The Rogue

Pakistan genuinely thinks that it can get away with anything and this belief is unfortunately bolstered by the international community’s indifference towards its unending litany of serious wrongdoings. Despite brazenly breaking almost every rule in the book, the international community continues to turn a Nelson’s eye on its serious transgressions and this has further encouraged Pakistan to continue with its cavalier behaviour.
Recounted below are but a few instances that prove beyond any doubts that both Islamabad and Rawalpindi care little [if at all] about the international responsibilities and duties expected from a nation state country that prides itself as a democratic parliamentary republic.

Illegal Sale of Nuclear Technology

Right from the mid eighties upto 2004, Pakistan provided nuclear technology and supplied centrifuge components for Uranium enrichment as well as nuclear weapon designs to North Korea, Libya and Iran but didn’t even get the symbolic rap on the knuckle for it. In 2004, under intense international pressure, Pakistan aired Khan’s ‘voluntary’ confession on national TV and its contents are interesting.
Taking “full responsibility” and seeking pardon for providing nuclear know-how to foreign countries, Dr Khan made it a point to emphasise that “There was never any kind of authorisation for these activities by the government.” However, Islamabad’s subsequent actions only ended up making Khan's implausible confession of having acted in his personal capacity sound like a hilarious piece of fiction concocted by a juvenile.
Pakistan’s nuclear technology was a national secret and its intentional leak an extremely serious offence meriting exemplary punishment. Nevertheless, President Pervez Musharraf not only pardoned him but even allowed Dr Khan to keep the money illegally earned by him through the sale of nuclear technology, a clear indication that there was definitely more to the entire episode than what meets the eye.
But that’s not all.
Pakistan’s then Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed went on record to say, “Yes, we supplied Iran the centrifuge system,” adding, “Yes Dr Qadeer gave Iran this technology.” Yet, displaying barefaced defiance and complete disregard for international law and conventions, he outrightly refused IAEA’s request to question Dr Khan to determine the full extent of his illegal nuclear technology transfer network, saying, “we are not going to hand over Dr Qadeer to anyone,” emphasising, “we will not.”

Duplicitous War on Terror

In the aftermath of 9/11, Pakistan joined America in its global war on terror but continued to provide safe sanctuary to Taliban leaders on its soil. Rawalpindi’s brazenness can be gauged from the fact that various councils of Taliban leaders or shura directing attacks against US led coalition forces in Afghanistan were known by the name of the places where they were located, like the Peshawar shura, Quetta shura and Miram Shah shura.
Rawalpindi’s policy of openly running with the hare and hunting with the hounds allowed Taliban leaders to sit in Pakistan and plan strikes against US led forces in Afghanistan. This deplorable arrangement of the Pakistan army sleeping with the Taliban which was its ‘official’ enemy would certainly have resulted in several US soldiers losing their lives and limbs. that's why Washington’s decision to look the other way is indeed inexplicable.
Pakistan’s intense love for the Taliban before it seized Kabul in 2016 is no secret and the fact that Pakistani leaders and bureaucrats openly admitted- an indication that they were not at all apologetic about it.
A decade ago Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s special adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz boasted that “We have some influence on them [Taliban] because their leadership is in Pakistan, and they get some medical facilities, their families are [also] here.”
Seven years ago the then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also revealed that “we still have about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir.” The interesting part is that both Aziz and Khan made these statements while they were visiting America- the country that was leading the war against the Afghan Taliban.
And US President Donald Trump’s 2018 New Year tweet mentioning “They [Islamabad and Rawalpindi] give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan…” is an unambiguous admission that Washington knew what Rawalpindi was up to.

Harbouring Terrorists

Then there’s the curious case of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden who was tracked down to an Abbottabad compound, a stone’s throw from the Pakistan Military Academy high security zone. While the height of boundary walls in the locality where Laden was staying varied from four to six feet, the boundary walls of the Al Qaeda chief’s compound were a whopping 12 to 18 feet high, and this inordinate disparity would have definitely aroused curiosity.
As per conservative estimates, Laden lived in the Abbottabad safe house for at least five years without having any sort of social interaction with neighbours. Moreover, those living in this compound never stepped out nor entertained any visitors. Such abnormal and suspicious behaviour should have alerted intelligence agencies as it was obvious that those living there had something to hide- but it inexplicably didn’t.
By not informing Islamabad regarding the Abbottabad compound raid to neutralise Laden, Washington sent out a clear signal that it knew that the Al Qaeda founder was being sheltered by Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] and providing prior information of Operation Neptune Spear to Rawalpindi would definitely jeopardise the mission.
The Pakistan army feigned ignorance regarding the Al Qaeda chief’s presence in the Abbottabad compound but if this was true, accepting moral responsibility for his spy agency’s humongous failure to establish presence of Laden in Abbottabad, Director General ISI should have immediately submitted his resignation. When he didn’t do so, wasn’t it incumbent on the army chief to initiate disciplinary action and/or recommend his dismissal to the President for unpardonable dereliction of duty. But Rawalpindi simply said they were unaware and the world believed these big fat lies and no questions were asked.

Orchestrating Terrorist Attacks

Confessions of Pakistani-American LeT facilitator David Coleman Headley as well as Pakistani national and LeT terrorist Muhammad Ajmal Kasab who had physically participated in the Mumbai attacks has confirmed that terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were being directed by ISI and LeT handlers from Pakistan. Digital evidence has undisputedly also confirmed the same making it an open and shut case.
Yet, the international community has shamefully abdicated its moral responsibility by failing to even demand an explanation, let alone take action against Pakistan for sponsoring cross border terrorism. 166 civilians were killed and 293 injured during the Mumbai attacks, and the victims belonged to 23 countries. So, isn’t letting Pakistan off the hook for this dastardly act indeed appalling?

Inexplicable Apathy

The international community’s stoic silence on Pakistan’s irresponsible behaviour that threatens world peace is astounding. Though Rawalpindi is the main culprit, rather than holding the military responsible, the world leaders are merrily engaging with ‘self-appointed’ Field Marshal Asim Munir who has not only derailed democracy by manipulating elections to put a government of his choice in place but also used the judiciary to imprison Pakistan’s most popular leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan to suppress opposition to the army’s involvement in politics.
The situation is confusing- for the US, Tehran is a villain since it is pursuing a nuclear programme, but Washington is fine with Islamabad that provided nuclear technology to Iran in the first place. The US praises Pakistan’s commitment towards war on terror even though it remains the most sought after country for UN designated terrorists seeking refuge. Though a whopping 30,000 to 40,000 armed men who have fought in Afghanistan and Kashmir are still present in Pakistan, yet, former US CENTCOM chief Gen Michael Kurilla hails Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in America’s counter-terrorism efforts.
Five months before Pakistan was born, the then US President Harry S Truman told the Congress that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Named the Truman Doctrine, this directive became an inalienable ingredient of America’s foreign policy.
However, when Pakistan army chief Gen Ayub Khan overthrew President Iskander Mirza in a coup d'état and became Pakistan’s first military dictator just 11 years later, the Cold War made Washington abandon its Truman doctrine and instead it legitimised the coup by sealing a bilateral agreement of defense for bilateral cooperation with Pakistan a year later.
The Pakistan army hasn’t looked back ever since and it interprets America’s silence on military coups in Pakistan as tacit approval, which unfortunately does seem to be the case. This in turn has whetted Pakistan army’s unquenchable lust for power and its unending romance with terrorist groups and its utter disdain for civility is but a physical manifestation of what happens when the age-old spare the rod adage is disregarded!

Email:------------------------nileshkunwar.56@gmail.com