Nawaz Sharif determined to overthrow the Imran government; Shahbaz Sharif to remain indifferent Haroon-ur-Rasheed says that he has learned through reliable sources that Nawaz Sharif and his lieutenants have resolved to overthrow the Imran government. They will implement this plan after three to four months. It is their belief that Maulana Fazlur Rahman will be their vanguard. They reckon that the Jamaat-i-Isami will also join forces with them. So will Mahmood Achakzai, ANP and Hasil Bizenjo. That’s why Mr Sharif talks of an MRD-style alliance. However, Shahbaz Sharif is indifferent. He has given his word that he would not become a part of any protest movement against Imran Khan. “There is no possibility of any political agitation’s success against Imran Khan,” declared the columnist. Haroon-ur Rasheed shifts his ground on the appointment of Ahmadi economist In his September 4 column, Haroon-ur Rasheed wrote that the Economic Advisory Committee said that the Ahmadi member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Committee should quit this committee himself. If he does not do so, the government should persuade him to do so. If that also does not work, he should be dismissed. It is being said that he is one of the world’s top 25 economists who are expected to shape the world’s thinking about the global economy in the future.This may be correct, but Pakistan’s problems are not too complicated to defy solution. We don’t need any Einstein-like geniuses. He disclosed this while speaking on a TV program on September 2, saying that no objection should be raised to the appointment of an Ahmadi economist. Quaid-i-Azam had appointed a well-known Ahmadi, Sir Zafarullah Khan, as the foreign minister. The public’s reaction made me realise that the masses are livid and angry. He wrote another column on September 6, imperiously telling Imran that he had no choice but to sack Atif Mian. Arif Alvi’s father was dentist to Jawahrlal Nehru Daily 92 News (September 6) reported that President-elect Dr Arif Alvi’s father, Dr Habibur Rehman Elahi Alvi, worked as a personal dentist to PM Jawaharlal Nehru before the partition. The family memorabilia contains Nehru’s letters as well. The newspaper took this information from the PTI’s website. Sajjad Mir wrote in the same paper that he has known Mr Alvi for a long time. He disclosed that Arif Alvi’s father launched a campaign against the sale of liquor in Karachi. Consequently, all liquor shops were closed. Arif Alvi fully supported this campaign. Whatever we gained on the battlefield was squandered in Tashkent Hafiz Muhammad Idrees, deputy chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami and the director of Idara Muaraf-i-Islami (Islamic Research Academy), wrote a column for Daily Nai Baat. He is an alumnus of Government College, Lahore, and Punjab University. In his September 6 column, he wrote that in their heart of hearts India’s rulers have never recognised Pakistan. India attacked Pakistan in 1965. “When India imposed the 1965 war on us, President Ayub addressed the nation. He declared jihad after reciting the Kalima.” He also disclosed that Ayub Khan, who on January 6, 1964, had banned the JI and had thrown its leaders in jail, sought Maulana Maududi’s cooperation. Consequently, the Maulana delivered three jihadi speeches on Radio Pakistan. Whatever we gained on the battlefield was squandered in Tashkent. One wonders whether the Jamaat-i-Islami of India agrees with all of this. PTI is part of a sinister international conspiracy While speaking at the Peshawar Press Club, Maulana Fazlur Rahman said that the Prime Minister and his ministers were fake, adding that PTI is part of a sinister international conspiracy (Nawa-i-Waqt, September 7). He warned that the government had been handed over to incompetent people and“it is imperative for us to save Pakistan”. He stressed that political parties have rejected elections results. The JUI-F Chief insisted that the Election Commission should admit its mistakes and those responsible should immediately resign. The Election Commission has rejected the Maulana’s demand, saying that demanding resignation without any evidence is deplorable. This tradition should be done away with. “Pakistan’s problems are not too complicated to defy solution. We don’t need any Einstein-like geniuses” Raja Zafar-ul-Haq blasted for not opposing Maulana Fazlur’s nomination In an open letter to Raja Zafar-ul-Haq (Daily 92 News, September 6), Muhammad Izharul Haq, a poet and former civil servant blasted the PML-N chairman for not opposing Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s nomination as the opposition’s presidential candidate. This nomination represented a betrayal of the Pakistan movement. “Why did you nominate Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani’s political heir, who along with his associates received acres of land from the traitor Pervez Musharraf? You have spent all your life in politics, but you could not understand that the Sharif brothers, Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Mahmood Achakzai have the same agenda. All of them want to abolish the border between India and Pakistan. Why did you remain silent when the Sharif brothers stabbed in the back of the Pakistan movement and Pakistan by nominating a person who has never uttered the words of Quaid-i-Azam and the Pakistan movement?” said the letter. We should stop interfering in the affairs of other countries Rehmat Khan Wardag wrote in Nawa-i-Waqt (September 8) that that we should stop interfering in the affairs of other countries. We started this in 1975, when the Bhutto government allowed Gulbadin Hikmatyar and Ahmed Shah Massoud to set up their headquarters in Peshawar, and launch a propaganda campaign against the Afghan government. Air Marshal Asghar Khan protested against this policy and advised the government to desist from meddling in other countries, but nobody listened to him. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, we fell for the US propaganda that the Soviet Union’s real target was to reach the warm waters and that the invasion was the first step towards occupying Pakistan. Subsequently, all the undesirable people who had been exiled by their governments were gathered near the Afghan border. They were given training, ammunition and dollars and a jihad was started. Asghar Khan used to say that five generations of Pakistanis would suffer the consequences of this jihad, and he was called a Russian agent. Time has proven him right. Shakil Chaudhary studied international relations in Islamabad and media in London. He has worked for several English-language newspapers. He has written a book, Handbook of Functional English, for the benefit of those who wish to improve their English skills. He can be reached at shakil.chaudhary@gmail.com Published in Daily Times, September 10th 2018.