The intelligence agencies of India and Afghanistan bankroll terrorism in Pakistan - this is now from the horse's mouth. There was always suspicion and some evidence of their involvement, but never as complete as now when a confession is made by none else but someone who for nine years acted as the principal spokesman of the hired assassins, the Pakistani Taliban. After surrendering to the security forces, he has spoken out through a video, divulging in considerable detail how these so-called "soldiers of Islam" operate as mercenaries. According to him, these Taliban are given targets for acts of terrorism in Pakistan against specified amounts of money by the Indian intelligence agency RAW. And the Afghan intelligence agency NDS issues them passes in order to facilitate their movement within Afghanistan and their infiltration into Pakistan. "After the operation in North Waziristan, we all fled to Afghanistan. I saw (in Afghanistan) these people develop contacts with India and RAW... (which) supported, provided finances and targets. They (the TTP) took money for every activity they carried out," says the mercenaries' former spokesman. These TTP stalwarts would "push their soldiers on the frontlines to fight against the Pakistani Army and they themselves went into hiding." Then there are "committees" that act as go-between, for the hostile intelligence agencies and the Pakistani Taliban. If there are still some sceptics who question the authenticity of the confession made by Indian spy Kalbhushan Jadhav they may like to hear out Ehsanullah Ehsan, the man who for all these years was the Pakistani Taliban's public face, and then of the more lethal Jamaatul Ahrar led by Omer Khalid Khorasani.
As to why Ehsanullah Ehsan parted company with Jamaatul Ahrar, he says he was disillusioned with his leader's position that for terrorism in Pakistan he would go to any extent to say nothing of receiving help from Khorasani would welcome help even from Israel. Or maybe, having seen the low morale of the Jamaat following Pakistan's surgical strikes on its camps, Ehsanullah Ehsan decided to call it a day and return to normal life in his hometown in Mohmand Agency. Or, follow the path indicated by the Punjabi Taliban leader Asmatullah Muavia. Given the setting from where he spoke, one may question the authenticity of Ehsanullah Ehsan's confession. But that's not possible if it is juxtaposed against the overwhelming circumstantial evidence already in the public domain. For instance, his claim that Fazlullah took Sufi Muhammad's daughter in marriage by force and that he became leader of the TTP courtesy a lottery draw are facts already in public knowledge. India is deeply involved in fomenting trouble and terrorism in Pakistan, which is verified by Kalbhushan Jadhav directly, and indirectly by India's political leadership a number of times. But what lends unprecedented credence to Indo-Afghan partnership in bankrolling terrorism is the Ehsanullah Ehsan's confession. In a separate interview with a television network, he claimed that Jamaatul Ahrar commander Khorasani received medical treatment in India after sustaining injuries in a terror attack. Pakistan should take it up with both India and Afghanistan, as well as at the international level. Ehsanullah Ehsan's confession authenticates what Jadhav has already confessed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017
