ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office appears to have decided not to call a Middle Eastern terrorist outfit by its preferred name ‘Islamic State’ and instead refer to it as ‘Daesh’, an acronym the group hates.

“I would refer to the outfit as Daesh as there is nothing Islamic about it,” Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said in reply to a question at his weekly media briefing on Thursday.

The foreign ministry had previously been using both IS and Daesh in its statements.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was among the first leaders who avoided calling the group with its preferred name and US and Australian leaders followed. There have also been calls by Muslim scholars for calling the group Daesh in a move to de-legitimise it.

The group likes to be called Islamic State because it negates the concept of borders and promotes a vision of one Muslim caliphate. It also suggests existence of a central authority instead of roving groups of mercenaries.

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for `Al Dawla al Islamyia fil Iraq wal Sham’, the group’s original name, which was translated as`Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’ or `Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’.

But the group feels offended when called Daesh and had threatened to cut the tongues of those who used it.

Daesh has now become an insult in Arabic and is used to refer to extremists, who can even kill to impose their belief on others.

Pakistani officials have always denied the existence of the group in the country, but have said they are on alert against its emergence. A number of extremist groups in the country have expressed their loyalty with the group which is trying to establish a foothold in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan has alerted its security agencies to the threat posed by Daesh. Our authorities are vigilant and have been advised to take necessary action in this regard, if required,” Mr Khalilullah said.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2015

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