Pakistan will fail the litmus test of credibility: ex-NSA M K Narayanan

Describing Pakistan as a "failing state", former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has said that there was no remote possibility of Pakistan passing the "litmus test" of credibility in prosecuting LeT terrorist Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the key Mumbai attack handler.

Narayanan said this on a day when Lakhvi, whose bail granted by a Rawalpindi court on Thursday sparked an outrage in India, was blocked from coming out of jail as Pakistan government detained him for three months under a preventive detention law.

"There is clinching evidence but unfortunately the judge seemed to have decided otherwise," said Narayanan when asked whether India had a case against Lakhvi during Karan Thapar's To the Point programme on Headlines Today.

And Narayanan, who was the NSA during the Mumbai attack, does not have any hope that after three months Pakistan will be able to put Lakhvi to justice.

"I don't see any possibility of their succeeding, they will fail the litmus test (of crediblity)," he said.

On Biswas alias @Shamiwitness (Twitter handle), Narayanan, who is also the ex-West Bengal governor, said his arrest was a matter of concern and merely terming him as a propagandist did not absolve him of the crime.

"His (Biswas) role as a propagandist is far more dangerous than a recruiter. When you do propaganda, you recruit hundreds or may be thousands. It calls for concern," he said.

Narayanan said the ISIS and its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's

propaganda is much dangerous than other terror groups.

"I think al-Bagdhdadi's concept is based on ancient history of Islam of seizing territory, holding territory and global jihad comes later. They (ISIS) are looking at areas where there is substantial Muslim population. Their idea is to energise and infuse these ideas amongst them, particularly in educated Muslims. Persons like Biswas, hence, are far more dangerous than an individual terrorist," Narayanan said.

He said the ISIS "wants to have a state of their own."

"Talking of caliphate has had an electrifying impact. It had a far greater appeal... ISIS needs an entire new look. You cannot deal with ISIS like you dealt with the Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammad or Al Qaeda. The challenge is much more in mind than on the ground," he added. 

Narayanan said the world knows where Pakistan stands on the issue of terrorism.

"I think today the world has few illusions on where Pakistan stands on the terrorist map or the terrorist ladder. I think they all agree that Pakistan, if not a promoter of terror, is certainly someone which aids terror.

"It is a state that has, from time-to-time, been exposed for permitting to use its territory to carry out terrorist attacks, whether it is in Afghanistan or whether it is in India and some of its terrorists have also acted against China and other countries.

So, he said, I don't think there is any doubt in anyway. The only point is, Pakistan's location is something that is seen to be of great advantage to many countries. That is what Pakistan has managed to exploit over the years," he said.