Shocking!

Nisar shocked the Senate, saying banned sectarian organisations couldn't be equated with banned terrorist groups

Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan shocked the upper house the other day saying that banned sectarian organisations could not be equated with banned terrorist groups. The Shia-Sunni conflict, he argued, went back 1,300 years.

The question is how anyone could set apart organisations dedicated to killing innocent, unarmed people, those who slaughter for sectarian reasons from those who massacre motivated by religious concerns. The law of the land flowing out of our Constitution does not discriminate between the two. When caught and indicted by a court of law, both kinds of killers are handed down identical punishment. And the law of the land also does not condone sectarian killing just because the Shia-Sunni conflict goes back 1,300 years. In fact, the Constitution abhors all kinds of killing including the sectarian ones with equal intensity.

By most of his official actions and harangues at his long drawn press conferences the Chaudhry has led many to suspect that he is still living in the era of General Ziaul Haq. One recalls the way he reacted to the drone demise of Hakimullah Mehsud, the then chief of Tehrik-i-Taliban, Pakistan (TTP). Calling the drone strike that killed Hakimullah “an attack on regional peace by America,” Nisar said bilateral ties with the US will be reviewed. He vowed to raise the matter at international forums including the United Nations.

Next, when Mullah Mansour the last chief of TTP was killed again in a drone attack Nisar slammed the US government accusing Washington of “sabotaging the peace talks with Afghan Taliban”. Adding he said, ‘did they forget that when Afghan Taliban and Afghan government met for talks in Murree, it was Mullah Mansour who was leading the group.’

Nisar has also been accused of protecting Maulana Aziz of Lal Masjid who is alleged to have declared allegiance to Daesh. He has also called the madrassas, a bulwark against terrorism. He said in his opinion ‘based on facts and figures’ madrassas are a shield against terrorism.

One also recalls that it was Nisar who was the driving force behind getting the PML-N to leave the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy soon after the July 2007 All Parties Conference called by his Party chief Nawaz Sharif in London and join the All Pakistan Democratic Movement which was essentially an alliance of religious parties — an expanded MMA. One felt Nisar’s main purpose was to get the PML-N out of a fold that was being led by the PPP.

He seemingly suffers from a pathological hatred of the PPP. Indeed, during his tenure as the interior minister he seemed to have focused more on bullying a currently down and out PPP rather than catching militants, sectarian as well as other kind. He appears to be enjoying re-living the out-dated times of Zia regime.

For his information, according to a latest report (Pakistan Security Report 2016) compiled by Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies only a few attempts have been made to understand the complex relationship among the banned militant groups – which once were involved in fighting ‘jihad’ in Afghanistan and Indian held Kashmir – the anti- Pakistan Islamist militant groups, violent sectarian groups, and global terrorist movements.

“At the same time, the exact level of violent extremism in the country as well as potential threat by terrorist outfits cannot be measured until complete enforcement of the laws relating to the banned organisations, which are deemed as not involved in militancy inside Pakistan and also sectarian groups. “The reason is that the groups involved in terrorism in Pakistan get human resource and seek ideological legitimacy for their actions from these banned organisations. Additionally, banned organisations have encroached on far-right territory and if this process continues they will erode the socio-cultural fabric of society. “The sectarian violence will remain a threat so long as (i) sectarian terrorist groups remain active in Pakistan, and (ii) the discourse of hatred in the country remains sectarian including through sectarian streams of madrassas.

“Resurfacing with a new global outlook, LeJ-A offers a new platform for smaller, struggling militant groups and individuals, including those having violent sectarian credentials. The LeJ-A has widened its ideological and strategic spectrums to develop compatibility with global terrorist groups, including the militant Islamic State (IS) group, also known as ISIS.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.