Swelling numbers
Pakistan has been under severe criticism by most of the nations across the globe for harboring a vast number of militant outfits and the militants who have been engaged in fighting in Afghanistan and many other neighbouring countries as well.
Even Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan admitted during his tour to the US few days back that about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir, were in Pakistan. Khan also accused the previous governments of not telling the truth to the US about the militant groups operating in the country.
Notably, Pakistan has been accused of providing safe haven to the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other militant groups, which carry out attacks in various neighbouring countries.
Pakistan has been over the past several years faced with the crisis of growing radicalism which has at times proved deadly for the country as well. There was a watershed in Pakistani politics in 2014 after the Pakistani Taliban killed 150 school children at Army Public School (in Peshawar).
This incident not only created a furore in the country but a National Action Plan was signed by all political parties and it was decided no militant groups will be allowed to operate inside Pakistan.
But as it happens in countries like Pakistan, militant groups continued to operate and it was infact the PTI government that started disarming militant groups.
As of now, the The Khan government has taken control of the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and the its charity wing the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) properties including seminaries and mosques across the country following international pressure built up after the deadly Pulwama attack on February 14. According to officials, JuD’s network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service.
Pakistan has emerged as one of the key partners for the US and its allies as they want it to play a constructive role in Afghanistan where US wants its troops to be withdrawn at an earliest.
But to ensure an exit the US has to play its role as well. The US needs to build a relation with Pakistan that is based on mutual trust. Pakistan is the only country in the Asian subcontinent that can reach out to the Taliban to try to convince them to open negotiations with the Afghan government. The Taliban have so far refused to talk directly to the Afghan government.
Interestingly, the Trump administration has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America’s longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.
Even though the US may be looking out to move out of the Afghan territory at an earliest but the situation on ground demands more time and efforts to help Pakistan to achieve its resolve of ending the writ the armed militants hold in the country.
KV Network
