Tuesday, March 2, 2021
#Pakistan - Foreign policy lessons from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
With PTI steering the foreign policy wheel, little has been achieved but more has been lost at international forums.With the new United States administration coming into power, many foreign policy experts have started to lay out various scenarios of America’s new South Asian policy as President Biden bids to reverse much of Trump’s foreign policy adventurism and revive the very stalled international liberal order once again. At home, with the PTI government steering Pakistan’s foreign policy trembling wheel since 2018, little has been achieved but more has been lost at international forums. To name a few, in 2019, our Kashmiri narrative became less convincing as India’s draconian military lockdown in the Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) remains till today and the international community is mostly taciturn. Recently, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a Senate session on foreign policy, questioned what the opposition has done about the Kashmiri cause instead of highlighting the incumbent government’s track record, which matters in today’s strategic political scenario. Second, the PM, at the eleventh hour, backed out from the historic Kuala Lumpur Summit. This was seen as a major foreign policy blow for the country. Third, despite bulldozing the FATF bills in the parliament without even consulting the opposition, Pakistan still remains in the task force’s grey list with uncertainty looming large as India’s malicious attempts to undermine Pakistan at global forums remain manifest. Instead of promoting a soft image inside the country, many national security analysts now argue that Pakistan might become a police state with relentless powers given to law enforcement authorities without any checks and balances.
Most importantly, Pakistan, as the only Muslim nuclear-armed country in the world, has lost its leadership role in the Muslim world which was once our pride back in the day. With all of this, what really is the urgent need of the hour is looking back at the real foundations of Pakistan’s foreign policy, which were set by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Not only did we have a robust and resilient leadership role in the Muslim world but we also stood firm with our stance among the major powers in times of crisis. Today, illiberal values and undemocratic practices are rampant in the country with political victimisation of political opponents, relentless media censorship, persecution of minorities and demoralising of the parliament’s spirit. Bhutto was a firm advocate of the notion that foreign policy begins at home. Despite the Fall of Dhaka in 1971 — which was indeed a dark chapter in the history of Pakistan — Bhutto strived for civilian supremacy and the revival of the Constitution of Pakistan. It was he who gave us the 1973 Constitution and restored democracy when authoritarianism was looming large in the country. He advocated forming a ‘perfect union’ where all provinces were on the same page, regardless of political differences. The Constitution’s Article 153 gave us the Council of Common Interests (CCI), where the PM sits down with the chief ministers of all provinces every 90 days to discuss matters for the greater good of the country. Bhutto understood that for a constructive and sound foreign policy narrative in a fast-changing world, internal domestic stability was crucial. Despite intense political pressure from the US and other major powers to halt Pakistan’s nuclear programme, Bhutto remained resilient. He argued: “If India makes an atomic bomb, then we will also do so, even if we have to eat grass, an atom bomb can only be answered by an atom bomb.” The US went to great lengths to halt Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, but Bhutto was clearly not having it. In his 1969 book, The Myth of Independence, he wrote that it was “vital for Pakistan to give the greatest possible attention to nuclear technology, rather than allow itself to be deceived by an international treaty limiting this deterrent to the present nuclear powers”. Today, when Yemen is on fire, instability looms large in the Middle East, and where the Kashmir issue at the backburner, we need a charismatic leader like Bhutto to unite the Muslim world, and one who had also played a pioneering role in the creation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). We need someone like Bhutto who understood the complexity of the fast-changing international political arena and steered the wheel of Pakistan’s foreign policy with unparallel command, especially in the Muslim world. In his book, The Third World, The Imperative of Unity, Bhutto clearly argued that the Muslim world must unite as a galvanising force in order to survive in the international political arena. Without a doubt, Bhutto pulled the country back from imminent anarchy and collapse and infused more dynamism into Pakistani society. Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in his memoir, Years of Upheaval, described Bhutto as a man of extraordinary abilities, capable of drawing close to any country that served Pakistan’s national interests. His foreign policy anchored resilience, promoted multilateralism, had a commanding seat at every global forum and ensured Pakistan came first — something which is clearly an urgent need in today’s time.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2286954/foreign-policy-lessons-from-zab
#Pakistan - ECP Decides to Conduct Senate Elections Per Past Practice
Pakistan: Punjab Assessment 2021- Analysis - Attacks on religious minorities in #Pakistan
On January 11, 2021, a four-year-old Christian girl Eshal was abducted, raped and killed in Malkhanwala village in Waras Pura tehsil (revenue unit) of Faisalabad District.
On January 9, 2021, the dead bodies of two Christian girls were found in a sewer near Makhan Colony in the Kahna area of Lahore. They were abducted and killed by Muhammad Mumtaz and Naeem when the girls refused to convert to Islam.
According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), Punjab has already recorded three incidents of attacks on religious minorities resulting in three deaths in 2021, so far (data till February 14).
During 2020, there was a considerable increase in incidents of the persecution of minorities in comparison to previous year. At least 37 such incidents were recorded, resulting in six deaths and 12 persons injured in Punjab in 2020, as against seven incidents in 2019. No casualty was reported in 2019.
Scores of women from minorities were forcibly converted to Islam. During an online consultation on “Forced conversion complaints and religious freedom” organized on November 28, 2020, by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), a Pakistan-based organisation, CSJ Director Peter Jacob noted that there had been a rise in incidents of forced conversion of women, and specifically of underage girls from the religious minority communities.
Moreover, minorities are also bearing the brunt of the ‘blasphemy law’. On February 4, 2021, CSJ released data for incidents between 1987 and December 2020, which showed that at least 1,855 people had been charged with offences related to religion, Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), (blasphemy against the Holy Quran) was introduced in 1982, and Section 295-C, PPC (desecration against Prophet Muhammad) in 1986. Punjab has had the most blasphemy complaints (76 per cent of all complaints), followed by Sindh (19 per cent). As of December 2020, Punjab’s prisons were holding 337 prisoners for blasphemy, both those convicted and those awaiting trial. The largest number of inmates are in the Lahore district jail (60). Some of the prominent blasphemy-linked incidents in Punjab in 2020 include:
September 8, 2020: A Sessions Court in Lahore, Punjab, sentenced a Christian man, Asif Pervaiz, to death, after convicting him of sending text messages containing “blasphemous content.” The court order issued by Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi added that Pervaiz would first serve a three-year prison term for “misusing” his phone to send the derogatory text message, and then “he shall be hanged by his neck till his death.” He was also fined PKR 50,000. Asif Pervaiz has been in custody since 2013, fighting blasphemy charges that were levelled against him by the supervisor of the garment factory he once worked at. The supervisor had accused him of sending derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad to him in a text message. Following the sentence, Asif’s lawyer, Siaf-ul-Malook, however, stated, “He [Asif] denied the allegations and said that this man was trying to get him to convert to Islam.”August 23, 2020: Several individuals lodged separate complaints for “blasphemy” against journalist and human rights activist, Marvi Sirmed in different parts of the country, including Lahore (in Police Stations of Ravi Road, Faisal Town and Garden Town) and Jhang (Kotwali Police Station) in Punjab Province; Karachi, in Sindh Province; and Islamabad with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). According to the information received, on August 22, 2020, Sirmed allegedly posted a satirical Tweet from her personal account, referring to the many enforced disappearances of human rights defenders and government critics in Balochistan Province, Pakistan.August 13, 2020: Police filed a case under the blasphemy laws against actor Saba Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed, for shooting a music video inside Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Punjab Province. The case was registered at the Akbari Police Station of Lahore on the complaint of advocate Farhat Manzoor. Manzoor filed the complaint following the release of a clip of the video on August 8. Both Qamar and Saeed have published statements apologizing on their respective social media accounts.
Adding more weaponry to the armoury of religious bigots, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Tahaffuz-i-Bunyad-i-Islam Bill 2020 on July 22, 2020. The law makes the publication of objectionable material punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and up to PKR 500,000 fine. In its editorial of July 29, 2020, Dawn noted,
The new law can justifiably be criticised for being superfluous and capable of stoking more religious intolerance, which this country can well do without.
Earlier, on July 24, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in a release asserted that HRCP was
…appalled at recent developments that are set to further whittle down space for freedom of intellectual thought, enquiry and expression… There is also ample reason to expect that Section 3(f) of the new Act will be used to target religious minorities and sects… The Commission urges the Punjab government to heed its concerns and roll back such measures before they backfire.
Meanwhile, terrorism-linked fatalities continued to decline in Punjab, as in the rest of the country. Fatalities fell from 28 (12 civilians, nine Security Force, SF, personnel and seven terrorists) in 2019 to 16 in 2020 (three civilians and 13 terrorists). At peak, there 392 overall fatalities in Punjab in 2009. A high of 296 civilian fatalities was recorded in 2010.
However, the growing presence of religious extremists/fundamentalists and the state’s encouragement of such elements, is worrisome. These elements have the potential to provide a breeding ground for more violent and terrorist formations.
Moreover, there are no signs of genuine efforts to tighten the grip against terrorist groups such as the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the front organisation of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) – the ‘foreign oriented’ terrorist groupings that have strong bases in the Province. The leadership elements of these outfits continue to comfortable enjoy state hospitality, despite being convicted in several terrorism-related cases – the convictions primarily forced by international and particularly Financial Action Task Force (FATF) pressure. JuD chief Hafiz Saeed who was officially arrested in July 2019, and should have been servicing his sentence in jail, continues to live at his Johar Town house in Lahore, from where he continues to freely run his terrorist organisation. Most recently, on December 25, 2020, an Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced Hafiz Saeed to 15 years and six months imprisonment, without significant impact on his living conditions. Similarly, JeM chief Masood Azhar, who is facing several cases of terrorist funding, lives in a “safe place” in his native town – Bahawalpur. All proof enough to further establish that the arrests and sentences are superficial and only intended to bring Pakistan out of Financial Action Task Force’s ‘grey list’.
Meanwhile, the global terrorist Islamic State (Daesh) remains a challenge. On May 17, 2020, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel killed four Daesh terrorists, while another three managed to escape during a security operation carried out near Azam Chowk in Bahawalpur city (Bahawalpur District). The CTD spokesperson confirmed that the terrorists were planning to carry out an attack at a religious minority’s place of worship.
Former Minister of Interior, Senator Rehman Malik, in his column in The Nation on September 24, 2020, wrote,
I have been watching the fast growth of Daesh in the region and I was the first one who pointed out the presence of ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State], but successive governments have been refusing to accept its presence just as a policy. In fact, I have always been advocating that Daesh is very much in Pakistan. The Daesh handlers recruited over 80 thousand Pakistanis mostly from south Punjab.
Despite Prime Minister Imran Khan’s false claim of a safe Pakistan for all minorities in ‘Naya Pakistan’, persecution of religious minorities continues in Punjab and across Pakistan. The growing radicalisation which is encouraged by the Government has undermined the achievements reflected in declining terrorism-linked fatalities and incidents. Rising extremism, moreover, threatens future the security in the province and the country.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/02032021-pakistan-punjab-assessment-2021-analysis/
GERMANY: Pakistan and Iran are a threat to regional and world peace: FBM
The Free Balochistan Movement Germany Branch organized a protest in front of the Pakistani Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany on Monday, 1st March.
The demonstration was organized to express solidarity with the families of the state victims of enforced disappearance in Occupied Balochistan and to inform the international community about Pakistan and Iran’s atrocities against Baloch people.
Demonstrators held banners and placards with various slogans. They also chanted slogans against Pakistani and Iranian atrocities. Sadiq Baloch, Moin Azizi, Naveed Baloch and others addressed the protesters.
Moin Azizi said that the Baloch nation is living on their historical land. Baloch are neither Pakistani nor Iranian but Baloch have had their separate national identity for thousands of years.
He further said that Pakistan and Iran are occupying the Baloch homeland, to end this occupation and achieve their national independence, the Baloch people have been engaged in a continuous process of national resistance since the date of occupation of their sovereign country.
We have sacrificed many precious lives in this national resistance which continues to this day. The legacy of resistance is being passed down from one generation to the other. He said it was sad to notice that some people were wrongly justifying the abominable act of Iranian occupation and annihilation of Baloch national identity by Iran. ‘This silence will be noted down as crime in the history of Baloch struggle,’ he added.
Today we desperately need to unite and move forward so that we can tell the world that Pakistan and Iran are illegally occupying our land and that the Baloch are waging a national resistance to end this occupation for which the responsible Institutions the world need to play their part.
Sadiq Baloch said that our homeland – Balochistan – was divided by Britain and we were handed over to bloodthirsty wolves. Despite being aware of the historical facts on our massacre, it is silent, which is encouraging the occupying armies to expand their atrocities in occupied Balochistan with immunity.
He further said that the recent Baloch national liberation movement has been going on for the last two decades and to suppress it the Pakistani army has forcibly disappeared thousands of Baloch men, women, children and the elderly. ‘Our mother and sister are have been peacefully protesting for their release of their loved in across Balochistan but the Pakistan institution including judiciary have failed to trace the disappeared Baloch.’
He added that the international human rights organisations including the UN are aware of the Iranian and Pakistani state crimes against the Baloch people but they are silent which beyond understanding.
Sadiq Baloch said that Pakistan and Iran have proved to be irresponsible states in the region where human rights are of no importance to them.
https://balochwarna.com/2021/03/02/germany-pakistan-and-iran-are-a-threat-to-regional-and-world-peace-fbm/