#Pakistan #PPP questions why parliament not taken into confidence over talks with TTP

PPP leaders on Friday criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan's statement during an interview in which he said the government was holding talks with some factions of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), terming the move akin to "sprinkling salt on the wounds of martyrs' families" and questioning why parliament was not taken into confidence over such a "sensitive issue".

The party called for the government to clarify in parliament the terms under which the talks were being held.

"حکومت کہتی ہے کہ طالبان کو ایمنسٹی دیں گے۔
آخر حکومت انہیں ایمنسٹی کیسے دے سکتی ہے، طالبان اے پی ایس، شہید بی بی اور ہمارے ہزاروں افراد کی شہادت کا سبب ہیں۔”
سینیٹر شیری رحمان@sherryrehman
3/3 pic.twitter.com/Bt7I5tEsOf

— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) September 29, 2021

Earlier today, PM Imran said the government would "forgive [TTP members] and they [would] become normal citizens" if they lay down arms.

"We might not reach some sort of conclusion or settlement in the end but we are talking," he added.

Reacting to the prime minister's interview, PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman questioned whether PM Imran had "asked parliament what we think about that". She also questioned whether the premier had heard the TTP's response to the government's offer of reconciliation.

Meanwhile, PPP secretary general Nayyar Bokhari termed the prime minister's disclosure that talks were being held a "very sensitive statement" and demanded that a session of parliament be called immediately to discuss it.

"The statement of forgiving TTP [members] is akin to sprinkling salt on the wounds of martyrs' relatives," he said.

Bokhari pointed out that the parliament had been "bypassed" and called on the government to clarify the terms on which the talks were being held.

"Why were parliament and political parties kept uninformed about negotiations with the TTP?" he questioned, adding that a "negative perception" would be built about Pakistan on the international level because of such steps.

In a separate statement, PPP information secretary Shazia Marri said the party "strongly condemned" such a big step by the government without first taking parliament into confidence.

She too termed the prime minister's statement "very sensitive" and said it had raised a number of questions.

"On what basis and under what conditions are talks being held with the TTP? Why was the parliament not taken into confidence? Why did the government feel the need to hold secret talks with the TTP in this way?" she asked. Last month, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had expressed serious concerns about the "potential blowbacks of the developments in Afghanistan as well as the links between Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan".

https://www.dawn.com/news/1649531/ppp-questions-why-parliament-not-taken-into-confidence-over-talks-with-ttp

ISIS-K claims killing of Sikh physician in Pakistan’s Peshawar city

Sardar Satnam Singh, a well-known figure in the Sikh community, was running his clinic ‘Dharmandar Pharmacy' on Charsadda Road in Peshawar. He had been living in the city for the past 20 years.

The Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, dubbed Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K, has claimed responsibility for the killing of a well-known Sikh ‘hakeem’ in Pakistan’s restive northwestern city of Peshawar’Hakeem’ Sardar Satnam Singh (Khalsa), 45, was at his clinic on Thursday when unidentified gunmen barged into his cabin and opened fire at him, police said. The killers managed to escape from the crime scene.

Singh, who practised Unani medicine, received four bullets, died instantly, police said.

In a message posted on social media late on Thursday, the ISIS-K claimed the killing of Singh.

The ISIS-K, which has stepped up attacks in several Afghan cities since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15, had also claimed the deadly suicide attack at Kabul airport on August 26 that killed nearly 170 Afghans and 13 US military personnel.

According to Punjab Police, Singh had arrived in Peshawar from Hassan Abdaal a day earlier.

Singh, a well-known figure in the Sikh community, was running his clinic ‘Dharmandar Pharmacy’ on Charsadda Road in Peshawar. He had been living in the city for the past 20 years.

Singh is survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons.

About 15,000 Sikhs live in Peshawar, mostly in the Jogan Shah neighborhood of the provincial capital. Most of the Sikh community members in Peshawar are involved in business, while some also run pharmacies.In 2018, Charanjit Singh, a prominent Sikh community member, was killed by unknown men in Peshawar. Similarly, news channel anchor Ravinder Singh was killed in 2020 in the city. In 2016, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s National Assembly member Soren Singh was killed in Peshawar.According to the 2017 census, Hindus constitute the largest religious minority in Pakistan. Christians make up the second largest religious minority. The Ahmadis, Sikhs and Parsis are also among the notable religious minorities in Pakistan.

https://indianexpress.com/article/pakistan/sardar-satnam-singh-killing-peshawar-isis-7546768/

"Been Very Honest About Concerns With Pak" Over Terrorist Safe Havens: US

As Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan certainly has equities and responsibilities with respect to terrorism in that part of the world, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.

The US has been very honest about its concerns with Pakistan for a long time about the terrorist safe havens along with the border areas of Afghanistan, the Pentagon has said. Afghanistan and the US have criticised Pakistan in the past for allowing Taliban fighters to cross into Pakistan where they are provided safe havens and also receive medical treatment. "We've been very honest about our concerns with Pakistan for a long time, about the safe havens that exist on their side of the border along that spine. And those concerns are still valid today," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Thursday at a news conference. As Afghanistan's neighbour, Pakistan certainly has equities and responsibilities with respect to terrorism in that part of the world, Mr Kirby said.

"We continue to have candid conversations with Pakistani leaders about our concerns," he said in response to a question.

"I think it's important to continue to remind that the Pakistani people, likewise, have been rendered victim by terrorist threats that emanate from those groups and along that same border," he said.

While Kabul claims that Islamabad is sending thousands of militants to fight in the war-ravaged country and providing safe haven for the Taliban, Pakistan alleges that Afghanistan harbours the anti-Pakistani group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan -- the Pakistani Taliban -- and also the secessionist Balochistan Liberation Army.

Mr Kirby also said that the United States is within its rights to continue drone strikes inside Afghanistan.

"We believe we have the authorities that we need to continue to protect the nation," he said.

The Taliban has accused the US of violating the withdrawal agreement by continuing to fly drones over Afghanistan and warned Americans against doing that in the future.

"We have the authorities that we need to continue to defend our interests and the security of the American people there and around the world, and we're going to do that," John Kirby said.

"Over-the-horizon operations don't always have to include unmanned aerial assets, and they don't. That we use unmanned aerial assets clearly is true, and the Secretary (of Defence) cited one that was just a week or two ago in Syria. But over-the-horizon doesn't have to mean unmanned. It doesn't even always have to mean aviation," he said.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-very-honest-about-its-concerns-on-safe-havens-with-pakistan-says-pentagon-2559774

September inflation edges up to 9% in Pakistan

 

• On a monthly basis, inflation records an increase of 2.1% owing to significant changes in food, housing, construction indices.
• Core inflation surges to 6.4% in urban areas in September, reports the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
• The average inflation rate for July-September of the current fiscal year stands at 8.58%, according to the PBS.

---

The month of September saw a new round of increased prices of consumer items as inflation edged up to 9% from 8.4% in August, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 2.1% owing to significant changes in three indices — food, housing, and construction.

Speaking to Geo.tv, an analyst from Arif Habib Limited, Sana Tawfiq, said that the inflation rate was way above the market expectation.

“A significant increase of 2.1% on a month-on-month basis came on the back of three sectors — food, transport, and housing," she said.

Tawfiq elaborated that the increase in the prices of perishable items in the food group, rising oil prices internationally and locally, and the surge in electricity prices in Pakistan have impacted the three sectors. Resultantly, this impact was significantly observed in the inflation rate.

The national data collection agency has reported the latest inflation figures after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which announced a 25bps hike in the policy rate for the next two months.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which captures prices in the wholesale market, also rose sharply by 19.6% in September compared to 4.3% in the same month a year ago.

The government has set the average inflation target for the ongoing fiscal year at 8.5%, indicating that the year-on-year inflation may remain in double digits in the fiscal year 2021-22.

Tawfiq said that keeping in view the economic indicators, it is expected that inflation will remain on the higher side by the end of this year.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/373445-september-inflation-edges-up-to-9-in-pakistan

چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کٹھ پتلی وزیراعظم عمران خان کی جانب سے پیٹرولیم مصنوعات کی قیمتوں میں اضافے کو مسترد کردیا

 پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کٹھ پتلی وزیراعظم عمران خان کی جانب سے پیٹرولیم مصنوعات کی قیمتوں میں اضافے کو مسترد کردیا ہے۔ میڈیا سیل بلاول ہاوَس کی جانب سے جاری کردہ بیان کے مطابق پی پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ عوام پہلے ہی تاریخی مہنگائی کی آگ میں جل رہے ہیں، اور اب پیٹرولیم مصنوعات کی قیمتوں میں مزید اضافہ کرنا، مہنگائی کے شعلوں کو ہوا دینے کے مترادف ہے۔ 

انہوں نے کہا کہ معیشت برباد کرنے کے بعد پی ٹی آئی حکومت کے لیئے پیٹرولیم مصنوعات پر ٹیکس و محصولات آمدنی کا اہم ذریعہ ہیں۔ چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ عمران خان کی حکومت میں عوام ریلیف اور کسی اچھی خبر سننے کے لیئے ترس گئے، کیونکہ موجودہ حکومت کی جانب سے ملک میں لوٹ مار سیل جاری ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ خان صاحب نے اپنا تین سالہ دورِ اقتدار صرف عوام کا تیل نکالنے پر ضائع کردیا، اور فائدہ صرف اے ٹی ایمز کو عطا کیا ہے۔

 انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ سلیکٹڈ وزیراعظم عمران خان کو وسیع تر قومی مفاد میں ایک اور یوٹرن لینا چاہیئے، اور اپنی پالیسیوں کو 180 ڈگری پر موڑ دینا چاہیئے۔ چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے مطالبہ کیا کہ پیٹرولیم مصنوعات کی قیمتوں میں ہوشربا اضافہ اور ان پر عائد اضافی ٹیکس و محصولات بلاتاخیر واپس لیئے جائیں۔

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/25542/ 

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#Pakistan - Curbing media independence

 By Usama Khilji

@UsamaKhilji

THERE has been a lot of talk by government ministers and on social media about the menace of ‘fake news’ — a term for misinformation and disinformation popularised by former US president Trump to delegitimise media criticism against him — and how the near mysterious Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) proposal is the saviour we have all been waiting for so that Pakistanis can finally access authentic information. Does this assumption hold legitimacy?

The PMDA is also said to be the solution to all the problems faced by the Pakistani media — delayed salaries, wage determination, content moderation, etc but the supporters of this proposal, mostly only the proposers themselves as the proposed ordinance has been rejected by all major stakeholders including journalist bodies, bar councils, civil society groups, digital media collectives, etc are conveniently overlooking two major factors.

First, the state has played a major role in contributing to the financial crunch the media faces, as well as the dismal state of media freedom in the country. The state covertly stopped distribution of newspapers that merely reported events that took place in government meetings, had cable operators take television channels that were critical of state policies to the end of the channel list, and stopped advertising in these channels and newspapers that were critical, which undermined the right to information of readers and viewers of government messaging apart from leading to salary cuts only because the journalists chose to stick to reporting the truth rather than toeing the state’s line. Such acts created an environment where only media platforms willing to do public relations for the state have been able to function freely, with anchors even there feeling pressure to toe a certain line.

Read: This is the first govt that has left media completely independent, says PM Imran

Major opposition figures have been barred from appearing on television, and anchors that asked tough questions have lost their jobs one by one, in most cases their production crews going down with them as well. I have been asked by television producers to ‘please keep our jobs in mind’ when commenting on issues deemed unpleasant by the state, clearly pointing to the chilling effect all these acts have had on the media where self-censorship is now routine and jobs are held hostage.

The way forward lies in working with the media and accepting its responsibility and rights.

Second, the PMDA in its current form will cause further job insecurity in the media. When media organisations have to renew licences every year — much like how non-governmental organisations have had to do in the past few years — at the whim of a state-controlled regulator, they will constantly be navigating a thin line, walking on eggshells, and reflecting all other associated idioms that describe a media having a gun held to its head in the form of licence non-renewal, exorbitant fines or jail terms for violating government-mandated terms. The media organisations and their employees that choose to stay independent will have to suffer more.

Should the media be regulated by the very state that the media is supposed to hold accountable? The answer is a no-brainer, but state propaganda is washing logic away. A Grade 22 officer of the government has no business heading a ‘ministry of truth’, and should remain the figment of a fictional Orwellian state. The PMDA also will have its own tribunal that can only be appealed against at the Supreme Court, again creating hurdles in the way of due process, and lending an additional portfolio of arbitration of truth to the state-run regulator.

This brings us to the menace of ‘fake news’. Misinformation is often news that is inaccurate or false and shared without the intention to deceive. Disinformation, on the other hand, is information that is shared to deliberately deceive and mislead the public. Whereas the news media is of course given to errors, and disinformation can also be fed through it, the state is in no position to arbitrate the truth. The state has a strong information apparatus through which it can publicise its own version of matters, including on digital and social media.

More importantly, what will be the consequences of disinformation being shared by state officials and institutions? Branding citizens as traitors without any proof, spreading rumours about political opponents, deliberately delegitimising journalists and activists that report facts and hold the state accountable, and spreading propaganda. Even Fatima Jinnah was accused of being a ‘foreign agent’ by dictator Ayub Khan with no evidence in order to win an election, so such tactics are not new either. Not to forget ministers accusing opposition members of smuggling drugs, claiming there are videos, but never making them public. Will there ever be accountability for such excesses and partisan propaganda?

The way forward rests in working with the media and accepting its responsibility and rights provided by the Constitution. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, the All Pakistan Newspaper Society, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association and the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors have put up a united front rejecting the PMDA, held a protest outside parliament during the president’s address to a joint sitting, and the government is now holding consultations with a range of stakeholders on the PMDA.

What was the purpose of the information ministry in creating such a hullabaloo? Why does the government not consult stakeholders first, like the human rights ministry did for the journalists’ protection bill when it comes to these regulatory proposals? And will the consultations take the feedback into account, or will it be another eyewash to borrow legitimacy and then go ahead with what was decided before? Neither is going to be easy, but the state must make apparent its desire to protect the media and work with it to strengthen accountability in Pakistan rather than just protect its own reputation.

Media groups are fully capable of strengthening their own code of conduct for fact-checking, and for regulating rights and wages of their workers which is of utmost importance. If they do not act, the state may abuse this loophole to occupy further space as it is attempting to right now.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1648890/curbing-media-independence 

US generals express concern over Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal in wake of Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

Top US generals are claiming that they had warned US President Joe Biden that a rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan could increase risks to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and the country’s security.

“We estimated an accelerated withdrawal would increase risks of regional instability, the security of Pakistan and its nuclear arsenals,” Chairman of the Joint Chief General Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

“We need to fully examine the role of Pakistan sanctuary,” the general said, while emphasising the need to probe how the Taliban withstood US military pressure for 20 years.General Milley and General Frank McKenzie, the leader of US Central Command, also warned that the Taliban Pakistan will now have to deal with would be different from the one they dealt with earlier, and this would complicate their relations.“I believe Pakistan's relationship with the Taliban is going to become significantly more complicated as a result of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan,” General McKenzie told the lawmakers.

Vital air corridor

The Centcom chief also said that the US and Pakistan were involved in ongoing negotiations over the use of a vital air corridor to access Afghanistan.“Over the last 20 years we've been able to use what we call the air boulevard to go in over western Pakistan and that's become something that’s vital to us, as well as certain landlines of communication,” he said.“And we'll be working with the Pakistanis in the days and weeks ahead to look at what that relationship is going to look like in the future.”

Both generals, however, declined to discuss more on their concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and the potential that they could fall into the hands of terrorists.

They said they would discuss this and other sensitive issues in a closed session with the senators.

'Built a state, not a nation'

Earlier in the hearing, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told the senators that while the US helped build a state, they failed to build the Afghan nation and that’s why they could not see the collapse that happened in mid-August.This was the first testimony by US generals before Congress since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan ended America's longest war.“We helped build a state, but we could not forge a nation," said Secretary Austin, while responding to a question from the committee’s chairman Senator Jack Reed.“We absolutely missed the rapid 11-day collapse of the Afghan military and the collapse of their government,” General Milley added.

“Most of (our) intelligence assessments indicated that would occur late fall, perhaps early winter; Kabul might hold till next spring.”

But he acknowledged that military assessments did indicate that the “likely outcome” of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan would be “a collapse of the military, a collapse of the government”.

'Uncomfortable truths' Secretary Austin urged Americans to “consider some uncomfortable truths” before blaming anyone for the fall of Kabul.

“We did not fully comprehend the depth of corruption and poor leadership in their senior ranks, we did not grasp the damaging effect of frequent and unexplained rotations by president Ashraf Ghani of his commanders,” he added. “We didn't anticipate the snowball effect caused by the deals that Taliban commanders struck with local leaders in the wake of the Doha agreement, and that the Doha agreement itself had a demoralising effect on Afghan soldiers.” The Americans, he said, also failed to understand that Afghan soldiers did not have the motivation to fight for a corrupt government.

“We failed to fully grasp that there was only so much for which — and for whom — many of the Afghan forces would fight,” he said.

General Miley noted that the vast majority of Afghan troops “put their weapons down and melted away in a very, very short period of time.”

He too blamed the previous Afghan government for failing to inspire the soldiers.

“I think that has to do with leadership, and I think we still need to try to figure out exactly why that was. […] we clearly missed that.”

The top US general provided a 12 to 36 month timeline for terror groups such as Al-Qaeda or IS-K to reconstitute in "ungoverned spaces" and attempt to attack the US homeland.

Secretary Austin said the US still maintains "over the horizon" capabilities, which he defined as "assets and target analysis that occur outside the country in which the operation occurs".

General Milley acknowledged that the Afghanistan war did not end in the way the US wanted.

"It is clear — it is obvious — the war in Afghanistan did not end on the terms we wanted with the Taliban now in power in Kabul," he told the senators.

Claiming that the Taliban was and remains a terrorist organisation, the top US general said: “It remains to be seen whether or not the Taliban can consolidate power or if the country will further fracture into civil war.”

https://www.dawn.com/

‘Living in a cave is no life’: Pakistani villagers trapped by Taliban and poverty

By Oliver Marsden

Seven years after fleeing army clashes with militants, 100 families eking out an existence on a hillside near the Afghan border are unable to return home.

“Don’t talk to me about the government. They don’t help.”

Ninety-year-old Shah Mast is angry. He has been living in the cave he calls home for seven years, ever since an offensive by the Pakistan army against the Islamist militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) destroyed his home.

“I swear to God, no one has helped us. No charity or anything,” he says.

In 2014, the Pakistani army began an offensive against insurgents in the Tirah valley close to Afghanistan, after negotiations with the militants broke down. What followed was a violent campaign to root out the fighters, whose main objective is to overthrow the Pakistani government. In August 2017, Lt Gen Asif Ghafoor announced the mission complete, but the battle continues today. While the Taliban was sweeping to power in neighbouring Afghanistan a month ago, the TTP carried out more attacks against the Pakistan army in the border region of North Waziristan, just south of Tirah. In September alone, 10 soldiers were killed in TTP attacks. The recent US withdrawal from Afghanistan threatens to fuel instability in the mountainous border region, meaning those displaced may never be able to return home.

The Pakistani government in Islamabad is refusing to grant the families the status of internally displaced people (IDPs) as officials say they can return home. But the army will not let them return while the fighting continues. Even if they were allowed, many families living in the caves could not afford the journey and their homes have been destroyed.

Militant Islamist groups around the world have been emboldened by what they see as the Taliban victory over the US, but none more so than those in Pakistan. On 5 September, a suicide bomber drove his motorcycle into a Frontier Corps post in Quetta, a city in Balochistan province, killing at least four of the paramilitary force and injuring 18 civilians. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack. On 20 September, the England men’s and women’s cricket teams called off their tour of Pakistan, citing security concerns.

Furthermore, Afghanistan’s access to financial resources, such as grants and loans, has been frozen by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank after the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Without the funds to purchase goods from Pakistan and with foreign direct investment – a major source of external financing in developing countries – being severely curtailed, Pakistan’s economic woes look likely to intensify. According to the World Bank, Pakistan’s rate of inflation is close to 10%, nearly 4 percentage points above that of war-torn Afghanistan. As a country reliant on imports, including energy and now food, Pakistan is dangerously susceptible to the price fluctuations that drive inflation. Sitting on his bed in the hot and airless cave, Mast says he and his family are in trouble. With rising inflation and a lack of daily labouring work for his sons, the family are struggling to feed themselves. He has three wives and 21 children – nine sons and 12 daughters. One of his sons is still able to find work in a nearby quarry and another is a shepherd. He says he would have liked his daughters to be educated and to work, but this has not been an option.

“We can’t afford food, so how could we afford books?” Mast was forced to flee his village in the Tirah valley of Pakistan with about 50 members of his extended family. He travelled on foot, first crossing over the border to Nangarhar in Afghanistan, before crossing back into Pakistan and finally settling more than 80 miles (130km) from his home in the cave complex close to the village of Charwazgi Mulankali, near Peshawar.

The journey was a gruelling one. He and his family walked for three days over the harsh rocky landscape. They led the goats and sheep saved from the attacks, but lost many of them on the journey. According to Mast, there was no warning from the army of their impending attack and the animals were all they had time to take.

“We had to leave late at night when the strikes started. We left everything behind.”

Perched above an arid riverbed and pockmarked across the rugged hillside, the cave complex houses about 100 families, all from Tirah. The dark caves keep their heat in the winter and stay cool in the summer, fortunately for the residents as temperatures can reach 40C (104F) in Peshawar. Inside the caves, families hang colourful sheets and fabric over the walls for decoration and to conserve the heat. Each home relies on solar power for electricity and Mast hangs a single lightbulb and a small fan from the ceiling above his bed. Outside, soot climbs the walls from the fire lit daily for cooking. Fire pits and small clay ovens are dug into the ground outside the caves belonging to the women. Water is scarce, collected from a single well. For food, Mast and his family either sell or kill one of his son’s flock, or walk across the rocky riverbed and up the hill opposite to the highway that connects Peshawar to Jalalabad, where a scattering of shops line the road.

Aftab Ali, 14, sits in a dark and sparsely decorated cave he shares with his parents and three siblings. Aftab wants to go to university to study medicine but with his family facing such hardship, he does not think that will now be possible. His father used to juggle two jobs as a day labourer and a nightwatchman at the industrial estate in nearby Bara, but his daytime work has all dried up. Aftab and his family have a similar story to Mast’s. Once fighting broke out between the TTP and the army, they were forced to flee and walked the same journey from Tirah to Charwazgi Mulankali.

As the midday heat rises from the dry riverbed below the caves, young girls dressed in the traditional brown burqa begin to flow down the hillside from the local madrasa, or Islamic school. Aftab’s neighbour, Khayal Muhammad, watches them and laughs when he says the name of the village – Charwazgi Mulankali means the “village of scholars”. The irony is not lost on him.

“There is only one primary school in the area. The problem is no one can afford the transport to get to the secondary school.” Muhammad is less concerned with the financial situation than with the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan. The increased security threat is hampering his chances of returning home.

“Almost all the people living here in the caves want to go home, but the army won’t let us back as the situation is not safe,” he says.

“The army didn’t have enough intelligence. When the villagers came out of their homes the army thought they were TTP.” Pakistan’s financial woes, and the prospect of an emboldened TTP wreaking havoc across the country, mean it is likely that the families will have to wait longer to return home. If the government recognised the community from Tirah as IDP, they might receive aid. Until then, Muhammad’s demands are simple: “Either recognise us as internally displaced people or allow us back to our homes. Living in limbo in a cave is no life.” https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/29/living-in-a-cave-is-no-life-pakistani-villagers-trapped-by-taliban-and-poverty

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It's time to pull the plug on our toxic relationship with Pakistan

BY ARTHUR HERMAN

There’s a familiar saying: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. “Fool me three times, however, and all is forgiven” has become a good description of U.S. policy toward Pakistan in the post-Cold War era.

For more than three decades, our supposed ally in South Asia has systematically lied to and manipulated successive presidential administrations — Republican and Democratic — in ways that have made the U.S. and the world less safe. Islamabad has been the recipient of more than $33 billion in American assistance since 2002, including $14 billion to combat terrorism and insurgents in the region even while Pakistan has been busily doing the opposite.

In the wake of the debacle of withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, it’s time to radically reassess our policy toward Pakistan. It’s time for policymakers, past and present, to explain why we continue to provide assistance to a country that cozies up to our enemies; has proliferated nuclear technology to some of the worst governments on earth; and has betrayed our friendship time and again.

Fool me once? That was when Pakistan, having violated commitments to the U.S. in the 1980s to not build a nuclear weapon, not only did so but proceeded to proliferate that knowledge via the A.Q. Khan network. That proliferation network secretly armed North Korea, and would have armed Iraq and Libya if the U.S. hadn’t intervened.

Fool me twice? Following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan gave safe haven to the most wanted man in the War on Terror, Osama bin Laden, for nearly a decade until U.S. special forces tracked him down in 2011. In addition, Pakistan’s military and secret service have continuously protected and assisted terrorist groups, including the Haqqani network and the Taliban, even as U.S. and NATO forces were fighting and dying to suppress the same groups.

The third egregious breach in trust has been Pakistan’s increasingly cozy ties to China. The government accepted a $60 billion handout from China in 2013, formalizing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as part of China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. Today, Pakistan is all but a Chinese client state. For example, we know that China is training Pakistan’s intelligence services and that the People’s Liberation Army and Pakistani army are forging close links, including conducting joint military exercises and buying Chinese tanks, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other military equipment.

These aren’t the actions of an ally. The sad truth is, Pakistan has been playing a clever double game with the U.S., which has paid off handsomely for Islamabad but not for the peace and security of the region.

Given that history, and in the wake of Pakistan’s support of the Taliban and its top security chief’s journey to Kabul to bless the new Afghan government, Washington should stop sales of military equipment to Pakistan and all economic assistance, and induce allies such as Britain and Saudi Arabia to do the same; migrate Pakistan from the “grey list” to the “black list” for the Financial Action Task Force’s sanctions against countries providing funding for terrorism, alongside Iran and North Korea; and impose sanctions on individual Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan Army officials, including suspending travel to the U.S. and freezing bank assets, just as we do with other officials involved in state-sponsored terrorism networks.Of course, Pakistan holds a wild card that, until now, has been the excuse for staying America’s hand: its nuclear arsenal. Critics argue that taking tough actions against Islamabad will encourage its leaders to “go rogue” with their nuclear program, including possibly supplying terrorist groups with nuclear technology.

The fact is, Pakistan has been somewhat of a rogue nuclear player for some time. It never has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Indeed, as the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs have demonstrated, there are always clandestine steps that can be taken that will limit or thwart Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions — provided the U.S. has the will to use them.

The situation in Pakistan is not entirely bleak. There are those in the army and political institutions who understand that their country’s cozying up to terrorist groups, and to China, can only damage their country in the long term. As John Bolton put it in a recent Washington Post article, “Pakistan is the only government consisting simultaneously of arsonists and firefighters.” U.S. policy needs to encourage the firefighters to put the arsonists permanently out of business. So far, our pandering has allowed Pakistan to help set the rest of the region on fire. It’s time to make Pakistan realize we no longer will treat them as a friend or ally, until and unless they stop behaving like an enemy.

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/573686-its-time-to-pull-the-plug-on-our-toxic-relationship-with-pakistan

Need to fully examine Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan: US General Mark Milley

Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, DC. The US general called upon the need to examine the role of Pakistan in Afghanistan. (Bloomberg)

Pakistan’s close links with the Taliban and the Haqqani Network have been on full display since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul. The top official of the ISI was in Kabul at the time the Taliban were to announce a caretaker government.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been batting for the new regime and appealed to the world community in his address to the UN General Assembly last week to legitimise the regime and said it would be a “win-win situation” for everyone if the world community “incentivises them, and encourages them” to deliver on their promise to form an inclusive government, protect basic rights of all Afghans including women, children and minorities, and prevent their territory from being used by terror groups.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/need-to-fully-examine-pakistan-s-role-in-afghanistan-us-general-mark-milley-101632853569411.html

Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari appoints Gen (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch as Coordinator on Balochistan Affairs

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has appointed Gen (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch as Coordinator on Balochistan Affairs.

A notification in this regard was issued from the Chairman’s Secretariat by his Political Secretary Jameel Soomro here today.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/25536/

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Video Report - د آشنا تلویزیون د دوشنبې خپرونه د ۲۰۲۱ د سپتمبر ۲۷ - تلې ۵

Fissure widens between Pakistani Army and ISI chiefs over control in Afghanistan

The tussle between Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and ISI chief Lt General Faiz Hameed has come to a point where the former has been trying to remove the latter from his post, as per sources in the intelligence agencies.

As Pakistan attempts to assert its influence in Kabul, there is a major tussle going on between Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Faiz Hameed.Sources in the intelligence agencies said the tussle has come to a point where the Pakistan Army chief has been trying to remove Hameed from his post, but has not been able to do so due to the strong influence of the Pakistani spy agency.

“Over the years, ISI have nurtured and taken care of Taliban leaders and used them to run their interest and operations inside Afghanistan. Now, when the Taliban are in government, the Pakistan Army also wants to influence the decisions there, which is being resisted by the ISI,” sources told India Today.

The ISI has strong links with the Taliban leaders, including different factions including the Haqqani group which occupies a strong position in the new Afghanistan government. ISI also has men on ground in Afghanistan, with warlords and other key players, as per sources.Most of the Taliban factions and their leaders have also allegedly fought against the US using the ISI safe houses in Peshawar and Quetta.

Pakistan Army chief Bajwa has also been trying to push his agenda there, but Faiz Hameed has not allowed it to happen, the sources said.

The sources added that Pakistan’s attempt in interfering in Afghanistan’s new government has also resulted in fissures inside Taliban grouping. Due to ISI, the Taliban are also reportedly finding issues over each and every decision that they have to take on establishing links with foreign countries. Sources said that the ISI also wants a share of the money or aid that Afghans are to receive from western nations.

Pakistan has always considered Afghanistan to be its B team and always tried to use it for having a strategic depth while dealing with India militarily, sources said, added that the Taliban factions are also fighting for control.

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/fissure-widens-pak-army-isi-chiefs-over-control-in-afghanistan-1855421-2021-09-21

Taliban could get nukes from Pakistan due to Afghan withdrawal - Bolton

US President Joe Biden's widely-criticized military withdrawal from Afghanistan could lead to the Taliban, the country's new Islamist rulers, obtaining nuclear weapons from Pakistan, former US national security advisor John Bolton said Sunday on the WABC 770 radio station. Bolton, who served as national security advisor under then-President Donald Trump, said it was possible that these nuclear weapons could be obtained from Pakistan should Islamist insurgents get ahold of them.

He criticized Biden's withdrawal from the country, which allowed the Taliban to rapidly take over, bringing it once again under Islamist rule.

Since serving as Trump's national security advisor, Bolton has become a vocal critic of American foreign policy, in addition to being critical of his former boss. He has also been vocal in his views of US policies regarding the Middle East, especially Iran, and has expressed his support of Israel's right to act in its own security interests.

In particular, he has voiced strong support for preemptive strikes against hostile regimes, specifically Iran and North Korea.

Bolton also had plenty to compliment Biden for, however, specifically regarding the nuclear submarine deal with Australia. The deal, he explained, was an example of a broader US response to China. This does not mean that Washington is giving Australia nuclear missiles, just nuclear submarines.

"These are what we call hunter-killer submarines," Bolton explained to WABC 770, saying that it allows the US through Australia to watch China as it builds up a significant naval force that could, in theory, allow it to go after Taiwan or enter the Indian Ocean. “It’s a huge step forward for us in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean," he said: "It’s a real signal to China that we are determined not to let them just run wild.”

https://www.jpost.com/international/taliban-could-get-nukes-from-pakistan-due-to-afghan-withdrawal-bolton-680405

#Pakistan #PPP - Mission of PPP is to serve masses, says Bilawal

Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah called on chairman Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday, Dunya News reported.According to sources, Nasir Shah briefed chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the performance of the Local Government Department during the meeting which was held at the Bilawal House.

Speaking on the occasion, Bilawal Bhutto said that the performance of PPP in Sindh is better than all other provincial governments.

Bilawal said that the mission of the Pakistan People’s Party is to serve the people and added that we will continue to do our job to solve the problems of the masses.

Sources further said that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari directed Nasir Shah not to leave any stone unturned in resolving the problems of the people.

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/621499-Mission-of-PPP-is-to-serve-masses,-says-Bilawal

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Video Report - #Afghanistan #Pakistan #Taliban 'An investment in terror' - What role does Pakistan play in the Taliban's resurgence?

Video Report - صحافی وارث رضا نے اپنے اغوا کے دوران ہونے والے سلوک کے بارے سب بتا دیا،ایم جے ٹی وی پر خصوصی انٹرویو

Pakistani Minorities ask government to protect their communal property

 By Shafique Khokhar

An amendment to a 2001 ordinance threatens to multiply cases of illegal occupation. Christians, Sikhs and Hindus worried about their historic places of prayer. Civil society and religious leaders are calling for the restitution of stolen property.

Human rights activists and lawyers and religious leaders are asking the government to protect the communal property and places of worship belonging to minorities. The appeal came on September 23 during a conference organised by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), during which participants dennounced that an amendment to the 2001 Ordinance on the Protection of Community Property risks multiplying cases of illegal occupation of property belonging to minorities.

Christians, Sikhs and Hindus fear that proposed changes to the law will deprive them of valuable historical property.  According to Peter Jacob, director of the SECJ, the repeated attacks on sacred places cause great suffering and social unrest.

Historian Yaqoob Khan Bangash emphasised the social value of the common property of minorities, which should be safeguarded from corruption, the 'land mafia' and the government itself. Albert David, member of the Commission for Minority Rights, expressed the same view, calling for a total ban on the sale of community property. Humphrey Peters, Protestant bishop of Peshawar, on the other hand, pointed out that the rights of minorities are explicitly protected by the Pakistani Constitution.

In addition to blocking parliamentary approval of the amendments to the 2001 ordinance, the conference rapporteurs call on the authorities to take action to ensure that illegally stolen property is returned to the affected minorities.

The government should also act to address religious intolerance and ensure protection for minorities, as stipulated in a 2014 Supreme Court ruling.

According to various sources, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Shiites are the most discriminated against minorities in Pakistan, a country of 212 million people, most of whom are ethnic Punjabis and Sunni Muslims.

http://asianews.it/news-en/Minorities-ask-government-to-protect-their-communal-property-54143.html

Pakistan will be exposed to international recrimination if the Taliban revert to their old ways.

By Abbas Nasir

WHILE the ramifications of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan are far from clear at this point, what can be said with certainty is that Pakistan appears ill-equipped to deal with the challenges that regional developments can potentially throw up.

Claiming vindication of the military strategists’ long-held view and policy on Afghanistan is one thing; buckling down to what changes that ‘win’ can bring and the need for fleet-footed policy responses is altogether another.

The US rightly got slammed for the manner in which it announced its departure from Afghanistan and executed the pullout. The Taliban saw it as a huge win with some justification as they had faced the US military might for two decades.

The Taliban fought the hi-tech juggernaut with small arms, improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers. Even if they found a few sanctuaries, succour and counsel in the erstwhile tribal areas of neighbouring Pakistan, during those 20 years, the win was theirs and theirs alone.

Pakistan will be exposed to international recrimination if the Taliban revert to their old ways.

Since they see the win as theirs alone, they don’t seem to be in the mood to listen to anyone including Pakistan, long seen by the international community as a benefactor and protector of the Afghan militant group with extraordinary influence over it.

The reality was evident when a senior Taliban leader in an address whose clips were shared on social media responded harshly to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for an inclusive government in Kabul. He used rather strong language and called into question the latter’s democratic credentials.

Of course, this is not to say Pakistan has zero leverage over the Taliban but merely to underline the complexity of the Afghan situation with different elements of the militant group such as the military and political pulling in different directions.

The success of the Taliban’s military and terror campaign, experts said, was also due to decentralised command structure. From recruitment, training to planning, targeting and executing attacks a lot was left to the local commanders.

Now that the task is to run the country and present a unified whole, that autonomy is proving difficult to curtail as is evident in old-style Taliban system of summary ‘justice’ ie brutal punishments and confining women, even schoolgirls, to quarters in so many areas of the country.

Understandably, this may be the view of the apologists who also maintain that the reborn Taliban leadership is not anything like what the world witnessed when they took power in 1996. Pakistan is among those nations that are pumping out this message daily.

Pakistan may be advocating global engagement with the ‘changed’ Taliban and arguing for Western funds to flow to Afghanistan to ward off hunger that large swaths of the population will soon be facing so that a flood of refugees doesn’t come knocking at its door soon.

But in the process it is also giving an undertaking of sorts that the Taliban will behave in a certain manner over the coming months and in the future. Ergo, leaving itself exposed to international recriminations if Kabul’s new rulers revert to their old ways.

In these columns over the past weeks, we have already discussed the new US priority: encirclement of China. Whether the Taliban defeated the US or the latter decided to refocus its energies and priorities on its new enemy is difficult to tell.

What is not is that from AUKUS to the Quad contacts and initiatives, the Biden administration now seems to have its sight set on one goal. As it tries to restrict China’s growing footprint in the Asia Pacific region and beyond, the US sees India as one of its main partners.

Pakistan’s astute military planners, I am sure, are already gaming multiple scenarios and the policy responses to those. However, one major piece is missing from the jigsaw. The importance of that piece can’t be mentioned enough.

It is the need for a consensus within the country on both the challenges and the response to those. National security and large chunks of foreign policy decisions are being made by the military, more than in the past, in the incumbent set-up which some of its key supporters call hybrid.

Neither parliament nor key opposition leaders have been consulted in any meaningful way in the past so many weeks. The odd briefing to a handful of parliamentary committee members at GHQ is not the same as seeking input from elected members representing the popular will.

However, that is proving difficult as with two years to go before elections, the governing party is not willing to lift its foot off the confrontation pedal as it believes that castigating and hounding the opposition for even uncommitted sins is a winning formula.

And if doing that vitiates the environment and divides society, it is a small price to pay. While the PTI government is easier to blame because of its leaders’ inflammatory statements and its visible persecution of opposition leaders, its backers are not.

This, despite the fact that in a hybrid set-up responsibility has to be shared by all partners for all actions. Talking of responsibility, the opposition is not blameless either. It is terribly fragmented and now seems to be fighting for crumbs off the ‘head table’ and is content with what it can pick up.

The main opposition PML-N and its top leaders have played the ‘good cop, bad cop’ game so many times that it has lost its utility. If I were a supporter of the party I’d be totally confused regarding its direc­­tion and whether to offer a fight or flight response.

The PML-N has chosen to appease a few it deems powerful at great cost. The most obvious being treated no better than a doormat more or less like the PPP also chose to do so. With new regional realities and the country’s economy tanking, one is left at the mercy of unaccountable institutions, decision-makers and hoping for miracles.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1648461/hoping-for-miracles

Fire Imran Khan or the speech writer? People ask after Pakistan PM’s mujahideen claim at UNGA

REVATHI KRISHNAN

At the UNGA forum, Khan said the ‘mujahideen’ were considered ‘heroes’ and that former US President Ronald Reagan had invited them to the White House.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is in a fix once again, and this time regarding his comments at the United Nations General Assembly. At the UNGA forum, Khan said the ‘mujahideen’ were considered ‘heroes’ and that former US President Ronald Reagan had invited them to the White House.

“…According to a news item, he (Reagan) compared them (mujahideens) to the founding fathers of the United States. They were heroes!” Khan is reported to have said.

PM Khan’s comments were met with harsh criticism. Pakistani journalist Gharidah Farooqi said it was an ‘international embarrassment’ that he was quoting from ‘fake news’ to launch Pakistan at the UNGA. She also called for the firing of his speech writer.

Among those who lashed out at Khan was Pakistan Opposition leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who said, “Fire Imran Khan, not the speech writer. Bad SELECTION!”

Meanwhile, academician and former Afghan diplomat Mahmoud Saikal said that Khan’s defense was poor and most of his facts were wrong. “The days of plausible deniability are over. The exposure of Pakistan will continue,” he tweeted.Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, on the other hand, pointed out that this was not the first time Imran Khan had been caught claiming that Ronald Reagan had invited the mujahideen to the White House. She tweeted that he had made a similar claim in 2019 at an event of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Indian diplomat’s response

The Pakistan PM also got a strong reply from Indian diplomat Sneha Dubey, who said that Khan had tarnished the image of the international forum by bringing in “internal matters and spewing falsehoods.” She asserted that terrorists enjoy a “free pass”, while those targeted by them (especially those coming from minority communities) had their worlds turned upside down. She alleged that Khan continued to defend acts of terror, which was unacceptable. “This is the country which is an arsonist disguising itself as a fire-fighter,” she said.

https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/fire-imran-khan-or-the-speech-writer-people-ask-after-pakistan-pms-mujahideen-claim-at-unga/740330/

جمہوریت کیلئے جدوجہد کی تاریخ نصراللہ خان کے تذکرے کے بغیر ادھوری رہے گی، بلاول بھٹو

پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی (پی پی پی) کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا ہے کہ جمہوریت کے لیے جدوجہد کی تاریخ نصراللّٰہ خان کے تذکرے کے بغیر ادھوری رہے گی۔

بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے نوابزاہ نصراللّٰہ خان کی برسی پر پیغام دیتے ہوئے انہیں  خراج عقیدت پیش کیا ہے۔

پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ مرحوم پختہ سوچ رکھنے والے ہمہ گیر شخصیت کے مالک تھے۔

بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ نوابزادہ نصراللّٰہ رواداری اور جمہوری اقدار و روایات کے امین تھے۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/990106

 

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Backing terror will be dangerous for you: Indian PM Narendra Modi's veiled warning to Pakistan on Afghanistan

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday (September 25) and touched upon many important points including the Coronavirus pandemic, climate change, health, technology and terrorism.

Talking about terrorism, PM Modi targeted Pakistan without mentioning its name as he said that countries with "regressive thinking" that are using terrorism as a "political tool" need to understand that terrorism is an equally big threat for them.

He mentioned the current delicate situation of Afghanistan, saying that the world has to ensure that Afghanistan isn't used to "spread terrorism or launch terror attacks".

PM Modi said, "At this time, the people of Afghanistan, women and children, the minorities there, need help, and we must fulfil our responsibility."

In August, the Taliban seized Afghanistan amid a chaotic withdrawal of US troops from the country, leaving it in dire straits with uncertainties over women and children's safety under the brutal Taliban regime. Pakistan has long been accused of providing support for the Taliban, something it denies.

Modi also said that in order to strengthen the rules-based world order, the international community must speak in unison, in an apparent reference to China which is flexing its military muscles in the Indo-Pacific.

Modi hailed the strength of India's diverse and vibrant democracy as in his opening remarks he said that child of a poor tea-seller rose to the country's highest political office and addressed the UN for the fourth time, calling it the strength of Indian democracy.Further in his speech, Modi said, "I represent a country which is known as the 'Mother of Democracy'. India is a great example of a vibrant democracy. Our democracy is recognised for its diversity. Democracy has been India's great tradition for thousands of years."

https://www.wionews.com/world/backing-terror-will-be-dangerous-for-you-indian-pm-narendra-modis-veiled-warning-to-pakistan-on-afghanistan-415918

Decoding Taliban apologist Imran Khan's speech at UNGA: A rant mixed with lies and fiction

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is a master at the twisting, modifying, and blending fact and fiction to suit his purposes. He gave his third UNGA speech as prime minister of Pakistan on Friday, and his speech, delivered over video, was clearly three times more disgraceful.

The Pakistani prime minister attempted to portray Pakistan as the victim of American ungratefulness and an international double standards, in a prerecorded speech aired on Friday evening. “For some reason, Pakistan has been blamed for the current crisis in Afghanistan by politicians in the United States and some politicians in Europe,” Khan remarked.

“From this platform, I want them all to know that, aside from Afghanistan, Pakistan was the country that suffered the most when we joined the US war on terror after 9/11,” he said, referring to the 11 September, 2001 terror attacks carried out by al Qaeda that led to US invasion of Afghanistan and the eventual killing of the terror group's chief Osama bin Laden, in Pakistan.

"The only reason we suffered so much was that we became an ally of the US, of the coalition, in the war against Afghanistan, where attacks were being conducted from Afghan soil into Pakistan. At least there should have been a word of appreciation. But rather than appreciation, imagine how we feel when we are blamed for the turn of events in Afghanistan".

However, reality differs significantly from the fiction scenario he painted before the world from the UNGA platform.

The truth is that Taliban militants were trained in Pakistani seminaries by Pakistan's notorious intelligence agency ISI and military.

They were either taught about jihad or assisted in the suppression of women.

Pakistan voluntarily joined the war on terror waged by the United States to suppress Pashtun nationalism.

Islamabad has always feared the formation of a Pashtun state, so it has encouraged Islamic nationalism instead, causing Afghanistan to devolve into chaos.In his failed attempt, Khan also tried to portray the Taliban as a positive force.Acting as the Taliban's messenger once more, he pleaded with world leaders to assist them by bolstering, stabilising, and rewarding them. It was almost as if the Taliban, which tried and failed to speak at UNGA, had dispatched Imran Khan to the UN to represent them.

In Panjshir, Pakistan's nefarious role in war-torn Afghanistan was exposed when its military drones and helicopters supported Taliban in capturing the province from the Afghan National Resistance Front.

Taliban apologist Imran Khan remarked, "According to the UN, half the people of Afghanistan are already vulnerable. And by next year, almost 90% of the people in Afghanistan will go below the poverty line. There is a huge humanitarian crisis looming ahead. This will have serious repercussions not just for the neighbours of Afghanistan but it will have repercussions everywhere."

"We must strengthen the present government, stabilise it for the sake of the people of Afghanistan. What have the Taliban promised? They will respect human rights, they will have an inclusive government, they will not allow the soil to be used by terrorists and they have given amnesty. If the world community incentivises them, encourages them to walk the talk, it will be a win-win situation for everyone," he added.

He said that if the world helps the Taliban, the country would not be used for international terrorism.

But the reality is that, with the Taliban regaining power and a witches' brew of terrorist factions active in the country, it is in a state of chaos. Afghanistan has already established itself as the new jihadi capital.

Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Haqqani Network, Tehreek-e-Taliban and Islamic State, all these terrorist organisations have moved to Afghanistan. They're reorganising and spreading, publishing declarations about fighting Islam's adversaries. Global jihad is seeing a revival. It's happening right in front of the Taliban's eyes, and Taliban apologist Imran Khan wants to reward these individuals. It was for India’s government that Khan reserved his harshest words, once again labelling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government “fascist.” Khan described India as a place where fear reigns supreme. Muslims are persecuted in this country, and Kashmiris are denied their rights, he claimed.

He went so far as to accuse the West of being biased towards India.

Pakistan's use of a worldwide platform to make personal statements has become an annual event. Imran's speech is an insult to the United Nations.

Sneha Dubey, India's young diplomat, gave a stinging response loaded with the facts to Pakistan's allegations regarding Kashmir before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Dubey used her Right of Reply to criticise Imran Khan's references to Kashmir in his UN General Assembly virtual speech, claiming that Islamabad has a long history of deliberately aiding terrorists.

Dubey, First Secretary of India said at UNGA, "Regrettably, this is not the first time the leader of Pakistan has misused platforms provided by the UN to propagate false and malicious propaganda against my country, and seeking in vain to divert the world's attention from the sad state of his country where terrorists enjoy free pass while the lives of ordinary people, especially those belonging to the minority communities, are turned upside down."

https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/decoding-taliban-apologist-imran-khans-speech-at-unga-a-rant-mixed-with-lies-and-fiction-415951

#Pakistan - Imran Khan says Pashtuns are Taliban-sympathisers, leaders react

 Imran Khan said three million Pashtuns are still there in Pakistan as refugees. ‘They do attack Pakistan,’ Imran Khan said drawing flak for spreading ‘misinformation about Pashtuns. 

Elaborating how Pakistan has suffered being caught between Afghanistan and the United States, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at his United Nations speech said the Pashtuns living in the semi-autonomous tribal belt along the Afghanistan and Pakistan border always had affinity and sympathy towards the Taliban.

"Pakistan and the United States trained Mujahideen groups to fight for the liberation of Afghanistan. Amongst those Mujahideen groups were al Qaeda, were various groups from all over the world..these were considered heroes," Imran Khan said."Come 1989, the Soviets leave. So do the Americans.. Pakistan was left with 5 million Afghan refugees. We were left with sectarian militant groups which never existed before. And a year later, Pakistan was sanctioned by the US. We felt used," Imran Khan said.

"Fast forward 9/11. Pakistan is needed again by the US because now they are invading Afghanistan and that can't happen with the logistical support of Pakistan. What happens after that? The same Mujahideen that we have trained that fighting for occupation was a sacred duty, they turned against us. We were called collaborators," the Pakistan PM said.

The statement by Imran Khan at the UN regarding Pashtuns supporting the Taliban is misleading & condemnable. This is a reflection of his regressive mindset. Pashtuns as a nation never supported the Taliban they are the victims of their extreme ideology,Aimal Wali Khan of ANP tweeted.

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement leader Mohsin Dawar took to Twitter and said this is misinformation that the Prime Minister is spreading on an international platform. "Just shocked at how the PM of Pakistan can describe Taliban as Pashtun nationalists. The Taliban is a project of Pakistan's Generals for decimating Pashtun identity. Does the PM really think that the world is so uninformed that he can sell such lies on the UNGA forum?" he tweeted.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/imran-khan-says-pashtuns-are-taliban-sympathisers-leader-reacts-101632567729241.html