The new colonial system of “administrative units,” imported from India, is being used to undermine historical and cultural nations that have existed for thousands of years - Afzal Tahir

 

Mr. Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, holds authority over the Pakistan Rangers, Frontier Corps (FC), Anti-Narcotics Force, Customs, Immigration, and internal security more broadly. 

 

He has stated that “the system is not working,” yet failed to explain which system he means. As the minister responsible for home affairs, has he presented a concrete reform plan to Parliament identifying the specific shortcomings in his ministry and proposing changes to existing laws? If not, why does he hold this position of authority while failing to inform the government and Parliament? Does this reflect incompetence, negligence, or a failure to meet his constitutional obligations? 

 

 

Which government minister or head of government comes forward in the press to declare that the system is not working without first presenting any blueprint for reform? 

 

Is the “system” that is not working the campaign of violence and intimidation against the people of Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir? The Rangers, FC, and Islamabad police fall under his authority. These forces have used lethal force against people exercising their basic right to peaceful protest and sit-ins, reportedly killing around 100 innocent people, injuring hundreds, and abducting thousands who remain unaccounted for—actions that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity intended to terrorize the population. 

 

In Balochistan, if Pakistan allowed parties demanding a free Balochistan to participate fully in elections, it would become clear how much popular support they actually command. If such parties won substantial votes—comparable to the Scottish National Party in the UK—a referendum could then be held on remaining in the federation. The issue could be resolved without a single shot being fired or a single life lost, as has been the case with Scotland and with Quebec in Canada. I made this same point more than 26 years ago while debating Indians and Pakistanis on the CNN message boards. The right to self-determination belongs to the people; it is a fundamental pillar of democracy and a core argument against colonial rule. 

 

What about Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? Are we really expected to believe that Pakistan wishes to operate under the rule of law and does not use terrorism as a political tool against its own people or for external political gains? This is the basic contradiction: Pakistan does not consistently operate in accordance with its own laws and constitution. If that assessment is wrong, what was the rationale for a UN member state entering into dialogue with the United States to facilitate the Taliban— a group with no public mandate—into power? By that logic, a terror group could claim the right to rule Pakistan without any vote from the Pakistani people. 

 

After observing Pakistan’s actions in Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir, I have concluded that the slogans of terrorism involving the TTP and ISIS are largely created by Pakistani intelligence agencies to justify the repression—and what amounts to genocide—of the Baloch and Pashtun peoples. 

 

It is not the system of Pakistan that has collapsed. What has failed is an artificial, alien culture imposed in the name of religion—a racist religious-political ideology aimed at building a racially defined empire. This is driven by the ruling elite’s lust for expansionism and their continued denial of the inalienable right of peoples to self-determination. 

 

The British colonial empire in India was established by the mercenary army of the East India Company, which conquered historical nations stretching from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas and from Burma to Torkham. These nations possess their own histories spanning thousands of years.

 

It appears that the idea of the colonial terms of administrative units is plan to be imported from India and imposed to perpetuate a colonial system under the guise of Muslim communalism, even as India itself advanced a Hindu religious political ideology rooted in racial and communal exclusion. The modern state and citizenship system cannot deny the history of the nations. 

 

Intelligence agencies (“spooks”) exist in every society primarily for preventive purposes—to stop crimes before they occur. In Pakistan, however, these agencies openly and covertly dominate the state while wearing multiple official and unofficial hats. The fundamental flaw in the Pakistani system is that it operates not, for the people, by the people, and of the people, but for the intelligence agencies, of the intelligence agencies, and by the intelligence agencies. Such a system cannot endure; the charlatans who sustain it will only hasten Pakistan’s ultimate demise.

 

Violence is used as a political tool to terrorize those who demand their rights. Victims are denied basic justice. Dictatorship is preferred over the culture of the rule of law. Transparency is rejected. Instead of demonstrating that the rule of law begins at the top—so that public trust can be rebuilt that Pakistan is governed by its constitution rather than by the personal likes and dislikes of those in power—the opposite occurs. 

 

Claims that the system is broken are often little more than a slogan used to deceive the people of Pakistan and install new puppets so that elite looting and plunder can continue in this new colonial system.