Transcription
And Assalamu Alaikum. Hello from Atlanta. My road trip is ongoing. I am currently in the middle of the American Deep South. And why is Atlanta important in today's Pakistani context? The state of Georgia, and where the KP and Balochistan of America begins, why is this important? All this and much more in a little while. But first, of course, I will start with "We told you so." "We told you so," or "I told you so," is said when you have clarity in a way that perhaps others do not. It was quite clear, about two weeks ago, we made this prediction that Faiz would get 14 years. We announced this yesterday. We announced yesterday that Faiz's sentence is just one link. In this entire game, the next link is Imran Khan. And what we discussed yesterday, today the biggest attack dogs of the Pakistani army. I am not talking about the DG ISPR. Even though he works like an attack dog these days as well. I am actually talking about Faisal Vawda. Faisal Vawda is beginning to show his fangs, and he has started showing his teeth and nails. From what has gone viral from last night, it is quite clear that the army is presenting the narrative that Faiz will testify against Imran Khan for political and military disruption of the military. Basically, May 9th and whatever happened after that within the army and other institutions, Imran Khan and Faiz have colluded with this narrative. Now, we have war-gamed this before. Thank you, by the way, for your awesomeness, for the super chats and contributions people have sent me. Thank you. Keep sending your questions too, because I can see your questions. Anyways, the matter is very simple. Why is Imran Khan the next target? Because in the last two and a half years, the legal affairs against Imran Khan, 180 cases, then 150 cases, then 100 cases. Now, three cases have not yet become airtight. The airtight case they want to build, with a proper witness, that witness is Faiz at this moment. Now, this deal, the deal being offered or to be offered to Faiz, to what extent will Faiz accept it, I am not quite sure. I have heard that Faiz has been kept in the Armoured Mess in Pindi, in the General Officers Quarters, right next to Gate One. I used to stay there in my youth, what youth, in my young days. It's the Mess of the Regiment, they serve great lentils there. Anyways, right next to Gate Number One, Faiz has been kept with respect and affection. Faiz has also given warnings that he has a Plan B. If he is pressured too much, he will unveil his Plan B, and Plan B will be very damaging for GHQ and especially ISI. But these are discussions happening from within the Armoured Mess. Let's move outside the Armoured Mess. Meaning, if we move beyond GHQ Gate Number One, we stop at Raiwind. Now, Nawaz Sharif's foot-dragging on notifications, the delays, are before us. We all saw that drama. But the talk that was going on, clarity had come on it, what Nawaz Sharif wants. People were saying Nawaz Sharif wants to become Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif, not at all. Nawaz Sharif does not need to be Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif is already in charge. How is he in charge? Operationally, we move forward. It's in the second part of the show. But first, what Nawaz Sharif is more interested in is three things. He needed three heads, Nawaz Sharif: Imran, Faiz, Bajwa. Now Bajwa will not be available. Bajwa, especially when you get four stars, you become untouchable. Case in point, Musharraf, even though cases were filed against him, the army gave him a safe exit. Case in point, Kiani, even though there are allegations about his family, allegations of personal corruption, untouchable. Case in point, any Chief you pick. Yes, the Chiefs who were killed are a different story. Like Zia-ul-Haq, even he was not spared by the army. It was a safe exit because after that, who knows what he would have done or what would have happened to him. But in a way, you can be quite clear about one thing. Bajwa will not be available. So, the second demand of Nawaz, his second demand is Faiz, which he has received. And now Imran. Now Imran has to be delivered for Nawaz Sharif. This is their deal, their arrangement. And that's where this seems to be headed. Now, we have war-gamed this. Faiz will not easily buckle. There are reports of Faiz having Plan B, that if he is put under more pressure, he will target the army, especially ISI. Plus, the prisoner's dilemma we explained in the past few days is that if Faiz, for example, gets a commutation of his sentence from 14 years to four years, on some condition, will Faiz live with this guilt, this burden, that "Oh, I got Imran Khan hanged for sedition"? I am not quite sure. I am not quite sure. So, this is a dicey situation. All eyes are on Faiz. The army will obviously send its people. It will send its friends, relatives. His brother is already caught by the army. Najaf Hamid, the Patwari, so he is already surrounded in every way. But after 15 months, it's strange that Faisal Vawda and company are saying that great justice has been done, and the DG ISPR is also saying that great justice has been done. Well, if justice has been done, and if it was an open and shut case, as the army claims it was, then why did it take so long? Why did they start court-martials and these sentences and whatever else only after notifications and amendments? Because it was part of a deal, and if it's part of a deal, that means its timing is convenient, and this justice, this fairness, is not blind justice. It is selective justice. They are investigating, weighing, and moving forward very carefully. Asif Munir got what he wanted. Obviously, he wanted 10 years, he got it. He wanted immunity, he got it. Nawaz Sharif did not get what he wanted. So, Nawaz has now become a dicey character. That's why perhaps Nawaz is trying to secure all the provinces operationally. How? Now, KP is not under his control, because we will come to KP, why it is not under his control. But the other provinces are effectively under his control. Balochistan and Sindh, which PPP is running, are obviously under Nawaz's control because PPP is under Nawaz's control. Now, he doesn't even need PPP. Punjab is obviously under his control. But today, Nawaz Sharif made some very political statements, which we haven't heard from Nawaz for a long time. For example, today Nawaz talked about the NFC award for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, because elections are going to happen there. So, Mr. Nawaz Sharif has entered election mode. He wants to become the hero of Gilgit-Baltistan. He wants to become the hero of Azad Kashmir. Why? Because Nawaz Sharif is trying to surround and take all the moving parts of the federation. Except for KP. He wants all the big parts, the provinces, and the smaller semi-autonomous areas, meaning AJK, Jammu and Kashmir, and GB, because these are all necessary in their chessboard, in their chess game, to suffocate and surround PTI. Now, PTI, let's come to that. What are PTI's next steps? PTI has announced that there will be a rally in Kohat after a week. Why a rally in Kohat? First, you people might not know, you have traveled, roamed around, but not roamed around in KP. But what PTI is doing right now is called an inkspot strategy. This is an army strategy. A very powerful strategy. PTI started from Peshawar, and the myth that PTI's support comes from remote areas, that they don't have power in Peshawar city. By showing force in Peshawar, PTI broke the myth that Peshawar is also ours. Now PTI is gradually moving towards the tribal areas. Kohat borders the Afridi and Bangash areas. Number one, these are two major tribes there, and of course, many other tribes live there. But these are two major tribes. Plus, Kohat is where South KP begins. South KP means the problematic area begins, because from Kohat, Bannu, this access, after this, your Waziristan tribal areas begin. So, PTI is now going to those areas and showing force in those areas which are complicated, complex, violent, where there is terrorism, where there is pushback against the army, and you can say there is a very large anti-army segment, because this is the segment where the most war has happened, where the most terrorism has occurred, where the most campaign against the army is happening right now: "Stop this war." So, PTI is now leaving Peshawar and going to those areas where an anti-army narrative, an anti-war narrative, is stronger. This is a very powerful and interesting move by PTI, because this rally will be more organized, larger, and the people in it, the people will be a bit more anti-army. So, PTI is moving in that direction. There will be more tribals too, because Kohat is adjacent. So, we have told you these three steps. One step against Imran. One step that Nawaz is taking, trying to surround the minor moving parts as well. Suddenly, he remembered Gilgit-Baltistan. He never went there until today. He goes to London more than he goes to Gilgit or Hunza. But anyways, he remembered the NFC award, and he remembered those Kashmiris. They killed those Kashmiris a month ago. Although he himself is Kashmiri, but they fired in Kashmir a month or a month and a half ago, and now he remembers the NFC award. And the third thing is KP's, you can say PTI's strategy, which is for KP. But there is another step in this, which is a critical step, and that is the global step, the international step. Now, the international step, in which many of our viewers, myself included, are abroad. Many of our viewers are abroad. You are abroad. Many of our friends expect pressure from abroad. What pressure from abroad? A week ago, when this notification drama was going on, 44 congressmen here wrote a letter. To whom? To Marco Rubio. Who is he? The US Secretary of State. What did they write? "Impose sanctions on Asim Munir. Impose Magnitsky sanctions, ban visas, freeze assets, close bank accounts. Don't let him come, and tell him to stop the atrocities he is committing in Pakistan." This letter, after many months, our human rights advocates and organizations here, after a lot of hard work, have done what they could. Yesterday, we told you that the American Embassy in Pakistan announced that the same embassy that works for Marco Rubio has announced that we are giving 1.5 billion dollars for mining in Balochistan, for copper and gold extraction in Rekodik, and they say we will invest $5 million and make $2 billion. So, America is doing business with you. They announced this yesterday. The State Department did not respond, saying, "We received the letter, we are considering it, we are in talks." Nothing like that. Today, icing on the cake. News came that the White House, the Trump administration, the Department of Defense, to the same Congress that sent a letter last week asking to crack down on Asim Munir, to that same Congress, they sent a letter. In the letter, there are $650 million in upgrades for your 75 F16s. Now, if your 75 F16s get this upgrade, they will last until 2040. They are getting such an upgrade. What is the upgrade? It's a tactical upgrade. The name of the upgrade is Link 16. It connects the aircraft in the air, the commander on the ground, and the moving parts, command centers, and along with that, they have also sent bombs. They have sent empty bombs. Just like they are themselves, they have sent empty bombs, so that you can test them. So, to keep Pakistan's 75 F16s ready until 2040, the same Trump administration, from which Pakistanis had expectations six to eight months to a year ago, that this is Imran's friend, he loves Imran very much. His wife took very nice pictures with Imran. He is also a carefree guy, Imran is also a carefree guy. He is also a strong guy, Imran is also a strong guy. Nothing happened. Because our diaspora here has not noticed one thing. They have not noticed that they have nothing to give. Getting Congressmen to write a letter is one thing. But Trump wanted something in his pocket, in his hands. So, the Pakistanis, the Pakistani-American diaspora, is not on the right path. Yes, keep applying pressure, keep at it, Munna Bhai. But I have been asking this question for a long time, and especially in our weekly program in Washington, with Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, with whom I have a program tomorrow, I will ask him again: What can the Pakistani government give? The Pakistani government can give many things, but what can Pakistan's PTI give to Americans? And this again leads us to the point that Americans only want things from you, and you are taking things from Americans. This is your business. But I showed you a week or ten days ago that PTI's Sohail Afzal met with the American Consul General in Peshawar. The American Consulate tweeted about that meeting. If you read the punchline of that meeting, it says in the punchline: "We had a meeting, it was very enjoyable, and we have started talking about counter-terrorism and economic development." PTI can also deliver. PTI can also protect its KP. PTI can also open channels of communication with Americans because it has a very important province where Americans are interested in working. Now, this decision will be made by the senior people of PTI. But all is not lost. I think I said this yesterday too, and the day before yesterday, and I am saying it again today: All eyes are on Sohail Afzal. Now, if they take KP from Sohail Afzal, impose governor's rule, and deal with those mining issues and all those theatrical counter-terrorism matters directly with the Americans, then another card of PTI will be lost, the army will snatch it away. But PTI should protect KP, and PTI should improve its governance properly, and PTI should improve its relations with Americans so that Americans say, "No, this government is running well, this provincial government is running well, let us work with them." This will buy you time, and when you buy time as a provincial government with direct dealings with the Americans, you might get Washington's attention, which is what you need, because there is no other way to reach the White House. So, this was the fourth point, how America or international pressure will be created. International pressure, by the way, will only be created by America, not from anywhere else. You don't have much with Britain. Britain is currently entertaining your extradition treaty request. You should consider Britain a middle power right now. Britain is finished. So, don't expect much from the UK, that era is gone. The UK uses you, and you use the UK. So, leave the UK. And when it comes to the Saudis or the Emirates, they are very happy with Sharif, they are very happy with Asim, they are very, very happy with whatever was going on. So, don't expect much from them. And the Chinese don't really care how you run things. So, that's the fourth point. But there is another moving part internationally that is developing, which makes Pakistan's importance or the Pakistani army's importance even greater. The President of Indonesia came. Yesterday or the day before, Asim Munir saluted him. He said, "No, I want to salute you." They released that clip and made it viral. It didn't go viral, but anyways, it was an interesting moment. The army is not clear about its role. The army is still negotiating. It is negotiating internally and externally. Indonesia has said today that we are sending 20,000 people for medical work and reconstruction. But someone has to go there and do policing, someone has to disarm Hamas. And disarming means fighting. Peacekeeping. And the Pakistani army is expert in peacekeeping. But this will be expensive for the Pakistani people. Because if clashes start between the Pakistani army and Hamas there, then Pakistan's internal stability could go elsewhere. That's why they have announced that we are sending people. They have also invited the Indonesians. They even flew the Indonesian President's plane alongside theirs. When he was landing, they gave great respect to the Indonesian President. But Indonesia did not give them what they were looking for. Perhaps they wanted to befriend Indonesia, saying, "Hey, you disarm, we will disarm too." Indonesia said, "No, no, no. We are not disarming. We are only sending doctors, nurses, and engineers in military uniforms. We are not sending soldiers to fight." So, these negotiations are also ongoing. So, the purpose of explaining this to you is that America has announced today that, "Hey, at the beginning of next year, in the new year that is about to begin, we are sending this peace force, this normalization and stabilization force." So, if Pakistan has a part in this, then America will work with them for this as well. For the next few months, expect America to be very nice to you, and when America is nice to you, you will continue to commit the atrocities you have committed and are going to commit in the country. That's why it is imperative for Pakistan's PTI right now to improve its governance and its international relations. Unfortunately, the blocking of Sohail Afzal's passport is a big setback, because Sohail Afzal should have come here. Definitely, his diplomacy is his work, his right. Maryam also traveled abroad, and other Chief Ministers keep coming and going. He should have been allowed to. But they were afraid that he would go straight to Kabul and talk to someone there. They were afraid of this. But anyways, these are my four or five thoughts for today. I have come about 1000 miles away from New York, where I live. It took me four days. In between, I was traveling with friends. I am doing this because, first, I always wanted to do it. This is not one country, it is an entire continent. And right now, I am in a part of the continent where a lot of politics and culture are connected. Atlanta is the capital of Black America. It's called the cultural, political, and economic capital of Black America. The American South. Now, there isn't the same difference in America as there is in Pakistan. In Pakistan, there is an ethnic difference: the Punjabis dominate other nations, which they are doing these days, always have been. In Pakistan, there are such clashes that the Sunnis are dominant over other sects and groups. Pakistan has such problems. The problems in America are not like that. The biggest problems in America are of race. Race. So, the fault line of racial politics starts from here. It's quite interesting. Last night, when I was checking into the hotel, there was a clash, and the manager had a clash with a guest, and the guest, in anger, used a racial slur. Used a racial slur. Meaning, he abused her because the manager was Black, and the customer was White, and after that, he ran away. I was like, "What's going on here?" Obviously, it was very abnormal. But I sort of noticed that. Then, last night, no place was open, I arrived late, so I went to a part of town which was all Black. And it felt strange to me, because yes, there are a lot of Black people in New York. But I haven't seen an area which is just all Black. I have never been to a restaurant which I ended up at Westside Modern Lounge. Good place, fun place. Where everybody, except the DJ and the bartender, everybody was Black. I thought it was quite interesting. And it goes on to underscore how Black people here have really, really owned this city. Atlanta is featured. There are many Black universities here that only admit Black Americans, African Americans. White people cannot get in there. So, it's interesting. They have reversed it. Now, there isn't a school in America that says, "We only admit White people." But there are schools for Black people because they have protected their own culture, their own heritage, and their own politics. So, it's an interesting mix. Morehouse College is here, where White people are not allowed. Only Black people are allowed. It's called the Black Ivy. It's the Ivy League for Black people. Anyways, I thought it was quite interesting. But this argument that starts from here, "We need our own fort," this argument is going on in Pakistan these days. This argument was going on. This argument about a fort was going on in 1971 too. So, this argument about a fort arises when the capital, the federal government, does not give you respect, does not give you your share. This argument of core-periphery, that the core is Pindi, Islamabad, Takht Lahore, and the periphery is the other smaller provinces. The NFC award argument is also the same. This argument of the NFC, into which Nawaz is trying to get involved these days, into which Sohail Afzal has gotten involved, the NFC award argument, this is called the core-periphery argument. This argument was being made by Sheikh Mujib in 1971, and this argument is being made today by Sohail Afzal in 2025, and this argument here, African Americans have made their own fort. So, it's a strange city. An interesting city. More Black people than White people visually. Mostly businesses are Black-run. And they are very happy. Because they are governing themselves. But it doesn't mean that someone like me feels out of place. Everyone here has been very nice to me. But I do feel, I do feel that there are lessons to be learned from this. Now, I will go ahead. Some people are telling me, "Make sure you visit Ruby Falls." Unfortunately, I don't have much time to explore Atlanta. A friend was supposed to meet me, but he's not here. So, I am moving on, meeting my old friends. But many Pakistani activists, people from the diaspora here, invited me to many dinners when I announced that I was going to Atlanta. Thank you. Sorry, I couldn't meet you because I am on a tight schedule. But now I am going to Alabama. I am going, going, going. Now I am going to Alabama. Alabama, Sweet Home Alabama, the heart of the Deep South. The sea starts from there, which is my favorite. So, I am going to Alabama, then I am going to Louisiana, then I am going to Texas. So, if you are in Alabama, or Louisiana, or Texas, then especially message me. My DMs are open on all platforms, Twitter, Instagram, all are in the description. Message me here, maybe we can meet. Today, a very new, very sweet fan messaged me, so maybe today I will go and have coffee with him. I am in Louisiana. No, in Alabama. So, let's be in touch. My journey is ongoing. It's a five-hour drive. Wish me luck. I will talk to you very soon. Take care of yourself. I miss you and I will keep you posted on the rest that's going on. Okay? You take care. And this, this next Imran thing, this Faisal Vawda is making noise, relax. They won't be able to do anything to him for three years. Even one false testimony won't do anything. So, don't you worry. God and truth are always together. Okay, take care of yourself. Don't worry. Whether Faiz's court-martial, whether they court-martial him or field-marshal him, whatever they do, let them go through everything they have. Okay, take care of yourself. I will talk to you very soon. Bye. Love you. Pakistan Zindabad.