Now that the story of state-sponsored brutality against the Afghan ambassador’s daughter is out, the terror nation is clueless

Silsila Alikhil, the daughter of Najib Alikhil, the Afghan ambassador was briefly abducted and severely tortured in Islamabad. This incident took place on 16^th July, and it has left the Pakistani establishments red-faced as they face wrath and shame at the international level.

Silsila is still under treatment at a hospital in Islamabad, as rage and terror spreads in Afghanistan, a strong protest was lodged over the abduction of the daughter of Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Islamabad. Her treatment was confirmed by the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences via a medical examination report shared on social media. The report also disclosed her age as 26 and that she was held for more than five hours. The medical report also revealed that she suffered severe ENT bleeding and also had swelling in her occipital region. This was accompanied by vomiting, fits, pain between legs and throughout the body. Furthermore, she also had rope marks, showing that she was tied tightly while being tortured by Pakistan’s professional mercenaries.

Read More: Pakistan-Taliban nexus: Daughter of Afghan ambassador in Islamabad was kidnapped, tortured and thrown

This is a matter of serious issue as the relationship between these two countries has always been strained. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan urged the Pakistani government to identify and prosecute the perpetrators at the soonest possible.

Afghanistan’s President had lashed out on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and accused him of providing a safe haven for Taliban Militants. After US troops’ slow withdrawal from the country, the Taliban have made major advances across the country, seizing and taking over almost 85 per cent of the country. Ghani accused that more than 10,000 jihadi fighters have entered Afghanistan with Pakistan’s help support last month as the country failed to convince the Taliban into participating in peace talks. The Afghan ministry concerned over the safety of Afghan members in Pakistan said: “While the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following the matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, we urge the Pakistani government to identify and prosecute the perpetrators at the soonest possible time.”

While Khan said it was “unfair” to blame Pakistan for the ongoing situation in Afghanistan.

Pakistani authorities were visibly embarrassed by the situation as they launched their damage control exercise, Pakistani PM wants the matter to be treated as the top priority as the Pakistan foreign minister reassured that the security of the Ambassador of Afghanistan and his family have been strengthened, investigation to catch the culprit has started for justice to be served. As reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad, the daughter of the Ambassador was “assaulted while riding a rented vehicle”. “Immediately after this disturbing incident was reported, the Islamabad Police launched a thorough investigation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant security authorities are closely in contact with the Ambassador and his family and extending full support in the matter,” the Pakistani spokesman said.

Thus, it is evident that the frosty relationship between the two countries is only getting colder with time. Although perpetrators have not yet been identified, it is an open secret who is behind this notorious act. Pakistan has a history of genocide (Bangladesh 1971), abducting and disappearing people, activists, journalists who don’t toe Pakistan’s dictatorial line. Back in early January 2017, five social media activists – Salman Haider, Waqas Goraya, Asim Saeed, and Ahmed Raza Naseer went missing from different parts of Pakistan. A reporter working for Pakistan’s leading Geo News television had also gone missing in the southern port city of Karachi back in Oct 2020. Moreover, Activists have been criticising the Pakistan Army for human rights abuses in Balochistan amid the Covid-19 outbreak, suspects for most of the disappearance of activists blame the Pakistani agency, ISI.

Pakistan follows the pattern where it continues to wield effective power from the military-led authoritative establishment, it draws its power from allegations of incompetence and corruption against civilian politicians. Lastly, Jihadis and other religious extremists continue to benefit from the above-mentioned establishment. Stemming from its ideological direction and mainstreaming of extremism doesn’t seem to end very soon which is a global concern and hence, strict actions are expected to be taken soon.