Political recovery is already visible in Afghanistan

[Klaralven]

The explosion of life is unstoppable. The first buds were sprouting no sooner than Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul on Sunday, without telling anyone, carrying a massive loot of ill-gotten wealth stolen from his people.

And the green shoots of political recovery are appearing. Tense and urgent care is needed. The region is rallying. Pakistan has taken the lead.

On Sunday afternoon, a galaxy of senior Afghan politicians, largely drawn from the erstwhile Northern Alliance of the late 1990s, arrived in Islamabad to cogitate with the Pakistani leadership regarding the mainstreaming of the Taliban.

The delegation included three top figures from the Panjshir Valley, veteran Hazara leaders, members of the Jamiat-e Islami party and, interestingly, Khalid Noor, the eldest son of the Tajik leader from Mazar-i-Sharif, Atta Muhammad Noor.

Without doubt, it is a spectacular development that Pakistan is hosting the top leaders of the erstwhile Northern Alliance, which spearheaded the anti-Taliban resistance in the 1990s.

...

Pakistan urged the Afghan delegation to seek a broad-based and comprehensive political settlement and to commence a comprehensive political dialogue as an immediate step aimed at creating a peaceful, united, democratic, stable country.

Pakistan’s National Security Council, the country’s apex civilian-military policy-making body chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, reiterated on Monday that an inclusive political settlement was the only way forward, representing all Afghan ethnic groups.

https://asiatimes.com/2021/08/political-recovery-is-already-visible-in-afghanistan/

[denbot]

1. They sponsored and supported the Taliban, and hid and protected Bin Laden.

Yeah, their aims are legit..

[left-of-center2012]

2. When did Pakistan become a shiny light of democracy?

They have a long history of military coups, assassinating their leaders, imprisoning their opponents, and degrading women.

[Klaralven]

3. Pakistan has held regular general elections for the last four decades

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Pakistan

[Demsrule86]

6. Right...they are a terrible country and were aiding the Taliban while they plotted against us

during the 9-11 years. There will be no spring. My guess is soon the soccer fields will ring with the sound of women yet again being stoned to death.

[multigraincracker]

8. Exactly and it wasn't Afghanistan that

attacked us on 9/11 it was Saudi Arabia....zero outrage against them. This freaking simple explanation is a lot of BS if one looks much deeper.

Thanks Klaralven

[left-of-center2012]

13. 'Goolging' Pakistan finds ...

Military coups in Pakistan began in 1958
There have been numerous successful attempts since 1951. Since its creation in 1947,
Pakistan has spent decades under military rule (1958 – 1971, 1977 – 1988, 1999 – 2008).

Human rights in Pakistan and LGBT rights in Pakistan
Male homosexuality is illegal in Pakistan and punishable with up to life in prison.
In its 2018 Press Freedom Index,
Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan number 139 out of 180 countries based on freedom of the press.
Television stations and newspapers are routinely shut down for publishing any reports critical of the government or the military.

Women's and Children's Rights.
Violence against women and girls—including rape, so-called honor killings, acid attacks, domestic violence, and forced marriage—remains a serious problem.
Pakistani activists estimate that there are about 1,000 “honor” killings every year.

And so much more

[Klaralven]

14. In a democracy, the laws will reflect the predominant opinion of the electorate

Any polls on support for LGBT rights in Pakistan?

[left-of-center2012]

15. Found this ...

Public opinion
Public opinion regarding LGBT politics is complex. The Pew Research Center stated that of 39 countries studied,
Pakistan was one of the least accepting of homosexuality with 87% of those surveyed saying "Homosexuality should not be accepted by society".

According to a poll carried out by ILGA, a plurality of 45% of Pakistanis agreed that gay, lesbian and bisexual people should enjoy the same rights as straight people, while 36% disagreed (with rest being undecided).

Additionally, 41% agreed that they should be protected from workplace discrimination.
46% of Pakistanis, however, said that people who are in same-sex relationships should be charged as criminals, while 31% disagreed.

As for transgender people, 49% agreed that they should have the same rights, 51% believed they should be protected from employment discrimination and 44% believed they should be allowed to change their legal gender.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Pakistan#Public_opinion

[Klaralven]

16. I'd believe the Pew poll

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association poll might not be objective.

https://ilga.org/about-us

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. That's the inherent flaw of pure or radical democracy.

The rights of the individual should not be subject to a plebiscite. As long as a person's actions don't have a material and deleterious effect on another he or she should be able to do as they choose.


In short, it's not okay to persecute LGBTQ people because society thinks it's okay.

[Renew Deal]

4. I don't think anyone asked Afghanistan's (former?) Vice President, who moved to Panjshir Valley

And claims to be the legitimate president. By the way, that guy has close ties to India.

[HUAJIAO]

5. Is this from The Onion?

[blm]

18. From Russia. As usual.

[honest.abe]

7. Not sure about this.

I think it more like this is what happens when a group with no ability to govern takes over a country by force. Clearly something or someone must fill that void. The Taliban cannot govern Afghanistan the same way they took it over.

Calling it "green shoots of political recovery" is a stretch.

[fescuerescue]

10. Standard propaganda

Can't have all sad stuff on the newspaper.

[multigraincracker]

11. Were the ones leaving now a popular elected government or

another unpopular regime installed by Western powers, remember VN and it's leaders that most of the South didn't like or the Shah of Iran that we(big oil) installed. We need to look much deeper for the truth, not what we are being fed.

[fescuerescue]

9. I bet that article was written weeks or months ago.

Gotta have something positive in the news.

[hatrack]

12. And the pear trees put forth oranges, as singing, happy peasants strode into the future!!

[dalton99a]

21. +1

[lark]

17. Wonder if they are doing the opposite, bringing the possible resistance together for planning.

Afghanistan hasn't had it's own real government in many decades and there's really hardly even a country by that name. This seems more about keeping the regionality from before intact so the country has many divisions and ruling factions. I may be wrong, but this doesn't look good for the afghanis.

[IronLionZion]

19. We can always trust the country that sheltered Osama Bin Laden

[Joinfortmill]

20. Not sure what this really means