20 96

Terrorism ravaging Pakistan

Violence in Pakistan will be ended by an Afghan settlement thin that g else. Further, this the fast deteriorating school of though internal situation t s of ays the country is opening space for the discontented to The second school of thought says that the disrupt the national political scenario. added

Dr teHmiNa aslam raNjHa bomb blasts are a spinoff of the internal situation spite is offered by high inflation which is fast of Pakistan. The bomb blasts can be seen in iso- severing the relationship between the public and lation from the assassination of the religious the sitting government. scholar in Karachi.That is, the blast in Peshawar On balance, the second school of thought

PaKiSTan is passing through trying can be seen in combination with a bomb blast in favouring separatists perpetuating violence times. On October 10, a renowned re- Quetta, which was claimed by the BLa. Taken seems to be outweighing its competitor. The ligious scholar and an administrator of together, the separatist ethnic elements have got Tehrike Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is fiercely opJamia Farooqia, Maulana adil Khan, active in Sindh, posed to the act of the and his driver were gunned down in Balochistan and Khyber government to fence the Shah Faisal area, of Karachi. The assailants, Pakhtunkhwa in an ef- the durand Line. it is who had come on motorcycles, were unidenti- fort to capitalize on the known that fencing is fied. On October 25, a bomb went off in the given situation of polit- The Tehrike Taliban Pakistan bound to restrict and Hazar four b Ganji ystand area ers. of Quetta, it was a ty takiing pical ve the hicl lives e-bor of ne ical unc country. ertainty in the (TTP) is fiercely opposed to regula across te the bo mob rder, ilit an y d improvised explosive device mounted on torcycle, and detonated through a time ance. Reportedly, the Balochistan Libe a moappliration tho the This ught b current school elieves wave of of that viothe fen a c c e t t o h f e th D e u governme rand Line. nt It to is this majo both factor offers a r hindrance to the public in genarmy, a militant ethnic organization working for an independent Balochistan, claimed the responlence ravaging is against th P e akistan backknown that fencing is bound era of l t an he d T the TP. members Common sibility for the attack. On October 27, a bomb ground of a conglomer- to restrict and regulate people might be ready blast dents devoured instantly the and lives of seve injured more n inn than o a cent stuhundred ation of national 11 regional and political parties mobility across the border, to af cross the P ghan border akistanthrough students gathered at a religious seminary (the Speen Jamaat mosque) in the dir Colony area, Peshawar. Early in te morning, someone left a sitting on the opposition benches havin initiated a countrywide chain of and this hindran fa ce c t tor o b offers a ma oth the pub j l or ic designated visa-dependent entry check points. nevertheless, bag time of explosiv appliance. e T which he seri had es of been viole fit nt ted inci wit den a ts rallies banner under called a t s e ha P red akin general and the members theTTPtakes the as a method mea fence nt for has caused the alarm to be raised in Pakistan. istan democratic of the TTP. Common people circumventing their in Regarding the violence, there probable reason for the uptick have emerged two schools of Movemen activities t (P of dM the ). P The dM might be ready to cross the free the movements border fro acr m oss the thought.Oneschoolofthought ofviolenceisaspillovereffect especially from its south-east saysthattheseries fromafghanistan, region bordering are gradually raising political temperat across the country. the ure P th akista rough n-Afghan designat border ed visapoints of their choice. Perhaps, the separatists in all the three Pakistan. in between the afghanistan, a conflict forces loyal to the Kabul is going on regime and cre The ating PdM two has been effects. dependent entry check pro the vinces PdM as is sume some t h h o at w the afghan Taliban. The Kabul regime is also in First, the PdM has be- points. Nevertheless, the TTP forwarding and supnegotiations w Qatar, to settle ith the afghan the modalities Taliban at doha, of power sharing come successful catching the attention in of takes the fence as a method porting their cause and is sympathetic to them. after the uled, by of talks US forces leave afghanistan, as schedMay 2021. Since 12 September, rounds have been taking place but to no avail. policy makers spendin and who g mor decision are now e time in mean free t for mov circumventing ements across thei the r ing see in p ms short, the ongoolitical turmoil to have overTheafghan Taliban are adamant about re-establishing the islamic Emirate of afghanistan, and neutralizing narrative th the an l PdM’s ooking border from the points of takenthesecurityofthe country, making it vulthussubstitutingthecurrentschemeofanislamic after the internal secu- their choice. Perhaps, the nerable to internal seRepublic ofafghanistan. One of the bling blocks is the way the afghan major stumTaliban plan rity ond of , the country. the PdM Secis separatists in all the three curity Further, disturban instead of ces. suitointerpretislamicjurisprudence,astherearesectariangroupsinhabitingafghanistanwaryofany partisan explanation. These groups cherish their becoming successful in eroding the credibility of both the sitting govprovin PDM is ces assume somehow fo t r hat war the ding cide bombing the timedevice based bombs have been used to disownversionsofislamicjurisprudence. the rights of women have been a moot Similarly, point.The er fe n n me ce nt and inst the ituti deons. and supporting their cause rupt and peace in Peshawar. Qu Gi etta ven afghan Taliban have not yet explained the way despite all kinds of and is sympathetic to them the trend, it seems that they would interpret islamic laws on the rights of blackouts on the main more violence is in the women to seek education and work in the fields. electronic media, offing, if the political ThedelegationoftheafghanTalibanhasinsisted speeches of all leaders turmoil is not settled. on general principles of islamic law and not of the PdM are heard specifically the law ’s application in this modern on the social media. apparently, the PdM is an Dr Tehmina Aslam Ranjha is an Assistant age. although there is a truce between the US expression of tr discontent wrecking society.The Professor at t School of Integrated Social Sciforces and theafghan Taliban, no such truce ex- disgruntled ethnic elements in three of the coun- ences at the University of Lahore and Research ists between the Kabul regime and the afghan try ’s four provinces– Sindh, Balochistan and Fellow ate UoL Centre for Security, Strategy Taliban, who spare no chance to engage in com- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa– are up in arms to cash in and Policy Research. Currently, she is SDPI’ s bat with each other. it is assumed that theafghan on the given struggle between the opposition and grantee for a mega project on Countering VioTaliban are getting frustrated at the talks and the the government benches. The way the defence lent Extremism. She tweets at Ta _ Ranjha. attendant stalemate and have resorted to disrupt institutions have been impugned, these institu- disclaimer: The views expressed in the thepeaceinPakistan,whichpushedthemintothe tions seem to be more focused on salvaging their paper are the author’s own. it is not the policy talks. integrity in the eyes of the people than of any- of the institution.

Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

PTI’s governance and crippling economy

THE rampant inflation and plunging GdP have engulfed us this year.as per iMF data Mapper, October 2020, GdP growth was -0.4 percent and the inflation was recorded as 10.7 percent. Such worsening conditioning has come up due to an unprecedented hurdle according to the government. Which is said to be: Corona. State Bank, during corona, overprinted the currency to meet the cash flow as it wasn’t being deposited by people owing to Corona. However, in the present day, the policy of overprinting has pushed the inflation up. it has descended the value of Rupees and dollar has peaked in comparison to it. in the present day, 1 US dollar equals 162 Rupees approximately. incumbent government seems incapable to cope up with the faced issues. Economic indicators are towards gloom and doom in Pakistan. Opposition, taking the advantage of which, has stepped out on the roads against the government. Since the very first day people, in Pakistan, are facing such ups and down in the economy. Will a time appear that it will stand stable on its feet? Jahangir JamEEl TurbaT

Increasing infection

aCCORdinG to statistics, for some weeks, Pakistan is reporting 14 to 16 deaths due to Covid-19 everyday.The most reasonable explanation behind the rising number of cases are the people who are seen violating the SOPs. although everyone is in the know how deadly the virus is, but the Pakistanis are yet to follow the SOPs.if it remains the same, then the government would surely be closing the businesses and industries across the country, including educational institutions.While the country went for a lockdown in the first wave of the virus, students were involved in different injurious activities.They were ruining their lives, and we do not want that to happen once again.Lastly, i would like to request the people to please follow the SOPs to save yourself from novel coronavirus. hammal m nahEEm bugh

Biden v Trump

FOR the most integral times of the US presidential election, where donald Trump has twiced become known to be selected, and there’s a huge change in votes between Trump and Joe Biden. in the coming hours or days, donald Trump falsely claimed victory and made unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud. However, Biden held a small advantage with votes still left to be tallied, and those states would deliver Biden 270 votes needed in the state-by-state to win the White House. although, Trump still has a path to victory as being a most successful president in america. according to the latest news, Biden takes the lead in Georgia as race for the White House. Surprisingly, Biden jumped ahead of Trump by 917 votes. accepting the fact that , no democratic presidential nominee has won the state since Bill Clinton in 1992. at that time, Clinton narrowly defeated former president George H.W. Bush in that state in part because he and Bush were in a three-way race that included Ross Perot, an independent candidate for the presidency. The election is continued and Biden put himself on the doorstep of the critical threshold of 270 votes needed to become president. The president’s allies launched legal challenges and floated conspiracy theories and Trump tries to keep his hopes alive. But there’s obviously less chances for Trump to make him sure about what he makes such a change in votes counts. barkaTullah TurbaT

Face mask mandatory

KaRaCHi Commissioner iftikhar Shalwani on Friday issued a citywide directive, making the wearing of face masks compulsory for all citizens. The decision was taken in view of the rising incidence of coronavirus cases in the port city, according to a press release issued by the commissioner’s spokesperson. Shalwani, who also holds the charge of Karachi administrator, directed deputy commissioners to ensure that all citizens wore masks and to impose penalties of up to Rs500 in case of violation of the order. The commissioner further directed the dCs to ensure that SOPs to combat the virus were being implemented in markets and shopping malls in their respective areas, adding that shopkeepers must ensure that their staff and customers don’t enter the premises without wearing a mask. He added that penal action would be taken against the shopkeepers and market administration in whose premises SOPs were being flouted. To a question about whether commuters will also have to wear masks while riding vehicles, the commissioner replied in the affirmative. mEhmood khan karachi

Babar number 1 again?

PaKiSTan captain Babarazam will be looking to regain the top place in the iCC Twenty20 player rankings, in the upcoming three-match series against Zimbabwe to be held in Rawalpindi from Saturday. Babar, who scored 221 runs including a fine 125 in the final match of their iCC World Cup Super League Odi series against Zimbabwe on Tuesday, has been a familiar name at the top of the Twenty20 batting table and was currently the only one in the top five of all three formats, said a press release issued here. The Pakistan skipper, who has been number one for a total of 774 days in four different stretches since January 2018 and was at the top till September this year, was only eight rating points adrift of dawid Malan (877 rating points), who leapfrogged him during England’s 2-1 home series win overaustralia. Similarly, Pakistan all-rounder imad Wasim would be looking to move back towards the top spot for bowlers from his current eighth position in the series. ahmad buTT lahorE