Thursday, January 15, 2015

Is Daesh Coming to Pakistan? – II

            
The presence of Daesh in Pakistan may be a hear-say, however, even pro-Taliban religio-political parties admitted presence of Arabs who had arrived during Afghan jihad era and then married and settled here. Many of them were killed and their bodies were also found here. Many of them were arrested and handed over to the U.S. army. It is the moral obligation of the government to clear the mist and her position too because mere verb al assurance about this “Arabic Sand Storm’s” absence inside Pakistan can’t be accepted.

This is one side of the story while on the other side, although there is no concrete evidence of the presence of the Middle Eastern militant group, ISIS, commonly known as Daesh, nevertheless, some sections of international media and experts on terrorism are bent upon propagating theories of new terror nexus between Daesh and outlawed TTP splinter groups. The sections of international media and experts on terrorism are building the theories of nexus between Daesh and on-the-run splinters of outlawed TTP without having any credible information on this serious issue. They are at their free will to propagate as they have no obligation but the national media should avoid playing in to their hands and must avoid being hijacked by the western media. The media should have firm trust in their own premier intelligence agencies who are dealing with the menace of terrorism and have found no indication about the roots of Daesh being fostering in Pakistan.

The top secret services have assessed that Shahid Ullah Shahid who was formerly a spokesman for one faction of the TTP made an announcement pledging allegiance to Daesh chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi along with some other militants was a ploy to seek publicity. The Interior Department contacts, confirming the secret services’ source, told The Nation that not a single intelligence agency came up with concrete evidence of presence of Daesh or ISIS on Pakistani soil. The days of terror of Shahid Ullah Shahid and his likes are over for now on Pakistani soil and one big proof is that he is at large and instead of sticking to his so-called stronghold in tribal belt, is believed to be in Kunar (Afghanistan). Otherwise also his careless boosting was not approved by the Taliban high command hence after his video message in which he had pledged allegiance to Middle Eastern militant group, Daesh, he was sacked and is no more on the spokesperson’s position.

The sudden rise of the Islamic State (IS or “Daesh”) in the urban areas of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan has set the alarm bells ringing for the Pakistani security establishment, especially when an IS-linked jehadi group has already claimed responsibility for the November 2 suicide attack at Wagah border post that killed 65 people. The latest reports about the emergence of the IS campaign pamphlets and display of posters on the boundary walls of Lahore and Karachi, should not come as a surprise for the law enforcement or intelligence services because a similar campaign had first been launched in Peshawar almost two months ago in September 2014. The development was seen as an attempt by the IS sympathizers to expand the ideological boundaries of the lethal jihadist organisation to Pakistan after extending its area of influence in the Middle East. The pamphlets distributed in Peshawar declared that the caliphate led by Abu Bakr Baghdadi, was planning to expand its boundaries from Iraq and Syria, to Khorasan [which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of India]. The booklet titled ‘Fatah’ (victory) was published in Pashto and Dari languages while its logo carried the Kalma, the historical stamp of and a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Introducing itself as Daulat-e-Islamia (Islamic State) in the pamphlet, the IS made an appeal to the local people to support its struggle for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

The distribution of the IS pamphlets in Peshawar – the capital of KPK – indicated that the ultra-radical Islamist group was trying to inspire militants even in the strongholds of Taliban and al-Qaeda. Following the rise of IS in the Middle East and its proclamation of a Caliphate, the al-Qaeda leadership has clearly distanced itself from the group, chiding it for its violent and brutal expansion. But it now appears that both al-Qaeda and Daesh are competing for the backing of Pakistani jihadis, majority of whom is largely based in the huge lawless tribal belt of FATA and are already facing a massive military operation in North Waziristan on the Pak-Afghan border.

About graffiti in support of Daesh in Sindh’s provincial capital, Karachi, tribal areas and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the security services officials stated that it was just a ‘bluff’ to create an impact on the general public that the destroyed terror network could still pose a serious threat. It’s otherwise a psychological war tactics to cash anything which is hot selling, may that be some organisation or outfit, product or personality. The miscreants and their agents have found it very convenient to come out of their holes at night and paint the walls black just to scare the general public. Just imagine about a peaceful citizen who watches a horrifying video about Daesh’s brutality a little ago and for some reason the moment he comes out of his house, find his wall painted with Daesh’s logo and the slogans.

The Balochistan government and the provincial IG Police have tried to downplay the contents of a report prepared by the Balochistan Home Department and sent by the provincial government to the federal agencies, after it became public. The report contains a warning that the IS plans to attack government buildings, military establishments, as well as target people based on the sects they belong to. However, according to the new stance the senior provincial officials are suggesting that there is no real IS threat in Pakistan, at least in Balochistan.

The authorities in all the provinces have launched a manhunt to track down the elements behind the launching of an “Daesh Promotion Campaign” after discovering distribution of pamphlets and display of posters on the boundary walls in parts of Lahore and Karachi. The agencies have been directed to trace the elements who had distributed the banned material and written slogans on the walls of Lahore and Karachi on the night of November 10. The pamphlet’s logo features an AK-47 assault rifle and calls on youngsters to support the militant group, as had been the case with Peshawar. The intelligence agencies are trying to ascertain if the same elements are involved in the “IS promotion campaign” in Lahore who had masterminded the November 2 Wagah suicide bombing.

The fact is that a terrorist is a terrorist, may he be from Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaeda or Daesh. Only the objective, which one terrorist takes along, differentiates him from other Taliban. Hence the need of the hour is to concentrate on eliminating terrorism from the country without sweating for who is who.

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