‘TALIBAN TAKING ORDERS FROM PAK GHQ, ASSURANCES TO INDIA NOT CONVINCING’ In stern editorial, TMC makes its stand on Congress clear
forget the support that Isibacked terrorists, including Jaish-emohammed chief Masood Azhar, got from the Taliban leadership at Kandahar airport during the infamous hijacking of the Indian Airlines IC-814 aircraft in December 1999, a plan that was conceived by the ISI.
However, sources close to the Haqqani brothers (Sirajuddin and Anas who are going to play a key role if the Taliban take over Kabul) told The Sunday Guardian that they had “no enmity” with India, while stating that Taliban being anti-india was a fiction that was being spread by the Afghan government and media who were indirectly helping Pakistan. “India is historically a close friend and nothing can change. This is something that even the Taliban know irrespective of whether they form a government in Kabul or not,” a source close to the Haqqani brothers told The Sunday Guardian.
According to another source, there was a possibility in the coming days that the Taliban leadership might categorically say what India wanted to hear. As per him, the Taliban leadership has told their cadre not to destroy any infrastructure just because it has been built by India.
However, with the Taliban being more like a militia with multiple factions rather than a trained army, it is not yet clear how “obedient” the fighters will be on the ground. A formal recognition from India of any possible Taliban government in Kabul may go a long way in ensuring that Kabul continues to receive economic aid, which it desperately needs, and something that Pakistan cannot give, say some observers.
“Pakistan is more or less a pariah state and it has so many problems that whoever gets associated with it, gets sucked into their problems. Any government in Kabul cannot function efficiently if it shares close ties with Pakistan. That much of history is something that even the Taliban leadership should be aware of. In case it comes to power in Kabul in the future and if it continues to take orders from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, then Kabul will find itself in a worse situation than it is now,” a diplomat with a Western country told The Sunday Guardian.
but “got a zero”. The editorial goes on to add that “For the sake of the country we want an alliance”, but no one in that alliance should forget the fight that the TMC has fought and won, on its own.
The editorial then says that the TMC is not thinking about the leadership of the alliance, but about how to end the BJP’S anti-people policies. It adds that if the Congress had been able to provide an alternative, the BJP would not have won so many seats nationally and form government, so lessons need to be learnt from the past. The TMC mouthpiece then says that their party is not talking of an alliance minus the Congress, or of a third force. Instead, there has to be one clear Opposition alliance as an alternative, however it must be found out why the Congress has failed and what needs to be done to fill the gaps that will be there in any possible alliance. The editorial then reiterates the point about the “zero” that “others” got when fighting the BJP in Bengal and then asserts that “we know how to defeat the BJP’S all India force; and just as we, the All India Trinamool Congress, want an Opposition alliance, we also know the formula to build that alliance.” So nothing should be read in its absence from Opposition programmes.
In this context, TMC state secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “Times have changed from the way it was in the past. We have to get out of the old model of thinking and form a real Opposition alliance. We have to come out of the model that has failed in the past. The TMC knows how to defeat the BJP’S top leadership. Our leader has met Sonia Gandhi. The MPS have worked together inside and outside Parliament.”
A few days ago, all the Opposition parties, including the Congress, staged a protest outside Parliament against the Central government. The parties were led by Rahul Gandhi. From Shiv Sena to DMK, everyone participated in the protest, but TMC MPS were not seen there.
Earlier, the Opposition had protested at Jantar Mantar demanding the repeal of the farm laws. TMC leaders were missing from there as well, giving rise to speculation about its role in any possible alliance. According to sources in TMC, the party is not willing to give Rahul Gandhi “undue importance”, especially when it is Mamata Banerjee who has proved that the BJP can be defeated.
Mamata Banerjee’s relationship with Rahul Gandhi has never been smooth, unlike her relationship with Sonia Gandhi. The TMC leader will attend the 20 August Opposition meeting called by Sonia Gandhi.