Tuesday, 17 August 2021 | PTI | Islamabad/Beijing
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday seemed to endorse the heavily armed Taliban taking over Kabul by saying that Afghanistan has broken the “shackles of slavery” in the neighbouring war-torn country.
The longstanding war in Afghanistan reached a watershed moment on Sunday when the Taliban insurgents closed in on Kabul before entering the city and took over the presidential palace, forcing embattled President Ashraf Ghani to join fellow citizens and foreigners to flee the country.
Khan made these remarks while addressing a ceremony to launch the first phase of the Single National Curriculum (SNC) from Grade 1 to 5, which was part of the manifesto of his ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Meanwhile, China expressed hope that the Taliban will stand by its commitment of establishing an “open and inclusive” Islamic government in Afghanistan and will ensure a peaceful transition of power without violence and terrorism.
Commenting for the first time on the sudden and rapid takeover of the Afghanistan Government by the Taliban insurgents, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying in a media briefing here expressed hope that the Taliban will abide by its commitment to ensure a peaceful transition of power, taking full responsibility for the safety of Afghan citizens and foreign diplomatic missions.
Pakistan Prime Minister, however, spoke on how the parallel education system led to the existence of “English medium” schools, resulting in the adoption of “someone else’s culture” in Pakistan.
“When you adopt someone’s culture you believe it to be superior and you end up becoming a slave to it,” he said, adding it creates a system of mental salves that is worse than the actual slavery.
In the same breath, he indirectly likened the ongoing upheaval in Afghanistan with the people of the country breaking the “shackles of slavery”.
Pakistan is accused of facilitating the Taliban rebellion which ultimately resulted in the capturing of the country after being ousted about 20 years ago.
Khan said becoming a mental slave was worse than being an actual slave, adding that subjugated minds can never make big decisions.
He said the SNC will lead the Pakistan youth towards “one direction and rid them of the invasion of foreign cultures”.
Officially Pakistan has maintained that it wanted a broad-based inclusive government in Afghanistan and was also hosting the Afghan leaders to create consensus for a peaceful transformation.
Meanwhile, Khan launched the SNC despite criticism because it put emphasis on religious teaching instead of modern national sciences. All provinces agreed to introduce it except the Sindh province.
He said Pakistan is the “only country in the world” that is using three types of syllabuses in private schools, public schools and religious seminaries.
He said he knew that bringing a uniform curriculum will be a difficult task as the “elite system will not allow this change”. Khan, however, said that the process that has been started by his Government was “irreversible”.
While most of the embassies in Kabul including that of the US, India and EU countries rushed to evacuate its diplomatic staff, Hua said the Chinese Embassy is up and running with its ambassador and some staff.
However, most of the Chinese nationals have already been evacuated from Afghanistan, she said.
“The situation in Afghanistan has experienced major changes. We respect Afghanistan’s people’s will and choice,” Hua said. “We noticed the statement from Afghan Taliban yesterday (Sunday) saying that the war is over and they will start consultation on establishment of an open and inclusive Islamic Government and take the responsibility of safety of Afghan citizens and foreign diplomatic corps,” the spokesperson said.
“We hope this will be implemented to ensure a peaceful transition, stop violence and terrorism, and make sure people are free from war and build their new home,” Hua said.
Replying to a question on when will China recognise the Taliban Government and whether any condition is attached to it, Hua said on the basis of fully respecting Afghanistan’s national sovereignty and the will of all parties, Beijing has been maintaining contact and communication with Afghan Taliban and playing a constructive role in promoting a political settlement.
Recalling last month’s China visit of the Taliban delegation led by its Political Commission Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Hua said, “We hope the Afghan Taliban will be united with other parties and with all nations and build a political framework in keeping with national conditions that is broadly inclusive and will lay the foundation for enduring peace.”
She also emphasised Taliban’s assurance to Wang that it will not permit anti-China forces, that is, the Uygur Islamic militants of East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which is fighting for the separation of China’s volatile Xinjiang province.
