is the `Great Satan`, says LeT chief Hafiz Saeed time and again. He is an influential man and has a large following. He has powerful patrons, including Pakistan Army.
And, Pakistan needs the US more than the US needs Pakistan. The Chinese may be their new friends but they are miserly and brook no non-sense. You can’t fool the Chinese all the time, like the Americans. The Chinese are not as indulgent either. So when it comes to weapons and dollars, it is to the US the faujis must turn. So obviously if and when the US makes it known that it was going to punish Pakistan for sponsoring LeT, there will be lot of hue and cry in the media, in the streets and Pakistan might put restrictions on the movement of US diplomats; even go to the extent of exposing the CIA station chief as they did once or twice. They cannot do more damage than that.
Benefits? The benefits of declaring Pakistan a terrorist-sponsor are countless, interestingly to Pakistan itself. Pakistan will be forced to, finally, take real action against terrorists. It will be of immense help to Pakistan and its people in more ways than one. It would mean less bombs, less jihadis and more security for its people. It would also help India and Afghanistan and the world in general. A clear and visible success against terrorists will strengthen the military no doubt (the US would love it) but also would help the civilian leadership and the democratic process substantially. A reasonably stable and secure Pakistan would help garner economic benefits. Pakistan would be able to attract more foreign investments. It would also be easier for it to integrate more deeply with the South Asian economic story. Many more benefits could be harvested by calling a spade a spade!
(The author is a Freelance Journalist and columnist)
(Opinions expressed in write-ups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the Scoop News)
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