Daily Times

Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid has received a threat from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for rejecting Imran Khan’s stance over the NATO supply routes, which evoked the response from the minister that Imran Khan would be held responsible if anything happened to him. He has been accused by the TTP of following the Awami National Party’s (ANP’s) line rather than the strategy the PML-N has adopted towards the terrorist group. That approach had saved the PML-N from the TTP’s wrath during the 2013 general elections that saw ANP literally thrown out of the election by the terrorists. The advice to the minister is quite suggestive. Has some hint been dropped about complicity between the TTP and the PML-N, or is it just rhetoric to further inflame the charged political atmosphere of the country? Ever since the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a drone attack on November 1, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, (PTI) has been accusing the US of undermining the government’s efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the TTP. The government too has criticised the US for the (in their view) ill-timed attack. The drone attack on Hangu the other day however aggravated the situation and Imran along with his allies went on a rampage to block the NATO supply routes. Pervaiz Rashid has reprimanded Imran on his one track policy of stoking anti-US sentiments in the country to gain political mileage. The minister considers Imran’s adventurism on the US damaging to the country’s future.

NATO is not only the US. It comprises 49 other countries, fighting against terrorism in Afghanistan. Staging protests against NATO would mean confronting all these nations. Similarly, NATO’s presence in Afghanistan has been mandated under chapter seven of the UN Charter. Every country is bound to follow this resolution and those failing to do so could face the UN’s wrath. Therefore, according to Pervaiz Rashid, blocking NATO supplies is not a wise step, especially when the country is struggling to come out of its crises. Our track record with NATO blockades has not been promising either. Pakistan had twice stopped NATO supplies in the past, once for a week in 2009, when two Pakistani soldiers were killed by US helicopters in Kurram Agency, and another for six months in 2011 when 26 soldiers were killed by the NATO forces in Salala. Both these occasions failed to effect any change in the US policies. As far as drones are concerned, it is the CIA’s operation and has nothing to do with the NATO countries. The PTI’s attempt through protests or sit-ins against NATO supplies is nothing but political playing to the gallery. *