By Shahzad Masood Roomi
The latest media reports suggest that Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police, Pakistan has registered a case against the alleged attackers and their abettors of the Pathankot airbase located in Indian Punjab.
According to reports, CTD lodged FIR # 06/2016 in a police station Gujranwala under the sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah addressing the media said, “The information provided by India was used to file the case and if need be, Pakistan will ask India for more information.”
“Registration of the FIR is proof of Pakistan’s resolve against terrorism,” he added. High level investigations have begun to comprehend the alleged attackers and perpetrators. But registration of this FIR has triggered some critical questions who demand answers from government of Pakistan and the way it is conducting its statecraft like diplomacy, counter-terrorism and governance.
Pathankot base of Indian Air Force (IAF) was attacked by unknown gunmen on 2nd January, 2015 which left seven Indian security officials killed. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant group, and postponed the foreign-secretary-level talks.
After Indian accusations, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif formed a high level Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter and interrogate the leads provided by the Indian authorities about involvement of JeM. SIT comprised on experts from the both civilian and military intelligence agencies. SIT wanted to visit India in order to seek more evidence but Indian government denied the access of SIT to the incident site.
Meanwhile, Pakistan apprehended many suspects including head of JeM Maulana Masood Azhar. However, media reports suggest that Pakistani investigators declared Indian leads “inadequate” to implicate Azhar in the case.
ANALYSIS:
It is really strange that despite the finding of SIT, Nawaz government, instead of asking India for more proof, lodged the FIR against “unidentified” terrorists. Ostensibly there is nothing wrong with this move and it is indeed a reflection of government’s resolve against terrorism but the fundamental problem with this FIR is it accepts Indian blame of Pakistanis being involved in the Pathankot incident without adequate proof. Pakistan itself is the biggest victim of terrorism which is being orchestrated with Indian help from Afghanistan. Instead of putting pressure of India through proactive diplomacy, Pakistani government has registered a case against unidentified Pakistanis on a piece of information which SIT has declared “inadequate.” It remains obscure that whose interests this style of diplomacy by Islamabad?
It is really strange that despite the finding of SIT, Nawaz government, instead of asking India for more proof, lodged the FIR against “unidentified” terrorists. Ostensibly there is nothing wrong with this move and it is indeed a reflection of government’s resolve against terrorism but the fundamental problem with this FIR is it accepts Indian blame of Pakistanis being involved in the Pathankot incident without adequate proof. Pakistan itself is the biggest victim of terrorism which is being orchestrated with Indian help from Afghanistan. Instead of putting pressure of India through proactive diplomacy, Pakistani government has registered a case against unidentified Pakistanis on a piece of information which SIT has declared “inadequate.” It remains obscure that whose interests this style of diplomacy by Islamabad?
The timing of FIR also indicates the weakness on the part of PMLN government. The case was registered just a day after Indian Defense Minister accused Pakistan for not doing enough to combat terrorism originating from its soil. Furthermore, the FIR registration has come at a time when strong protests by students of Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi and Jadavpur University (JU) in Kolkata –exposing Indian ideas of freedom of speech and nationalism – are making headlines around the world. Indian media has accepted that idea of nationalism has become “Modi-fied”. It is really beyond the comprehension of common Pakistanis that while India left no stone unturned in lobbying against a deal US-Pakistan deal of 8 F-16s and American aid of US$ 860 million using terrorism as an excuse why Pakistani government is not exploiting the incidents in Indian universities to alter the prevailing perceptions and narrative about both countries in international community? In fact, Indian home minister also accused Pakistan for these protests in the Indian universities and here in Pakistan, government seems more interested in secure Indian interests than fulfilling its obligations towards Pakistani nation by implementing National Action Plan (NAP). Pakistani democracy has hit its lowest during the current government. Fighting terrorism is indeed among the responsibilities of Pakistani state but question remains at what cost, PMLN government wants to do it? It seems that national honor and upholding justice are too cheap for the regime, unfortunately!
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