Such Gimmicks And Hoodwinking Not New: India On Pakistan Increasing Bounty On Jaish Chief Masood Azhar
New Delhi: India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan’s move to increase bounty for information leading to the arrest of global terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, terming the “phoney announcement” as only a “gimmick” with such “hollow” statements having been made before also.
Addressing a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal urged Pakistan to take action against terrorists instead of making such “phoney announcements”.
“All that I would say is that such gimmicks and hoodwinking by Pakistan is not new. We have seen such gimmicks in the past as well. For a state sponsor of terror to make a phoney announcement — we all know how hollow it is. They must take action and not make phoney announcements, which is of no consequence,” said Jaiswal while responding to a question.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has announced a fresh bounty of PKR 70 lakh on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, maintaining that the terrorist leader is hiding in Afghanistan, a claim intelligence agencies and global observers view as an attempt to evade scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Masood Azhar, the mastermind of many terror attacks in India, particularly the Pulwama terror attack, has been in hiding in Pakistan, but Islamabad has always remained in denial. Apart from Azhar, the FIA’s new ‘Red Book’ has listed 19 other terrorists linked to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The move comes at a time when Pakistan remains under scrutiny over its actions against terror financing and militant groups. Security officials and Pakistan observers, however, believe the increased bounty is aimed at creating an impression of action against Azhar while keeping his actual whereabouts away from international scrutiny.
While announcing the hike in the bounty, the FIA maintained that Azhar is in Afghanistan and not in Pakistan, a claim that has repeatedly been rejected by the Afghan Taliban.
Indian intelligence officials have repeatedly said that Azhar is very much in Pakistan.
Observers say that the increased bounty is only to hoodwink the FATF. Pakistan’s claims that Azhar is in Afghanistan are incorrect, and the ISI is not going to risk keeping him there at a time when relations between the two countries have deteriorated, the experts say.
This is, however, not the first time that the FIA has announced a bounty on Azhar. In 2021, a bounty of PKR 50 lakh was announced by the FIA. Even at that time, Pakistan claimed that he is not on its soil. After the 2021 bounty, nothing much changed where the Jaish and Azhar were concerned.
Azhar has overseen the JeM adapting new tactics in Jammu and Kashmir, such as transitioning towards hybrid warfare and setting up proxy fronts.
To evade scrutiny of the FATF, the Jaish operated under proxy terror outfits such as the People’s Anti Fascist Front (PAFF). This outfit has claimed responsibility for deadly ambushes on the Indian security forces in the dense forest areas of Poonch and Rajouri.
Officials say that the current focus of Pakistan is to keep Azhar safe and also away from the eyes of the FATF.
Islamabad wants to give the impression that Azhar is out of the country and Pakistan has nothing to do with him at least until the FATF meetings scheduled between October 26 and 30 in Paris are complete, an official said.
(IANS)
