Page 13 - Pakistan Link - September 25, 2020

PAKISTAN
A Fugitive in London Is Maligning
State Institutions: PM Imran
Islamabad: A day after Nawaz
Sharif ’s no-holds-barred onslaught
against a “parallel state” in Pakistan, struggle was not against Imran
Prime Minister Imran Khan took
a jibe at his convicted predecessor,
saying that “once again a fugitive
sitting in London is maligning the
state institutions”.
Nawaz Sharif, who has been
handed a seven-year jail term on
charges of financial corruption,
was allowed by the government and
court to travel to London for treat-
ment of some undiagnosed ailment
late last year. But now he has refused
to return, and a court has declared
him a proclaimed offender.
Speaking at a multiparty op-
Attacks Surge in Northwest Pakistan as
Afghan Peace Effort Brings Shifting Sands
n By Umar Farooq
Islamabad: Militants have stepped
up attacks on security forces in
northwest Pakistan raising fears of
a revival of their insurgency and
a return of lawlessness as brighter
prospects for peace in Afghanistan
herald shifting Islamist alliances.
The ethnic Pashtun border
region was for years a haven for
militants who fled the US inva-
sion of Afghanistan in 2001. But
the Pakistani military cleared out
the strongholds in a 2014 offensive,
driving most of the fighters into Af-
ghanistan.
But since March, al Qaeda-
linked Pakistani Taliban, facing the
risk of losing havens on the Afghan
side of the border if their Afghan
Taliban allies make peace there,
have unleashed a wave of attacks on
the Pakistani security forces.
Bolstering their bid to re-
establish themselves in the border
lands, the Pakistani Taliban, or
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),
struck an alliance in July with half a
dozen small militant factions.
“The group’s capability and
military strength has increased, as
has their reach,” said Mansur Khan
Mahsud, executive director of the
Islamabad-based FATA Research
Center.
September has seen near daily
incidents, from roadside bombs to
sniper attacks, to ambushes and the
killing of residents accused of col-
laborating with government forces.
position confab via video link on
Sunday, Sharif said the opposition’s
Khan “but against those who had
imposed such an incapable person
on the country through a rigged
election”.
Nawaz Sharif ’s speech and the
story published in Times of India
reflect the same agenda, the pre-
mier said while speaking to spokes-
persons of the ruling Pakistan Teh-
reek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday.
Sharif ’s PML-N has once again
promoted the Indian agenda, he
said. New Delhi wanted to vilify
Pakistan’s state institution ahead of
the UN General Assembly session
which opened on Sept 15 and will
continue until Sept 30, he added.
The militants have killed at
least 40 soldiers since March, ac-
cording to a Reuters tally of official violence is an unintended conse-
figures.
At least 109 people were killed
in 67 attacks between January and
July - twice the number in 2019,
according to the FATA Research
Center.
“TTP’s regrouping is concern-
ing both because of its own activi-
ties and its links to groups like al
Qaeda,” said Elizabeth Threlkeld,
a former State Department offi-
cial who served in Pakistan, now
deputy-director for the South Asia
Program at the Washington-based
Stimson Center.
“It could again provide signifi-
cant support to international ter-
ror groups if it continues to regain
ground.”
Unintended Consequence
Militant violence surged in
Pakistan after it was pressed to sign
on to the US-led war on terror af-
ter the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, even
though it had for years supported
the Afghan Taliban.
Soon the Pakistani govern-
ment found itself under attack from
home-grown Taliban but the mili-
tary succeeded in pushing them out
of the region, known as the tribal
areas, in 2014, forcing the Pakistani
Taliban into Afghanistan.
Millions of residents were
displaced by the fighting but since
then, militant violence in Pakistan
has largely ceased.
India, Premier Imran said,
wanted to take the global spotlight
off its reign of terror in Illegally Oc- Bajwa and head of the Inter-Services
cupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIO-
JK), which has been under lock-
down for more than a year now.
Indian media has been spew-
ing venom against Pakistan since
Sharif ’s rant against the state insti-
tutions, he said. An international
lobby has been active against Paki-
stan’s state institutions, he added.
“We will not allow anyone to ma-
lign our institutions.”
The prime minister also
slammed Sunday’s all-party confer-
ence, saying that it was an attempt
by opposition politicians to malign
the state institutions in a bid to cov-
er their financial corruption. “I had
predicted much earlier that they all
would unite for personal interests,”
he added.
The ruling party has decided
to give the opposition a befitting
response by exposing their real mo-
tives.
Premier Imran said that Paki-
stan owns its territorial integrity
and sovereignty to its armed forc-
es. “Countries like Libya, Iraq and
Syria have been destroyed because
they didn’t have strong militaries,”
he added.
Our armed forces have always
stepped forward whenever called
out in natural disasters, calamities
or emergencies, the prime minis-
ter further said. “We will not allow
anyone to malign our armed forces
and our judiciary.”
But now fears are growing
that the surge of Pakistani Taliban
quence of efforts to make peace in
Afghanistan.
In February, the Afghan Tali-
ban and the United States struck a
deal allowing for the withdrawal of
US forces in exchange for Afghan
Taliban guarantees they would not
harbor other militants.
The United Nations said in a
report in July there were more than
6,000 Pakistani fighters in Afghani-
stan, most affiliated with the TTP,
who could be heading home if they
lose their refuge.
“It’s a concern for everyone,”
a Western security official based in
Pakistan told Reuters on condition
of anonymity.
Pakistan’s military did not re-
spond to a request for comment
on the violence, but its spokesman
said on Twitter recently that the at-
tacks were “meant to derail (the)
Afghanistan Peace Process.”
For those living in the area, in-
security is again becoming a daily
worry.
The TTP issued a statement
this week telling residents to leave
“until peace returns”.
“Our war against Pakistan is
continuing and you will continue
to see daily attacks,” the militants
said.
(Reporting by Umar Farooq
and Charlotte Greenfield in Islam-
abad; Editing by Gibran Peshimam,
Robert Birsel. Reuters)
www.PakistanLink.com
SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 – PAKISTAN LINK – P13
Opposition Leaders Told Not
to Drag Military into Politics
n By Baqir Sajjad Syed
Islamabad: Army Chief Gen Qamar
Intelligence Lt Gen Faiz Hameed had in
a meeting with key opposition figures
days before their multiparty conference
counselled them to refrain from drag-
ging the military into political issues,
government ministers and opposition
leaders disclosed on Monday.
The September 16 meeting was at-
tended by about 15 opposition figures
including Leader of the Opposition in
the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif,
Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bi-
lawal Bhutto-Zardari, Jamaat-i-Islami
Amir Sirajul Haq, ANP’s Amir Haider
Hoti, JUI-F’s Asad Mahmood, PML-N
leaders Khawaja Asif and Ahsan Iqbal,
PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman and few
government ministers.
According to the ground rules set
for the session, the meeting was not to
be publicly disclosed, some of the op-
position leaders, who attended it, said.
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid,
while confirming the meeting and its
participants in a conversation with
Dawn, said it was held to discuss the
impending changes in the constitution-
al status of Gilgit-Baltistan. However,
the opposition used this opportunity to
flag its concerns about other matters,
especially the military’s alleged inter-
ference in politics and allegations of
persecution of its leaders on the pretext Islamabad:
of accountability.
Mr Rashid was one of the minis-
ters who attended the meeting.
The timing of the meeting and its
disclosure was linked by the onlookers
to the opposition’s multiparty confer-
ence held here on Sunday in which
former prime minister Mian Nawaz
Sharif bitterly criticized the army, say- him to appear before its investiga-
ing there was “a state above the state in tion team next month in an inquiry
the country”.
Criticism by other opposition
leaders was, in comparison to Mr
Sharif ’s remarks, relatively subtle. A
26-point declaration issued at the end
of the meeting, however, contained as-
sertions about ending “establishment’s
interference in politics” and “no role of
armed forces and intelligence agencies”
in future elections.
Mr Rashid said the army chief
clearly told the participants of the
meeting that the Army was not in any
manner linked to the political process-
es and had no involvement in matters
concerning election reforms and ac-
countability.
The army chief, however, said the
military only responds to calls for as-
sistance by the elected civilian govern-
ment and it would continue doing so
irrespective of who is in office.
Gen Bajwa categorically conveyed
that no one would be allowed to create
chaos in the country.
In remarks addressed to JUI-F
chief Fazlur Rehman’s son Asad Mah-
mood, Gen Bajwa, Mr Rashid said, it’s
an irony that the same parliament is
kosher for Mr Rehman for contesting
presidential elections, but it is other-
wise unacceptable to him.
The allegations of a political witch had approved the “authorization of
hunt in the name of accountability was
raised by PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal.
Responding to him, the army
chief said that NAB chief and election
commissioner were picked up by polit-
ical leaders represented in parliament,
therefore they needed to be careful in
choosing people for such important
positions.
A participant, speaking on condi-
tion of anonymity, said NAB’s actions
had scared the bureaucracy, which is
the reason why officials are not taking
crucial decisions. Gen Bajwa too had
purportedly pointed out that bureau-
cracy was not delivering.
PML-N remained mum about the
participation of its leaders in the meet-
ing.
PPP said it would issue a formal
comment on the meeting on Tuesday
through its spokesperson Senator Far-
hatullah Babar. However, Senator Sher-
ry Rehman, participating in a TV talk
show, said her party’s chairman talked
about the status of Gilgit-Baltistan and
its upcoming elections. She said Mr
Bhutto-Zardari stressed the need for
fair and free elections in GB, because of
the sensitivities attached to the region.
Senator Rehman denied her party
took up its reservations about the ac-
countability process.
On Monday, Gen Bajwa met
Prime Minister Imran Khan. However,
the Prime Minister Office did not issue
any media statement on the meeting. -
Dawn
NAB Summons Fazl
in Assets-Beyond-
Means Inquiry
The National
Accountabil-
ity Bureau
Khyber Pak-
htunkhwa
on Tuesday
issued a call-
up notice
to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-
F) chief Fazlur Rehman, directing
launched on charges of corruption
and possessing assets beyond means.
The notice, issued under Section
19 of the National Accountability
Ordinance, 1999, was sent to Rehm-
an’s residence in Dera Ismail Khel.
The subject of the notice, seen
by Dawn.com, stated that the inquiry
is against ex-MNA Rehman and oth-
ers “regarding corruption and cor-
rupt practices/accumulation of assets
beyond means”.
It said the subject inquiry had
revealed that Rehman was “in pos-
session of information/evidence
whatsoever which relates to the com-
mission of [the] said offence”.
The notice called upon the JUI-
F chief to appear before CIT (com-
bined investigation team)-I at NAB’s
regional office on October 1 at 11am
in order to “record your statement/
plea in the subject inquiry”.
Failure to comply with the no-
tice may entail penal consequences as
per the Schedule of NAO, 1999, the
summons stated.
According to a letter sent to
an additional director of NAB KP
by the Islamabad headquarters of
the accountability watchdog, NAB
chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal
inquiry” against Rehman and others
on Sept 14. An authorization letter
signed by Iqbal on Sept 18 was also
forwarded to NAB KP for necessary
action.
The development comes two
days after Fazl’s JUI-F, along with
other major opposition parties, held
a multi-party conference.