Pakistan Proscribes Terror Tanzeems, Frees their Leaders !

By Animesh Roul

Pakistan is always full of surprises. In dramatic turn of events, the Pakistani government has reportedly announced early this week that it had proscribed some 25 terror organizations, support groups and radical religious entities under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, in the last nine years, including the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashker-e-Taiba, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muahammadi and Al-Akhtar Trust.

But ironically, the government remains silent over the leaders of these terror outfits who are still free to reincarnate, regroup and resurge with another name and carry out their subversive activities in Pakistan and beyond. Among the outlawed terror groups, at least two are Kashmir centric terror outfits (JeM and LeT were outlawed in 2002) while others are Pakistan based groups that have been involved in suicide bombings, sectarian violence, assassinations and attacks against Western interests in Pakistan.

Pakistan has banned the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which actually the front for the LeT in December 2008. But the chief Hafiz Saeed is a free man now after detained for six months. The reason for Islamabad’s reluctance to act against Saeed is ‘lack of evidence’ against the Mumbai attack mastermind.

In my earlier write ups (e.g. on Asia Security Initiative Blog, "Rude or Reality”: Indo-Pak Trust Deficit Continues") I have raised this issue that Pakistan has never punished Islamic ideologues.

“Saeed is one of the prized ‘Non State Actors’ for Pakistan who acts on behalf of government. He has garnered huge followings in Pakistan and still a revered Islamic ideologue in Punjab and Sindh. For many Pakistanis (politicians, businessmen and among diaspora Pakistanis) Hafeez Saeed is a humanitarian activist devoted for greater cause of Islam. He equals another ideologue and wanted terrorist, Jaish-e-Muhammad’s (JeM) Masood Azhar in stature. Both are notorious for their inspiring hate speeches in Islamic conclaves.”

Besides Saeed and Azhar, another terror leader Malik Ishaq, a founding member of deadly anti shia and al qaeda affiliate Lashkar- e- Jhangvi (LeJ) is waiting in wings to be freed soon. We also have seen the flip-flops in the cases of Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Shirhat-i-Mohammadi chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad and Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.

So a word of caution for India which expects Pakistan to act against Saeed or terror infrastructures in Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK), if it provides evidence after evidence against him:

‘Don’t ever live with that dream’ and ‘it is not always good to play noble soul with a country with questionable record against Kashmir centric terrorists.’

While Pakistan's anti-taliban offensive has been commendable so far, its actions against Kashmir-centric terrorists are questionable.

List of Banned Terror Outfits:

Al Qaeda, Sipah-i-Muhammad, Tehrik Nifaz-i-Fiqah Jafaria, Sipah-i-Sahaba, Jamat-ud-Dawa, Al Akhtar Trust, Al Rasheed Trust, Tehrik-i-Islami, Jaish-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic Students Movement, Khairun Nisa International Trust, Tehrik-i-Islam Pakistan, Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar-i-Islam, Balochistan Liberation Army, Jamiat-i-Ansar, Jamiatul Furqan, Hizbut Tehrir, Khuddam-i-Islam and Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan.