With one million Britons of Pakistani origin, and as the former colonial power, Britain has a unique relationship with Pakistan. But concerns about Britain’s vulnerability to bomb attacks planned by Pakistan-based militants — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that three-quarters of the most serious plots investigated by British authorities had links to al Qaeda in Pakistan — has made for a rocky relationship.
Irfan Husain, a columnist for Dawn newspaper who divides his time between Britain and Pakistan, writes that these tensions are being worsened by the problems Pakistanis have in obtaining visas to visit Britain.
“It is true that Pakistan is increasingly viewed as the epicentre of Islamic terrorism. Many plots, real and imaginary, have had their roots in the badlands of Fata (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas),” he writes. “Many young Brits of Pakistani descent have travelled to remote parts of the country to receive training in bomb-making. But the point is that these young men do not need visas to return to Bradford and Wolverhampton. Being born in Britain, they enter their country without let or hindrance.”
Among those denied entry were members of the Lahore Pipe Band hoping to take part in a world championship in Scotland, a trade delegation, a well-known columnist, and a guitarist.
It’s not entirely clear whether the visa problems are driven more by bureaucratic bungling than fear of terrorism. The Guardian newspaper says that several thousand Pakistani students hoping to start university in Britain are facing delays of three months or more for visas because of a “bureaucratic fiasco” - after a reorganisation, visa applications from Pakistan are now processed in Abu Dhabi.
Husain argues that by denying entry to the likes of writers and musicians, Britain is compounding the very problem it wants to contain - the spread of extremism. These are the kind of people who should be made welcome in the west, he says. ”Given the position they enjoy in Pakistan, they can influence many to see that the enemy is not the West, but the forces of darkness that have gained the ascendancy in our own country. By turning them down, the British government only provides ammunition to those who are convinced of the West’s inherent anti-Islam policies.”
In any case, most security analysts would argue that the main concern is not about Pakistanis coming into Britain; it is about Britons of Pakistani origin leaving the country to attend militant training camps based in Pakistan. On this subject, Stephen Tankel has an interesting post about signs of growth in the operations of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant groups. Based in Pakistan’s heartland Punjab province, these groups were initially focused on fighting India over Kashmir, but are increasingly seen as a potential or direct threat to the west.
“In the past JeM and LeT were valuable to al-Qaeda because of what is called the ‘Kashmiri Escalator’. A disproportionate number of British Pakistanis are of Kashmiri decent and those interested in making contact with a militant group often can employ familial connections in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to find their ways to Lashkar or JeM,” he writes.
“Recruits procure training from one of the two groups, after which some of them are passed on to al-Qaeda operatives who are often in the FATA. In 2009 British security officials estimated that approximately 4,000 people were trained in this way since 9/11…”
The apparent growth of these two groups in the heart of Pakistan, he writes, give pause for thought about the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan. “Enormous sacrifices are being made to keep Afghanistan free from al-Qaeda and its allies. Meanwhile, next-door some of those same allies are building away in the seemingly safest of havens.”
The argument about who is responsible for British citizens seeking training in militant camps in Pakistan is a complex one - both countries tend to blame the other. And as Amil Khan wrote in this post last year, the attitude of British Pakistanis to Pakistan is far more layered than a simple question of which country should take the blame when something goes wrong.
But if one of the aims is to stop young British Pakistanis from being drawn towards hardline Islam, and at the same time offer them an alternative image of both Britain and Pakistan, why ban the bagpipers?
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@ Umair
Again perturbed? I was wondering the uncompromisable source of inspiration for justice, righteousness… Law and order situation in Pakistan and what it has been doing in world by creating fertile ground for LeT, JeM, Al Quaeda, Talibani, JuD etc, and also for it’s minorities?
- Posted by Rohit@Umair: “And the law and order in Pakistan is absolutely fine, this is a huge and resilient country”
The other day, I took a yellow cab from near by office bldg in midtown manhattan to go to a meeting in downtown. From the ID card of the cab driver laminated on the back panel, I figured out that he was Pakistani. I asked him where from Pakistan did he come & he said he was from Faisalabad. We started talking in Punjabi, amongst other things about how things were in Pakistan as he mentioned that he had recently visited Pakistan. I asked him about the law & order situation in Pakistan. Looking at me through the rear view mirror, he said that there was a saying in Pakistan for anyone involved in any legal matters “Vakeel ki karna hai, Judge hi kar lo” (translation: Why hire a lawyer, when you can hire a judge).
- Posted by MortalMortal: chill out, i meant the dark agenda belongs to terrorists not India and Keith got my point.
- Posted by Umair
Sure you did, buddy. I believe you :)!
- Posted by MortalRohit,
As regards my source of inspiration for Pakistan, i will be surprised if you are an Indian and do not feel passionate about it. And the law and order in Pakistan is absolutely fine, this is a huge and resilient country.
Mortal: chill out, i meant the dark agenda belongs to terrorists not India and Keith got my point.
- Posted by Umair“But if Canada will discriminate against Pakistanis, then both Pakistan and Canada will loose. The only people laughing will be the ones who have a dark agenda, do i need to name them?” - Posted by Umair
Just like for everything else, instead of blaming your immigration problems on the host countries & the “dark agenda” of the Indians, why don’t you guys look in the mirror & take some responsibility?
Is it because of the “dark agenda” of the Indians & the racism of the west, that almost every terror attack in the west (successful or foiled) has been proven to have a Pakistani link?
Is that also the reason why Pakistan has become a global terror hub & #1 exporter of terror in the world?
If you do find the need to blame someone, it should be your immoral generals, who have radicalized your country & projected it as the terror capital of the world.
“Do not try to equate the situation with UK, the relationship there is very different. UK is Pakistan’s fomer colonial power once ruled the region”
This is a ridiculous statement. So just because UK once ruled Pakistan, Pakistani terror in the UK is justified? UK ruled more than half the world at some point or the other. Do you see people from the origin of those countries, plotting terror in the UK?
And why should the situation in UK not be looked at by Canada or US? In fact, I bet you that the lawmakers in the US, Canada, Australia etc are looking at the Pakistani problem in the UK & saying “Hell, we don’t want this mess in our country, so let’s prevent it while we can”.
I agree that there are many qualified & legitimately good Pakistanis who deserve better but instead of squarely blaming others, please do some introspection & tell your generals to clean up the mess in your country so that it is perceived differently, than it currently is.
- Posted by MortalPak Blogger says:
“But if Canada will discriminate against Pakistanis, then both Pakistan and Canada will loose.”
“I want to ask you, how can Canada be selective in implementing immigration laws for Pakistani citizens? If someone from Pakistan qualifies under Canadian law to take up permanent residence in Canada, it is their right.”
–>You are wrong. The CSIS securities’ job is to look at ALL global events and trends, regarding terrorism. Even recently, there was Pakistani linked terrorism in Canada, known as the “Toronto 18″. There are also many Pakistani linked terrorists, like the recent Zazi, who was caught. The security establishment communicates with Interpol to be kept upto date from where terrorists are coming from. All these global Pakistani linked terrorists, how can Canada ignore what is happening? The Immigration service of any country has a duty to observe and act on all security trends to protect Canadians.
For many years, Canada was known as a terrorist’s sanctuary, not any more.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/st ory/CTVNews
/20090610/tor18_link_090610?hub=World
If the bulk of global terrorism is coming from Pak linked terror groups, are you saying that Canada should ignore that? What planet are you living on? For a lack of detailed information on an individual, on the basis of security and terror prevention, Canada has a right and a duty to protect its citizens and evaluate where an individual has lived, where they were born, where they worked their connections, and decide on an individual basis, if they are potential security risks.
Don’t you think Canadians would want people who are from a country that is constantly linked with terrorism? Many terrorist individuals who have immigrated to other countries, have squeeky clean records, yet managed to get through and cause carnage in their host countries.
What is unfair, is that so many countries have to put up with Pakistani linked AND Pakistani terrorism and try to protect their citizens from this and STILL get labelled as UNFAIR? This is not a “Dark Agenda”. It is the duty of each country to protect its citizens from terrorism.
If you feel this is all still unfair, as you drive by on the way to work and see the Pak Military and ISI HQ, those guys have been fueling terrorism for the last 20 years and the world is fed up and trying to protect itself. Those Pak agencies are to blame for the security blowback from other countries, that otherwise good, educated and well-meaning Pakistani’s have to deal with.
Take responsibility, the blame lies with Pak State agencies itself. Don’t think that after years of supporting the Taliban, helping AQ and training terrorists that there is not consequences. The result is every country wanting to deny Pakistanis VISAs, you can blame your army and ISI for that, as we have the duty and right to protect our own.
- Posted by GW* correction:
meant to say that an application can fail if the applicant cannot prove that he/she will not be a security threat.
- Posted by KeithUmair,
Have a look at the link you posted and the various scenarios at the end. That gives you an idea of where we think Pakistan is heading. You’ll find scenario one to be extremely unlikely. And scenario three is the likely one but there is a very, very high risk of the worst case scenario (two) coming true. This is why we are concerned about Pakistan. And that dialog by the way included Pakistanis like General Masood (who is one of the most open and honest gentleman I have ever met) and Dr. Siddiqa. You will not that the nuanced scenario was put forward by General Masood, who also suggested that Pakistani support for anti-India activities was a mistake that had come back to bite Pakistan in its rear, and was harming its long term prospects.
- Posted by KeithUmair,
I am fully familiar with that document, the people who drafted it and the conference that lead to it.
On your other points…
If you qualify sure you get a visa. However, there is no way every application qualifies. And one of the ways an application can fail is if the applicant cannot prove he/she is a security threat. Now I am not suggesting that CSIS (or any other agency) screens out all Pakistanis as security threats because of their nationality. However, you can be sure that in the post 9/11 world (where many Canadians were killed as well), Ahmed Ressam (though he was not Pakistani), the Toronto 18 (some of whom were Pakistani Canadians), etc. there is significantly more scrutiny of potential applicants to this country. And there is a particular emphasis on making sure they aren’t security threats. Applicants from countries of concern (Pakistan is not the only one) or even particular regions of a country (Kashmir, Indian North-East for India for example) are well screened.
As for the dynamic being different between the UK and Pakistan and Canada and Pakistan. You’re right. But the issue of being a former colonial power is only one. The other being that they have a million Pakistani-origin residents and that the majority of their terrorism concerns originate from Pakistan. While Canada has significantly better integrate Pakistani-origin immigrants, there is significant concern among all our government agencies, particularly the security ones (and not just CSIS by the way) about the growth of terrorist sympathies in the Pakistani Canadian communities. And in specific sub-communities. We don’t have problems with Ismailis or Ahmadis in Canada who are usually quite well to do here and well integrated. However, there is a growing concern about rising fundamentalism among mainstream Pakistani immigrants (as well as mainstream Middle Eastern immigrants). From this point of view, we consider ourselves in the same boat as the UK. We are open multi-cultural societies who take in immigrants from all over the world. We’d like them to leave their baggage at home.
It has not happened in the UK. Worse is that immigrants will use an excuse like, “its acceptable because they were the former colonial power or its okay because of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.” Can you imagine an Afghan refugee or an Indian immigrant in Pakistan blowing up something and then saying its acceptable because Pakistan is meddling in Afghanistan or Kashmir? You would deem them traitors. We’d like to get off that boat before we get into the same choppy waters that the UK is in. We are doing our best to integrate our Pakistani immigrants. And we’ve done much better than most western countries on that count. However, part of our response has been to mandate our security agencies to ensure that we don’t take in applicants who might become potential terrorist threats. This is to keep the country safe and to prevent communities like that of Pakistani Canadian from succumbing to foreign originated extremism. It’s not just terrorists. We don’t want those who will stir up hate in our communities either.
- Posted by KeithUmair so gets perturbed by anything slightly hinting at anything unethical and unlawful against Pakistan and Pakistanis that it makes me wonder the source of inspiration… Law and order situation in Pakistan… eh?
- Posted by RohitKeith
This may be of interest to you:
http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/pblctns/cdmct rch/pkstn_scrt-eng.asp
Pakistan’s Security - Today and Tomorrow
I want to ask you, how can Canada be selective in implementing immigration laws for Pakistani citizens? If someone from Pakistan qualifies under Canadian law to take up permanent residence in Canada, it is their right. Canada cannot favor one nationality and discredit the other on any basis. Its simply not the reputation of Canada, unless the CSIS has another vision for Canada similarly where the US has reached today.
Also, the only lone case where a Pakistani origin Canadian citizen was ever involved in something that CSIS was worried about is Momin Khawaja. Otherwise Pakistani community in Canada has contributed very well as enterprenuers and skilled immigrants. Do not try to equate the situation with UK, the relationship there is very different. UK is Pakistan’s fomer colonial power once ruled the region.
- Posted by UmairAs as a Pakistani who himself has lived and worked abroad I am fully mindful how a single case can have implications for entire nationals of that particular country. But if Canada will discriminate against Pakistanis, then both Pakistan and Canada will loose. The only people laughing will be the ones who have a dark agenda, do i need to name them?
Will this lead to creation of one more Pakistan, this time from British Land? Is Britain reaping the harvest from the seeds of mis governance it sowed in India by first founding Congress in 1885 and then giving birth to Muslim League? Good to learn British secularism getting something back in return from erstwhile British India Secularism… How one puts it… Britain is reaping the harvest of crop it sowed in British India along with Congress and Muslim League?
- Posted by RohitUK to set up MI5 counter part in Pakistan
ISI trying to scuttle the plan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/82862 17.stm
- Posted by RobinPakistan doesn’t cooperate to extradite terrorists to Saudi.
Saudis arrest 5 Pakistanis and force Pakistan to trade terrorists!
Pak exchanges Al-Qaeda commanders for detained family with Saudi Arab
http://blog.taragana.com/n/pak-exchanges -al-qaeda-commanders-for-detained-family -with-saudi-arabia-180495/
May be US/UK/India should play the same game! Arrest Pakistanis and trade for wanted terrorists!
- Posted by Soman