Author: Arindam Chaudhuri
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 6, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/336719/Pakistan-is-a-terrorist-state.html
There's nothing new about the revelation that
the Pakistani Army and its ISI were sheltering Osama bin Laden at a safe house
in Abbottabad till he was hunted down by American forces. The US is not ignorant
about Pakistan's policy of aiding, abetting and funding terrorism. Nor are
the Americans bothered about the threat posed by Pakistan to India and the
rest of the world
Not very long ago the former President of
Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, said during an interview to CNN, "I
think now, frankly, he (Osama bin Laden) is dead for the reason he is a kidney
patient. I don't know if he has been getting all that treatment in Afghanistan
now. And the photographs that have been shown of him on television show him
extremely weak. I would give the first priority that he is dead and the second
priority that he is alive somewhere in Afghanistan."
Cut to May 1-2, 2011. Al Qaeda chief Osama
bin Laden is hunted and killed not in any remote hideout in any tribal area
of Pakistan but in Abbottabad, which is just a short distance from the Pakistan
Military Academy and merely 60 miles from Islamabad. In March, an Indonesian
terrorist, Umar Patek, having links with Al Qaeda, was captured from Abbottabad.
He was the mastermind behind the Bali bombings and was an important agent
of Jemaah Islamiya Tahir Shehzad (an Al Qaeda facilitator).
These incidents that occurred in close proximity
of Islamabad and the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad suggest nothing
else but how the Pakistani Government always knew about the whereabouts of
Osama bin Laden and provided him with safe haven. How else could have Osama
bin Laden stayed safely right under the Army and ISI establishment's nose?
In spite of his followers being found and
killed, Osama bin Laden never got spotted. It is normal military and anti-terror
routine to sanitise the vicinity of strategically sensitive locations such
as Abbottabad and check for terror elements after even a single terrorist
is captured. Moreover, the military academy near Osama bin Laden's hideout
was visited just a month back by the Pakistani Army chief, General Ashfaq
Parvez Kayani. All this clearly indicates the Pakistani Government knew about
Osama bin Laden's hideout; it knows about the location of other extremist
leaders and groups despite feigning ignorance.
This is not just about Al Qaeda or Osama bin
Laden but also terror masterminds like Abu Zubaydah (found in a safe house
in Faisalabad), Ramzi bin Al Shibh (key facilitator of 9/11 caught in Karachi)
and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (nabbed in Rawalpindi) were all hunted down in
Pakistan. Call it coincidence, but all these terrorists were found not in
the remote Afghanistan-Pakistan border region but in Pakistani cities.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured on
February 8, 2010, from Karachi while many more were picked up from Quetta.
American cables put out by WikiLeaks have shown how Pakistan has gone about
harbouring terrorists. One of the cables pointed out General Hamid Gul, former
head of ISI, was linked with Al Qaeda operatives. Another cable revealed how
Pakistan's security services tipped Osama bin Laden whenever US troops approached
their 'target', and also "smuggled Al Qaeda terrorists through airport
security" to ensure they escaped capture.
The Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, known for its terrorist
attack on Mumbai in 2008, is still active in Pakistan. Almost a decade back,
TIME had reported that the Pakistani Army, through its 12th Infantry Division,
aids and funds members of the LeT and also provides fire cover during infiltration
across the LoC. In December 2001, India's Parliament House was attacked by
well-trained terrorists funded by agencies within Pakistan. Later, it was
confirmed that the ISI funded the attack.
The July 2006 commuter train bombings in Mumbai
were executed by SIMI, LeT and ISI. The ISI was involved in the July 2008
attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which left 58 people dead. The banned
Students Islamic Movement of India as well as the Indian Mujahideen have been
active with support from Al Qaeda and other extremist outfits based in Pakistan.
Pakistan's involvement in acts of cross-border terrorism was irrevocably proved
when Ajmal Kasab, one of the terrorists involved in the November 2008 attack
on Mumbai, was captured alive.
Pakistan has turned into a rogue state and
is increasingly becoming a threat to India as well as global security. This
is exactly where we need to realise that the threat is not just from Pakistan
but America as well. The Americans have killed Osama bin Laden because he
dared to attack them only. Had he not done so, he would have still been alive.
One must never forget that Osama bin Laden was created by the Americans to
destroy the former USSR. It is common American practice to use such elements
to destabilise countries.
From using Osama bin Laden against the USSR
to killing Presidents of neighbouring countries to installing ruthless dictators
in countries of strategic importance to the US to bombing countries shamelessly
for oil, the American establishment has done it all. What the Americans are
doing right now in Libya is the worst possible act. They are taking revenge
on a 40-year-old issue and settling scores with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi for
uniting the OPEC nations then and raising oil prices - something which resulted
in the massive transfer of wealth from the Western nations to West Asia. Today,
in a totally undemocratic manner, the US is bombing Libya and killing its
people for no reason but oil.
While the US knew all along that Pakistan
was hiding Osama bin Laden and supporting his terror activities, it did not
act against Islamabad because it needs to use Pakistan against India. The
Americans have merely been cleansing Pakistan of those terrorists who are
potentially dangerous to the US. Pakistan is the number one terrorist state
in the world today, but the US has refused to acknowledge this fact.
On the contrary, US President Barack Obama
continues to maintain that Pakistan is being cooperative in the war on terror.
That there is no substance to this assertion is demonstrated by the fact that
the US didn't even inform Pakistan of the operation to get Osama bin Laden,
knowing full well that had they done so, the most wanted terrorists would
have been promptly shifted to another safe house.
No doubt the Americans have done a great job
in killing Osama bin Laden, but they have done for their own personal interests.
Nonetheless, the killing of Osama bin Laden has reconfirmed two things. One,
Pakistan, a rogue state which harbours terrorists, is today the most dangerous
country in the world. For no country can be more dangerous than a country
that provided shelter to Osama bin Laden while pretending to be an ally of
the US. Second, the US, which still supports and pampers the rogue state called
Pakistan, can't be trusted any more.
From nuclear power plants to defence deals,
India must stop selling itself to the US and take a clear stance against Pakistan
and against any country that provides direct and indirect support to Pakistan
- America being at the top of that list.
- The writer is a management guru and editor,
The Sunday Indian.
