'Pak. curbs only to please international community'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, FEB. 16. Has the military government in Pakistan bitten more than what it can chew in its resolve to enforce the ban on display of weapons and forcible collection of funds by the religious and militant outfits in the name of `jehad' (holy war)?

The recent declarations made by the Pakistan Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd) Moinuddin Haider, have raised serious questions not only on the intentions of the government, but whether the military regime could demonstrate the will to enforce its order.

While the religious and militant organisations have vowed to defy the ban, commentators pointed out that the record of the military regime vis-a-vis the jehadi outfits did not inspire much confidence. Observers of the Musharraf regime wonder if the sound and fury of the Interior Minister is meant for the consumption of the international community.

The military regime has been under pressure from the West, particularly, the U.S. to rein in the jehadi organisations.

India has also conveyed to Pakistan that the activities of the jehadi organisations continue to be a major obstacle to resumption of talks.

The moot point is that the foreign policy of Pakistan is tied to Kashmir and Afghanistan, and the religious and militant outfits in Pakistan have been furthering this agenda. If the military government is serious about curbing the religious and militant outfits, it should be in a position to re-work its foreign policy.

The outfits have asked the Minister to either apologise or quit the government. Their contention is that `jehad' is the bounden duty of every devout Muslim and the Minister has no right to preach otherwise.

According to reports in the Pakistani Urdu Press, the Lashkar-e- Taiba has begun an exercise to form a broad alliance of like- minded groups to counter the steps contemplated by the military government.

An editorial in the English daily, The Nation, brought out the serious contradictions in the statement of the Interior Minister. ``The Kashmir freedom struggle has been described as a jehad by the Minister's boss (Gen. Pervez Musharraf) and is considered by Pakistan as a liberation struggle, to which Pakistan is providing diplomatic and moral support. Material support is being provided by Pakistani fundraising, both for the Pakistan-based jehad organisations and for the indigenous Kashmiri groups. There is no justification for stopping such fundraising, unless it is accepted that Irish-American fundraising for the Irish Republican Army or Jewish-American fundraising for Israel is unwarranted''.

The paper has said that as for Afghanistan, the fundraising is essentially meant for humanitarian relief. ``Similarly, to come back to Kashmir, if funds are raised ostensibly to provide food and clothing to refugees, and they are then diverted to buying arms and ammunition, how does the government plan to stop it?,'' it asked.

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Section  : International
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