New Delhi: Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar publicly claimed in his national parliament that it blocked the Resistance Front (TRF), a front of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, initially claimed responsibility for the tourists massacre in Pahalgam. Mr Dahl boasted that Islamabad mentioned TRF and Pahalgam last week from a resolution of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning the terrorist attacks.
The UN Security Council statement last week condemned the terrorist attacks in Jamu and Kashmir on April 22, but did not mention the specific location of the attack, the TRF or “Pahalgam”. After the attack, the TRF claimed responsibility for the massacre, but later denied the massacre under enormous pressure. It can be noted that although Pakistan is currently a non-serving member of UNSC, China’s “benefactor and 24/7 friend” can block any UNSC resolution or statement because it is a permanent member of UNSC and has the power to veto.
Media reports said in a speech at the National Assembly of Pakistan: “On behalf of Pakistan, I have two objections (a statement to UNSC). First, mentioning Pahalgam, second, the blame is on the Resistance Forum; I think it is unacceptable. The amendment is that I received a call from the Great Capital to reach a consensus on the draft, but I did nothing.”
Mr DAR reportedly also claimed there was a round-trip statement in the UNSC statement, especially in the U.S. statement. He also claimed that to pick out TRF in the press release, evidence should be provided, and claimed that there were reports in the media that TRF claimed “all were lies.”
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister also claimed that the TRF was just a “forum” established by the local population in J&K and rejected its classification as a terrorist organization, completely ignoring that terrorist organizations have generally assumed responsibility for all terrorist attacks in the Jamu area over the past four years.
The fact that TRF is not mentioned in UNSC statements has attracted attention. This is in stark contrast to the United Nations domestic joining statement issued after the Pulwama terrorist attack in February 2019, named the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammmed (JEM).
In addition, unlike UNSC’s statement after the Pulwama attack, urging all states to “actively work with the Government of India and all other relevant agencies” to bring the perpetrators to justice, UNSC’s statement on the Pahalgam terrorist attack skipped any references needed to cooperate with the Government of India and used only the “relevant agencies”.
Last week, the 15 UN National Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement condemning the terrorist attacks in Jamu and Kashmir.
