US general sees no change in Pakistan behaviour despite Trump tough line

WASHINGTON: The top US general in Afghanistan said on Tuesday that he had not seen a change in Pakistan s support for militants so far despite President Donald Trump taking a tougher line against Islamabad. US officials have long been frustrated by what they see as Pakistan s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan. In August Trump outlined a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan chastising Pakistan over its alleged support for Afghan militants. He accused Pakistan of harbouring agents of chaos and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a US-backed government in Kabul. US official expressed hope that relations between the two countries could improve after a kidnapped US-Canadian couple and their three children were freed in Pakistan in October. The couple was abducted in neighbouring Afghanistan. We have been very direct and very clear with the Pakistanis... we have not seen those changes implemented yet General John Nicholson told reporters. We are hoping to see those changes we are hoping to work together with the Pakistanis going forward to eliminate terrorists who are crossing the border Nicholson said. He said that he believed that senior Taliban leaders were based in Pakistan while the lower-level leadership was in Afghanistan. Nicholson added that he agreed with other senior US officials that Pakistan s main spy agency the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate had ties to the Haqqani network militant group. The United States in 2012 designated the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization. Pakistan says it has done a great deal to help the United States in tracking down terrorists. The four-star general said he had seen evidence of relations between Iran and the Taliban in western Afghanistan and was closely tracking it. The United States has sent more than 3 000 additional US troops to Afghanistan as a part of Trump s South Asia strategy. Nicholson said over 1 000 troops would be advising Afghan troops at the battalion level putting them closer to the fighting and at greater risk. Nicholson gave an optimistic view of the situation saying he believed we are on our way to a win. US officials have made similar statements during the course of the 16-year-old war but the situation according to many US officials remains in a stalemate. According to a recent report by a US government watchdog the Taliban had increased the amount of territory it has influence over or controls in Afghanistan in the past six months. Breaking News Pakistan s law minister has resigned after weeks of big protests staged by a hardline cleric against a perceived softening of the country s blasphemy laws. At least six protesters were killed and 200 injured in Islamabad on Saturday when thousands of police officers unsuccessfully tried to disperse a three-week sit-in that had virtually paralysed the capital. Zahid Hamid s resignation is the latest in a series of government concessions to religious extremists who have been edging their way further into the political mainstream. Q&A What s behind the protests in Pakistan? Show Hide Rallies began on 8 November when firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi staged a sit-in in Islamabad over the government s alteration of the wording of an electoral oath in which politicians swear that Muhammad is the last prophet. Rizvi and supporters of his party Tehreek-e Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah regarded the change as pandering towards religious minorities particularly the Ahmadi sect who believe in later prophets considered heresy by law in Pakistan. The government claimed it had made a mistake and immediately reversed the change but protesters insisted on the resignation of the law minister Zahid Hamid. Up to 2 000 people blocked a key entrance to Islamabad and police set up barriers to prevent protesters from reaching government buildings. For three weeks the Pakistani capital was on virtual lockdown and protests spread to other cities including Lahore and Karachi. The government asked the army to step in but the military refused. Clashes between police and protesters led to at least six deaths and 200 injuries. On 27 November the army brokered a deal between the government and the protesters in which the minister was made to step down. Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Last week a court in Lahore lifted the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed a militant leader with a 10m ( 7.5m) American bounty on his head for international terrorism who heads a growing political movement and is fiercely opposed to India and western interference. The decision to resign was taken in a bid to steer the country out of the prevailing critical situation Hamid said according to a report in Pakistan s Tribune newspaper. Observers said Monday s deal could set a dangerous precedent. Zealots have taken the law into their own hands. Mullahs can get up and ask for anyone s resignation so this is the death of rationality said Zahid Hussain a political analyst. This is complete surrender to hardline Islamists. It s a sad day for Pakistan: it shows that the state is so weak and that we can t stand up to blackmailing. Hussain also rebuked the army which brokered the deal and has been criticised for its alleged proximity to extremist groups for refusing to step in against the protesters despite a request from the government. In the deal on Monday with Khadim Hussain Rizvi who heads the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party the government also agreed to release a report on an investigation into the alteration of an electoral oath declaring the prophet Muhammad as God s final prophet. Protesters saw the change as appeasing a religious minority the Ahmadis who are officially deemed heretic. The government will also free and drop charges against detained protesters. In return Rizvi agreed not to issue a fatwa against the minister seemingly to dissuade attacks on his person. Blasphemy is already a capital offence in Pakistan and serves as a rallying cry for Islamic extremist. Unfounded allegations regularly trigger mob attacks and lynching which the government has been unable to prevent. The recent protests expose the fragility of the governing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party which has been under increasing pressure since the disqualification of the prime minister Nawaz Sharif in July over corruption allegations. Ousted Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif indicted over corruption claims Read more The government has met fierce criticism for its handling of the recent crisis and its failure to uphold the rule of law and safety for citizens. There is no reasonable set of circumstances in which a fledgling political party no matter how aggrieved or agitated could be allowed to not just hold the federal capital and the fourth most populous city of the country hostage but also trigger protests across the country the Dawn newspaper wrote in an editorial. A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Labbaik said the demonstrators did not feel victorious. It s a sad day because dozens of our protesters have been martyred said the spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi. However the Benazir Bhutto hospital in Rawalpindi could only confirm it had received six bodies. A government minister meanwhile suggested the rallies had been planned by outsiders without elaborating who might be behind them. A great game is being played Mushahid Ullah Khan minister for climate change who is part of the committee to investigate the electoral oath told the Guardian. Someone has manipulated this entire situation. Eventually we will find out who was behind this big game and what it was all about. By Kanwal Sibal China has moved from its harm offensive at Doklam to a charm offensive of sorts with its ambassador here mentioning that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could be renamed if that would persuade us to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In May this year the ambassador had said the same thing but the embassy s website subsequently removed a reference to it apparently because of the adverse reaction in Islamabad for which changing the name would imply that China was willing to assuage even if symbolically India s sovereignty concerns that are central to its opposition to the BRI. China s position remains that the CPEC is an economic project with no bearing on sovereignty issues which India and Pakistan have to settle bilaterally. In May and now again to demonstrate China s benign win-win intentions the ambassador has proposed a corridor between China and India through Kashmir or Sikkim. China loses nothing through this sham diplomacy apparently prompted by suggestions from some China experts in India that a diplomatic way out of the BRI impasse would be to re-name the CPEC and render possible India s participation in the BRI in the future. A cosmetic change in nomenclature will however make no difference on the ground as any corridor between China and Pakistan has to traverse parts of the erstwhile J&K state illegally occupied by Pakistan. This India cannot accept not only for legal reasons but also for what is a strategic move to encircle India in an area where China itself is involved in a territorial dispute with us. China is drawing Pakistan deeply into its sphere of influence not only to continue using it as a weapon against India but also to challenge the already declining US presence and power on the Asian landmass. China will not give up the CPEC - no matter what it is called - as it is central to its geopolitical ambitions in Asia and beyond. If it wants to sink 46 billion or more in a politically unstable terrorism-wracked country that needs financial bail-outs by the IMF or Arab donors and attracts little foreign investment and which moreover is bent on creating an unfavourable environment for itself by perpetuating conflictual relations with both its direct neighbours it is for larger geo-political reasons not economic gain alone. The China-India corridor through Kashmir that has been aired would supplement the CPEC and not be an alternative to it. China pretends that these corridors are politically neutral and that it can envisage a corridor through Kashmir without taking any position on India s sovereignty over J&K that Pakistan disputes. A corridor through J&K would get linked to the corridor through POK and China would conveniently reap a double benefit. Through this ploy China will solidify its grip over J&K on both sides. Even Mehbooba Mufti has backed linking India to the BRI through Kashmir as a rediscovery of traditional trade routes of Kashmir . Actually what is intended is not any new China-India corridor through Kashmir but linking Srinagar through Muzaffarabad to the CPEC. The CPEC renaming gambit in seeming disregard of Pakistani sensitivities may be intended as a pressure point on implementational aspects and subduing voices in Pakistan questioning the project s benefits. The propitiatory kite-flying on corridors should be seen also in the context of the Russia-India-China dialogue at foreign minister level at Delhi on December 11 and 12. Russia supports BRI but India has widened its opposition to it by teaming up with Japan and the US to expose its dubious dimensions. The author is former foreign secretary Many think that our education rot is irreversible. Among countless other problems one stands out: school textbooks written and produced in Pakistan. These are probably the world s worst. For decades children have studied from books printed upon smudgy newsprint replete with mistakes stuffed with material containing hate against other people and religions and impoverished of actual subject content.There is now a ray of hope. Last week two towering piles of books from the Punjab Textbook Board somehow found their way on to my desk. Many bear the imprimatur Punjab Chief Minister s Programme for Education Reforms stamped on their front cover. This immediately sent to me a negative signal what business is it of any minister prime or chief to advertise himself using public money? But having flipped through thousands of pages I must reluctantly concede that the sin of self-promotion stands ameliorated.The new books are cleanly printed on paper of decent quality typographical errors are infrequent and coloured cartoons show smiling girl children in class. Earlier textbooks typically showed docile boys facing grim-faced elderly teachers. My heart gladdened at suggested science experiments that are both interesting and doable. And instead of beating the tired old drum of Muslim scientists from a thousand years ago one now sees a genuine attempt to teach actual science how plants grow and breathe objects move water makes droplets or freezes.On the history front one feels instant relief. Pakistan s date of birth has thankfully been set at 1947 and away from 712 the year Arab imperial conqueror Mohammed bin Qasim set foot in Sindh. Schoolbooks during General Zia-ul Haq s years contained this claim and no subsequent government dared reset the clock. Astonishingly one book frankly admits that Muslims fought against other Muslims and ascribes the Mughal Empire s downfall after Emperor Aurangzeb to his quarrelling sons rather than eternally scheming Hindu Rajputs.But here is the wonder of wonders: an Urdu translation of Quaid-i-Azam s famous speech of August 11 1947 has finally found its way into at least one social studies book. This declares that religion is a matter for the individual citizen and not of the state. The speech had hitherto been kept hidden for fear of polluting students minds and weakening the two-nation theory. Whether it will actually be covered in matric examinations is difficult to say; if not then students and their teachers will not take it seriously.An improvement but flaws remainOf course not all is well and troubling issues remain. Books for teaching Urdu as a language read as if they are meant equally for teaching Islamiat; there is only passing reference to the ancient civilisations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa; why East Pakistan sought independence from West Pakistan is unexplained; and there is a continued blackout of Operation Gibraltar the Kargil-like venture of General Ayub Khan to liberate Kashmir that precipitated the 1965 war. I might parenthetically mention that weeks ago while speaking before 250-300 students at the GIK Institute (supposedly among the best universities in Pakistan) only nine said they had heard of the operation.But these remaining flaws though serious pale in comparison to what children were forcibly fed in earlier decades. Samples: Make speeches on jihad and shahadat Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan Know about India s evil designs against Pakistan Visit police stations and Collect pictures of policemen soldiers and National Guards . (These quotes are from pages 154-158 of the Curriculum Document for Classes K-V National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks Federal Ministry of Education 1995.)The older curriculum helped create a militant intolerant mindset. A generation later Pakistan saw jihad-obsessed youngsters emerging even from mainstream schools. Willing to kill and be killed they are now everywhere and have to be crushed with Islamic-sounding operations like Zarb-i-Azb and Raddul Fasaad (for which great credit is claimed). Terrorist networks of students and teachers that target policemen soldiers and ordinary citizens have been discovered within many colleges and universities.Stifling education The eventual revamping of Punjab s school textbooks owes to a belated realisation that thousands of Pakistani lives were needlessly lost to militancy fuelled by hate material in textbooks. Many years will be needed for the new books to produce a more enlightened less xenophobic generation. This welcome step needed to be taken sooner rather than later. I have no knowledge of the blacked-out province of Balochistan but Punjab s bold move has not been matched by other provinces.Sindh remains frozen. Its education ministry and the Sindh Textbook Board have long set the highest standards of laziness depravity and stupidity. An earlier analysis of the Sindh Textbook Board s science books was published in Dawn newspaper two years ago. It has had zero effect; matters are just as grim there today as then.Those who rule Sindh continue to stifle education. Sindh could have outraced Punjab by taking advantage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment which frees the provinces from the federal diktat. Instead secretaries of education in Sindh who worked to improve things were defeated and shunted out. Sindh s misfortune has been the ideology-free money-grabbing Pakistan Peoples Party which oversees a system based upon patronage and unlimited corruption.With Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa s cleaner administration one expected better. The earlier Awami National Party government had considerably softened textbooks in the province. But after Imran Khan s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf entered into an alliance with the Jamaat-i-Islami (and now possibly with arch-conservative Maulana Samiul Haq) there was drastic back-pedalling. For example there are newly added chapters in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa textbooks that glorify Ghazi Ilm Din who preceded Mumtaz Qadri by almost a century for murdering a blasphemer. This will gladden the hearts of those in Khadim Hussain Rizvi s dharma who have paralysed Islamabad now for over two weeks and will surely swell their future ranks.No country with a reasonable standard of education would think much of celebrating the publication of decent schoolbooks. Like having air to breathe or water to drink these are considered givens. But with Pakistan being what it has become let us be happy with what Punjab has done and hope that people in other provinces will insist upon the same or better.This article first appeared on Dawn. New Delhi: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday admitted that he is a big supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and both the terror outfits like him equally. I am the biggest supporter of LeT and I know they like me and JuD also likes me Pervez Musharraf told to Pakistan s ARY News. While taking to news channel the former Pakistan president asserted that he likes Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and met him in the past. Musharraf said he was always in favour of action in Kashmir and wanted to suppress Indian Army in the Valley. He dubbed LeT as the biggest force in Kashmir saying although India and US declared it a terrorist outfit. I am the biggest supporter of LeT and I know they like me & JuD also likes me: Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan s ARY News also said yes on being asked if he likes Hafiz Saeed added that I have met him (Hafiz Saeed) pic.twitter.com/txxT58oPoU ANI (@ANI) November 29 2017 I was always in favour of action in Kashmir and of suppressing Indian Army in Kashmir and they are the biggest force (LeT) he said. Was always in favor of action in Kashmir & of suppressing Indian Army in Kashmir & they are the biggest force (LeT) India got them declared as terrorists by partnering with US. Yes they (LeT) are involved in Kashmir & in Kashmir it is b/w we & India: Musharraf to ARY News pic.twitter.com/b1fOAyreKl ANI (@ANI) November 29 2017 The military ruler said Kashmir is the bone of contention between India and Pakistan. NEW DELHI: Former military dictator of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf said this week that he is banned terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba s (LeT) biggest supporter and that he s aware they like him too. When asked by Pakistan s AryTV if he s similarly appreciative of LeT s founder and mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Saeed Musharraf nodded saying Saeed is involved in Kashmir and he supports that involvement. Saeed a United Nations-designated terrorist was freed from house arrest last week on an order from the Lahore high court. Musharraf meanwhile was declared a fugitive from justice by Pakistan in August this year. I am the biggest supporter of LeT and I know they like me and JuD (Jamaat-ud-Dawa) also likes me said Musharraf referring to both groups founded by Saeed. JuD is the LeT s charitable wing. The US has also branded Saeed a terrorist and put a 10 million bounty on Saeed s head after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Musharraf claimed Saeed was not involved in the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 because Saeed himself denied the charges of being the attacks mastermind. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf stirred fresh controversy by saying that he loves LeT and that the LeT l... https://t.co/1UkJyLlgjq TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) 1511925163000 The LeT is banned in Pakistan since 2002 and it was in fact the Musharraf government that banned the group. When reminded of that fact Musharraf said he didn t know much about Saeed at the time. He implied that he wouldn t have banned LeT if he had known more about Saeed. We had banned LeT because the situation was different at that time. We were moving towards peace and as such I thought we should reduce mujahids (religious warrior) and increase political dialogue and frankly I had very less knowledge about him said Musharraf. LeT though banned it is widely believed to orchestrate attacks in India especially in Kashmir. For Musharraf that makes Saeed a-ok. I was always in favor of action in Kashmir and of suppressing the Indian Army in Kashmir and they (LeT) are the biggest force. India got them declared as terrorists by partnering with US said Musharraf. The former military dictator was also reminded that he calls himself a liberal and a moderate. The interviewer wondered if that was at odds with Musharraf s admiration for LeT. He said it isn t. Yes I am liberal and moderate... these are my thoughts but that doesn t mean I am against all religious leaders said Musharraf. This kind of hypocrisy is typical of Pakistan s establishment. On the one hand you will have Pakistan s foreign minister saying on a public forum that Saeed is a liability for Pakistan - like minister Khawaja Asif did in New York in September - and on the other you have the country s army and its intelligence agency providing safe havens for terror groups and terrorists. Which is why the president of an infuential US think tank said this week it s a mystery why Pakistan is still considered a major non-Nato ally . Richard Haass president of the prestigious think tank Council on Foreign Relations tweeted this week saying Pakistan has harbored terrorists for years and provides sanctuary to the Taliban and others including Saeed The Council on Foreign Relations president joins what s becoming a chorus of influential domestic voices asking that Pakistan s status as a major non-Nato ally be taken away. After Saeed was freed last week a top American counter-terrorism expert told PTI news agency that it s time to remove Pakistan non-Nato ally status. Nine years after 26/11 its mastermind still eludes justice. It is time to rescind Pakistan s status as a major non-NATO ally said Bruce Riedel a top U.S. expert on security South Asia and counter-terrorism. Saeed s release by the Lahore High Court came despite entreaties by a senior Pakistan finance ministry official who said that freeing Saeed would bring diplomatic and financial problems to the country reported Pakistan s Dawn newspaper. Those entreaties obviously fell on willingly deaf ears as the emboldened Lahore High Court even ignored the US administration s August threat to cut off all aid to Pakistan if it doesn t stop providing safe havens to agents of chaos and terror . The US hasn t really followed up with stringent punishment since those fighting words in August from US President Donald Trump. In fact a significant alteration to a bill that would have pinned Pakistan down on the Saeed-founded and banned organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was watered down last week in its final iteration. The US Congress decided against including action against terror group LeT as a condition to reimburse Pakistan for its cooperation in the war on terror . In September the version of the bill passed by the US Senate said Pakistan must show it has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e- Taiba from using any Pakistan territory as a haven and for fundraising and recruiting efforts . Now Pakistan must only show it has acted against the Afghanistan-oriented Haqqani Network (no relation the Haqqani cited in this article) and not the India-focussed LeT. JAMMU: Pakistani troops today fired at Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir s Rajouri district prompting the Army to retaliate. Pakistani troops breached the truce by firing in the Sunderbani police station area police spokesperson said. The Indian Army retaliated effectively. No loss of life was reported in the exchange of fire. Pakistani troops had yesterday opened fire in the Jhangar forward area in the district. The ceasefire violation had come after a lull of over a week in firing by Pakistani forces at Indian posts. Pakistan had violated the ceasefire for three consecutive days from November 15 to 17 in Jammu and Poonch districts. An Army jawan was injured in the exchange of fire in Poonch.