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Pakistan’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman operates as each a person of God and a political determine in a panorama marked by intricate politics and a long time of spiritual battle, the place each elements maintain important sway. And now he’s been tasked with a pivotal diplomatic mission.
Rehman is anticipated to steer the Afghan Taliban to help Pakistan in eradicating the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, also referred to as the Pakistani Taliban). Islamabad accused the Taliban management in Afghanistan of offering secure haven to the TTP, which has stepped up its assaults in Pakistan. Rehman will face important challenges, because the Afghan Taliban have persistently denied offering any support to the TTP. Within the meantime, Rahman’s personal place on the Taliban and the TTP stays controversial.
On Sunday, Kabul underwent heightened safety measures, resulting in non permanent closures of key roads, notably the first street connecting Kabul Worldwide Airport to Afghanistan’s Ministry of International Affairs and Presidential Palace. This closure coincided with the go to by Rehman, well-known for his pro-Taliban views.
This go to marks Rehman’s first journey to Kabul because the Taliban took management in August 2021. He was accompanied by a delegation comprising Pakistani politicians and spiritual students.
For many years, Fazlur Rehman has stood as a distinguished determine in each Pakistani non secular circles and politics. Main the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) get together, a substantial power in Pakistan’s political panorama, Rahman has left a considerable mark. His enduring presence in Pakistani politics spans a number of tenures as a member of the Nationwide Meeting.
The information of his arrival in Kabul on Sunday, nevertheless, stirred a wave of anger and uproar on Afghan social media. His well-known picture, characterised by an orange and white turban together with a thick, white beard, was broadly shared, triggering substantial backlash and indignation throughout varied Afghan social media platforms.
Over the previous twenty years, Rehman has lent his assist to the Taliban’s holy struggle towards the pro-U.S. Afghan authorities and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Quite a few non secular colleges or madrassas in Pakistan served as havens for future Taliban members, accumulating funds and garnering assist from varied non secular teams throughout Pakistan. Rehman has remained a steadfast advocate for the Afghan Taliban of their resistance towards the Afghan Republic and the U.S.-led coalition forces. Rahman embraces the idea that the Taliban’s wrestle revolves round upholding Islamic values and implementing Shariah, or Islamic regulation.
Nonetheless, Rehman doesn’t lengthen his assist to the TTP, a gaggle claiming to battle for the implementation of Shariah inside Pakistan. Many Afghan observers on social media, in addition to officers from the previous republic, have criticized the discrepancy.
Obaidullah Baheer, a former professor on the American College of Afghanistan, fumed on X, beforehand Twitter: “Everybody misplaced however those who revenue from the destruction of Afghanistan. Jihad for us and politics for them has all the time been the motto of Mawlana Fazal Rehman and co.” Baheer was referring to the notion that Rehman helps jihad in Afghanistan – which resulted within the lack of 1000’s of lives and the nation’s devastation – whereas denouncing violence and advocating for political wrestle in Pakistan.
Baheer’s assertion on X, was accompanied by a photograph of Rehman in a gathering with Taliban authorities in Kabul, the place the room was adorned with the white Taliban flag.
Amid the fervor amongst Afghans, notably the youthful Taliban technology, echoing anti-Pakistan sentiments and embracing Afghan nationalism, choose Taliban figures have issued reassuring phrases. Their sentiments echo the decision for Afghans to embrace their age-old traditions of hospitality and beauty towards visitors, searching for to appease the currents of discontent that surge via the nation.
There’s a strand of optimism woven amongst some Taliban authorities in Kabul, suggesting that the go to of this distinguished Pakistani determine – a political luminary and spiritual chief with ties to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan because the Eighties – may pave the trail for higher bilateral relations.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply the success of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s mission is assured.
The connection between the Taliban and the TTP is advanced. Whereas there may need been historic connections or overlapping ideologies, the Taliban management prior to now has indicated various stances relating to direct assist for the group.
The Taliban have beforehand expressed an curiosity in mediating peace talks between the Pakistani authorities and TTP leaders. Moreover, they’ve reiterated their dedication to making sure that Afghan soil gained’t be used as a launching pad for assaults towards neighboring nations. This twin strategy highlights their efforts to each facilitate peace discussions between factions in Pakistan and preserve assurances relating to Afghanistan’s non-aggression in direction of its neighbors.
However Pakistan has expressed severe safety issues and pointed fingers towards Afghanistan.
The federal government of Pakistan considers the TTP a militant extremist group working primarily within the tribal areas of Pakistan alongside the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Shaped in 2007, it goals to implement its strict interpretation of Shariah and opposes the Pakistani authorities, contemplating it corrupt and un-Islamic.
The group has been accountable for quite a few assaults, together with suicide bombings, concentrating on civilians, authorities officers, safety forces, and spiritual minorities. The Pakistani army has performed varied operations to counter the TTP’s affect and actions within the area.
In November final 12 months, Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar shared statistics highlighting a 60 p.c rise in terrorist incidents and a 500 p.c surge in suicide bombings because the Afghan Taliban assumed management in August 2021.
Regardless of the Afghan Taliban’s rejection of those claims, Pakistani officers stay skeptical and have referred to as for definitive actions towards the TTP. Particularly, they demand the closure of TTP sanctuaries and the extradition of its leaders.
The federal government of Pakistan was among the many first nations to formally acknowledge the Taliban regime in Afghanistan when it took management of Kabul in 1996. Pakistan prolonged formal recognition to the Taliban-led authorities shortly after it gained energy.
This time, nevertheless, it has not solely shunned recognizing the Taliban authorities, however authorities in Islamabad have additionally persistently asserted that Afghan soil is being utilized by teams just like the TTP to orchestrate operations towards Pakistan.
In a press release to the media at his residence on January 6, Rehman mentioned that discussions relating to the TTP have been solely a part of the agenda for his go to. He confirmed his need to leverage his connections for optimistic beneficial properties in bilateral relations.
In his assembly with the Taliban authorities’s prime minister, Hasan Akhund, Rehman first congratulated the Taliban on their “nice victory towards overseas occupation.” He then mentioned that the aim of his journey was to “take away misunderstandings” between Afghanistan and Pakistan and discover methods to maneuver ahead on political, commerce, and improvement cooperation.
Rehman additionally deliberate to journey to Kandahar to satisfy Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme chief, who hardly ever engages with overseas delegates.
Rehman has longstanding historic connections and affect inside sure non secular circles and political teams in Pakistan. He was a distinguished determine within the Afghan Mujahideen motion in the course of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan within the Eighties. Rehman, together with different non secular leaders, performed a task in supporting Afghan fighters towards the Soviet forces.
It’s difficult to anticipate a response from the elusive Taliban supreme chief, who stays largely unknown to the Afghan public. Nonetheless, it’s evident that the Taliban are striving to display that Afghanistan gained’t harbor overseas militants, together with the TTP, and are dedicated to honoring the agreements made with america earlier than assuming energy, pledging that Afghanistan is not going to pose a menace to different nations.
Concurrently, Pakistan is grappling with extreme political and financial strains. An ongoing protest by 1000’s of Baloch women and men accuses the Pakistani authorities of extrajudicial killings and abductions.
In the meantime, ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan have additionally been demanding their rights. Pakistan’s safety forces lately arrested some of the distinguished youth leaders of the motion, Manzoor Pashteen.
Amid this turmoil, Pakistan is gearing up for an election, its uncertainty reflective of the unpredictable nature of regional politics.
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