Thursday, December 12, 2019
18 years, 2,300 deaths & $978 bn later, why America’s Afghan war is being called a failure
NAYANIMA BASU
The figures were revealed in an investigative report, titled The Afghanistan Papers, published by The Washington Post Monday.
“We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan — we didn’t know what we were doing,” Douglas Lute, a three-star Army general who served as the White House’s Afghan war czar, had told government interviewers in 2015. Lute served in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
This was revealed in an investigative report, titled The Afghanistan Papers, published by the The Washington Post Monday.
After years of painstaking probe, The Washington Post has come out with these papers on the US’ so-called ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan that began 18 years ago in 2001 as the Bush administration’s answer to the devastating 9/11 twin-tower attacks. Subsequent Presidents Barack Obama and now Donald Trump have continued the war.
These startling revelations came after The Washington Post got access to confidential documents of the US government following a three-year battle under the Freedom of Information Act. The 2,000-page document shows interviews conducted by government-appointed interviewers.
They interviewed US Army generals, diplomats, aid workers as well as Afghan government officials — all pointing to one fact on how America hid the fact that “the war had become unwinnable”.
According to Lute, who blamed the deaths of around 2,400 US soldiers on “bureaucratic breakdowns among Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department” also said in an interview to the government interviewers “Who will say this was in vain?”
According to the US State Department, which The Washington Post revealed in its story, more than 7,75,000 US troops have been deployed in Afghanistan, of which many were posted on a repeated basis. Of these, 2,300 troops died, while 20,589 were wounded in action since 2001.
‘Core failings of the war that persist to this day’
The undisclosed interviews also revealed how Bush, Obama and Trump, and their military chiefs, under whom the war began and continue until this day, failed to bring about a positive change in the strife-torn country even as rampant corruption continued, opium trade thrived while the Afghan army and police remained incompetent.
“The interviews, through an extensive array of voices, bring into sharp relief the core failings of the war that persist to this day. They underscore how three presidents — George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — and their military commanders have been unable to deliver on their promises to prevail in Afghanistan,” the report noted.
It also highlighted how the US government failed to even know how its money was being spent in keeping the war alive, the costs of which are “staggering”.
According to an inflation-adjusted estimate calculated by Neta Crawford, a political science professor and co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the US government is estimated to have spent anywhere between $934 billion and $978 billion since the war started 18 years ago.
“What did we get for this $1 trillion effort? Was it worth $1 trillion?” Jeffrey Eggers, a retired Navy SEAL and White House staffer for Bush and Obama, had told government interviewers.
“After the killing of Osama bin Laden, I said that Osama was probably laughing in his watery grave considering how much we have spent on Afghanistan,” Eggers added, as reported in the article.
Statistics ‘distorted’
The report further noted that the documents accessed by the newspaper, negate the “long chorus of public statements from US Presidents, military commanders and diplomats who assured Americans year after year that they were making progress in Afghanistan and the war was worth fighting”.
“Several of those interviewed described explicit and sustained efforts by the US government to deliberately mislead the public. They said it was common at military headquarters in Kabul — and at the White House — to distort statistics to make it appear the United States was winning the war when that was not the case,” the newspaper noted.
Bob Crowley, an Army colonel who served as a senior counter-insurgency adviser to US military commanders in 2013 and 2014, told government interviewers that every data obtained had been fudged to portray a rosy picture that justified the war.
“Surveys, for instance, were totally unreliable but reinforced that (what) we were doing was right and we became a self-licking ice-cream cone,” he added.
In a shocking revelation, even one of the federal agency interviewers John Sopko told the newspaper that “the American people have constantly been lied to”.
Sopko had led an agency nicknamed SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction), which was created by the US Congress in 2008 to investigate and audit the war and its outcome.
It was also revealed in one of the interviews that the US was not aiming to make a poor Afghanistan rich, but was only focussed at promoting its own agenda.
“We don’t invade poor countries to make them rich,” James Dobbins, a former senior US diplomat, who served as a special envoy to Afghanistan under Bush and Obama administrations, told government interviewers.
“We don’t invade authoritarian countries to make them democratic. We invade violent countries to make them peaceful and we clearly failed in Afghanistan,” said Dobbins.
The ‘AfPak strategy’
The US’ strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan was popularly called the ‘AfPak’ strategy. It was rolled out in 2008 and discontinued abruptly in 2010 due to opposition from both the countries. The strategy was basically aimed at initiating counter-terrorism measures, thereby bringing Afghanistan out of the ill-effects of the war and rebuilding its society.
During one interview conducted in 2015, an unidentified US official told one of the government interviewers, “With the AfPak strategy, there was a present under the Christmas tree for everyone…By the time you were finished you had so many priorities and aspirations it was like no strategy at all.”
A project — Lessons Learned — run by SIGAR conducted many such interviews to understand whom the US was fighting in reality.
Who was the enemy?
“Was al-Qaeda the enemy, or the Taliban? Was Pakistan a friend or an adversary? What about the Islamic State and the bewildering array of foreign jihadists, let alone the warlords on the CIA’s payroll? According to the documents, the US government never settled on an answer…As a result, in the field, US troops often couldn’t tell friend from foe,” the report said.
An unnamed former adviser to an Army Special Forces team told government interviewers in 2017, US military commanders expected him to come up with a map to direct them to their targets.
“It took several conversations for them to understand that I did not have that information in my hands. At first, they just kept asking: ‘But who are the bad guys, where are they?” the former adviser said.
‘US Presidents failed in nation-building in Afghanistan’
According to The Washington Post article, this is one aspect where the “Presidents failed miserably”. It said while America attempted to create a Washington out of Afghanistan, the concepts were alien to Kabul, who only knew “tribalism, monarchism, communism and Islamic law”.
“Our policy was to create a strong central government which was idiotic because Afghanistan does not have a history of a strong central government,” an unidentified former State Department official told government interviewers in 2015. “The time-frame for creating a strong central government is 100 years, which we didn’t have.”
Some of the aid workers interviewed also pointed to the fact that during the peak of the war between 2009-12, the US government’s move to spend money on schools, bridges, canals and other such developmental projects only helped in “pumping kerosene on a dying campfire just to keep the flame alive”.
Many aid workers also blamed the US Congress for this “mindless rush to spend”.
Christopher Kolenda, an Army colonel, who was deployed in Afghanistan several times and advised three US generals in charge of the war, had even accused former Afghan President Hamid Karzai of “kleptocracy” that the US government failed to recognise.
Ryan Crocker, who served as the top US diplomat in Kabul in 2002 and again in 2011-12, told government interviewers, “Our biggest single project, sadly and inadvertently, of course, may have been the development of mass corruption…Once it gets to the level I saw, when I was out there, it’s somewhere between unbelievably hard and outright impossible to fix it.”
‘Incompetent Afghan commanders’
The investigation also revealed how the Afghan commanders were pocketing lump sum salaries under the garb of providing training to their forces.
“In the Lessons Learned interviews…US military trainers described the Afghan security forces as incompetent, unmotivated and rife with deserters. They also accused Afghan commanders of pocketing salaries — paid by US taxpayers — for tens of thousands of ‘ghost soldiers’,” the article said.
“None expressed confidence that the Afghan army and police could ever fend off, much less defeat, the Taliban on their own. More than 60,000 members of Afghan security forces have been killed, a casualty rate that US commanders have called unsustainable,” it noted.
The major miscalculation by US in its Afghan war — Pakistan
SRIJAN SHUKLA
Former US envoy and defense officials point out the flaws in policymaking, say successive administrations failed to see the ‘Pakistan danger’.
At the heart of the United States’ failed Afghanistan war was Washington’s inability to spot the “Pakistan danger” for seven to eight years after the war started in 2001, revealed former US acting ambassador to Afghanistan James Dobbins.
Reacting to Dobbins’ rather earnest acceptance, Candace Rondeaux, who was special adviser to US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said she was “stunned by such analysis … mainly because the fingerprints (of Pakistan’s support for Taliban) were there in every way”.
Many such damning pieces of information on what transpired between Pakistan and the US as the Afghanistan war was under way have now come to light after the release of The Afghanistan Papers by The Washington Post.
Various raw interviews contained in The Afghanistan Papers highlight some new revelations pertaining to Pakistan’s role in the Afghan war and flaws in US’ policymaking.
The Bonn insult
In a revealing anecdote, Dobbins recounts an incident at the Bonn negotiations — the multi-party Afghanistan peace negotiations — which led to the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. Dobbins was the lead US negotiator there.
These negotiations had representatives from all major Afghan factions, major world powers, but none from the Afghan Taliban.
In order to show its displeasure, Dobbins revealed, the Pakistani government sent a representative, who had until recently been its ambassador to the Taliban-run Afghan government.
“Everybody said, ‘Gee, couldn’t they send somebody other than this guy’ who was recently representing them to the Taliban,” said Dobbins.
Taliban was defeated but Pakistan wasn’t factored in
In one of the most telling revelations, Dobbins talked about the shift in the US administration’s thinking with respect to Taliban.
“I have to say that I think at least I shared a general assumption which was that the Taliban had been so quickly and rapidly overthrown that it was likely that it was — that it had been heavily discredited and unlikely to make a comeback,” Dobbins said during his interview.
“That turned out to be wrong largely because it discounted the likelihood the Pakistan would continue to see Taliban as a useful surrogate and would essentially resuscitate it,” he added.
Several officials say there was a growing sense between 2001 and 2004 that the Taliban was too decimated to recover. But such analysis had discounted how Pakistan was supporting the Taliban during those years, claim some of the interviewed officials.
“In East (Afghanistan), there was the assumption that Pakistan would take up that part of the fight. Instead, they shelled us,” remarked a US military officer who has served in Afghanistan.
“If we had anticipated that Pakistan would have helped the Taliban as much as it did to escalate the war in 2005-2006, and if we had been smart enough to essentially adopt the Obama ANSF program, right from the outset, we would have precluded the ability of Taliban to escalate,” remarked Marin Strmecki, former adviser to Donald Rumsfeld, who as President Bush’s Defence Secretary launched the Afghan war in 2001.
Institutional issues
Several former officials argued that the failure of the US Afghan war was caused by its policy to treat Pakistan and Afghanistan as two different theatres. The implicit sense here was the officials running America’s Afghanistan policy were not addressing how Pakistan’s support for the Taliban was exacerbating the war in Afghanistan.
“The people managing Afghanistan were not managing Pakistan,” said Strmecki.
“The Defense Department was responsible for the war on Afghanistan but it wasn’t the lead in the relationship with Pakistan,” remarked Dobbins. “The State Department, of course, had responsibility for relationships with Pakistan and with Afghanistan.”
An unnamed White House official said, “To treat Afghanistan and Pakistan separately… It was like a donut hole in the middle of the whole policy for South Asia. The Obama administration just thought if you just hang in there Pakistan will see the light.”
In his interview, the White House official critiques such a policy, but most of those criticisms have been redacted before being released to The Washington Post.
Pakistan’s point of view
A couple of interviews also help highlight Pakistani thinking on why it supports the Taliban and how it perceived American presence in the region. In one such interview, Ryan Crocker, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, tried to articulate the Pakistani thinking.
He argued that the root of the Taliban problem goes back to President H.W. Bush and the end of the Soviet-Afghan war. During the war, Pakistan was a “critical partner”. But once the war ended, the US was “done with Pakistan too”. Moreover, opposition to Soviets was the only thing uniting several factions in Afghanistan, thus the end of war had to kickstart a civil war, argued Crocker.
“So, as Pakistanis describe it, they went from being the most allied of allies to the most sanctioned of adversaries literally overnight with that civil war next door,” said Crocker.
In such a scenario, Pakistan supported whichever Afghan faction it could — which happened to be Taliban, Crocker was told by his Pakistani interlocutors.
#Pakistan - Four more #polio cases reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The tally of polio cases this year in the country has reached 98, excluding 12 vaccine-derived cases, after four polio cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Lakki Marwat and Tank districts on Thursday.
In Lakki Marwat, poliovirus was detected in a three-month-old boy and an 11-month-old girl in tehsil Sarai Naurang. The third case in the district was reported in union council Dara Tang involving an 11-month-old girl. According to the polio emergency operation centre, the cases were a result of the children not being administered polio drops.
Meanwhile, in Tank, polio was confirmed in a 12-month-old girl.
According to an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio: “Lakki Marwat and Bannu have become high-risk districts for polio cases in 2019. Out of the 98 polio cases reported in the country this year, 72 were reported in KP, 14 in Sindh, seven in Balochistan and five in Punjab. In addition, 12 VDPV2 polio cases were also reported across districts in Pakistan.
In spite of tall claims by the government and several anti-polio drives, there has been no let-up in the polio cases across the country, with the cases being reported in regular intervals in Sindh and KP. These two provinces are among the worst-affected regions, witnessing a spike over the recent months.
#Pakistan #PPP - Former president Asif Ali Zardari released from Pims sub-jail a day after bail approval
The PPP leader was taken to Zardari House in the capital. Although he was expected to fly to Karachi today, the party decided against it.
Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said Zardari will spend the night at his Islamabad residence and will be shifted to Karachi.
The former president was accompanied by his children Bilawal and Aseefa when he was allowed to leave Pims, which had been declared a sub-jail, after the completion of legal formalities. A large number of supporters gathered at the scene and threw rose petals on his car.
The IHC had on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to Zardari in the Park Lane and fake accounts cases on medical grounds against surety bonds of Rs20 million and adjourned proceedings on the bail petition of his sister and lawmaker Faryal Talpur till December 17.
Both Zardari and Talpur had been under detention for the past six months, until the former's bail.
The court noted that the petitioner, who is one of the accused in a reference pending before an accountability court, “has not been convicted and, therefore, he is to be treated as innocent unless proven guilty”.
PPP information secretary and MNA Dr Nafeesa Shah while commenting on Zardari's release said today was a "good day" for the country and democracy.
She expressed the hope that like Zardari, other PPP leaders who are incarcerated due to "NAB's black law" will also be given relief.
Shah said the court had granted bail to Zardari on medical grounds and merit after government-appointed doctors recommended his treatment at a specialist care facility.
NAB had initiated proceedings against Zardari earlier this year while his arrest warrants were issued on June 10 after the rejection of his pre-arrest bail. He remained in the anti-graft watchdog's custody for 68 days before being sent to Adiala jail in August on judicial remand. During his incarceration, the health of the former president started deteriorating. After a couple of months, Zardari was taken to Pims for treatment on the recommendation of a medical board. He had been under treatment at the hospital since October 22. https://www.dawn.com/news/1521885
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
کہیں پورا ملک بی آر ٹی نہ بن جائے؟
میاں نواز شریف اور میاں شہباز شریف موٹرویز، میٹروز اور اورنج ٹرین منصوبوں کے شوقین ہیں۔
مخالفین الزام لگاتے ہیں کہ وہ اِن بڑے پروجیکٹس کی طرف اس لئے لپکتے ہیں کیونکہ ان میں بڑے پیمانے پر کمائی آسان ہوتی ہے جبکہ ان کا فلسفہ یہ ہے کہ انفراسٹرکچر کے بہتر ہو جانے سے معیشت مضبوط بنیادوں پر استوار ہوتی ہے اور آگے جاکر یہ معاشی سرگرمیوں میں اضافے، غربت کے خاتمے اور عام آدمی کا معیارِ زندگی بہتر بنانے کا موجب بنتا ہے۔
یہی وجہ ہے کہ مسلم لیگ(ن) کے دور میں تعلیم اور صحت پر براہِ راست خاص توجہ نہیں دی جاتی اور بےنظیر انکم سپورٹ جیسے غریبوں کو براہِ راست فائدہ پہنچانے والے پروگرام بھی بس بادلِ نخواستہ برداشت کئے جاتے ہیں۔ اِس کے برعکس عمران خان بڑے پروجیکٹس کے اِس قدر مخالف کہ کہا کرتے تھے کہ اگر پرویز خٹک نے میٹرو بس بنانے کی حماقت کی تو وہ انہیں جیل میں ڈال دیں گے لیکن اِس حوالے سے بھی عمران خان نے یوٹرن لیا اور اچانک خیبرپختونخوا میں بی آر ٹی منصوبہ شروع کرنے کا اعلان کردیا۔
میری معلومات کے مطابق بی آر ٹی کے لئے ٹھیکیدار کے ساتھ ابتدائی میٹنگز بنی گالہ میں ہی ہوئی تھیں۔
یہ دیکھ کر ہم جیسے طالب علم حیران رہ گئے کیونکہ لاہور اور پنڈی، اسلام آباد کی نسبت پشاور بہت چھوٹا شہر تھا۔ ایک جی ٹی روڈ پورے شہر کے درمیان میں گزرتی تھی جس پر بی آرٹی جیسے پروجیکٹ کی گنجائش نہیں تھی۔
لاہور میں شاید میٹرو بس کا متبادل موجود نہیں تھا لیکن پشاور میں رنگ روڈ کے تین حصے بن گئے ہیں اور ایک باقی ہے۔ چند ارب روپے سے وہ مکمل کرکے اور رنگ روڈ کو کشادہ کرکے ٹریفک کا مسئلہ دائمی طور پر حل کیا جا سکتا تھا لیکن پھر بھی الیکشن سے صرف چند ماہ قبل ایشین ڈویلپمنٹ بینک کے قرضے سے بی آر ٹی پروجیکٹ کا آغاز کردیا گیا۔
ہم نے سوال اٹھایا کہ جناب آپ تو میٹروز کے خلاف تھے تو جواب ملا شہباز شریف کے میٹروز برے ہیں جبکہ ہمارا بی آر ٹی اچھا ہے۔
سوال اٹھایا کہ یہ چھوٹا سا صوبہ اتنے بڑے پروجیکٹ کا قرضہ کیسے چکائے گا تو جواب دیا گیا کہ یہ چند ہی برسوں میں اپنا خرچہ واپس کردے گا۔
سوال اٹھایا کہ فزیبلیٹی اور پی سی ون کے بغیر آپ لوگ اتنا بڑا پروجیکٹ کیوں شروع کررہے ہیں تو کہا کہ ہم نے باہر سے کنسلٹنٹس کی خدمات لی ہیں۔
ہم نے سوال اٹھایا کہ متعلقہ وزارت جماعت اسلامی کے پاس ہے جس کے وزیر عنایت اللّٰہ خان اس منصوبے کے مخالف ہیں تو کہا کہ جماعت اسلامی پرانی سوچ کی جماعت ہے۔
اس لئے ہم نے یہ منصوبہ اُن کی وزارت سے نکال کر وزارتِ ٹرانسپورٹ کو دے دیا جو پی ٹی آئی کے پاس ہے۔ ہم نے سوال اٹھایا کہ اگر مسلم لیگ(ن) کے بڑے پروجیکٹس میں بقول عمران خان کے کرپشن ہورہی تھی تو اس پروجیکٹ میں تو بڑے پیمانے کی کرپشن ہوئی ہوگی کیونکہ ضروری قانونی تقاضے بھی پورے نہیں کئے گئے تو جواب دیا گیا کہ اوپر عمران خان بیٹھا ہے جو اس پروجیکٹ کی خود نگرانی کررہا ہے۔
سوال اٹھایا کہ پروجیکٹ کا ٹھیکہ ایسی کمپنی کو دیا جارہا ہے جسے شہباز حکومت نے بلیک لسٹ کیا ہے تو جواب ملا کہ یہ پٹواریوں اور لفافہ صحافیوں کا پروپیگنڈا ہے۔
ہم کہا کرتے تھے کہ پختونخوا حکومت کو کپیسٹی کے مسئلے کا بھی سامنا ہے اور مشکل ہے کہ یہ منصوبہ ایک سال میں مکمل ہو تو کہا گیا کہ ہمارے پاس اعظم خان جیسے ذہین اور تیز افسر چیف سیکرٹری ہیں جو ناممکن کو ممکن بنا سکتے ہیں اور چھ ماہ کے اندر اندر بی آرٹی پر بسیں دوڑتی نظر آئیں گی۔
بہر حال بی آر ٹی کا دھوم دھام سے آغاز کیا گیا۔ سوشل میڈیا پر اتنی تشہیر پاکستان میں اب تک بننے والے تمام بڑے پروجیکٹس کی نہیں ہوئی، جتنی پی ٹی آئی نے صرف بی آر ٹی کی کر دی۔
راتوں رات ایک سرے سے لے کر دوسرے سرے تک پشاور کے مین جی ٹی روڈ کو خندقوں میں بدل دیا گیا اور یوں پھولوں کا شہر گردوغبار کا شہر بن گیا۔ جی ٹی روڈ کے دونوں طرف دکانوں کا کاروبار ٹھپ ہو کر رہ گیا۔
گھنٹوں ٹریفک جام معمول بن گیا۔ لیکن چھ ماہ گزرے، سال، پھر سوا سال گزر گیا اور اب دو سال پورے ہونے کو ہیں تاہم بی آر ٹی مکمل ہونے کا نام نہیں لے رہی۔
سوا سال بزدار پلس (محمود خان) کی حکومت کو ہو گئے اور ان کی حکومت نے کئی تاریخیں دیں، صحافیوں کو لے کر لوگوں کی آنکھوں میں دھول جھونکنے کے لئے بس میں سیر بھی کروائی گئی، کئی پروجیکٹ ڈائریکٹر بھی بدل دئیے گئے لیکن بی آر ٹی مکمل ہوتی نظر نہ آئی۔
کسی غیرجانبدار ادارے کی تحقیقات کے بعد تو نہ جانے کیا انکشافات ہوں گے لیکن خود صوبائی حکومت کی انسپکشن ٹیم کی رپورٹ میں انکشاف کیا گیا کہ اربوں روپے کے کک بیکس لئے گئے ہیں۔
اب پشاور ہائی کورٹ نے ایک درجن سے زائد سوالات اٹھا کر ایف آئی اے کو تحقیقات کا حکم دے دیا ہے لیکن دال میں اتنا زیادہ کالا ہے کہ صوبائی حکومت ہائی کورٹ کے حکم کے خلاف سپریم کورٹ جاکر تحقیقات رکوانا چاہتی ہے۔ پشاور کے شہری کہتے ہیں کہ جیسا بھی ہو اب اس عذاب سے نجات مل جائے۔
پشاور کا جو حشر ہونا تھا وہ تو پی ٹی آئی کے ہاتھوں ہو گیا لیکن اب ہمیں فکر ہے کہ کہیں اس حکومت کے ہاتھوں باقی پاکستان کا وہ حشر نہ ہو جائے جو پشاور کا ہو گیا۔
یہاں بھی ہم سوال اٹھاتے رہے کہ اس پارٹی کی کوئی تیاری نہیں لیکن ہمیں کہا جاتا رہا کہ بہت ہوم ورک کیا ہے۔ تاہم اقتدار میں آنے کےبعد پتا چلا کہ اس پارٹی کے پاس اپنا وزیر خزانہ اور وزیر اطلاعات تک نہیں۔
پرویز مشرف اور پیپلز پارٹی کی ٹیم سے کام چلایا جارہا ہے۔ معیشت کا ستیاناس ہو گیا۔ خارجہ پالیسی کی سمت معلوم نہیں۔ کشمیر ہندوستان نے ہڑپ کرلیا، سی پیک پر کام آگے نہیں بڑھ رہا۔
بلوچستان کو جام میں ڈال دیا گیا ہے، پنجاب بزدار جبکہ پختونخوا بزدار پلس کے سپرد ہے۔ اور تو اور کرکٹر کی حکومت میں کرکٹ کا بھی ستیاناس ہوگیا۔
میرے منہ میں خاک لیکن سچی بات یہ ہے کہ ملکی معاملات سمجھنے والے سنجیدہ حلقے پریشان ہیں کہ کہیں پی ٹی آئی حکومت پورے پاکستان کو بی آر ٹی نہ بنا دے۔
پاکستان میں 10 سال تک کی عمر کے 75 فیصد بچے تعلیمی غربت کا شکار، عالمی بینک
پاکستان میں 10 سال تک کی عمر کے 75فیصد بچے تعلیمی غربت (لرننگ پاورٹی ) کاشکار ہیں یعنی سکو ل جانیوالے 75فیصد بچےایک پیراگراف بھی پڑھ اور سمجھ نہیں سکتے، اس کا انکشاف عالمی بنک کی ایک رپورٹ میں کیا گیا جوعالمی بنک کے زیر اہتما م خواتین کی تعلیم سے خواتین کو معاشی بااختیار بنانےکے موضوع پر 100روزہ ایکشن پروگرام کے اجراء کے موقع پر پیش کی گئی، 100روزہ تعلیمی ایکشن پروگرام میں یکم دسمبر2019 سے 10مارچ 2020کے دوران لڑکیوں کی تعلیم اور خواتین کو معاشی با اختیار بنانے کے حوالے سے آگاہی مہم چلائی جائیگی، تقریب عالمی بنک ، وزارت تعلیم ، وزارت انسانی حقوق کے اشتراک سے قائد اعظم یونیورسٹی اسلام آباد میں ہوئی ، تقریب کے مہمان خصوصی وفاقی وزیر تعلیم شفقت تھے ، زندگی ٹرسٹ کے چیئرمین شہزاد رائے ، عالمی بنک کے کنٹری ڈائر یکٹر النگوائن پیچاموتھو ، عالمی بنک کے ڈائر یکٹرتعلیم ہیمے ساویدرہ ، قائداعظم یونیورسٹی کے وائس چانسلر پروفیسر محمد علی بھی شریک ہوئے،عالمی بنک کےڈائر یکٹر
تعلیم نے 10سال تک کے بچوں کے پڑھنے اور سمجھنے کی صلاحیتوں سے متعلق رپورٹ پیش کی ،رپورٹ کے مطابق جنوبی ایشیا میں 58 فیصد 10سال تک کے بچے تعلیمی غربت کا شکار ہیں ، پاکستان میں 27.3فیصد بچے سکولوں سے باہر ہیں ان میں 55فیصدیعنی دو کروڑ25لاکھ بچیاں شامل ہیں، 26فیصد خواتین ملک کی لیبر فورس میں متحرک ہیں ، اس موقع پر خطاب میں وزیر تعلیم شفقت محمود نے کہاکہ تعلیم کے حوالے سے ریاست کی کارکردگی گزشتہ 72برس میں قابل فخر نہیں رہی ،اب بھی چیلنجز کا سامنا ہے لیکن حکومت ان چیلنجز سے نمٹنے کیلئے موثر اقدامات کرررہی ہے ، تعلیمی غربت کی اصطلا ح میرے لئے بھی نیا تصور ہےلیکن یہ بہت اہم موضوع ہے، ہماری کوشش ہوتی ہےکہ سکول میں زیادہ سے زیادہ بچوں کو داخلہ کیلئے اقدامات کئے جائیں لیکن انکو کس قسم کی معیاری تعلیم دی جارہی ہےا س پر توجہ نہیں دی جاتی ، یہ بہت دلچسپ اور اہم ہے کہ ملک کے 10سال کے بچوں میں پڑھنے اور سمجھنے کی کیا صلاحیت ہے، ملک بھر میں تمام نصاب تعلیم کی تجدید کرتے ہوئےیکساں قومی نصاب تعلیم کو مرتب کرنے پر کام ہو رہا ہے،زیادہ سے زیادہ بچوں کے سکولوں میں داخلے اور معیاری تعلیم کی فراہمی کی کوشش کررہےہیں ، اساتذہ کی ٹریننگ پر بھی توجہ دی جارہی ہے، انہوں نے کہا کہ بچوں کی بہت بڑی تعداد سکول سے باہر ہے اس کیلئےاقدامات کررہےہیں ، معیاری تعلیم کی فراہمی کیلئےجدید ٹیکنالوجی کو بھی استعمال کیا جائیگا،تعلیم کے فروغ کیلئے پبلک پرائیویٹ پارٹنر شپ بہت مفید ہو گا اس حوالے سے شہزاد رائے کا اہم کردار ہے ، عالمی بنک کے کنٹر ی ڈائر یکٹر الینگوائن پیچا موتھو نے کہا کہ لڑکیوں اور خواتین کا پاکستان کو خوشحال بنانے میں مرکزی کردارہے ، عالمی بنک لڑکیوں کی تعلیم اور خواتین کو باروزگار بنا نے میں ترجیحاً حمایت و مدد کیلئے پرعزم ہے، شفقت محمود کیساتھ ملکر تعلیم کے شعبے میں بہت سے پروگرام کررہےہیں ، شہزاد رائے تعلیم کے شعبے میں بہت اچھا کام کررہے ہیں ، عالمی بنک کے تعلیم سے متعلق گلوبل ڈائر یکٹر ہیمے ساویدرہ نے تعلیمی صورتحال پر پریزینٹشن دی اور بتایا کہ غریب اور متوسط ممالک میں 10سال کے بچوں کو معیاری تعلیم فراہم نہیں ہورہی انکی شر ح 53فیصد ہے ، ترقی یافتہ ممالک ایسے بھی ہیں جہاں پر یہ شرح صفر ہے، تعلیمی غربت کے خاتمے کیلئےوالدین ، اساتذہ ، سکول پرنسپل اورپالیسی سازوں کو انقلابی کردار ادا کرنا ہوگا، افریقہ میں تعلیمی غربت 90فیصد ، جنوب مشرقی ایشیا میں 20فیصد ، لاطینی امریکا میں 50فیصد اور جنوبی ایشیا میں 58فیصد جبکہ پاکستان میں 75فیصد 10سال تک کے بچے پڑھنے اور سمجھنے کی صلاحیت نہیں رکھتے ، پاکستان کے مختلف علاقوں میں بھی اس شرح میں فرق ہے۔
لاہور واقعہ شہر میں مکمل انارکی کی تازہ قسط ہے، بلاول
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی (پی پی پی) کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے لاہور انسٹیٹیوٹ آف کارڈیالوجی میں پیش آنے والے واقعے کی مذمت کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ لاہور کا افسوسناک واقعہ پنجاب کے دارالحکومت میں مکمل انارکی کی تازہ قسط ہے۔
ایک بیان میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ پارلیمنٹ پر حملہ کرنے والی پارٹی برسرِ اقتدار ہے اور ہم فسطائیت دیکھ رہے ہیں۔
چیئرمین پی پی نے کہا کہ اسپتال پر وکلاء کا حملہ پستی کی نئی حد ہے، ایسا تو جنگوں میں بھی نہیں ہوتا، واقعے کی مکمل تحقیقات کی ضرورت ہے۔
اُن کا کہنا ہے کہ ہمیں اجتماعی احتساب کی بھی ضرورت ہے، یہ بھی دیکھنا ہوگا کہ عمران خان کے نئے پاکستان میں ہم بطور قوم کتنا گرگئے ہیں۔ ہم اس سے بہتر ہیں، پاکستان اس سے بہتر ہے۔
#Pakistan #PPP - Bilawal thanks judges for granting bail to Asif Ali Zardari
Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday thanked judges for granting bail to former president Asif Ali Zardari on medical grounds, ARY News reported.
Talking to the newsmen outside the Islamabad High Court, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari showing concerns over the medical report of his ailing father thanked the masses for their prayers.
He said Asif Ali Zardari will go through the treatment as the medical report highlights serious threats to his life.
Criticizing the incumbent government, the PPP leader claimed that incompetent government has ruined our economy and politics. “This is the last year of the PTI government.”
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was confident that his party will be in a position to form government next year.
Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had approved the bail petition of former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on medical grounds.
The petitioner was directed to submit Rs10 million surety bonds in the court. Asif Ali Zardari is facing corruption charges and currently, he is in the PIMS hospital owing to his worsening health.
On Tuesday, the former president had filed a bail petition on medical grounds in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
On Monday, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had announced that his ailing father will file a bail petition on medical grounds.
https://arynews.tv/en/bilawal-bhutto-zardari-thanks-judges-bail-asif-ali-zardari/
#Pakistan court orders release of ailing ex-president Zardari, gets bail in fake accounts case
The development came about five months after Zardari, the widower of the country's assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was arrested by Pakistan's anti-graft body in a multimillion-dollar money laundering case.
Shortly after the court order, Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who heads the key opposition Pakistan People's Party, claimed that the days of the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan were numbered.
He told reporters that once he recovers, his father will launch a campaign to oust Khan's government.
Former president Zardari, a lawmaker in the Lower House of Parliament, has been accused of having dozens of bogus bank accounts, a charge he denies, saying he was being politically victimised by Khan's government.
Since coming to power, Khan has pledged that his government would make good on his election campaign promise to fight corruption on all fronts.
Zardari, who was arrested in June, was expected to to be freed later on Wednesday.
Pakistan's anti-graft body has arrested several politicians and businessmen on corruption charges since Khan took office last year after winning a narrow majority in parliamentary elections.
Khan's predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, was removed from office by the country's Supreme Court over corruption allegations in 2017.
Sharif is currently undergoing medical tests in London after being released on bail on medical grounds. Sharif and Zardari are long-time political rivals but their parties have vowed to launch protests against Khan's government over increasing inflation and a spike in prices of essential foods.
Zardari became president in 2008, after Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf was forced to resign. Zardari's wife Benazir Bhutto served twice as a prime minister before being killed by the Taleban in 2007. Zardari served as Pakistan's president until 2013.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/pakistan-court-orders-release-of-ailing-ex-president-zardari
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Video - #KhaqanSherDilAbbasi - Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Blasting Speech in NA
The civilians are rising. Beware generals.
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) December 10, 2019
Former Pakistani prime minister walks out from #parliament session after telling the speaker he is powerless and has no courage to stand up [to #military] who many believe is persecuting his party the #PMLN. https://t.co/cs50MxmefQ
Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) is on a peaceful quest to free all Pakistanis from oppression
By Mohsin Dawar
The Pakistani state's repeated attacks on us only strengthen our resolve.
In his seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire states: "Violence is initiated by those who oppress, who exploit, who fail to recognise others as persons - not by those who are oppressed, exploited and unrecognised."
These days I have been thinking of his words often, as earlier this year the Pakistani state attacked me and others from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), killing over a dozen people and injuring scores of others. It had the audacity to try and put the blame for the violence on us.
We, of course, were not the ones inciting violence. Our only crime was to try and speak for a community that has faced decades of violence from both the state and armed groups.
Decades of victimisation
I was born and raised in the region of Waziristan in the north-western part of the country, close to the Afghan border. The majority of us are Pashtuns, who constitute the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan. Since colonial times, the region was governed by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a draconian law imposed by the British colonialists in the 19th century. It left the local population with no recourse to courts and liable to be subjected to collective punishment for over a century.
The law was finally repealed in 2018, when the region was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and its people were made equal citizens of the Pakistani federation, at least on paper. In practice however, the inhabitants of this region do not enjoy full citizenship rights and protections; discrimination and abuses against us continue unabated. We are still targetted by police raids and security operations which violate and kill people with impunity.
This violence I grew up with has its roots in the decision of the Pakistani state and its US ally to transform Waziristan into an incubator for fighters in the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s.
The infrastructure that was built there to recruit and train fighters to combat the Soviet army was later used by armed groups like the Haqqani Network and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to wreak havoc in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the strategic decision to allow this vast region to become a breeding ground for terrorists had destructive consequences across the globe, it affected Waziristan's local inhabitants, who were left at the mercy of violent armed groups, the most.
With the start of the US-led "war on terror" in the early 2000s, the region became a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants fighting an insurgency against the international coalition in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan launched repeated attacks and air strikes on the region to "clear out" the fighters. But rather than stopping "terrorist activities", these assaults killed countless civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands. Moreover, Pashtuns across Pakistan started to be stereotyped as "terrorists" even though they themselves were victims of terrorism.
In short, my people have been exploited and oppressed by the Pakistani state, various armed groups and foreign powers for decades and our suffering is still continuing today. But we are no longer willing to take the abuse, persecution and discrimination we face on a daily basis, sitting down.
The PTM shot to prominence in January 2018, when a long march launched in Karachi to protest against the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young Pashtun cloth seller and model, attracted thousands of supporters. The protests continued with a large sit-in in Islamabad and soon the PTM became a strong voice for the people of Waziristan. I was one of the founding members of the movement.
Since the PTM's inception, our campaign for equality, dignity and peace has been growing every day.
As our movement expands its reach, however, the Pakistani state intensifies its attacks on us.
How our call for constitutional rights enraged the military
In April this year, the PTM carried out its biggest political gathering to date in my hometown of Miranshah, which is the administrative capital of North Waziristan - the region that has seen the worst Taliban and state violence. As one of the leaders of the movement and an elected member of the national assembly from that area, I was acting as host. The aim of this gathering was to make the Pakistani leadership understand that we have had enough of both militancy and state violence.
Even though Miranshah's population is just over half a million, the rally attracted tens of thousands of people. The atmosphere was electric and the people were hopeful.
Our message was simple: We want the state to honour the constitutional contract that it has with us.
The constitution clearly recognises us as equal Pakistani citizens and disallows our oppression and persecution. Thus the solution to all our problems - be it justice for the thousands of "missing persons" who were abducted by the state, or the end of extrajudicial murders, or the clearing of the landmines that were left by the military or the ill-treatment that we are subjected to at military check posts - lies in making the state recognise our constitutional rights.
As is the case with all of PTM's rallies, at the end of the day the crowd dispersed peacefully.
While we thought the rally was a big success, the state and the military had other ideas. Clearly feeling threatened by the size of the gathering and our peaceful, status-quo altering call for the constitution to be respected, on April 29, only two weeks after our rally in Miranshah, the Pakistani military issued a statement claiming that PTM is "being funded by foreign intelligence services" and told us that "the time is up" for our movement.
We did not know back then, but this was the military's declaration of war on PTM.
From a peaceful sit-in to a senseless massacre
A month later, on May 25, residents of Doga Macha Mada Khel, a small village in North Waziristan, launched a sit-in, accusing security forces of "persecuting" and "torturing" civilians during a recent search operation allegedly targeting "suspected militants". The sit-in, which was taking place near the permanent Khar Qamar military check post, was peaceful from the very beginning.
As the only elected representative of the region that includes the village, I felt obligated to reach out to my constituents, support their protest and help their voices be heard. With this in mind, on May 26, I visited the village with another member of the national assembly, Ali Wazir, who is also part of PTM.
At the village, we were welcomed by a jubilant crowd of around 200 to 300 people. They garlanded us and together we started walking towards the sit-in area. However, the soldiers at the checkpoint refused to allow us to join the protesters. Tempers were raised, but I did my best to reason with the soldiers and convince them to let us through. But as soon as we went past the check post, I heard gunshots.
Initially, I thought the soldiers manning the checkpoint were firing warning shots in the air. But the sounds of occasional gun shots suddenly turned into the staccato of automatic fire, and villagers around me started to fall. Someone pushed me to the ground and I was dragged into a ravine. When I looked back, I saw blood-soaked bodies lying motionless on the ground and heard the cries for help of the injured.
Later we learned that 15 people were killed and more than 40 were injured as a result of the unprovoked attack. Wazir and eight others were arrested on the spot, but I managed to escape the scene, with the help of other survivors.
For the next three days, we walked through the villages of Daigan, Mohammad Khel, and Hamzoni to get to my village, Darpa Khel, near Miranshah, which is approximately 30km from the site of the massacre. Throughout our journey, we staged several protests to inform the public about the massacre and demand accountability.
When we reached Darpa Khel, we started another sit-in. The military, meanwhile, imposed a curfew on the village of Doga Macha Mada Khel that lasted for eight days, and also surrounded my village. I eventually chose to surrender to the authorities in the town of Bannu because I was scared for the lives of the people in my village.
How victims became perpetrators
In a display of brazen shamelessness, the authorities accused us, the victims, of assaulting the soldiers manning the check post and causing the bloodshed. They filed charges against nine people including me, Ali Wazir and Sanaullah Pashteen, who was killed during the massacre. A few days later, Wazir and I were also blamed for an IED explosion that injured four army officials in Doga Macha, even though we were both in the state's custody at the time of the attack.
In jail, we were kept in cells set aside for terrorists. This was quite ironic, as one of our main demands from the authorities was for them to cleanse our region of terrorists and put those men in these very cells. We were also subjected to treatment usually reserved for the most hardened criminals and convicted terrorists - we were denied access to books, television, newspapers and radio. We were also deprived from participating in parliamentary sessions, which is our duty and privilege as elected politicians. Even during the essential budget session, our constituents were denied representation.
We remained behind bars for four months and endured every conceivable pressure, threat and accusation. In late September, we were finally granted bail because the authorities failed to back their accusations with evidence. However, the charges against us are still in place.
While we were still in jail, the victims of the Khar Qamar massacre, who were branded terrorists both by the authorities and the media following the incident, were suddenly accepted as victims and their families were offered monetary compensation. Interestingly, even the family of Sanaullah Pashteen, who was accused of attacking the checkpoint alongside us, was deemed eligible for compensation. The state offered the families of the deceased a payment of approximately $17,500. People injured during the attack, meanwhile, received around $8,000.
As we languished in prison, Pakistan turned into a larger prison for anyone showing us sympathy. Very few of our fellow politicians raised their voices for us. The local press was full of reports accusing us of treason and terrorism with no space whatsoever given to our version of events. The only venue available for people to share our version of events was social media, but those who used Twitter and Facebook to support us and share our narrative were arrested and charged with the crime of "cyber terrorism".
But this oppression only strengthens our resolve. Frankly, we are at a point where we do not have much left to lose. Just the act of venting our grievances is an act of liberation and luxury for us. Just by speaking out, we are challenging the fear of freedom instilled in our people through decades of oppression. Losing this fear, and daring to demand freedom, is the first step in a process that will eventually liberate not only us, the Pashtuns, but all citizens of Pakistan.
Freire says where there is oppression, both the oppressed and the oppressors are victims, because the act of oppression takes away the humanity of the oppressor too. He considers it the responsibility of the oppressed to liberate not only themselves but their oppressors as well.
"The oppressors, who oppress, exploit and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free them both," he wrote.
The PTM has chosen the powerful path of non-violence to liberate the oppressed Pashtuns in Pakistan, but in doing so, we will also liberate our oppressors so that they can find the humanity that they have lost in their intoxication of power and privilege.
#HumanRightDay #Pakistan - OP-ED - Shireen Mazari and human rights
Yasser Latif Hamdani
No one gave Shireen Mazari the memo that she is neither the Foreign Minister nor the Defence Minister of Pakistan. She holds the portfolio of Human Rights Minister. The Human Rights in that Ministry pertain to the human rights of the hapless citizens of Pakistan and has no nexus with whatever else is happening elsewhere. In fact her jurisdiction does not even extend to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which is supposed to have its own government.
Mazari’s appearance of Mehdi Hassan’s program Upfront on Al-Jazeera was one of those moments that this writer was thoroughly embarrassed as a Pakistani. She was not only caught lying out of her teeth but she appeared entirely ignorant of the very constitution that she tried to quote in her defence. First of all let us be clear on something. The 2nd and 3rd Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan vitiate and militate against the very spirit of Jinnah’s promise to the Ahmadi community and others made repeatedly including but not limited to on 23 May 1944 when Jinnah refused to accept the position that Ahmadis should be excluded from the Muslim community. However who cares about Jinnah in Pakistan now? Consider for example the fact one of the newspapers he founded was destroyed by this state in the 1960s and efforts are underway to destroy the second one as well. His sister was denounced as a CIA/Indian/Afghan agent by the regime in 1964-1965. So clearly the Jinnah argument does not work in modern day Pakistan that is a majoritarian theocracy diametrically opposed to what he put forth as the vision for the country. Hence no PhDs are allowed in the country on his life, politics and work.
Jinnah argument does not work in modern day Pakistan that is a majoritarian theocracy diametrically opposed to what he put forth as the vision for the country. Hence no PhDs are allowed in the country on his life, politics and work
So let us proceed on the basis and indeed stipulate that the Constitution of Pakistan declares Ahmadis Non-Muslim and that the Parliament of Pakistan was vested with Godly powers to decide who is a Muslim and who is not for the purposes of law and constitution. Even so the same constitution promises complete religious freedom under Article 20, unhindered and not subject to any claw back whatsoever. So in other words the state of Pakistan may consider Ahmadis Non-Muslim but the Constitution does not allow the Pakistani state to force Ahmadis to consider themselves Non-Muslim. There can be no other interpretation and if any judge or lawyer tells you otherwise, they are either dishonest or incompetent. The so-called Human Rights Minister had no awareness of this important distinction. What followed was one shamefully ignorant gaffe after another. For example she said Ahmadis are allowed to participate in politics on Non-Muslim seats. She is obviously clueless because every citizen of Pakistan is allowed to contest any general seat under the law. The principle of joint electorate applies. Incidentally Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Bahais, Parsis and Muslims (or those who are constitutionally sanctioned Muslims at least) are on one electoral list. Only Ahmadis are put on a separate supplemental list. This is pure discrimination. Shireen Mazari is either unaware of it or she is incapable of understanding this basic issue. The third option is that she might be lying in the face of it. Then she claimed that the issue is of the declaration of the finality of Prophethood. It is not as simple as that my dear minister. The declaration we are all forced to sign in Pakistan is not simply a declaration of finality of Prophethood. We are also forced to declare Ahmadis Non-Muslim and the founder of their sect/religion/group an imposter and a liar. Every official Muslim citizen on Pakistan ostensibly violates Sections 153-A, 295-A and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 every time he or she gets a passport. This is perhaps the only example in the world of where the state willfully forces the majority of its citizens to violate its own penal provisions. Yet our Human Rights Minister says Ahmadis have all the rights, while also saying that the government should not have appointed Atif Mian as part of the Economic Advisory Council because it was too controversial. Furthermore she declared that there was no discrimination because Atif Mian does not live in Pakistan.
The right honourable minister reminds me of a character out of Monty Python’s Life of Brian because what she is essentially saying is this: Ahmadis are not allowed to self identify, they are jailed and maimed for practicing their faith whatever it is, their places of worship (which cannot be called mosques under law) are desecrated and destroyed, their tombstones are destroyed and talented economists from their ranks are not allowed to join government, but Ahmadis have all the rights in Pakistan. One is left befuddled.Shireen Mazari also claimed that there is no persecution of Shias in Pakistan, claiming that she was a Shia herself. We are certainly not going to question her right to self identify as a Shia whether or not she is one but she went on to claim that sectarian violence happens on both sides. I would like to know how many Sunni doctors have been target killed and how Sunni mosques and Dargahs have been attacked by Shias in the 70 years? I am not even going to start with the official discrimination against Shias in all branches and arms of the government.
The honourable thing for Shireen Mazari to do is to resign her office and seek an office more appropriate to her interests and expertise. In the event that she does not get an office more suited to her special stable genius, perhaps she can take up a career as a critic of Coke Studio as she loves to comment on every other Coke Studio song from her verified Twitter account using a government issue mobile phone and internet connection, while driving around Islamabad in an official vehicle. Surely that will be much better than making an absolute mockery of the Human Rights Ministry which is in utter shambles even otherwise. The human rights of the employees of the ministry are denied routinely, what to speak of the hapless population of Pakistan upon which Madam Minister is foisted against our will.
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