KARACHI: Speaking in his programme ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’ on Friday, Kamran Khan, while commenting on the address of Malala Yousafzai at the United Nations, said that the entire world paid tribute to the courage of the Daughter of Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, on her 16th birthday.
Never in history has any Pakistani received in the United Nations the kind of tribute that the 16-year-old Malala did. In November last, the Taliban had shot Malala in Swat in their attempt to kill her, but Malala survived and celebrated her 16th birthday at the United Nations in a manner that has no precedent.
Kamran Khan said that Malala, in her address to the United Nations, said that her mission is education and only education and that women’s education can definitely triumph over extremism.
Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, said on the occasion that the stature of Malala is such that her 16th birthday is being celebrated in a manner that is unprecedented. Ban Ki-moon also thanked Malala for addressing the UN General Assembly.
Commenting on the tenure of President Asif Ali Zardari, Kamran Khan said the president’s term is to expire in the next seven weeks and the federal government has contacted the Election Commission for the announcement of the schedule for presidential election. He said that it is a foregone conclusion that the next president is going to be from the PML-N.
Kamran Khan said that information is circulating around that President Zardari is likely to spend the rest of the time of his term overseas. Zardari is going abroad for three weeks after which he will come back to the country for a brief period and then go abroad again.
In a different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said NAB is in a state of turmoil for the last five years. It does not have a chairman at the moment, and it is suffering from group politics internally. He said whosoever becomes the next NAB chairman will have the task of rejuvenating the organisation.
Commenting on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s diplomatic initiative, Kamran Khan said that China is Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s first priority in the domain of foreign policy where he visited for a very successful tour.
Improvement in Pakistan-India relations has always been a priority of Nawaz Sharif. There are reports saying that Nawaz Sharif-Manmohan Singh meeting is expected in September at the United Nations General Assembly session at New York.
Senior journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai said in the programme that Malala Yousafzai has become a symbol for the girls as far as education is concerned. However, the kind of tribute that Malala received from all over the world was missing in Pakistan in general and in Malala’s native area of Swat in particular. He said that no ceremony was arranged to pay tribute to Malala’s courage. The only exception being the Awami National Party which did pay tribute to Malala.
Rahimullah Yousafzai said that now there is no scare in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vis-à-vis girls’ education. Girls are going to schools, colleges and universities. Malala’s incident has increased the urge for education among girls. The attack on Malala has been a huge setback for the Taliban.
Analyst Nazeer Leghari said in the programme that the PML-N’s presidential candidate may come from Punjab, but the likelihood of the candidate being from Sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is greater. Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, Sartaj Aziz or Ghous Ali Shah is likely to be the PML-N candidate for the post of president.
Former diplomat, Lieutenant-General (R) Mahmud Durrani, said in the programme that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s desire for better relations with India is a very good thing. He said that he hopes to see India reciprocate Pakistan’s initiative for better relations between the two countries. Geo and Jang Group’s initiative ‘Aman Ki Asha’ has done a tremendous job for betterment of Pakistan-India relations.
