Thank you dear subscribers, we are overwhelmed with your response.
Your Turn is a unique section from ThePrint featuring points of view from its subscribers. If you are a subscriber, have a point of view, please send it to us. If not, do subscribe here: https://theprint.in/subscribe/
At least two months have passed since India launched its Operation Sindoor, a military strike aimed at dismantling the terrorist infrastructure within Pakistani territory. However, the recent claims of the U.S. President Donald Trump has once again brought the operation to the limelight. Speaking at a recent event in the USA, President Trump claimed that five fighter jets were shot down during the crisis. Unsurprisingly, this remark stirred another political storm in India with the opposition demanding clarity and transparency from the Indian government on this issue. Unfortunately, the debates surrounding the subject misses the key challenge before us, the very context that compelled India to launch Operation Sindoor.
Even the Global media, having fixated on the narratives around de-escalation, have paid little attention to the actual context. Worse, some even portrayed Operation Sindoor as just another flare-up in the familiar India-Pakistan script. This framing is nothing but a disservice to the truth. The sooner the international community realizes that Operation Sindoor is not another bilateral conflict in the history of India-Pakistan, the better for all of us. The conversation should not be about the number of aircrafts India may or may not have lost, but it should be about the need for a collective imperative to confront terrorism.
Twenty five percent of all terrorist attacks around the world between 1970 and 2017 occurred in the region of South Asia. Pakistan has long been the sanctuary for several terrorist groups. Let it not be forgotten that it was within a mere two kilo-metre radius of Islamabad’s premier military academy that Osama Bin Laden was found and dead. It is not only India oriented terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed that are operating with relative impunity in Pakistan. It is also a safe haven for globally oriented terrorist networks including Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, and ISIS.
There are at least three critical concerns that demand the urgent attention and cooperation of the international community. First is the unholy nexus between Pakistan’s ISI and a constellation of terrorist organisations. Second is the unchecked rise of radical Islam and Jihad. Third is the proliferation of the organised crime networks. A study conducted by NATO based on interrogating at least 4,000 fighters captured from Al Qaeda and Taliban revealed the support provided by the ISI to these groups.
As early as 2001, a report of the US State Department identified Pakistan as the chief patron of the militant groups active in Jammu and Kashmir. The concern extends far beyond the above mentioned nexus which is well-documented and widely condemned. However, there exists a much deeper, structural and societal issue in Pakistan. At the heart of this issue is the drift of Pakistani society towards radicalisation. The educational system in Pakistan is becoming a conduit for ideological indoctrination. Public Schools in Pakistan, particularly those in the poorer regions often fail to impart even the basic skills such as reading and writing. This vacuum is being filled by Madrassas. Many of these Madrassas promote a rigid, puritanical interpretation of Islam making the students of such institutions ideologically hardened.
Pakistan might be off the grey list of Financial Action Task Force from 2022, but terror financing machinery in the country is far from being dismantled. Several terrorist groups continue to raise funds through various means like public fundraising, misusing the platforms of non-profit organisations and illegal activities like smuggling and drug trafficking. In 2019, Pakistan was ranked 112 out of 141 countries in terms of organised crime by the World Economic Forum. The severity of the issue is further underscored by the criminality score of 6.30 assigned to Pakistan by the Global Organised Crime Index.
While Operation Sindoor has a compelling rationale, it should not be mistaken for a comprehensive solution. Certainly the Operation has sent a message, loud and clear, that sponsored acts of terror will no longer go unanswered. However the task is far from over, for India. India must double down on its diplomacy to galvanize a global consensus against Pakistan’s continued role both as a patron of terrorist groups and safe haven for organised crimes. International Condemnation becomes hollow if it is not accompanied by the will to isolate and hold accountable those who enable such attacks.
It would be wise for the world to move beyond the conjecture about airstrikes and aircrafts. The more pressing concern is a state that is failing under the weight of radicalisation, organised crimes and worse, institutional complicity. It is worth repeating the statement of the United Nations here – “There can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without sustainable development”.