Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dr Faisal Sultan, noted that Pakistan has one of the greatest shortages of trained, high-quality nurses…reports Asian Lite News
Despite playing a vital role on the frontlines of the deadly third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, the country is facing an acute shortage of nurses and healthcare professionals, said policymakers and academics.
Policymakers and academics came during a seminar at the Aga Khan University Hospital, held to celebrate the International Day of Nurses and Midwives, reported Geo News.
Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Sindh Province, Murad Ali Shah, the chief guest at the event, noted that the demand for nurses has been increasing worldwide.
“We are mindful of the fact that due to the global shortage of nurses, the demand worldwide has increased which is giving our nurses the opportunity to migrate to high-income countries to improve their quality of life. This is definitely something we do not want to happen as in Pakistan, there had already been a shortage of 1.3 million nurses before the pandemic,” he said.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dr Faisal Sultan, mentioned that Pakistan has one of the greatest shortages of trained, high-quality nurses, noting that no healthcare system could deliver quality care without the input of trained, committed professionals in the nursing field.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Sindh Dr Azra Pechuho remarked that one of the major reasons behind the shortage of nurses was that very few women are seeking admission to the profession, Geo News reported.
Academics maintained that Pakistan is one of the five countries facing the largest deficits of nurses with the World Health Organisation (WHO) also calling on the country to take steps to double its nursing workforce.
“Nurses have grown used to double shifts, no days off, and living at hospitals during the pandemic to keep the public safe,” AKU’s School of Nursing and Midwifery Dean Professor Rozina Karmaliani said.
A medical worker collects a swab sample from a teacher for COVID-19 test at a school in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sept. 14, 2020. After a consistent drop in new cases, the Pakistani government has announced to reopen educational institutes in phases from Sept. 15. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)
The experts highlighted the need to promote qualifications that enhance the skills of nurses and enable them to widen their scope of practice.
“Empowering nurses and midwives to take the lead in patient care would expand the availability of affordable care,” Geo News quoted Professor Rafat Jan, associate dean at AKU’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.
They also called on the government to invest in online learning to improve access to learning during the pandemic so that graduates could complete their education on time and join the workforce immediately.
During the seminar, experts lauded the efforts of nurses and midwives during the third wave of the coronavirus. (ANI)
There is a looming sense of fear in Pakistan that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will increase instability in its neighbourhood…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan said on Tuesday it will not provide air bases to the US after the troop withdrawal from neighbouring Afghanistan, vowing to protect the nation’s interests and support the Afghan peace process, according to Arab News report.
“No. We don’t intend to allow boots on the ground here, and Pakistan isn’t transferring any base (to the US),” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a press conference in the capital Islamabad.
Meanwhile, There is a looming sense of fear in Pakistan that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will increase instability in its neighbourhood, and add security threats in the region while putting China’s Belt and Road projects at risk, Nikkei Asia reports.
As the September 11 deadline of complete withdrawal is approaching, instability in Pakistan has steadily increased, and outlawed groups like Tehreek e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have increased cross-border attacks in the country.
According to the analyst Fakhar Kakakhel, the US pull-back, along with a weak Afghan government will seriously destabilize the region.
“In the future, TTP will have more safe pockets in regions close to Pakistani borders,” Kakakhel told Nikkei Asia. The report by the Japanese newspaper said that Taliban members from Afghanistan and Pakistan allegedly use the border region as a sanctuary.
Furthermore, experts believe the uncertainty in Afghanistan has provided TTP with a window to attack Pakistan, including the projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) worth around USD 50 billion.
As per the analysts, after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, TTP can more easily attack targets that are key for Pakistan’s economy.
“Some (Chinese) investments are located near the traditional areas of TTP’s activities, so it makes them natural targets,” said Przemyslaw Lesinski, an Afghanistan expert at the War Studies Academy in Warsaw.
Michael Kugelman, the deputy director of the Asia Program at Wilson Center, told Nikkei that CPEC has not traditionally been a top target of TTP in Pakistan.
“But in recent months, anti-China rhetoric has [surfaced] in TTP propaganda, especially because of China’s oppression of Uyghur Muslims,” Kugelman told Nikkei.
Kugelman said that Pakistan, which has built a fence worth millions of dollars, will not get a 100 per cent deterrent against TTP cross-border attacks.
“Pakistan has genuine reasons to be concerned (of TTP),” he added. (ANI)
The severe violence, which erupted on Monday following weeks of rising tensions in the contested city of Jerusalem, is the worst the region has experienced in years…reports Asian Lite News
Hundreds of rockets were fired upon Israel from Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip throughout Tuesday, as Israel pummelled the tiny coastal territory with airstrikes and the death toll mounted on both sides.
The cross-border violence, which erupted on Monday following weeks of rising tensions in the contested city of Jerusalem, is the worst the region has experienced in years.
More than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the last day, including several children. Three Israelis died from Gaza rocket fire on Tuesday, DPA news agency reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks on Gaza, which have targeted some 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad positions since Monday, would intensify.
“This operation will take time, but we will bring security back to the citizens of Israel,” he said late Tuesday.
Hamas, which rules the coastal strip, would “receive blows it did not expect,” Netanyahu had said hours earlier in remarks after a meeting with military officials.
An Israeli military spokesperson said that at least 20 members from the two groups have been killed so far in Gaza, including senior officials, and some 150 missile-launchers had been destroyed.
Many of the targets were located in places where civilians reside, spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said, so civilian casualties could not be ruled out, though the army was trying hard to avoid them.
Rocket warning sirens were a persistent sound across Israeli communities.
The greater Tel Aviv area was in the cross-hairs of Palestinian militants, who sent a barrage of rockets towards the coastal metropolis, marking the heaviest attack the city has faced so far.
The rocket fire prompted flights to be halted at Israel’s main international airport outside of the city.
The Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv was closed to landings and departures due to the attacks; flights were diverted to Cyprus.
One person was killed on the outskirts of Tel Aviv in rocket attack. According to media reports, a woman was killed in the town of Rishon Lezion when she was hit directly. The Zaka aid organization also confirmed her death.
The rockets were fired toward Tel Aviv after the Israeli army destroyed a building containing offices of members of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip.
Residents of the building were warned by Israeli forces before the attack and told to leave, witnesses said.
A Hamas spokesman had earlier threatened a “harsh” rocket attack on Tel Aviv if the Hanadi Tower building was destroyed.
In the southern city of Ashkelon, two women were killed when their homes were struck, according to the Zaka aid organization. Impacts were also reported on residential buildings in Ashkelon as well as a school where no lessons were being conducted.
In total, Gaza militants aimed around 480 rockets towards Israel over 24 hours. Of these, some 200 were intercepted and 150 failed to properly launch, the Israeli military said Tuesday evening.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attacks, which it said were in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on a high-rise residential building in the western part of the Gaza Strip. The apartment belonged to a member of Islamic Jihad, according to witnesses.
In total, the Gaza Health Ministry put the death toll in the latest round of violence at 28, including 10 children. More than 100 people were injured, it said.
According to local media and witness reports, three children were killed by Israeli airstrikes and others by misdirected rockets fired by extremists.
Israel said it was targeting rocket production, storage and training facilities as well as military posts.
The airstrikes and rocket attacks followed violent clashes in recent days at Jerusalem’s holy site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.
Demonstrations continued on the ground in Israel on Tuesday between police and Israeli Arabs in numerous cities throughout Israel. Stones were thrown at police officers and several cars were set on fire.
In the city of Lod, a 25-year-old Arab man was shot and killed during the riots. Media reported that a 34-year-old arrested after the event was a Jewish resident of the city.
The Islamist Hamas movement had issued a Monday night ultimatum telling Israel to withdraw settlers and police from the Jerusalem holy site, parts of which had been cordoned off, and from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
Shortly after the deadline expired, mass rocket attacks began, with sirens wailing in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu said the militants crossed a “red line” by directing missiles towards Jerusalem, and Israel in turn shelled targets in Gaza.
Leaders around the world expressed concern about the escalating violence, calling on both sides to show restraint.
“This spiralling escalation must cease immediately,” a spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Bangladesh on Saturday detected its first cases of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India…Reports Asian Lite News
The Bangladesh government has banned the entry of travellers from Nepal as its neighbouring countries, including India, were reeling from a deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) made the announcement on Sunday saying no passenger from Nepal will be allowed to enter Bangladesh from Monday to limit the spread of the Covid-19, reports Xinhua news agency.
Bangladesh on Saturday detected its first cases of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, weeks after it imposed a ban on the entry of travellers from the neighbouring country via land ports on April 25.
The air travel between the two countries was suspended from April 14 following a devastating rise in Covid-19 infections in India.
After weeks of suspension due to the pandemic, international flight operations to and from Bangladesh resumed in a limited scale on May 1.
A letter signed by the Department’s Professor Neelika Malavige and Director Chandima Jeewandara on Sunday, said the six variants were found in samples from patients sent to them as of April 30….reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lankan health experts have said a total of six Covid-19 variants have been identified in the island nation amid an ongoing resurgence of new cases.
The coronavirus variants, including the more contagious B.1.617 first reported in India, were identified by the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, reports Xinhua news agency.
A letter signed by the Department’s Professor Neelika Malavige and Director Chandima Jeewandara on Sunday, said the six variants were found in samples from patients sent to them as of April 30.
The health experts said the variant of B.1.617 was detected in a person who recently returned from India and was in a quarantine centre in Colombo.
Jeewandara was quoted by the Sunday Morning newspaper as saying that his Department has also detected 65 cases with the virus variant B.1.1.7 first found in Britain as well as one infection with the B.1.351 strain that originated in South Africa.
Sri Lanka has so far reported 125,906 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 801 deaths.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has started administering the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 to citizens, soon after the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved it for emergency use worldwide.
The vaccines were administered on Saturday at the Panadura Health Office in Kalutara District, in the outskirts of capital Colombo, an area which has reported a rising number of Covid-19 cases in recent days.
Speaking at the launch of the vaccination drive, State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana thanked the Chinese government for sending the Sinopharm vaccines and said this would add to the efforts of the Sri Lankan government to inoculate at least 70 per cent of its population against the virus by the end of the year.
“Today is a very special day for the Panadura MoH office. We want to thank the Chinese government as well as the WHO for approving the Sinopharm under emergency use. Today we began administering the Sinopharm in the Panadura area and want to thank President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for approving to start this program from the Kalutara district,” Jayasumana said.
Sri lanka vaccination
State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and Covid Disease Control Sudharshani Fernandopulle, also said at the launch that with the WHO and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approving the Sinopharm vaccine under emergency use in Sri Lanka, authorities will now look to get more vaccines from China to vaccinate the local population.
“Today we began administering the Sinopharm vaccine in the Panadura Health office for locals above the age of 30 years and below the age of 60 years. From tomorrow (Sunday) we will also identify the areas which have reported the highest number of Covid-19 patients in recent days and will begin to administer the Sinopharm vaccines in those areas as well,” Fernandopulle said.
She said some of the areas worst affected by the virus were Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Kandy, and Matale, and authorities were making arrangements to vaccinate the people in these areas as soon as possible.
The Sinopharm vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka last month, under a special grant by the Chinese government to the Health Ministry.
Nepal President called on all parties to stake claim to form a majority government after Oli’s failed vote of confidence in the parliament, reports Asian Lite News
Major opposition parties of the Nepali parliament have started preparations to form a new government after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence at Lower House on Monday.
A coalition of more than two parties representing in the parliament, who will form Nepal’s new government, have already started consultations over the next leadership.
“Majority of the lawmakers who were present today have rejected the Prime Minister’s vote of confidence. The House has decided that KP Sharma Oli shall not remain in the post any longer. In order to make a new government, all the political parties would make attempts and we are confident that the nation would get a new Prime Minister,” Bal Krishna Khand, opposition Nepali Congress leader and close aide to NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba told reporters as he exited the parliamentary building.
Three opposition leaders, namely, Deuba, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Upendra Yadav had called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari to initiate government formation procedure, soon after the commencement of a special session of parliament on Monday.
All leaders from the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and a faction of the Janata Samajwadi party led by Yadav have urged President Bhandari to invoke Article 76 (2) of the Constitution.
Later in the evening, the Nepal President called on all parties to stake claim to form a majority government after Oli’s failed vote of confidence in the parliament.
“She has asked party leaders to come forward with the name of the candidate for the post of Prime Minister by 9 pm, Thursday,” read a statement by Nepali Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Oli lost a vote of confidence in parliament as he could only garner just 93 votes, way less than 136 that he needed to prove the House’s majority. As many as 124 votes were cast against him and 15 lawmakers stood neutral. In the 271-strong House, only 232 lawmakers were present during Monday’s voting.
“Article 76 (2) of the constitution should be exercised now, there is a possibility of a coalition where more than two parties can come forward to form a new government. Today we stand with 124 votes, two others were absent today, so we have 126 votes in our favour and many others are not present here that is why we do not see any problem in crossing majority mark of 136,” Dev Gurung, leader from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) told reporters after the vote.
Chief Whip of the ruling CPN-(Unified Marxist-Leninist), Bishal Bhattarai has warned of taking stern action against 28 lawmakers who abstained from Monday’s meeting. Terming the action as a violation of the whip, Bhattarai claimed that the absentees would be punished by the party.
“Twenty-eight of the lawmakers remained absent today. It is one of the major incidents in parliamentary history and is a serious matter as political whip has been violated or disobeyed. It is indeed a new incident in Nepali parliamentary record of not voting in favour of the Prime Minister of own party, going against him by either remaining absent or floor cross, the party would make serious decisions over it,” Bhattarai said.
“Our steps would be dependent on its parliamentary legislation as well as of our own and other acts pertaining to political parties,” he added.
Upon the recommendation of the cabinet, President Bhandari has prorogued a special session of the lower house starting from Monday midnight.
The office of the President issued a release on Monday evening announcing the prorogation of the lower house on the recommendation of the cabinet.
“President has exercised the right mentioned in Article 93 (2) which gives her permission to end the house session on recommendation of the cabinet. It would go into effect starting from Monday midnight,” a release from Parliament secretariat announced. (ANI)
Citing the recent rise in violence, top US diplomat Khalilzad on Tuesday said that Afghans deserve a political settlement and a permanent ceasefire….reports Asian Lite News
Amid the surge in violence in Afghanistan in recent weeks, US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad on Tuesday welcomed the announcements by the Taliban and the Afghan government to uphold ceasefire in the country during the festival of Eid.
“I welcome the announcements by the Taliban and the Afghan government to observe an Eid ceasefire. Violence has been horrific in recent weeks, and the Afghan people have paid the price,” Khalilzad tweeted.
A day after the deadly bombing outside a school in Kabul claimed the lives of over 60 students, the Taliban on Sunday night had announced that they would observe a three-day ceasefire for the festival of Eid. Later on Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also instructed all Afghan forces to observe the ceasefire during Eid.
Photo shows the site of a car bomb in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah AlizadahXinhuaIANS)
Noting the recent rise in violence, top US diplomat Khalilzad on Tuesday said that Afghans deserve a political settlement and a permanent ceasefire.
“But Afghans deserve much more: a political settlement and a permanent ceasefire. We, therefore, urge accelerated negotiations among Afghans on a political settlement and an end to this senseless war. This is what the Afghan people yearn for. The United States stands with them,” he added.
This comes after at least three explosions that took place near Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School in the west of Kabul on Saturday afternoon. As many as 63 people, all students, were killed in a Kabul school bombing and 150 more were wounded, TOLO News reported citing sources and relatives of victims.
Amid the ongoing drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan, the war-torn country has seen a spike in the incidents of violence in recent weeks, leading to casualties of Afghan security forces and civilians. (ANI)
Photo shows the site of a car bomb in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah AlizadahXinhuaIANS)
Taliban fighters are prohibited from visiting government-controlled areas or giving “enemy personnel” access to areas controlled by the Islamists….reports Asian Lite News
At least 15 people, mainly civilians, were killed in Afghanistan on Monday, the same day Taliban militants announced a nationwide three-day ceasefire for the upcoming Eid-al0Fitr holidays.
The holidays are due to start either on Wednesday or Thursday depending on the sighting of the new moon, but the latest violence, which officials blamed on the Taliban, cast a pall over the news of any short-lived reduction in violence, reports dpa news agency.
All Taliban fighters are instructed to cease offensive operations across the country from the first to the third day of Eid-al Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, a Taliban statement published late Sunday read.
Taliban fighters are prohibited from visiting government-controlled areas or giving “enemy personnel” access to areas controlled by the Islamists.
Taliban
A response from the government in Kabul is still pending.
The Taliban has declared ceasefires to mark the end of Ramadan in the past.
There have been growing concerns about the security situation in Afghanistan since May 1, the date that international troops officially began their withdrawal.
The process is due to be completed by September 11 at the latest.
Highlighting the dangers, at least 11 civilians were killed after a roadside bomb hit a passenger bus in Zabul province, in the south, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
Another 28 passengers were wounded in the explosion, which happened around midnight.
Meanwhile, in Parwan province, two people were killed in an explosion that targeted a minibus with 25 passengers onboard, according to a provincial police spokesperson and a local politician.
Nearly a dozen people were wounded in the bombing.
Taliban
In Farah province, militants detonated an explosive-packed armoured vehicle near an army checkpoint just a few km away from the provincial city centre, several officials confirmed.
There were conflicting reports about the casualty figures.
Provincial governor Taj Mohammad Jahid told dpa that two soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in a checkpoint.
However, provincial councillor Shah Mahmoud Naimi said that the bodies of six soldiers were found under the rubble and four others have been taken captive, with the fate of the remaining force members unclear.
Government officials have blamed the Taliban for the incidents.
Pakistan is currently facing a third wave the pandemic, and to bring the situation under control, the government is taking stringent measures including locking down…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan on Monday logged 3,447 fresh COVID-19 cases and 4,824 recoveries from the infection during the last 24 hours.
Seventy-eight corona patients died during this period, 68 of them were under treatment in hospital and 10 were quarantined at homes, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Around 762,105 people have recovered from the disease to date across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.
Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 861,473 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment COVID-19 patients as yet. About 18,993 deaths were recorded in the country since the eruption of the contagion.
A medical worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province (Photo by Sajjad/Xinhua/ians)
Meanwhile, Pakistan has barred its citizens under 40 years of age and those with a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from taking the jab, the Health Ministry said.
According to the interim guidelines issued by the Ministry on Sunday about administering the AstraZeneca vaccine, people who developed blood clotting issues after receiving the first dose of the vaccine should not take the second dose, reports Xinhua news agency.
Those with active gastrointestinal bleeding or seizure, or a history of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis are also stopped from opting to get the AstraZeneca vaccine administered, the guidelines said.
The decision follows reports in some countries of rare blood clotting and low platelets events in people, especially those below 50 years, after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, local media reported.
The ban on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan exposed the Imran Khan government’s failure to stem the growing fundamentalism in the country. The ban won’t solve the problem. TLP will reborn with a new title and continue its attack on a civil society. If the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalist organisations goes unchallenged, the day will not be too far when Pakistan helplessly witnesses itself being internationally isolated in a changing world … Dr Sakariya Kareem
The genie is out of the bottle now. The last few weeks have been turbulent for Pakistan. During this period, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), an Islamic fundamentalist organisation orchestrated violent protests in all major cities of the country including Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Hundreds have been injured and a dozen have died during these violent clashes between TLP supporters and security personnel.
Protest of TLP Lahore, Pakistan(wikipedia)
These protests sparked few months ago, when in October 2020, the French President Emmanuel Macron strongly defended the right to show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as part of freedom of expression, which he believed was integral to the French Republic. It may be recalled that on October 16, 2020, a French school teacher, Samuel Patty, was brutally decapitated in the suburbs of Paris by a Chechen youth for displaying cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the classroom.
The French assertion prompted anger in parts of the Muslim world, particularly in Pakistan, where thousands of protestors rallied all over the country against the republication of the controversial cartoons. The TLP, which was spearheading the protest movements, had urged the Pakistan government to sever all diplomatic and trade ties with France.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani establishment had struck a deal with the Islamist organisation of making efforts to expel the French Envoy as sought by them, in the hope that the issue would die down in due course of time. However, much to their dismay in March this year, the TLP again raised the matter and announced an ultimatum over the departure of the French Envoy and boycott of French products. The government inaction and false promises resulted in massive protests across the country as stated earlier.
The protests further escalated with the arrest of Saad Hussain Rizvi, the young leader of the TLP and son of late Khadim Hussain Rizvi, its founder who died in November 2020. The protestors demanded immediate release of their leader, expulsion of the French Ambassador and boycott of all French products. But given Pakistan’s vulnerable position in the global geopolitics, it would be ridiculous for the country, to give in to the demands of boycotting France and isolating itself internationally.
Thus in a catch 22 situation, while portraying itself as one of the protectors of the Muslim Ummah, the clashes left the Pakistani Establishment completely red faced and unprepared to take a stand. This was evident from the statement of Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who while addressing a press conference on April 14, stated that the nation was “in favour of protecting the Prophet’s honour” but that the TLP’s demands “could have portrayed Pakistan as a radical nation worldwide”. In order to save its face in front of the international community, the Pakistan government finally banned TLP on April 15, and issued a notification categorizing it as a proscribed, terrorist organisation with authorities saying they would move the Election Commission to delist the group as a political party. But it is imperative to understand that banning TLP alone won’t solve the problem of rising religious extremism in Pakistan.
Many extremist groups have been banned in Pakistan before too but they tend to reappear with new names. Further, Pakistani political parties, including the one in power right now, have traditionally harped on the support of these Islamist groups to run the Government. Hence a move to ban a political party from which it elicited tacit support could go against any government of the day. Also, keeping in mind the FATF sanctions, this move of banning the religious extremist party could be perceived as a mere cosmetic measure. This was evident when the Government began negotiating with the ‘proscribed’ group to end the violence, release its security personnel who were held ‘hostage’ and agree to a truce where it succumbed to the demands of the pressure group.
The country’s political establishment, the military, have all historically used Islamist groups to strengthen their anti-India narrative. However, it is time Pakistan realizes that not only the TLP but the other extremist organizations like Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) etc. are also proving to be the albatross around its neck that it needs to get rid of. If the threat posed by these Islamic fundamentalist organizations goes unchallenged, the day will not be too far when Pakistan helplessly witnesses itself being internationally isolated in a changing world.
Under these circumstances, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan had clarified through a tweet that his Government took action against the TLP under the anti-terrorist Law for challenging the writ of the State, for using street violence and attacking the public and the law enforcers. Admittedly, the logical corollary to this candid clarification by the Pakistani Premier is the fact that had the TLP not vented its ire against the Pakistani establishment using violence and not dared to violate the law of the land, the authorities would have taken no action against the group.
As a fall out, the crackdown by the Pakistan government on the TLP has earned the wrath of its diaspora across the globe. The Sunni Ulema Board, South Africa (SUBSA) went onto hold the prime minister and Home Minister Sheikh Rasheed responsible for the killings of civilians in Lahore who were participating in these protests. The attacks have also been vehemently condemned and termed senseless and brutal by the SUBSA.
The Muslim community of South Africa has further demanded that the Pakistan government stop these human rights violations and its support to state terrorism, killing of civilians in police custody and silencing of the media. They also apparently alleged use of chemical weapons by the government to crush the TLP protests.
Essentially Pakistan, at every step of the evolution of the Islamic outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), let the Islamic group grow in scope and exercise clout on all matters of religious and even political significance. As is known, the country’s political establishment, the military, have all historically used Islamist groups to strengthen their anti-India narrative. However, it is time Pakistan realizes that not only the TLP but the other extremist organizations like Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) etc. are also proving to be the albatross around its neck that it needs to get rid of. If the threat posed by these Islamic fundamentalist organizations goes unchallenged, the day will not be too far when Pakistan helplessly witnesses itself being internationally isolated in a changing world.
