US déjà vu

The United States has again raised a bogey of allegations on Pakistan.  The Secretary of States Rex Tillerson after his meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdhullah said in a brief press conference that he would reinforce the demand of finishing terror bases in talks with the leadership in  Pakistan. He said US policy towards Islamabad will be based upon whether they take action that we feel is necessary to move the process forward for both creating opportunity for reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan but also ensuring a stable future for Pakistan. Pointing finger and baseless accusations on Pakistan for not doing enough is against ground reality. It amounts to shutting eyes from the sacrifices of the armed forces and people of Pakistan in war against global terrorism. The people of Pakistan are still paying a high price of the US policies pursued in this region.

An across the board military operation Zarb-e-Azab in he tribal areas has wiped out the sanctuaries of all militant outfits. After clearing the tribal belt operation Rad-ul-Fasad is in progress in the settled areas of the country. On the other hand the US and Afghan forces have miserably failed to smash the dens of militants inside Afghanistan. The recent surge in attacks on civilians and Afghan National Army bear testimony to it. The present US administration has continued the policy seeking military solution to the Afghan conflict. If historical events are any guide then no imperial power has succeeded in imposing a military solution on Afghans. Be they were British, Russians or now the Americans. The solution of Afghanistan issue lies in promoting the intra-party dialogue amongst all the stakeholders. Any covert or overt interference from outside will further complicate this conflict.

Tillerson’s phraseology of stable Pakistasn is beyond comprehension. If it refers to the disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif then it is a blatant interference in our internal matters. He was removed from power by the verdict of the Apex Court because he failed to provide a money trail of his offshore assets valuing billion of US dollars Does the US Secretary of State advise us to expel the rule of law from our country. Is it a double standard that rule of law and transparency have been made the supreme fundamentals of US democracy but on the other hand we are given a decantation to expel these virtues form our system of governance The ouster of President Richard Nixon in Watergate scandal is a glaring example in this regard.

After the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif, the ruling PML N has elected Shahid Khaqn Abassi a new leader of the house. The democracy is moving forward and has gained more strength with the abidance of law. Democracy is not a person specific political system as it reflects the aspirations of the people. The present government will complete its tenure with in the next few months and the politically aware people of Pakistan will elect the new government in the general elections which will be held in 2018. We need a home made government. Gone are the days of Washington made governments in Pakistan. Likewise, we don’t need any veiled advice for NROs like the US-Saudi Arabia sponsored NRO with Nawaz Sharif in 2000 and US-UK sponsored with Benazir Bhutto in 2007.