Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar, spoke at a recent UN Security Council meeting about the growing threat of right-wing extremist and fascist groups worldwide. He also raised concerns about the unfair blame placed on Islam and Muslims for terrorism.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar pointed out that all the names on the UN’s terrorism list are Muslims, while terrorists from other groups are often ignored. He called this unfair and asked the UN to update its rules to include all kinds of threats and to stop blaming Muslims for terrorism.
Read more: Pakistan to push UN for terrorist designation of BLA and Majeed Brigade
Asim Iftikhar explained that attacks by non-Muslims are often called crimes instead of terrorism, which is not right. This goes against the UN’s idea that terrorism is a global problem and should not be linked to any religion or nationality.
Highlighting that Pakistan’s principal adversary India was active in sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan, the Ambassador Asim Iftikhar stated at the same session that New Delhi bankrolls and supports terrorist proxies. He marked that terrorism coming from other terrorist groups is a serious threat to Pakistan, the region, and the world. Groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch militant groups are hiding in unsafe areas of Afghanistan and threaten Pakistan’s security.
The TTP has about 6,000 fighters and is the largest terrorist group on the UN list. Pakistan has proof that the TTP works with other groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Majeed Brigade. They share training camps and have attacked Pakistan’s important buildings, projects, and people.
Ambassador Iftikhar said Pakistan condemns all terrorism and has suffered greatly in this fight, with more than 80,000 lives lost and huge economic damage. Despite this, Pakistan is determined to stop terrorism completely.
