India was vindicated on its stand once again on Tuesday, September 26, when a member of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of Pakistan accused his own organisation of protecting terrorists.
India has long held that terrorists are state-sponsored in Pakistan, and has made every effort to bring out the truth before the world. Most recently, it said in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that its neighbouring country was "Terroristan", and that while it pushed to create world-class educational institutions, Pakistan created globally-known terrorist organisations.
While Pakistan has been accused of terrorism by several other countries, including the United States and its lawmakers, rarely has someone from its establishment spoken up on the issue.
That is why, a serving assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Pakistan IB not only speaking up about it but also seeking legal recourse is all that much big a deal.
'Concrete evidence' ignored
According to a report in Dawn, the ASI -- identified as one Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Shahzad -- has "accused his senior officers of not taking action against terrorism suspects and filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) requesting it to refer the matter to the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for a thorough probe."
Shahzad has reportedly said in his petition that he joined the Pakistan IB in 2007 and reported on "various terrorist groups having roots in Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and India."
He went on the say in his plea that no action was taken "by IB in this respect despite concrete evidence provided to it in the form of the intelligence reports."
The petition then says: "Upon thorough intelligence-gathering process, it transpired that certain high officials of the IB themselves are directly involved with the terrorist organisations..."
Rot runs deep?
Shahzad detailed in his plea how certain terrorists would disguise themselves as fruit-dealers and would even put up sham fronts of citrus fruits in order to escape scrutiny.
He even accused the son of an IB official of being involved in wheelings and dealings with terrorist outfits.
Shahzad also said in his petition in the IHC that he "has been running from pillar to post including approaching the prime minister of Pakistan" over the issue.
How Pakistan now deals with this deep rot in its system remains to be seen, because the case has been directed to an IHC judge who is hearing a similar matter.
