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US Congressmen want Pak to dismantle terrorist camps

Aziz Haniffa in Washington

Members of the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia led by its chairman, Congressman Benjamin Gilman (New York Republican) and vice-chairman Congressman Gary Ackerman (New York Democrat) called on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to immediately dismantle terrorist camps and halt cross-border infiltration.

The lawmakers said these actions on the part of Pakistan were imperative if the tensions with India have to be defused.

Gilman said, "If Musharraf is serious about averting a war, he needs to match his words with deeds. He should agree to joint monitoring of the India-Pakistan border as suggested by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee."

The lawmaker, who is also chairman emeritus of the full International Relations Committee, pointed out that the US has provided over $1 billion of aid to Pakistan since 9/11.

He said, "While we appreciate all that Musharraf has done to help us since the September 11 attacks, we must remember he and the Pakistani military were given the ultimatum soon after September 11 to stop nurturing and supporting Taliban and other Islamic militants or else face the consequences."

"He made the right decision then, and we expect him to follow through with it now," Gilman said.

Gilman added, "People who kill innocent men, women and children for any cause are not freedom fighters. They are cold-blooded murderers who must be hunted down and brought to justice. Any support for them is totally and equally unacceptable."

Quoting President Bush, the lawmaker said, "Any nation that harbours terrorists is a terrorist nation."

Ackerman, echoing similar sentiments, said, if Pakistan wants to prove that it is a bona-fide member of the global campaign against international terrorism, 'support for terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir must end -- completely and permanently'.

Ackerman acknowledged that if not for Pakistan, the US would have 'had a much more difficult time prosecuting the war in Afghanistan'. But he noted, as had Gilman, that as a quid pro quo, the US had provided Islamabad with a massive economic largesse.

He argued, "After all this, it is time to make clear to Musharraf that no further economic or military support will go to Pakistan if he continues to support militant organisations. No military assistance should go to Pakistan during the current crisis."

Ackerman also recalled that the Pakistani leader was 'the architect of the Kargil incursion that brought the subcontinent to the brink of nuclear war in 1999'.

"What makes anyone believe a cause for which he was ready to go to war three years ago is any less dear to him now?" he asked.

"We have seen this strategy earlier. And we have found the next front on the war on terror, Mr Chairman, and it is in Kashmir," he added.

But another lawmaker, Congressman Joseph R Pitts (Pennsylvania Republican), though arguing strongly in favour of India, disclosed that he was going to establish a Kashmir Forum in Congress to educate his colleagues of the background to the conflict and the historical genesis of this troubled region.

He said the Forum, would provide an opportunity, for all parties, including Kashmiris, to put forward their views and hopefully work together to reach some sort of a common understanding that could lead to stability and peace in the region.

Pitts said he had been to Kashmir at least twice in recent years, and added, "It is a region filled with humanitarian suffering from violence for many years. I have seen first hand the increased toll on human dignity and life."

Terrorism Strikes in Jammu: The complete coverage

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