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| Civilians lost lives in clashes with security forces in South Kashmir on Sunday | | | If the US has described the Mili Muslim of Hafiz Saeed as a terrorist outfit it is not only an embarrassment for Saeed but also a slap on the face of Pakistan which has been allowing Hafiz Saeed full liberty in building anti-India campaign through his rallies and conventions of his workers and supporters. In a major setback to Hafiz Saeed's political ambitions, the US has designated the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Pakistan-based Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation .In a simultaneous move, seven members of the MML's central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorists. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan. The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party. General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in July.
Pakistan's election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits. The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT resources it needed to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks. Even if the Interior Ministry clears the MML of any terrorist links it would cause fresh strains in the relations between Washington and Islamabad that may provoke Donald Trump to suspend all military and economic aid to Pakistan.
"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)... Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counter terrorism at the Department of State. And if Hafiz Saeed is allowed to contest the next elections he is sure to emerge as a front runner in the poll which may threaten other democratic parties. UN chief Antonio Guterres is "very concerned" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and wants all member states to protect their civilians, his spokesperson has said. Another setback to the separatists in Kashmir because they have been treating all those killed as civilians. And the UN chief has cleared any doubt about it when he said that he was concerned over the developments in Kashmir where on a day 13 militants were killed alongwith three soldiers and four civilians His remarks came after Indian security forces on Sunday gunned down 13 militants in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Secretary-General is, indeed, very concerned about the situation that he has seen in Jammu and Kashmir. He reminds that Member States are responsible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters here at his daily press briefing He said the Secretary-General reiterated his call on nations to find ways to address disputes in a peaceful manner. He added that civilians need to be protected wherever they were, "whether it's in Gaza, whether it's in Jammu and Kashmir, or whether it's in Yemen. It's a basic principle of this organisation". When asked if the Secretary-General is calling for an investigation into the matter, Dujarric said "any loss of civilians needs to be investigated wherever they occur. Well it seems that the UN chief is not aware of the complete details of the operations carried out by the Army in south Kashmir. Had he been told about the incidents which followed the gunning down of 13 militants he would have praised the Indian Army. In fact the killing of 13 militants in three areas evoked sharp criticism which took the shape of clashes between the protesters and the security forces and strict action by the security forces has led to the killing of four civilians |
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