Pakistan Has Been Placed On FATF Grey List And Here's How That Will Affect You

By Alveena Jadoon | 28 Jun, 2018

Pakistan has been battling terrorism for a long time now. In the last couple of years, we have witnessed a rise in military operations which have helped lower the attacks in the country and have pushed militants to vacate their hubs.

According to a survey by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), terror attacks in Pakistan have gone down by 58 percent from 2010 to 2017.

Back in 2010, the country was hit by 2060 attacks and in 2017 the number went down to 681

With the growing international pressure, Pakistan also devised the National Action Plan (NAP). The NAP is one of the most thorough policy plans in the country to counter terrorism. It covers online and offline efforts to incite hatred and extremism in the population and punish those involved in extremist acts.

Source: abc

As soon as the Trump administration came to power, with their increasing ties with India, they have started to push Pakistan to “do more”

President Trump even went ahead to accuse Pakistan of not contributing to the war on terror and actually providing a safe space for the terrorists in the region.

While the statement was made in complete disregard of how rigorously Pakistan has been trying to counter terrorism in the region, there are a few grey areas which make the international political community wary of Pakistan’s actions. This is why the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed our country on the “grey list” despite constant efforts of the diplomats to avoid this situation.

Countries placed on this list (FATF) are thought to be involved in terror crimes and not cooperating in the global fight against terrorism

They are thought to be financing terror – and being placed on this list means a lot of trouble for us. Firstly, it shows that our diplomats failed to give conclusive evidence to prove that we are not involved in such acts – which to some extent is true.

Source: newdelhitimes

Let me explain how. In the last couple of years, while the attacks have considerably lowered, there is no progress in terms of the implementation of the NAP

Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was removed from his house arrest because the government failed to initiate an investigation against him and that allowed the courts to lift his house arrest. This man is suspected of being involved in terror acts and JuD has been listed as a terror organization by the NACTA. The least the government could do is to start an investigation to get conclusive evidence about his activities.

Several extremist political parties have emerged, whose entire narrative is based on hate speech and provoking the masses to take the law into their own hands. An example of this is the emergence of the Milli Muslim League (MML) in the political scene of Pakistan. The party despite the lack of registration during the NA-157 polls contested from the area and managed to garner the most votes after PMLN and PTI. This not only shows their growing support base but also the inefficiency of the authorities to prohibit such factions from contesting the elections.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) is also an active front in Pakistan politics now and they were able to bring two major cities to a complete halt and risk the lives of several individuals because they wanted to enforce their version of faith. There are speeches upon speeches in which we can see how leaders of the faction are indulging in hate speech.

There are also reports that the ban on Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) has been lifted and their assets have been unfrozen. This organization is explicitly involved in sectarian crimes and if the reports are true, this can mean an increase in the sectarian strife in Pakistan.

Source: hindustantimes

There is active mainstreaming of these radical elements into the system

A clear example of this is the fund that KP government decided to allow to the Madrassa Haqqania – known to be a terrorist-producing hub. According to the government, this was an effort to mainstream them, which will help us to deradicalize them. This is what is going on the Pakistani front. While we may have succeeded in the military operations, the removal of extremists from our social front is very much absent.

Our criticism should be directed in three ways

First towards our government for failing to implement the NAP into our social set up and allowing these goons to roam around free. Second towards the USA for choosing to completely ignore Pakistan’s efforts in the fight against terror. While there are some fronts at which Pakistan is struggling, we cannot deny how much effort Pakistan has put in trying to clean the mess that the USA made in the region. Third towards the countries we so dearly call our friends (questioning our foreign policy). Saudi Arabia withdrew its support on the offer of the USA to become a permanent FATF member and China as a result withdrew as well. Turkey was the only country supporting Pakistan.

Source: hindustantimes

All of this affects us (citizens) at the end of the day. It is our image that is distorted

When we go out into the world, they will look at us individuals as if we house terrorists. In fact, our movement into the global community will be affected. We need to fight these measures rigorously and push our own leaders to take stringent actions to make these right.

 

 

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cover image via defenceupdate.in

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