Mark these words

It is indeed unusual for a former senior army officer to make this kind of confession. The head of the ISI and a former minister, Lt. General Javed Ashraf Qazi, made a statement in the senate that the Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the key jihadi groups in Pakistan linked to the Al Qaeda, nurtured by the Pakistani army and even blessed by General Musharraf in an earlier avatar, had been involved in attempts on General Pervez Musharraf’s life last December. Lt. General Talat Masood, who had earlier headed a major think tank in Islamabad, had even pointed out that “the military had an alliance with these militant groups”. Qazi has also affirmed that — contrary to the then Pakistani reaction — the Jaish led by Masood Azhar was involved in the December 13 attack on the Indian parliament, besides being party to Daniel Pearl’s murder.

But isn’t this what New Delhi has been insisting upon all along? If so, what is different now? What is new is the admission by responsible people who have been in the loop. Equally significantly, General Qazi advised the Pakistan parliament to admit that the Jaish-e-Muhammad “was involved in the deaths of thousands on innocents of Kashmiris” over the years. The overwhelming majority of these innocents were Muslims. This single statement — coming from a man who ought to know — should set at rest any debate in Pakistan about the nature of the violence perpetrated against innocent Kashmiris; and the Kashmiris on our side, especially the Hurriyat, would do well to pay heed to what was unequivocally stated in the Pakistani parliament last Friday.

It is possible that the elite in Pakistan are shifting their stand to de-link the role of the ISI from terrorism in J&K. This in turn would seek to strengthen the argument made often in the past that the Pakistan government does not control the terrorists and fighters in Kashmir. Qazi has sought to pass on all responsibility, including the “freedom struggle” in Kashmir, to the Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba. The December attempt on Musharraf’s life by the Jaish and its close ally, the Al Qaeda, may itself have been triggered largely to pre-empt the planning and February launch of the joint US-Pakistan offensive in the borderlands of Afghanistan-Pakistan where the Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden found sanctuary for more than two years. More importantly, therefore, Qazi’s candid statements would indicate that the empire is ready to strike back at those that almost killed its head. How far it would go depends on how events unfold in the coming days and months. Its success or otherwise would have a profound influence on jihadi terrorism in India.