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After Being Abandoned By The US And India, Ashraf Ghani Requests The World Community To Save Him From The Insurgent Group

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The insurgent group took control of 20 provinces out of 34 in eight days. Now the government of Afghanistan has come with a statement after a long time of insurgent groups expanding control over major provinces of Afghanistan.

The President of Kabul Ashraf Ghani has said that with the international allies, they are working on remobilizing the national security forces of Afghanistan. He assured the people that they will not compromise on national security and he told in the address which was held on Saturday that more than 3000 troops from the United States have arrived for the security of Hamid Karzai international airport.

It is to be noted that the government was completely silent when the insurgent group was taking control of provinces like Herat and Kandahar.

Assistant professor of law at the American University in Afghanistan, Haroun Rahimi, said that President Ghani is no longer able to keep his promises because nothing is in his control. While talking to Al- Jazeera, Rahimi said that government has nothing in its hands.

From The Farms of Punjab to the Roads of Delhi

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As eight months of farmers protests that caught India’s capital New Delhi in a frenzy have passed. Farmer unions across multiple states have called again for the protests. Images of tractors marching in Delhi through the state’s border became a source of headlines all over the globe. Prominent international news outlets covered the story of the massive farmer demonstrations taking place in India.

The recent wave of protests has also caught the Indian states of Haryana and Rajasthan. Farmer unions stated that thousands were also on their way to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur and Sisauli areas. Under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), farmers will stage demonstrations across the country and hand over memorandums demanding a repeal of the farm laws to the state governors

What led to the protests:

The intriguing question remains as to why thousands of farmers have left their agricultural lands to come and protest in the country’s capital. The main issue has been the adamancy of the central government to repeal the three agricultural laws : The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. ) The BJP government , introduced three agricultural laws in September last year . The legality of the acts has been questioned since both agriculture and markets come under State or provincial jurisdiction.

The farmers categorically rejected these laws . Negotiations between the government and farmer unions have failed to result in any substantial development. From perspective of farmers, the new bills affect them direly. Farmers will be forced to sell the crop to corporate companies at one-and-a-half price. Farmers hold the view that provisions of the new law are only for the benefit of the corporate elites and not for the benefit of the farmers.

Things escalated in January when thousands of protesters entered Delhi and clashed with the law enforcement. Skirmishes took place at the Delhi Haryana border. Nearly a million farmers arrived from across the country and drove their tractors on the roads of Delhi .They have been sitting on the roads since their arrival, surrounding Delhi from all four sides, and occupying the major highways. An evident stalemate between the BJP government and farmer unions persists till date.

Protests during COVID:

While the protests made rounds in the global news, it gradually got overshadowed by another lethal crisis: India’s third COVID wave. The manner in which it hit India was unprecedented, as the country faced shortage of oxygen and crucial lifesaving supplies. India crossed the mark of 400,000 deaths from the pandemic and nearly 30.5 million cases have been reported. in total. Not only that, India also had to face new and lethal variants of Covid which included the Delta variant and Black Fungus.

The protests, although affected, remained undeterred as farmers resorted to prolonged stays in makeshift camps at the protest sites. One of the protesters while speaking to Media said that the farm laws were more dangerous to them than the Covid pandemic. While protestors have also attributed the drop in protestor number due to wheat harvesting season.

More than 400 protesting farmers have died, mostly at the protest sites around Delhi, unable to bear the hardships of the weather and living conditions .Casualties have also been attributed to police action against protests.

Politicizing the protests:

The BJP government over the course of the months of protests has tried to use repressive as well as distraction measures to quell the protests. The famous Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg also tweeted in favor of the farmers. Indian news channels reported police filing a FIR against Thunberg. Indian External affairs ministry called her remarks as sensationalist.

Another notable instance is painting the protests as a conspiracy of China or Pakistan . Recently, Indian security officials claimed that Pakistani based groups might try to sabotage farmer’s protests.

Even at the starting stages of the protests last year, a Union Minister Raosaheb Danve alleged that China and Pakistan have a hand behind these protests. Indian media even depicted these protests as a Pakistani conspiracy for Khalistan movement. It is notable that Sikhs form a greater part of the protesters.

Indian diaspora in foreign countries also demonstrated against the farmer laws. On another note, Indian consulate in Canada wrote to Canadian government regarding content taught in schools about the protest. The Indian consulate’s letter called teaching of such content as disinformation’.

Conclusion:

A continuous stalemate in world’s largest democracy serves as a rejoinder for those who might downplay the role of emerging populism in the Asian giant. Politicization of domestic issues by painting them as an instrument of conspiracy serves to bifurcate different groups. For a country like India, that has a diverse communal outlook, such steps can serve to alienate different religious and ethnic groups. BJP government has taken certain steps in the last few years which have been considered discriminatory in nature, especially the Citizenship Amendment Bill and now the farmer’s protest.
Lastly, an adamancy by BJP government tends to diminish the democratic culture of dialogue between protesters and administration. Persistence of farmers despite heavy rains, Covid-19, and security measures show that these protesters will not be going any sooner.

Author: Hammad Waleed

Hammad Waleed is a scholar of International Relations based in Islamabad. His interests include Discourse analysis, Foreign policy analysis, South Asian affairs, Pak-Afghan ties, Military and Strategic affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]

Afghan Taliban Spokesperson Warns India Not To Interfere In Afghan Affairs

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Afghan Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen in an interview with ARY news said that the Kabul regime is a puppet government imposed by foreign powers. The US along with NATO forces took away the right from the Afghan people of choosing their leaders, added the spokesperson.

Shaheen said, “let me reiterate, no power can bring development to the war-torn Afghanistan without the will of Afghan people”. We had a hard time, we put our mutual differences aside when foreign forces launched offensive against us, he said. He further claimed that the Afghan people were well aware of the reality now and they were welcoming Taliban while the latter are expanding their hold.

While talking about the offensive launched by the Kabul regime, Suhail Shaheen said that the Indian government is providing weapons to the Kabul regime which is resulting in civilian casualties.

He warned India not to interfere in Afghanistan affairs and said that “We won’t allow anyone to destroy the peace of Afghanistan”.

U.S Requests Afghan Taliban To Spare Its Embassy In Coming Fight for Kabul

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American mediators are attempting to separate confirmations from the Taliban that they won’t assault the U.S embassy in Kabul if the insurgent group takes control over the capital, three American officials said.

The embassy additionally encouraged Americans who were not working for the U.S government to quickly leave Afghanistan on business flights. The Taliban’s walk has placed international safe havens in Kabul on high alarm for a flood of viciousness in coming months, or even weeks, and constrained departments and other conciliatory missions in the nations to shut down.

Five current and previous authorities depicted the mood inside the embassy as progressively tense and stressed, and ambassadors at the State Department’s central command in Washington noticed a feeling of gloom at the phantom of shutting it, almost 20 years after U.S Marines recovered the wore out working in December 2001.

Mr Khalilzad is willing to persuade the insurgent group pioneers that the international haven should stay open, and secure if the gathering desires to get an American monetary guide and other help as a component of a future Afghan government.

As of late as last month, senior authorities at the government office in Kabul voiced certainty that faculty there could be emptied rapidly if fundamental, taking note of an adequate number of business flights leaving from the capital’s global air terminal consistently could oblige the compound’s staff.

India Posts A Job On Freelancing Sites To Tweet Against Pakistan Using The Hashtag Sanction Pakistan

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In recent days, Indian and Afghan social accounts have been extensively used to calumniate Pakistan by criticizing it for aiding the Taliban. Given that, the tweeter trend Sanction Pakistan has been going viral, gaining the support of people from across the globe. However, a job was posted on a freelancing platform, asking people to “Join the Afghan people on Twitter by standing against Pakistan.”

According to the details, a handsome amount of money was being paid for the job, making the fact questionable that whether the allegations against Pakistan held any truth or were they part of Afghan-Indian propaganda.

Earlier, an Afghan representative at UNSC briefing had declared that Pakistan was providing haven to the Taliban. Moreover, Pakistan’s jihadis were contended for joining Taliban movements and attacking Afghanistan with them. However, Pakistan’s National Advisor Moeed Yousuf denied these claims and said in a press briefing, “We are beginning to see a very conscious deliberate effort by the Afghan government to scapegoat Pakistan.”

The trend Sanction Pakistan all over the global social media shows the public perception of holding Pakistan responsible for the recent terrorist activities in Afghanistan. However, the job posted on the freelancing platform makes the previous statement doubtful, raising questions related to personal conflicts and defaming propaganda between the countries.

Kabul Offers Power-Sharing Deal To Afghan Taliban In Return Of Their Safety

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After losing 9 provinces to the Afghan Taliban and removing the chief of the Afghan National Army and Defence Minister, the Kabul regime has offered the Afghan Taliban a power-sharing deal to end violence. Pakistan had also suggested the Kabul regime and Afghan Taliban to go for a political solution and prevent violence instead of military action.

A member of the Kabul regime’s negotiating team told APF news on Thursday that the Kabul delegation in Qatar submitted a proposal to Afghan Taliban leadership to share power in return for a ceasefire. The Kabul regime proposed power-sharing deal after the insurgent group captured the city of Ghazni that is 150 kilometers away from Kabul.

Kabul’s interior Minister confirmed the fall of the strategic city Ghazni and said every road connecting Kabul to the rest of the Afghan cities and provinces are under Afghan Taliban’s control. After being surrounded by the Afghan Taliban, the Kabul regime ordered its negotiation team in Qatar to negotiate a power-sharing deal before the Afghan Taliban captures Kabul.

Investigation Proves RAW and NDS Involvement in Dasu Terrorist Attack That Killed 9 Chinese Nationals, Says Pakistan Foreign Office

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Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a press conference on Thursday said that Afghan spy agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) has joined hands with the Indian Premier intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to destabilise Pakistan. He said that Afghan soil was used for this attack and the vehicle was smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Dasu Dam attack was carried out on 14 July that killed 13 people including 9 Chinese and 4 Pakistanis and dozens were wounded when a bus carrying Chinese and Pakistani workers was hit by explosion plunged into a deep ravine.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi lauded the efforts of law enforcement agencies for revealing the hands behind this terror attack. Foreign Minister also said that over 136 CCTV cameras and 1400 kilometre area was under investigation.

Over 7000 Young Afghan Girls Sold To India For Prostitution Under Ashraf Ghani Govt

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Some Indian media reports from 2017 showed that Afghan national girls had been caught in a brothel house in India where they had been forced into prostitution. Indian Police had busted a prostitution ring operating in New Delhi where 22 Afghan national women had been arrested in raid at a guest house.

Moreover, sources revealed that more than 7000 such Afghan national girls were sold to India into prostitution under the Ashraf Ghani Government

Reportedly, this mass selling out of Afghan refugee underage girls into prostitution was carried out with the connivance of Afghan and Indian officials.

A 2019 investigation report by BBC about a former female government employee in Afghanistan also shows the culture and support of Afghan officials regarding this matter. She was sexually harassed by a government minister. She also told that two other female employees were raped by the same minister.

Another story in that report was that a woman had applied for a job and she got called to meet a close aide of Ashraf Ghani in a private office and was asked for a sexual compromise with him for her approval job.

The aggrieved women also told that they were afraid of filing a report against such criminals because where ever they would go, the same situation would have prevailed for them.

A former advisor to the president turned political rival, General Habibullah also once accused senior officials and politicians of “promoting prostitution”.

US Wants Pakistan To Clean Up Their Mess While They Support India Against Pakistan

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Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday spoke to international journalists at his residence. Imran Khan said the US wants Pakistan to clear their leftover mess in Afghanistan after 20 years of continuous offense.

The US wants Pakistan to bring the insurgent group to the negotiation table with the Kabul regime. The insurgent group made it clear that there wouldn’t be any negotiation as long as Ashraf Ghani remains the president of Afghanistan.

Pakistan will only show efforts for a political settlement, long-lasting peace in Afghanistan. We can only finish the mess left by US forces by looking for a political solution instead of finding a military solution to facilitate any stakeholder.

Imran Khan also added that the US is looking towards India as a strategic partner, this is why they are treating Pakistan differently. While the US is teaming up with India, they want Pakistan to clear their mess instead of asking their strategic partner for this favor.

Afghan Army Chief Sacked After Losing 9 Provincial Capitals To Afghan Taliban In 5 Days

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The Afghan Taliban continue to expand their control of Afghan areas, and the Afghan National Army, under the command of Afghan Army Chief General Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai and Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, despite their overwhelming numerical and material superiority, has proved to be sitting ducks so far.

The Kabul regime has lost nine provincial capitals to Afghan Taliban in the last five days. The. Afghan National Army lost Sar-e-Pol, Sheberghan, Aybak, Kunduz, Taluqan, Pul-e-Khumri, Farah, Zaranj and Faizabad.

As per sources, the entire Afghan Defence Forces Command is undergoing a reshuffle. General Wali Muhammad has been sacked and a young and relatively inexperienced Haibatullah Alizai has been appointed as the new Army Chief in his place. The Kabul regime seems to be running out of time and territory.