‘We are friends of Afghanistan, not spokesmen for any particular group’: PPP’s Sherry Rehman lashes out at PM Khan

Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) leader Senator Sherry Rehman has said that Pakistan faces a serious threat after the hurried pullout of United States (US) forces from Afghanistan.

Sherry Rehman, lashing out at Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, said, “We are friends of Afghanistan, not spokesmen for any particular group. We should not make decisions that hurt the country. The PM mentions sacrifice. Yes, that is correct, but why make fun of that sacrifice by saying we will give amnesty to outfits like Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that have martyred not just our twice elected PM Benazir Bhutto but also the children of Army Public School and many of our brave soldiers.”

She said that national unity was missing and said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was busy in their war narrative. The government is ignoring the Constitution and the parliament.

“If we even try to help Pakistan, we are told our leaders are corrupt. How is that helping Pakistan? Our president Asif Ali Zardari also wrote op-eds in The Washington Post. He defended the whole of Pakistan, not just his party. Read the op-eds and see how parliament was conducted to unite in moments of danger.”

“You need to pay attention to what’s going on in the Pakistan Senate, not just the US Senate. The PM of this country needs to respect the sanctity of the parliament and come here and discuss the situation instead of playing the blame game and disrupting unity. Is this how you defend the country?” she questioned.

“While it is important to engage with all countries with self-respect, particularly angry superpowers like the US that itself is in turmoil over its 20 years occupation of Afghanistan, what are we doing to empower our own selves? Instead of trying to unite the parliament around a bipartisan foreign policy, the parliament has never met on the Afghan transition, the humanitarian crisis there, and the response. All over the world, joint meetings are being held in Afghanistan but Pakistan’s government is in a state of denial over dealing with the parliament”, said Senator Sherry Rehman.