A news item that there are 35000 mosques in China, over a dozen Islamic centers and 55000 Imams are employed in the mosques gives the lie to the propaganda unleashed by Washington and its lackeys that there isn’t religious freedom in China.
Nobody will disagree with Ishaq Dar that Pakistan wants strong ties with the US. What ,however، is essential is that we should never follow a policy of blind allegiance to Uncle Sam and never ever allow our friendship with the US to affect our deep-rooted friendship with Beijing as no other super power has proved our friend in times of our need as China has.
POSTSCRIPT.
The news that government has decided to launch a crackdown in August against Afghans living in this country illegally and that in future only those Afghanis will be allowed entry into Pakistan who will have passports will be taken with a pinch of salt by people of this country as such decisions were so many times made by our government in the past but they were never implemented in letter and spirit.
The decision of the government to allow pilgrims going to Iran and Iraq only by air was a sensible decision as road journey to these countries has been made unsafe by the lunatic fringe and some religious extremists. The road and rail journey from Pakistan to Iran is not only long and arduous it is pockmarked with the presence of religious zealots belonging to some sectarian groups. It is a nightmare for the pilgrims of a sect to go for pilgrimage to Iran in buses or train and return in one piece so it was sensible on the part of the government to decide that henceforth pilgrims would not be allowed to go to Iran through roads and train and they instead will go by air.
ZA Bhutto was a farsighted person. He had realised how much necessary it is for Iran Pakistan and Afghanistan to sink their differences and form a confederation as it would be not only beneficial for the law and order of this region, it would open new vistas of economic development of these three countries. He had brought the then Afghan leader Sardar Daud almost round to his point of view when Daud was toppled by his enemies.
The use of fisticuffs on the floor of Panjab Assembly once again the other day after the dust of a similar incident a couple of days had hardly settled once again proved if any proof is required that Ayub Khan wasn’t far wrong when he had once observed that parliamentary democracy doesn’t suit the genius of the people of this country.
