Elections in India are a full contact sport and truly a celebration of democracy with 900 million voters queueing to elect the next Parliament. Amidst the election brouhaha, diplomacy of any sort is an attribute that oftenfades away from the gaze of the media and its audience.
However, diplomacy and the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) is at the forefront of the media coverage over the past 48 hours, with the UNSC declaring Masood Azhar, the notorious head of the Pakistan-based and enabled “jihadi” group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) a “globalterrorist.” It is indeed a victory for all Indians.
The symbolism of this victory must not be attenuated in any manner, as it is indeed a big win for both the political will of India and its talented and tenacious diplomatic corps.Navigating the minefields of conflicting interests of powerful countries, with veto powers and realpolitik – it would indeed be unfair to not give credit where its due.
However, once the euphoria settles, the statement by the UNSC from its East 42nd street iconic headquarters in Manhattan would have little impact on what the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj termed the “terror factory” of Pakistan.
Going by the history in this new millennium and the trajectory of Pakistan – this symbolic win is akin to receiving a “big cheque” that cannot be cashed at least in the foreseeable future especially since the guarantor is virtually bankrupt.
This pessimism is well-founded.
The responsibility to ensure that the UNSC resolution is implemented effectively lies with the state of Pakistan:a duplicitous, lawless and failed state heading into an abyss, while being devoured by the Frankenstein terrorist monsters that it has so diligently created and nurtured, since the days of Zia ulHaq. Despite the veneer of democracy, the army calls the shots in Pakistan.
To ensure the supremacy of the Army and its corrupt practices, it has no option but to keep the jihadi and Kashmir flame alive in the psyche of the country. As it has done for decades now, Pakistan will claim it is coming down hard on terrorism but all the while tacitly supporting those groups that especially target India and increasingly Afghanistan and even Iran.
The JeM is technically a banned organization in Pakistan since 2002, yet it openly functions, raises funds, trains terrorists and plans and executes terror activities in neighbouring countries at the behest and with the aid of Pakistan’s intelligence agency – the ISI.
Successive recent Pakistani heads of government including the all-powerful Army chief and President, Musharraf, pledged to not allow the country’s soil to be used for cross border terrorism. Nothing could be further from the truth as the entire world except for China would testify.
The UNSC resolution requires a ban on Azhar’s foreign travel, asset freeze and an arms embargo. Only the ban on foreign travel might be enforced as Pakistan would not want Masood Azhar to get caught and spill the beans. Otherwise,MassodAzhar’s life would not be very different after the “blacklisting,” save for some cosmetic changes.
There is reasonable fear that the future of Masood Azhar would be exactly like Hafiz Saeed, the LeT leader. Saeed is a UN listed “global terrorist” and yet, he continues to move freely, give provocative speeches and run the terror outfit.Saeed is even often interviewed by mainstream Pakistani journalists, while he continues to create havoc with his banned organisation.
Within this context, for the blacklisting to be truly effective, it is imperative that enforcement of the regulations and Pakistan’s compliance is ensured. Moreover, unless international heavyweights obstruct the flow of resources to the leaders of the terror outlets and their movements, no real impact will be made.In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, more than Azhar’s blacklisting, what is likely to benefit India in the long-run is the fact that the country succeeded in calling the bluff on Pakistan’s threat of nuclear use.
In a similar vein, the global leaders and international community need to collectively challenge the impunity of the Pakistani Army, as in the case of Saddam Hussein. This entails sanctions against finances and travels of the higher echelons of the Pakistani Army, especially the ISI, as well as their families. Terrorists must not be enabled and empowered by the international community via the benefits offered through education, health and other opportunities. For example, Pervez Musharraf freely lives abroad with this children and travels with his key lieutenants in ISI and the army, despite his duplicity in addressing the flourishing terrorism within the auspices of his country. In that sense, he is no better than Hafeez Saeed or Masood Azhar.
Thus, in appreciating this diplomatic victory, the reportage across media channels needs to be more nuanced, in cognizance of the multitude of factors still at play, which when considered, are symptomatic of constantly escalating acts of terrorism, both within and beyond international borders.
Shamit Ghosh
May 3, 2019
source https://indiaoutbound.org/blacklisting-masood-azhar-symbolic-win-for-india/
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