The “poster boy” of Pakistan army Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is now a free bird after a Pakistan court released him on Thursday. Not that the co–founder of the now “defunct” Lashkar-e-Taiba and the founder of the “refined” Jamaat-ud-Dawa was serving a rigorous imprisonment in Pakistan jail. He was merely under house detention obviously to please the tough talking US President Donald Trump who had taken over from Barack Obama. The man carried out his activities in “house” much to India’s discomfiture.
Though it appears as if the Pakistan government has not kept its word on Saeed, in hindsight Islambad was never serious in pursuing anything notable against the terror mastermind. The Hafiz Saeed “arrest and release” drama is an old story dating back to 2009. The focus is on the Pakistan army because it is no secret that the army is the de facto ruler in Pakistan. The country’s history has shown that a weak Prime Minister has always suited the army well. Despite his follies, Nawaz Sharif was known to offer at least a token resistance to the army honchos. But after his stepping down following the Panama Papers, the new incumbent Shahid Khaqan Abbasi appears to have provided a perfect leeway for the army to carry out its agenda.
The country goes to the general elections next year and who better than Hafiz Saeed to aide the civilian government and the army by crying hoarse against India? The Pakistan judiciary is subservient to the executive and, therefore, to the army which is sad because not long ago the same judiciary displayed remarkable courage and grit under the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The United States which once called Saeed a global terrorist and has kept in place a whopping bounty on his head, seems to have considerably softened its stand on Saeed. The Coalition Support Funds (CSF) announced by Washington has left the name LeT out and has included Haqqani terror group operating in Afghanistan in the terror list. The new US stance is seen as a direct offshoot of the “China factor”.
Experts are predicting a dwindling Washington influence and a rising Beijing presence on the global order. India has to keep things simple: cool head and shrewd mind. It has to relentlessly engage the United States towards isolating Pakistan despite the Hafiz Saeed setback. New Delhi should also not flinch an inch in keeping its borders safe.
