Saturday, February 2, 2019
#Afghanistan - Peace Talks with Taliban from a realistic perspective
False hopes and beautiful but artificial news cannot win the war. War can only be won by facing the reality and embracing the unavoidable risks. Afghanistan with the current complexity of the war, United States impatience to remain in the country, competing interests of the major powers and its neighbors, lack of balance of power, and its important but fragile geo-strategic location, is faced with dangerous situation ever.
Afghan government and some idealist have been beating the drums of harbinger of peace, citing the three days ceasefire in June, 2018, and the current peace efforts. But, the fact is that peace still seems too distant. On one hand Taliban don’t have a united front, rather they are divided into various factions while on the other hand both Afghan government and International Community has been raising concerns about the presence of around 20 different terrorist groups in the country. As of now there has been conversation about starting peace negotiations with one insurgent group, i.e. the Taliban. Thus, Peace talks are not likely to yield long term result or an end to the ongoing insurgency. Terrorist groups like ISIS, hardcore Taliban, and other terrorist groups present in the country will continue fighting.
Unfortunately, strategists and politicians have failed to grasp the precision and reality found in the chemistry of the country. Afghanistan lavish mineral resources worth trillions of dollars are important for the world. Countries like China, U.S. and Russia have eyes on these resources. Russia in the 1970’s and the US recently surveyed Afghanistan’s mineral resources, where both found that the country has widespread untapped resources. While China signed a million’s dollars agreement to mine copper in the east of Kabul.
Similarly, Afghanistan geo-strategic location is important for influence and control of the region for various countries particularly major powers like China, Russia, and the United States. Due to its strategic location, the country has been used by various empires of the time for influence and invasions. Currently, major powers like China, Russia, and the United States have maintained their rivalry in the region in order to increase their influence especially since September 11.
Hobbesian culture defines international system in anarchical terms; it implies power competition and a perpetuation of the images of mutual enmity held by neighbors. Afghanistan has been fighting an undeclared war by Pakistan from decades while on the other hand the country has been fighting neighbor imported or transferred wars too. For instance, India and Pakistan have been able to transfer its Kashmir war into Afghanistan. Pakistan and India have been fighting each other in Afghanistan through their proxies. With the emergence of ISIS, Afghan war has stretched to Syria and Middle East. Where fighters are imported from Middle East. Most of ISIS attacks on Shittie minority in Afghanistan are linked to war in Syria. Iran has been perpetuating its agenda of instability by providing weapons to the Taliban insurgents, in order to give tough time to the U.S. in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan situation is best defined by the Greek historian Thucydides statement “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” As long as Afghanistan remains weak, the country will be faced with competing and often conflicting interests of various powers.
Afghanistan needs a long-term strategy and a rational approach through which peace could be achieved from a position of strength and force by bringing a relative balance of power. So better the peace process is kept on the back burner and more focus is made on strengthening the country security situation, armed forces, institutions, and economy.
It is time the self-proclaimed patriots come out of their ivory tower and learn to make a realistic appraisal of the ground realities. The country needs to rely on a balanced diplomacy aimed at reducing enemies rather than increasing them. Considering the dangers on the horizon, Afghanistan should have a more successful long-term strategy. With the presence of the U.S. and NATO forces and majority of the world countries supporting Afghanistan, here is the widest window of opportunity to stabilize the country. Realism is about “if you want peace, prepare for war,” mindset. Afghanistan being in the conflict zone should be more realistic in its policies. National interest of the country should comprehend hard security terms and maneuvering for its stability, irrespective of normative concerns like morality.
The current Afghanistan security apparatus outlook is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. Security sector has been in the hands of incapable leadership that further add to the problem. Security policy drives overall foreign policy rather than the other way around. Only a strong and committed security sector leadership that can stabilize and help the ANDSF stand on its feet in accordance to the need of the day will result in a long-term stability, thus boosting economic development and prosperity of the country.
This week two experienced and professional’s individuals Assadullah Khalid and Amrullah Saleh were nominated as Defense and Interior Ministers respectively. Though critics have linked their nomination as a setback to the peace talks because of their anti-Pakistan and anti-Taliban stance and a presidential campaign tactic by President Ghani. However, long-term peace can’t be achieved from a position of weakness. If not victims of short-term politics and are left for a long term in the security sector, both Khalid and Saleh can bring robust reforms and garner the support of donor countries especially the United States, where their links are deep rooted. Hope the leadership leaves the security sector up to its business independent of politics and neighbor influence.
When America gives up on Afghanistan, its women will pay
By Phyllis Chesler
No one, after all, has ever been able to conquer or transform Afghanistan. It’s a losing game. But once the United States leaves, young girls and women will be at the mercy of ruthless religious fanatics.President Trump’s call for a withdrawal from Afghanistan raises a troubling question: Is the West morally obliged to persist in a struggle that can’t be won? How much blood and treasure must we spend to save the victims of barbarism?
I should know: I was once a bride, trapped in Kabul in the early 1960s. I saw great natural beauty there and experienced uncommon graciousness. But I also saw gender and religious apartheid up close.Although I lived in fairly posh purdah (seclusion) in a home with servants, I’d entered a medieval world of women in burqas, polygamy, child marriage, honor-based violence, honor killing, epidemic but denied pederasty, heartbreaking poverty, infidel-hatred and religious fanaticism. Back then, despite some extraordinary books about Afghanistan, Westerners knew virtually nothing about the country’s warrior culture, continuous feuds, vigilantism and woman-hatred.With the rise of the Taliban, particularly after 9/11, Americans learned that Afghan women were publicly beaten if their burqas slipped and an ankle or a strand of hair showed and stoned to death for alleged adultery when raped.Husbands and mothers-in-law humiliated and enslaved wives and sometimes tortured them to death. We saw that violent domestic abuse was considered normal and women routinely committed suicide as their only way out.American women felt compelled to speak out. Former first lady Laura Bush cited “the brutal treatment of Afghan women shuttered in their homes, forbidden to go outside.” Women, she noted, “were punished for laughing. Girls were forbidden to attend school.”Feminists took to the airwaves and organized rallies denouncing the Taliban. Western social workers, physicians, aid workers, activists and authors flocked to Afghanistan. Some were assassinated.
Yet Afghan lives were also saved — and improved. According to Mrs. Bush, enrollment of girls in primary school had jumped from 5,000 under the Taliban to nearly 2.5 million by 2016. More than 120,000 have graduated from secondary school. There are now over 3,000 women-owned businesses. Women hold important positions in local and national government.
Women for Afghan Women, too, reports that since 2001 it has educated and protected more than 1 million Afghan women.
Of course, America and our allies did not invade Afghanistan for the sake of women’s rights. It did so in our pursuit of Osama bin Laden, who had been given shelter by the Taliban. Now bin Laden is dead, yet we are still in Afghanistan.Too many American soldiers have been killed (2,400) and wounded (20,320) — not to mention the more than 100,000 Afghan civilians dead and wounded. Trillions have been spent on this new kind of religious war, which has us fighting soldiers without uniforms who hide behind civilians and propping up corrupt and incompetent leaders who cannot unite their own warlords.
It can’t go on. Trump now seems determined to withdraw, though the country remains divided, chaotic, corrupt, volatile and a haven for terrorists. Lingering to forge and implement a peace treaty with the Taliban is probably a lost cause, no different than brokering a treaty with ISIS, Boko Haram, Hezbollah or the Palestinian Authority.
I’m no military strategist. But I do fear for the Afghan people, particularly women and young girls, if and when America leaves — especially those who have shown so much courage in standing up for themselves against incredible odds.
We simply aren’t going to be able to airlift every last girl, woman and dissident to freedom. (Would they all even want to leave?) Nor is there any nearby safe enclave to which they could flee.
No, America’s departure will be a monumental tragedy for Afghan girls and women. The moment the last boot-on-the-ground departs, the Taliban and assorted paramilitary groups will torch every existing shelter for battered women and school for girls. Unrelenting fear will become the order of the day.
Still, there may yet be some way to find at least a measure of safety and dignity for those left behind. Pray we do: It might be our greatest triumph there of all.
Video - StateKilledArmanLoni - Rights activist Wranga Lonai on the killing of her brother & human rights defender #ArmanLoni
What a stoic lady, such composure, such clarity in the face of such massive personal tragedy. Red salute @WrrangaLunri2 #ArmanLuni https://t.co/Yd4NeXGbdt— Mohammad Taqi (@mazdaki) February 2, 2019
Amnesty International Calls On #Pakistan To Disclose Location Of #Pashtun Rights Campaigner
Global rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on the Pakistani authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a Pakistani human rights campaigner documenting grave rights abuses in northwestern Pakistan’s Pashtun belt, where the military fought a long war against Islamist militants.
“We are concerned about reports of the disappearance of PTM activist Alamzaid Khan Mehsud,” Amnesty International Deputy South Asia Director Omar Waraich said on January 21. “His whereabouts must be disclosed immediately. Either produce him in court or release him without delay.”
Waraich said Mehsud was picked up at Pakistan’s southern seaport city of Karachi early on January 21.
“Other PTM activists with him were allegedly beaten up,” Waraich said while referring to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, a civil rights movement demanding security and rights for Pakistan’s more than 30 million ethnic Pashtuns, who make up the largest ethnic minority in the country of 200 million people.
“Freedom of peaceful assembly must be protected. Activists must never be attacked,” he said.
Mehsud was a prominent PTM activist. He often shared videos and posts on his Twitter and Facebook accounts that documented human rights abuses such as enforced disappearances, illegal killings, and landmines.
#ReleaseAlamZaib emerged as a top Twitter trend in Pakistan on January 21.
Karachi police have not commented on Mehsud’s disappearance, but a widely circulated video on social media showed him talking to uniformed and plainclothed police officers, some of them drawing handguns, before his detention.
Police and other government officials in Karachi could not be immediately reached for comment.
A January 20 police report in Karachi, however, nominated Mehsud and 15 other PTM activists to be investigated under terrorism laws after holding a major protest in Karachi the same day.
The PTM, active for almost a year now, has held dozens of major protests across Pakistan to demand that Pakistani security forces probe alleged extrajudicial killings, present thousands of victims of enforced disappearances before courts, and end harassment and aggressive searches at check posts and in the restive Pashtun homeland along Pakistan’s western border with Afghanistan.
Mehsud particularly focused on the victims of landmines. Clearing the unexploded ordinances from North and South Waziristan tribal districts and other regions of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is a major PTM demand.
The movement has also called for a truth and reconciliation commission to probe Islamabad’s role in the country’s more than decade-long domestic war on terrorism.
More than 50,000 Pashtun civilians were killed and more than 6 million were displaced in militant attacks and military operations that first began in 2003.
د پښتون ژغورنې غورځنګ مرکزي غړی ارمان لوڼی ووژل شو #StateKilledArmanLoni
د فرورۍ د دویمې په ماښام د بلوچستان په لورالايي کې د پښتون ژغورنې غورځنګ د مرکزي کمېټۍ غړی ارمان لوڼی د پولیس په مبینه تشدد کې وژل شوی دی.
نوموړی په یاد ښار ګوټي کې له څلور ورځنۍ دهرنې ختمېدو وروسته له ملګرو سره روان وو چې په لاره ورته پولیس ولاړ وو او دی یې ونیوه.
له ارمان لوڼي سره په دغه وخت موجود قیوم اتمانخیل مشال راډیو ته د سترګو لیدلی حال داسې بیان کړ ، “ په لاره راته ایس پي (د پولیسو ضلعي مشر) ولاړ وو چې ورسره ګڼ شمېر پولیس واله وو او سپینو جامو کې ورسره د نورو ریاستي ادارو اهلکار هم موجود وو. کاغذونه ورسره وو، ارمان ته یې ګوته ونیوله او وې ویل چې دغه دی. پولیس واله د مشین په بټ (کونداغ) ارمان په سټ وواهه، هغه په سړک ولویده، موږ ورته غږونه وکړل چې ارمانه څه درباندې وشو خو هغه خبرې نه شوې کولای. بیا مو په موټر کې هسپتال ته یوړه خو هغه وفات شوی وو.”
محمد ابراهیم ارمان د وړانګې لوڼۍ ورور وو او د کوټې په ډګري کالج کې د پښتو ژبې استاد وو.
ارمان او وړانګه دواړو د پښتون ژغورنې غورځنګ په هلو ځلو او جلسو کې د ګډون لپاره د هېواد د بېلا بېلو سېمو سفرونه کړي. ارمان لوڼي د دې غورځنګ د جوړیدو راهیسې په دې کې فعاله ونډه درلوده.
نوموړی د پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند فعال غړی وو.
د پښتون د ژغورنې غورځنګ مشر منظور احمد پشتین بیګا د فېس بک په خپله رسمي پاڼه د دې پېښې تصدیق وکړ او لیکلي یې دي چې ارمان لوڼی د پولیس د تشدد پر مهال ژوند له لاسه ورکړ.
مشال رېډیو په دې لړ کې د لورلاي ضلعې د پولیسو له مشر عطاء الرحمان سره رابطه وکړه خو هغه په دې اړه له څه ویلو ډډه وکړه.
په لورالايي کې د پښتون د ژغورنې غورځنګ یو مشر اېډووکېټ صادق خان علیزی وايي د خالي په ماښام دوی خپله څلور ورځنۍ درنا یا پرلت ختم کړ خو له دې وړاندې هم څو وارې پولیسو په زور د دوی د احتجاج ختمولو هڅه وکړه. نوموړی وايي:
ده وویل ، “ موږ دا مطالبه کوو چې ایف آيي ار دې وشي او په دې کې ککړ کسان دې ګرفتار کړل شي. په هغوي دې په یوه هفته کې دننه مقدمه وچلول شي او سزا دې ورکړل شي. موږ د خپلو مشرانو سره په رابطه کې یو. ځايي قبایلي او سیاسي مشران به هم راغونډیږي او بیا به مشوره کوو. باقي کسان معلوم دي چې په دغه موقع د پولیس کوم اهلکاران موجود وو نو هغوي دا کار کړی دی.”
د یادونې ده چې پښتون د ژغورنې غورځنګ په لورالايي کې دا پرلت د جنورۍ پر ۲۹مههلته د پولیسو د ډي آی جي پر دفتر د هغه برید پرضد پیل کړی وو چې نهه کسان پکې وژل شوي او ۲۱ نور ژوبل شوي وو. د برید زمه واري بیا تحریک طالبان منلې وه.
د هغه برید ضد روان پرلت والو غوښتنه کوله چې د دې برید حقایق دې معلوم او په ډاګه کړل شي او په اینده کې د ترهګر بریدونو د مخنیوي لپاره دې کوټلي ګامونه پورته کړل شي
پشتون تحفظ موومنٹ کے رہنما ارمان لونی پولیس گرفتاری کی کوشش کے دوران ہلاک #StateKilledArmanLoni
پاکستان کے صوبہ بلوچستان کے علاقے لورالائی میں پشتون تحفظ موومنٹ کے ایک رہنما ابراہیم ارمان لونی پولیس کی گرفتاری کی کوشش کے دوران ہلاک ہو گئے ہیں۔
پشتون تحفظ موومنٹ لورالائی کے رہنما جلیل افغان نے فون پر بی بی سی سے بات کرتے ہوئے الزام عائد کیا کہ وہ پولیس کے تشدد کی وجہ سے ہلاک ہوئے۔
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ لورالائی میں ڈپٹی انسپیکٹرجنرل پولیس کے دفتر پر شدت پسندی کے واقعے کے خلاف پشتون تحفظ موومنٹ کے کارکنوں چار دن سے پریس کلب لورالائی کے باہر دھرنا دیا ہوا تھا ۔
جلیل افغان کے مطابق دھرنے کے بعد ابراہیم ارمان لونی دوسرے ساتھیوں کے ہمراہ پارک میں چائے پی رہے تھے کہ وہاں پولیس اہلکار آئے ۔
انہوں نے دعویٰ کیا کہ انہوں نے پولیس اہلکاروں کو بتایا کہ وہ جتنے بھی کارکنوں کو گرفتار کرنا چاہتے ہیں ان کے بارے میں بتائیں وہ خود گرفتاری دینے آئیں گے لیکن پولیس اہلکاروں نے ابراہیم ارمان لونی پر تشدد کیا ۔
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ پولیس کے تشدد کی وجہ سے ابراہیم ارمان لونی کے سر پر چوٹ آئی جس کے نتیجے میں وہ ہلاک ہو گئے۔
تاہم رابطہ کرنے پر لورالائی پولیس کے ایک سینئر اہلکار نے بتایا کہ پوسٹ مارٹم رپورٹ آنے کے بعد یہ معلوم ہوسکے گا کہ ان پر تشدد ہوا ہے یا نہیں ۔
درایں اثناء کوئٹہ سے گرفتار ہونے والے پشتون تحفظ موومنٹ کے چھ کارکنوں کو سات یوم کے ریمانڈ پر پولیس کے حوالے کیا گیا ہے ۔
پشتون تحفظ موومنٹ کے چھ کارکنوں کو کوئٹہ شہر میں لورالائی میں شدت پسندی کے واقعے کے خلاف مظاہرے کے دوران گرفتار کیا گیا تھا ۔
ان کے خلاف لوگوں کو ریاست کے خلاف اکسانے، مختلف طبقات کے درمیان نفرت پیدا کرنے اور کار سرکار میں مداخلت سمیت دیگر دفعات کے تحت مقدمہ درج کیا گیا ہے۔
https://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan-47104197
Asia Bibi ruling to send message to all of Pakistan
By Marcus Jones
It's hoped the Supreme Court's refusal to back down in its decision to acquit Asia Bibi will send out a strong message across Pakistan.
The Christian mother was told this week she was free to leave the country, several months after she was cleared of blasphemy.
Extremists, unhappy at her acquittal last year, had petitioned the court to overturn its verdict and send her back to prison for execution.
Pakistan's Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa said in court that Ms Bibi's accusers were guilty of perjury and if the case had not been so sensitive, they should have been jailed for life.
"The image of Islam we are showing to the world gives me much grief and sorrow," Mr Khosa said.
Welcoming the verdict in an interview with charity Aid to the Chruch in Need, Father Emmanuel 'Mani' Yousaf (pictured below), National Director of the Church-run National Commission for Justice and Peace, which provides legal for blasphemy victims called on legal professionals across Pakistan to take note.
"The decision by the Supreme Court means that the lower courts should have the courage now to think twice about handing down the death sentence," he said. "God bless the judges. They had received threats and yet they knew that Asia Bibi was falsely accused and were strong enough to say so."
Asia Bibi, who was in prison for almost a decade, has reportedly fled Pakistan.
"Every one of us is so happy for her," Father Emmanuel said. "Especially when the attention of the world is focused on Pakistan, it is wonderful to see the country stand up for justice."
https://www.premier.org.uk/News/World/Asia-Bibi-ruling-to-send-message-to-all-of-Pakistan
Imran Khan cannot play Trump in #Pakistan. - Imran Khan and parliamentary system
- A square peg in a round hole creates problems
Imran Khan wants to rule like President Trump who is not obliged to attend the Congress and is free to induct or kick out heads of government departments at will. Imran Khan is required instead to act like the PM in a parliamentary democracy who along with his ministers is answerable to Parliament. This irks the PTI chief.
The way the PTI government is functioning exposes Imran Khan’s disdain for parliamentary form of government. He remains mostly absent from NA sittings despite an earlier undertking to respond to MNAs’ questions every week during what was supposed to be the “PM’s hour.”
Imran Khan holds cabinet meetings too frequently which the ministers are obliged to attend even if they have to neglect parliamentary committees where they are required to defend government policies. In the latest incident of the sort Asad Umar and the entire team of the finance and revenue divisions absented themselves from a scheduled meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. This led the Senate panel to reject three key proposals in the finance second amendment bill 2019.
The country is being run by the PM and his kitchen cabinet from Islamabad. The Punjab and KP are being micromanaged by the PM with the help another team of confidants directly from Banigala. The parliament and two provincial assemblies have thus been made redundant. Attempts are now in the offing to conquer Sindh that remains outside the kingdom. PTI MPs are being told to demand the resignation of chief minister Murad Ali Shah despite the PPP enjoying an overwhelming majority in Sindh Assembly. Attempts are being made to create a forward bock in the PPP’s lawmakers. Meanwhile ways and means are under consideration to somehow or other get the 18th amendment revoked so that the center can have access to a major chunk of funds by reducing the shares of the provinces.
This has sent alarm bells ringing in Sindh. Bilawal has threatened with a long march while Zardari who initially wanted the PTI government to complete its tenure is predicting the end of Imran Khan’s rule in next six months. Imran Khan cannot play Trump in Pakistan.
#PPP - Bilawal Bhutto unwilling to separate personal life from politics
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday made candid remarks over his future plans for tying the knot, saying his marriage’s impact on election results would likely decide when he would get married.
Without naming anyone, the PPP chairman said consultations were underway to decide the right time for his wedding. “Meetings are being held; should I get married once or four times one each in all four provinces … consultations is also under way to decide whether I should get married before or during election campaign.” Will marry once, unlike some other politicians: Bilawal Bhutto
Bilawal said the final decision about his marriage will be taken after receiving the findings of a report on “impact of his marriage on election results.”
This is not the first instance when the PPP chief spoke about his wedding plans. Last year, he had said that he would tie the knot just once, unlike some other politicians, who are “habitual grooms”. “I don’t wish to get married one after another like some other politicians,” he said in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Besides the tongue-in-cheek comments on political rivals, serious topics were also touched upon during his address to the journalists. The PPP chairman said the 18th Constitutional Amendment was being attacked which was “dangerous” for democracy in the country.
The amendment, made during the PPP’s last tenure at the Centre from 2008 to 2013, aimed at provincial autonomy. “We’ll use every platform to protect the 18th Amendment,” said Bilawal and vowed to stage a “long march” to protect the Constitution.
#Modi should know #Pakistan’s political parties are united on Kashmir: Zardari
Pakistan Peoples Party President Asif Ali Zardari sent a clear message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the Kashmir conference here on Saturday.
“Modi should understand that all political forces have the same stance on Kashmir,” Zardari said.
The PPP president emphasized that the government’s stance on Kashmir was also the stance of the entire nation. “I hope to see Kashmir free in my lifetime.”
“We will never forget Kashmir, we will never leave Kashmir,” he added.
During the weekly news briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal termed the summoning of Pakistan’s high commissioner political gimmickry and electioneering. “Kashmir is an unresolved issue between Pakistan and India and summoning the Pakistani high commissioner is political gimmickry,” Dr Faisal said.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/227049-modi-should-know-pakistans-political-parties-are-united-on-kashmir-zardari
#Pakistan - #PPP - Former President Zardari called on ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilore
Former President and President Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari called on Awami National Party leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilore at his residence in Islamabad.
Both leaders discussed political situation of the country and government’s designs with regard to 18th amendment of the constitution.
Former President said that people will suffer from the anti-people policies of PTI government. Everyone in the country is at unease due to the economic situation of the country. People are worried with the increasing cost of living, he said.
ANP leader Mian Iftekhar Hussain, Secretary General PPPP Farhatullah Babar, Secretary General PPP Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and Spokesman to the former President Amir Fida Paracha, Dr. Qayyum Soomro and Humayun Khan were also present on the occasion.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visits Karachi Press Club and addresses ‘Meet The Press’ programme
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was awarded lifetime membership of the Pakistan’s largest and oldest Press Club by its Governing Body.
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