The double standards of the United States under the Joe Biden administration have clearly been exposed in its report on counter-terrorism.
While praising Bharat’s efforts in combating terrorism, the US Country Report on Terrorism 2023 released by the State Department paints Pakistan as a victim of terror.
The report goes on to commend Bharat’s robust counter-terrorism efforts. It says that for Bharat the major threat is from terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh, CPI (Maoist), Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in the Sub Continent. It says that New Delhi has a robust counter-terror approach to disrupt and also degrade these terror organisations.
Praise for Pakistan
The report however praises Pakistan for taking steps to curb terror funding activities. Stating that Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terror activities over the past two years, paints Islamabad as a victim.
This shows the double standards of the US as it is a well-known fact that terror is a state policy for Pakistan. Islamabad has been notorious for staging attacks in India for several years now. It continues to indulge in cross-border terror and large-scale infiltrations into Jammu and Kashmir. It has also openly come out in support of radical elements in Bangladesh who work against the interests of Bharat.
Despite the writing being on the wall, the US has given a clean chit to Pakistan. The report states in detail the challenges faced by Pakistan in combating money laundering and terrorist funding. Islamabad continues to operate deradicalisation camps and offers corrective religious education, vocational training, and counselling the report notes.
A Haven for Terrorists
Not a single day passes without the security forces having to combat the menace from Pakistan. Every day a new launch pad comes up at Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where scores of terrorists wait to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir.
There has been a rise in the number of terror attacks in J&K and the presence of Pakistani terrorists in the Union Territory is nothing new. A recent raid by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a clear indicator that the Jaish-e-Mohammad that operates openly from Pakistan is the biggest security nightmare.
Pakistan has claimed all along that the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar is not on their soil. However, he emerged before a mammoth crowd in Bahawalpur and spewed venom against Bharat. He made open calls during that speech to attack India and urged his cadre to go all out and secure J&K. These violent clarion calls by Azhar who has been designated not just by New Delhi, but by the United States as a terrorist, are a telling story of Pakistan’s duplicity.
When Azhar emerged in public after a long time and made that speech, the US had no reaction to it. It did not even seen any accountability from Pakistan, let alone condemn the incident.
The US report that praises Pakistan for its role in combating terror funding is also misplaced. The US has completely ignored the events that led up to Pakistan being placed and then removed from the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Pakistan did get out of the Grey List, but all the actions it took were just a hogwash. As an eyewash measure, it shut down the facilities of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. However ,no action was taken against its leaders, Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar. Both still have a free run in Pakistan and live under the protection of the ISI. Azhar, was sheltered in a highly secure hospital at Rawalpindi under the watchful eyes of the ISI all these years after the Indian Air Force carried out the Balakot air strike to avenge the Pulwama attack.
When it comes to terror funding, Pakistan has adopted another path. It has ensured that funds for terror groups operating in Bharat do not come out of Islamabad. It has found various other channels to ensure that funds reach its terrorists on Indian soil.
The fact that funds for terrorists are being routed from countries such as Canada and also the US is clearly not mentioned in the report. The fact that Pakistan has found a via-media path to route in terror funds does not mean that it is not indulging in terror funding, as the US report claims.
Pakistan’s Own Monsters
There is no doubt that there have been terror attacks in Pakistan. However, what one must take note of is that it is Pakistan themselves who have created these groups. One of the biggest threats it faces is from the Tehreek-e-Taliban, or the Pakistan Taliban. It is Pakistan that created this group to weaken the Afghan Taliban so that it has a better grip on them.
In the bargain, it ended up creating a Frankenstein monster, which it is unable to handle now.
The US report is clearly silent on these aspects. If it chooses to call Pakistan a victim of terror then the US is clearly undermining the global narrative on terrorism. What the US has to understand that overlooking Pakistan’s complicity and duplicity when it comes to terror only gives the country the deniability factor that it has always been looking for.
The US is quick to speak about human rights when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir. However, it will not comment on the atrocities that are being carried out by the Pakistan Army in Balochistan or PoK. The US is silent on the persecution of Hindus in Pakistan but does not fail to state in its report that Islamabad is offering corrective religious education. In the name of suppression of Communists, Pakistan has used its police force and the local Muslim leaders to loot the houses of Hindus. Women have been raped, forcibly married off and converted. The blasphemy law has been used to terrorise the Hindus. While these are well documented, Pakistan deserves no sympathy and the US report calling Islamabad a victim rather than an oppressor is entirely wrong.
China Calls out Pakistan
While the US continues to claim that it is the custodian of human rights, Pakistan has in recent times been called out by none other than its all-weather friend China.
It is true that the Chinese have business interests in Pakistan and has for years overlooked Islamabad’s mindset towards terror-related activities. Chinese nationals have been attacked several times but the turning point was when two Chinese engineers were killed in a bomb blast in Karachi that was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army.
China has even started speaking about bringing in its own to safeguard its interests, something that Pakistan is sceptical about. While Pakistan has indicated that it would be okay with setting up a joint management system, it is averse to the idea of having any direct Chinese involvement on its soil on the security front.
The frequent targeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project has resulted in China stating that Pakistan is no longer a high-priority nation for Beijing. Pakistan’s proposal to extend the corridor project to Afghanistan has also gone off the discussion table owing to Islamabad’s failure to curb its terrorists and ensure the security of Chinese interests and its nationals.
