In the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, three permanent members of Security Council the US, France and the UK had moved a resolution to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar a glocal terrorist but China is not playing ball.

Except for China, which wields veto power in the Security Council, all other UNSC members were on board with the move before the al-Qaida (1267) Sanctions Committee. India has expressed disappointment over China’s decision but said it will “pursue all available avenues” to bring to justice terrorist leaders involved in attack on Indians.

Outraged by China blocking for the fourth time a move to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist, UNSC members warned they “may be forced to pursue other actions” at the Security Council if Beijing continued with this policy.

“If China continues to block this designation, responsible member-states may be forced to pursue other actions at the Security Council. It shouldn’t have to come to that,” a Security Council diplomat said. Beijing previously put a technical hold on similar proposals at the UNSC thrice.

“This is the fourth time that China has placed a hold on this listing. China should not prevent the Committee from doing the job the Security Council has entrusted it to do,” another security council diplomat told PTI in response to a question.

“China’s move to hold the listing is inconsistent with its own stated goals of combatting terrorism and furthering regional stability in South Asia,” said the diplomat, requesting not to be named to speak frankly, given that the deliberations of the UN sanctions committee are confidential, thus preventing member-countries from talking about it in public.

The second security council diplomat also slammed Pakistan for depending on China to protect terrorist groups and leaders that operate from its soil.

“Pakistan has quite often depended on China to protect it from the listing of Pakistan-based terrorist groups and individuals in the UN 1267 sanctions committee,” the diplomat said.

“The case for designating Masood Azhar the leader of a group the UN already calls an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organization is undeniable,” the diplomat said.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration had said that Azhar meets the criteria for designation by the United Nations.

“Our views on Jaish-e-Mohammad and its founder are well known. JeM is a UN-designated terrorist group,” State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters.

“Azhar is the founder and the leader of JEM, and he meets the criteria for designation by the United Nations. JEM has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and is a threat to regional stability and peace,” Palladino said.

The State Department referred to this statement on Wednesday when asked about the latest developments in New York.

“I would say that the United States and China share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability and peace, and that a failure to designate Azhar would run counter to this goal,” Palladino said. Congressman Brad Sherman described the Chinese move as unacceptable.

Once again, China has blocked the UN from imposing sanctions on Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, which carried out the Pulwama attack in India in February. This is unacceptable, he said.

I urge Beijing to allow the UN to place sanctions on Azhar, the leader of a UN-recognized terrorist organization, Sherman said.

Several American think-tank members slammed China for its decision delaying the Azhar listing.

Today, China doubled down on a very bad bet. It blocked yet another round of UN sanctions on Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar weeks after the group claimed credit for the deadliest terror attack in Kashmir, Jeff Smith from the Heritage Foundation said.

This one won’t be undone by another romantic stroll through Wuhan, he said, indicating that such a move by Beijing would only escalate the tension between India and China.

Not entirely unexpected, but nonetheless a slap to India’s face after last month’s bloody suicide-bombing in Kashmir. Also raises serious questions about the benefits of Modi’s photo-op diplomacy with Xi Jinping, tweeted Sadanand Dhume from American Enterprise Institute.

The post Why UN cannot act against terror? appeared first on The Correspondent.

The Pulwama terror attack has not only killed our soldiers, but has hurt everyone in the country. The palpable anger is understandable. For far too long we have been a silent people. Patience and resilience has been the hallmark of Hinduism way of living. Religion has taught us to seek nirvana and live in peace. We are not blood thirsty or revengeful by nature. Revenge is a word that does not exist in Sanatan Dharma.

Mahatma Gandhi says eye for an eye will make one blind. But Sir, let the blind be the other guy, nah!

When cheating, deceit and trickery are prevalent, norms are broken and terrorists are killing our jawans, social order has to be restored in the society. Our scriptures have advocated for calibrated, well-planned responses. Lord Krishna says, whenever and wherever impiety sprouts, Dharma should prevail. To tolerate evil is to accept it. To eliminate evil and establish Dharma or righteousness in the society and we must restore order.

To correct mistakes of the past, we have to do things not done before.

Ladies and Gentlemen, without going into a detailed historical discourse, it is suffice to admit that Pakistan was a mistake. Not to point fingers at any political dispensation, but so was ceding ‘Aksai Chin’ and releasing 90,000 prisoners of war.

Sending them to Allah

And today, taking leniency of the mainlanders, some bastards in the Pakistani Army have been fuelling religious bigoted mindsets and resorting to terror. They need to be taught a lesson. The military leadership and the likes of Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar (the same terrorist Atal Bihari Vajpyee let off post Kandahar hijacking) and Dawood Ibrahim should be sent to the almighty by bullets pumped into their chests or a generous dose of bombs sprinkled over their heads. And the people of Pakistan, who are either silent spectators or supportive majority, will have to suffer. So be it.

Old order ought to change to give way to new. Bharat has been a country that has never initiated an attack. But now is the time to do the unthinkable and do the undoable. But before we go further, at this juncture, we must also promise ourselves to be better citizens – don’t let religion manipulate our senses, pay our taxes and keep our country clean – and do hundreds of other things what we should be doing. Our response at this juncture, having suffered for long, very long, should be mature, planned and should leave little space for ambiguity. We must deliver a clear cut blow and end all the miseries forever rather than adopting for a piecemeal approach.

No Excuse for the Army now

There are enough examples in the modern world of countries invading other territories for ‘justice’. USA, Israel, Russia… We have not done anything so far. Either we start counting our pennies, or lack of preparedness or international pressures… the list of excuses is exhaustive.

Our Defence establishment together with RAW and IB have let the nation down in 2008 when they could not prepare a legitimate response after the Mumbai bomb blast having been asked to do so by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Today, PM Narendra Modi has said forces are free to hit back. What excuse will they have now!

Blood will flow

And in the process, we may have to suffer. I have seen blood flow. I have served in the Army and have heard the reverberating sound of AK 47s, piercing the silence of the valley. Having seen bullets fly, colleagues being hit by terrorists, I know the pain of war. But when the country bleeds, it hurts more that bullets. Having taken part in many-many of security operations, day in and day out when the militancy was its deadliest, I can say that retaliation is not revenge but elimination of terror as a tool of ‘freedom struggle’.

Remember they also have nuclear bombs. It should be kept in mind: They are not going to take the beating lying down. The enemy will perhaps be more prepared than us because they have instigated a sleeping lion. After Uri, Pakistani Generals knew that retribution of any misadventure would be detrimental for their existence but they still did what they did. So, as a strong nation, we must deliver on the expected lines, theirs and ours. It is better for them to die than continue living in fear.

Rest, it is the job of the security forces to send them to Allah and 72 ‘hoor’ and correct our ‘blunders’. The ball in the court of the Army now.

For Dharma, we have to fight. The scale and level of adequate or more than equal response, which is imminent, should be left to the Forces. It is time for Mahabharat and the aim should be to reclaim the land that was mistakenly called Pakistan.                   Send comments to: editor@thecorrespondent.in

The post For the cause of Dharma, Mahabharat once again appeared first on The Correspondent.