Pak PM courting radicals to hide govt’s failure: Report

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Pakistan under Imran Khan’s rule has slid into radicalization even as it struggles with a looming economic crisis and poor human rights record.

Imran Khan has frittered away his goodwill by mollycoddling extremist groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), and the Afghan Taliban, according to international think tank based in Canada – International Forum for Rights and Security.

The former head of Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority, Khawaja Khalid Farooq, recently wrote in an incisive article in News International that mob brutality, like the lynching of a Sri Lankan national in Punjab December last year, showed the extent of radicalization influencing Pak society.

Known for long as `Mr Taliban Khan’, the Prime Minister supported the rise of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan and hailed their military victory as an Islamic victory once they came to power. The victory cry was short-lived though, as he realized he had, like his predecessors, encouraged an extremist group, which would only further radicalization in his country and the region, according to International Forum for Rights and Security.

Further, one of the pitfalls of his Afghan victory was the deal he had to strike with TTP, a terrorist group brought up by the Pakistan army some years ago to play a devious game with the Taliban and the US.

However, the group turned staunchly against the army and the state and found shelter with the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to International Forum for Rights and Security.

A second notable deal he had with extremism was the way he allowed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan TLP to run berserk on the streets of Pakistan.

Further, TLP is on a surge after the release of its leader Saad Hussin Rizvi last November and revoking of its ban by the Imran Khan government.

Further, extremist groups have always been an integral part of Pakistani society since Independence and their continued contribution to the thought process of the masses has greatly influenced the transformation of the nation, according to International Forum for Rights and Security. (Times of India/ANI)