A former Pakistani senator and spokesperson of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has called for changing the basis of country’s relations with India, PTI reported. 

“If China and India can have trade relations despite their conflicts, why can’t Pakistan?” asked former senator Farhatullah Babar. Relations between the two nations had been predicated on the resolution of the Kashmir issue, Babar said while addressing the fifth annual conference of South Asians Against Terrorism and for Human Rights (SAATH).

Also read: India slams Pakistan for raising Kashmir issue at CICA meet

Hitting out at Pakistan’s military that casts a huge influence on the country’s politics, Babur said, “In their hearts, Pakistan’s generals do not accept the country’s Constitution. That is why they have built a national narrative that is against democratic values and puts the army above all institutions.”

He said the “creeping coup” in Pakistan was the result of the powerful military trying to safeguard its economic interests which might not be protected in a federal and democratic system.

Addressing the virtual event from capital Islamabad, the former lawmaker said protests against the army that started in Pashtun tribal regions have now reached Punjab, the heartland of the Pakistan Army.

He said the young people are discovering that “the emperor has no clothes”, according to a statement issued by SAATH.

Babar lamented that Pakistan’s parliament was unable to hold the military accountable and was deprived of the most elementary information about the military’s spending and other matters.

“The hybrid regime is fighting a hybrid war against the people of Pakistan by curbs on media and freedom of expression,” he added.

In his remarks, Babbar expressed hope that the exiled members of SAATH, a grouping of prodemocracy Pakistanis co-founded by former Pakistan ambassador, Husain Haqqani and US-based columnist, Dr. Mohammad Taqi, could speak out about matters that can no longer be raised in Pakistan’s repressed media.

What did other leaders say?

Mohsin Dawar, a member of the National Assembly from Waziristan and a leading figure in Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), said that the regime was trying to bring the Taliban back to power and to break the bond between the Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand Line.

Dawar also expressed concern over Pakistan’s survivability, asserting that the people of Pakistan seem fed up with the army’s dominance and intrusion in all spheres of life.

“If the political leaders fail, the people will definitely stand up against the dictatorship,” he observed.

Former parliamentarian Bushra Gohar said that young Pakistanis, lawyers, and women have started challenging the status quo in Pakistan and the “repressive” regime cannot prevail forever.

Also read: ‘Pakistan a killing field for minorities’: India at United Nations

Gohar questioned “secret talks between Pakistan’s military leaders and US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad over the future of Afghanistan, which have serious implications for Pakistan’s Pashtuns.

She called for demilitarisation of the Pashtun region.

Resolutions passed by participants also condemned enforced disappearances and erosion of freedom of expression.

Most speakers also criticised Pakistan’s major political parties for compromising often with the military, instead of ensuring civilian supremacy under the Constitution.

Haqqani and Taqi welcomed the recent formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of opposition political parties, and expressed hope that “they would resist the Pakistani establishment’s totalitarian project and not just bargain for a share in power.”