In a major embarrassment for the Pakistan government and for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on a day it has tried to send out a message that the government has instructed the Pakistan Army to act against non-state actors, dreaded terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, apparently perturbed by India’s aggression following the Uri attacks, has chosen to come out and spew venom in a newly released audio tape.
Hitting out at the Pakistan government for failing to act against India for “atrocities in Kashmir”, Azhar has said that jihadists can convert the bitter memories of 1971 into sweet ones of 2016.
“If Pakistani government shows little courage, the Kashmir issue as well as the issue of water (Indus Water Treaty) can be solved. If nothing, the government can open the path for jihadists and the bitter memories of defeat of 1971 can be converted into sweet memory of win of 2016,” JeM chief said in an audio message accessed by India TV.
Acknowledging India’s claims of having hit terror camps across the Line of Control leading to around 50 casualties, Azhar said that the actions India took should have been taken by Pakistan following “90 days of atrocities in Kashmir”.
“Who is rattled? The actions that India has taken against Pakistan should have been taken by Pakistan itself considering the situation in Kashmir. Either it is the firing at the Line of Control (LoC) or the decision to participate in SAARC Summit. We should have cancelled the SAARC Summit ourselves, we should have been the one to violate the ceasefire along the LoC,” the Pathankot attack mastermind said.
Taking on the country’s own establishment, Azhar said Pakistan lacked the ability to take hard decisions. “We lack the capability to take hard decisions,” he said in the tape.
Azhar’s comments come a week after India carried out surgical strikes across the LoC, to take out terrorist camps and launch pads.
Today, cracks in Islamabad’s political establishment appeared with a lawmaker from the ruling party questioning the government on its policy to nurture terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and demanded action against non-state actors.
“Which eggs is Hafiz Saeed laying for us that we are nurturing him?" Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Rana Muhammad Afzal today asked.
“Efficacy of our foreign policy speaks for itself when we couldn’t curtail Hafiz Saeed,” the lawmaker asked during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs held Thursday, according to a report by BBC Urdu.
Opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) also held Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif responsible for the country’s isolation saying he failed to properly implement the National Action Plan (NAP) to get rid of terrorism in the country.
"The government has been completely unsuccessful in imposing restrictions on non-state actors according to the National Action Plan," PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan said, addressing the joint session of the parliament.
On Monday, an acrimonious verbal confrontation took place between Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General Rizwan Akhtar and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif during an all party following which the Nawaz Sharif government warned Pakistan Army to either act against militants operating from Pakistani soil or be ready to face international isolation.
India has been pushing to place Azhar under the 1267 Committee of the UNSC that would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.
China is the only country in the 15-nation UN grouping which has opposed India’s demand.
On March 31 this year, China – a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council – had blocked India's move by putting a “technical hold”.
Beijing on Saturday announced the extension of its "technical hold", two days before it was to lapse. Had China not raised further objection, the resolution designating Azhar as a terrorist would have been passed automatically.
India holds Pakistan-based Azhar and his organisation JeM responsible for attacks at Air Force base in Pathankot earlier this year and Army base in Uri last month. The attack in Uri by four terrorists led to the death of 19 Indian soldiers.
India today said that it expects the UNSC to sanction Azhar and that failing to do so would send out a dangerous message.
Yesterday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had criticised the UN for failing to act on India’s request.
Akbaruddin told the UN General Assembly that the 15- nation Security Council, the "principal organ" tasked with the maintenance of peace and security, has in a variety of ways become "unresponsive to the needs of our time and ineffective to meeting the challenges it is confronted with".
