Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Outrage in Pakistan after girl, six, is raped, tortured and bludgeoned to death with a stone before being dumped in a sack
People helping in the search for Seema discovered a sack in a field and called the police, Gulf News reported.Police said that she had been tortured before her death, struck over the head and other parts of her body with a stone repeatedly. Outraged social media users posted pictures of the girl, one with another child who is perhaps her brother, and another horrific image of the child's dead body, her face marked with bloody and blue bruises. Human rights group Voice of Pakistan Minority, tweeted: 'Once again an angel left the Earth in pain and tears. A 6 yr old girl, Seema from Bajaur was raped and brutally murdered in Nowshera. Is this the kind of atmosphere we are creating for our children?' It is not clear whether the police have any suspects or if arrests have been made. Earlier this year the city of 120,000 was rocked by the case of an eight-year-old girl who had been raped and murdered. The girl had gone to classes at the local madrassa in January and had not returned home in the evening. Two men were later arrested on suspicion of raping and killing the child. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8642715/Outrage-Pakistan-girl-six-raped-tortured-bludgeoned-death-stone.html
How can Balochistan prosper if its poor children are out-of-school and uneducated?
By: Munaj Gul Muhammad
Tariq Baloch, 13, gets up early in the morning and moves to the nearby garage in Turbat city every day so as to earn a little sum of money for the family. He uses the work tools at a very young age rather than picking up books to be at school. And schooling has not been a daydream for him since his childhood besides having the constitutional rights.
”School is not for us.” Says Tariq Baloch in tears before I put a question. “Who could buy clothes and shoes for my younger sister if I were in school? How can we survive without the basic facilities like, food-stuffs, lodging and other indispensable necessities? No one can measure the problems we are going through.” Thought-provoking, indeed.
The expensive fee structure of the education and negligence of the government constrained the boy to work in this garage instead of securing education to lodge a comfy living. He is as poor as sometimes his family members sleep without taking a loaf of bread.
60 to 70 percent children in the province are out-of-school according to a report by UNICEF. Among which, 78% girls and 67% boys of school going age are out-of-school, the sole reason why Balochistan always has a handful number of out of school children is because Balochistan governments-in-rule have always snubbed the decades-long education emergency.
1.8 million Children in Balochistan do not attend school, over half of whom are girls, a report by the Academy for Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) says.
In Balochistan mainly girls are out-of-school owing to the gender-based discrimination and regressive societal norms. The dismal state of education, expensive fee structure, and apathy of the government are the other reasons for the great drop-out of the students in the province.
“If my daughters were able to be enrolled in any school in the area someday, it could be the happiest day of my life.” Says Mahtab Baloch. “A fraction of unfortunate and indigent daughters of the soil end their lives up without stepping into schools.”
Correspondingly, the non-functional schools and absence of ultimate amenities in the schools are the main drives behind the rife unenrollment of the school-going children; therefore, the province has been home to the highest proportion of illiteracy among girls. Getting the out-of-school children into school is the constitutional duty of the government which remains unaddressed.
1, 1627 primary schools are registered in Balochistan, of which 1,271 are middle schools and 947 are high schools as per as a study by Alif Ailaan. The study highlights that each year 165,869 girls are enrolled in the primary section, of which the number drops to 44,076 in the middle section and 20,015 in the higher section.
The absence of rudimentary education always impedes progress of the society so as the province grieves from the plagues.
” Whenever I see children going towards schools having bags and wearing uniforms, I wish to get my children enrolled in a school, but forlornly, we cannot go to a lot of expenses to educate our children well since we are paupers,” complains Bibi Gangi.
Her children are out of school and have no other options besides opting work tools at a very young age. They are abused and beaten.
According to the annual report citizen-led household ASER Survey 2018,“In Baluchistan, the proportion of out-of-school children has improved as compared to 2016 but 28% children are still not going to school and the province has recorded overall 7% increase in enrollment.”
Visiting a friend in Mand, district Kech, a few months ago, I was dazed to see the government primary schools in scruffy state. The education minister of Balochistan has on no occasion taken decent steps to bring out-of-school children into school and address the longstanding education crisis in the province.
The education crisis in Balochistan would not come to an end until and unless a basic education is accessible for all. The government had better show its commitment to tackle the problem of ghost teachers and absenteeism of teachers by applying biometric system and ensure that all children are provided with free textbooks and uniforms besides basic amenities in schools.
Matiullah Jan: Critical journalists 'routinely threatened' in Pakistan
For journalists in Pakistan, criticizing the establishment can have dire consequences, says Matiullah Jan in a guest opinion for DW. The Islamabad-based journalist was kidnapped and beaten last month.
As a Supreme Court reporter in Islamabad, I have been caught in the crossfire between independent-minded judges and Pakistan's powerful military establishment.
Last month, I was kidnapped, tortured and released by a group of unknown assailants. The incident came a day before I was due to appear in court over a tweet I wrote criticizing the Supreme Court. At the hearing, the judge didn't believe that I was abducted.
Pakistan today may seem like a democracy for rest the world, but to many Pakistanis it is not.
Political activists, social media bloggers and journalists who are opposed to the military establishment's role in politics are being subjected to draconian cybercrime and anti-corruption laws used to silence them.
Although there is a democratic government in the country, activists and journalists are still being abducted and forced to change their opinions in what has sarcastically come to be known as a "software update" — if and when they are released.
Even before Khan came to power, Pakistani journalists faced threats and intimidation from both sides of the civil-military divide.
Threats to journalists and forced censorship
Many journalists confirm on the condition of anonymity that they are harassed and threatened by security agencies directly, or through their employers, for stories and social media posts.
In some cases, journalists are picked up the street and driven around by unknown assailants for a "short course on patriotism."
Certain media groups are known for backstabbing and throwing journalists under the bus when there is a "complaint" from "above."
Some journalists, writers and anchors get a slap on the wrist, while others are kicked out the door.
Years of harassment and intimidation
I personally have experienced 10 years of harassment and intimidation for my critical work as a journalist. None of these incidents were investigated by police.
In one incident, my car was attacked with bricks as I drove with my family. My picture had been shown by a military spokesman at a press conference, and I was accused of being part of an anti-military, anti-state network.
Before the 2018 elections, I was warned about a potential terrorist attacks targeting me and other journalists.
I faced an undisclosed government inquiry for posting murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's image as my social media profile picture during a visit of the Saudi crown prince to Islamabad.
My talk show was also shut down, and my family and I have been followed and harassed. The latest incident involved a tweet criticizing the Pakistani Supreme Court. I was charged with contempt of court.
Kidnapped in broad daylight
On July 21, the day before I was due to appear in court for the contempt proceedings, I was dropping off my wife at the school where she teaches. I parked my car outside the building, and was reading through some documents and making calls in my car, when a white vehicle with police lights approached me.
A bulky man in civilian clothes got out, opened my door, and pulled me out of my car and said, "Come with us."
I tried to resist as several uniformed police personnel with "anti-terrorist" squad written on their clothes jumped out of other vehicles that had joined the scene.
They manhandled me into one of the vehicles. As we drove off, some uniformed police officers grabbed me by the neck and arms, pushed my head towards my knees and handcuffed me.
They then blindfolded me, put a black hood on my head and started hitting me on the back as I gasped for air.
I told them I couldn't breathe, and they kept shouting: "Keep quiet, why do you do all this? Now we will teach you a lesson."
After a 30-minute ride, I was taken out of the vehicle and thrown down onto concrete. I could hear the sound of iron gates opening and shutting. I assumed we were in some kind of prison.
Beaten in a police jail
Fully blindfolded, hooded and handcuffed, I was then hit with a wooden stick on the back and legs and punched in the head.
I repeatedly tried to tell them that I had been summoned by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for a hearing the next day. If failed to make it, I would be in big trouble
My assailants were unmoved. I asked them if they wanted something from me, and they said: "You are an educated and wise man. You know better."
They also named some of my children and asked about their whereabouts. Before leaving, they put the blindfold on my forehead rather than the eyes. I think they wanted me to see the surroundings, which was an official police jail.
I kept asking them to inform my wife and children that I was alive. But they ignored me and continued to threaten me with serious injury like breaking my nose and teeth.
After few hours, I was again blindfolded, handcuffed, and my mouth was taped. I was carried outside the jail and thrown into what felt like a big vehicle with leather seats and air conditioning.
After about an hourlong journey the vehicle stopped on a quiet side street, someone pulled me out of the vehicle and I was dragged out.
I heard one of my assailants say, "This guy is not Zarak Khan," and that there seemed to have been a mistake.
One of the guys took off the handcuffs behind my back, and I heard them run away.
Pakistan's legal system 'abducted'
I sat up, removed my blindfold and hood and saw I was alone on a dark street. I walked towards the main road nearby where traffic was visible.
I borrowed a phone from a passing pedestrian and called my brother to pick me up. I was glad to see my family, and they were relieved that I was alive.
I was told that the national and international media and political groups reacted to my kidnapping in an unprecedented way. The public pressure may have been too much for my abductors.
The next day when I appeared before the Supreme Court to face the contempt of court allegations, the judge in his order described the incident as an "alleged abduction."
This reopened the wounds of the torture I had experienced the day before. No wonder, many people believe that Pakistan's entire legal system has been abducted.
#Pakistan #Balochistan - Hyrbyair Marri’s interview - independent #Balochistan
Interviwer Mark Kinra
Hyrbyair Marri is a Baloch nationalist activist and one of the most influential members of the Baloch community. He currently lives in London, UK. The fifth son of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Hyrbair Marri is the founder of Free Balochistan Movement (FBM), a political party working towards the goal of an independent Balochistan.
In an online interview, I spoke to him about Balochistan’s freedom struggle, the BLA, China’s presence, expectations from India, and sovereignty and nationhood in South Asia. Excerpts:
When and why did you leave Balochistan?
In December 1999, I was visiting London for some personal work, when [Gen. Pervez] Musharraf slapped charges of murder of Judge Nawaz Marri against me and my family. By murdering a member of our tribe and charging us with it, they tried to kill two birds with one stone.
The main reason, however, was that previously they had approached my father [the late Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri] with a proposal to explore gas and petroleum reserves in the Marri tribal area of Balochistan, which we had rejected. The land and its wealth belong to the Balochs and these false murder charges were their reaction to our rejection.
They arrested over 500 people, mostly from the Marri tribe, and jailed my father for 18 months. It was a collective punishment, politically motivated for economic gains. The case is still going on; it’s been 21 years and the ‘speedy’ courts of Pakistan as they call them have still not passed judgement.
Meanwhile, they lodged and dropped about 2-3 dozen cases against me. This was blackmail – they would lodge a case, then I would get requests for reconciliation and return to Balochistan, offering me a [government] position and political standing. I would refuse.
They issued an Interpol red notice against me and in London, tried me in an anti-terrorism court. Pakistan has tried hard through blackmail and threats, but thankfully, I still stand for my cause, our freedom, our rights, and our community, and continue working for them.
So, in the last two decades, you have not returned to Pakistan?
I have nothing to do with Pakistan. I am native to Balochistan, and if I go, I will go to Balochistan. So, no, I haven’t been to Balochistan after 1999.
There are many militant organisations in Balochistan fighting for its independence. Why has the US proscribed only the BLA?
Around 1996-1997, when the call and efforts for independence picked steam, it was BLA who organised everyone and worked for Balochistan’s independence. Pakistanis fear BLA’s grassroots connect and local support. In the early 2000s, they got Britain to proscribe BLA.
During US-Taliban negotiations, one of the points on the agenda was to ban BLA.
Both Pakistanis and Americans acknowledged this. Pakistan pushed its agenda through Taliban; Taliban became Pakistan’s mouthpiece and pressurized the US. Also, Zalmay Khalilzad (US Special Envoy to Afghanistan) stated that the Balochs must not be supported. The truth is, Balochs are not being supported. If they were, by Americans or Afghans, things would move ahead.
At that time, I had tweeted to the Americans to not heed the Taliban. However, the US ignored us – a secular, tolerant organisation created for Balochistan’s defence and not against any language, community, or religion.Instead, it chose to listen to the Taliban, the exact opposite, who is against different languages and communities, who kills a Tajik for being a Tajik, Shia for being a Shia, Hindus and Christians for their religions.
The US listened to Pakistani generals, who take their money and along with the Taliban, kill their soldiers, and ultimately proscribed the BLA. This is unfortunate and they will suffer in the long term.
One of the main reasons why Balochistan’s struggle lacks international coverage is because it is scattered and the Balochs don’t have a leader like Mahatma Gandhi who would unite all Balochs in one solid front. What do you think about this?
The enemy [Pakistani establishment] has created this disunity. In the process, they have spent billions of dollars and bribed people with land and powerful positions, just like British used India’s wealth and people to keep Indians as slaves for two centuries.
Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t the only leader in Indian history. He was one of the leaders; Bhagat Singh, Subhashchandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru were there too. The culmination of their efforts plus World War II, and not Gandhi alone, won India its independence.
Some cracks are created by the enemy, some, unfortunately, are our own. Some external actors see that Balochistan is big and strategic, and sow seeds of friction in Baloch minds. When Indian politicians and journalists start using divisive terms such as “common Baloch” and “elite Baloch”, they are indirectly and unwittingly helping the Punjabis [read: Pakistani establishment] create more cracks within the Baloch community.
I would ask my Indian friends to not export the concept of ‘common’ and ‘elite’ to our community. Baloch society has a different social fabric and lifestyle – please understand it first. We are occupied by Iran and Pakistan and common or elite, we are all slaves of Iranians and Punjabis. Why would you bring out such differences if both are slaves and both are struggling?
Also, this is a freedom struggle; we are not bringing about a social revolution – Russian or Chinese Communist – here.
Would a non-violent struggle for an independent Balochistan have been more effective?
Was our independence snatched away peacefully? Or was it done using tanks, jets, and bullets, causing heavy destruction? If the takeover had been peaceful, we would have thought of peaceful solutions.
We are not using violence – we don’t want it, and we have never used it against anyone. But there is a clause in international law which gives one the right to defend oneself. The US resorted to pre-emptive strikes in Iraq when they didn’t even know if Iraq possessed WMDs or not.
They also took action in Afghanistan. With big countries, it’s self-defence and acceptable, but with smaller, weaker communities like the Balochs, its violence and crime. Balochs are against violence, but we reserve our right to self-defence to save our lives and livelihoods.
There are quite a few reports on China building a naval base at Jiwani in Balochistan. Is Pakistan, who always has an emotional take on Kashmir’s sovereignty, selling Balochistan’s sovereignty to China?
Balochistan already lost its sovereignty in 1948. Pakistan inviting China in Balochistan is like a thief inviting a dacoit to loot Balochistan together. I have heard the Turkish and Arabs are secretly coming too. Pakistan’s grip on the Balochs is loosening, so they are inviting more thieves and dacoits to join them.
The naval bases at Jiwani are not being built for Balochistan. If tomorrow, they bring their [Chinese] forces here, they will control us. But this isn’t just about Baloch sovereignty, it is a plan to control the entire region for the next 50, 100, 200 years, to checkmate the US and India and extend control over the Middle East. Once the CPEC opens, Balochs will definitely suffer, but India too will suffer long term losses.
They [China and Pakistan] have a century-long plan to counter every move of yours, but you don’t. Indians need to pressurize their leaders into thinking and working on this.
India mustn’t assume that being a US ally will solve their problems. You need to stand on your own feet. We are small in comparison, but we are openly protesting China and Pakistan’s moves. If you call yourself a regional superpower, you must behave like one and take bold decisions.
Bold moves can get you some friends like Balochistan, Pashtunistan, Sindh and Afghanistan. Based on Iran’s recent statements on Kashmir, it seems they can’t be reliable friends of yours, so you must gather other reliable allies and build good relations with them.
Whenever India and Balochistan talk, we must talk as equals. The Punjabis have played the ‘big brother-small brother’ game with us, and Britain, Russia and America tried it with the Afghans. It is a mistake. Talking to a community with respect, as equals, will increase friendship and trust. An imperialistic attitude borne out of economic strength will not work, especially in our subcontinent.
Pakistan always cries fowl over threats to its own sovereignty, but if it can forfeit Balochistan’s sovereignty to sustain Punjab, could it do so to Sindh as well?
Forget Sindh, Pakistani Punjab is ready to forfeit itself too. And they are not sovereign, Pakistani Punjab is your renegade territory. They tried to erase our already independent, separate identity. But why is India handing them a separate identity as Pakistanis, an identity which they don’t have, on a platter? What is a Pakistani?
The term has no meaning, it was simply cooked up by the British to divide India in order to weaken it and you accepted it. The British are long gone, but their decisions are still being implemented in India through Indians themselves.
Democracy is for your own people, not for outsiders. As an emerging superpower, you mustn’t accept this injustice. You have been independent for more than 70 years, why do you consider Pakistan a separate entity? Be it Sindh or Punjab, these are an integral part of India. How can you let them go?
For thousands of years ‘Bharat’ was one, how can Pakistan become a separate country? Sure, they are Muslims, but it doesn’t give them any right to be a separate country, even today there are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan.
We Balochs might be slaves, but we are at least saying we will be one united Balochistan, like we were in 1839, when Noori Naseer Khan created the current map of Balochistan. I uphold this map. Despite being slaves, we don’t accept the Goldsmith and Durand lines drawn by the British, but India is free and independent, yet it accepts the divisions. So, you need to change your mindset.
Four years have passed since the PM last mentioned Balochistan. How serious do you think PM Modi is about the Baloch cause?
It is possible that your PM is serious about what he said, but from what we saw on the ground, it did not seem so. Instead, it turned out to be more harmful. If you had checked social media 10 days after the statement, you would have seen that Pakistanis killed 60-70 Balochs each day in Kalat, Mastung and Bolan. They had screamed at us, “let us see now how your Indian friends come and save you.”
It might be undiplomatic to say this, but we are victims of circumstances and the actions of our naïve friends might have intensified our enemy’s actions against us. Your PM’s statement only led Pakistan to prepare itself better and commit more atrocities on Balochs. Between then and now, thousands of Balochs have been killed, thousands more have disappeared.
You must first decide as a nation whether you will support us or not. If not, please don’t mention us. If you tell a bluff – it might be inappropriate to use this term – to Pakistan, they will neither be afraid nor take your words seriously. Speak only if you intend to help, as only then will Pakistan, Balochs, and your own people value your words.
Previously you used to say you don’t want India’s help but now you have changed your stance. How do you expect India to support the Baloch struggle for independence?
It must be from an old BBC interview which I had protested even then. I refer to BBC Urdu as the BBC Kashmir service as it talks only about India’s actions in Kashmir. It speaks about Balochs rarely, takes our statements about twice a year, and gives no meaningful news about Balochistan.
I have faced problems with them previously. They have interviewed me and then distorted the interviews before publishing them. When I was asked if I would take help from India I had said ‘not India, all the countries of the world and India’. My intention was to highlight that I would take support from all the countries in the world and India is one of them.
We Balochs want good relations with all countries and we want them, including India, to raise the issue of Balochistan on every forum. I expect India and other countries to help us with all tools and means, everything that helps a country achieves independence. Some Indians think supporting us would anger Pakistan. If your plan is to please Pakistan, then it’s neither been happy with you in the past 70 years nor is it going to be in the coming future.
Pakistanis accuse us of taking help from India, the ‘enemy country’, however, India is not my enemy. India is my neighbour. My enemy is the Pakistani Punjabi occupying my land. Pakistanis portray us as traitors, but, in fact, they are traitors of India because they divided their country. I do not have a problem with the Republic of India and its people, but I have a problem with those Indians who divided India and presently call themselves Muslim Punjabi Pakistanis.
Monsoon Rains expose Balochistan’s Crumbling Infrastructure
Adnan Aamir
Last week, a monsoon rain alert was issued by the Weather Department. The alert warned that the seasonal monsoon rains could trigger flash floods which would be devastating for the mountainous passways and plains of Balochistan. Over the weekend, the rainfall was not more than the normal average every year, but the devastation it caused was much more than expected.
The flash floods, overflow of seasonal streams, and the collapse of mud houses have so far resulted in the death of 10 people. This number can increase as access to more areas is made available over time. This moderate rainfall wreaked havoc in Balochistan and destroyed the infrastructure of the province in several ways.
First, three major communication highways were blocked due to the flash floods. Land sliding near Fort Monroe suspended traffic on Loralai-Dera Ghazi Khan road, which is the primary road connection between Balochistan and Punjab. The Bibi Nani Bridge washed away in the rainwater in Bolan Valley, disconnecting the road link between Quetta and Sibi, onwards to Sindh. This prevented thousands of people from commuting along this highway. The Makran coastal highway – connecting Gwadar with Karachi – was blocked near Badook area where portions of a bridge were washed away by the rainwater.
An orange truck hanging on the precipice of a broken bridge was the most viral photo from the devastation caused by the flooding. This photo was taken at the Badook area on Makran Coastal Highway and it suspended traffic to and from Gwadar for more than a day. This picture embodies the broken infrastructure in Balochistan.
THIS SITUATION HAS REINFORCED THE PERCEPTION THAT CPEC IS FAILING TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE IN BALOCHISTAN
Second, the rainwater and floods damaged the main gas pipeline carrying gas supply from Sindh to Quetta and up north. The pipeline was damaged in the Bolan region and it disrupted gas supply to Quetta and cities in further north. A small portion of the city, inhabited by VIPs, was provided limited gas supply through alternative means. The majority of the residents of Quetta are without proper gas supply for the last five days. This resulted in unexpected problems for residents who were not prepared for such a situation.
This is not the first time flash floods has destroyed the main gas pipeline in the Bolan region. Still, the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) has not made concrete arrangements to protect the pipeline in such a situation. It speaks volumes about the negligence of SSGCL and their lack of interest in the welfare of the people of the province. Proper maintenance of the pipeline should be enough to protect it from all sorts of floods but this does not seem to be a priority for SSGCL.
Third, rainfall disrupted electricity transmission. There was no electricity supply in major parts of Quetta for over a day. This power cut was in addition to long hours of so-called load shedding which people of the province suffer due to the flawed electricity distribution policy of the federal government.
Furthermore, Gwadar – the centre stage of $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – was also badly affected by this rainy spell. As mentioned earlier, Makran Coastal Highway was blocked near the Badook region. M8, another highway connecting Gwadar with Khuzdar and onwards was damaged from multiple places due to the floods. This means that the city which is the centre stage for CPEC was completely cut off from the rest of the country. How can Gwadar be a functional port and a mega project of CPEC when moderate rain spells disconnect it from the country? The rainwater engulfed the streets and roads of Gwadar in the same way as it did in Karachi and Lahore, despite it being much smaller.
This situation has reinforced the perception that CPEC is failing to improve infrastructure in Balochistan. At a time when other provinces got Orange Line Metro Train and Karachi-Lahore Motorway Main-Line 1 Railway Project, residents in Balochistan got a two-lane narrow M8 highway, which gets destroyed by moderate rains. This situation is a legacy of the government led by the PML-N, but the current government continued with the status quo and failed to compensate for the lost share of Balochistan in CPEC.
Calamities like quarantine of pilgrims in Taftan and now these monsoon floods expose the rotten infrastructure of Balochistan. Infrastructure mainly relies on highways, energy supply, and rail networks and all of these are federally controlled subjects. This means the provincial government cannot do anything about them and the federal government is not interested in doing anything to resolve these pressing problems of Balochistan.
Another example of how the federal government has ignored infrastructure needs of the province is its refusal to upgrade Quetta-Karachi Highway (N-25). Instead, the federal government wants the private sector to build the road on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. There are many problems with this approach. First, the citizens of Balochistan using this road will have to pay for the construction of this road for decades to come in the form of exorbitant toll taxes. Second, it is too early to assume that the private sector would even agree to this project because some portions of this 790 km highway might not be economically feasible for such an arrangement. The ideal solution to this problem could have been financing it through CPEC but the PML-N government and its nationalist allies from Balochistan back then did not show interest.
The main priority for governments in Quetta and Islamabad should be to upgrade the infrastructure of the province. Without proper infrastructure, Balochistan can never develop and it will act as a stumbling block for all mega projects such as CPEC.
https://balochistanvoices.com/2020/08/monsoon-rains-expose-balochistans-crumbling-infrastructure/
India's growing stature in Islamic block gives sleepless nights to Pakistan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy has enhanced India's diplomacy stature on global forums. His farsightedness has not only won several friends in the Islamic block, where Pakistan so far had a greater presence but has also increased its influence among Muslim countries through trade and strategic partnership.
On the contrary, Pakistan is being snubbed on international fora due to its anti-India narrative. Recently, Saudi Arabia insulted Pakistan as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman refused to meet Pak Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who reached there to apologize on behalf of his country. General Bajwa was accompanied by ISI chief, but Saudi Arabia ruler did not spare time to meet them despite their repeated requests and they returned empty-handed.
Saudi Arabia's royal snub to Pakistan is symbolic of changing equations in the Islamic world. Notably, there are 53 countries in the world where Islam is the largest religion, and Saudi Arabia is considered the most powerful among these nations. There are three big reasons for this:
The first reason is that Saudi Arabia has 18 percent of the world's oil reserves; Secondly, it has a very strong economy among the Arab countries. The third and the most important reason is that Saudi Arabia is the center of Islam religion because of Mecca and Medina, which are considered the most sacred places for global Muslims.
Except for Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq, Saudi Arabia enjoys good relations with all other countries in the Arab League, and 20 percent of the Muslim population of the world live in these Arab countries.
Pakistan too is a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is second in the world in terms of the Muslim population, after Indonesia, and is the only Islamic nation with nuclear power. Because of this reason, many Islamic countries don't dare go against Pakistan and often support it.
The situation has now changed as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan came face to face on the issue of India, and the former refused to stand with Pakistan. The DNA report will let you know why this happened and how India managed to win Saudi Arabia's favour.
On August 5, the completion of one year of the removal of Article 370 from Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated that the OIC and Saudi Arabia are not supporting Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. He also threatened Saudi Arabia that Pakistan is always ready to sacrifice for Mecca and Medina, but Saudi Arabia does not listen to Pakistan. He urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to go ahead on this issue alone and stop trusting Saudi Arabia.
After his statement, Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to return the loan amount of Rs 7500 crore. Shocked Pakistan borrowed from China to repay the debt. In 2018, Saudi Arabia has a loan of Rs 46000 crore to save Pakistan's economy. Reports say that Saudi Arabia has also sought the repayment of another installment of Rs 7500 crore from Pakistan. Shah Mehmood Qureshi's statement of 15 seconds on Saudi Arabia has cost Pakistan Rs 15000 crores.Qureshi later tried to control the damage citing his country's historical relations with Saudi Arabia, but it was too late. Saudi Arabia even ended the contract to sell oil to Pakistan.This is a big diplomatic victory for India as this is the first time when Arab nations have supported India on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistan also failed to call a high-level meeting of OIC to put forth its anti-India agenda through Kashmir. India has managed to separate Pakistan from Arab block which now stands with India like a rock.
This development has shocked Pakistan. Pakistan Army Chief and ISI Chief were sent to Saudi Arabia in a huff to control the damage but were snubbed. Experts believe that Pakistan is also showing its back to Saudi Arabia at the behest of China, which wants Pakistan to emerge as the leader of the Islamic world.
In an interview, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, claimed that his country's ties with Saudi Arabia are still strong and he is rather trying to connect the Muslim world. "The rumours that our relations with Saudi Arabia have soured are totally false," Khan said told Dunya News television channel, adding "Our relations are very good. We are constantly in touch."
"On the Kashmir issue, there is a view that OIC should have stepped forward," Khan said, adding "Saudi has its own foreign policy. We shouldn`t think that because we want something Saudi will do just that."
He also rejected any possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. "Our policy on Israel is clear: The Quaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) had said that Pakistan can never accept the state of Israel until the people of Palestine get rights and an independent state," Imran Khan added.Imran Khan further said, "If we recognise Israel and ignore tyranny faced by the Palestinians, we will have to give up Kashmir as well, and this we cannot do." His remarks came in the backdrop of recent peace overtures between the UAE and Israel, with the former becoming only the third Arab nation to enter into a peace deal with the Jewish state.On the UAE's ties with Israel, Khan said that every state had its own foreign policy. Khan, however, praised Pakistan's ties with China and said that the country's future was linked to China which stood with it in all difficult times.
Pakistan currently has an international debt of Rs 43 lakh crore, comprising 90 percent of its GDP. Pakistan pays an interest of Rs 1.60 lakh crores every year. In such a situation, Pakistan has to pay a heavy price after losing the support of Islamic countries.
https://zeenews.india.com/india/indias-growing-stature-in-islamic-block-gives-sleepless-nights-to-pakistan-2303970.html
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari appreciates PPP workers’ spirit who recorded peaceful protests in every district headquarters to express their anger against the anti-people and anti-economy policies of PTI’s govt.
In a statement, the PPP Chairman said that PPP workers recorded peaceful protests in every district headquarters to express their anger against the anti-people and anti-economy policies as the PTI’s Federal government has dragged the nation into a quagmire of despair and hopelessness.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PPP is a democratic Party and it would apply all the democratic and peaceful means of protests against the highhandedness of PTI’s selected regime against the masses of the country.
He said that PPP has served this country and lost its leadership and thousands of workers during its struggle for the basic human and democratic rights of the people and it would continue the legacy under every situation.PPP Chairman appreciated the spirit of the Party workers for holding completely peaceful protests as not a single stone was thrown during the province-wide protests and warned the PTI government to read the writings on the wall and desist from conspiring against the people, their unanimous constitution, 18th amendment, NFC Award and pursuing anti-people policies otherwise the protests can be expanded to the Tehsil and UC levels.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/23565/
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