Politicisation of FATF
THERE is saying of former United States leader Martin Luther King Jr “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” Pakistan is going all out to eradicate terrorism, extremism from the country.
It is cooperating with international community to extend its available support in any capacity. Unfortunately, the global community is showing reluctance to recognize the efforts by Pakistan.
It has paid heavy price while fighting against this menace. 70,000 innocent Pakistanis have lost their lives and tens of thousands have suffered in different terrorist attacks since US led war against terror.
Instead of getting international community’s moral, diplomatic and financial acknowledgement, it is being blamed over flimsy grounds, for the unrest in Afghanistan and supporting non-state actors in the region. Majority of Western powers and US are intentionally maligning Pakistan and putting economic pressure on the country through various tools.
They are using international platforms such as Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) and International Monitory Fund (IMF) to exert pressure on Pakistan’s dwindling economic. This institutional clout has put an extra pressure on already fragile economy of the country.
Instead of recognizing Pakistan’s contributions in war against terror, FATF had decided to keep Pakistan in its Grey List.
The action, as it seems, was purely politically motivated and it was done at the behest of US, India and some other hostile countries that want Pakistan to suffer on multiple fronts in one way or the other.
They had given Pakistan dozens of points to come out of the Grey List. However, many of the countries that have landed in the white-list do not meet these punitive yet cumbersome prerequisites. Despite being confronted with these odds, Pakistan took note of these points and started implementing them.
In addition to this, Pakistan met all the requirements as suggested by FATF to come out of the Grey List. However, on the pressure of US, India, France and some other countries, FATF decided against its own values and kept Pakistan on its Grey List.
Turkey which helped Pakistan and stood against US-led propaganda is also bearing the consequences.
The FATF had also placed Turkey on its Grey List over political obligations. Turkish government is also major stakeholder which convinced Taliban not to attack civilians and initiate dialogues with Afghan authorities.
Unfortunately, the world refused to acknowledge Turkish assistance in ending bloodshed in Afghanistan. This is something that undermines the morale of any state more especially at a time when the country is working hard to bring peace in the region. This politicization must be stopped.
This also shows the politicization and dual standards of leading international institutions. They are being used to accomplish strategic/economic benefits of some selected countries. At the same time this trends will have spill-over effects on entire international political economy.
The blame-game and witch-hunting by the international community against the countries that have put the most efforts in their fight against terrorism would wreak havoc on diplomatic front one day down the line. China would be there to fill in the vacuum created by the western countries in their ties with Pakistan and Turkey.
Likewise, Pakistan has taken a number of steps with concerted efforts to comply with FATF’s guidelines to come out of the Grey List.
It has fulfilled 26 out of 27 points. In this regard, the decision of FATF to retain Pakistan on the Grey List raises serious questions on the efficacy of the institutions.
Pakistan, to a greater extent has fought terrorism, extremism and streamlined its mechanism to boost economic transparency. Pakistan has also identified fake accounts in the name of charity organization and blocked them so that they cannot be used for any kind of illegal activities.
Pakistani government also changed three dozen laws in the last three years to meet the FATF’s requirements. Pakistan has already taken several steps on the hard side and is taking a lot on the softer side too to deal with this menace. Many institutions have been developed to combat terrorism and terror financing.
These are the significant steps which demonstrates practicality and seriousness of state to counter illegal flow of money and its utilization for any type of terrorist/ extremist activity.
These are enough steps to take Pakistan out of the FATF’s Grey List. But as I said earlier, this attitude of FATF shows how powerful states are using international watchdogs to accomplish their political, economic and strategic objectives.
The FATF is keeping Pakistan and Turkey in the Grey List just because of political victimization and to make Western bloc happy. It is pertinent to mention here that the Western states themselves have become cauldron of anti-Pakistan activities as they are giving asylums to Pakistani dissidents.
These Pakistani dissidents such as Taha Siddiqui, Gul Bukhari, Hussain Haqqani and many others have safe havens in the countries that are boastful of being champion of human rights.
They are writing extensively against Pakistan to malign its government and defence forces. The example of Altaf Hussain is vivid example of duality in Western approach. Altaf Hussain is living in London without fear and using British state to target Pakistani state and defence institutions.
The question here is that why British government is not taking any action against him? Why other Western states are encouraging Pakistani dissidents? Why they are giving them free space to malign Pakistani institutions? These Western states are hub of financial embezzlements.
London has become an increasingly attractive place for criminals to hide their wealth, which is illegally brought to the country.
Same is happening in the US as the authorities there refused to hand over Fethullah Gülen to Turkish authorities. Gülen is accused of instigating Turkish military officials to overthrow elected-government of President Erdogan.
It is the time for international community to change its approach towards developing states especially Muslims. World must not view Muslims through the prism of religious differences.
The world must do away with the idea of clash of civilizations and must embrace the dialogue among civilizations. The world must decide its actions by considering all the facts and figures. It must support them instead of warning or threatening them.
Terrorism is an international issue and must be dealt internationally and through the concerted efforts. It must keep an eye on all states like what they are doing.
The example of India is already there. The way India is suppressing Muslims is totally unethical and violation of international laws/treaty. Unfortunately, the so-called champions of human rights are silent on the issue because they have economic interests with India.
This discriminatory approach must be stopped. To conclude my arguments, I must say here that FATF is an international watchdog and must work without political interests of any state. Its politicization may derail international cooperation in future.
It must take steps to get Pakistan, Turkey and other deserving states out of the Grey List. FATF must not be played in the hands of international bigwigs lest it should pave the way for another bloc system on the same footings of the cold war. This cold war mentality must cease to exist now.
—The author is Islamabad based political scientist.
