Daily Times

It was a foregone conclusion that the Jammat-ud-Dawa, a front of banned Lakshar-e-Taiba chief, Hafez Saeed would be released by the Lahore High court due to the Government’s reluctance to produce evidence about the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks in 2008, where over 166 innocent people had lost their lives, went unheeded.

However, what has come as a shock in India is that the Pakistan government did not even submit the dossier submitted by the Indian government implicating him in the Mumbai attack. There are reasons to believe that a strong nexus exists between some of the senior leaders of PML-N and Hafiz Saeed. Hafiz had played an important role in helping the ruling dispensation to win the last elections, especially in Punjab.

Although the international outrage against the release of the terrorist is understandable, his re-arrest in the absence of the Government’s reluctance to produce evidence in the court would not help its cause. The government’s attitude is making a mockery of the justice system in the country.

It is unfortunate that a person, who carries a $10 million bounty on his head, is not able to operate freely from his house. Moreover, he enjoys the support of the army who have been using him, as part of their strategy of waging a proxy war against India.

Indians are rightly outraged with both the government and army’s patronage. It is this support that has encouraged him not only to move freely, before his house arrest in January of this year, but also organise several meetings to launch a tirade against India. Hafez has achieved a cult status in Pakistan with his call for liberation of Kashmir; although one is not sure how his rag tag outfits would be able to achieve this. As expected, the first thing he did, after his release, was to launch a fresh tirade against India.

Hafiz has now floated a new party ‘Muslim Mili League’ with the intention of participating in the 2018 elections. Perhaps, he feels that once he is able to win substantial seats backed by the goodwill he enjoys in Pakistan today, he will get more leverage against the government. In all fairness it must be said the support of people to the fundamental groups has not translated in garnering votes in the past. But, things may change quickly with the ruling party failing to govern the country and their inability to provide effective governance.

The Government has remained reluctant to produce evidence about the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks in 2008, when over 166 innocent people lost their lives

The recent demand by the US government to re-arrest him, in keeping with the UN ban on LeT and JuD, will not make any impact due to repeated refusal by the governments to produce evidence against him. As rightly pointed out by the court, they can’t prosecute him based on press clips.

The government’s hidden agenda was recently exposed, when they decided to assign special security to him on the basis of intelligence inputs that some foreign countries, were planning to eliminate him. It is indeed a travesty of justice that a known criminal, responsible for killing hundreds of innocent Indians, should get such a privilege.

Apart from Hafez, there are several fundamental and religious groups that are trying to destabilise the elected government. The situation has further worsened, after Nawaz Sharif had to step down, after his conviction by the court. Unfortunately, there is not a single leader in the party who has the ability to step into his shoes. This has virtually paralysed the functioning of the government.

The reason that has led to the widespread protests is over an amendment made in the Election Bill 2017, where a new Form A for candidates has been introduced. In this form, the words ‘I solemnly swear’ has been substituted with ‘I believe.’  The religious groups have taken umbrage over this change as they feel the government has deliberately diluted a candidate’s belief in the finality of the prophet hood of Prophet Muhammad. Further, such declaration has not been made mandatory for non-Muslim candidates.

Now, the religious groups have practically laid siege on Islamabad. It was an Islamabad court’s order which declared the protests as an ‘act of terror’, that forced the government to act against the protestors, who are demanding the resignation of the law minister. Over 10 people have lost their lives and more than 200 people have been injured due to crackdown on the protesters. The army has refused to lend its support against the crackdown. Although the government has apologised to the new amendment, calling it as a clerical error, it has cut ice with the protestors, who want to see the Law Minister sacked.

All these developments do not portend well for Pakistan. The failure of the government to act against these groups is unconscionable and if these fanatic groups are not reined in, there is every danger that they may damage the very edifice on which Pakistan stands today. Pakistan is now treading on a dangerous path and there is an urgency to restore law and order. At a time when the fundamental groups are spreading their tentacles in the Middle East, West Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan can’t remain immune to their larger designs.

The present government has been incapable in providing governance, resulting in a virtual breakdown of all its machinery.  It is unfortunate that after Nawaz Sharif there is not a single leader who was competent enough to lead the country. This is being exploited by the opposition parties to the hilt.

One does not want Pakistan go the Afghan way, where over 50 percent of the territory is in the hands of Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban. The government should rein in the fundamental groups and should not allow the country to fall into wrong hands.

All those countries that are gloating over Pakistan’s discomfiture, fail to realise that an unstable Pakistan will lead to chaos and instability in the region. It is therefore, of paramount importance that the United States, China and India should extend their support to Pakistan in meeting the challenges. A strong and secure Pakistan is sine qua non for ensuring peace and stability in the region.

The writer is an independent columnist and political commentator

Published in Daily Times, November 29^th 2017.