Pakistan’s belated anti-terrorism crackdown is too little too late

For a long time, Pakistan has turned a blind eye to the activities of religious charities that are on the UN list of terrorist groups. But the threat of being placed on a watch list of countries failing to prevent the financing of terrorism has forced the government to finally act against such groups.
Last week, the security agencies closed the offices of, and various facilities run by, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its affiliate, Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), after Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act was amended to proscribe these charities. However, the move seems to be too little, too late.
This week in Paris the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental money-laundering watchdog, will consider a US proposal to place Pakistan on the terrorist watch list. The resolution is supported by Britain, France and Germany, making it hard for Pakistan to escape the action despite the latest crackdown. The closure of the JuD facilities is a partial compliance with the requirements of FATF. It also requires an asset freeze and a ban on all organizations headed by those listed by the UN as terrorists.
There would be serious ramifications for Pakistan – increasing its international isolation – if the US-sponsored resolution is passed at the FATF meeting. Although the watchdog does not have the power to impose sanctions, a place on its watch list can affect international transactions because it also exposes to greater scrutiny any country dealing with a state on the list. Such restrictions would have disastrous implications for Pakistan’s fragile economy, which desperately needs foreign investment.
This is not the first time Pakistan has faced the threat of being on the watch list. It was there from 2012 to 2015 but taken off after the government carried out some actions against UN-proscribed groups under its national counterterrorism action plan. This was formulated after the Peshawar army-school massacre, a terrorist attack that killed more than 150 students and staff members, but never fully enforced, allowing the extremist groups to continue to operate with impunity. Pakistan’s civil and military leadership ignored repeated warnings by the international community to put its house in order.

There would be serious ramifications for Pakistan – increasing its international isolation – if the US-sponsored resolution is passed at the FATF meeting.

Zahid Hussain

A major international concern has been the growing activities of JuD. It is a charity wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the outlawed militant group blamed for the 2008 terrorist attack in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including several Western nationals. LeT was proscribed by Islamabad in 2002 but continued to operate under the banner of JuD. The group is headed by LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, giving further credence to the suspicion that its very formation was an attempt to provide a cover for LeT’s militant activities.
Pakistan has failed to convince the international community that JuD is a benign charitable organization. Despite the fact the charity group has been on the UN terrorist watch list for a long time, the network has expanded its operations significantly. The formation in August 2017 of the Milli Muslim League (MML) party by the leaders of JuD has added to international concern.
Predictably, the launch of the MML as a mainstream political party stirred up a hornet’s nest, provoking criticism from inside and outside the country. The party’s motto of seeking guidance from Saeed leaves nothing to the imagination about MML’s political orientation, though it tries to present itself as a “centrist” and “moderate” political forum unassociated with religious politics.
A statement by a military spokesman that every Pakistani has a right to form a political party gives credence to the notion that the formation of the MML is part of a plan to legitimize the political role of former militant clients. Perhaps what we are witnessing is a policy by stealth of mainstreaming the “good militants” who once fought the state’s proxy war and have not been directly involved in terrorist activities at home, though they had allegedly continued their “jihad” outside the country.
As the international pressure increased, Pakistan last year detained Saeed but he was released on a court order. His speeches at public rallies have provoked intense international reaction, his activities becoming a red rag of sorts for the international community.
It may be true that Pakistan’s strained relations with the United States was also a factor behind the resolution at the FATF meeting. But it is also imperative for the country to put a clear anti terrorism policy in place before it is too late.
 
• Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in Washington DC.
Twitter: @hidhussain