...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat...
, would only create hatred which will bite it back, former Pakistain Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani has said.
"My argument as a Pak is why do we even want to be equal (with India in terms of military prowess). Why do not we want to be happier and prosperous and successful," he said.
"What is this obsession about being equal and trying to equalise the field with crazies like Hafiz Saeed because he will only create hatred, which will only bite us back," Mr Haqqani said in Bengaluru last night during an interaction on his book 'India vs Pakistain - Why Can't We Just Be Friends'.
"Pakistain always had this presumption that India has a tremendous conventional military advantage and Indian army will be much more bigger than Pakistain's. So Pakistain needs irregular methods to be able to be equal," he alleged.
Mr Haqqani recalled a private conversation of former Pakistain President General
Pervez PervMusharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
with Pak newspaper editors, wherein he said Lashkar-e-taiba was his reserve core for fighting India and thus establishes the strong nexus between ISI, turbans and Pak establishment.
"He (Musharraf), in a private meeting with Pak newspaper editors, had said 'Well all of you keep telling me or some of you keep telling me that I should shut down Lashkar-e -taiba, but it is actually my reserve core in fighting India,' a fact that establishes a strong nexus between ISI, turbans and Pak establishment," Mr Haqqani said.
The former Pak envoy said it was disturbing to know that a head of a country had thought so as these turbans "would not do good to Pakistain" as the world had seen them attacking Shias, Ahmediyas and Christians in Pakistain, apart from India.
Mr Haqqani said unfortunately Pak strategic thinkers in uniform do not realise this "disturbing line of thinking of patronising turbans and outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally
Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf
bannedthe group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
and Lashkar-e-taiba."
Throwing light on the Jihadi movement in Pakistain, the former diplomat said Zia-Ul-Haq was not the first man to spread jihadi awareness as is presumed, but it was much before him.
"There is a presumption that Zia-Ul-Haq was the first man to start jihadi awareness, but I argue that no it was even further back and there was always a desire for irregular warfare," he said.
Asked how to shut down the large armed militias, Mr Haqqani said it was not easy because they are well trained in warfare.
But the establishment can put them out of business if they are denied the resources for their mobility and movement, he said.
"If we make this decision now it will take some 15 years to put their business out," Mr Haqqani added.