Dreaded Daish has entered Pakistan: Altaf

 













KARACHI: The Islamic State (IS) or Daish has made inroads into Pakistan and there are threats of further turmoil in the country. The new organisation will prove to be more dangerous and brutal than the al-Qaeda and the Taliban, warned the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain in a press conference held at the Khursheed Begum Hall on Friday evening.

The dramatic rise of the IS and its proclamation of a so-called caliphate has hearlded a new and more brutal face of global Jihad, said Altaf Hussain.“Counteraction is needed badly as the rise of the IS has threatened to make matters worse for Pakistan,” cautioned Altaf during his telephonic conference from London. He said that his earlier statements were ignored, which were later found to be accurate. The new factor i.e. the IS had entered Pakistan and posed a grave threat to the country. “I kept on talking about the growing Talibanisation in Karachi but political leaders, especially of PPP, ridiculed me,” he said and added, “Even the president and prime minister turned a deaf ear to my proclammations.”

He said: “The Taliban are rapidly changing their allegiance to the IS and scores of IS flags would be seen across the country from south Punjab to Islamabad. The government’s silence in this regard is causing a great concern.”

Replying to a question whether the IS had the support of institutions and the government, he said not the institutions but definitely some political parties were backing this group directly or indirectly.

He appealed to intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies and chief of the army staff, heads of IB, MI and ISI to task the investigation institutions to draw an effective mechanism and function to monitor the entire challenges being faced by the country. “If this is not controlled, people will even forget the Rwanda violence,” he said.

“It is the responsibility of every patriotic citizen to play his role and strengthen the hands of Pakistan Army in its fight against terrorism as the army is already sacrificing their lives in the war against terrorism in Waziristan.”

To another question whether the Punjab government supported the IS, he replied that it was not directly involved but had backed this group indirectly by remaining silent.He said that the IS had been formed by its chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi by uniting several groups, most notably al-Qaeda in Iraq led by Abu Musab Al Zarqavi. He told journalists that America had asked Pakistan to create the Taliban following the Cold War, adding that Pakistan, the United States, Saudi Arabia along with many other states supported the Taliban Mujahideen fighting against the Soviet Union.

In 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban Mujahideen were armed, trained and supported by several countries, including the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.After the war between the two world powers ended, the US left Afghanistan and left the Taliban in the lurch. Thus money given by the US to help the Taliban was stopped who in turn got involved in illegal activities, including kidnappings, land grabbing, looting banks and extortion to get finances, he said.

Lauding the role of armed forces of Pakistan, he said that the army alone could not save the country from the existing threats and urged the masses to realise their responsibility.

To tackle the situation, he suggested holding a round-table conference of all the political parties. When asked why the MQM was hesitant to convene an all parties conference itself, he said that everyone was angry with them and it would be better for those to convene the conference who were not controversial. “Though we are not controversial, we are not acceptable to all,” he said.