ISLAMABAD   -  Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Rehman Malik on Monday wrote a letter to Dr Marcus Pleyer, President Financial Action Task Force (FATF), pleading him to place India on the Grey List of FATF for its involvement in money laundering through 44 banks mentioned in the suspicious activity reports (SARs) by United States banks.

In his letter, Senator Rehman Malik referred to his earlier letters dated 14th February, 2019 and 12th March, 2019 wherein he had pleaded for action against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for protecting international fugitives involved in biggest ever credit fraud and money laundering. In his earlier letters, he had also requested removal of Pakistan name from the FATF grey list. Rehman Malik wrote that the World had noticed the vast variation between the given mandate and the assumed one by FATF and penal actions against various country including Pakistan referring to the earlier response of FATF as “The Financial Action Task Force is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is development of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF is therefore a ‘Policy–making body’ created in 1989 that works to generate necessary political will to bring about legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.”

He further said that the above mandate empowered the FATF to undertake its role as the “policy-making” but on the contrary, FATF under your leadership exceeded the official mandate by placing Pakistan on Grey List and kept the sword of penal action hanging on the head of Pakistan although Pakistan had complied with all requirements of the FATF by adequately bringing amendments in the existing laws and by promulgation of some new legislations. “Frankly speaking FATF acted like Interpol by even overstepping the authority of Interpol as money laundering and terrorism comes under the charter of Interpol. Unfortunately we did not witness the presence of Interpol and the member states of Interpol have the right to demand as to how the FATF have overstepped its official mandate to intrude in the jurisdiction of the Interpol.”

Senator Malik wrote to FATF President: “I, as elected representatives of Pakistan as Senator and the Chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Interior along with my countrymen would like to express that Pakistanis feel that we are being discriminated for placing Pakistan on the Grey list of FATF whereas Indian terrorist financing and money laundering is being consistently and deliberately ignored while both the criminal activities on the part of India have been identified and reported by the concerned international forums  even most recently.”

He added: “I would also like to draw your kind attention to the rapid increase of ISIS/Daesh in India as UN report on terrorism has warned that there are ‘significant numbers’ of Islamic State terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka, noting that Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) terror group is planning attacks in the region.” 

He mentioned that the UN report states “One Member State reported that the ISIL Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah), which was announced on 10 May 2019, has between 180 and 200 members. According to the report, there are significant numbers of ISIL operatives in Kerala and Karnataka states.” 

He highlighted that the report also warned that Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent was planning attacks in the region and the two terrorist groups were using COVID-19 pandemic as a platform to propagate their ideology and asking innocent Muslims to be the carrier of coronavirus and spread it amongst people.  

Actually, he said, “India has a covert plan to continue proxy wars through the nexus of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh & ISIS/Daesh in the whole region, particularly in Pakistan, Afghanistan and China.”

Rehman Malik in his letter further wrote that American magazine ‘Foreign Policy’ in its article ‘Indians and Central Asians Are the New Face of the Islamic State’ on October 8, 2020 had confirmed rapid increase of Daesh in India. “In particular, the Indian and Central Asian linkages that the group fostered are already having repercussions beyond the region,” the Foreign Policy Magazine reported. 

“While at first glance this seems unsurprising, the presence of Central Asians and Indians in transnational attacks is a relatively new phenomenon that reflects a shifting pattern in jihadism linked to the Islamic State,” the publication reported. “Indians have stayed involved in networks in India, or occasionally Pakistan. Central Asians have shown up in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but rarely farther afield. That is changing,” the report said. He stated that the Foreign Policy Magazine actually had validated his point of view which he had disclosed in my books i.e. ‘Daesh- ISIS, Rising Monster Worldwide,’ ‘Modi’s War Doctrine; Indian Anti-Pakistan Syndrome’ and ‘Bleeding Kashmir.’

Senator Malik in his letter wrote: “India has been turned into a hub of Daesh (the militant Islamic State group) operators working with RSS and financed by RAW through its linkage with RSS and has put the whole of South Asia into danger. Most recently 44 Indian banks had been flagged in connection with transactions by Indian entities and individuals in a set of SARs (suspicious activity reports) filed by the US banks with the watchdog agency, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The Indian media has covered the involvement of India in terror financing and money laundering. Despite this, regrettably, the Financial Action Task Force is still reluctant to take any action against India.” 

Pakistan, he said, was “put on the grey list for only the suspicious transaction while India was given a free hand despite its involvement in terror financing and money laundering.”

He said that Pakistan had been fighting war on terror along with US since day one and obviously USA complainant against Pakistan owes an explanation of its own defence spending in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and means of financing these wars with banking trails enabling it come out clean before even complaining against Pakistan.

He pleaded: “I, as a right being a national of Pakistan suffering in the hands of FATF, demand that India being involved in terror financing and money laundering should be investigated forthwith.  The evidence against India warrants its placement in the Grey List based on the UN report and other international organizations which is part of the international record.”

Senator Rehman Malik stressed that reports on Indian support to Daesh and the involvement of 44 Indian banks, both state and private owned, in money laundering was a matter of concern, not only for Pakistan but also for the whole world community.  The terror financing by India would bring the world peace once again to the period when Daesh was at its peak in Iraq and Syria, he added.

He said that above facts and suggestion of TORs for investigations against India were being made in good faith and in the interest of international community enabling the world to get rid of Indian state terrorism in the region. While offering his services he writes, “I am ready to appear before FATF for any clarification. I also hope to see my country out of grey list after the compliance in making the required amendments in our laws and new legislations.”

Senator Malik said it looked that FATF may create some minor excuse to keep Pakistan continuously under pressure and it was there important to have offensive role and also we needed to expose India for its money laundering, terrorist financing and supporting ISIS directly by the Indian state.