KARACHI: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told an international conference that measures such as the recent travel ban imposed by the United States on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries were not beneficial in the fight against terrorism, but were further fuelling terrorism.

He was speaking during a panel discussion on “Countering Radical Extremism and Terrorism” at the three-day Munich Security Conference-2017, where he denounced the term “Islamic terrorism”, saying terrorism should not be associated with any religion.

“I have heard the term Islamic terrorism maybe a dozen times today. President Trump uses it quite frequently,” the minister said.

“...This ban on seven states, whatever perceptions the US has, has not helped the fight against terrorism. If the policies of the West are going to be isolationist or exclusive, it won’t help the fight against terrorism, it will fuel terrorism,” he added.

“Terrorists aren’t Christians or Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus. They are terrorists, they are criminals,” Mr Asif said, adding that branding terrorism as “Islamic terrorism” fuelled Islamophobia and added to the problem.

Commenting on concerns relating to hosting refugees, he said that “Europeans and the US feel threatened” by the incoming wave of refugees as they fear their political system would be “destabilised”.

“We are states that are handicapped by our bad economies, our law and order situations and meagre resources, but we are fighting,” Mr Asif said while comparing Pakistan’s situation with other countries.

He said Pakistan had spent around $2 billion on fighting terrorism and had suffered more than 60,000 casualties, adding that regardless of the challenges, the country successfully repatriated 650,000 refugees that were there for more than three decades.

“This is something that can be replicated,” the minister said, adding that a conducive environment must be created to allow refugees to return to their homes. “But that is not possible for Syrians, Iraqis or Libyans.”

He said if a country such as Pakistan could house refugees for a period of more than three decades “without any substantial aid from outside”, others also could.

He said an inclusive approach to fighting terrorism was essential, adding that the situation that displaced a person must be considered.

“One must audit and account whether these interventions have produced peace in our regions or whether these interventions have been counter-productive,” the defence minister said.

He criticised the United States for welcoming the peace agreement between the Afghan government and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, “who was declared the butcher of Kabul and was branded a terrorist”, saying that the “dichotomy” was bothersome.

He said the “contradiction lies with the West”, adding that it “glorified” terrorists and “revered the jihad” in past conflicts.

“We were proxies for that war and now we are paying the price and being labelled as Islamic terrorists,” Mr Asif added.

“Pakistan is a front-line state in this war and it will continue to fulfil its obligations to its own people,” he said while giving an assurance to the international community of Pakistan’s effort to curb terrorism.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said there was a need to establish “democratic Islam”, but it was “perhaps too late” to separate religion from terrorism as “terrorists claim themselves as Muslims”.

He added that though he understood the concerns of Pakistan’s defence minister, doing away with the term would make people say countries were “hiding the real background”.

Echoing his sentiments, former French minister Arnaud Monte­bourg said that while it was “absurd” to say “all Muslims are potential terrorists... it is absurd to not want to see a direct link between the use of one religion and the use of violence”.

He said, “In this fight, we’re going to need everybody. But in order to get everybody on board, let us not close our eyes to the reality”.

Mr Monte­bourg said “there is very much of a link” between terrorism and religion.

“The reality is not all Muslims are terrorists... but all terrorists today are Muslims, and they claim to be better Muslims than you,” he said.

US Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, elaborating on President Trump’s travel ban, said the screening process of travellers complied with all “personal privacy rules”.

He said there was a “sophisticated vetting process” which looked at data such as travel dates, itinerary information of the tickets, baggage and method of payment.

“It does not include race, religion, health information or political affiliation,” Mr Kelly said, adding that next week President Trump would be “releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first Executive Order” to avoid problems for people travelling overseas that occurred last month.

When asked about people travelling to the US with valid visas or a green card, Mr Kelly said, “If they are in motion from a distant land to the United States, when they arrive, they would be allowed in.”

He said a system would be in place to make sure that “people on the other end do not get on an airplane, but if they’re on an airplane and inbound, they’ll be allowed in the country”.

Published in Dawn, February 20th , 2017