The army has released former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahraar (JuA) spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan’s ‘confession’ video – however, there is very little Ehsan is actually confessing to in the five minute-long statement. Apart from accepting that he joined both terrorist organisations and that these were accepting funds and support from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), there is not much else in the way of establishing his connection to the hundreds of lives lost to attacks by the militant groups.
While Ehsan conveniently shifts the blame of murdering hundreds on to “a particular group” within both organisations, it does not take away from the fact that the man who is now preaching tolerance according to the edicts of Islam, was jubilantly taking responsibility for various attacks for the organisations he was associated with – not to mention that he was one of the founding members of JuA.
If anything, the process of shifting blame on to Mulllah Fazlullah and others tells us that Ehsan has little remorse for his part in the bloodshed. His only regret seems to pertain to the fact that the organisations were funded by an enemy that was not Muslim and little else.
With this confession, clearer links to RAW and India’s involvement in terrorist activities are coming to light more frequently than ever. Although the eastern neighbour can continue to deny these allegations, it is the job of the Pakistani state to keep making a watertight case against India and publicise this evidence in the hopes of alerting the international community. But while notable terrorists speaking of their connection to foreign intelligence agencies is worthy of note, it does nothing to stop the actual problem. What is to dissuade RAW and NDS from sheltering and facilitating terrorists against Pakistan even now?
There is speculation regarding Ehsan’s future – how is the state looking to deal with one of the biggest enemies of the state and its people? The confession does not mean that Ehsan is now ‘our’ man. While his hands may not be directly responsible for pulling the trigger in the case of most attacks, they are not free of blood either and in fact, he should be sharing a large portion of the blame. And yet, Ehsan’s exalted status in the organisations he worked for means that he had access to important strategic information that could possibly lead to the capture or death of other high-profile terrorist commanders. His usefulness in uncovering sleeper cells, financial backers and other aspects of the terrorist network should also be thoroughly utilised. Finding out everything he knows is paramount; quick decision in the military courts with punishment should follow. The army nabbed one of the biggest threats to internal security, it should keep up the good work and continue until all terrorists threatening Pakistan have been conclusively defeated.