Tuesday, November 30, 2021
What ‘My Body, My Choice’ Means to the Right
OPINION: MICHELLE GOLDBERG
#Pakistan - Taliban Splintered by Internal Divisions, External Spoilers
Pakistan said to be supporting alternative jihadi groups to undermine the Taliban and maintain leverage over Afghanistan.
The unity that catapulted the Taliban to victory in Afghanistan is splintering under the pressure of internal divisions that could threaten the group’s survival if rivals cannot mend their differences while dealing with the realities of running a troubled country.Against a backdrop of looming economic and humanitarian catastrophe, lines—and swords—have been drawn between two senior Taliban figures: political leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, who co-founded the group with Mullah Mohammad Omar and whose power base is in Kandahar, and sanctioned terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the affiliated Haqqani network and is close to al Qaeda. As Taliban factions battle for bigger slices of the pie, the local branch of the Islamic State is picking up recruits disillusioned with the political direction the Taliban are taking, security and academic sources said.Amid the internal power struggle at the top of the Taliban, and the Islamic State recruitment drive, indications are emerging of an alliance of smaller jihadi groups spearheaded by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), attracting elements dissatisfied with even the most extreme factions currently in control of Afghanistan. The Islamic Invitation Alliance (IIA), funded by the ISI, was formed in early 2020 with the aim of ensuring the Taliban’s victory, according to a document prepared for the previous government of Afghanistan, seen by Foreign Policy. It now aims to destabilize the Taliban by empowering extremism across Afghanistan, said an intelligence source involved in uncovering the group’s existence, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The emergence of the IIA, which sources say is known to the U.S. intelligence community, further complicates Afghanistan’s fractious political landscape as the country’s former allies grapple with how to deal with a government controlled by sanctioned terrorists allied to al Qaeda. The cleavage between Baradar, who cut the so-called peace deal in 2020 with former U.S. President Donald Trump, and Haqqani, who introduced suicide attacks to the Afghan battlefield, is growing wider. Baradar, now interim deputy prime minister, is seen as “America’s man,” while Haqqani, acting interior minister, represents the group’s most strident anti-Western face, which appeals to Pakistan, said Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of intelligence for the previous Afghan government. He said divisions between the two men, who have an uneasy power-sharing agreement, are pushing Taliban foot soldiers into the arms of the Islamic State, challenging the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan, and risking the country’s stability and potentially regional peace. “Guerrilla fighting with drug smuggling income is easier than running a state,” said Nabil, referring to the Taliban’s control of heroin production and trafficking. “They have already faced several challenges, and their internal divisions are increasing.” Those divisions became public in September, shortly after the Taliban seized control of the country, and could be behind some recent high-casualty attacks attributed to the local Islamic State branch, known as the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), according to Weeda Mehran, a conflict expert at the University of Exeter. “We knew the Taliban was not a homogenous group. Nonetheless, we are seeing violence between rival factions now becoming more public,” she said. The Islamic State is a “convenient scapegoat” for attacks possibly committed in the fratricidal battle for supremacy. A recent attack on a Kabul military hospital, for instance, killed a Haqqani ally, Hamdullah Mukhlis, head of the capital’s military corps. Survivors of the attack told AFP that the attackers chanted “Long live the Taliban” and avoided areas of the hospital where Taliban fighters were being treated. IS-K claimed responsibility. “Baradar’s side can benefit on two fronts—if they are smart enough to play it like that: They can ensure they get their internal rivals with these huge attacks, and they can show the West they are acting against IS-K to get support for dealing with the ‘new’ terrorists,” Mehran said. IS-K’s capabilities concern the U.S. Defense Department, where belief has taken root that it could pose a threat to the United States in under a year. Recruiting experienced fighters will only bolster those worries. Colin Kahl, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that the United States is fairly certain that both IS-K and al Qaeda have the “intention” to attack the U.S. homeland. Some reports have said IS-K is also absorbing members of the former state security forces as they try to avoid retributive attacks from the Taliban and earn money. Nabil said IS-K offers 30,000 afghanis, or about $300, per month. Former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces personnel, however, have denied the reports. IS-K and al Qaeda are part of an increasingly complicated political mosaic as Pakistan’s ISI continues to ensure it has leverage over the Taliban and control of regional jihad. Both groups have been drawn under the IIA umbrella, according to the research document, which has not been made public. It says the IIA grew out of ISI support for a group called Karwan Abu Obaida (KaO), which splintered from the Haqqani network after the Trump-Taliban agreement was signed in February 2020. KaO was made up of Haqqani followers who were disappointed that the Haqqani network did not take action against Baradar and other Taliban leaders for negotiating with the United States, the document says. “From its inception, KaO focused on targeted attacks against journalists, civil activists, and ‘those who are against Islamic law,’ as well as ‘those who are supporting the agreements with the Americans crusaders’ and their allies in Afghanistan,” the document says, quoting interlocutors. It adds that the ISI initially deployed the KaO to extend the assassination campaign, which had a devastating impact on government, civil society, and media in Afghanistan throughout 2020. The ISI then decided to expand its influence over non-Taliban actors working to topple then-President Ashraf Ghani’s government, the document says, with the aim of building a formidable jihadi force that could be a useful tool of political coercion in the event of a Taliban victory. During 2020, the IIA also became a platform for the return to the battlefield of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Hekmatyar, a former warlord who struck a peace deal with Ghani in 2016 to return from exile, became disillusioned and “approached the ISI for help re-engaging with the insurgency,” the document says. The main objectives of the IIA, which numbers an estimated 4,500 fighters, are to “keep the jihad movement in Afghanistan alive” and “act as a tool of ISI pressure” on the Taliban to ensure that Pakistan’s interests are protected, the document says. It adds that the IIA is funneling ISI funding to member groups and giving IS-K a boost by enabling it to claim responsibility for attacks committed by other groups in the coalition. This creates the potential for a self-fulfilling prophecy by allowing IS-K to build an image of itself as an “ascendant organization in Afghanistan.” Requests for comment on the report were made to Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson and, separately, the public relations and information officer, as well as to Islamabad’s embassies in Kabul and London, all without response.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/12/taliban-afghanistan-pakistan-factions-fighting-division-unity/
#Pakistan: Systematic Annihilation In #Balochistan – Analysis
According to HRCB data, at least 27 persons were disappeared in the month of October 2021. Since January 1, 2021 at least 339 people have been disappeared by the SFs from across Balochistan. Moreover, at least 298 people have been confirmed to have been extra judicially killed in 2021, thus far. Many of those killed were registered as victims of enforced disappearance and had already been in the custody of the forces.
Atrocities in Balochistan in 2021
| Month | Disappearance* | Killed** |
|---|---|---|
| January | 10 | 32 |
| February | 19 | 21 |
| March | 21 | 38 |
| May | 40 | 27 |
| June | 37 | 25 |
| July | 22 | 19 |
| August | 28 | 45 |
| September | 28 | 25 |
| October | 27 | 39 |
| November | 38 | NA |
| Total | 301 | 298 |
According to HRCB data, since 2016, at least 3,738 people have been forcibly disappeared by the SFs. These include 522 in 2016; 1, 225 in 2017; 642 in 2018, 568 in 2019, 480 in 2020, and 301 in 2021 (data till November 10). Of these 3,738, just 453 have been released. But SFs have extrajudicially killed at least 1,553 people since 2016 (data till October 31, 2021).
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), meanwhile, claims that more than 45 thousand people have been forcibly disappeared by the Pakistan Army, and five thousand missing persons have been ‘killed and dumped’ over the last decade.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), of the 4,623 civilian fatalities recorded in Balochistan since March 6, 2000 (data till November 28, 2021), at least 1,449 have been attributable to one or another terrorist/insurgent outfit. Of these, 471 civilian killings (291 in the South and 180 in the North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations, while Islamist and sectarian extremist formations – primarily Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India) – claimed responsibility for another 978 civilian killings, 895 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta) and 83 in the South. The remaining 3,174 civilian fatalities – 1,760 in the South and 1,414 in the North – remain ‘unattributed’. It is widely believed that these are principally victims of the security agencies’ ‘kill and dump’ operations, particularly in the Southern region, targeting local Baloch dissidents.
Indeed, the systematic campaign of extermination of ethnic Baloch people through enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the South of the Province remains unabated.
VBMP vice chairman, Mama Qadeer Baloch, asserted on April 27, 2021,
Pakistani state has been startled by the widespread popularity and positive reception of the peaceful struggle in Balochistan. In its desperate attempts to quell the struggle, the state formed these inhumane, bloodthirsty ‘death squads’ and gave them a free hand to operate throughout Balochistan. These groups are directly or indirectly involved in the enforced disappearance and liquidation of student leaders, journalists, rights activists and political workers.
Again, on October 27 VBMP asserted that the Pakistani authorities had failed to take any concrete measures to end “enforced disappearances” in Balochistan. VBMP stated that the organisation had asked the Pakistani authorities to criminalize the practice and fix responsibility on the people behind these disappearances. VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch added that those guilty of these crimes should be legally prosecuted, and the families of the missing persons should be supported and compensated by the Government. But the law criminalizing ‘enforced disappearances’ in Pakistan has not been put into practice effectively.
The menace is a reality that Pakistan’s Supreme Court has clearly recognized time and again.
Most recently, on September 30, 2021, the Supreme Court declared the report submitted by the Balochistan Police on five missing persons “unsatisfactory.” Gulzar Ahmed, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, remarked that people had gone missing and the families had to run after the Police to register cases: “You (police) do not know how to investigate cases. A case of disappearance should have been registered by the police which could not be done.” A three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Ahmed, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Faisal Arab, was hearing the case at the Supreme Court’s Quetta Registry. The Court had taken suo motu notice of the disappearances.
On November 21, 2021, former Senator Farhatullah Babar stated that the enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings had been going on for decades, but they were institutionalised during the regime of General Pervez Musharraf who acknowledged this in his book, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir.
Further, a Commission on Enforced Disappearances was formed in in March 2011. According to Pakistan’s Commission of Enquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED), it received 8,191 complaints related to enforced disappearances between March 1, 2011 (the date of inception of the Commission) and October 31, 2020. According to the Commission, of these 8,191 persons, 4,879 persons were traced – 227 dead bodies, 582 in prisons, 933 in internment centre and 3,137 returned home. The Commission ‘deleted’ cases of another 1,089 missing persons, claiming that these were “closed due to not being cases of enforced disappearances, incomplete address, withdrawal by complainants, non-prosecution. etc.” Thus, as per the commission, a total of 5,968 cases were ‘disposed of’, leaving another 2,223 cases under investigation.
Earlier, on September 8, 2020, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a legal rights group based in Switzerland, observed that the Commission “has wholly failed to address entrenched impunity” and had not held any perpetrators of the crime to justice, even in cases where the whereabouts of the disappeared had been traced or the person had been released,” by implication, cases in which direct evidence would be available.
Despite this, the Government continues to deny reality. Balochistan Chief Minister Qudoos Bizenjo, in an interview on November 11, 2021, when asked about enforced disappearances in Balochistan, stated evasively that the Home Department was looking into the figures to determine whether the missing persons are actually missing or had fled to some other country, like Afghanistan. He claimed there were several names on the missing persons’ list who were in some foreign country. Bizenjo added that his government was working ‘in concert with other stakeholders’ to make sure that the issue is resolved and that his government was still trying to estimate an “accurate” figure for the Baloch missing persons.
On June 7, 2021, the Government introduced the ‘Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2021’ in the National Assembly, criminalising enforced disappearance and imposing a punishment of 10-year imprisonment for anyone found guilty of the offence. The Bill stated that a new section 52-B (enforced disappearance) should be inserted into the Pakistan Penal Code after section 52-A. The proposed section states:
Term enforced disappearance relates to the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by an agent of the state or by person or group of persons acting with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.
Given the background, the Bill against enforced disappearance appears to be no more than an eyewash to contain the rising protests. Indeed, it was only after five months of deliberate delay and continuous campaigning by international and national human rights organisations that the National Assembly passed the Bill on November 8. However, the Bill is yet to be become law, and will now be sent to the Senate for its passage.
As the situation with regard to enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings worsens, there are reports of near daily and widespread protests. Most recently, protests started in Quetta and the federal capital Islamabad on November 5, after the November 1 incident in the University of Balochistan. The protestors were demanding the safe release of Sohail and Fasih Baloch as well as action against “enforced disappearances” and to stop raids on academic institutions in the province. Following the protests in the University of Balochistan, Baloch students in the Bolan Medical College, Degree College Sariab, Polytechnic College and the Science College also suspended academic activities in protest against the disappearance of their fellow students from Balochistan University.
But Islamabad’s and Rawalpindi’s heavy-handed approach to Baloch dissent and separatism, as well as the relative weakness of judicial institutions in the country, make any reversal of the current and pervasive ‘disappearances’ and ‘kill and dump’ strategy unlikely. Further, the widening footprint of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the province, the denial of any significant benefits to locals, and the demographic transformation that is being engineered, can only compound the alienation and anger provoked by rising atrocities by SFs and their proxies.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/30112021-pakistan-systematic-annihilation-in-balochistan-analysis/
Taliban’s Reign of Terror Belies Promise of Amnesty
By Lee Keath
Despite the promised amnesty, Taliban commanders are executing and forcibly “disappearing” soldiers, policemen, and intelligence officials of the previous regime, says Human Rights Watch.
Taliban fighters have summarily killed or forcibly “disappeared” more than 100 former police and intelligence officers since taking power in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said in a report Tuesday. The group pointed to continuing retaliation against the armed forces of the ousted government despite an announced amnesty.
Taliban forces have hunted down former officers using government employment records and have targeted those who surrendered and received letters guaranteeing their safety, the report said. In some cases, local Taliban commanders have drawn up lists of people to be targeted, saying they committed “unforgivable” acts.
“The pattern of killings has sown terror throughout Afghanistan, as no one associated with the former government can feel secure they have escaped the threat of reprisal,” Human Rights Watch said in the report.
The Taliban seized power on August 15 when they swept into the capital Kabul as the internationally backed government collapsed. Kabul’s fall capped a stunningly swift takeover by the insurgents, who had taken a string of cities as U.S. forces and their allies withdrew from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war. Since that time, the Taliban have been struggling to deal with the collapse of the country’s economy and have faced an increasingly deadly insurgency by the Islamic State group.
Taliban forces have also targeted people they suspect of supporting the Islamic State group in eastern Nangarhar province, an epicenter of IS attacks, the report said. In the province’s capital Jalalabad, a fierce, 8-hour gunbattle erupted Tuesday when Taliban forces raided a suspected hideout of IS militants, witnesses said. The deputy provincial police chief, Tahir Mobariz, said that during the fighting, a woman and a man in the house detonated suicide vests, dying in the blasts, and third person was killed by gunfire. Two suspected militants were arrested, he said.
The Taliban leadership has repeatedly announced that workers of the former government, including members of the armed forces, have nothing to fear from them. Former army officers have said they were ordered to give up their weapons, and in return they received a document confirming their surrender and ensuring their safety.
On Saturday, Taliban Prime Minister Mohammed Hassan Akhund denied in a public address that any retaliation was taking place.
When the Taliban took over, “they announced amnesty for all. Has there been any example of this?” he said, referring to retaliation. “There is no problem for anyone.” But he added that if any former security officer “resumes his bad deed… then he will be punished based on his crime.”
But Human Rights Watch said the promised amnesty has not stopped local commanders from retaliating against former members of the army, police and intelligence services.
“The burden is on the Taliban to prevent further killings, hold those responsible to account and compensate the victims’ families,” said Patricia Gossman, the organization’s associate Asia director.
Through interviews with witnesses, relatives, former government officials, Taliban officials, and others, Human Rights Watch said it had documented the killings or enforced “disappearance” of 47 former armed forces members in four provinces between August 15 and October 31. It said its research indicated at least another 53 killings or disappearances took place as well.
The research focused on Ghazni, Kandahar, Kunduz, and Helmand provinces. “But the cases reflect a broader pattern of abuses” reported in other provinces, it said.
Taliban fighters have carried out night raids on homes to detain former security officers or threaten and abuse their relatives into revealing their whereabouts, it said. In multiple cases it documented, the bodies of those who had been taken into detention were later found dumped in the street.
While some “opportunistic” killings took place immediately after the Taliban takeover, “killings and disappearances appear to have become more deliberate since then as Taliban commanders… have used informants and information from the previous government to locate others” linked to the former armed forces, it said.
In one case cited by the report, a former fighter in the National Directorate for Security named Abdul Qadir went into hiding in Kunduz province after the government fell, then resurfaced to live with his in-laws. On August 25, he was stopped at a checkpoint by Taliban fighters. He admitted he had been an NDS member, but pointed out the amnesty. The fighters detained him anyway, and three days later his body was found by a river.
In Ghazni province, a former local police commander named Saadat disappeared after going to the market in mid-October. Residents later brought his body to his home, telling relatives he had been killed on the road by armed men they believed were Taliban.The Taliban leadership in September announced the creation of a commission to investigate reports of rights abuses and crimes by their own fighters. But the commission has so far only announced arrests of a few members for theft and the dismissal of others for corruption, Human Rights Watch said. “The Taliban’s unsupported claims that they will act to prevent abuses and hold abusers to account appear so far to be nothing more than a public relations stunt,” Gossman said. https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/talibans-reign-of-terror-belies-promise-of-amnesty/The PPP was founded for the rights of the poor – Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Foundation Day jalsa of the Party in Peshawar
This is the first time that the PPP has observed its founding day in the KP province.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari congratulated the Jiyalas and the people of Pakistan for observing the Founding Day of a party that has always worked for the poor people of Pakistan. He said that PPP is the party of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, and the poor and downtrodden. He also remembered all those who sacrificed their lives for democracy in the country. Chairman PPP paid rich tribute to late Rahim Dad Khan who dedicated his life for the party and democracy. He said that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa always supported Shaheed Quaid-e-Awam, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and President Zardari. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was in KP just a day before she was martyred. The people of KP will also not disappoint him as they never disappointed PPP leadership in the past, he said.
He said that the selected puppet government did not want the gathering to take place here and the administration also erected hurdles but the brave Jiyalas held the gathering here in Peshawar despite that the permission was not given. Just a few days ago, the puppet chief minister of KP wanted to hold a jalsa in the same place but was failed.
Our friends (PDM) also held a failed gathering here despite being constituted of several parties as this gathering has eclipsed that gathering. This is because the people have decided to support the party of martyrs and poor. The PPP was founded for the poor, for the rights of the poor, for human rights and for economic rights of the people. The PPP’s policies have been for the poor, labourers, growers, students, pensioners and the people of Pakistan. This is why the PPP leaders were supported by the people of Pakistan in the past and today they have proved that they are supporting the party of the people of Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party.
At the time of President Zardari’s government, there was the worst recession in the world, Pakistan had to deal with two floods and we were fighting the terrorists but because of his pro-poor and pro-people policies the country was growing and developing. Unfortunately after the PPP, all other government did not care about the people. This government made a deal with the IMF which is anti-people and the people are facing worst price-hike in the country. The people are troubled because of this puppet and incapable government. Quaid-e-Awam had said that it is not the fate of the people to remain poor forever. Slogan for Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was “Benazir aaye gi, Razgar laye gi”. The PPP is the only party which always provides employment. This selected government is usurping your political and economic rights but the PPP is with the people and will defeat the nefarious designs of this government. This government has already announced to increase petrol prices which we reject. We demand of this government to come out of this anti-people IMF deal. This government wants the Sate Bank to become a slave of the IMF but we will not allow that to happen and will challenge it on the streets and in courts.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the EVM is another RTS and we reject elections with EVM. We will challenge it on the streets and courts. This government is playing a game in the name of overseas Pakistanis. These overseas Pakistanis are abroad working for their families and sending remittances to Pakistan because Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave people the right of passport and negotiated with the countries to provide employment to Pakistanis going abroad. We want the representation of the overseas Pakistanis in the parliament so that they can fight for their rights. How can a person vote in Paris or New York, but have his vote counted in Peshawar and Mardan? This is to dilute the vote of people living in Pakistan
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the EVM is another RTS and we reject elections with EVM. We will challenge it on the streets and courts. This government is playing a game in the name of overseas Pakistanis. These overseas Pakistanis are abroad working for their families and sending remittances to Pakistan because Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave people the right of passport and negotiated with the countries to provide employment to Pakistanis going abroad. We want the representation of the overseas Pakistanis in the parliament so that they can fight for their rights. How can a person vote in Paris or New York, but have his vote counted in Peshawar and Mardan? This is to dilute the vote of people living in Pakistan. This will not be allowed and the PPP will challenge this on the streets and in courts. Chairman PPP said that there are several conspiracies being hatched by this government. It wants to award NRO to the Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhev through parliament but we will challenge it.
Chair PPP said that KP is a province of brave people who fought and defeated terrorists and did the job which the super powers of the world could not do. Now this government is secretly negotiating with the killers of our citizens, our children including the children of APS, of our women, of our brave jawans of police, FC and the army. How can the government hold negotiations with them and reach a ceasefire? He said that there is an Islamic constitution in the country. We cannot negotiate with anyone who does not accept this constitution. Islam does not allow the killing of children. We demand them to handover the killers of our children, women, policemen and soldiers so that they could be presented before the courts and punished for their crimes. Only after that we will think whether to talk to the terrorists or not. How could the president and foreign minister hold secret talks with them? They do not have the permission of the people of Pakistan. They have no mandate in this regard. The selected do not have the permission to negotiate.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that we want that the promises made to the people of former tribal areas to be fulfilled and we reject every effort to impose FCR under any pretext as we have rejected FCR. We reject the efforts to usurp the economic right of the tribal people. This failed government is playing with the future of Pakistani nation. The real face of the “change” of Imran Khan is historic poverty, unemployment and the price-hike. The only party which gives rights to labourers, growers and youth and students is the PPP. The PPP gave BISP and will also introduce cards for labourers and growers and provide projects for youth.
Chairman PPP said that the PPP will also win the local body elections. The PPP has always come to power by the support of the people. We do people’s politics. The ones who conspire release audio and video tapes. We believe in the power of the people. The history is with the PPP. The people who called Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari thieves and used to phone to sentence them for ten and twenty years and to confiscate their property are dealing with a similar situation now. We think that such telephone calls were wrong in the past and they are wrong now as well. Our slogan is still the same, “Maang raha hai har insaan, Roti, Kapra aur Makan” but “Cheen raha raha hai ab Kaptan, Roti, Kapra aur Makan”. Chairman PPP raised slogans with the people, ‘Thappe pe Thappa, Teer pe Thappa’. He asked people to vote for the PPP candidate, Arbab for the Mayor of Peshawar.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced to hold protest demonstrations in every city and town in Pakistan against the constant rise in petrol prices on 10 December.
On 17 December, the PPP will hold protest demonstrations in every district headquarter against the gas crisis throughout Pakistan. The martyrdom anniversary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto will be observed in a huge public rally in Garhi Khuda Bux on 27 December where the next phase of the protests will be announced.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/25857/
ای وی ایم الیکشن کو مسترد کرتے ہیں، بلاول بھٹو زرداری
چیئرمین پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے الیکٹرانک ووٹنگ مشین (ای وی ایم)
کو آر ٹی ایس ٹو قرار دیتے ہوئے ای وی ایم الیکشن مسترد کرنے کا اعلان کردیا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ سلیکٹڈ دیکھ لو پورا پشاور شہر جلسہ گاہ میں موجود ہے۔
پشاور میں پیپلز پارٹی کے یوم تاسیس کے حوالے سے منعقدہ جلسہ عام سے خطاب میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ آپ کو شہیدوں کا یوم تاسیس مبارک ہو۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ اس سے پہلے کچھ دوستوں نے پشاورمیں جلسہ رکھنے کی کوشش کی، کئی جماعتوں نے اکٹھا ہوکر پشاور جلسہ کیا مگر ناکام رہیں۔
پی پی چیئرمین نے مزید کہاکہ آج آپ نےثابت کردیا کہ مجھے مایوس نہیں کریں گے۔
اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ سلیکٹیڈ نے کہا تھا کہ پیپلز پارٹی کا جلسہ پشاور میں نہیں ہوگا، انتظامیہ نے جیالوں کو تنگ کرنے کی کوشش کی۔
بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے یہ بھی کہا کہ ہم نے تبدیلی کی تباہی بھی بھگتی ہے، سلیکٹڈ وزیراعلیٰ کو بھی پشاور کی عوام نے مسترد کردیا، عوام شہدا کی جماعت کا ساتھ دینے کا فیصلہ کر چکے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ پی پی حکومت ختم ہونے کے بعد سے عوام دشمن معیشت ہے، عام آدمی پر بوجھ اور امیروں کو ریلیف دیا جاتا ہے، ہم نے عوام دشمن پی ٹی آئی ایم ایف ڈیل کی پہلے دن سے مخالفت کی۔
پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ کھانے پینے کی اشیا، پٹرول گیس کی قیمتوں میں عام آدمی بوجھ اٹھائے گا، سلیکٹڈ، نالائق وزیراعظم کی معاشی پالیسیوں کی وجہ سے ہرطبقہ پریشان ہے۔
اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ سلیکٹڈ حکومت ہر طرف حملہ آور ہے، عوام دشمن معاشی پالیسی سے لوگ خودکشی پر مجبور ہیں، ہم عام آدمی اور سرکاری ملازمین پر دھیان دیں گے۔
بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ ماضی کی طرح ملکی معیشت کو کھڑا کرکے دکھائیں گے، آپ سے جھوٹے وعدے نہیں کررہا، ہماری تاریخ گواہ ہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ جمہوری، انسانی اور معاشی حقوق پرڈاکا ڈالا جارہا ہے، جیب، پیٹ اور ووٹ پر ڈاکا ڈالا جارہا ہے، ہمارا ساتھ دیں، ساری سازشیں ناکام بنائیں گے۔
پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ گیس پیدا کرنے والے ملک میں آئندہ ماہ گیس نہیں ہوگی، آئی ایم ایف کی غلامی میں ہر ماہ پٹرول مہنگا کرنے کا اعلان کیا، کب تک ان کی ناکامی اور نالائقی کا بوجھ اٹھائیں گے۔
اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ آئی ایم ایف ڈیل غیرقانونی ہے پارلیمان نے منظور نہیں کیا، عوام دشمن آئی ایم ایف ڈیل سے باہر نکلو، اسٹیٹ بینک کو آئی ایم ایف کی غلامی کی اجازت نہیں دیں گے۔
بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے مزید کہا کہ ای وی ایم، آر ٹی ایس ٹو ہے، ہم ووٹنگ مشین کو مسترد کرتے ہیں، الیکٹورل ریفارم کے نام پر اوورسیز پاکستانیوں سے کھیل کھیلا جارہاہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ کیسے ہوسکتا ہے پیرس میں بیٹھا آدمی ووٹ ڈالے نتیجہ پشاور کا آئے، اوور سیز پاکستانیوں کے ووٹ سے ان کا اپنا نمائندہ منتخب ہونا چاہیے۔
پیپلز پارٹی چیئرمین نے یہ بھی کہا کہ عمران خان باہر سے ووٹ لاکر اپنا نمائندہ جتوانا چاہتے ہیں، اوورسیز پاکستانیوں کا حقیقی نمائندہ پارلیمان میں ہونا چاہیے۔
اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ ابیسلوٹلی ناٹ کہنے والے عمران خان نے بھارتی جاسوس کلبھوشن کو این آر او دینے کی کوشش میں ہے، ہم اس این آر او کی مخالفت عدالتوں میں بھی کریں گے۔
بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ دہشت گردوں کے ساتھ حکومت چھپ کر مذاکرات کررہی تھی، ملکی عوام اور پارلیمان کی اجازت کے بغیر دہشت گردوں کے سامنے جھک گئے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ شہریوں کے قاتلوں کے ساتھ مذاکرات کا فیصلہ کرنے والے یہ کون ہوتے ہیں؟ رات کے اندھیروں میں بات چیت ہوتی ہے، سیزفائر اعلان ہوجاتا ہے، آج تک ہمیں معلوم نہیں شرائط کیا ہیں، کیا مان چکے؟۔
پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ قبائلی علاقے کے انضمام پر عمل کیا جائے، وعدے پورے ہوں، دہشت گردوں کی وجہ سے ایف سی آر کا نظام واپس لانا چاہتے ہیں، یہ ہمارا آئین مانیں تو پھر ہم ان کو ماننے کا سوچیں گے۔
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ قتل جیسے سنگین جرم میں ملوث لوگوں کو عدالتوں سے سزا ملے، ہمارے بچوں اور عورتوں کے قاتلوں کو پکڑ کر سزا دیں، ناکام ترین حکومت ملک کے مستقبل کے ساتھ کھیل رہی ہے، امپائر کی انگلی کی طرف دیکھنے والے انہیں خوش کرنے میں لگے رہتے ہیں اور عوام تکلیف میں ہے۔