... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
is busy highlighting the plight of the Kashmiri people at the international level, key government ally
Maulana Fazlur RehmanDeobandi holy man, known as
Mullah Dieselduring the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
surprised the National Assembly on Thursday when he said that the government was meting out similar treatment to its own people, living in the tribal areas.
On the second day of discussion on the findings and recommendations of the Committee on Fata Reforms, the chief of his own faction of the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...the political wing of the Pak Taliban...
(JUI-F) said: "I don’t see any difference between the people of India-Indian Kashmiree and our tribal areas as far as the curbing of their rights is concerned."
For some reason, he said, the suffering of the people of Fata was not being highlighted as compared to the media coverage of the Kashmire issue.
He did not stop there. Criticising the ongoing military operation in Fata, he said it seemed as if the action actually targeted peaceful rustics rather than the Taliban, since the latter continued to rule the roost with a monthly income of Rs1.5 billion, which they extorted from government agencies and other coercive measures.
Mr Rehman claimed that every second shopkeeper in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
was receiving threatening messages from bully boys, warning of dire consequences if they failed to pay ’protection money’.
In the holy man’s words, the kind of disgrace and humiliation that had been meted out to the people of Fata as a result of the ongoing military operation was unrivalled in recent history.
"First, they were dislocated in the name of the country’s greater national security; now their identities are being questioned and they are being forced to cross the Durand Line," said the JUI-F leader who has the distinction of being part of the last three successive governments, under Gen
Pervez PervMusharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
, Asif Ali Zardari and now Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Adopting an acerbic tone against the government of which he has been an integral part from day one, Fazlur Rehman drew parallels between the Line of Control (LoC) and the Durand Line, saying: "The two lines are undefined international borders; just as we have claims across the LoC, those living on the other side of the Durand Line have their own views. This is why the Fata region needs careful handling."