The conviction of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of money laundering by an anti-Terrorism Court should help show the world that Pakistan is no longer prepared to protect those who engage in terrorism. However, the sentence, being concurrent, actually amounts to a five-year jail sentence, rather than the total of 33 years handed down. Since he has been under detention since July 2019, with time off for time already served, and for remissions and good behaviour, he may be at large quite soon.
It is not so much the fate of an individual at stake, as that of the whole country. Hafiz Saeed has been convicted for money laundering, and action against terror financiers was one of the steps for which the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has been looking. True, FATF regionally is dominated by India, true Hafiz Saeed is seen by India as behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but that is not the real question that needs to be asked. The reality is that the policy of certain supra-state actors patronising terrorist outfits because they could be used has backfired badly, and now the state is hard put to deal with such elements.
The Lashkar may have lost its head, which should put a dent in its activities, but the authorities, which had once protected them, should be wary of what happens to the others, who are still at large. Will they, for example, join some other outfit, which still is committed to carrying out terrorism? At least while they were in the Lashkar or the Jamat, it is possible to keep an eye on them, more so than if they were to join an organization of which relatively little was known. It should be realized by supra-state actors that ultimately it is impossible to channelize, let alone control, such elements, and disposal, which becomes necessary, will be as messy and long-drawn-out process.
