Thursday, March 28, 2024
 
 News Details
Pathankot attack: Nawaz Sharif’s litmus test







By Allabaksh



The Pathankot attack, carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, has put the onus of clearing his country’s alleged hand in the attack squarely on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.



No one is blaming Sharif for the attack. Nor has India so far blamed the state of Pakistan for the attack on its air force base in Pathankot. But it is no secret that JeM is a terrorist group created and supported by Pakistan Army in 2000 to reignite terrorism in Kashmir and other parts of India. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif knows it quite well.


Moreso, the group operates out of Bahawalpur in Punjab which is the political stronghold of the Sharif family. His brother, Shahbaz Sharif is the Chief Minister of Punjab and is equally aware of the terrorist group and its anti-India activities.


There is enough evidence to show that the terrorists who attacked Pathankot are from JeM. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cannot hide behind any excuse that evidence must be presented through official channels first before he could take action. This is no time to make such excuses. It is unacceptable. Prime Minister Sharif knows it well. Even if there is no official communication from India about the involvement of Pak-based terrorists in the Pathankot attack, PM Sharif can take action on his own.


This is what he can do, and should if PM Sharif wants to prove that his promise of a better ties with India, just a few days ago, is not another sham. He can order an investigation into the news that terrorists came from Pakistan. Federal Investigating Agency can be tasked to probe the whereabouts and identity of the terrorists who infiltrated into India and carried out the attack.



The second step he must take is to lock down JeM and its headquarters in Bahawalpur. He might find that it may not be that easy even if he is the Prime Minister of the country. It is Masood Azhar, head of JeM, whose writ runs in the border town where he and his group have been operating since 2000 with little check. Azhar and his team have so much of control and clout in the region that even the strongman, General Pervez Musharraf, could not do much against the group despite evidence that some of the group members had been actively involved in the assassination attempts on him. Musharraf had attracted the anger of the group after he had told JeM and other anti-India groups to lie low after the 2001 December attack on the Indian Parliament.



But PM Sharif, who sees himself as the strongman of Punjab, need not go by the experience of his bête noir, General Musharraf. He can take series of measures which can first contain JeM’s clout and then decimate it. It can begin with seizing the bank accounts and other financial backup of the group. This would require administrative action and he need not even consult the Army Chief.



But administrative actions have to be followed by military action against the group. For this he will have to meet the Generals and tell them squarely that they cannot hold the country’s future hostage by continuing to protect terrorist groups like JeM. He can convince them these groups have become more of liability than ``strategic assets``. Pakistan already has a bad name in the international arena with its patrons openly accusing the country of being the fountainhead of terrorism. Sharif can turn this image around by taking out JeM and its infrastructure.



One thing he must do beyond the official condemnation of the attack—he must come out in public and state that he would hunt down the terrorists if they were found to be from Pakistan. He must assure India of all help in tracking the terrorists and if they are found to be hiding in Pakistan, he must arrest them or eliminate them without much wrangling. Prime Minister Sharif has no time to lose. He must act and speak now. He must show that he is the Prime Minister and he has the welfare of his people and country uppermost in his mind. He must convince the world that Pakistan was equally worried about terrorism as was the world. He can do this taking the initiative to launch a parallel investigation into the attack in Pakistan. This one action will make him from a failing Prime Minister to a statesman.










(The author is a Kashmir based Freelance Journalist)





(Disclaimer: The views, observations and opinions expressed in above write up of Scoop News are strictly author's own. Scoop News does not take any onus or liability for the veracity, accuracy, validity, completeness, suitability of any of information in the above given write up. The information, facts or figures appearing in the write up in no way manifest the position, standpoint or stance of Scoop News and the Scoop News does not assume any encumbrance or answerability of the same.)


Editor
Scoop News,(scoopnews.in)


...
Share this Story
 
 
  Comment On this Story
 
 
 Back Issuesk Issues
If you are looking for Issues beyond today. You can simply use this calendar tool to view Issue of Scoop News for any particular Date.
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Scoop News, Jammu Kashmirr
Home || About Us || Advertise With Us || Disclaimer || Contact Us
Powered by Web Design Jammu