In a recent article in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jasarat, Pakistani writer Abdul Tawab Shaikh wrote that Afghanistan and Pakistan should not waste their energy on the Afghan-Pakistan border, but use their resources instead to fight Israel in Gaza.
The article, titled "The Pakistan-Afghanistan Row – The Loss Of Bilateral Energy," follows a March 16-17, 2024, terrorist attack by Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur on a Pakistani military checkpoint in the Mir Ali area of the mountainous Waziristan region that killed two Pakistani army officers and five soldiers. In retaliation, Pakistan's Air Force conducted airstrikes in Khost and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan, thereby causing further deterioration in the security situation on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
In his article, Abdul Tawab Shaikh took a pro-Pakistan position, but concluded that the two countries should not get into a conflict; instead, both countries, and terror commanders like Hafiz Gul Bahadur should fight Israel in Gaza.
Following are excerpts from the Roznama Jasarat article:[1]
"The [Military] Rulers Of Pakistan... Putting Into Practice The Quranic Principle That Life Requires Qisas [Retaliatory Punishment], Attacked The Camps Of These Terrorists In Afghanistan And Destroyed The Shelters Of These So-Called Brothers [Afghan Taliban]"
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"The sacred month of Ramadan has the distinction of being the time during which the Quran was revealed. The first ten days of this month are called a period of blessing. In this period, the terrorists of Afghanistan, which is called an Islamic country, and which calls Pakistan an Islamic brother country, smashed an explosive-laden vehicle at a Pakistan military checkpoint in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, carrying out a suicide attack [on March 16-17, 2024].
"As a result of this, Lt.-Col. Kashif Ali, Captain Muhammad Badr, and five other soldiers were martyred. This was a big operation whose responsibility was claimed by commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who lives in Afghanistan along with his allies. At the funeral prayer of these martyrs, Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir, President Asif Zardari, the foreign minister, the interior minister, senior military officials, and civil servants, and the relatives of the martyrs, all took part. President Asif Ali Zardari said that the blood of our sons would not go to waste and a jaw-dropping response would be given.
"During Ramadan, when the devils are imprisoned, these creatures are misled into making sport with the blood of Muslims, proving that for these conflict-instigators there is no respect for shari'a except when they use it for their purpose. Forgetting the rights of neighbors, and the value and distinction of the blood of Muslims, these attackers and their protectors destroy the dignity of the month of Ramadan.
"This was an extraordinary action [by the terrorists]. Then the [military] rulers of Pakistan, putting into practice the Quranic principle that life requires qisas [retaliatory punishment], attacked the camps of these terrorists in Afghanistan and destroyed the shelters of these so-called brothers [Afghan Taliban]... and killed several terrorists. The Afghan [Taliban] government claimed that women and children were killed. Afghanistan is a neighbor and also a Muslim country. The responsbility of aggression from its borders also lies on the Taliban rulers who are in power and claim to uphold Islam."
"Instead Of Wasting Mutual Energy In Fighting Each Other, Pakistan And Afghanistan Should Spend It Against Israeli Aggression In Gaza"
"For several years, ever since the Russian aggression until the American invasion, Pakistan played, and has been playing, its past Muslim role involuntarily. Before the elections [of February 8, 2024], Pakistan sent a high-level delegation led by [Islamic religious scholar] Maulana Fazlur Rehman to Afghanistan that met with the rulers and religious leaders, and there was a silent agreement. Thus, the elections of February 8 in Pakistan remained safe from any major threat.
"Due to this high level of respect, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam [the party of Maulana Fazlur Rehman] presumed that it would receive a special right to share in the power and the religious cleric [Maulana Fazlur Rehman] would definitely get to become the country's president. However, the election results showed that he was defeated in his ancestral seat, telling him who wields power [i.e., the army chief]. The cleric's party got only four seats in the National Assembly... After discussions with the party, Maulana Fazlur Rehman issued a statement that from now on, the fight will be in the fields, not in the parliament...
"Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who was once dear to the Pakistani establishment, and was used in the hour of need, established his force of five or six people in the name of jihad. During the administration of military ruler Pervez Musharraf, the jihad of Kashmir was paused, and so he [Hafiz Gul Bahadur] went to Afghanistan. After the jihad against America ended, what could these fighters do ...? They demanded 10 billion rupees from the rulers of Pakistan for their expenses, but no bargaining or deal could be reached; then the enemy country, India, hired them at a higher price, so that Afghanistan and Pakistan could be made to fight, as per the formula, to get the snake killed by the hands of the enemy so that even if someone dies, Hindutva [Hindu nationalism] gets the benefit.
"Afghan rulers, Praise be to Allah, are graduates of madrassas. No one need tell them the price of Muslim blood and the rights of the neighbor. Why does Hafiz Gul Bahadur not fulfil this longing for jihad by aiding the Hamas mujahideen in Gaza, who at this time have an extreme need for fighters? Instead of wasting mutual energy in fighting each other, Pakistan and Afghanistan should spend it against Israeli aggression in Gaza.
"This is the call of the hour: If you do not heed, then you will be obliterated! May Allah guide, we can only pray. The order of shari'a is: Do not fight among yourselves, your roab [ability to frighten]... will be uprooted. Due to... [the defeat] of Russia and America in Afghanistan, the Muslim roab that has been established on unbelief can be destroyed."
[1] Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), March 22, 2024.
