Islamabad: A senior minister of Pakistan has let out a secret that could increase international pressure on Pakistan to act against the terror groups operating from its soil.
In an interview with BBC Urdu, Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah today said that the Pakistani government cannot initiate any legal action against militant groups like Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) as the "state itself remained involved" with them.
He weas responding to a question on why Pakistan had failed to act against anti-India groups in the province which were close to the "establishment".
"By pro-establishment groups if you mean JuD and JeM, then let me tell you that they have been declared proscribed organisations and they can no longer carry out any activity in the province," he said in the interview.
"How can you prosecute a group with whom the state itself has been involved with?" the minister said, virtually ruling out the possibility of Pakistan acting against the terror groups.
While India has repeatedly held Pakistan responsible for insitigating terror across the border, Pakistan has been in denial calling them "non-state actors" who are not in its control.
After the Pathankot attacks early in January this year, India had provided actionable intelligence to Pakistan in order to nail the perpetrators. India strongly believes the Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Muhammad responsible for the attacks.
In a first, a JIT constituted by Pakistan amid mounting international pressure had also been allowed to visit the Pathankot air base where they were provided with more evidence against the terrorists and their alleged handlers.
A request by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) to visit Pakistan to further probe the involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists is yet to be responded to.
