China—a role model for the political elite by Senator A Rehman Malik

Pakistan is passing through multiple national and international crises which include Afghanistan versus the Afghan Taliban, the Afghan Taliban versus Pakistan, Anti-Pak Afghan groups versus Pakistan, Pakistan versus India, the Kashmir issue, the US versus Pakistan, FATF versus Pakistan and sensitivities with China. We are facing the worst price hike, high inflation, depletion of rupee against dollars, a declining growth rate and petroleum products are continuously going high. The population is going below the poverty line as the gap between rich and poor is widening.

Unfortunately, our political elites including major political parties have neither given their required qualitative input publically nor in parliament to improve the situation. This silence of political leadership on vital national and international issues is very worrying as the leadership has failed to give any guidance or even proposed economic policies for our poverty-ridden nation.

The country’s political leadership is stuck in a mutual political duel on non-issues like should Shehbaz Sharif be allowed to go abroad or not, why the court granted bail to President Asif Ali Zardari and why Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has gone to the US. This shows that our political elite has fallen so low that some leaders cross abuses on personal fronts, allege each other for corruption cases, and the level of immaturity can well be seen by the conduct of leadership on a daily basis. The leadership is ditching each other at both the government and opposition levels adding to weaken the system and dismaying the public. Our parliament has become a world icon of display of abuses with less performance for the public and more display of their abilities using their art of abusive language to please their top bosses. The nation hardly sees any input on these grave international issues connected with our national interests and future generations as there is no popular plan of development to build Pakistan. Please allow me to highlight the best model of prosperity and progress in the world which is China, perhaps the best to be adopted.

I wish our politicians chose China as a role model to bring prosperity to the country. I wish my brief introduction of China’s determination and national spirit below will perhaps attract our leaders to transform like them to gear the country towards prosperity. The nation develops and prospers with collective strategy, concerted and honest efforts. Countries with collective wisdom and approach are now shining in the world.

National interest should be above personal interests and gains. Our agenda of national prosperity and dignity should be well defined through an act of parliament and should be formulated by the experts of the respected field and then be approved by the Parliament in the form of law to ensure its implementation through well-defined moral and administrative rules. China was in a much adverse situation as a nation, although they got independence after us yet it is startling to see their unmatched progress. Even though their population is 1.2 billion larger than ours as Pakistan’s population is 180 million while that of China is 1.3 billion, yet they are progressing by leaps and bounds and nobody sleeps hungry.

If we look closely at the graph of their rise and progress, you will see that they concentrated more on their economy, education, technology, industrialisation, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and the growth of their country rather than indulging in mainstream dirty politics. China revamped its political system, covered all segments of the society, and gave its public a sense of ownership and participation. They first weeded out the political corrupt deadweights which were resisting modernisation and promoting corruption. The principle of equality prevailed and the rule of law became a priority. They made education compulsory and the professors of top universities became the top stakeholders of the economic and administrative hierarchies.

After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 there was a vacuum of power in China which led to political chaos. China was being exploited by foreign powers and there was no strong central government to lead the nation. At that time, China’s vast majority consisted of peasants and farmers; their life was so hard, they had to work the land and pay taxes. They would even starve during floods and droughts as there was no facility given to them. The population was growing whereas the land cultivation grew by 1 percent only, making the peasants have reduced plots of lands. Moreover, the landlords also increased the rents, making the peasants pay 80 percent of their harvest. On the other hand, China was defeated by Britain in the Opium wars due to which the Chinese Empire was interrupted and influenced by Europeans, Americans, and also Japan by the end of 19th century. Inflation and corruption weakened the Qing Empire resulting in its collapse. Before the economic reforms and trade liberalisation of China nearly 40 years ago, the country maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally controlled, inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy.

Mao Zedong was the leader of the Communist Party (CPC) who wanted to unify China and get rid of external warlords. Mao Zedong led peasants and common people in uprisings against them. The civil war continued for years and by 1948, the CPC had almost gained momentum. They were constantly gaining support within the population of China as they continued to take national cities back and by 1949 they had captured Beijing. This was the era of the Chinese revolution and Mao Zedong is the reason for what China has become today.

After the death of Mao, Deng Xiaoping was the most powerful figure in the People’s Republic of China who made significant efforts in boosting the Chinese economy. Since opening up to foreign trade and free-market and investment reforms in 1979 during his rule, China has been among the world’s fastest-growing economies. China has had a real annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 9.5 percent through 2018 in history. Such a fast pace in growth by 25 folds enabled China to double its GDP every eight years and helped raise an estimated 800 million people out of poverty. China became the world’s largest economy, manufacturer, merchandise trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves which in turn has made China a major commercial partner of the United States. The Chinese government made innovation and a strong consumer market a top priority in its economic planning through several high-profile initiatives to upgrade and modernise China’s manufacturing in every key sector. China has promoted more privately-owned companies through extensive government assistance to make China a major global player in all major economic sectors. In short, every new Chinese Leadership has focused to do better than the former one in terms of economic progress and prosperity of the nation on the stage of the world regardless of what their opponents are doing or saying, unlike Pakistan.

I wish our leadership also adopts this spirit and the qualities of Chinese leadership to provide similar services to their nation by not remaining unconcerned about our national and international pressing issues which need attention and collective wisdom to steer the country out of the crisis. It is needed that our leaders, rather than wasting their time and energy by poking each other’s personal affairs and entertaining the public by hurling abuses at each other in the parliament and before the electronic media, raise their stature by doing public service and focus on the economic progress of their country like China. Political leadership needs to wake up to defend their homeland and their nuclear assets from the external inimical factors such as FATF, Modi with an anti-Pak syndrome, and abuses by President Ghani. Our political parties and politicians need to become proactive in steering Pakistan out of crises. Nations develop and become prosperous with collective strategies and with united voices and actions like China.

It looks like that time is approaching when the public is under the pressure of price hikes and other growing social issues including youth drug addiction issue will force them to ask for the change of some new administrative system which could get rid of their miseries. The present deteriorated political system where the senators’ selection is for the price Rs over billions of rupees and the selected NNAs are from the electable families then how can the parliament be represented by the common man. There is hardly any participation of a common man in the administrative and political system.

No labourer or middle-class young can ever dream of being in parliament like China or any other democratic system. It has failed to provide relief to a common man whereas we are ruled by the electable and with the influence of few powerful business mafias pulling the strings from behind. The public is reacting and the initial emerging angry signs are dangerous which may lead the country to irreversible damage and force the public to march towards some bloody revolution for their legitimate rights.

The article was published in The Nation on July 27, 2021, link to the article https://nation.com.pk/27-Jul-2021/china-a-role-model-for-the-political-elite

Trapped under India’s dirty tricks by Senator A. Rehman Malik

 

The main elite of Afghanistan are the Afghan warlords and these Afghan Taliban have emerged from these warlord families. These are the same old warriors who pushed out the British Empire and thereafter USSR, and now the mighty Americans as well. Most of them are migrants from central Asia.

The forces including USA brought Karzai and Ashraf Ghani to fulfill their agenda and now the American forces have disappeared leaving behind their ‘imported’ government leaders at the mercy of the Taliban. Now is the time that USA should have done something more for their created Afghan salves for their own agenda.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after emerging victorious in the civil war of the 1990s after successfully eliminating the Soviets from Afghanistan with the help of their friends. The group took power in Kabul in 1996 and ruled the country until September 2001, as the US-led foreign military invasion took place in Afghanistan to hunt for leaders of the al-Qaida terrorist network for their alleged role in the 9/11 attacks.

After being ousted from power, the Taliban have been waging war against the U.S to regain power. They have now taken control of more than half of Afghanistan and waiting to march to Kabul. The Afghan peace talks didn’t seem to come about a conclusion until recently when the US military finally departed from its key base in Afghanistan already before the deadline that was due on September 11 2021. The talks had been going on for two decades since 2001, no one was ready to agree to a settlement.

Sometimes, the process stalled for political reasons, such as the United States restraint to talk with the Taliban or sometimes due to break down of discussion out of miscommunications or a lack of political consensus or strategies a move to prolong the stay in Afghanistan. Until 2010, the process remained slow and halting, it was Pakistan which convinced the Taliban to join the peace processes conferences.

The credit obviously goes to General Qamar Javed Bajwa and great spy Master Lt Gen Faiz Hamid.  Pakistan always played positive role for peace. In August 2019, The U.S. and Taliban signed an agreement in principle on counter-terrorism and military withdrawal an eventual ceasefire. Pakistan’s role as a facilitator has been significant in the Afghan Peace Process since it always remained present at the negotiating table.

Finally, in February 2020, Donald Trump and the Taliban signed an agreement in Doha in which all foreign forces were supposed to quit Afghanistan by May 2021 but as the government changed in America in January 2021, the new President Joe Biden extended the deadline to September 2021 for evacuation.

Now, following another change in plan, Joe Biden administration has all of a sudden started its evacuation flights already since last week without revealing about the destinations. They are also looking for another territory to host the thousands of special Afghan immigrants who worked for USA while leaving the rest of the population and Afghan Govt at the mercy of Taliban. All of it is now concluding without a political settlement which is dangerous and threatening for the entire region. Taliban have not offered anything in return so far to Americans except insisting on their demand to expedite the early exit of US army and even they have refused to talk to Afghan government.

As the process of withdrawal is already underway, Kabul is destined to fall in the hands of Taliban that too with the consent of USA and the Afghan govt will have to face a full-blown civil war. As far as Pakistan is concerned, a power-sharing arrangement would benefit out interests in Afghanistan. Pakistan cannot afford to have a government that is friendlier with India as in that case the soil of Afghanistan will continue to be used against Pakistan.

Pakistan, since day one, has been doing its best to bring peace in Afghanistan. Pakistan sheltered millions of Afghan refugees, made tireless efforts for peace process for a political settlement, and stability in Afghanistan. The invasion of Afghanistan was part of the world powers agenda which is unfolding with the passage of time. President Ashraf Ghani continues to be in the trap of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his anti-Pakistan agency RAW and extremist organisation RSS.

The world must not forget that India is fully supporting training and operations of Daesh and other terrorist organisations. It has fully geared up and increasing its 5th generation warfare against Pakistan for which some anti-Pakistan paid elements in Afghanistan shall be used. The signature of Indian involvement in terrorist activities have already been found in recent attacks in KPK, Baluchistan, and the recent Lahore blast. Pakistan has always hoped that Afghan government will eliminate Indian-sponsored nurseries harboring terrorists.

President Ashraf Ghani is naively thinking that India will save him and his disheartened troops from Taliban. Kabul is now about to fall into the hands of Taliban and the prominent Haqqani network is transiting from the thorny warpath to the throne of Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani should have not blamed Pakistan and also should not have resisted the proposed peace conference. The peace conference proposed by Pakistan would have brought some positive outcomes for all Afghan factions including the Taliban to come to one page for an interim setup.

Present occupants of Kabul should open their eyes and recognise the hard fact that Taliban have emerged as the only power in Afghanistan now. It looks the Taliban will take over Kabul soon with or without violence. I hope and pray that all stakeholders will try to stop the civil war in the greater interest of Afghan people.

The article was published in The Nation on July 18, 2021, Link to the original article- https://nation.com.pk/18-Jul-2021/trapped-under-india-s-dirty-tricks

Plight of Afghanistan vs Haqqani net emerging rulers Senator A. Rehman Malik

 

The Taliban is increasing pressure by every hour and after the complete takeover of the rural area in Afghanistan, they are now heading towards the provincial headquarters. They have seized key districts in Badakhshan and Kandahar provinces and the Afghan troops have fled into neighbouring Tajikistan. It is surprising to note that the Taliban did not have a stronghold on the Northwest part of Afghanistan yet they could capture provinces there easily. There was a stronghold of Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abu Sayyaf Group. It needs to be seen who has helped them or given them freeway. Traditionally speaking, the Taliban had a stronghold in the Southeast.

Afghanistan has now landed in the worst situation because of the non-compromising attitude by both, the Taliban and the government, whereas the USA also did not play a decisive role to install an interim government before the withdrawal and to avoid the possibility of bloodshed and civil war. Let us review a few of the factors which are acting and reacting to worsen the situation. The Taliban, over time, have transformed into tough negotiators and strategic worriers. Mullah Omer could not handle the Americans and 9/11 brought a different dimension. Although Afghanistan was not involved in the 9/11 attack, the USA still attacked Afghanistan and Pakistan was forced to associate with this war on terror.

The Taliban are marching towards Kabul with the intent of ruling it. History will be witnessing the second rule of the Taliban. Let us see how the Taliban play their cards and if they refrain from massacring their opponents. It looks like the Taliban will take steps to stabilise the country and are wanting to join civilized society. They will make mistakes if they follow the line of action of India as India has set a big trap for the Taliban to use them in the neighbourhood.

The Indian intelligence, under Ajit Doval, is helping the Afghan government and contacting the Taliban confidentially. The involvement and the interest of Indians can be judged by the fact that India is assisting and cooperating with the Afghan defence and security forces.

Fawad Aman, the Deputy Spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said yesterday that the Indian ambassador had met with the Secretary of Defence Bismillah Mohammadi and confirmed that India was assisting the Afghan defence and security forces and staying with the Afghan people. At the same time, the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs met the senior leadership of the Taliban in Doha twice. According to confirmed sources, India wants the Taliban to take over even at the cost of immense bloodshed. The Taliban need to play their cards wisely by not becoming stooges in the hands of India. Pakistan tried its best to bring about peace and our efforts will continue.

Meanwhile, Tehran’s efforts ended after two days of negotiations in a meeting between the Taliban delegation and the Afghan political delegation with the issuance of an agreement on this issue. The important aspect of this is that the delegations commended the efforts and goodwill of the Islamic Republic of Iran in securing peace in Afghanistan and appreciated its hospitality. Second, both sides agreed on the dangers of continuing the war and the damage it would do to the country’s health, agreeing that war was not the answer to Afghanistan’s problem and that all efforts to reach a political and peaceful solution should be justified. Both sides decided to discuss issues that need further consultation and clarity, such as establishing a mechanism for the transition from war to permanent peace, the agreed Islamic system, and how to achieve it during the next meeting. The parties consider the Tehran meeting as a new opportunity and ground for strengthening the political solution to the Afghan problem. Iran has taken a good initiative to get both parties on the table. Let us hope both parties understand the language of peace and avoid the use of violence to resolve their disputes. Let us hope this meeting becomes the first step towards long-term peace.

Similarly, Russia has shown its concern over the ‘swiftly degrading situation’ in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia will do its utmost, including using the Russian military bases on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan to prevent any aggressive raids against its allies. He stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a conversation with the leaders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as other Central Asian partners about the Afghanistan issue and that Russia remains committed to its obligations under the Collective Security Treaty. This suggested military help in case one of the signatories were to be attacked. In reality, the deteriorating security situation has prompted Iran and some other countries to close their consulates in the northern Afghan province of Balkh with diplomats moving to Kabul. In response to the Russian concerns, Tajikistan has called on members of a Russian-led military bloc to help it deal with security challenges emerging from Afghanistan since Moscow has already pledged to defend its regional allies affected by the unrest.

Meanwhile, the Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar is visiting Russia with a one-point agenda of ‘Taliban in Afghanistan’ and a stopover in Tehran.

Addressing the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the current international and regional situation is undergoing complex and profound changes. He noted that foreign troops are pulling out of Afghanistan at an accelerated pace, the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan is under attack, armed conflicts and terrorist activities are becoming more frequent, and the security and stability of Afghanistan and the region are facing new challenges. Wang Yi said that under the current circumstances, it is all the more necessary for the three countries to strengthen communication and cooperation so as to bring the development of Afghanistan’s situation in line with the region’s common interests.

Unfortunately, Afghanistan will remain in focus internationally because of the Taliban takeover and President Ashraf Ghani will have no choice to submit to the advancing Taliban or to flee away from the capitol unless he gets American or Indian protection.

The Article was published in The Nation on July 12, 2021, link to the original article: https://nation.com.pk/12-Jul-2021/plight-of-afghanistan-vs-haqqani-net-emerging-rulers

The greylist to an alleged Pak child army by Senator A. Rehman Malik

It was really shocking to see yet new allegations on Pakistan by being included in the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA). No Pakistani can join any civil or defence services including Army unless one attains the age of 18 .Any Citizen of Pakistani applying for Pak Army must have a computerised National Identity Card which by law/the NADRA Act cannot be issued unless is 18 year and above. I failed to understand that even though our own law is very stringent, how come without examining our law being a sovereign State the United States has thought of applying the Child Soldiers Protection Act of the United States on Pakistan, which international law permits to slap such fabricated tales. It looks clear that the USA government response is signalling some more negative policies towards Pakistan.

The United States has added Pakistan and Turkey to the CSPA list (Child Soldiers Prevention Act) that includes Afghanistan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela, and Yemen. The publication of the report did not involve consultation from any state institution by the US and no details were provided of the basis on which the conclusion was reached. The United States must have at least taken the views of the Pakistan Government before pushing us into CSPA. The inclusion of Pakistan in the list means that it wouldn’t be able to further get licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment, cannot be a part of several US programmes, including international military education and training, foreign military financing, excess defence articles, and peacekeeping operations. It means the process of imposing restrictions on Pakistan is already in action.

It is unfortunate that despite our best cooperation with the USA it has entirely forgotten the role of Pakistan in the war on terror—we have sacrificed 70,000 people and lost $150 billion in this war.

It seems that the USA wants something in Pakistan and perhaps it is yet an arm-twisting technique to put pressure on Pakistan and apparently it is connected to the Afghan issue. The term child soldier means any person under 18 years of age who takes a direct part in hostilities or who has been compulsorily recruited into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces. It also means any person under 15 years of age who has been voluntarily recruited into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces or any person under 18 years of age who has been recruited or used in hostilities by armed forces distinct from the armed forces of a state. It also includes any such person who is serving in any capacity, including in a support role, such as a cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard, or sex slave. I reinforce the point of the government of Pakistan that these assertions are baseless and motivated. The age limit for some civilian armed personnel is from 17 years to 22 years and 17 years to 23 years for serving Armed Forces Personnel except the army as army soldiers have given the age limit of 17 to 25 years. For those who have passed four years BS or BA Hons or BBA, the age limit is from 17 to 24 years. While there is currently no conscription in Pakistan, government armed forces recruit volunteers at the age of 16, the UK is the only country in Europe that routinely recruits minors into the armed forces. Worldwide, 134 countries have prohibited the practice. 37 countries recruit from the age of 17. The UK is one of only 20 countries in the world to recruit 16-year-olds. There is, however, no evidence of deployment before the age of 18 in Pakistan. The government has signed but not ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC-OP-CAC) on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Let me assure the American Administration that we neither have any 14-year-old child as army personnel nor our law permits anybody under-aged employment in Pak Army.

The article was published in The Nation on July 6, 2021, link to original article: https://nation.com.pk/06-Jul-2021/the-greylist-to-an-alleged-pak-child-army