US aid to Pak
Paul, a senator from Kentucky, had posted: “I’m introducing a bill to end aid to Pakistan in the coming days. My bill will take the money that would have gone to Pakistan and put it in an infrastructure fund to build roads and bridges here at home.”
Paul’s legislation would target all aid to Pakistan, going beyond the Trump administration’s announcement on Thursday that it was suspending — not ending, as proposed by Paul — nearly all security-related assistance to Pakistan, which includes foreign military financing, financial assistance to buy American military hardware, and the Coalition Support Fund that reimburses expenses for supporting Us-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The total US aid for Pakistan since 2002 was $33 billion.
The latest push suggests heightened pressure on Pakistan and the US’S gradual alignment with India’s position that its neighbour is a terror haven.
Paul’s plan doesn’t discriminate between civilian and military aid for Pakistan. That is Trump’s intent as well, as he indicated in a fiery New Year’s Day tweet: “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
Paul seems to have picked up from there. “The US should not give one penny to countries who burn our flag and chant ‘Death to America’,” Paul said in a brief video posted online before the administration went public with its suspension decision. “They only understand negotiation from strength and so what I am proposing, and what I will insist upon in the next few days, is a vote on ending aid to Pakistan,” he added. “Countries like Pakistan that stonewall access to key information in fighting terrorism don’t deserve our money.”
Paul is a long-time critic of Pakistan. In February 2016, he introduced a joint resolution in the Senate opposing an Obama administration proposal to sell eight F-16 jets to Pakistan at costs subsidised by US taxpayers. “The US and Pakistan relationship has been a troubled one,” he had said. “Though the government of Pakistan has been considered America’s ally in the fight on terrorism, Pakistan’s behaviour would suggest otherwise. While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban.” Sushil Kumar Modi.
The Congress said the ruling will not affect the alliance with Prasad’s RJD. “The special court’s judgement to convict and sentence Lalu Prasad will not have impact on forces fighting for secularism and social justice. Congress-rjd alliance will continue in Bihar,” Bihar Pradesh Congress committee’s acting president Kaukab Qadri said.
Prasad was sentenced for offences of cheating, along with criminal conspiracy, and other sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was also given a jail term of 3.5 years in the case under the anti-corruption law. The sentences will run concurrently. This is the second fodder scam case in which Prasad has been convicted. He was convicted in September 2013 in a case of swindling ~37.70 crore from Chaibasa treasury and was given a sentence of five years. The ruling led to his disqualification from Parliament and a ban on contesting elections. He was given bail by the Supreme Court in December 2013.
Prasad is named in three more cases — illegal withdrawal of Rs 33.61 crore from Chaibasa treasury, Rs 3.97 crore from the Dumka treasury and Rs 184 crore from the Doranda treasury — in the fodder scam.
On Thursday, judge Singh said he had received several phone calls from “well-wishers” of the RJD chief. Prasad had also moved a petition on Friday for a lenient sentence, citing his health and jail conditions.
On Saturday, judge Singh gave the maximum punishment of seven years in jail to seven convicts, including former Janata Dal (United) parliamentarian Jagdish Sharma.
When one of the convicts, bureaucrat Subir Kumar Bhattacharya, requested for a leniency citing his ailing wife, the judge suggested he could be shifted to an open jail.
“You people have a vast experience of cattle rearing. You would enjoy open jail with your wife where you can feed the cattle with fodder. The government has invested huge money to construct these open jails, take benefit of this,” he said. Bhattacharya withdrew his request after the judge’s response.