Prime Minister Imran Khan says he was surprised to see that no mention was made of Pakistan’s sacrifices as a US ally in the war on terror for more than two decades. “Instead, we were blamed for America’s loss,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
“Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable. Given their history, Afghans would never accept a protracted foreign military presence, and no outsider, including Pakistan, could change this reality,” wrote PM Khan.
PM Imran Khan lashed out at successive Pakistani governments, saying that they had sought to please the US instead of pointing out the flaws of a military-driven approach in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan’s military dictator Pervez Musharraf agreed to every American demand for military support after 9/11. This cost Pakistan, and the United States, dearly,” he stressed.
“Those the United States asked Pakistan to target included groups trained jointly by the CIA and our intelligence agency, the ISI, to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Back then, these Afghans were hailed as freedom fighters performing a sacred duty. President Ronald Reagan even entertained the mujahideen at the White House.”
“Once the Soviets were defeated, the United States abandoned Afghanistan and sanctioned my country, leaving behind over 4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and bloody civil war in Afghanistan. From this security, vacuum emerged the Taliban, many born and educated in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan,” read the opinion piece.
“Fast forward to 9/11, when the United States needed us again — but this time against the very actors we had jointly supported to fight the foreign occupation. Musharraf offered Washington logistics and air bases, allowed a CIA footprint in Pakistan, and even turned a blind eye to American drones bombing Pakistanis on our soil. For the first time ever, our army swept into the semiautonomous tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which had earlier been used as the staging ground for the anti-Soviet jihad. The fiercely independent Pashtun tribes in these areas had deep ethnic ties with the Taliban and other Islamist militants,” wrote Khan.
The prime minister pointed out how, between 2005 and 2016, 16,000 terrorist attacks were conducted against Pakistan by over 50 militant groups, who saw the US and Pakistan as collaborators.
“We suffered more than 80,000 casualties and lost over $150 billion in the economy. The conflict drove 3.5 million of our citizens from their homes. The militants escaping from Pakistani counterterrorism efforts entered Afghanistan and were then supported and financed by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, launching even more attacks against us,” he wrote.
The premier lashed out at former president Asif Ali Zardari, referring to him as “undoubtedly the most corrupt man to have led my country”, accusing him of not worrying about the collateral damage caused by US drone strikes. He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was no different.
“Tragically, instead of facing this reality, the Afghan and Western governments created a convenient scapegoat by blaming Pakistan, wrongly accusing us of providing safe havens to the Taliban and allowing its free movement across our border. If it had been so, would the United States not have used some of the 450-plus drone strikes to target these supposed sanctuaries?”
“Surely Pakistan is not to blame for the fact that 300,000-plus well-trained and well-equipped Afghan security forces saw no reason to fight the lightly armed Taliban. The underlying problem was an Afghan government structure lacking legitimacy in the eyes of the average Afghan,” he wrote.
The prime minister said the “right thing” right now for the world to do would be to engage with the new Afghanistan government, adding that if assured of constant humanitarian aid, the Taliban will have a greater incentive to honour the global community’s demands.
“Providing such incentives will also give the outside world additional leverage to continue persuading the Taliban to honor its commitments,” he wrote.
“If we do this right, we could achieve what the Doha peace process aimed at all along: an Afghanistan that is no longer a threat to the world, where Afghans can finally dream of peace after four decades of conflict. The alternative — abandoning Afghanistan — has been tried before,” warned the prime minister.
The United States (US) disclosed a list of gifts received by officials from foreign states and dignitaries, which included names of not only the president but also the vice president, senior advisors, secretaries, senators, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents, army officials, judges, and other workers of government departments, reportedThe News.
A gift given to former President Donald Trump by Pakistan along with two gifts from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 are also shown in the information released by the US.
Donald Trump received the most gifts during 2019 out of all other officials of the US government. The former US president declared a total of 23 gifts that he received in 2019 worth $52,626. Trump, according to the list of recorded gifts, did not retain a single gift for himself and rather disposed of all of them to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Pakistan gifted Donald Trump a silk carpet that had a value of $3,000 in 2019. This was the only gift that America received from Pakistan in 2019. Whereas, two gifts from India were sent, which were delivered by Indian Prime Minister Modi himself on his visit to the US. One was a sculpture with a value of $970 given to Donald Trump and the other was a candle holder, which cost $650 and was given to Jared Kushner, senior advisor.
Ashraf Ghani gifted a handmade carpet to Trump and Lapis Bowl and Lapis Tray to Michael R Pompeo, which was valued at almost $10,000. Two carpets were gifted by the president of Uzbekistan, which cost over $20,000. The president of Egypt gave Donald Trump a frame of his image, which cost over $5,000. Likewise, the Ameer of Qatar gave Trump a statue made of emerald, onyx, gold and diamond worth thousands of dollars.
He asked about the priority of doctors, whether it was the sale of medicines or the health of their patients.
Vice-Chancellor of Health Services Academy Dr Shehzad Ali Khan said that the president shared a prescription on which a total of 21 medicines were written.
Drug Regulatory Authority Of Pakistan (DRAP) officials also believe that it has been observed how in a single prescription, an average of 25 to 30 medicines are prescribed. President Alvi has asked for a plan to control the unnecessary sale of medicines by October 21.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry recently revealed that Arab rulers who presented gifts to the Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan “did not want their names to be made public”.
While speaking on Geo News programme ‘Jirga’with senior journalist Saleem Safi on Sunday, Fawad stated, “Previously, the heads of the government were allowed to take gifts after paying 15 per cent of the actual price.”
“Vehicles were considered personal gifts, but former president Asif Ali Zardari changed the law for personal interest,” he added while criticising the past governments.
Talking about the local elections in the country, the minister admitted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s biggest failure was “not holding local body elections” in Pakistan. Moreover, he said that the local bodies, formed by former Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif, were not effective and could not be restored on a technical basis.
He added that PM insisted on having elections but members within the party, including Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar, didn’t agree to it.
He further said that a review petition against the restoration of the local bodies is being heard in the Supreme Court (SC).
Chaudhry said that the government has no personal rivalry with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) but the election body directly attacked the PM during the Senate polls.
Furthermore, he revealed a total of 0.6 million Election Voting Machines (EVM) will be required for the upcoming general elections of 2023.
Previously, the federal government denied giving out information about the exchange of gifts between the premier and other heads of state. They mentioned in a notice that the matter is reflective of inter-state relations and the disclosure of such information potentially damages the interest of Pakistan in the context of international relations.
Reacting to news that the government may give an extension to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted: “PPP will forcefully oppose the illegal extension in the tenure of chairman NAB.”
Illegal extension in Chairman NABs tenures would be forcefully opposed by PPP. Law specifies tenure my not be extended. Even attempting an extension, for most controversial chairman in history, would serve to prove our argument that NAB is an extension of IKs govt not impartial.
“Even attempting an extension, for most controversial chairman in history, would serve to prove our argument that NAB is an extension of [prime minister Imran Khan] IK’s govt not impartial.”
The non-extendable tenure of the NAB chairman has led to rumours as Prime Minister Imran Khan refuses to consult the Leader of the Opposition and the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Shehbaz Sharif.
PM Khan has refused to hold talks with Shehbaz Sharif as the latter is accused of corruption references filed against him by NAB.
Germany’s centre-leftSocial Democrats narrowly won Sunday’s national election, projected results showed, and claimed a “clear mandate” to lead a government for the first time since 2005 and to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel, reported BBC.
The SPD secured 25.7 per cent of the vote, while the ruling conservative CDU/CSU bloc gained 24.1 per cent. The Greens achieved the best result in their party’s history, coming in third with 14.8 per cent of the ballot.
A coalition must now be created to form a government.
Agreeing to a new coalition could take months, and will likely involve the smaller Greens and liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
“We are ahead in all the surveys now,” the Social Democrats’ chancellor candidate, Olaf Scholz, said in a round table discussion with other candidates after the vote.
Scholz’s conservative rival Armin Laschet signalled his bloc was not ready yet to concede, though his supporters were subdued.
“It is an encouraging message and a clear mandate to make sure that we get a good, pragmatic government for Germany,” he added after earlier addressing jubilant SPD supporters.
Scholz, 63, would become the fourth post-war SPD chancellor after Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt, and Gerhard Schroeder. Finance minister in Merkel’s cabinet, he is a former mayor of Hamburg.
Attention will now shift to informal discussions followed by more formal coalition negotiations which could take months, leaving Merkel in charge of a caretaker role.
Scholz and Laschet both said they would aim to strike a coalition deal before Christmas.
Merkel plans to step down after the election, making the vote an era-changing event to set the future course of Europe’s largest economy.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Muhammad Zubair’s leaked video, where he is allegedly seen in compromising acts with women, went viral on social media.
The former governor of Sindh has categorically denied the video and termed it to be a “new low in politics” along with claiming that the video is “fake and doctored”.
“Whoever is behind this has done an extremely poor and shameful act. I have served my country with honesty, integrity and commitment. Will continue to raise my voice for betterment of Pakistan,” Zubair wrote on Twitter.
The mobile footage, which allegedly shows the PML-N leader in bedrooms with women is blurred and the women cannot be identified. It has stirred a debate on social media on whether the video is real and if so, how the ‘footage’ has been leaked.
Claim: Imran Khan misquoted President Ronald Reagan’s statement at the UN General Assembly session
Fact: Imran Khan misquoted President Ronald Reagan’s statement at the UN General Assembly session
Prime Minister Imran Khan misquoted United States President Ronald Reagan’s statement, while delivering his address to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25, 2021,
PM Khan claimed that in the 1980s, former US President Ronald Reagan compared the Afghan mujahideen fighting against Soviet forces to the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Focal person to Chief Minister Punjab, Azhar Mashwani, took to Twitter and shared the video clip where the former president can be heard comparing Afghan Mujahideen as “moral equals of founding fathers of USA”.
If you watch the video attentively, you will find a minor glitch. The video is 0:48 seconds long.
At 0:37-0:45 seconds, Reagan says: “They are our brothers, these freedom fighters, who we owe them our help. You know the truth about them, you know who they are fighting and why.”
However, from 0:45 seconds to 0:48 seconds, there is a slight change in the sound of the president. The pitch of the sound is a bit higher as compared to the entire video. The words spoken by the president during these seconds are, “They are the moral equal of our founding fathers.”
Actual quote of the former US President, “In making mention of freedom fighters, all of us are privileged to have in our midst tonight one of the brave commanders who lead the Afghan freedom fighters—Abdul Haq. Abdul Haq, we are with you.”
And the non doctored, un-edited video where President Reagan describing Nicaraguam rebels (not Afghan freedom fighters) as moral equivalent of American founding fathers….
“They are our brothers, these freedom fighters, and we owe them our help. I’ve spoken recently of the freedom fighters of Nicaragua. You know the truth about them. You know who they’re fighting and why. They are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French Resistance,” said Reagan.
The anecdote that PM Khan shared about Ronald Reagan comparing the mujahideen to the Founding Fathers is a commonly made mistake and there is actually no truth to it. Reagan had actually compared Nicaraguan rebel fighters to the Founding Fathers, a comment which has since been wrongly connected to the mujahideen.
However, this is not the first time that the premier made this mistake. In 2019, PM Khan while speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank in New York on Monday, September 23, claimed that in the 1980’s former Ronald Reagan compared the Afghan Mujahideen fighting against Soviet forces to the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Journalist Gharidah Farooqi raised this issue initially. She took to Twitter and said, “What an international embarrassment that too at the #UNGA forum this time. US Pres RonaldRegan NEVER compared ‘mujahideen’ to Founding Fathers. It’s a FAKE NEWS. PM Khan refers to a fake “news item” to launch a case at such a prestigious forum! Who wrote speech for PM Khan? Fire him.”
What an international embarrassment that too at #UNGA forum this time. US Pres RonaldRegan NEVER compared ‘mujahideen’ to Founding Fathers. It’s a FAKE NEWS. PM Khan refers to a fake “news item” to launch 🇵🇰case at such a prestigious forum! Who wrote speech for PM Khan? Fire him. pic.twitter.com/UaSLOOkeea
On August 16, 2021, Prime Minister Imran Khan officially launched the Single National Curriculum (SNC). The newly launched curriculum was prepared by the National Curriculum Council (NCC) and the Ministry of Federal Education, in consultation with the provinces. According to PM Khan, “SNC would transform the nation into a unified one.”
What is SNC?
According to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, the SNC is a ‘uniform’ system of education, which means the same curriculum for everyone. All public schools, private schools, and madrassas were meant to have the same curriculum so that the learning outcomes are similar and without any discrimination in teaching standards. This is not the first time SNC was imposed in Pakistan. It was previously introduced in 2006 by Former President Musharraf. Whereas the previous SNC was a curriculum-based initiative, the one introduced by the PTI government is imposing the use of the textbooks produced by the provincial boards.
Is it being implemented across the country?
No. Sindh has decided not to implement the curriculum since education is a provincial issue. Only Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have enforced it so far. However, many schools in both provinces — including the prestigious Aitchison College, Lahore — expressed their concerns over the books in the curriculum. The Director of the National Curriculum Council (NCC), Dr Mariam Chughtai, has also said that madrassas will implement the SNC syllabus in five to six years, which undermines the reason why the government had wanted to introduce the SNC in Pakistan – to bring madrassas into the mainstream so students would be able to get jobs in other professions after they graduated.
Controversies surrounding the SNC
After the SNC syllabus was imposed on schools across Punjab, many controversies surrounding the books and the curriculum came forward. From the disparity in gender representation, the reinforcement of patriarchal gender roles, the lack of female heroes, and religious texts in the non-religious books.
To see if the criticism is valid, The Current analysed the following books published under the Punjab Textbook Board (PTB):
Urdu books from grades 1 to 5, English books from grades 1-5, Mathematics books grades 1, 2, 4, and 5, General Science grades 4-5, Waqfiyat Aama grade 1 and 3, Social Studies 4-5, and Islamiat grade 1- 5.
Two books were not available at the time of research. Grade 3 Math and Waqfiyat Aama grade 2, which have not been included in the study.
The analysis here has been divided into two parts.
Part one comprises the data analysis of all the books included in the SNC by the Punjab Text Book board.
Part two comprises the data analysis of individual subjects being taught to the students.
We studied the total number of male and female representations in the books, a comparison of the eastern and western wear of both genders, the presence of religious (Islam and others) content in non-religious books, and studying the distribution of power roles assigned to both men and women.
Here is the list of most common criticism against the curriculum and the evidence we found:
SUMMARY OF CONTENT IN ALL SNC BOOKS
1- Disparity in Gender Representation:
One of the most debatable points in the entire SNC is the representation of men and women.
After a thorough evaluation, we found that the concerns about the disparity in gender representation are TRUE.
The study reveals that a total of 60.2 percent of the books have images of men, including boys and only 39.4 percent of the books have images of women, including girls.
2-Women represented in hijab vs non-hijab, and women in western clothes:
What the women are wearing became a source of contention in the discussion about the SNC, with critics suggesting that the women should equally represent the country in terms of the hijab, eastern clothes, and the choice to wear western wear.
It is TRUE that there is no equal representation of women’s appearance in the books.
Women’s appearance was divided into three categories.
A) Number of women wearing eastern clothes with hijab.
B) Number of women wearing eastern clothes without hijab.
C) Number of women wearing western clothes.
Our research shows that 41.6% of all women and girls in the SNC books are wearing a hijab, 28.9% are wearing eastern clothes without a hijab, and 29.4% of the images show girls wearing western wear. It is important to note that in the western wear percentage, almost all of the images are of young girls. Older women are not shown wearing western wear.
3-Men represented in eastern vs western clothes:
Since the appearance of women in eastern wear and hijab became controversial, we also studied how many times men appeared in western or eastern wear.
A massive 79.9 percent of men were seen wearing western clothes, in comparison to 20 percent dressed in eastern clothes.
4- More men in ‘power roles’ compared to women:
Another controversy suggested that the books did not show women in positions of ‘power’, and they were mostly listed as helpers or homemakers. While there were many images that showed women in ‘inferior roles’ to men, there were women that were shown in roles of power.
This controversy is TRUE.
We defined power roles shown in the books as doctor, pilot, lawyer, police officer, traffic warden, army sports personality, etc and after analysing all the books, we found that a men are given power roles three times more than women. The results in the graphic below are based on the total number of images shown of men and women in all the SNC Punjab books.
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5. Religious content in non-religious books
In almost all the books which were studied, we saw the presence of religious references or mentions in non-religious books. Minorities felt their rights were being compromised since books that are not for religious studies should not have references to a specific religion, which may come under the context of ‘preaching’.
In our analysis, we saw a total of 7.77 percent of religious text in all SNC non-religious books, which lends TRUTH to the fact that there is religious content in non-religious books.
Religious content is present in 7.7 percent of English, Math, Social Studies, Urdu, Science, and General Knowledge books.
7.47 percent of books have references to Islam while 0.27 percent mention other religions in all non-religious books.
Dr Mariam Chughtai, while answering a question for The Current about the religious references in non-religious books, did not provide a clear answer but stated that these are model books that require changes.
SNC BOOKS ANALYSIS – SUBJECT ANALYSIS
This section of the report comprises an analysis of individual subjects being taught to students. The subjects under study were, Urdu books from grades 1-5, English books from grades 1-5, Mathematics books grades 1, 2,4, and 5, General Science grades 4- 5, Waqfiyat Aama (General Knowledge) grades 1-3, Muashrati Uloom (Social Studies) grades 4-5.
The graphical representation of the subject-wise evaluation is as follows:
English:
In 668 pages of English books, 58.1 percent have male representation while females have 41.8 percent.
29.7 percent of women are seen with Hijab and 70.2 percent are without Hijab.
There is a total of 9.8 percent presence of religious text in English books. This is based on the total number of pages in English books.
Mathematics:
In 672 pages of the Math books, when gender representation was analysed, 51.1 percent of the books have male representation and 48.8 percent have female representation.
A total of 53.9 percent of females are seen without hijab and 46 percent are seen wearing hijab.
The Math books have a 4.1 percent presence of religious text. This is based on the total number of pages in Math books.
Urdu:
The five Urdu books comprising 791 pages. A total of 59.7 percent presence of males are seen as compared to 40.4 percent of females.
58.5 percent of women/girls are seen wearing hijab and 41.4 percent are seen without hijab.
12.8 percent of religious text is present in Urdu books. This is based on the total number of pages in Urdu books.
General Science:
Out of 310 pages, 76.8 percent have male representation as compared to 23.1 percent female representation.
64 percent of women/girls are seen without hijab and 36 percent of women/girls are seen with hijab.
The General Science books have a 0.96 percent presence of religious content. This is based on the total number of pages in Science books.
Waqfiyat Aama (General Knowledge):
49.5 percent of male images are seen in comparison to 50.15 percent of females.
23.1 percent of females are seen with hijab and 76.8 percent without hijab.
There is a 4.7 percent presence of religious text in the books studied. This is based on the total number of pages in General Knowledge books.
Muasharti Uloom (Social Studies):
From 234 pages analysed, 65.1 percent of men/boys are represented in the books and 34.8 percent of females are shown.
36.8 percent of females are seen without hijab and 63.1 percent are seen with hijab.
10.2 percent of religious content is present in the books. This is based on the total number of pages in Social Studies books.
The last portion of the report highlights the pros and cons, which we have observed in almost all the books. We have provided both positive and negative outcomes deduced from the books after careful analysis.
The positive outcome deduced from the books:
1. The books are locally published and designed. The books are affordable, with a total set for one grade set at Rs. 800 per child according to Dr Chughtai.
2. There is a public service message printed at the end of each book to raise awareness against talking to strangers, crossing the road, exercising, and even information about fighting dengue.
The possible negative impact of the books
1. After analysing the books, we deduced that mostly nuclear families have been shown in the books. No representation of single parents or children being raised by guardians is seen. Moreover, the presence of both parents is seen as almost essential in all stories in the books.
2. Women are mostly shown doing domestic work, taking care of the family, and looking after their children. In stories as well, they seem to come second to their male counterparts.
3. As discussed in detail above, there is the presence of religious text in non-religious books.
4. The stylisation of the books are difficult to understand, fonts and texts are way too clustered. The quality of the pages is not refined, making them unattractive and confusing for students.
CONCLUSION:
According to NCC director, Dr Chughtai, the curriculum is an evolving process and the books can be changed in future publications, based on the response by schools and parents. The biggest hurdle to the books is that the teachers have not been trained in teaching these new books and according to Dr Chughtai, it is up to the school to teach and implement the books. There are no worksheets given with the books and from initial student reactions, students are confused and wary of books that are laid out in a clustered fashion. There is also the subject of a language change. Where students study general knowledge, a precursor to Science, in Urdu, they switch to difficult English in grades 4-5.
While the government should be commended in trying to create a national syllabus, the forced enforcement of the books along with the lack of supplemental information and training will make this very difficult for teachers and students. Moreover, parents should be given a choice as to what they want their children to study. This implementation should be a free choice rather than that of enforcement. What would have been a practical approach is that the government should have improved the structure of the government/public schools, provided better teacher training, spent more on financially improving the conditions rather than lowering the standard for all.
*Graphics credits: Asma Ahmad (Graphic Designer)
How did we collect the data?
The percentage of male characters in the books: Divided the total number of male by the total number of characters. The percentage of female characters in the books: Divided the total number of female by the total number of characters.
The percentage of Islam: Divided the Islamic pictures or references given in the books by the number of total pages of all books. The percentage of other religion: Divided the other religions pictures or reference given in the books by the number of total pages of all books.
The percentage of female power roles: Divided the number of female by the total number of characters (female and male). The percentage of male power roles: Divided the total number of male by the total number of characters (female and male).
The same process/calculation/method was applied to the findings of each book.
The Foreign Office (FO) summoned the Indian Charge d’ Affaires on Friday and conveyed the government’s concern over the recent target killing of Muslims in the Indian state of Assam.
In the incident, two people were reported dead. It took place in the Sipajhar area of Assam’s Darrang district, where most of the residents are Muslims, reports Dawn.
In the video, several cops can be seen beating a man with sticks even as he lay motionless on the ground. It went viral on Twitter after which Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi came under fire.
Earlier, Pakistan’s federal minister Fawad Chaudhry condemned the incident, and said, “Today, Prime Minister Imran Khan will once again draw the attention of the United Nations to the atrocities taking place in India. #ModiFascism.”
