Category: PAKISTAN

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India recalls capturing Quaid Post in Siachen

It was on June 26, 1987 that the 8 JAK LI captured the Quaid Post (named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah) in Siachen at an altitude of 21,153 feet, a virtually impregnable glacier fortress with ice walls as high as 1500 feet on both sides which was occupied by Pakistani forces to dominate the entire region, reports Ateet Sharma

Thirty-four years after their exemplary valour created history on the highest battleground in the world, the heroics of Captain Bana Singh, Param Vir Chakra, Major Varinder Singh, Vir Chakra, Sena Medal and his team from the 8th Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (Siachen) are being recalled with a huge sense of pride by many Indians today.

It was on June 26, 1987 that the 8 JAK LI captured the Quaid Post (named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah) in Siachen at an altitude of 21,153 feet, a virtually impregnable glacier fortress with ice walls as high as 1500 feet on both sides which was occupied by Pakistani forces to dominate the entire region.

Naib Subedar Bana Singh, who volunteered to be a member of the team tasked to capture the Quaid Post, displayed conspicuous gallantry and leadership under severe adverse conditions and was awarded India’s highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra and the post was renamed as ‘Bana Top’ in his honour.

A memorial at the headquarters of the Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army in remembrance of members of the regiment who died or served in the Siachen Conflict.(WIKIPEDIA)

Along with Subedar Sanjay Kumar and Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav, Captain Bana Singh is the only living recipient of the award.

Temperatures in the upper reaches of the 76 km glacier with mountain ranges on either side ranges between minus 30 degrees to minus 80 degrees centigrade and the average winter snowfall is 35 feet.

Bane Singh

It was in these extremely difficult and hazardous conditions that Singh, with a thin razor sharp ridge line on the flank, led his men through the dangerous route and inspired them by his indomitable courage and leadership.

Using ropes to climb the ice walls in numbing chillness, the heroic JCO and his men crawled and closed in on the enemy. In an unparalleled feat of raw courage and valour he moved from trench to trench, lobbing hand grenades and charging with his bayonet killing all the remaining enemy soldiers to capture the strategic post.

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JAK LI – a battle-hardened and decorated Regiment

The JAK LI Infantry Regiment with 17 battalions, is one of the most battle hardened and decorated Regiments of the Indian Army.

The battalion was raised as the First Battalion Border Scouts by volunteers who took up arms in the aftermath of communal passion and the smouldering embers of Partition to check the multitude of Kabailies intruding into Poonch on 18 December 1947.

‘Born in Battle and Purified in Blood’, the battalion was re-designated as 8th Jammu & Kashmir Militia on April 15, 1948. The Regiment, raised on December 2, 1972 from J&K Militia – and rechristened Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry on April 27, 1976 – has fought gallantly in the 1947-48, 1965 & 1971 Indo-Pak wars.

Siachen
In the 1971 War, the battalion was outnumbered but never outclassed in valour and fought the defensive battle successfully despite the enemy’s passion for Chhamb. For this the battalion was awarded the Battle Honour � Laleali and Picquet 707.

The battalion yet again proved its mettle during its 2008 tenure at Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir when Naib Subedar Chuni Lal, Vir Chakra, Sena Medal, who laid down his life following the highest traditions of the Indian Army while fighting terrorists, was bestowed with the highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra (Posthumous).

With this, the battalion joined the elite group of �Bravest of the Brave’ battalions.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Pak plot to alter boundaries of Gilgit-Baltistan

Imran Khan

There have been various reports of people from KPK, gradually advancing from Kohistan to occupy large territories near Basra Chilas in GB….reports Asian Lite News

In a notification dated June 14, 2021, issued from Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KPK) Culture and Tourism Authority on the Shandur Polo Festival- 2021, KPK informed that the annual Polo festival stands cancelled for this year.

Although the notification is regarding the cancellation of the event, it indicated that the KPK government was hosting this event despite the fact that the area of Shandur falls under the jurisdiction of Gilgit Baltistan (GB). This came as a rude shock for the people and the GB establishment as the event used to be organized by the GB government previously.

Shandur region which falls under the District Ghizer (GB), is near the GB-KPK (Chitral) border. For the past few years, especially under the PTI government, the Government of KPK has been raising claim for the Shandur region. Meanwhile, the people of GB are unequivocal in its claims that Shandur is part of GB, right from ancient times. The GB activists have even produced documentation supporting their territorial claim, but have had no effect on the KPK establishment. This recent act of aggression from the KPK government is part of the nefarious designs by the Imran Khan-led PTI government at the centre, in ensuring continual skirmishes between the people of KP and GB. The attitude of the government towards the GB protests has been only namesake, while it has been actively encouraging KPK to continue with its aggressive stance towards its smaller neighbours.

Gilgit Baltistan.

Another case that surfaced in recent times has been the territorial claims over the Daimer-Basha dam. The 10 km area of Gandlo Nallah, where the dam’s power plant is to be installed is claimed by both the Harban tribe of Kohistan (Kohistan district is in KPK) and the Thor tribe of Daimar (Daimar district is in GB). Instead of mediating over the issue and settling the rightful claims of the Daimar tribe, the government has resorted to stony silence, while the people from both districts are on verge of violent confrontation.

There have also been various reports of people from KPK, gradually advancing from Kohistan to occupy large territories near Basra Chilas. People from GB are now fed up of the constant incursion by KPK, which seems to be hell bent on altering the boundaries of GB, which is a special province.

In reality, the whole scenario of constant skirmishes between the two provinces helps the cause of Imran Khan’s PTI government. With criticism against the government at an all time high and Pakistan’s economy at an all time low, Imran Khan badly needs distractions that would divert questions about his leadership.

As people in all of the provinces are up in arms against each other and against its provincial government, Imran Khan is quietly biding his government’s time.

In short, Pakistan Government through its proxies in KPK is playing a dangerous game of meddling with the emotions of its own people in KPK and GB. The consequences of such sinister plots may not bode well for the PTI government. (ANI)

ALSO READ: FATF Retains Pakistan in Grey List

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PAKISTAN UK News

Free Balochistan Movement stage protest in UK

The protesters said that thousands of Baloch are abducted and illegally held in the Pakistani military’s torture cells without any crime…reports Asian Lite News.

Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) UK Branch on Saturday held a protest in front of the British Parliament against Pakistani atrocities.

The demonstration was held on June 26 to commemorate the “International Day in Support of Torture Victims”.

Baloch activists and FBM members from the UK took part in the protest and highlighted Pakistan’s ongoing human rights violations against Baloch.

They shouted slogans like, “Stop funding Pakistan”, Freedom for Balochistan”, “We want Freedom”, “Terror state Pakistan”, “Stop supporting Pakistan”, and “Baloch want Freedom.”

The protesters said that thousands of Baloch are abducted and illegally held in the Pakistani military’s torture cells without any crime.

“The abducted persons are subject to inhuman and brutal torture by state forces. They are kept in appalling conditions for years and not allowed to see the sun even. The illegally detained persons are neither provided with any legal representatives nor allowed to have contact with their families. The loved ones of disappeared Baloch suffer even more than the disappeared persons because they don’t know anything about their relatives’ condition and well-being.”

Such degrading and appalling treatment of the disappeared persons come under crimes against humanity as per United Nations conventions and international laws.

Free Balochistan Movement activists have requested the civilised world and western democracies to help stop the ongoing genocide of Baloch people by Pakistan.

They also urged the international media to play their role to report the Pakistani state brutalities against Baloch people and the illegal occupation of Balochistan. (ANI)

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Pak PM slammed for remarks on rape

Pak PM under fire for 'Women wearing very few clothes' remark

It’s the second time in recent months that Khan has come under fire for his comments about rape….reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing protests and calls for a public apology after suggesting that there would be fewer sexual assaults if women dressed more modestly, Washington Post reported.

In an interview with Axios earlier this week, Imran Khan was asked about whether there was a “rape epidemic” in Pakistan, where advocates believe that a large number of assaults go unreported.

“If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. I mean, it’s a common sense,” he said.

Women in Pakistan responded by sharing photographs of the “modest” clothing that they were wearing when they were sexually harassed, as well as anecdotes about inappropriate behaviour they have encountered – such as unwanted touching – even when conservatively dressed in traditional headscarves and shalwar kameez, the report said.

Pak PM under fire for ‘Women wearing very few clothes’ remark

At a protest on Saturday in Karachi, women were encouraged to bring a piece of clothing that they or an acquaintance had been wearing when they were subjected to sexual violence.

“This is dangerously simplistic and only reinforces the common public perception that women are ‘knowing’ victims and men ‘helpless’ aggressors,” the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and more than a dozen other civil society groups said.

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“For the the head of government – a government that claims to defend the rights of women and vulnerable groups – to insist on this view is simply inexcusable.”

The report said it’s the second time in recent months that Khan – who was one of Pakistan’s top cricket players and a national celebrity before he entered politics – has come under fire for his comments about rape. During a live television broadcast in April, he replied to a question about a perceived rise in sexual assaults by saying that the traditional custom of “purdah,” or modesty, was intended to “stop temptation.”

“Not every man has willpower. If you keep on increasing vulgarity, it will have consequences,” Khan said.

Pak PM under fire for ‘Women wearing very few clothes’ remark

Khan’s latest remarks have led some men in Pakistan to proudly declare themselves to be robots, a joking reference to the Prime Minister’s claim that seeing a woman who is not modestly dressed “will have an impact on the man unless they are robots.”

The report said Sherry Rehman, a senator from the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, questioned whether Khan meant to apply the term to “all the men who are civilized in their behavior and interactions with women.”

She added sarcastically that she didn’t realize Pakistan “had such a large AI population.”

News Pakistan reported that a large number of women rights and civil society activists took part in a protest in Karachi on Saturday to criticise Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks about the way women dress up and its impact on men, and urged him to offer a public apology for his remarks.

Pak PM under fire for ‘Women wearing very few clothes’ remark

The HRCP and other civil society bodies and feminist collectives organised the protest outside the Karachi Press Club.

The participating organisations included the Joint Action Committee, Women’s Action Forum, Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, Tehrik-e-Niswan, Aurat March, Aurat Foundation, and Women Democratic Front.

As per the report, calling the premier’s comments “factually incorrect, insensitive and dangerous”, speakers at the protest said that it only reinforced the common public perception that women were “knowing” victims and men “helpless’ aggressors”.

“Imran Khan has disgraced not only the millions of women but also the high human ideals and values, which are even upheld by the international charter of human rights,” said a speaker.

Participants also showed their anger at several women members of the ruling party who had jumped to the Prime Minister’s defence and justified his comments in “vague and illogical terms”.

They appealed to the women legislators in the Senate and the national and provincial assemblies to pass a resolution against the Prime Minister, irrespective of their political affiliations, the report said.

They demanded an immediate public apology from the prime minister and assurances that “his highly flawed perception of how and why rape occurs does not inform the government’s attempts to tackle what is a serious and prevalent crime in Pakistan”.

ALSO READ: FATF Retains Pakistan in Grey List

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Terror financing: Doubts mount over Pakistani diplomats

One aspect that comes to mind that might thus far has been ignored by the FATF team is perhaps Pakistan terror financing operations involving their foreign missions….reports Amjad Ayub Mirza

A decision to maintain Pakistans status in the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force {ISI} was taken on June 25 in Paris. A dissatisfied panel comprising China, among other things questioned why there is a seemingly unnecessary delay in the court proceedings of the 1373 UN designated terrorists imprisoned in the country. Pakistan was told to do more with regards to tracking and cracking down money laundering which they believe is a means to supply dosh for carrying out acts of terror.

One aspect that comes to mind that might thus far has been ignored by the FATF team is perhaps Pakistan terror financing operations involving their foreign missions. It would be interesting to note that recent news articles published in international print media manifest Pakistani Diplomats not only of indulging in antisocial and but even criminal behaviour and acts that are of terrorist nature.

Is it not true that individuals chosen to serve their countries in alien lands are carefully selected and trained? As a matter of fact, two Pakistani diplomats were recently caught stealing a hat worth $10.70 and chocolate worth $1.7 in Yongsan, South Korea, this April.

One might give them the benefit of doubt and call it a one off incident.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan

However, during recent years’ irrefutable evidence has been mounting regarding the criminal behaviour of Pakistani diplomatic community which is of a worrying nature. An incident took place in Bangladesh and resulted in the expulsion of Farina Arshad, Second Secretary (Political) working at the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka. She was accused of facilitating terror financing in 2015.2

Amir Zubair Siddiqui, a visa counsellor at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo had been put on the terror watch list by the Indian National Investigation Agency for indulging in
espionage and terror activities, and then came the arrest and deportation of two employees of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in 2020 who were accused of espionage.

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An isolated incident may reflect an individual act, but regular and repeated offences tell a different story about Pakistani diplomats.

It is common knowledge that Pakistan’s foreign policy is controlled by the army at GHQ in Rawalpindi. The Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) personnel are routinely deputed to Pakistani missions abroad. They have been caught red-handed on several occasions while pursuing terrorism-related and activities.

Logo of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence organization(wikipedia)



For instance, in 2001, Mohammad Arshad Cheema, First Secretary at the Pakistani high commission in Kathmandu, was arrested for possessing 16 kg of RDX.5 Few years back in 2014 Pakistani Defense Attache (and ISI representative) in Colombo, Colonel Shahryar Butt, was repatriated because he kept on ‘checking’ into the High Commission’s affairs.

The key to understanding the above phenomena lies in recognizing that ISI cells are present in almost all Pakistani Embassies. Perhaps, Pakistan has different standards for when it comes to diplomatic responsibilities. No wonder during the period between May 2018-19 the US had restricted the movement of Pakistani diplomats to a few square miles within Washington.

However, even more alarming is a spate of morally shameful acts that Pakistani diplomats have indulged into in the recent past. Allegations such as domestic abuse conducted against his spouse by Munir Akram, Pakistan’s current Permanent Representative to UN; arrest of Mazhar Khan, the Assistant Visa Officer at the Pakistani High Commission in Dhaka accused of dealing in fake currencies in 2015, abduction and rape charges brought against two Pakistani diplomats in the UK in 20146 and Waqas Ahmed, a Pakistani diplomat in Harare was arrested and imprisoned for human trafficking in May 2020.

These were crimes of such serious nature that Islamabad was forced to voluntarily surrendered their diplomatic immunity.

The murder of Baloch journalist Sajid Baloch in Sweden and that of human rights activist Karima Baloch are also attributed to the clandestine network of Pakistani ISI cells working from Pakistani missions abroad. In any future meeting of the FATF it would be wise to look into Pakistan’s involvement in global terrorism and to curb acts of terrorism that have made our world a less safe place.

(Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in PoJK. He currently lives in exile in the UK)

ALSO READ: FATF Retains Pakistan in Grey List

ALSO READ: Pakistan likely to stay in FATF grey list

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Pak Suffers $38B Loss After FATF Greylisting

Pakistan was retained on the grey list, or list of countries under “increased monitoring”, as the Paris-based UN watchdog judged it deficient in prosecuting the top leadership of UN Security Council-designated terror groups, reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan has been hit with massive losses to its GDP worth $38 billion because of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) decision to retain the country on its grey list since 2008, according to a research paper published by the Islamabad-based independent think-tank, Tabadlab.

The paper titled, “Bearing the cost of global politics — the impact of FATF grey-listing on Pakistan’s economy”, has been authored by Naafey Sardar.

This comes against the backdrop of a fresh grey listing tag for Pakistan.

Pakistan was retained on the grey list, or list of countries under “increased monitoring”, as the Paris-based UN watchdog judged it deficient in prosecuting the top leadership of UN Security Council-designated terror groups.

The list includes Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e Mohammad, Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

As per the paper, results suggest that FATF grey-listing, starting in 2008 and till 2019, may have resulted in cumulative real GDP losses of approximately $38 billion.

Moreover, estimates indicate that a large proportion of this response (58 per cent) was driven by reduction in consumption expenditures (both household and government).

Exports and inward foreign direct investment are also partially responsible for this decline in GDP, with associated cumulative losses of $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion respectively. These results point to the significant negative consequences associated with FATF grey-listing.

The estimates from this paper point to the significant negative implications of FATF’s grey listing for Pakistan, thus emphasising the need for policymakers to comply with the FATF on the adoption of AML/CFT legislation to avoid future economic losses, it argued.

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With the FATF’s latest action, Pakistan, even after elargely completing’ 26 of the 27 targets, will remain in the grey list for at least another year and deliver on seven new parallel action points to address deficiencies in its Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, The Dawn said in a report.

The watchdog said in a statement that since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counter terrorist financing-related deficiencies, the country’s continued political commitment has led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT action plan.

The FATF recognises Pakistan’s progress and efforts to address these CFT action plan items and notes that since February 2021, Islamabad has made progress to complete two of the three remaining action items on demonstrating that effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are imposed for TF convictions and that the country’s targeted financial sanctions regime was being used effectively to targeted terrorist assets.

Pakistan has now completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 action plan.

“The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining CFT-related item by demonstrating that TF investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups.”

FATF said Pakistan should continue to work to address its strategically important AML/CFT deficiencies, namely by: (1) enhancing international cooperation by amending the MLA law; (2) demonstrating that assistance is being sought from foreign countries in implementing UNSCR 1373 designations; (3) demonstrating that supervisors are conducting both on-site and off-site supervision commensurate with specific risks associated with DNFBPs, including applying appropriate sanctions where necessary; (4) demonstrating that proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are applied consistently to all legal persons and legal arrangements for non-compliance with beneficial ownership requirements; (5) demonstrating an increase in ML investigations and prosecutions and that proceeds of crime continue to be restrained and confiscated in line with Pakistan’s risk profile, including working with foreign counterparts to trace, freeze, and confiscate assets; and (6) demonstrating that DNFBPs are being monitored for compliance with proliferation financing requirements and that sanctions are being imposed for non-compliance.

Jurisdictions under increased monitoring are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.

This is often externally referred to as the “grey list”.

The FATF and FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) continue to work with the jurisdictions below as they report on the progress achieved in addressing their strategic deficiencies. The watchdog calls on these jurisdictions to complete their action plans expeditiously and within the agreed timeframes.

The FATF welcomes their commitment and will closely monitor their progress.

It does not call for the application of enhanced due diligence measures to be applied to these jurisdictions, but encourages its members and all jurisdictions to take into account the information presented below in their risk analysis.

The FATF identifies additional jurisdictions, on an on-going basis, that have strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

A number of jurisdictions have not yet been reviewed by the FATF or their FSRBs, but will be in due course.

In October 2020, the FATF decided to recommence work, paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and to identify new countries with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies and prioritise the review of listed countries with expired or expiring deadlines of action plan items.

Albania, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Uganda, and Zimbabwe have had their progress reviewed by the FATF since February 2021.

Following review, the FATF now also identifies Haiti, Malta, Philippines, and South Sudan.

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FATF Retains Pakistan in Grey List

FATF president said the multilateral watchdog’s members could consider removing Pakistan from the grey list only after conducting two separate on-site inspections following the completion of the old and new action plans, reports Asian Lite News

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has refused to take Pakistan out of the ‘Grey List’ yet again. On Friday, it said Pakistan had failed to take appropriate action against UN-designated terrorists such as 26/11 accused Hafiz Saeed and JeM chief Masood Azhar.

Although the global anti-money laundering and terror financing body has acknowledged some progress made by Pakistan, it said the country should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies.

FATF president Marcus Pleyer said the decision was taken at the conclusion of the virtual plenary of the Paris-based organisation. Pakistan continues to remain on “increased monitoring list”, Pleyer said at a virtual press conference. “Increased monitoring list” is the another name for the Grey List.

Pleyer said Pakistan has now completed 26 of the 27 action items given to it in 2018. The FATF has asked Pakistan to take action against UN designated terrorists, he said.

FATF

The UN designated terrorists based in Pakistan include Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Taiba founder Saeed and its “operational commander” Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. All three are most wanted terrorists in India for their involvement in numerous terrorist acts.

On June 4, in a follow-up report published on Pakistan, the FATF had said, “Overall, Pakistan has made notable progress in addressing the technical compliance deficiencies identified in its MER and has been re-rated on 22 Recommendations.”

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Pleyer said the Pakistan government has failed to check risk of money laundering, leading to corruption and terror financing.

“The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining Combating the Financing of Terrorism-related item by demonstrating that Terror Financing investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups,” an FATF statement said.

FATF president Pleyer said the multilateral watchdog’s members could consider removing Pakistan from the grey list only after conducting two separate on-site inspections following the completion of the old and new action plans. The inspections would have to demonstrate that improvements made by Pakistan are sustainable, he told a virtual news briefing.

An outcome statement issued at the end of the meeting referred to the remaining item in the old action plan and said: “The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining CFT (counterterrorist financing)-related item by demonstrating that TF (terrorist financing) investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups.”

ALSO READ – Gen Bajwa kindles old romance with US

So far, Pakistani authorities have only prosecuted senior leaders of LeT and JuD, including Saeed and several of his senior aides. Saeed and some of his aides are currently serving sentences given to them after they were found guilty in a string of terror financing cases last year.

However, no action has been taken against leaders of JeM, such as its chief Masood Azhar, despite the group being linked to several high-profile terror attacks in recent years, or the Afghan Taliban, which has stepped up fund raising on Pakistani soil in recent weeks against the backdrop of the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan.

(From left) Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Masood Azhar

Pleyer said the new action plan to tackle money laundering was drawn up after FATF’s regional partner, the Asia Pacific Group, identified a “number of serious issues” during an assessment in 2019. The outcome statement said Pakistan had committed itself to the new action plan this month to address “strategic deficiencies”.

The new action plan includes six items, including enhancing international cooperation by amending Pakistan’s mutual legal assistance law, and seeking help from foreign countries to implement counterterror designations under UN Security Council Resolution 1373.

Time to call Pakistan’s bluff

However, despite warnings, Pakistan’s machinations to hoodwink the international community remain the same. In 2018, when it was put in the ‘Grey List’ Islamabad had obliged to fulfill a 27-point action plan. But it has played within legal loopholes to provide a cosmetic pretence of action. Instead of taking action against terror groups, Pakistan has rebranded terror groups in Kashmir under the name of The Resistance Front (TRF).

This newly-formed group, according to security experts, is just old wine in a new bottle. Experts believe that TRF is only a new name given to Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), who are active in the Valley.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary meeting in Paris. (Photo: Twitter/@FATFNews)

But the recent verdict to acquit Omar Sheikh the prime accused in Daniel Pearl’s murder has again exposed Pakistan’s game plan. Soon after the verdict was given, Sheikh and four of his associates were shifted to a newly-built government facility, with family access from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Another interesting fact is the pruning of a list of 7,600 individuals Pakistan had vowed to take action against terror financing to FATF in September 2018. However, by January 2019, 4,000 names from that list, which were booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act, went missing.

ALSO READ – India slams Pakistan for its human rights situation 

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Gen Bajwa kindles old romance with US

Aware of the big picture, Bajwa is also making extra efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban that Pakistan’s cooperation with the US is part of an effort to help American forces to leave the region-an argument that syncs well with the free-spirited Afghans, reports Gopal Misra

Pakistan appears to be returning to its default position — of establishing “close and intimate” ties with its estranged ally, the United States. The fruits of a rekindled romance are already dangling before its eyes; a financial bonanza for the Generals in Rawalpindi, plus state-of-the art military hardware, worth $ 20 billion-macho toys that always excite the uniformed. A sizzling second honeymoon with the Americans appears irresistible.

Pakistan’s army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa deserves all the credit for making the early courtship moves with the US. It is still not clear whether the fresh outreach, when the colourless Chinese were pouring over projects in Balochistan under the flag of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), took place in consultation with the Rambo Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Perhaps not. And there is a precedent. After all, the “ekla chalo” Bajwa had surprised the civilian government by going ahead with an effective ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu-Kashmir as well as the International Border.

He also managed to successfully convince the Joe Biden administration about his country’s intentions for “peace’ with India. He visited Saudi Arabia to renew a previously warm relationship, which had been messed up by the garrulous and intemperate foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.

It is believed that Bajwa, in some ways had picked up a pro-west strategy from his mercurial but charismatic predecessor Parvez Musharraf. That brings into question whether there has been a grand bargain with the Americans. Despite starting to depart from Afghanistan from May 1, the American want to keep their foot in the door in the badlands of AfPak. There are reports that the Americans are looking for a base in Jacobabad.

Compulsively economical with the truth, the civilian government in Pakistan says they never even heard of any such proposal. Yet it is mass public knowledge that US aircraft have been using the Pakistani bases for refuelling and other purposes.

Aware of the big picture, Bajwa is also making extra efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban that Pakistan’s cooperation with the US is part of an effort to help American forces to leave the region-an argument that syncs well with the free-spirited Afghans.

Given his western orientation, how does Bajwa deal with the Chinese who are now heading full throttle in a Cold War with the Americans? At this time, Bajwa’s relations with the Chinese are not that hot. In fact, China has already communicated its “unhappiness'” through various diplomatic channels. The Chinese reaction to the renewal of US-Pakistani strategic relations has all the markers of a “jilted lover”, who was readying for a prolonged honeymoon, but found itself suddenly abandoned in the bone dry and unforgiving mountains in Baluchistan.

The recent statement by Imran Khan on the CPEC praising Beijing are considered a belated attempt to assuage the feelings of the high browed leaders occupying the Middle Kingdom.

To enable Bajwa’s turnaround towards Washington, back-room diplomacy marshalled by the US special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has played a key part. Khalilzad recently told lawmakers at Capitol Hill that, “It is too pessimistic to predict that the Kabul government or Afghan military will be quickly overrun by the Taliban once US and coalition forces withdraw.”

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Defence Department officials have acknowledged that thousands of vehicles, weapons and other military items from Afghanistan will be in danger of being seized by the Taliban. The equipment may now be shifted to Pakistan, but remain under the American supervision-a decision that would not have been possible without Bajwa’s consent. Brig.Gen. Matthew Trollinger, Deputy Director of politico-military affairs for the Joint Staff, told the Senate lawmakers during a recent hearing on Afghanistan that, “We will be transferring facilities, some vehicles and other equipment that the Afghan national defence forces can utilize in their on-going efforts to secure the country.” He further stated: “We will be retrograding equipment that we’re able to bring back to bases and stations in the continental United States as well as elsewhere.”

The officials from US Central Command have said that the military drawdown between 13 per cent and 20 per cent from Afghanistan has already been completed. Much more will happen in the days and months ahead.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Pakistan likely to stay in FATF grey list

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Pakistan likely to stay in FATF grey list

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan

At the FATF headquarter in Paris where a crucial meeting is going on, Pakistan’s balance sheetof measures taken to curb money laundering and terror financing is being drawn up…reports Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha

When it comes to Pakistan and its etched-in-stone terror links, there is no black -and- white. Islamabad, instead seems “content” with a position in the “grey” list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Of course, it shuns the watchdogs “Black”, lest it is lined up in the rogue gallery, shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of North Korea and Iran.

At the FATF headquarter in Paris where a crucial meeting is going on, Pakistan’s balance sheet– of measures taken to curb money laundering and terror financing is being drawn up.

After a threadbare stock taking on the steps taken and not taken by Islamabad to stop money laundering and terror financing, the feared terror-monitor will take a decision on whether to keep Pakistan on its grey list, or move it in the direction of the black list. There is also an impossible third option–declare that Pakistan has finally come clean, and include it in the white list as a badge of honour.

Meanwhile, the German media DW Urdu, quoting its sources, is reporting that even this time, Pakistan will not be liberated from the shameful grey list.

Quoting its sources in Paris, the channel says that European countries, especially the host country France, would recommend keeping Pakistan on the grey list and that position would be adopted by all other European countries.

Even Pakistan has an apprehension about its grey fate. This was evident in the statement made on Wednesday by its garrulous foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, fresh out a grilling by the Afghan television station, Tolo News, where he ably demonstrated that he suffers from the foot-in-the-mouth disease.

“There is no longer any justification to keep Pakistan on the grey list as the country has fulfilled 26 out of 27 action items of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),” the minister said two days after FATF’s five-day virtual meeting began in Paris.

While FATF will make its findings public on June 25, Qureshi once again has started blaming India, “India is making attempts to misuse the forum for political purposes, as it has indulged in continuous anti-Pakistan propaganda. Pakistan has taken concrete steps to curb money-laundering and terrorist financing.” Obviously, the learned assemblage in Paris would not be impressed by Qureshi’s chronic scapegoating of India.

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Pakistan has been in the grey list since 2018. That year, in February, FATF decided to lodge it in the infamous roster, giving it four more months � up to June 20, 2021 � to complete its full action plan.

Pakistan has been trying to convince the world that the main leadership of the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al-Qaida, and so-called Islamic State global terrorist groups is based in Afghanistan with sufficient funds available to them.

Pakistan’s Imran Khan government also “tried” to show the world that it has taken action and banned UN designated terror organisations like Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e Mohammad (JEM) through tough ordinances. Islamabad’s bury-its-head in sand argument claims LeT is defunct and terror financing cases have been registered against most of the identified leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat foundations, and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has been sentenced and jailed for 10 years. Another terrorist leader, JeM’s chief Masood Azhar has a serious medical condition and is bed-ridden in Bahawalpur.

But the world knows that all those terror leaders are roaming freely in Pakistan. Pakistani soldiers are fighting along with Taliban and Islamic State against the Afghan government. Terrorists of LeT and JeM are quite active in Jammu and Kashmir.

Qureshi meanwhile has gone into yet another paroxysm of skewed reasoning. He points out that Pakistan “inherited” the problem of the FATF grey-listing from the previous regime, and the incumbent government has done its best to bring the country out of it.

Pakistani based analysts say that for Pakistani government, only the black list matters. Imran Khan knows the US and its allies won’t like to put Pakistan in the black list for their own reasons. As far as Pakistan is concerned, when in the last meeting, FATF extended Pakistan’s grey listing till June 2021, Qureshi, the verbal gymnast celebrated the decision, saying that India had failed to push Pakistan into FATF’s black list!! Qureshi, living a full life in his “mungerilal ke haseen sapne” bubble believes that it is difficult to keep a country like Pakistan on the grey list forever. Pakistan would get off after a decent interval and a spate of superficial measures. Keep dreaming janab and watch the world pass by.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Tax hike: Pak mills stop flour supply

This comes after the federal government, in the recently passed Federal Budget 2020-21, proposed to abolish one per cent rebate on annual sales of flour mills…reports Asian Lite News

The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has announced that all flour mills of the country have stopped supply of the commodity from Wednesday and will close operation from June 30 in protest against the proposed increase in three taxes related to the flour milling industry. The move is likely to exacerbate a flour crisis in the country.

“We will stop supplying flour from tomorrow and will stop operation from June 30. We have to resort to this protest due to unconcerned attitude of the government,” said PFMA Sindh Zone Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Yousuf on Tuesday, reported The Express Tribune.

This comes after the federal government, in the recently passed Federal Budget 2020-21, proposed to abolish one per cent rebate on annual sales of flour mills; increase the sales tax on bran by 10 per cent and the sales tax on import of machinery used for making flour by 7 per cent.

The increase in turnover tax is expected to increase the price of a 20 kg bag by Rs 30 while the increase in sales tax on bran is expected to increase the price of each 20 kg bag of flour by Rs 67. The implementation of the taxes is likely to increase the price of a 20 kg bag of flour by Rs 97.

In a letter to Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin, PFMA Chairman Asim Raza last week described the tax hike as an error by the Federal Bureau of Revenue and requested him to maintain the current rate of taxes.

Raza told The Express Tribune that the current sales tax concession rate on import of machinery used in flour making is 10 per cent which is being increased to 17 per cent in the next financial year.

An increase in taxes will significantly increase the cost of imported machines by millions of rupees. At present, 65 per cent of the total cost of setting up mills consists of the purchase and import of modern machinery.

Moreover, an increase in the sales tax on bran to 17 per cent is expected to increase price of a 20 kg bag of flour by Rs 60 to Rs 67.

The PFMA Sindh chairman said there is a need to import 3 to 4 million tons of flour in August in order to meet the local need. He said the country consumes 30 million tons of flour annually.

The federal budget passed by the Imran Khan-led government has been criticised by many people in Pakistan, with some arguing that it provides no relief for the common man, there are no incentives, no scope for job creation and revenue generation.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin was greeted by jeers from the Opposition benches, with members shouting slogans and taunting the finance minister by laughing loudly as he praised PM Imran Khan’s economic initiatives while presenting the budget for the fiscal year 2021-22. (ANI)

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