Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Says “Give Taliban Time” on Human Rights Issues

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the best way to move towards peace and stability in Afghanistan is to dialogue with the Taliban and “incentivize” them on issues such as women’s rights and inclusive government.
Speaking to CNN from his private Bani Gala residence in Islamabad on Wednesday, Khan spoke of enduring what he perceives as a “terrible” relationship with the United States, which has been disastrous for Pakistan, and how he now seeks a more focused approach. pragmatic in dealing with the new leaders of Afghanistan.

It was the prime minister’s first interview with an international news organization since the Taliban took control of neighboring Afghanistan last month, following the complete withdrawal of US troops.

“The Taliban control all of Afghanistan and if they can now work towards an inclusive government, bring all factions together, Afghanistan could have peace after 40 years. But if it goes wrong, and that’s what we are really worried about, chaos could come. The biggest humanitarian crisis, a huge refugee problem, “Khan said.

Khan said the Taliban are seeking international help to avoid a crisis, which could serve to push the group in “the right direction towards legitimacy.” However, he warned that Afghanistan cannot be controlled by outside forces.

“No puppet government in Afghanistan has the support of the people,” he said. “So instead of sitting here and thinking that we can control them, we should encourage them. Because Afghanistan, this current government, clearly feels that without international help and support they will not be able to stop this crisis. So we should push them in the right direction.”

Even before the Taliban returned to power, protracted conflict, poverty, back-to-back droughts, economic decline and the coronavirus pandemic had worsened an already dire situation in which 18 million Afghans, nearly half of them, had the population needed help, according to United Nations agencies.

To critics who say the Taliban will destabilize the country, Khan reminded them of the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, which led to a “bloodbath.” Khan said he expected a similar bloodbath to ensue after the US forces left.

“Our intelligence agencies told us that the Taliban would not be able to take control of all of Afghanistan, and that if they tried to take Afghanistan militarily, it would lead to a protracted civil war, which is what we feared because we are the ones who would suffer the most,” Khan said. . Now, he said, the world should “give them time” to form a legitimate government and deliver on their promises.

Women in government

Since taking power, the militant group has tried to polish its image internationally, with promises to uphold human rights, especially as it relates to women and girls, and to allow journalists to continue their work.

However, women have been omitted from the hard-line interim government of the Taliban, ordered to stay at home in some areas, and their education restricted. Protests against the Taliban regime and in favor of civil rights have been violently repressed, and journalists have been arrested and severely beaten.

“It is a mistake to think that someone from outside is going to give Afghan women rights. Afghan women are strong. You have to give them time. They will get their rights,” Khan said.

“Women must have the ability in a society to realize their potential in life,” Khan said. “In Pakistan, what we have done is give scholarships to poor families so that girls can go to school because we believe that if girls study, if they have education, they will get their own rights,” he said.

However, many members of the international community have no hope that the Taliban will make progress in defending women’s rights. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 but were forced to relinquish power after the US-led invasion, have historically treated women as second-class citizens, subjecting them to violence, forced marriages and an almost invisible presence in the country.

The group prohibited the women from working, prevented them from leaving the home unaccompanied and forced them to cover their entire bodies.

In recent days, the Taliban have ordered gender segregation in classrooms and have said that female students, teachers and employees must wear hijabs, in line with the group’s interpretation of sharia. A Taliban official announced that women would not be allowed to play cricket and other sports. And the Taliban militants have used whips and sticks against women protesters, who have taken to the streets in sporadic protests across the country to demand equal rights.

“Contrary to assurances that the Taliban would defend women’s rights, in the last three weeks women have been progressively excluded from the public sphere,” the UN human rights chief said in Geneva on Monday. Michele Bachelet.

Withdrawal from the United States

Khan previously criticized the US exit from Afghanistan and said he has not spoken with President Joe Biden since the Taliban took power, despite Pakistan being a major non-NATO ally.

“I imagine he is very busy, but our relationship with the US is not just about a phone call, it has to be a multi-dimensional relationship,” Khan said.

That’s something Khan doesn’t think Pakistan enjoyed during America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan. “We (Pakistan) were like a hit man,” Khan said. “We were supposed to make them (the US) win the war in Afghanistan, which we could never do.”

Khan said he repeatedly warned US officials that the United States would not be able to achieve its objectives militarily, and that it would “get stuck there.” He stated that the United States should have tried to reach a political agreement with the Taliban from a “position of strength”, at the time of its greatest presence in Afghanistan, and not when it was withdrawing.

Pakistan has deep ties to the Taliban and has been accused of supporting the group while fighting the US-backed government, allegations Islamabad denies. In 2018, Pakistani authorities released senior Taliban official Mullah Baradar from jail for the express purpose of negotiating with the United States. Last week he was appointed deputy prime minister in the all-male cabinet of the Taliban.

On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would reassess its ties with Pakistan after the withdrawal. Blinken told Congress during a House Foreign Affairs committee hearing that Pakistan has a “multiplicity of interests, some of which conflict with ours.” “He is involved in constantly hedging his bets on the future of Afghanistan, he is involved in harboring members of the Taliban … he is also involved in different points of cooperation with us in the fight against terrorism,” according to Reuters reports.

Khan called those comments “ignorant,” and told CNN he had “never heard so much ignorance.”

As a neighboring country with deep cultural ties, the fate of Pakistan is tied to that of Afghanistan. Violence, political turmoil and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan inevitably spread across the border. For Khan, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was disastrous for Pakistan.

According to Khan, thousands of Pakistanis lost their lives in terrorist attacks by militant groups due to their country’s support for the United States.

“Just because we sided with the United States, we became an ally of this country after 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan. The suffering this country went through, at a time when there were 50 militant groups attacking our government … also, they should know that there were 480 drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan, “he added.

“This is the only time a country has been attacked by its ally,” he said of the US attacks.

The US has repeatedly accused Pakistan of harboring and sheltering terrorists, a claim Khan denies.

“What are those shelters?” Khan asked. “The area of ​​Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan was the most heavily patrolled by US drones … surely they would have known if there was any shelter.”

By not taking on the United States, former Pakistani heads of state exposed themselves to allegations of collaboration, Khan said.

“The question is whether Pakistan was in a position to take military action against the Afghan Taliban when it was already being attacked from within, by the Pakistani Taliban who were attacking the state of Pakistan,” he said.

Khan said he cannot destroy his country to “fight someone else’s war.”

“The Afghan Taliban were not attacking us. If I had been in the government, I would have liked to tell the United States that we are not going to confront them militarily because we first have to serve the people. My responsibility would have been to the people of my country. “Khan said.

–Becky Anderson, Alireza Haji Hosseini and Zeena Saifi reported from Islamabad. Helen Regan wrote from Hong Kong. With additional reporting from Reuters.