The trifecta of Pakistani deep state: Mullah, military and terrorists

Pakistan today is economically bankrupt but, ironically, rich in terror. IMF bailouts sustain its formal economy, while informal networks continue to thrive in the black market of global jihad.

- SANTISHREE DHULIPUDI PANDIT

Is there any fundamental distinction between the Mullah, the Military, and the Terrorist in Pakistan anymore? The answer is unsettling yet an undeniable "no". These are not competing power centres but simply three faces of the same deep state hydra. This may appear a hyperbole, but the unfortunate geopolitical reality that the world has been witnessing over decades validates the musings of a terrorist state. Pakistan has become a well-oiled terror factory, with its military-industrial complex manufacturing not only weapons but terrorists. As former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj famously stated at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2017: "India has created IITs, IIMs; Pakistan has created terror camps." India's later statement in the UNGA captures this further—Pakistan is "Terroristan," a nation dressed with fanaticism and held together by the ideology of jihad. So, let's take a hard look at who funds this terror economy and who legitimizes it? Most importantly, who bears its real cost?

A BLOOD ECONOMY
Pakistan today is economically bankrupt but ironically rich in terror. IMF bailouts sustain its formal economy, while informal networks continue to thrive in the black market of global jihad. Is the IMF aware that its dollars may be feeding not just mouths but mayhem within Pakistan and across the border into India? Is the international community too naive or too complicit to trace the money trail? Much of the blood money that fuels terrorism is laundered through the veneer of charitable fronts, Islamic seminaries, and so-called international NGOs that function as recruitment centres and dry-cleaning outfits. This is not speculation but a well-documented fact. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), despite its measured words, placed Pakistan on the grey list for its failure to curb terror financing for years. Even when it was temporarily removed, the structural issues remained unaddressed.