The US should press Pakistan to crackdown on LeT without directly intervening, a top US expert has said and warned that another Mumbai-style attack would spoil any efforts for Indo-Pak peace process. Few months back for the first time Pakistan has acknowledged its support to terrorist organisations by imposing a ban on the media coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) under the National Action Plan (NAP). Till date it has been denying any hand in support to terrorist organisations which were creating disturbances in India. It was not clear whether the crackdown was linked to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s assurance to US President Barack Obama to take “effective action” against UN-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including LeT and its affiliates, as per its international commitments and obligations under UN Security Council resolutions. The National Action Plan was devised in January last year in the wake of the Peshawar Army Public School massacre in which over 150 people, mostly school children, were killed. In the aftermath of the attack, the government and military had decided to carry out operations in the tribal areas and take action against all terrorist organisations and their facilitators across the country. The United Nations declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) a terrorist organisation and also individually designated Saeed as a terrorist in December 2008. The United States has already put $10 million bounty on the head of Saeed. Saeed, who orchestrated the November, 2008, Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed, roams around freely in Pakistan despite being a designated terrorist and has made many anti-India remarks and speeches. Pakistan has said that there is no case against Saeed and that he is free to move in the country as a Pakistani national. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority also has banned the electronic media from running any advertisement of these three organisations for collection of funds “in the name of social work”. All these actions vindicate India’s stand on Pakistan terror export from time-to-time and now at least it should have the courage to take action against these outfits.
