The fake news peddled by Pakistani security forces about the death of Balochistan’s tallest leader Dr Allah Nazar Baloch was refuted in strong words by the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) in a media statement released late on Saturday night.
Several Baloch media groups also confirmed that this “news” of the death of Baloch leader Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch in Kandahar, Afghanistan was absolutely baseless. “Our Baloch leader is alive and is leading the Baloch independence movement,” said a Baloch human rights activist in his tweet. Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) spokesman Major Gwahram Baloch termed the news of the assassination of Baloch leader Dr Allah Nazar Baloch in Kandahar as a lie and said that this false news was spread by the social media trolls of Pakistan’s ISI.
BLF media statement refuting Pakistan’s fake news propaganda about Dr Allah Nazar’s death in Afghanistan (Photo: News Intervention)
Baloch sources further confirmed that Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch is present and active in his homeland Balochistan along with thousands of sarmachaars (freedom fighters) who are struggling for the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan’s colonial occupation.
“…spreading false propaganda, spreading false news, misinformation and rumors are the hallmarks of Pakistan, its intelligence agencies and its subservient media. Through this false rumor, ISI wants to spread suspicions about two neighboring countries Afghanistan and India on the one hand and the Baloch independence movement on the other. They want to justify Pakistan Army’s proxy war,” said Major Gwahram Baloch, BLF spokesperson in his media statement. He further added that Pakistan is trying to justify the war crimes and crimes against humanity by their intelligence agencies and Death Squads backed by them.
The fake news about Dr Allah Nazar’s death is a propaganda launched by pliant media of Pakistan with a purpose to create an impression that the Baloch freedom struggle is dwindling. Islamabad’s campaign to spread malicious rumors is also aimed at diverting attention from its policy of continuing proxy war against Afghanistan and India. Even earlier such baseless news about the martyrdom of Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch was spread by Pakistan and its ally Sarfraz Bugti, which was later on proved as blatant lie. The purpose of spreading such fake news is only to dishearten Balochistan about its independence movement. However, with rapid democratization on news media and social media the Pakistani propaganda is exposed and truth is revealed.
“Pakistan Army’s morale is at an all time low and they have been suffering losses on all fronts. In order to lift the sagging morale they spread such canards to lift the morale of troops, which knows that Pakistan is gradually losing the war in occupied Balochistan (sic),” wrote a senior policeman from Karachi in his blogpost.
Abrupt Replacement of ISI Sector Commander in Gilgit-Baltistan & Kashmir Elections will be held in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) on July 25, 2021. And like the earlier sham elections in POK, the Pakistan Army has made all arrangements to rig the voting process and install puppets as representative of Kashmiris through this electoral process.
The first step towards electoral theft in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is the hurried transfer of Brigadier Naeem Malik, ISI’s Sector Commander for Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Rawalpindi has appointed Brigadier Nadeem as the new Sector Commander of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir barely a few days before the actual voting in POK.
This sudden replacement of ISI’s Sector Commander for POK and Gilgit-Baltistan came to light when a local newspaper in Muzaffarabad published this news. The news daily explained that Pakistan Army announced this abrupt change of guard because it found Brig Nadeem to be more subservient to diktats from Rawalpindi. The very next day this local newspaper was shut down and editors and journalists started receiving death threats from ISI.
Rawalpindi sources said that Brig Naeem Malik was planting his own people in POK’s government set up and was giving PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) tickets to several of his own candidates. General Qamar Javed Bajwa took stern action against Brig Naeem Malik and fired him for misusing powers.
Through the removal of Brig Naeem Malik as ISI’s Sector Commander in Gilgit-Baltistan and POK the Pakistan Army is trying to give an impression to the local Kashmiris and the international community that Rawalpindi is maintaining transparency in local elections and the electoral process in POK.
All of this is an eyewash, however.
It must be noted that Pakistan Army has full authority and control over the distribution of PTI election tickets. Even during the 2018 general elections in Pakistan all PTI tickets were distributed under the supervision of army in which Imran Khan had no involvement.
Brig Naeem Malik was removed only because he was working against the diktats of Pakistan Army generals and the ISI. Brig Naeem Malik had been tasked to distribute tickets of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI) and to ensure that PTI wins in POK elections. However, he overstepped his role and that angered Gen Bajwa.
Brig Naeem Malik provided constitutional space to Raja Farooq Haider, the puppet prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and a PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) politician. With Brig Naeem Mailk’s help Raja Farooq Haider was successful in bringing a constitutional amendment which curtailed the role of Pakistan in appointment of POK High Court judges. This was unacceptable to Rawalpindi as it went against its policy of keeping Kashmir under tight grip.
Brig Naeem Malik was given marching
orders and replaced with compliant Brig Nadeem as the Sector Commander in Gilgit-Baltistan
and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Ali Amin Gandapur’s armed militia in POK
A local armed tribal militia led by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur has also been formed under the supervision of Pakistan Army. The mandate of this tribal militia is to steal the elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Though local Kashmiris have rejected Ali Amin Gandapur in toto, he is still working through back channels to rig the July 25 elections.
Ali Amin Gandapur armed militia has been intimidating local Kashmiris to vote for candidates propped by Rawalpindi. This armed lashkar (militia) is working towards integrating Jammu and Kashmir into Pakistan by backing the candidates of their choice in the July 25 POK elections. However, the local Kashmiris have been resisting Pakistan Army’s dubious game of snatching away the people’s right to vote. Amin Gandapur was stopped and stones pelted on him and on his armed goons from the mountains by the local Kashmiris. In response, Federal Minister Amin Gandapur and his armed lashkar opened fire on Kashmiris.
After this firing incident the Kashmiris
across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir started protests against the armed
forces. In Muzaffarabad and Poonch divisions, this tribal armed army of Amin
Gandapur is facing stiff resistance.
Meanwhile, the puppet prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) announced a sit-in at Islamabad against this attack, while Barrister Sultan president of the Kashmir chapter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) began debating the issue in his private meetings.
This protest drama by puppet politicians is a well thought over move to control the POK electoral process, deprive local Kashmiris of their voting rights and to hurt their self esteem.
POK’s puppet prime minister Raja
Farooq Haider threatened in a press conference that if direct interference of Imran
Khan and his ministers in Kashmir elections is not stopped, he will be forced to
go to Islamabad. “Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet colleagues are
brazenly violating the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. I want to put my case
before the people of Pakistan,” Farooq Haider said during the press
conference in Muzaffarabad.
Election Commission officials in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir banned Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin
Gandapur from attending rallies and giving speeches in Kashmir. Election Commission’s
decision came in the backdrop of Gandapur’s firing on local Kashmiris, distribution
of money in election meetings and use of abusive language in rallies.
In a letter to the chief secretary,
the Election Commission said that Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin
Gandapur was constantly violating election laws in Kashmir. “He (Ali Amin
Gandapur) is deliberately influencing the Kashmir elections in a negative way.
As a result, he is immediately banned from participating in election campaigns
and rallies in Pakistan-administered Kashmir,” said the POK Election Commission
in its note to chief secretary.
The Election Commission further
added that actions of Gandapur is creating law and order issues and there’s a constant
fear about the loss of human lives in Kashmir.
Earlier an FIR was also lodged against Ali Amin Gandapur for violating the model code of conduct. During an election campaign in Kashmir a video of Gandapur had surfaced on social media where he was seen as openly distributing money among people and was asking them to vote for candidates backed by Rawalpindi.
Rawalpindi’s game to rig July 25 elections in POK
Pakistan Army conducts these sham elections in the areas of Kashmir illegally occupied by it, only to tighten its grip over the region. In the July 25 elections, a total of 22,37,058 Kashmiri voters are expected to cast their votes for 29 constituencies of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), while 4,44,634 voters will cast their votes for the 12 constituencies of refugees. According to the model code of conduct issued for these elections, each candidate can spend up to Rs 2 million on elections and up to Rs 500,000 on personal expenses. All these directives remain merely on paper and the ruling PTI and Pakistan Army have been distributing huge cache of money in order to swing, rather rig, the electoral results in their favour.
The PML-N, PPP and PTI have fielded their candidates in these elections but the local Kashmiris have been saying that it’s certain that the ruling PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) will win, simply because it has the backing of Pakistan Army.
Public circles in POK is abuzz with talks that several local Kashmiri leaders of the PTI have been completely ignored in ticket distribution. Poonch’s Sardar Abdul Hameed Khan while talking to reporters said that persons who had been abusing Imran Khan and PTI for the last five years were given PTI tickets while those who had been working for the betterment of Kashmiris have been ignored. This clearly shows that none of the PTI leaders, including Prime Minister Imran Khan had any say in candidate selection from their party. Only the diktat from Pakistan Army decides the electoral candidates and also the election results.
The Pakistan Army has also helped register
a political outfit “Tehreek-e-Jawanan Pakistan Jammu and Kashmir. This
political party has been floated by Abdullah Gul, who is the son of former ISI chief
Hamid Gul. Abdullah Gul is neck deep into islamic extremism, drugs and criminal
activities. Abdullah Gul has been fielded as a candidate from LA-19
constituency. It is expected that Tehreek Jawanan will be “given” some seats in
this sham July 25 POK elections and in return Abdullah Gul will help tighten Rawalpindi’s
grip over POK.
Rules have been framed in the Election Commission under which only those parties which are in favour of POK’s accession to Pakistan accession can be registered and contest elections. All nationalist and liberal parties of POK have been prohibited from participating in the July 25 elections.
Leader of Jammu and Kashmir People’s
National Party Habib-ur-Rehman said that they wanted to participate in the
elections but Election Commission announced convoluted rules which debarred
nationalist political parties. He strongly condemned the new laws.
Habib-ur-Rehman added that Pakistan was
enacting certain laws on its occupied territory that ensured that liberals were
not able to participate in elections. The Pakistani government wants to
maintain its dominance under this double standard and continue to plunder
Kashmir’s resources, said Rehman.
The July 25 elections in
Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir is merely an exercise to install new puppets in
various government positions of occupied Jammu Kashmir. The selection of
electoral candidates, conduct of elections and rigging of voting process is all
being done to ensure that only those candidates who are subservient to the
senior most coterie of Pakistan Army are elected, nay selected.
The local Kashmiris across
Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir understand the sham of these elections and
are angry at these sham electoral process. They are criticising Pakistan Army and
its dirty deeds, but the Pakistani generals are least bothered about the opinion
of Kashmiris.
Under the pretext of maintaining law
and order in Kashmir, a total of about 43,500 personnel of the Pakistan Army,
Police and Civil Armed Forces from other Pakistani provinces have been deployed
for these elections.
Around 12,000 armed personnel from
Punjab Police, 10,000 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,000 from Islamabad Police, 400
from Frontier Constabulary and 3,000 Rangers have been deployed across
Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir to maintain law and order. Apart from this,
these personnel will also get the support of over 7,000 soldiers of Pakistan
Army, who have been deputed especially for July 25 elections.
It is certain that the Kashmiri’s right to vote in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) will be robbed in the July 25 elections, just as the generals robbed the Pakistani’s right to vote in 2018 general elections of Pakistan.
Freedom of speech and expression is the hallmark of a democratic state. Totalitarian regimes run by military dictators muzzle free speech, put curbs on criticism and eliminate dissenters or throw them away into torture cells. Ditto in Pakistan.
Pakistan Army that has been ruling Pakistan with an iron hand for the last seven decades ensures that no one ever dares to speak against them in the country. Islamabad as a seat of ‘democratically elected’ government is merely a smokescreen created by Rawalpindi. Real power rests with Pakistan Army that takes all important decisions for the country, from foreign policy to economic matters on behalf of the ‘selected’ government installed in Islamabad. And yet, despite this back seat driving, the GHQ Rawalpindi cannot tolerate questions or criticism about itself.
Journalists, political commentators, columnists, activists et al in Pakistan know quite well that raising questions, even in hushed tones, about the decisions of Rawalpindi would result in deadly attacks from the ISI-backed goons. Pakistani media, therefore, forbids any kind of critical views about the army and/or shuns anybody even remotely associated with outspoken critics.
No one is supposed to break this
mafia-like code of omertà. The stakes are too high and Pakistan Army or the ISI
never care about the stature or public standing about the critic and swiftly
take action against him/her.
Murderous
attempts on Journalists
Senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has been facing attacks for the last several years only because he had been courageously questioning Rawalpindi’s actions. Attempts were made to assassinate Hamid Mir in 2014 at Karachi, when he raised the issue of Baloch “Missing Persons” in Pakistan’s mainstream media. Six bullets were fired on him, but he was lucky to survive this attack. Four bullets were surgically extracted, while two bullets are still embedded in Mir’s body.
A bomb was then planted under Hamid Mir’s car in Islamabad, which was defused before it could explode.
ISI has made several attempts to kill senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir after his criticism of Pakistan Army.
Days before these attacks Hamid Mir had written to his employer Jang Media group and officials in the Pakistan government that there was a threat to his life and his family. Mir had also said in his letter that if he was attacked then the responsibility would squarely lie with Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam, the then ISI chief.
Hamid Mir’s complaints had no effect
on the plans of ISI or Pakistan Army. They had to teach a lesson to Mir who had
‘dared’ to go against Pakistani generals and so he was attacked.
Hamid Mir had courageously raised the issue of Baloch ‘Missing Persons’ in media and shown evidence of ISI and other intelligence agencies’ involvement in the enforced disappearances of innocent Baloch people.
Another senior Pakistani journalist Absar Alam was shot at in Islamabad and grievously injured. Absar Alam is not a rookie reporter, mind you, rather former chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and has an experience of about three decades in journalism. The only crime of Absar Alam was that he too dared to speak against the Pakistan Army.
Absar Alam, senior Pakistani journalist and former chairman PEMRA, was shot at Islamabad after he questioned the polices of Pakistan Army.
Another journalist who has been vocal against the atrocities committed by Pakistan Army and their loot is Asad Ali Toor. And he too was attacked by ISI-backed goons. Three armed men broke inside Toor’s house in Islamabad brazenly shouting “Long live Pakistan Army, long live ISI”. The attackers made no attempt to conceal their identity and ordered Asad Ali Toor to never criticize or question Pakistan Army in his video reports.
When Toor refused to accept their orders he was severely tortured. The attackers threatened him with painful death if he did not stop criticism of Pakistan Army’s actions.
Asad Ali is a journalist and vlogger
(video blogger) who criticizes the wrong and undemocratic actions of the
government and civil establishment, including the Pakistan Army, its officers
and the political leadership.
Attack on Asad Ali Toor was widely criticized and Pakistanis erupted with anger on social media. Hamid Mir addressed a rally in support of Asad Ali Toor in Islamabad, where he warned the state agencies that no journalist in Pakistan should be subject to such violence. Mir said if this violence did not stop then journalists would expose what goes on inside the homes of Pakistani generals. Mir added that he would be forced to say why the wife of a Pakistani general shot at him.
A couple of days later
Hamid Mir’s news show was dropped at Geo Television under pressure from
Rawalpindi.
As per a Media Freedom Report released by Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), at least ten journalists were murdered and several others attacked, kidnapped, tortured or arrested across Pakistan under fabricated charges in the year 2020.
Several social media reports and local language newspapers peg this figure a tad higher and say that more than forty Pakistani journalists, local politicians, social activists and social media activists have lost their lives while many others live in constant fear of retaliation. The names included in this exhaustive list are Ahmad Nawarani, Matiullah Jan, Asad Ali Toor, Absar Alam, Hamid Mir, Nadeem Malik, Zafar Naqvi and Rizwan Razi, among several others.
The situation is much worse in
occupied Balochistan where forty four journalists who were reporting about the atrocities
of Pakistan Army have been silently eliminated through targeted murders.
The subtlety and shrewdness with which Pakistan Army imposes totalitarianism in Pakistan is often missed by the civilised world. Unlike other military dictators who impose their will blatantly, Pakistan Army camouflages it under different layers and gets a democratic sanction to its actions.
A couple of months ago the National
Assembly Standing Committee on Interior passed a bill that allows two years imprisonment
and/or fine upto five lakh rupees on anybody who questions Pakistan’s armed
forces.
The introduction of this dubious bill, its terms and conditions and the pattern of voting, all bear the unmistakable stamp of Pakistan Army.
It all started with the introduction
of a private member bill by the National Assembly member Amjad Ali Khan of the ruling
political outfit Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). This was named Criminal Law
(Amendment) Bill that sought to amend the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 and the Code
of Criminal Procedure 1898. It must be noted that Imran Khan, the current ‘selected’
Prime Minister of Pakistan is from the PTI.
Before the enactment of this bill
the Section 500 of Pakistan Penal Code had provisions for defamation but did not
explicitly mention the Pakistan’s armed forces. The text of Section 500 Pakistan
Penal Code read: “Anyone who brings disgrace or disgrace to another can be
sentenced to two years imprisonment or a fine or both.”
PTI member Amjad Ali Khan’s private
bill sought to amend Section 500 by adding a sub-clause Section 500-A. The amended
text read “punishment for intentional mockery of the Armed Forces etc”. The
wording of this sub-clause was deliberately kept ambiguous to enable GHQ
Rawalpindi to act on their whims.
Further, during meetings of Standing
Committee on Interior the members of opposition parties Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) opposed this draconian
bill and also voted against it. Five votes were cast in its favour and five
against this bill. However, the casting vote rested with Raja Khurram Nawaz, a representative
of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the chairman of Standing Committee on
Interior. And with Raja Khurram Nawaz’s casting vote this draconian bill was enacted
as a law in Pakistan.
Under this new act Pakistan’s armed forces and their personnel can target any journalist, politician, author, social media activist, social worker etc. citing ridicule, insult and defamation of Pakistan Army. And all of this will be done according to a legislative law enacted by a democratically elected, nay selected, government in Islamabad.
Representatives of the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who opposed the bills said that freedom of expression would be further curtailed under the guise of this new law across Pakistan. Soon after the bill’s approval by standing committee, several people took to social media to express their concern over it.
Undeterred by social media outrage
the Pakistan Army has already begun the misuse of this law.
Cases of treason have begun to be registered against journalists with lightening speed. For instance, the Punjab Police registered a case of incitement against Pakistan Army on Absar Alam, senior journalist and former chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). The police have also slapped a case of treason under Article 6 against him.
Similarly, a case has been registered
against Bilal Farooqi, journalist and social media activist in Karachi for
inciting revolt against Pakistan Army and spreading religious hatred.
Thereafter, the Rawalpindi Police registered
a case against vlogger and journalist Asad Ali Toor for insulting, posting and
commenting on Pakistani institutions, especially the army.
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act passed
by the Pakistan’s civil administration under Imran Khan is, in reality, a deadly
instrument in the hands of GHQ Rawalpindi through which they are now legally
targeting journalists and activists across Pakistan.
Politicians and elected Parliamentarians on target
Pakistan Army’s obsession of curbing
dissent is not limited to action against journalists and social media activists,
rather any politician who refuses to sing the same tunes has to face the music
from GHQ Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) National Assembly member Javed Latif has been punished for speaking out against the Pakistan Army. Latif had said that Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, lives under constant threat of being killed by the military establishment. After this statement Javed Latif was declared a traitor and was sent to jail.
Similarly, Mufti Kifayatullah, a senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, was criticized by the intelligence agencies for his utterances and kept in the torture cell for two months before being released. He was in jail for over five months.
Mufti Kifayatullah in an interview
to a news channel in December 2019 had criticized the Pakistan Army and said
that if theft has to be caught, then the generals of Pakistan Army must be
caught. In this same interview, Kifayatullah had said that if government has courage,
then former head of Pakistan Army’s public relations department (Inter-Services
Public Relations) Lt. Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa must be arrested and his right hand
be chopped off.
Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) have also suffered severe retaliation for criticizing the Pakistan Army.
Ali Wazir’s torture by Pakistan Army
Ali Wazir represents Waziristan and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He is an elected representative in the National Assembly
from Waziristan and a prominent Pashtun leader. Pakistan Army sees Ali Wazir as
a major impediment in its strategy of breeding Taliban in Waziristan and other
parts of Pashtunistan. Rawalpindi was desperately looking at an excuse to
target Ali Wazir, and it found one at a public rally of Pashtuns.
Addressing a public rally, Pashtun
leader Ali Wazir slammed the Pakistan Army’s use of force against unarmed
people in Waziristan, burning of Pashtun houses, wanton killings and human
rights violations across Pashtunistan.
Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa took Ali Wazir’s speech as a personal attack and thereafter named Ali Wazir in a fake land grabbing case and arrested him. Ali Wazir was also handcuffed and dragged on the roads in front of the Pashtuns, whom he represents in Pakistan’s parliament. All of this was done on the directions of Gen Bajwa to teach a lesson to the Pashtuns so that they refrain from speaking against the Pakistan Army.
Pakistani parliamentarians recently attended a secretive meet on national security at Parliament House Islamabad. This meeting of elected representatives of Pakistan was chaired by Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and current ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. During this meeting Shahid Abbas Khaqan, former prime minister, told Gen Bajwa that he was sad to see an elected parliamentarian, Ali Wazir, being handcuffed and paraded in front of the people he represents.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also pleaded with the army chief to release Ali Wazir. With folded hands Bilawal Bhutto requested Gen Bajwa that several people in Ali Wazir’s family have been killed and he is an elected parliamentarian who must be released.
But Gen Bajwa did not budge. On the contrary he shot back saying that if Ali Wazir apologizes then he can think about releasing him.
Pashtun leader Ali Wazir’s open letter to Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa
Upon hearing that Pakistan Army chief
has demanded an apology, Ali Wazir wrote an open letter addressing General
Qamar Javed Bajwa from jail in which refused to apologize and questioned Bajwa’s
locus standi to demand apology from an elected representative.
“Isn’t it an open violation of the Constitution that you are the head of an institution that is just a sub-institution of government, and the government pays your salaries through national treasury after collecting citizens’ taxes. … They interfere in judicial matters but also control the parliament and the judiciary and the decisions are influenced… The first thing is that your demand of seeking apology from me… who has the power to rule, reward and punishment in this country?, And who put me in prison again and again? (sic)” questioned Pashtun leader Ali Wazir in his open letter to Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Ali Wazir further stated in his open letter: “…your demand is absolutely undemocratic, unconstitutional and illegal. In a democracy, sovereignty is vested in its elected representatives. They are the creators of the constitution. Therefore, they have the constitutional right to raise critical questions about the constitution, state institutions and policies, to protest against oppression and repression, and to change the state system and policies…. Who is the culprit and who is the traitor? So in this regard, I will repeat the historical statement of the great revolutionary leader Fidel Castro that ‘history will prove my truth’. And history will also decide who committed crimes against humanity. Who violated his oath? And who should apologize? (sic),” asked Ali Wazir in his open letter.
If Pakistan is indeed a democratic state, then everyone should have the right to freedom of expression, but this is not at all the case. For the last seventy years, the Pakistan Army has been targeting journalists, politicians, government employees, bureaucracy, social activists, judiciary and lawyers in the name of national security and protection of Islam. A public perception has been created by Rawalpindi that every professional and all state institutions, except the Pakistan Army, are corrupt and it’s the military that’s the saviour of Pakistan and Islam.
However, gradually the stories about
Pakistan Army’s systematic corruption, blackmail and two-timing have surfaced
and thus common Pakistanis have understood the root cause of all rot within the
country.
People have started questioning the generals about the source of their massive wealth. In its response the Pakistan Army has launched a full-scale crackdown on every critic who raises questions about rotting corruption in Rawalpindi.
Security forces in Jammu & Kashmir led by the Indian Army have, on many occasions, created a conducive security environment in which the political process could be initiated. Sadly, many such opportunities have been lost out by previous governments at the centre; mostly due to lack of political resolve and disconnect with the people that led to failure of initiatives taken. The end result was frustration and a return of the threshold of violence.
In the last few years, security forces have launched sustained and relentless operations against terrorist forces while also capping the infiltration routes. Significant in this direction has been the success of Operation All-Out launched by the Indian Army. The end result has been a decline in violence to the extent that initiation of the political process once again became feasible.
The
NDA government at the centre has put in tremendous effort to ensure that the
window of stability now available is leveraged to bring about permanent peace
and a strong democratic dispensation in the region.
The first step in this direction was taken on August 5, 2019 when the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories and the draconian Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution of India were abrogated by a constitutional process. Violence and rejection of the move was predicted by such inimical forces that have a vested interest in keeping the state subjugated. However, nothing of this sort happened; the state has accepted the new dispensation with relief since it has opened windows of lasting peace and prosperity.
On August 5, 2019 Home Minister Amit Shah had given an assurance that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will ultimately be given the status of a State with its own legislative institutions as available in the other states. This, he said, would be done by paving the way for elections post a process of delimitation for both parliamentary and state constituencies.
The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, also added seven seats to the state Legislative Assembly in the Jammu region, thus, the number of seats in Jammu increased from 37 to 44 and the number of seats in Kashmir remained 46. This matter was left to be implemented by the Delimitation Commission. The move was necessitated to support people like the West Pakistan refugees and the Valmiki Samaj who had been leading a stateless existence for decades on end and who qualified as domiciles of the state under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The delimitation would also facilitate reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes where the Muslims Gujjars would emerge as the main beneficiaries.
The process of delimitation in the state is long overdue since the last such exercise was conducted under the President’s Rule in 1995. The next delimitation exercise was due in 2005, but in 2002, the Farooq Abdullah government chose to freeze delimitation until 2026 by amending the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957, and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir. This was done with a vested interest of keeping intact the dominance of Kashmir region over Jammu.
In
1995, J&K had only 12 districts, now there are 20; the number of Tehsils
has gone up from 58 to 270. Constituency boundaries in as many as 12 districts
are extended beyond the district’s limit. All such issues need to be resolved.
A Delimitation Commission has been constituted under the chairmanship of the former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. It was given time till March 2021, to complete the process, now a one year extension has been given due to delay imposed by the COVID pandemics. The government has, thus, shown absolute seriousness in the process.
Delimitation was the main agenda in the meeting of J&K leaders held in New Delhi on 24 March 2021, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The central government made it very clear that elections will be held only after the delimitation is done. Most parties have accepted this; the main exception being the Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which was on expected lines.
The Delimitation Commission panel recently (6 July onwards) visited J&K where it held talks with various stakeholders. All regional and national parties except PDP and the Awami National Conference formally presented their memorandums to the panel.
The Commission
is determined to take into account all demands and recommendations and will
also put up a final draft in the public domain for debate. It has, in the course
of this visit, met 290 groups in Srinagar, Pahalgam, Kishtwar and Jammu to
gather first-hand inputs.
Delimitation
will be on the basis of the 2011 census as per Section 62 of J&K
Reorganisation Act 2019 and the 24 seats reserved for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir
(POK) will stay vacant. This decision overrules a demand by the BJP of
de-freezing one third of the 24 seats reserved for POJK. This single decision
points towards the apolitical posture of the panel.
The delimitation
process in J&K is bound to be complex in nature; while population will form
the main criteria, the geography, terrain and topography, population density,
ethnic composition, etc., will also be considered. It is for this reason that
such detailed meetings and briefings from deputy commissioners and other civil
servants are being adopted by the commission.
It is universally accepted that delimitation of constituencies in J&K is very necessary. With the security situation well in control this is also the best time to go through the same to be followed by holding of timely elections. The security apparatus will assist the entire exercise as always and ensure that the people can vote without fear and intimidation when the time comes. The PDP and some other elements are trying to derail the process by saying that it is a pre-planned exercise. The commission, however, has proved by its actions present and proposed that it will go about doing its work in an honest and transparent manner after ensuring maximum participation of all communities and stakeholders. (
As the ceasefire holds along the Line of Control (LOC), the Northern Command of the Indian Army has initiated a number of welfare initiatives for the people of border areas, especially those living ahead of the Line of Control (LOC) fencing. Recently, a special training drive to prepare youth of the area for recruitment in the army has been launched by the Jammu-based White Knight Corps of the Northern Command.
This apart, a special drive for COVID vaccination has also been held for those living beyond the LOC fencing. Both initiatives have received tremendous response. As the ceasefire has come as a relief for the people, the Army is ensuring that no such incident takes place which would give to the other side a reason to break it, alongside, vigilance is being carried out through intensive patrolling.
The elite Northern Command is in the Golden Anniversary year of its dedicated service to the nation and the people of J&K. Raised on 17 June, 1972 it has completed 49 years of selfless service this year. The Command was raised by the legendary soldier Lt. Gen. P.S. Bhagat, VC, PVSM at a time when India had already faced four major wars. Initially the order of battle was of two corps and one Division; the Chinar Corps in Srinagar was responsible for Kashmir and Ladakh, the White Knight Corps in Jammu was responsible for the Jammu Theatre and the Dah Division was located at Palampur. Post the Kargil War, the Fire and Fury Corps was raised and located at Leh.
The theatre of operations of the command encompasses varied terrain from the glaciers of Siachen (the highest battlefield in the world) to the plains of Akhnoor. It comprises of thickly forested mountains, high altitude deserts, glaciers and hot plains. Several forward areas remain cut off for five to six months and have to be air-maintained.
It also has the unique distinction of guarding four different types of borders – the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) with China and the Line of Control (LOC) and International Border with Pakistan. Each one of these boundaries comes with a separate politico-military perspective which poses a very big challenge. It is not without reason that the command supports the logo “Always in Combat”.
In the 1980s, Pakistan built a notorious proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir by infiltrating terrorists in thousands through the porous LOC. The command was called upon to fight a debilitating internal security operation to quell foreign sponsored terrorism and insurgency. The enemy used all means, mostly foul, to gain ascendancy but the brave troops of the command succeeded in defeating his nefarious design. Today, the cult of terrorism lies destroyed.
Operation Meghdoot was launched on 13 April, 1984, to establish control over Indian territories in the icy heights of the Siachen glacier. In an unimaginable feat of grit and bravery the troops of Northern Command gained control over the dominating heights in a feat of valour that has no parallels in the annals of military history.
In June, 1999, Pakistan thrust a war upon India with its ignoble attempt to occupy the Kargil heights in Indian territories. The courage and commitment exhibited by the Indian soldiers in the short, swift and brutal war is now part of military folklore. The intruding Pakistani forces were completely decimated and the country faced international humiliation.
Alongside its achievements in operations, the Northern Command has earned for itself the reputation of being a “Peoples’ Army”. Having been compelled to fight an infiltrated enemy in its own territories, the Northern Command has followed a policy of zero tolerance for human rights violations by its own troops. Cases coming to light, however few and far between, are dealt with swiftly with exemplary punishment meted out to defaulters. Counter-terrorist operations in civilian areas are conducted with great care to ensure minimum collateral damage to civilian life and property, even at the cost of buying own casualties.
In times of calamity and natural disasters anywhere in J&K, the Northern Command has unilaterally undertaken relief and rehabilitation work at a massive scale, at times when it was itself grappling with the effects of the calamity.
Northern Command felicitates a 120-year-old for taking COVID vaccine jab (Photo: Twitter)
The Northern Command, under the leadership of the present GOC-in-C, Lieutenant General Yogesh Kumar Joshi, UYSM, AVSM, VrC, SM, ADC is striving to attain the next level of glory in its illustrious history. Since May 2020, the command has been the face of the mighty Indian Army. Under the strategic direction of Army Commander, Lt Gen Joshi, and other commanders it gained operational, psychological and moral ascendancy over the PLA and made it retract.
Lt. Gen Joshi is the only serving Army Commander who has been awarded the gallantry Vir Chakra and Sena Medal to his credit. He is also a known China expert, proficient with the Chinese language and capable of discerning the Chinese military thought process.
The locals share a deep bond of trust and faith with the soldiers of Northern Command which is living up to its slogan of “We Can, We Care”. “We Can” represents the might of the hard power, while “We Care” reflects its soft power and goodness of will. For the Northern Command, however, the time to sit back and enjoy the laurels of success has not arrived. The enemy is determined to continue with his nefarious designs at whatever cost, he is brutal and ruthless. There is no option but to stay constantly vigilant and ready for all contingencies. The entire nation stands firmly in support of the brave and noble soldiers of Northern Command with the firm belief that they will never let the enemy succeed.
Yet another shameful incident of politically motivated mob violence in Punjab has come to light wherein senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while holding an internal meeting of the party in Rajpura, Punjab were chased, roughed up and held hostage by an irate mob. The mob wished to be passed off as “agitating farmers” but it was quite obviously politically motivated and holding an agenda to suppress the BJP.
The mob comprised of more than 500 goons who were armed with weapons like
swords and staffs; the presence of arms within the crowd cannot be ruled out.
The meeting was being chaired by BJP leader Bhupesh Aggarwal at the
Bharat Vikas Parishad building near the new grain market in Rajpura. As the mob
started increasing police, force intervened but not to the extent of dispersing
the mob.
In what can be deemed to be a total failure of police authority, Bhupesh
Aggarwal had been told earlier that he should finish the meeting in 30 minutes.
That normal political activity anywhere within India would be thus curtailed by
the very authorities that are responsible for maintaining law and order is
appalling.
The police claim that it was on top of the situation but the reports and
the videos coming from the site of the incident tell a very different story.
They show half hearted attempts by the police to control the unruly crowd while
the BJP leaders were being heckled and humiliated.
It is to the credit of the BJP leadership that it continued with its
activities even as the threat from the mob continued. The BJP state General
secretary Subash Sharma, most courageously, went to the site of the incident to
address a press conference. The venue of his media interaction was also
cordoned by the mob and he along with other leaders was held hostage for hours
on end.
In a video released from the house where he along with other leaders was
held hostage, Subhash Sharma said, “It’s like terrorism days in Punjab. Police
are not acting against goons”. He did not mince any words in blaming the
Congress for the lawlessness and politics of violence that were being played
out.
The statement made by Subash Sharma was further reinforced by the BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, who also slammed the Punjab government being led by Captain Amarinder Singh for allowing such elements a “free run” in the state. “These Goonda elements, in the name of farmers, have held the state to ransom and have plotted against the BJP”, he said.
Creditably, the High Court of Punjab assembled in the middle of the night and directed the Director General Police (DGP) of the state to ensure the safety of the BJP leadership. It has given time to the police till 2 PM on 12 July to submit a reply. The court has also served notice to the government to ensure the security of the political leaders.
The directions passed by the High Court are to the eternal shame of the state administration. It has been fairly and squarely ticked off for abdication of duty. Despite this shame and public revulsion at the state of affairs, Chief Minister Amarinder has issued no statement to condemn the attack nor has he given any assurance of a timely enquiry into the incident. This is a clear indication of the complicity of the Congress in what is going on; it gives credibility to the statements made by Subash Sharma and Tarun Chugh.
Such attacks have been going on ever since the Farmers agitation
established camps on the borders of Delhi. The agitation leaders swear to the
“peaceful nature” of the agitation. The central government is dealing with the agitation
with utmost patience, there have been no incidents of the state apparatus
attempting to pressurise the agitators. Sadly, what is happening in Punjab is
quite contrary to the assertion of the agitation being peaceful. It is on the
shoulder of the farm agitation that the horrifying attacks of BJP cadre are
being carried out.
On 12 October, 2020, Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma was attacked by
a violent mob in Hoshiarpur while he was travelling from Jalandhar to
Pathankot. A little after that, the houses of many BJP leaders were surrounded
by violent mobs and in one instance tons of garbage was thrown outside the
house of a senior BJP functionary. The state government did not take any action
against the assailants who gained the confidence to carry out more such
attacks.
The practice continued till the shameful incident on 27 March 2021 when
BJP MLA from Abohar, Arun Narang, was attacked by a mob of so-called farmers,
actually political activists. His clothes were torn, black ink was thrown upon
him and he was thrashed mercilessly. In this instance too, the police remained
a mute spectator, refusing to take any action to control the crowd. “I have a
hunch that the state government could be behind it. It needs a thorough
investigation. I don’t trust Punjab police now”, said Narang in a forthright
manner after the attack.
Then on 13 April 2021, a mob attacked the convoy of Shri Ram Gopal who is
the State head of “Haryaval Punjab”, a social welfare organisation dedicated to
promoting organic farming, sowing and growing useful trees and greenery,
management of plastic waste and similar projects all over Punjab. He was
targeted for being a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The frequency of the attacks has been increasing over time. Two factors
are attributed to this situation.
The first is that the BJP cadre is not reacting to the attacks in
strength; this is a mature and noble policy that is greatly assisting in
maintaining peace and harmony in the state despite grave and unjustified
provocation. But it is also building the confidence of the opposition to
continue with its nefarious activity.
The second and more important is the casualness and complicity of the
administration, especially the state police which seems to be the direct
consequence of the directions from the top. The success of each attack has
emboldened the mob to become larger, more irate and aggressive.
It is very sad to note that some segments of the media are also glossing over the criticality of the situation. They have described the criminal attack at Rajpura as, “a group of farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws chasing away a local BJP leader”. A media report cannot get more callous than this. Others have covered the incident by use of the terminology of “reportedly and allegedly” when there is no doubt whatsoever about the incident having taken place. It is apparent that an attempt is being made to downplay such incidents with the intention of removing public perception from them and also ensuring that they can carry on in the future.
I am uploading a series of videos with appeal to Captain Amarinder Singh to put a check on what he termed as “Politics of Violence” in the state of Punjab.
Click on the link to watch video
It is sad to note that the CM has given no credence to the appeal and a series of attacks have taken place since then, the main being the one at Rajpura. It does give an impression that what is happening has his sanction.
In its aura of power, the ruling party in the state and its leader Captain Amarinder Singh are conveniently glossing over the fact that it is playing with fire. At stake is the social integration of Punjab that is so close to the heart of every Punjabi and the sanctity of the Constitution of India. This aspect has been very aptly expressed by Ashwani Sharma, President BJP, Punjab, “This is an attack on democracy, and not BJP. There is complete lawlessness in Punjab, as police have become mute spectators”, he has said.
Click on the link to watch video
It is the right of all citizens of India to follow their political affiliations freely and without fear/intimidation; any attempt to subdue the same goes against democratic tenets and the spirit of the Indian Constitution.
The parties that oppose the BJP should fight a political battle within
acceptable democratic norms and defeat the party fairly and squarely in the
ballot during elections, if they can. By resorting to such shameful and
dishonourable tactics they are showing their own insecurity and lack of
character.
What is happening in Punjab for the sake of political brinkmanship is absolutely reprehensible. It goes against the very tenets of the traditional brotherhood that Punjab has witnessed since centuries. It is a deep slur on the concept of “Punjabiat”.
The tragic incident of July 14 in which a bus carrying Chinese nationals working at Dasu Hydropower plant in Kohistan region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province alongwith Pakistan security staff plunged into a ravine killing 12 passengers (including nine Chinese workers) is getting curiouser by the day. Almost immediately after this news broke, Babar Awan (adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Parliamentary Affairs), while speaking in National Assembly [NA], referred to this incident a “cowardly attack” and in a veiled reference to New Delhi went on to add that such acts would “not divert attention from the special initiatives between Pakistan and its neighbours.”
With Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa [KP] Inspector General of Police [IGP] Moazzam Jah Ansari also saying that it “looks like sabotage,” the initial assessment of this incident was it was definitely an act of militant attack. In fact Babar Awan even went on to say that he would request Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to share details of this “cowardly attack” with National Assembly members. However, the tearing hurry with which he concluded that this was a terror related incident and its almost immediate endorsement by KP IGP left little doubt in anyone’s mind that this assessment was patently motivated.
So, later in the same day, when Pakistan’s Foreign Office specifically ruled out the terror-angle by saying that the ill-fated bus had “plunged into a ravine after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast,” it came as no big surprise. The day after this incident, Beijing in its Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, mentioned that in his meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi the previous day, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had said that he was “hoping that the Pakistani side could quickly find out its cause, conduct rescue and treatment work at all costs, deal with the aftermath in time, and prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
Nong Rong, China’s Ambassador to Pakistan talks to Pakistani officials at Dasu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Yi also told Qureshi that “If it is a terrorist attack, the criminals must be immediately arrested and severely punished” and Qureshi reportedly assured Yi that“Pakistan will spare no effort to … thoroughly investigate the truth of the incident, lose no time in sharing the progress of the investigation with China, and do its utmost to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in Pakistan.” Since Pakistan’s Foreign Office had just the day before confirmed that this unfortunate incident had occurred due to “mechanical failure,” his pledge to “thoroughly investigate the truth of the incident,” came as a rather surprising development as it cast a shadow of doubt on the credibility on his own ministry.
However, what’s even more baffling is that soon after Qureshi gave this assurance to Yi, Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Initial investigations into Dasu incident have now confirmed traces of explosives, terrorism cannot be ruled out.” He also added that “PM is personally supervising all developments, in this regard Govt is in close coordination with Chinese embassy we are committed to fight menace of terrorism together.” So, in a matter of 24 hours, Islamabad inexplicably changed the cause of the Dasu bus accident, not once but thrice- from “sabotage” to “mechanical failure” and then back to “terrorism”– a rather poor reflection on Islamabad’s steadiness.
The logical question that arises is, why did Islamabad exhibit such shameful capriciousness while commenting on the nature of the Dasu bus incident? The answer is not very difficult to find. Readers may recall that during his press conference on the day of this accident, even though Pakistan’s Foreign Office had confirmed that this incident occurred due to “mechanical failure,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian instead said,“China is shocked by and condemns the bomb attack in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which caused Chinese casualties.” So, while Beijing may be more than 3,500 km away from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, but if the Chinese President Xi Jinping felt that the Dasu bus incident was a terrorist act, then what other choice did Imran Khan have other than to agree in toto? In fact, with the ginormous loans that China has given to Pakistan, the old English idiom- ‘he who pays the piper, calls the tune’ aptly explains Islamabad’s barefaced vacillation!
Given the high level of public animosity against Chinese presence in Pakistan, various armed groups like those in Balochistan as well as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have been targeting Chinese workers, who have no reservations in taking responsibility for such attacks. Surprisingly, no one has taken responsibility for the Dasu incident which Beijing alleges is a “bomb blast” that claimed lives of nine Chinese citizens and left many more injured. So, while Islamabad continues to humour Beijing by confirming that “traces of explosives” had been found on the ill-fated bus, this so-called act of terrorism targeting Chinese workers will go down in history as the first such attack for which no armed group has taken responsibility!
Who is comrade Seengar Noonari? And why has been been forcibly disappeared in Sindh? Watch this Special Report by News Intervention to understand the full story.
Click on the YouTube link to watch our video report
Dear Mr. António Guterres Secretary-General, United Nations
Subject: The UN General Assembly debate on R2P and pervasive discrimination against the Sindhi nation.
In May 2021 when the UN General Assembly debate on R2P began, on those very same dates of the month a fresh round of ethnic cleansing and crimes against the indigenous Sindhi nation was committed by Pakistani state agencies. Pakistani intelligence agencies and their pawns like Malik Riaz and his armed men, along with the police, rangers and heavy machinery, moved in to destroy old historical heritage residences and houses of the Sindhi people in the Kohistan area of Sindh.
Local inhabitants and Sindhi nationalists stood up against this cruel act of land grabbing and violence. After this incident, a peaceful movement was launched against the Bahria Town and other major settlement projects in Sindh. Later, on 6 June 2021, a peaceful protest was organized by the Sindh Action Committee and other nationalist political parties in which hundreds of thousands of Sindhi people from all trades of life took part. In the wake of that protest, a military operation began that continues till date against nationalist and common Sindhi people.
Sindh has been a distinct geographical frontier based on thousands of years of historical experience, so the Sindhis consider the separate and sovereign existence of Sindh as useful towards building a better world. Original Sindhi inhabitants are the only real owners and heirs of every inch of Sindh. Mega projects like Bahria Town, DHA Mega City, Islands mega projects, coastal belt projects, Pakistan Army cantonments and other major settlement projects in Sindh are a clear indication that the Punjabi Pakistani establishment is aggressively pursuing an agenda to merge Sindh into greater Punjab. We condemn this colonial occupation of the ancient villages of Kohistan, Gopa Town, Kathor, Moisa Dam and Panhwar mountains.
Malik Riaz, a civilian puppet of the Pakistan Army, with the help of the feudal-dominated government of Sindh has launched its strategy of occupation of Sindh. Pakistan has been politically suppressing and persecuting 70 million ordinary Sindhi people since its creation. The right to self-determination is the natural birthright of the historical Sindhi nation, but a religious fundamentalist and feudal-colonial Pakistan has been denying our demand of freedom for the last 73 years. By arresting and abducting thousands of political workers and leaders of Sindh, Punjabi-dominated Pakistan is trying to create fear among us, which is in clear violation of the Geneva Convention.
Open letter to António Guterres, Secretary-General United Nations
Day and night, houses of political workers and the leaders of the freedom movement of Sindh are raided by armed Pakistan Rangers, police and Pakistani intelligence agencies. Hundreds of them have still not been presented in court. The Pakistani establishment and its puppet Sindh government has begun a fascist operation against Sindhi nationalists to suppress the voice of the Sindhi nation.
Non-Sindhi land grabbers and ISI-supported builders and construction mafia projects like Bahria town, DHA, Islands project, and CPEC commercial and residential projects are all engineered military projects to convert the Sindhi nation into a minority in their own motherland.
We see that the Sindhis being from an underprivileged nation are potentially the most vulnerable. So responsible institutions like the UNO, UNPO, Amnesty International, and civil society stakeholders like CICC global justice and the global centre have a responsibility to protect civilians of Sindh. Unfortunately they are not undertaking their entrusted responsibilities properly.
If the EU has made a public declaration of a commitment to eradicate and end criminal impunity in the world, then why are the enlightened countries of the EU not paying attention towards this human catastrophe in Sindh?
Mere aspiration without action is sterile; it is the deed that matters. The US, EU, UNO and other governments and civil society institutions are hereby enjoined to be doers of righteousness in the world, and not remain talkers and hearers only. As in the debate of 35 June 2018 on the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, wherein it was stated that “R2P remains to be the most effective principle around which the international community can coalesce when a vulnerable population faces the threat of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”.
Sindhis are actual and potential victims of these aforesaid atrocities which are only accelerating in scale and frequency. As a Sindhi nationalist, human rights defender and victim of Pakistani intelligence agencies’ program of persecution myself, I have been struggling and raising my voice against all these aforesaid crimes and atrocities to every responsible organization and civilized community. I have not yet received any positive response or glimpse of hope in helping to stop this.
I am writing this letter to you because we neither believe in Pakistan nor its judicial system. I am requesting you to please prevail on Pakistan to stop suppressing the secular, pluralistic Sindhi nation and demand the safe and immediate release of all nationalist leaders and political workers of Sindh arrested after the recent Bahria Town protest.
As in the 75th session it was stated in the debate, “We strongly urge member states to consistently and meaningfully uphold the commitment enshrined in paragraphs 138-139 of the World Summit Outcome Document”, Pakistan being a member of the United Nations is bound to respect R2P and the World Summit Document to ensure the inclusion of R2P as a standing item. And yet, Pakistan is not implementing it and is not being seriously questioned regarding its implementation of the prevention of all the aforesaid atrocities the Sindhis have been subjected to. The NGOs, UNO and its sister institutions are not playing their roles in highlighting this situation to the United Nations to end this impunity and human catastrophe.
Faithfully, Zafar Sahito Founder and Chief Organiser Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) USA
While addressing troops at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on May 25, 2014 the then US President Barack Obama gave many assurances, including that of an early withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Though it took seven years for this to happen, two of Obama’s promises (one- “America’s war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end,” and two- “America’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan will endure,”) haven’t been fulfilled by present incumbent President Joe Biden.
Right from Cuban exiles who participated in the unsuccessful
Bay of Pigs invasion by [1961], to the South Vietnamese and more recently the
Syrian Kurds, Washington has seldom stood by its allies in testing times.
Hence, there’s nothing outrageous or unprecedented about its Faustian deal with
Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan with no concern whatsoever about its
consequences. So, even though Washington keeps invoking lofty principles and talks
about ethical proprietary in all its discourses, history bears testimony to the
fact that Washington doesn’t quite practice what it so vociferously preaches!
Both Beijing and Islamabad are crying foul after Washington
commenced withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan. Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Wang Wenbin unambiguously expressed Beijing’s dismay by saying, “The
US disregards its responsibilities and duties and withdraws troops from
Afghanistan hastily, dumping the mess and war on the Afghan people and
countries in the region.”
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf has termed the prevailing situation in Afghanistan as “extremely bad and out of Pakistan’s control,” echoing Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s 2020 remark that “If [US] withdrawal is not systematic, we are concerned that Afghanistan may get sucked into the situation that we experienced in the 1990s, when there was anarchy, civil war, instability.” Thus, Islamabad has taken a swipe at Washington and indirectly blamed it for the current mess in Afghanistan.
While Beijing and Islamabad’s concerns about the
deteriorating situation in Afghanistan are well founded, yet they can’t pretend
to have been taken unawares since the decision to completely pull-out US forces
from Afghanistan by September 11, wasn’t taken overnight. Moreover, the day
Washington accepted Taliban’s unreasonable demand of keeping Kabul out of
negotiations on the future of Afghanistan, it became absolutely clear that the
US would ultimately end up abandoning Kabul and leaving the Ashraf Ghani
government to fend for itself.
Nor can China and Pakistan feign being surprised by Taliban’s offensive against Afghan government forces. Readers would recall that while Taliban ceased all military action against US troops after signing the 2020 Doha Agreement, it continued attacks against Afghan security forces. Washington has further compounded its initial blunder of excluding Kabul from its negotiations with Taliban by maintaining a stoic silence on unprovoked attacks on its ally, and thus left no room for doubt regarding sole concern for its own vested interests.
There are good reasons to believe that China had not only foreseen this eventuality but cunningly invested for the future by covertly wooing Taliban, as the following developments indicate:
In 2008, when an intense battle between US-led coalition forces and Taliban was raging in Afghanistan, a consortium of two Chinese state-owned companies (China Metallurgical Group Corporation and Jiangxi Copper Company Limited) signed a $2.9 billion contract with Kabul to mine copper from the Mes Aynak mines [believed to contain the second largest high quality copper ore deposits in the world], located North of Kabul. Whereas mining operations haven’t commenced yet, this delay can be attributed to the volatile security situation. However, in 2016, the Taliban made an unexpected announcement that read, “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [official designation of Taliban] directs all its mujahideen to help in the security of all national projects that are in the higher interest of Islam and the country,” and specified that the Mes Aynak mines is one of the sites the Taliban is “committed to safeguarding.” It’s obvious that such an announcement would only have been made if there was some ongoing interaction and congruency between Beijing and Taliban.
Even though Beijing has publicly expressed concerns about the safety of its citizens in Afghanistan and even evacuated 210 of its nationals last week, it seems to be in touch with Taliban. Why else would Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen suddenly broach the issue of China being “a friendly country” and also give two major assurances- one, that of ensuring safety of Chinese investments in Afghanistan, and two, in a clear departure from the past, declaring that Taliban won’t host Uighur Muslim separatists belonging to China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region. By welcoming Beijing for carrying out “reconstruction and developing Afghanistan,” Shaheen has clearly indicated that Beijing has already struck a quid pro quo covert deal to provide assistance to Taliban in return for the safety of its investments and denying anti-China armed groups sanctuary!
Islamabad’s concerns with what’s happening in Afghanistan is understandable, but what is not is its extraordinary efforts to deny any involvement in the current crisis. During the Pak-Afghan bilateral dialogue last month, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Afghanistan “is a shared responsibility and nobody is going to buy it anymore that if things go wrong, [then] Pakistan is responsible.” Last week he became more specific by saying, “The situation in Afghanistan is worsening and holding Pakistan responsible for the [worsening] situation was not fair.” Even Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf attempted to distance Islamabad from what’s happening in Afghanistan by saying “The situation is bad and out of Pakistan’s control.”
Even though Islamabad is projecting itself as a helpless onlooker, worried about the escalating violence in Afghanistan, a foresighted and steadfast Rawalpindi has played its cards well. Remember how in 2016, despite being told by government officials that Pakistan Army should act against terrorists to prevent Pakistan from being isolated internationally, Rawalpindi didn’t oblige and kept its terror infrastructure intact. Two years later, even after the then US President Donald Trump tweeted that Pakistan continues providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan” and threatened to cut aid, Rawalpindi didn’t budge, even though the country was near bankruptcy.
Last month, Trump’s assertion of Pakistan providing safe
havens to Taliban was once again vindicated when Pakistan’s Interior Minister
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed admitted during a TV show that “Taliban families live
here, in Pakistan, in Rawat, Loi Ber, Bara Kahuh and Tarnol.” He even
went on to add that “Sometimes their [Taliban fighters] dead bodies arrive
and sometimes they come here in hospitals to get medical treatment.” Qureshi
contends that “We have no favourites. There is a general buzz that
we are advocates of the Taliban. I am not and I don’t represent them, I
represent Pakistan.” However, if this is indeed true, then what makes Interior
Minister Ahmed defend Taliban by saying, “If you try and create this
impression that the violence [in Afghanistan] is high because of Taliban,
again, that would be an exaggeration…”?
By repeating that “We have always said that we have no favourites in Afghanistan,” Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations [DGISPR] too has attempted to sell the false narrative that Pakistan Army has no truck with Taliban.
However, no country facing a humungous financial crisis will ever provide sanctuary and patronage to a violent organisation like Taliban at the cost of losing out on monetary and material aid, in return for nothing. So, Taliban does owe Islamabad a big favour for being allowed to use Pakistani soil for waging war against coalition forces for two decades as well as being absolved of the violence it is perpetrating in Afghanistan and now is the payback time!
Islamabad is trying to play the ‘victim card’ by telling the
world that the situation in Afghanistan is “out of Pakistan’s control” and
therefore it shouldn’t be blamed for the ongoing orgy of death and destruction
there. However, the fact of the matter is that the ‘great game’ currently being
played out in Afghanistan has actually been scripted by ISI to preserve
Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan, post US withdrawal.
As they say, in today’s evil world, it’s ultimately the bad
guys who win!
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This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
