The Pakistani authorities have taken Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf Asghar in preventive custody in connection with the investigation of the Pathankot attack.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj are meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to brief him about the developments in the investigation.
Spokesperson of MEA, Vikas Swarup, has said that the government has no official confirmation regarding Azhar’s custody.
Also read: Things You Need To Know About Jaish-e-Mohammed and Masood Azhar
The prime time television news had a varied spectrum of conclusions to draw from it.
Let The Hunger Games Begin
The panelists on Arnab Goswami’s Newshour included three military representatives from the Pakistani military and a fourth from India. However, Arnab still managed to call Pakistan a terrorist state, threatening Pakistan with Indian might.
The Pakistani representatives, on the other hand, blamed India for harbouring terrorism in its land.
Maroof Raza, defence expert for the channel, accused Pakistan of providing safe haven to the likes of 26/11 mastermind Hafeez Sayeed, Osama Bin Laden and now Masood Azhar by denying the existence of these groups.
He also ‘revealed’ at a point in the debate, that the Pakistani authorities have had Azhar in their custody for the past three days.
Lt Gen (Retd.) Ghulam Mustafa, Defence Analyst maintained that India is the country sponsoring terrorism.
To that, former RAW officer, RSN Singh, said that whether or not Azhar has been handed over ought to be irrelevant to the peace talks. Therefore, Pakistan cannot use the Azhar argument as leverage or as a reason to suggest that talks be continued.
Pakistan had banned JeM and its daughter organisations (HuL and JuI) in 2002 and 2004 respectively. However, the offices of the JeM were functional until Wednesday evening when Azhar was taken into protective custody.
The foreign secretary level talks, which are supposed to happen in a day’s time, will be a crucial decision to take based on the official communication, if any, about Azhar’s arrest.
As of Times Now, it wants Pakistan to hand over Azhar to India.
The NDTV prime time debate hosted by Barkha Dutt addressed the skepticism with which many Indians are treating Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar’s detainment.
Also read: Pakistan Detains Masood Azhar: Is the Ball Now in India’s Court?
Dutt raised the question of whether Pakistan has lost its credibility after the arrest and release of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi another mastermind of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
Aisha Siddiqa, independent Security AnalystIf Masood Azhar has been taken into custody, he could not be taken without the army chief on board. But he was not taken from Bhagalpur but Islamabad which suggests a proximity to centres of power.
Even though Pakistani journalist, Hussain Haqqani said that it was too early to comment on its success, he emphasised on the need for Pakistan to act against terrorism.
Hussain Haqqani, Pakistani JournalistWe have seen this move before. One step forward and two steps backward isn’t the right way. Action is a process, it has to be sustained. It’s why are there any offices for Jaish in the first place when Pakistan has already banned it. Pakistan should take action against terrorism for the sake of Pakistan.
Mohammad Zubair Ahmad, Minister of State for Privatisation showed his support towards Nawaz Sharif’s leadership.
Mohammad Zubair Ahmad, Pakistani Minister of State for PrivatizationWhen Nawaz Sharif came into power and we were preparing the economic plan, we had decided that terrorism will take Pakistan nowhere. What we have done already shows where our interests lie.
The crucial decision about the 15-16 January Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan in Islamabad will be taken during a meeting between PM Modi and EAM Sushma Swaraj.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)