Confusion on presence of Islamic State Elements
Nisar says No- IB says Yes
Dunya News Report (Shahzad Badar)
A confusing scenario is emerging as the Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali contradicted the claims of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Aftab Sultan that the Islamic State (IS) had penetrated into the local population and was recruiting men for its war in Syria.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan also denies the existence of Daesh in the country . "There was no scope that Daesh can get roots in Pakistan" he commented. The IB chief during his briefing to the Senate committee also claimed that militant organisations in Pakistan were pro-Islamic state.
While both the IB and Foreign Office concur on the existence of IS element in Pakistan, Chaudhry Nisar in a statement stated that the "Islamic State has no existence in Pakistan" . Various terrorists organisations, he opined were using the label/mask of IS to terrorize the people.
"It a wrong perception that all the seminaries were involved in terrorism or anti-state activities" said Nisar. Nisar hopes to invite the Chief of Army Staff to his congregation of Wafaqul Madaris to show that the schools were seriously working with the government and all relevant players were on board.“The IS (or Daesh) has no presence in Pakistan, militant groups, which are already involved in anti-state activities, are using its name,” the minister said.
Nisar Ali also said that the IS is present in North Africa and Middle East but it does not exist in Pakistan. Reports in the international media indicate that both Sunni and Shia Pakistani groups are actively engaged in the Syrian conflict giving credence to the presence of both pro and anti IS elements in the country.
There have been conflicting claims on official level about the presence of Daesh in the country and the threat this Middle Eastern terrorist organisation poses to Pakistan.
Nisar is also banking on the support of the religious seminaries/ madrasas against terrorism. The US and foreign governments have always been pointing fingers at some madrasas for teaching extremism and producing militants. The government has taken the Wafaqul Madaris on board on issue of registration of seminaries and hope to eliminate the wrong image portrayed about the religious seminaries in Pakistan.
With conflicting claims and denials the fact remains that different organisations both religious and non religious are propagating their ideologies freely in the country. The statement of the Intelligence Bureau Director-General Aftab Sultan has to be taken seriously if the IS presence has to be curtailed in the country.
Sultan in his breifing to the Senate committee disclosed that militants from Pakistan were joining the Daesh or Islamic state in Syria. The most troubling revelation made by the security cheif was that militant organisations in Pakistan had a soft corner for the Islamic state of Abu Bakar Baghdadi in Syria and people were travelling in hordes to join the so-called jihad.
Militants are posing the biggest challenge to the stability of the state as the military has decided to wipe out all such extremist ideologies. Zarb-e-Azab is in full swing and after destroying Taliban strong holds in Wazaristan the operation has been shifted to cities where the militants have sought refuge in the thick concrete urban jungle.
A similar warning was earlier given in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee at Parliament House in February 2015 by the Foreign Secretary Azaz Ahmed Chaudhry. Azaz told the members that the Islamic state was indeed a real concern to the government.
"Under UN resolutions, Pakistan is firmly against extremist organisations like Islamic State and was taking all actions to counter them", Azaz told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
A Pew Research polls of Muslim countries reveals a not so rosy picture which would create problem for the country to counter Islamic state propaganda in Pakistan. If the polls are to be believed 62 percent of the Pakistani s have no views about the Islamic State. Out of a population of 180 million people, nine percent supported the Islamic state. People in majority of the Muslim countries above 60 % according to the polls viewed Islamic state negatively.
On October 3,2015 Army Chief Raheel Sharif said in an address to The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London “even a shadow of IS will not be allowed”.
Militant organisations like the Jundullah group and Laskhara Tayabia all operating from Pakistan have pledged allegiance to Abu Bakar Baghadadi and so has the splinter Taliban Khorasani group which carried out the recent killings in Charsadda university.
The IB chief in his breifing to senators stated that target killings had considerably decreased in Karachi from 1,922 people killed in 2013, to 1305 in 2014 and 546 in 2015.
Claiming considerable fall in terrorist activities due to collaboration with the local police the intelligence chief claimed in Sindh, 1,121 terrorists, target killers, kidnappers and other criminals were arrested and 95 killed in IB-led operations. In KP, 581 terrorists were arrested and 84 were killed.
The intelligence forces were also successful in targeting those responsible for attacking the Shikarpur Imambargah, former SP Ch Aslam, SHO Shafique Tanoli, Meena Bazaar, Imamia Masjid Hayatabad, Bashir Balour , Wagah Border in Punjab and district courts Islamabad,On the ideological front the government has not yet developed a sound strategy. The methodology adopted by the government to counter the militant Islamic ideology is not yet visible other than arresting people who propagate different political views about the establishment an Muslim state.
Unfortunately the militants have penetrated and radicalized the educated strata of the society.
The Vice Chancellor of a private university was held on charges of links with the Islamic State, and a group of 20 influential women were arrested by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Karachi for collecting funds for militant groups. The accused were also linked to the Safoora carnage in which 46 Shias were ruthlessly massacred on a bus in Karachi in May 2015.
Media reports indicate a rise in the active recruitment by the militants. The latest revelation came out on December 2015 that the CTD has busted an Islamic State cell in Sialkot and according to investigators, the eight operatives arrested from the cell have vowed to “overthrow democracy and introduce Khilafat in Pakistan through armed struggle”.
*Mohammed Zahid a visiting fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) moved to the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as an assistant professor in the political science department. Zahid had authored a working paper titled Political Islam in Pakistan: Hiz-but-Tahrir and the National Security Dilemma. On April 22, 2015, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab police arrested him on terrorism charges.
*Naveed Butt Trained as an engineer from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), and University of Illinois in Chicago joined Hisbul Tharir and has been missing since May 2012.
* Siham Qamar, deputy general manager at Karachi Electric and Owais Raheel, a teacher at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist) was picked up by law enforcement agencies in November 2015.
The above cases point towards a conflict of ideologies boiling to dangerous levels for which the government needs to come up with a program like Saudi Arabia to de radicalize all elements in the society. Kindapping and killing ideological opponents will only strengthen their resolve to resort to violent means to achieve their goals.
After all the Russian, Chinese, Americans are all negotiating with the Talibans to counter the threats of Islamic State penetrating in the Afghan region. Pushed to the wall these radicalized elements would become deviants with foreign funding and support.
The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) and other religious and non religious organisations can play a big role in providing a forum for dialogue and help neutralize the Islamic State propaganda. The Ulema Council has recently declared the Islamic State (Daesh) as a ‘Khawarij’ i.e. those who deviated from mainstream Islam.
