The interim Taliban government in Afghanistan has refused aid from Pakistan for the earthquake-affected individuals. This recent development is further evidence of the growing tension in the relationship between two terror friendly regimes.

Last week, a powerful earthquake struck Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of at least two thousand lives and affecting multiple villages. Subsequently, on Wednesday, another earthquake caused further damage.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, promptly offered assistance by announcing the dispatch of rescue and relief teams. However, due to Kabul’s refusal to grant clearance, aid and supplies from Pakistan have not yet reached Afghanistan.

The exact reason for this denial has not been formally communicated by the authorities of both nations. However, the fundamental cause behind the Taliban’s rejection of aid appears to be related to the ongoing tensions between both the countries.

Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar’s Post as the reason

According to media reports, a senior Taliban official mentioned that the reason why Taliban refused Pakistan Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar’s offer was his social media post (a former tweet). This dispute originally began in the western Afghan province of Herat following the aftershocks of a 6.3 magnitude earthquake.

In response to the earthquake, Islamabad swiftly declared its intention to send assistance. They promised to provide 5,000 tents, 15,000 blankets for winter use, food supplies, medical equipment, and a team of doctors, along with transport aircraft.

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority had prepared relief supplies and published details on its official website.

However, a few hours later, Kakar stated on the social media platform “X” that this assistance was being sent at the request of the Taliban.

The Taliban, on the other hand, has expressed skepticism about any formal request for aid. They claim that no official appeal for external assistance has been made thus far.

In the tribal region of Taman Gurshani, located in Rajanpur, Pakistan, a looming humanitarian crisis has been ignited by the Pakistan Army’s forced evacuation orders. Indeed, fifteen days ago, the military forcibly gathered the residents, informing them that they must vacate their homes in various areas, including Mari, Mauza Grozhan, Daraj Thal, Mauza Chambhari, Mauza Lot La Sham, Khalchas, and Rekani Gahore, citing an impending missile test.

Despite the military’s evacuation ultimatum, the people of these areas have refused to leave their native lands, expressing deep concerns that their displacement may result in their inability to return. These regions are known to experience an early onset of winter, and relocating the population, along with their belongings and livestock, presents a daunting challenge.

This isn’t the first time the residents of Taman Gurshani have faced such a predicament. In 2018, missile tests in the region led to significant financial losses for the local population in areas like Bargh Fawad, Maranj, Ghazbor, Daragal Mari, Kaliri Thal Sauri Gahore, and Joph Fawad.

The situation was further aggravated as post-missile test, widespread epidemics have been rapidly spreading in the region, further straining an already beleaguered population, who lack adequate medical facilities.

As the Pakistan Army’s imposed deadline has ended, residents are grappling with a stark reality: If they are expelled from their homes, they are sure to confront insurmountable difficulties, from the harsh winter conditions to the absence of proper healthcare.

The local Police barged into the home of PTM Chief Manzoor Pashteen and harassed his family in South Waziristan.

Yesterday, on the night of October 12, SHO South Waziristan, Sarokai Ashiq Elahi raided the house of PTM Chief Manzoor Pashteen in an attempt to arrest him. The local police yet again showed its inhumane face when they harassed the family members of Manzoor Pashteen. In fact, it is evident that whenever, cruel Pakistan Army or its subsequent machineries raid a house of any activist, the first thing they do is they harass women and children. This shows their corrupt and horrific mindset, according to which, targeting women and family can silence the voice of oppressed.  

Nonetheless, this uncivilized and barbaric act was done on the call of Pakistan Army, whom Pasteen, has several times accused of persecuting Pashtuns. Interestingly, this illegal raid on the PTM Chief house comes just a day after PTM set up a camp in Pakhtunkhwa to collect aid to help the victims of Herat earthquake, however, Pakistan closed the camp.

Meanwhile, PTM Central Committee member Farman Akhtar has been arrested today in Wana, Lower South Waziristan. Agonised by this, the local PTM workers blocked the Wana-DI Khan road for all kind of traffic.

Pakistan has no way to deal with PTM

The rising influence of PTM in the region or its growing acceptance, for that matter, is perceived  by the Pak Army as a threat to their, so far unchallenged, dictatorship. Hence, they want to decimate the group at any cost.

Additionally, the raid on Pashteen is even more concerning, considering the fact that just a couple of hours earlier, he announced to hold a protest next day, against the illegal abduction and imprisonment of PTM workers namely, Zakim Khan, Eid-ul-Rehman, Gilaman, Noorullah Tareen. The protest was to be held in front of Miran Shah military cantonment at 2 PM.

This shows that Pakistan Army is afraid of PTM and its protest. And it happened after the last PTM protest that shook the roots of Pakistani establishment.  

For long Pakistan has used this region to bolster its terror industry. And in pursuit of that the cost has been paid, exclusively, by the inhabitant Pashtuns. The region is grappling with the challenges of instability and insecurity. And to fight that and fight for their just rights, PTM has vocally protested the establishment non-violently.

Minor Hindu girl has been abducted from her house by some radical Islamists in Tando Muhammad Khan, Sindh.

On 8 October, Radha Meghwar, a 13-year-old minor Hindu girl was abducted from her house by Tharo Khaskheli and his goons. The family members registered an FIR against the perpetrators but it has been five days and police has failed, both, to arrest the perpetrators and  to recover the girl.

Th incident and the impunity of radical Islamists in Pakistan especially Sindh has aroused resentment in the minorities. Incidents like these have become routine in Sindh.

Recently, a Hindu woman aged 34 years was physically tortured by some radical Islamists before being brutally murdered in Khipro village of Sanghar district in Sindh, Pakistan. The gruesome incident once again highlights the degrading condition of minority Hindus in Pakistan.  As per reports, the perpetrators of the crime have been apprehended by the police. However, it is worthless to expect justice for the woman, seeing the track record of police in Pakistan while dealing with the crimes against Hindus.

Hindu women and girls are the prime targets of these radical Islamists. Unfortunately, they are proudly doing such an act of inhumanity and cowardice because they get widespread support from the establishment, police, local bigoted clerics. The life of Hindu girls and women has become hell in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Mostly, the girls are abducted and converted to Islam. Some of them are even raped and married off to the abductor. The incidents becomes more grieving when the courts turn a blind eye over these incident. Its time that the international community must take cognizance of the issue and deal with this menace, once and for all.

Last Thursday, five year old Sachal accompanied by his maternal grandmother appeared before the divisional bench of Islamabad High Court [IHC] comprising CJ Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb. Sachal is the son of Pakistani journalist, poet, and blogger Muddassir Naaru, who went missing from Kaghan Valley in Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while on a family excursion in 2018.

Being just six months old at that time, Sachal does not have any memories of this horrendous incident, which in a way is a good thing. But destiny has been rather cruel to him. In 2021, his mother suddenly passed away leaving this poor ‘half orphan’ to singlehandedly deal with the double trauma of having lost his mother and being unaware about the whereabouts and state of his father.

Naaru was also a social activist and human rights defender and had antagonised the Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies by highlighting excesses being committed in the garb of fighting terrorism. Hence, there are good reasons to believe that these all-powerful entities considered it expedient to cause an inconvenient person refusing to be reined to simply ‘disappear’!

Enforced disappearances orchestrated by the Pakistan Army, its intelligence agencies and the para-military forces under it’s command is so commonplace that in 2021, the then IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had remarked that “If the press was [really] independent, the pictures of missing person’s families would have been in paper every day.” [Emphasis added].

With thousands of enforced disappearances suits languishing in courts for years, Naaru’s case too would have met the same fate had it not been for a couple of positive developments. The first lucky break came when Nuru was spotted by a close associate at a detention center meant for ‘missing people’ a few months after his disapppearance. This belied the police version that the journalist may have accidently died or committed suicide by drowning in the Kaghan River and confirmed that he was alive.

Two, Chief Justice Minallah took a very serious view of the government’s apathy in discharging its duty of protecting the people and made a scathing attack on the Pakistan Army by stating that “half of our lives were spent with non-democratic governments in power.” Noting that “Had the state existed somewhere, why would the affected family need to approach the court [sic],” he directed that a meeting between the parents and children of Naaru with the prime minister should be ensured before the next hearing into the case.

Though the meeting with the prime minister was held and many assurances were given, the Naaru case remains in limbo and Sachal along with his grandmother continue to knock on IHC’s door for justice and that’s why they were there last Thursday. And in its news report, Dawn mentions, “When Naaru’s case came up, the CJ noted how the court felt embarrassed that the matter has been lingering for five years now.” What could be more embarrassing for a country than its court publicly expressing embarrassment for its inability to dispense justice?

In another such case heard along with that of Naaru’s disappearance, the petitioner informed the court that his two sons had been missing for a very long time. Noting that this case was extraordinary and brought disrepute to Pakistan, the two member IHC divisional bench division lamented that “the state appeared to be helpless in the matter.”

This observation clearly reaffirms the fact that the burgeoning cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan are primarily due to Rawalpindi’s lack of accountability that flows from its absolute supremacy over both the country’s legislature and judiciary. This admission revives memories of IHC senior judge Justice Shaukat Siddiqui’s 2018 revelation that “Today the judiciary and media have come in the control of ‘Bandookwala’ [army]. Judiciary is not independent…,[sic]” and how “In different cases, the ISI forms benches of its choice to get desired results.”

The fact that the Pakistan Army has scant regard for observing human rights is evident from its self-admitted involvement in enforced disappearances. Readers may recall that during a press conference in 2019, the then DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, had while replying to a question on enforced disappearances said, “We don’t wish that anyone should be missing. But when it’s war, you have to do a lot of things- as they say, all is fair in love and war; war is very ruthless.” [Emphasis added].

Human Rights Watch World Report 2019 on Pakistan also mentions that “During counter-terrorism operations, Pakistani security forces often are responsible for serious human rights violations including torture, enforced disappearances, detention without charge, and extrajudicial killings, according to Pakistan human rights defenders and defence lawyers… Authorities do not allow independent monitoring of trials in military courts and many defendants are denied the right to a fair trial.” [Emphasis added].

In its editorial of October 7, Dawn appropriately stated that “The blight of enforced disappearances has become almost normalised in our society, with hardly any voice being raised against the unlawful detention of citizens,” and leaves the reader with a haunting question- “Is the state comfortable with the fact that Pakistan is seen as a lawless land, where people disappear and are arbitrarily punished?”.

The head of the revolution in Yemen and “Ansar Allah” “Sayed Abdul Malik al-Houthi” has accused that the West and the United States provide support to prolong the Israeli occupation. The West’s rhetoric in the name of rights and freedom is not for the Palestinian people, because in their eyes, the Zionists have the right to massacre Palestinian children and women. He said that the West has allowed Israel to perpetrate all atrocities on Palestine. He alleged that the West wants to keep the Zionists as its agents in the Arab countries so that it can target the Islamic Ummah.

Sayed Malik opined that Israeli crimes indicate that Western leaders are just as cruel . Syed Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that the West has a superiority complex and perceives human society as a tad bit stupid. Human rights organizations have not helped the Palestinian people for seventy years. The trends of the Security Council and its resolutions did not benefit Palestine, nor did they support women and children.

The head of Ansarullah said that the American and European governments want Israel to continue killing , but the Palestinians do not give up. They want to suppress the Palestinian cause by restoring relations with Arab and Islamic countries. He described resistance as the only solution to Israel’s withdrawal from Palestine. Sayed Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that Al-Aqsa Storm is a great and important operation which has been carried out for the legitimate right of the Palestinian people against the cruel and occupying enemy. He urged the Muslims to not be silent spectators when Western countries are supporting Israel and said that they should support Torfan al-Aqsa.

He expressed the hope that the entire Muslim Ummah will stand with Palestine. If necessary, Palestine with be defended with millions of Mujahideen.

In a turn of events, the Israeli forces have imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, intensifying the humanitarian crisis in the region. The blockade comes after a series of conflicts since Hamas launched the offensive attack on Israel.

Calls for Humanitarian Action

Humanitarian organizations operating in the region have been urgently requesting the establishment of corridors to deliver aid to the residents of Gaza. Hospitals in the area are grappling with an increasing number of casualties, exceeding their capacity, and they are running critically low on essential medical supplies and medications.

The situation has escalated, and the blockade has halted the supply of food, fuel, and medicines, further exacerbating the suffering of the people of Gaza.

Border Crossings Sealed

Israeli forces have sealed all border crossings for exiting Gaza, leaving the border with Egypt as the sole exit route. However, Egypt has closed off even this crossing, as it made this decision due to the vicinity near the border crossing becoming a target for aerial attacks.

Rescue efforts in Gaza are also encountering challenges, as many people remain trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Vital equipment and ambulance vehicles are struggling to reach the affected areas, obstructing the rescue operations.

The death toll from the recent conflict has reached 1,900 lives lost in just five days of attack. There is growing concern that the fighting might continue, leading to further casualties.

Regional Tensions and International Response

Tensions are not confined to Gaza alone, as reports emerge of Israeli forces engaging in hostilities along the borders with Lebanon and Syria. These incidents have the potential to escalate into broader regional confrontations, raising alarm among international observers.

In response to the crisis, President Biden confirmed that at least 14 American citizens have fallen victim to the recent Hamas attacks. It is also reported that U.S. citizens are among those caught in the crossfire.

President Biden said that there is no justification for terrorism and condemned the ongoing violence. The U.S. Secretary of State is also considering a visit to Israel. The U.S. Foreign Minister, Antony Blinken, is expected to visit Israel in the coming days to convey a one-sided message of support.

The Looming Ground Offensive

A significant question on everyone’s mind is whether Israel will launch a ground offensive in Gaza. Gaza, a narrow strip of land approximately 40 kilometers long, is sandwiched between Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea. This densely populated region, home to nearly 2.3 million Palestinians, has become the focal point of these intensifying hostilities.

Israeli forces claim to have targeted hundreds of objectives in Gaza. Many of these are in areas where Hamas officials and media organizations and relief agencies’ offices are located.

On Tuesday afternoon, Hamas fired a significant number of rockets at Israeli cities such as Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. However, the full details of the recent rocket attacks by Hamas are not yet available.