Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Why Bangladesh should not pardon Pakistan for 1971 Genocide?
Despite the passage of 50 years since the ‘1971 Genocide’ Pakistan has shown no intention to apologize.
And, why does Bangladesh pardon Pakistan, which along with its collaborators killed 30 lakh unarmed innocent people under the “Operation Searchlight” launched on March 25. It is a clear case of “Genocide”.Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi, former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Bangladesh clearly says that Pakistan should not apologise to Bangladesh in 1971 as Pakistan considers the issue settled and fully resolved, with the conclusion of the Bangladesh-India- Pakistan Agreement of April 9, 1974.
However, the media and lawyers of Pakistan have accepted that in 1971, a “Genocide” was carried out by the Pakistan army. There are several reasons why Bangladesh should not pardon Pakistan. Firstly, Pakistan has a role in the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Secondly, after joining in the active politics, many attempts were made to assassinate PM Sheikh Hasina (during the regime of BNP/JEI). Sources reveal that Pakistan’s spy agency the ISI was behind all the attacks. Thirdly, though Pakistan is pretending to improve the bi-lateral relations with Bangladesh, it will not miss a single opportunity to destabilize the country. The recent attack on the minorities during Durga Puja is an example of that. Investigators found the involvement of Pakistan. Fourthly, Pakistan is responsible for the rise of militancy in Bangladesh. Militant cadres recruited by Jamaat were sent to Pakistan for training. Two Pakistani diplomats posted in Dhaka were sent back for terror financing. “Incoming days, Pakistan will use the militants to create problems in the country, even to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” said a source. Fifthly, Pakistan is still maintaining close ties with Jamaat-e- Islam of Bangladesh. Though top leaders of the party were executed, the party is still active and capable of causing harm any moment. Now the new addition is Hefazet-e- Islam. Pakistan is using these two organizations against the current regime. “Under no circumstances, Bangladesh should pardon Pakistan. If it does, then it will be an insult to all the victims, freedom fighters and even Bangabandhu”, said a source in Bangladesh.https://theprint.in/world/why-bangladesh-should-not-pardon-pakistan-for-1971-genocide/893375/
Pakistan's Imran Khan faces a political showdown — without the army for support
By DIAA HADID
It wasn't long ago that many in Pakistan thought Imran Khan, the cricket star-turned-politician, might defy the odds to become the only prime minister in recent history to actually serve a full term.
After all, he was relatively popular. And more importantly, he enjoyed the firm support of the military, which many say helped catapult him to power in 2018.
But Khan's fortunes have rapidly shifted. The military appears to have withdrawn support and defections within the ranks of Khan's own party, known as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, mean that a no-confidence move in parliament planned to get underway on Monday, looks like it has a good chance to succeed.
The military backs away from Khan
Khan's shaky grasp on power has made for more than the usual amount of messy politics in Pakistan. The current crisis erupted after the military appeared to suddenly back away from him, signaling to the opposition that it was open season on the prime minister.
"The opposition now has free rein to go after Khan," says Madiha Afzal, a fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Even Khan's own coalition partners are making use of the chaos to try to leverage better deals.
Meanwhile, violence is feared because opposition parties are planning their own mass rally to coincide with Monday's start of debate on the no confidence motion. In anticipation of trouble, security forces have moved razor wire across major roads. Analysts fear that if the chaos escalates, the military could step in to restore order, as it has done so many times before in Pakistan's 75-year history.
The turmoil comes as Pakistan negotiates with the International Monetary Fund to release a desperately needed next tranche of a $6 billion bail out package.
"History tells us what happens when there are no resolutions," said Najam Sethi, a journalist and editor of The Friday Times. If "the opposition and the government continue to slug it out," Sethi said, "and you're facing financial bankruptcy and now you have political bankruptcy," he continued, "that's when the military steps in directly."
Pandemic-linked inflation is pushing up the price of food and fuel. And it's expected to worsen as shortages of fertilizer for crops could cut wheat yields, just as global prices skyrocket amid the Russian invasion.
"Inflation has become unbearable. What can people do, except cry, or curse him?" mechanic Muhammad Zubair, 35, who lives in the capital, Islamabad, says of the prime minister.
There are troubles with the Taliban next door
Khan's troubles are also closely tied to events across the country's western border. The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August underscored his sympathy for the group, as he told an audience that the regime change meant that Afghans had "broken the shackles of slavery." The remarks only served to fray already fraught relations with Washington.
Khan also seems to have infuriated some in the military with his foreign policy decisions, such as finding himself in Moscow meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the very day the invasion of Ukraine began.
"The relationship started to see some cracks," Afzal says.
For others who support Khan, he is seen as a straight-talker who has helped the poor through instituting health insurance schemes and cash payments. He is contrasted with many other Pakistani political leaders who are widely viewed as corrupt.
"He is not like thieves who are making money for themselves and their children. Imran Khan cares about the entire country," Fazl-e-Wadood, a 28-year-old laborer with seven children in Islamabad, says, adding that his support for Khan is so strong that he would "even sacrifice my life" for the prime minister.
Kahn has attracted sympathy too from Pakistanis tired of their lawmakers jumping ship as political winds shift. It is so common that one newspaper editorial even dubbed Pakistan a "lotacracy" playing on the word "lota" – a vessel used by Pakistanis to wash themselves after using the toilet. The word can also be used as to mean a political turncoat.
Political instability, although not uncommon in Pakistan, is always cause for concern in the nuclear-armed nation of more than 220 million people, which has been ruled by generals for nearly half its history.
In the latest case of Khan, the military's apparent abandonment of the prime minister is all the more stark, given that he's widely seen as beholden to the army for his present position.
Ahead of the 2018 election, Amnesty International described a crackdown on media and analysts said was a campaign to beat down allies of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif himself was disqualified from politics in 2017, following a corruption scandal surrounding his family.
Essentially, the military "rigged the elections to bring Imran Khan to power," says the journalist Sethi.
Khan's PTI denies such claims, pointing to the party's widespread popularity among the country's conservative middle class.
But even after the polls, when Khan was unable to form a majority government, Sethi and others say the military nudged smaller parties into a supporting coalition. In fact, Khan's government was so closely intertwined with the military that it was described by many as "hybrid rule," says Zahid Hussain, an author and columnist for the English daily Dawn. "The military was part of the power arrangement which has worked for the last three and a half years."
Khan is perceived by many as mismanaging the economy, as well as rule of Pakistan's most populous Punjab province, where he appointed a political nobody as chief minister.
He was insulated by the army's support. But then, Sethi and other analysts say, the military began distancing itself from Khan amid a series of perceived missteps.
Sharif's tirade "crossed of the Rubicon"
A turning point was a tirade by Sharif, the disqualified prime minister who remains one of Pakistan's most popular political figures. He boldly called out the military by name — accusing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and the former former head of Pakistan's powerful intelligence service, Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, of engineering Khan's rise to power.
"Who is responsible for the destructiveness of this incompetent government of Imran?" asked Sharif in a speech aired in October 2020.
Sethi describes Sharif's speech as having "crossed the Rubicon," in a country where officials and media only refer to the military's role in politics indirectly and euphemistically, using code such as "the establishment," "invisible hands," and even "the department of agriculture."
"Everybody, frankly, was shocked," Sethi says of Sharif's public shaming. "That's when I think the military began to squirm."
Tensions bubbled to the surface after reports emerged that Khan refused for weeks to sign off on a transfer for Hameed, the intelligence chief. The Brookings Institution's Afzal says the move was "seen as [Khan] trying to assert his power as prime minister."
"Many of us wondered at that point, what it would cost him," she says. "It was a matter of embarrassment for the military."
Because the military has long insisted that it doesn't interfere in politics, just how it signaled its loss of faith in Khan isn't clear, but the army was "forced to pull itself out of the fray," says Hussain, the columnist and author.
The military claims to be neutral
Khan himself alluded to the army's reversal or "neutrality" as it is referred to in Pakistan, when the prime minister raged at a rally this week: "When there is a battle between good and evil, then God asks us not to be neutral. Only animals are neutral."
The army's stance appears to have ignited momentum for the three largest opposition parties to try to make a decisive move against Khan. They are already thought to have 162 votes in support of the no confidence motion, and the anti-Khan forces think they can peel away enough of his own lawmakers to reach the necessary 172.
About a dozen of Khan's own lawmakers have already rebelled against him, and may vote with the opposition.
Khan's allies have appealed to the Supreme Court, which is now considering whether a lawmaker can defy their own party's instructions.
Right now, Khan is betting heavy on a rally set for Sunday. "I want the entire nation to come out," he said in a special video message. Analysts say he hopes to attract enough people to intimidate wavering lawmakers and coalition allies.
"The government is trying to subvert the whole process by calling their supporters to march on Islamabad and to protest during the session, which means they are threatening the assembly," says Hussain. "All that has created a very, very tricky situation."
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/26/1088749675/pakistans-imran-khan-faces-a-political-showdown-without-the-army-for-support
عدم اعتماد کی تحریک پیش ہو چکی، اب عمران خان کے بھاگنے اور بچنے کا کوئی طریقہ نہیں۔ چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری
چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ عدم اعتماد کی تحریک پیش ہو چکی ہے اپوزیشن کی تعداد
مکمل ہے۔ عمران خان بزدل ہے اور 8مارچ کے بعد بھاگ رہا ہے۔ آج پروسیس شروع ہوگیا ہے۔ ہم سلیکٹڈ حکومت سے صاف و شفاف انتخابات کی طرف بڑھ رہے ہیں۔ پیر کے روز پارلیمنٹ ہاﺅس کے باہر میڈیا سے گفتگو کرتے ہوئے بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ اسپیکر اور ڈپٹی اسپیکر کا رول غیرجمہوری رہا ہے۔ ہم اس کی مذمت کرتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ اب سات روز کے اندر عدم اعتماد کی ووٹنگ ہونی چاہیے۔
عمران خان کے بھاگنے اور بچنے کا کوئی طریقہ نہیں ہے۔ اخبار نویسوں کے سوالات کا جواب دیتے ہوئے چیئرمین پی پی پی نے کہا کہ وزیراعظم کے بعد صوبوں کی طرف توجہ دیں گے۔
ایک سوال کے جواب میں انہوں نے کہا کہ مذہب کا کارڈ استعمال نہیں کرنا چاہیے، مذہب کوئی کارڈ نہیں ہے، یہ ذاتی ایشو ہے۔ سیاست کو مذہب سے نتھی نہیں کر سکتے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ جب یہ حکمران اپنے وعدے پورے نہیں کرتے تو مذہب کا کارڈ استعمال کرتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ وزیراعظم اور وزراءمذہب اور ریاست مدینہ کی بات کرتے ہیں اور ساتھ گالی بھی دیتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ وزیراعظم جا رہے ہیں اور ساتھ جھوٹ بول رہے ہیں۔ ایک سوال کے جواب میں چیئرمین پی پی پی نے کہا کہ ہم چاہتے ہیں کہ تمام پارٹیوں کے ساتھ مل کر کام کریں۔ عمران خان کی حکومت ختم ہو چکی ہے، ایم کیو ایم فیصلہ خود اور وقت پر کرے گی۔ ہم چاہتے ہیں کہ تمام اسٹیک ہولڈرز سے مل کر کام کریں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان کی معیشت اور ترقی کے لئے کراچی کے مسائل پر توجہ دیں۔ ایک سوال کے جواب میں چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی نے کہا کہ پرویز الہی اپنی بات خود کر سکتے ہیں،
حکومت والے ان کی بات نہیں کر سکتے۔ چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی نے کہا کہ ہماری تعداد پوری ہے اور اب پلس میں ہیں۔ ایک سوال کے جواب میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ میرا نہیں خیال کہ کوئی بھی اتحادی حکومت کے ساتھ چل سکتا ہے۔ ایک اور سوال کے جواب میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ ضیاالحق یہاں دفن ہیں اور اس سے ہمارا کوئی کام نہیں ہے۔
عمران خان جاتے جاتے سب کو یاد کر رہے ہیں۔ وزیراعظم کا بھی کہنا ہے کہ آج بھی بھٹو زندہ ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ میں ابھی وزیراعظم کا عہدہ خالی کروانا چاہتا ہوں۔
انہوں نے وزیراعظم کو چیلنج کیا کہ وہ خط دکھا دیں۔ یہ پہلی سازش ہوگی جو خط لکھ کر کی جاتی ہے۔ یہ دنیا کی پہلی سازش ہوئی ہے کہ خط لکھ کر کوئی کرے گا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ کل عمران خان ہارا ہوا شخص لگ رہا تھا آج بھی پرانی باتیں کر رہا ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہر پاکستانی پارلیمنٹ کی طرف دیکھ رہا ہے کہ اس تاریخی مہنگائی، غربت اور بیروزگاری میں کون عمران اور کون عوام کے ساتھ کھڑا ہے۔
چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی نے کہا کہ سیاسی مستقبل کے لئے عوام کا ساتھ دینا ہوگا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ عمران کی نہ حکومت میں کوئی ڈائریکشن تھی اور نہ بعد میں ہوگی۔ انہوں نے بھٹو بننے کے لئے تین سال میں کچھ نہیں کیا، نقل کے لئے بھی عقل کی ضرورت ہوتی ہے۔
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/26704/