Cosmetic actions?: edit in Daily Times, March 7th 2019.
The recent crackdown against prominent members of banned organisations such as Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and Jaish e Muhammad (JeM) is a step towards the right direction by the Imran Khan-led government. A key stumbling block was the non-implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) with opposition leaders like Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari highlighting the matter on several occasions in the past. NAP was formulated during PML-N’s last tenure, but it largely remained inactive owing to political differences and bureaucratic red-tape. Now that the PTI has finally decided to enforce the rule of law in letter and spirit with TLP being the first on the radar, it is hoped that key parties like PML-N would continue to lend their support rather than play petty politics of which the PTI set a trend in recent years.
However, can the crackdown steer towards a logical conclusion given how past similar measures were mere cosmetics?During General Pervez Musharraf’s rule, similar steps were taken but for a specific reason. Pakistan was cash-strapped and financial aid from the United States and other influential powers was the need of the hour at the time. The events of 9/11 gave the then leadership an opportunity to bring in aid, foreign investment and tourism by taking action against homegrown militant groups.
Coming back to the present, Prime Minister Imran Khan has often mentioned about revival of the economy and encouraging tourism opportunities. There are three interlinked factors which pushed him for changing the state’s international dynamics.First and foremost, the objective of the ongoing crackdown is to remove Pakistan from Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list to encourage a boost in foreign direct investment.Secondly, tourism is one of PTI’s key goals and for that entrepreneurs and state officials have been working round the clock by promoting Pakistan as a viable and safe tourist destination. This has much to do the first factor since tourism derives from stability and security. Documentaries, photojournalism, travelogues and visits by international celebrities have helped in this regard. Not mentioning the flexible e-visa policy introduced in January 2019.Thirdly, the state’s international image is in dire need of an upward trajectory and it is directly linked to the second factor. If Khan can pull this off, it would be a miracle itself. However, it takes years to realise the full potential since India and Malaysia initiated ground work in the 1990s which gradually led to their positive projection.
Returning to containing militancy, rights activist Jibran Nasir has recently proposed a citizen reporting mechanism which would track any suspicious activities of banned outfits. This can give the people a voice in expressing their concerns; something similar to the PM’s complaint cell.There is a fear of militancy evolving overtime and new faces emerging in the future. Hence, the ongoing crackdown must not deviate from its goals and state elements must ensure prevention of repeating the horrors of the bygone era. Pakistan cannot afford to be perceived as a pariah or rogue state again. https://dailytimes.com.pk/362168/cosmetic-actions/
FATF action plan: Editorial in Dawn, March 7th, 2019
THE finance secretary has warned that Pakistan risks coming under sanctions if the action plan given to the Financial Action Task Force is not implemented in full. Considering that he was present at the latest meetings of the global terror-financing watchdog held in Paris, and personally witnessed the proceedings, his warnings need to be taken seriously.
The prime minister has struck the right note in emphasising the National Action Plan once again and issuing the necessary orders to seize the assets and halt the operations of proscribed outfits. In the days to come, the resolve behind this move will be tested, and it is important that the government’s focus not be diluted as it moves ahead to clamp down on banned outfits here.
The finance secretary’s remarks suggest that Pakistan had a difficult time at the Paris meetings of FATF last month. Eight organisations were named in the FATF press release issued afterwards. This is unusual, because while these groups have always been at the heart of Pakistan’s dealings with FATF, they had never been named previously.
Apparently in the run-up to the Paris meetings, Pakistan had submitted a terror risk assessment matrix to the Asia Pacific Group, the regional grouping of FATF to which Pakistan belongs. In that, it had designated the eight named groups as ‘low risk’, and this created problems in the Paris meeting. India seized the opportunity and tried to rally countries to put Pakistan on the blacklist with immediate effect; it took strenuous diplomatic pushback from the government to pre-empt that move.
Having narrowly averted being blacklisted in February, the government must not allow history to repeat itself. The same steps have been taken by previous governments as well, only to be allegedly stymied by the powerful handlers that these groups have.
The presence of these groups drove Pakistan towards a difficult position internationally and imposed a steep economic cost as the country’s financial system was flagged as being open to risk of terror financing. The grey listing, as it is known in FATF parlance, was lifted with great difficulty and much wrangling back in 2015 against Pakistan’s commitments of further action against these groups. However, whatever action was taken was clearly not enough, and the country slipped back onto the grey list.
Today, we face the prospect of being put on the blacklist if concrete steps are not evident to what will undoubtedly be a sceptical FATF audience in June. These groups and their existence on Pakistani soil have become much more than a nuisance and an embarrassment.
It is quite clear that none of them should have any presence here. The finance secretary’s remarks need to be absorbed fully and earnest action against proscribed groups must be taken immediately to eliminate the scourge once and for all.https://www.dawn.com/news/1468123/fatf-action-plan
Dismantling militancy: edit in The News, Mar 07, 2019
Pakistan has taken several strong steps towards tackling extremism and militancy in the country. Two major organisations, the Jamat-ud-Dawah and the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation have been added to the list of proscribed groups while 44 people linked to various organisations have been taken into preventive detention. They include the brother and son of Jaish-e-Muhammad leader Masood Azhar. These measures, which followed a meeting between top security agencies, provincial officials and federal decision-makers, clearly take on the issues highlighted by the Financial Action Task Force, a delegation of which will be visiting the country this month.
There is however a lot more to be done. Islamabad will need to demonstrate to the world that its actions stem from a true determination to act against militancy. Certainly, this time round there seems to be more will than has been demonstrated in the past. Of course, the problems we face today would never had arisen had the issue been tackled some 20 years ago. But since this did not happen, action now has become imperative. This is crucial also in Pakistan’s own interest rather than as a response to pressure from external sources. It is also evident that a longer-term plan is required if militancy is to be weeded out for good. Reports that the government is thinking along these lines are encouraging.
The strategies being discussed include efforts to reintegrate militants into society, deweaponisation and the possible mainstreaming of some groups. All these options need to be considered more carefully and in depth. Giving young men who have taken up arms and joined militant organisations other ways to live their lives is important, indeed central, to success. How this is done will need careful thought, though. We have seen that mainstreaming has not worked out very well in the past. Similarly, all extremist groups may not wish to enter mainstream politics or be suited to this. We have a spectrum of undesirable groups, each set requiring different approaches.
There will need to be decisive steps to regulate financing and the different means through which funds are collected. This is a central FATF demand. Pakistan needs to keep uppermost its own interest and remember that driving back extremism will most of all help a country that has spent millions of rupees and lost thousands of lives to the threat extremists pose. With this in mind, the process must move forward stage by stage and all political parties must be persuaded to play a role in this by refusing to support militant organisations or ally themselves with these outfits in any way.https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/440645-dismantling-militancy
NAP in action: edit in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2019.
Pakistan is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Well, this has been our official policy line for very many years, but unfortunately, we have failed to prove it to the world, and not too many in the comity of nations are ready to acknowledge the countless sacrifices — loss of 70,000 precious lives of civilians and security personnel and more than hundred billion dollars in terms of squandered economic opportunities and damaged infrastructure — that Pakistan rendered in the US-led war on terror.
The FATF review is now coming up — in roughly two months from now — and the task is to avoid the black list by proving that Pakistan is truly against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Even if Pulwama is another factor in Pakistan moving to act against terrorism and extremism on its soil, it’s indeed a blessing in disguise: the state is serious in putting its house in order. Days after announcing a three-phase policy — featuring political, economic and administrative measures — to curb the menace of terrorism, a number of steps have been taken against terrorists and terror outfits in the country in line with the decisions taken at a recent meeting of the National Security Committee.
As many as 44 members affiliated with proscribed organisations — including Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar’s brother Mufti Abdul Rauf and son Hammad Azhar — into ‘preventive custody’ under the National Action Plan. Besides, two seminaries and property belonging to proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniyat have been taken over by the government.
While the commitment and resolve on the part of the state is there, fighting gun-wielding terrorists as well as extremists, many of whom are educated too, is a complex task that is unlikely to finish any time soon. The challenging battle requires coordinated action across all levels of state institutions.The 20-point National Action Plan — that was devised with national consensus in the wake of the December 2014 Army Public School massacre — provides a comprehensive strategy to deal with the long-haunting menace. The plan needs to be implemented in letter and spirit, and this war on terror must continue till achievement of its objectives.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1924247/6-nap-in-action/
Compliance of UNSC order: edit in The Frontier Post, Mar 7, 2019
The federal government has issued United Nations Security Council Order 2019 to freeze the assets of proscribed organisations. Instructions have been issued by Ministry of Interior to provincial government for the implementation of this order which also contain the conditions of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) pertaining to counter terror financing. The charity wings and ambulances of banned organisations in Jamiate-u-Dawa and Falah-i- Insaneet foundations will also be seized. The UNSC Resolution numbering 1267 and 1373 deal with enlisting of terrorist organisations and Resolution Number 2325 empowers FATF to place a country on grey-list because of weak anti-money laundering and counter terror financing regimes and then move it to the black-list for its failure to stop money laundering and choke the sources of financing to terror groups.
Successive governments have remained reluctant to take strong action against the proscribed organisation. It is no longer a secret that in the past the mainstream ruling parties sought the electoral and security support of these organisations in general elections, the footages of which went viral on social media. It is PTI which showed the spine to take stern action against the banned outfits and restore the soft image of the Pakistan in the comity of nations. However, sole reliance on administrative measure alone will not suffice to achieve the desired results. Necessary legislation has to be done to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for choking the sources of financing to the banned organisations.
A 27 points compliance plan was given for implementation to curb this twin menace on which some progress has been made but FATF has listed 10 areas in which satisfactory results are required. The fresh findings of the FATF reveal that the financial regulators including SBP and SECP are still failing in their duty to effectively check money laundering. There was a loud talk of making legislation to strengthen the existing anti-money laundering laws but perhaps its submission to the parliament is being delayed because of razor thin majority of the ruling PTI in the National Assembly and absolute majority of the opposition parties in Senate. The international community is now very serious about financial crimes like money laundering as it may also include drugs’ money as well. The Financial Crimes Act has cone into force in UK in September, 2017 and in other world powers such laws are operational. In the prevailing global scenario no escape route is available. The passage and implementation of laws to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for curbing the menace of money laundering and terror financing will be the right action. It would be worthwhile that the leaderships of opposition political parties should not remain oblivious of the strong stance of international community against the twin menace of money laundering, terror financing and leniency shown to the internationally banned organisation. Hopefully, they will extend their full support to the ruling party in the parliament for the passage of the requisite legislation.
https://thefrontierpost.com/compliance-of-unsc-order/
Action against extremist outfits: edit in Business Recorder, Mar 6th, 2019
There is good reason to believe that a decisive action against militant organisations of various hues is in the offing. At its last month’s meeting, the National Security Committee had announced its resolve to “accelerate action against proscribed organisations”, and ordered a fresh ban on Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its successor Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF). A press report quoting an important ‘source’ now says “action would soon be visible as things progress.” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also confirmed the report stating that the government had decided to act in accordance with the political consensus-based National Action plan (NAP).
It has been more than four years since following the horrendous terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar; leaders of all major political parties had put their heads together to deal with the scourge of violent extremism, coming up with the 20-point NAP. Among other things, it called for preventing militant outfits and armed gangs from operating in the country; dealing firmly with sectarian terrorists; registration and regulation of religious seminaries; and choking financing for terrorists and terrorist organisations. To date, these measures remain unimplemented. It may be recalled that at one point, the previous government had taken umbrage at being reminded that while military operation had made significant progress the civilian side had lagged behind in fulfilling its part of the responsibilities. Still, the government kept shirking its responsibility due to political expediency. Certain extremist groups continued to be courted by the then ruling PML-N as well as some other parties with an eye on making electoral gains. The then interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had openly made a case inside the Senate for dealing with proscribed sectarian outfits – regardless of the fact that they were proscribed for involvement in acts of terrorism – with leniency. It is an open secret that some religious seminaries serve as recruiting grounds for violent religious extremists and suicide bombers, which is why the NAP urged registration and regulation of madressahs. But they have not been touched because of the religious parties’ threat to launch an agitation. There has been a lot of talk about stopping the flow of funds to extremist organisations but not much by way of practical measures. As a result, Pakistan faces international censure. Reports coming out of the ongoing talks with the International Action Task Force show although Pakistan’s efforts to establish the legal and regulatory framework meet its commitments, it is not out of the woods yet on account of terrorist financing.
The people of this country have paid a profoundly big price for the ‘mistakes’ our policymakers made in the past. While TTP terrorists fought the state, sectarian organisations killed countless innocent people, other extremist elements felt encouraged enough to distort the national narrative and challenge the writ of the state. Although the elements with extra-territorial agendas have been reined in, they remain a source of concern. The government has now decided to sort out the JeM and FIF; it is also said to be ready to give up its stance on letting the UN Security Council designate Jaish-e-Mohammad leader, Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist. It is about time all these people and their organisations are effectively neutralized. That may not be easy, but no one is stronger than the state. Pakistan needs to take determined action against all extremists for the sake of its own peace and security. https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/03/20190306451965/