Ashraf Ghani’s incompetence responsible for collapse: Rehman Malik

Islamabad: Former Interior Minister and Chairman Institute of Research and Reforms (IRR) Senator A. Rehman Malik said that none but President Ghani’s administration’s incompetence was responsible for the collapse of his government.

He said that neither Pakistan nor anyone else had started this war in Afghanistan while the United States invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 even though no one from Afghanistan was involved in this tragic incident. He said that this so-called war on terror lasted for 20 years without any result and success.

The greatest loss of this war was to Pakistan in which its 80,000 troops and civilians were martyred and the country’s economy was shattered, he said. He said that in this war, everyone learned that the bullet is not the solution to any problem.

In an interview to an Indian channel, where Senator Rehman Malik gave befitting answers to the Indian allegation of Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan, he said Pakistan has always wanted peace in Afghanistan and political solution to its internal problems. He said that everyone knows that the withdrawal of US Forces from Afghanistan was because of the dialogue between Taliban and US authorities in Qatar and now that the Taliban are back, the international community should give a chance to peace in Afghanistan if the new administration of Taliban can establish. He said that he hopes in twenty years, the Taliban have learned a lot and they will respect the concerns of the international community regarding human rights, women’s right to education, and protection of religious minorities.

Senator Rehman Malik said that after Doha Pact, President Ashraf Ghani had an opportunity to have formulated a Withdrawal Strategy in collaboration and consultation with the United States so the current chaos could have been averted timely but sadly, the US withdrew its forces from Afghanistan without any strategy and plan. He said that the Taliban was not created by Pakistan, nor was Daesh created by Pakistan and everybody knows who created Taliban, Al-Qaeeda, and then the lethal terrorist organization Daesh. He said that there are 25,000 Al Qaeda members in Kunar and 8,000 people have also come from Syria and the Indian intelligence agency well know about it. He said that mistakes had been made by both India and Pakistan in the past but it is time to move forward towards peace. He said, “I have written Modi’s War Doctrine which is being read all over the world in which I have exposed many facts and I would like to advise all Indian scholars to read both the Modi and General Bajwa’s doctrines and compare who is advocating peace”.

Senator Rehman Malik said that Islam and Hinduism and all other religions teach peace so he would like to appeal to Prime Minister Modi to stop oppression on Kashmiris and lift the curfew and give them the right to live with peace. He said that he had disagreed with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement regarding Modi in which he had expressed if Modi becomes the Prime Minister again, he would resolve all issues between India and Pakistan including Kashmir.

Rehman Malik said that Indian has been leveling allegations against Pakistan since day first and when Mr. Chidambaram leveled the same allegations, I had asked for evidence of Pakistan’s incursion into India or Kashmir adding that the Indian then interior minister was unable to provide any substantive evidence. He said that very openly, Prime Minister Modi has said many times that India will teach Pakistan a lesson through Balochistan, and after that many people including Kulbhushan Yadav were caught from Balochistan. He said that it is no more a secret that India also trained people in Sri Lanka and other countries against Pakistan and India’s involvement in the recent attack in which 11 Chinese engineers were killed has also come to light.

Former Interior Minister said that it is not time of blame game and let both the countries should put aside their egos and think of a solution to our real problems which could bring peace between both countries. In response to a question, Rehman Malik said that now the Taliban are going to form a government in Afghanistan whatever it is, the will of the people of Afghanistan should be prioritized so that there can be long lasted peace and all other countries should stop their interference.

Senator Rehman Malik reiterated that there should be peace efforts from both sides and he would like to invite 11 intellectuals, journalists, and writers from India to visit Pakistan at his own expense to have a dialogue to devise a peace plan.