'Bad idea': Pessimism over outcome as Pakistan formally okays talks with local Taliban 

Armed militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) pose for a photograph in Orakzai Agency, Pakistan, on November 26, 2008. (AFP/File)
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Updated 07 July 2022
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'Bad idea': Pessimism over outcome as Pakistan formally okays talks with local Taliban 

  • Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday formally approved negotiations with TTP militants
  • TTP extended cease-fire indefinitely after talks with Pakistani tribal elders mediated by Afghan Taliban in June 

ISLAMABAD: Experts this week called holding negotiations with local Taliban militants “the only solution” for the government to end militancy in the country but many were skeptical about whether the process would lead to a positive outcome after having failed in the past.

The Pakistani Taliban — known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks inside Pakistan since 2007, including a 2014 assault on a school in which 134 students were killed. The group is not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, but pledges allegiance to them.

Pakistan has since 2007 carried out a number of military operations against the TTP, but, despite reducing the militant group’s footprint, with most fighters fleeing to neighboring Afghanistan, it has not been able to fully stop attacks, which had begun to rise again along its western border in recent months.

On June 4, the TTP extended a cease-fire with the government for an indefinite period, after two-day talks with a delegation of Pakistani tribal elders facilitated by the Afghan Taliban, who head the government in Kabul since US-led forces withdrew last year.

This week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired an in-camera meeting in Islamabad attended by over 100 lawmakers and officials to deliberate on talks with the Pakistani Taliban. The Parliamentary Committee on National Security subsequently gave its formal approval to hold the talks and also set up a parliamentary committee to oversee the process and ensure it was carried out within the ambit of the constitution.

Pakistan media has widely reported that at the heart of talks is an offer to accommodate the TTP with a safe passage back to Pakistan from Afghanistan in exchange for the group agreeing to a long-term cease-fire, dissolving its organization and possibly even joining mainstream politics.

“Pakistan wants to do it [talks] because the militancy problem is not over and they have realized that the only solution to this problem is that local Taliban should be integrated into the mainstream,” Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former Pakistani ambassador to Kabul, told Arab News on Wednesday.

“Because for how long can military operations go on?”

Though the Afghan Taliban were brokering talks with the TTP as they had to uphold an international obligation not to let any militants use Afghan soil to attack another country, Mohmand said the Kabul government also did not want to push the TTP forcibly to come to the table or agree to a deal.

Afghan Taliban leaders have in the past openly praised the TTP for its contributions to the insurgency against the United States and the former Afghan government, and hinted that it can’t abandon the Pakistani affiliate.

“Afghan Taliban are the facilitators and they are playing this role because for some time TTP fighters fought with them in Afghanistan,” Mohmand added. “But if they [Afghan Taliban] will force them toward Pakistan, then TTP will blame them for their arrests [in Pakistan].”
 
Speaking about the main demands of the militant group, the diplomat said the TTP wanted a resolution of the issue of missing persons, compensation for losses caused to them during military operations, and for Pakistan to scrap a 2018 law that did away with the semi-independent status of the former tribal regions, FATA, that dates back to British colonial rule.

The TTP also wants a substantial reduction of Pakistani military forces from the former tribal areas, which border Afghanistan and where the group was mostly harboring before being driven out through military operations.

“Government will not accept the revival of the tribal system as it requires a constitutional amendment,” Mohmand said. “Also, there is little hope on missing persons, so in reality, they can only move forward on the compensation issue.”

Abdul Basit Khan, a research fellow at the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the government’s negotiations with the TTP were a “sensible move” to reduce violence in Pakistan’s border regions.

“Pakistan wants to reduce violence and they have achieved it as due to the cease-fire, attacks have already gone down,” Khan told Arab News, adding that there was “no military solution” to the TTP problem.

“Parliamentary committee on national security has taken a clear position that only those demands which fall within the Pakistani constitutional framework will be accepted and any demand contradictory to it will not be accepted, such as reversal of FATA merger,” Khan said. “And TTP will also not be allowed to keep arms even if it is repatriated to Pakistan.”

Former diplomat, Ayaz Wazir, supported the talks but was skeptical there could be “permanent solution” unless the people of the former tribal regions were included in the decision-making process. 

“The real problem with the decision-makers is that they never take people of FATA into the confidence, neither at the time of military operations, nor during the merger, and that vacuum has always provided space to the TTP to resurface,” he said. 

Last year, the two sides had agreed to a cease-fire but talks broke down due to a disagreement over the release of TTP prisoners held by Pakistan, according to local media.

Another analyst, retired Brig. Mahmood Shah, a former chief of security in the tribal areas, said another round of negotiations with TTP after previous failures was a “bad idea” that was bound to fail. He also said the Pakistani constitution did not allow for talks with any group that challenged the nation’s sovereignty. 

“These talks cannot succeed and will never produce a sustainable solution as TTP will not back down from its core ideology and keep pursuing it with the use of violence as a tool,” Shah told Arab News.

Between 2006 and 2015, nearly 50 militant groups declared war on the Pakistani state, conducting over 16,000 terror attacks, according to government figures. More than 80,000 people have been killed in the violence, which cost over $150 billion in losses to the Pakistani economy and drove 3.5 million people from their homes in the tribal regions where military operations were carried out.

“Pakistan have thrown them [TTP] out of tribal areas after extensive military operations and a lot of sacrifices,” said. “What was the rationale of all those previous actions if they will now be allowed to return?” 


Security forces kill one militant, injure another in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan

Updated 27 April 2024
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Security forces kill one militant, injure another in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan

  • The operation was carried out while militants were trying to stop passenger vehicles in Harnai district
  • Baloch militants killed nine migrant laborers from Punjab in March after stopping a bus in Noshki

ISLAMABAD: Security forces in Pakistan killed one militant and injured another in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province, said the military’s media wing, ISPR, on Saturday, while they were trying to stop passenger vehicles in Harnai district.

Earlier this month, armed assailants intercepted a bus traveling from Quetta to Taftan near the city of Noshki, singling out nine passengers, who were later identified as migrant laborers from Punjab province, and shot them.

Balochistan’s Harnai district has also witnessed militant violence, with an improvised explosive device killing one employee of Mari Petroleum and injuring 14 others in March 30.

“On 27 April 24, a fire exchange took place between security forces and terrorists in Harnai District of Balochistan,” the ISPR said. “The terrorists tried to stop passenger vehicles plying on Sanjavi Road, Harnai. Security Forces reacted immediately and effectively engaged the terrorists.”

The statement mentioned that one militant was killed and another injured during the fire exchange.

“The timely response by the security forces thwarted nefarious intent of the terrorists, saving innocent lives,” the statement added. “Sanitization operation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area.”

Balochistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatist groups who accuse the state of denying the people of the province of their share in its vast mineral wealth.

The government has frequently denied the allegation, saying it is carrying out a number of development projects for the prosperity of Baloch nationals.


Pakistan says net-metering promotes ‘unhealthy investments’ in solar power

Updated 27 April 2024
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Pakistan says net-metering promotes ‘unhealthy investments’ in solar power

  • Government says massive solar installation is affecting 30 million consumers, imposing Rs1.90 per unit burden on them
  • Experts say the government’s ‘regressive policies’ will make it difficult to cut fossil fuel and promote renewable energy

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government said on Saturday net-metering was promoting unhealthy investments in installation of solar power by affluent domestic and industrial consumers, hinting at cutting the buyback rates to discourage uptick in the sector.

The government approved the net-metering policy in 2017, allowing solar panel purchasers to sell power they produced to the national grid to spur the solar energy use and cut power shortages. Under the policy, the government is paying Rs21 per unit for the net-metered electricity which the government says is resulting in the subsidy of Rs1.90 per unit, burdening the government.

This development comes at a time when the price of solar panels has plummeted by more than 60 percent in Pakistan in recent weeks due to the bulk imports from China because of lower rates, making the country witness a surge in the solar power installation by domestic and industrial consumers to reduce their electricity bills.

“The present system of net-metering is promoting unhealthy investments in solar power,” the energy ministry said in a statement on Saturday. “Affluent consumers have been massively installing solar power due to which domestic, industrial consumers and the government have to bear the burden of Rs 1.90 per unit under the head of subsidy.”

The ministry warned the subsidy was affecting some 25 to 30 million “poor consumers,” and if the trend of the solar power continued, the bills of ordinary consumers would surge by at least Rs 3.35 per unit. However, it clarified no fixed tax was being imposed on the solar power.

The 2017 net-metering policy was aimed at promoting renewable energy in the system, which helped enhance the solarization in the country that now “needs to be balanced,” the ministry said.

Pakistan has ideal climatic conditions for solar power generation, with over nine hours of sunlight in most parts of the country. Utilizing just 0.071 percent of the country’s area for solar photovoltaic (solar PV) power generation would meet Pakistan’s electricity demand, according to the World Bank.

Currently, only 5.4 percent of Pakistan’s installed power generation capacity of 39,772 megawatts comes from renewables like wind, solar and biomass, while fossil fuels still make up 63 percent of the fuel mix, followed by hydropower at 25 percent, according to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).

The South Asian nation of 241 million aims to shift to 60 percent renewable energy by 2030 with 50 percent reduction in projected emissions, but it stands far behind in meeting the goal despite a recent surge in the solar power.

Energy experts said the government’s “inconsistent” solar power policies would result in discouraging the sector and its failure in meeting the national and international commitments of cutting the greenhouse gas emissions.

“Public sector the world over is promoting renewable energy to cut fossil fuel while we are discouraging consumers with regressive policies,” Aamir Hussain, chairman of Pakistan Alternative Energy Association, told Arab News.

He said the association had suggested the government to issue licenses to consumers for their actual household or industry load instead of allowing them to install massive solar power with a promise to buyback the surplus.

“The government should come up with an inclusive policy to promote renewable energy instead of discouraging consumers by slapping taxes or cutting the rates,” he added.


Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi help Pakistan down New Zealand to draw T20I series

Updated 27 April 2024
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Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi help Pakistan down New Zealand to draw T20I series

  • Azam’s 44-ball 69 took Pakistan to 178-5, while Afridi’s 4-30 restricted New Zealand to 169 in 19.2 overs
  • The series gave both the teams a kickstart to their preparations for the T20 World Cup in June this year

LAHORE: Skipper Babar Azam hit a solid half century while spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi grabbed four wickets as Pakistan overcame New Zealand by nine runs in the fifth and final Twenty20 international in Lahore on Saturday.
Azam’s 44-ball 69 and Fakhar Zaman’s 33-ball 43 took Pakistan to 178-5 in their 20 overs before Shaheen claimed 4-30 to restrict New Zealand to 169 in 19.2 overs, squaring the series at 2-2.
But Pakistan’s win only came in the final over with 12 needed as Josh Clarkson 38 not out threatened to pull off a heist, but two run outs in Mohammad Amir’s over sealed the home win much to the delight of a full house at Qaddafi Stadium.
The first match of the series was abandoned while Pakistan clinched the second and New Zealand the third by identical seven-wicket margins – all in Rawalpindi.
New Zealand took the fourth match, also in Lahore, by four runs.
The series gave both the teams a kickstart to their preparations for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the United States and the West Indies in June.
While Pakistan would be disappointed not to have won a series against a depleted New Zealand side missing a host of players due to Indian Premier League, unavailability and injuries, the visitors got a boost from their bench strength.

Pakistan's Babar Azam plays a shot during the fifth T20 international cricket match between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP)

Shaheen gave Pakistan an ideal start by dismissing Tom Blundell for four in his first over – his 15th wicket in his opening over of a Twenty20 international – and 50th in all T20 matches.
Tim Seifert put New Zealand back on track with an aggressive 33-ball 52 – his ninth T20I half century containing seven boundaries and two sixes.
He added 76 for the second wicket with skipper Micheal Bracewell (23) but from 81-1 New Zealand lost four wickets in the space of 25 balls for the addition of just 22 runs.
Leg-spinner Usama Mir (2-21) had Seifert and Mark Chapman (12) while fellow spinner Shadab Khan accounted for Bracewell as New Zealand’s chase was derailed.
Shaheen returned for a second spell to dismiss James Neesham (16), Zak Foulkes (naught) and Ish Sodhi (three) in successive overs.

Pakistan's Saim Ayub, center front, walks off the field after losing his wicket during the fifth T20 international cricket match between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP)

Earlier, Azam saw his opening partner Saim Ayub fall in the second over for just one but that did not deter him as he added 73 for the second wicket with Usman Khan who made a brisk 24-ball 31.
Azam hit six boundaries and two sixes in his 34th T20I half-century before he was bowled by pacer Ben Sears in the 15th over.
Zaman hit four boundaries and a six before he was smartly caught by Chapman on the boundary off Foulkes as Pakistan managed 55 in the last five overs.
Shadab Khan hit a six and a four in his five-ball 15 not out.
New Zealand made three changes as they brought back Seifert, Cole McConchie and Foulkes while pace spearhead Shaheen returned for the home team.


New Zealand win toss, opt to bowl in 5th and final T20 against Pakistan

Updated 27 April 2024
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New Zealand win toss, opt to bowl in 5th and final T20 against Pakistan

  • Pakistan, looking to build-up for June’s T20 World Cup, are trailing 2-1 in the series
  • Pakistan have brought in their ace fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi in place of Zaman Khan

LAHORE: New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell won the toss and elected to field in the fifth and final Twenty20 against Pakistan on Saturday.
Pakistan, looking to build-up for June’s T20 World Cup, are trailing 2-1 in the series as they tested their bench strength against the understrength Black Caps.
Pakistan made just one change from the team that lost the fourth match by four runs, bringing in their ace fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi in place of Zaman Khan.
New Zealand, touring Pakistan without their nine frontline T20 players who are in the Indian Premier League, made three changes.
Tim Seifert recovered from sore back and returns in place of Tim Robinson, who scored a half-century in the last game but was ruled out with a groin injury.
Cole McConchie and Zak Foulkes also made it to the playing XI replacing Dean Foxcroft and Jacob Duffy. Foxcroft was ruled out with a back injury.
The first game was abandoned because of rain before Pakistan bowled out New Zealand for 90 runs in the second game to win by seven wickets.
New Zealand made a comeback, winning the third match by seven wickets before edging out the home team in the last game at Qaddafi Stadium on Thursday.


Pakistani pro-Palestine protester says banned from rights conference after disrupting German envoy's speech

Updated 27 April 2024
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Pakistani pro-Palestine protester says banned from rights conference after disrupting German envoy's speech

  • The envoy was criticized for ‘lecturing’ on civil liberties when Germany was punishing defenders of Palestinian rights
  • One of the organizers of Asma Jahangir Conference says no one should ‘insult people by shouting or getting harsh’

ISLAMABAD: A pro-Palestine protester in Pakistan, who interrupted German Ambassador Alfred Grannas during his speech on civil liberties in South Asia at a rights conference in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday, said he was ‘manhandled’ by the organizers who later forces him out of the hall.
Ali Abdullah Khan, who studies economics and is part of the Progressive Students Collective, disrupted the German envoy’s speech at the popular Asma Jahangir Conference while accusing the European state of “brutally abusing” those who have been agitating for Palestinian rights.
Germany has clearly sided with Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza after a surprise attack was launched by Hamas on Oct. 7 as a response to the deteriorating Palestinian condition living under Israeli occupation.
The conflict, which has led to the killing of over 34,000 Palestinians, has led to widespread criticism of the Israeli government, leading to protests in different parts of the world.
While countries like South Africa have accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza, German authorities have forcibly removed protest encampments and gone into people’s houses to arrest them for critical social media posts on charges of antisemitism.
“We were forced out of the place after we raised our voice during the German ambassador’s speech,” Khan said while speaking to Arab News. “The organizers manhandled us and banned our entry in the conference.”
He said it was “baffling” to see the German ambassador “lecturing” people on civil liberties in Pakistan after his country supplied arms and ammunition to Israeli military to kill Palestinian civilians and destroy hospitals and education institutions.
“Germany isn’t in a position to champion civil liberties and human rights when it is complicit in the killing of thousands of civilians in Palestine,” he continued. “We simply called out Germany’s hypocrisy by peacefully raising our voice in the conference that literally agitated the ambassador.”

German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas gestures during a speech at the Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore on April 27, 2024. (Photo courtesy: X/@voicepkdotnet)

Khan said he had peacefully expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine and would continue to do so until the western world remained “complicit in the brutal massacre of Palestinians.”
The Asma Jahangir Conference is named after a late Pakistani human rights lawyer and activist and brings together scholars, activists, legal experts and policymakers to discuss a wide range of issues affecting the lives of marginalized communities.
Responding to an Arab News query, Munizae Jahangir, one of the conference’s organizers and the daughter of Asma Jahangir, objected to the way Khan criticized the German envoy.
“Freedom of speech is everybody’s right, but there should be a decent way to ask questions or express your difference of opinion,” she said. “The purpose of the conference is to provide a platform to people to express their opinions, views and dissent, but one should not insult people by shouting or getting harsh.”
Jahangir, a prominent journalist and activist in her own right, said a special session on Gaza was held at the conference to highlight the issue that was attended by Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, and Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“We warmly welcome the difference of opinion at our platform but not the insult and disrespect to our honorable guests,” she added.
Earlier, Khan interrupted the German ambassador shortly after he began his speech.
“I am shocked by the audacity that you are here to talk about civil rights while your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of the Palestinians,” he shouted while standing at the back of hall.
Many people around him supported him by shouting “Free, Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea.”
The German envoy, who looked visibly perturbed by the development, responded by shouting back at him and pointing to the exit.
“If you, if you want to shout, go out,” he said. “There you can shout. Because shouting is not a discussion.”
Last year in November, a Pakistani classical dancer and human rights activist Sheema Kermani raised slogans for a ceasefire at a British Deputy High Commission event in Karachi and later complained of being “escorted out.”