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'Opposite Sides': Pakistan, India Ex-Spy Chiefs Lift Lid On Deadly Rivalry

June 12, 2018

By Daud Khattak

Frud Bezhan

Pakistan and India have fought four bloody wars since their creation in 1947, and continue to engage in daily clashes in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

So for the former intelligence chiefs of the two nuclear-armed foes to co-author a book that sheds light on their efforts to outmaneuver each other would appear almost unthinkable.

Yet that is exactly what retired General Asad Durrani, head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) between 1990 and 1992, and his counterpart A.S. Dulat, who led India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) from 1999 to 2000, did.

Their book, Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI, And The Illusion of Peace, is based on secret discussions held between the two former spy chiefs in hotels across Asia. Indian journalist Aditya Sinha organized and oversaw the effort, and put the results to paper.

In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, Dulat says "these are the perceptions of two people from opposite sides. Every word is as true as we know it to be."

The unprecedented book makes head-turning revelations about the conflict in Kashmir, Pakistan's covert role in the war in Afghanistan, and the U.S. raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

In India, the book has received a mostly positive reception, and Dulat has given televised interviews. But in Pakistan, Durrani's claims -- often in conflict with the official line -- have been widely criticized. He has been summoned by the military to explain himself. He has also been forbidden from leaving the country.

Below are the book's most eyebrow-raising revelations:

Pakistan's Complicity In Bin Laden Raid

In 2011, a team of American Navy SEALs flew into Pakistani territory from Afghanistan and killed bin Laden inside the secret compound in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad where he had hid for nearly a decade. Pakistan insisted it only knew of the U.S. operation after the team that carried out the raid had left the country.

"At some stage the ISI probably learnt about it [the compound] and he was handed over to the U.S. according to a mutually agreed process," Durrani suggested in the book, a scenario that would contradict Islamabad's official line.

"Perhaps we are the ones who told the Americans…we are going to feign ignorance," added Durrani, going on to speculate why the government denied prior knowledge of the raid. "If we denied any role, it may have been to avoid political fallout. Cooperating with the U.S. to eliminate a person regarded by many in Pakistan as a 'hero' could have embarrassed the government."

"For Pakistan, being blamed for incompetence was more acceptable than complicity," he wrote. "How could it not know [about] the U.S. helicopters ingressing 150 kilometers inside the country?"

Following the raid, Islamabad accused Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi of running a fake vaccination campaign that he used to collect DNA samples from bin Laden family members to help the CIA track him down. Afridi has not been charged over those allegations.

But Durrani wrote that Afridi was not the only person to have discovered bin Laden's whereabouts.

"I have no doubt that a retired Pakistani officer who was in intelligence walked in and told the Americans," wrote Durrani, suggesting that the officer received part, if not all, of the United States' $25 million reward for information leading to bin Laden's capture or death.

Dulat wrote in the book that India's assessment "is the same. That he [bin Laden] was handed over by Pakistan."

In an interview with RFE/RL this month, Dulat expounds on his comments, alleging that "Pakistan was harboring Osama and the Pakistanis knew where he was and I think the Americans somehow got wind of this and they told the Pakistanis that 'look, we know where he is,' and then [said] to 'stay out of it.' Maybe there was a CIA mole in Pakistan, and General Durrani has also hinted at that."

Pakistani Support For Afghan Taliban

Afghanistan, the United States, and India have long accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to the Afghan Taliban on Pakistani territory, and of failing to go after the militants, claims Islamabad has consistently rejected.

Yet in 2016, Sartaj Aziz, a top foreign affairs adviser for Pakistan's government, admitted publicly for the first time that Islamabad has considerable influence over the Taliban because its "leadership is in Pakistan."

In 2015, former military dictator Pervez Musharraf revealed that there were Pakistani-backed militant "proxies" in Afghanistan.

In the book, Durrani added more weight to the widely held belief that Islamabad turns a blind eye to the Afghan Taliban's presence in Pakistan.

"[By] going against them, we would not only turn some more of our own people against us, but also these groups who have never harmed us," he wrote.

Durrani wrote that, after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in 2001, "Pakistan did try to help with whatever was possible despite the pressure" from the international community to cut ties with the militant group, which Islamabad had recognized and supported during the group's rule from 1996 to 2001. "To lose that capital would be something from which you may not recover," he wrote.

India has been a key ally of the Afghan government and spent billions in infrastructure projects. Pakistan has also accused New Delhi of trying to encircle it by expanding its activities and influence in Kabul.

Speaking to RFE/RL, Dulat says New Delhi understands that "Pakistan has more stakes in Afghanistan" but that "India cannot be wished away from Afghanistan."

Dulat also says New Delhi has "banked too much on the Americans" in Afghanistan and should play a bigger role in the peace process. "I don't know if [India] is talking to the Taliban but I am very clear we should be talking to the Taliban. If we are engaged with the Taliban, very good. If we are not, I think it is high time that we did engage."

Pakistan's Support For Kashmiri Rebels

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both countries claim.

Rebels in the majority-Muslim region have been fighting Indian rule since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training anti-India rebels. Pakistan denies this, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the militants and to Kashmiris who oppose Indian rule.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

"When the Kashmir uprising happened we did not know how far it would go," Durrani wrote. "We didn't want it to go out of control, which would lead to a war that neither side wanted…. ISI's leverage on the Kashmir insurgency turned out less than successful."

Durrani also suggested that Pakistan created the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, the main alliance of separatists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, to peddle its agenda in the region.

"Going back to the evolution of the Kashmir uprising of the 1990s, I think the formation of the Hurriyat to provide a political direction to the resistance was a good idea," he wrote. "Giving up handle on the movement -- letting the factions do what they bloody well wanted to -- was not."

Most Kashmiris support the rebel cause while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. New Delhi has been accused of ruthlessly cracking down on the demonstrators.

"Sometimes [the situation in Kashmir] gets so bad that there comes a state of hopelessness," Dulat tells RFE/RL. "Engagement is the key to the Kashmir solution. But we have not engaged them sufficiently."

South-Asian Union?

Perhaps Durrani's most eyebrow-raising suggestion for peace is the reunification of the subcontinent into a confederation like the European Union.

Pakistan and India were carved out from British India that was partitioned in 1947, creating a Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India.

"We can consider moving to a confederation, and then to a united India," wrote Durrani, in remarks that have riled hard-line conservatives on each side of the divide.

"Right now it's impossible to create a coalition or a union like the European Union, whose relevance is itself in doubt, but at some stage we can think of a common currency, or laws applicable to when we develop the new South Asian Union: a Confederation of South Asia," he wrote. "Delhi as the capital of a Union. Armed forces integrated. Reduction of forces numbers by ratio."

Imran Khan’s Victory Puts Minorities in Pakistan on ‘Red Alert’

By Rabiya Jaffery

After Pakistan’s cricket hero-turned-politician Imran Khan claimed victory in July in the country’s tense general election, Pakistani religious minority groups started bracing for a fight. 

After Pakistan’s cricket hero-turned-politician Imran Khan claimed victory in July in the country’s tense general election, Pakistani religious minority groups started bracing for a fight.

Many left-leaning Pakistani political observers and critics have compared Khan to U.S. President Donald Trump.

“There are many parallels that one can draw between Imran Khan’s pandering to the religious right and Donald Trump’s pandering to xenophobic groups in the United States,” Nida Kirmani, a sociologist, professor, and political observer based in Pakistan’s Lahore, told The Globe Post. “Both leaders earlier took more liberal positions, but later shifted to the right as a means of gaining power.”

One of the key points Khan campaigned on, particularly over the past few years, was in defense of the blasphemy law in Pakistan, an often rallying point for the country’s most religiously conservative base.

A study by Minority Rights Group International on religious minorities in Pakistan criticized the blasphemy law, for which penalties range from a fine to a death sentence, for primarily being used to “persecute religious minorities or to settle personal vendettas,” but any calls for change in the blasphemy laws have been strongly resisted by Islamic parties.

During one of his last rallies leading to the election on July 25, Imran Khan reminded his supporters that his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), would irrevocably defend the law.

“It’s very worrying that Imran Khan and other politicians have expressed support for the blasphemy laws during this election period,” Omar Waraich, Deputy Director of South Asia, Amnesty International, told The Globe Post. “The laws are vaguely worded and coercive, having a disproportionate impact on religious minorities.”

At least 1,472 people were charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws between 1987 and 2016, according to statistics collected by the Center for Social Justice, a Pakistan-based advocacy group.

“Often, on the basis of little or no evidence, the accused face charges they cannot effectively defend themselves against,” Waraich added. “The new Pakistani government should amend or repeal all discriminatory laws.”

Ahmadis, who identify as Muslims and consider Ahmadiyya a sect of Islam, particularly face the brunt of religious discrimination and persecution.

“Although Khan’s manifesto states he will protect rights of religious minorities in Pakistan, his campaign rhetoric suggests otherwise,” Kashif N. Chaudhry, an advocate against Ahmadiyya persecution, told The Globe Post. “Imran Khan has employed toxic sectarian and anti-Ahmadi rhetoric to woo the far right during his election campaign.”

Pakistan’s constitution prohibits Ahmadis from identifying as Muslims. An anti-Ahmadiyya Ordinance XX issued in 1984 also prohibited the four million Ahmadis living in the country from “posing as a Muslim” with a penalty of up to three years in prison.

Leading up to the elections, Khan has attended several conferences where demands to place further restrictions on civil rights of Ahmadi Muslims were made.

“No political party has come out in condemnation of the anti-Ahmadi laws of Pakistan,” Kashif said. “However, no major party leader has utilized such blatant hate speech during their campaigning as Khan has.”

Activists are currently uncertain of how much of Khan’s gradual shift to the right for political opportunism will trickle down into policies established by the government.

“The worst case scenario is that he will let these [extremist] allies a free hand to hurt Pakistan’s religious minorities even more, either by turning a blind eye to their violence or tighten legislation against religious freedom,” Kashif added. “It is yet to be seen what posture he adopts towards his extremist allies, but religious minorities will definitely be on alert in the first few months of his regime.”

A university student and activist based in Karachi stated that the overall climate of the country leaves little room for being actively vocal against religious intolerance.

“Even criticism of the blasphemy law can be misinterpreted as blasphemy,” the activist, who wished to remain anonymous, explained to The Globe Post. “There isn’t much you can do about it on major platforms but that’s not to say there aren’t isolated movements on smaller scales that are taking a stand against intolerance and hate.”

One of the most recognized of these movements was lead by Jibran Nasir, a secular activist and human rights lawyer from Karachi, who ran as an independent candidate for a seat in the National Assembly of Pakistan and a Provincial Assembly this election.

“He didn’t win but he has started a public conversation that speaks up against anti-Ahmadi rhetoric, religious tolerance, and inclusion,” the activist explained. “And people are taking him seriously enough for those who have been campaigning on hate for decades to consider him a threat.”

Nasir was asked to declare his religion at a public forum while campaigning and he denied to answer on the principle that it was not relevant. At one point during the campaigning, he was met with a mob who demanded he refutes Ahmadis and then proceeded to rip his posters.

Nasir has since launched his own political party, Aam Awaam Movement. According to a public statement, one of the party’s core principles is to stand against extremist propaganda and focus on solving problems faced by the public.

“I don’t know if such a progressive agenda will win mainstream votes anytime soon but its a start,” the activist added. “Once, people realize that the common enemy is poverty and corruption and not religious differences, we will be able to move the country to a better place.”

A number of candidates from minority backgrounds did win provincial seats and Mahesh Malani became the first Hindu and non-Muslim to win a seat in the national assembly. Dawn, a Pakistani daily newspaper, cited an official document to report that Non-Muslim voters registered in the country have increased by 30 percent since the last elections.

When comparing Imran Khan rhetoric to President Donald Trump’s, Kirmani looked for the silver lining.

“In the United States, this has led to the emboldening of racist groups, but it has also encouraged a progressive movement of resistance,” she said. “One can see a similar trend possibly emerging in Pakistan.”

Pakistan–Russia Ties Reaching New Heights Under President Putin – OpEd

By Venita Christopher

For the last few decades President Putin has been warm to Pakistan which has led to increased expectations from Pakistan. The bilateral ties have witnessed many ups and downs however the recent positive trending relations between Russia and Pakistan is quite a new phenomenon. A number of significant changes have been seen in the foreign policy of both states which finally reached a level of joint collaboration for the stability in South Asia. Russia has special place in the foreign policy of Pakistan therefore the relations between both states are steadily growing.

A few days back a visible shift has been seen, both states stepped forward to sign Memorandum of Understanding on the recent visit in August of Pakistan’s chief of naval staff Vice admiral Kaleem Shaukat to Russia. Both states enthusiastically showed their responses over the naval collaboration and security environment and concluded to carry out wide range of joint military exercises in Pakistan along with the training of armed personals in navy. However, the naval cooperation of both states has led to a new diplomatic venture which might compel India to intervene and cause hurdles in the way.

Significant initiatives have been taken by President Putin to revive its state policy towards Pakistan soon after his fourth turn this year on May 7. Pakistan also showed an immediate response to the Russian leader with great optimism to work as close partners. Both states showed positive act, leaving behind past bitterness, grudges and stepped towards the new phase of their relationship.

According to Russian incentives Pakistan is a huge economic market that would further revive its economic and defense policy in future. Currently Pakistan is also trying to find ways to further strengthen its relations with Russia, therefore the negotiations over the purchase of Russian SU-35 fighter jets are going on between them along with Pakistan’s desire to buy T-90 tanks from Russia as part of already concerned long term deal between both states.

Moreover the Shanghai Cooperation Organization seems influential in connecting all regional states; a useful forum for mutual benefit as is evident from the exercise of “Peace Mission 2018” introduced by Russia under the agreement of SCO to conduct anti terrorist activities in different parts of South Asian region.

Ambassador of Russian Federation H.E. Alexy Y. Dedov to Pakistan conveyed message of President Putin to newly apointed Prime Minister Imran Khan that Pakistan should improve its economic relations as well as people to people contact, cultural exchange and educational trips between both states. In order to foster ties in coming future, President Putin should also plan and try to visit Pakistan.

Russia-Pakistan has collectively same objectives regarding the peace of South Asian region and moreover the diplomatic stance on containing terrorism from Afghanistan and over the US decision to abandon its nuclear deal with Iran.

Leaving the bitterness of the Cold War behind, both states have converging interests in Afghanistan and are collaboratively working on the peace mission to overcome the threats of ISIS. The multi-dimensional ties of both states can further be enhanced by providing incentives to the Russian companies for the economic investments in energy sector of Pakistan. Russia under the leadership of President Putin has further revived the terms by signing military cooperation pact with Pakistan, delivery of Russian helicopters, training to Pakistani officers at Russian institutes and mainly the new turning point is the Russian language radio service with broadcasting to be introduced in Pakistan.

Looking back at the whole scenario of past relations of Russia-Pakistan, one can easily say that there is no true friend and enemy in geopolitics. As China has also shown its interests in coming closer to Russia, India will face a visible defeat if Russia-Pakistan and China make an alliance. Soon a turning shift will likely to happen after Iran has shown its will to join the alliance of Russia-Pakistan and China which is a threatening alarm for India.

#Pakistan - Food insecurity in #Balochistan

By: Sana Samad  

It has been long time that Balochistan is suffering from food insecurity problem. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) provided a data which estimates that 30 out of 32 districts of the province are food insecure which has been alarming issue. Shockingly, only two districts including Quetta and Jaffarabad have food security in the entire province. Most of the districts are depended on agriculture and it is the only source for the food, but this sector is completely destroyed due to shortage of water.

According to the experts, over 80 percent of the agriculture is depended on rain fed, but there has been less rain in last few year as it is required. The other problem is that there is lack of dam and rain water is completely being wasted just due to bad management. In only Khuzdar district 350,000 cusecs of water are dumped through rivers in Arabian sea.

 In recent years, not a single large dam has been built in Balochistan to save the rain water for the agriculture due to which water table is falling sharply. The agriculture land is depended on water supplied by the tube wells which requires electricity. But the rural areas of the province just get  5 to 6 hours electricity in a day, so how they can maintain the agriculture land. This is the only reason that the problem of food insecurity is increasing rapidly in the province.

The drought is affected the people and the livestock. The most dangerous drought in Balochistan occurred during the period of 1997 to 2005. This killed over 1.76 million cattle and an area of 0.798 million hectares were wasted which became the loss of 25 billion. The problem can be more dangerous as the effect of drought can be much greater due to the increasing population and lack of attention from the government side.

Government is also the responsible of food insecurity then why government is silent and not paying any attention to resolve this ongoing problem. The former Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik declared a package of 1 billion to be utilized for the drought victims. But since that not a single rupee has been spent on them. These things raised questions, where these funds are going? Why these funds are not being given to the poor people? Till when they should suffer from these problems? Unless the government will not be serious about this alarming issue nothing can be done and the drought victim will fever feel protection and they will continue to suffer from food insecurity.

#PAKISTANI JOURNALISTS UNDER THREAT FROM DEOBANDI TERRORISTS: HRW

The Asia Director of the Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, has said that a climate of fear has impeded media coverage of abuses both by government security forces and militant groups due to which journalists increasingly practice self-censorship after numerous attacks by militant groups, including the Taliban, in retaliation for criticism, particularly around their extremist diktats.

In a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, HRW’s Adams further said that media outlets remain under pressure from the authorities to avoid reporting on several issues, including criticism of government institutions and the judiciary.
“The PTI has been a strong proponent of free expression, including on social media, to criticise state policy and press for change. An independent media is key to robust dialogue that reflects public concerns. Human Rights Watch hopes that the PTI government will foster a culture of political tolerance for media criticism,” the HRW said.
The HRW Asia Director urged the Pakistan government to take concrete steps to protect fundamental civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. It demanded ensuring freedom of expression/stop attacks on civil society; freedom of religion and belief; violence against women and girls; access to education; restoring moratorium on death penalty; and terrorism and counterterrorism abuses.
“Imran Khan has an important opportunity to create a rights-respecting government that abides by the rule of law and restores the public faith in democratic institutions. It is crucial for Pakistan’s development for the government to actively carry out human rights agenda,” the rights watchdog said.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/35410-pakistani-journalists-under-threat-from-deobandi-terrorists-hrw