Geo Tv – Kamran Khan on the failure of Pakistan Army & ISI

The language of the program is urdu (Hindi).

Courtesy: Geo TV (Aaj Kamran Khan Ke Sath), YouTube

via WICHAAR.COM

‘Why are Taliban good for Afghanistan, but Bad for Pakistan ‘, asks an Afghan student from Musharraf

Action against Haqqani network may not be in Pakistan’s interest: Musharraf

LONDON: Former president Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan has “definite reasons” for not acting against the Haqqani Network, as such action may not be in Pakistan’s current interest.

The former President did not rule out future action against the Haqqanis, but said that he was not privy to any information in this regard.

Musharraf was speaking at a question and answer session organised at the University of London by the School of Oriental and African Studies and hosted by Express News host of Frontline, Kamran Shahid.

Musharraf faced an intense question and answer session in London, being grilled by an audience comprising both south asian and international students.

Answering a question on drone strikes and the attached collateral damage, the former President of Pakistan said it was a “catch 22″ situation, saying on the one hand, Pakistan wants to defeat al-Qaeda and Taliban since that they are terrorists trying to destabilize the region but at the same time they had to avoid talibanisation of Pakistan. He added that militants are being killed in drone strikes, but at the cost of collateral damage, which is why he never drone strikes during his term. He admitted that handling this situation was a problem area.

Answering a question from an Afghan student on Pakistan’s dual policy of initially backing the Taliban when they took over in Afghanistan and now talking about avoiding talibanisation of Pakistan ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

Punjab’s twist – By Nadeem F. Paracha

If democracy truly is the nemesis of talibanisation then certainly it is the PML(N) that will have to play the leading role in Punjab to wrest back the initiative from the monsters who have been plaguing the material and human wellbeing of what was once the most stable and vibrant province of Pakistan.

This is how terrorists operate: They identify a region where they feel they can bag sympathy for their cause and then try to construct ‘offices’ there. However, if they feel this sympathy is not enough to stop the government’s action against them, they terrorise the people with attacks. They know that this is the region that can capitulate in the face of terror faster than a place that does not hold sympathy for them.

Let’s face it, Punjab, like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been influenced the most by Islamist and sectarian organisations, with all that hoopla about justice, sharia and war against American imperialism. Over the years most of these organisations have found sympathetic ears and hearts in major Punjab and Pakhtunkhwa towns and cities, so much so that Punjab’s leading political party, the PML(N), sometimes sounds ambiguous about its stand on extremism.

Perhaps it fears that it may lose support from its more conservative constituencies, mainly centred round lower-middle and middle class sections. In spite of Lahore becoming the target of vicious terrorist attacks, we can still see and hear certain Punjab-based politicians and their supporters continue to dish out their deluded ‘Pakistan is fighting America’s war’ mantra and suggesting that ‘We should hold a dialogue with the extremists’.

Read more >> Dawn