‘Study in Afghanistan’: Khawaja Asif’s message to supporters

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has criticised Pakistani students expressing solidarity with Afghan students, saying those supporting Afghanistan should consider pursuing their education at an Afghan educational institution as a gesture of goodwill.

Reacting to statements made by students campaigning in support of Afghan students, Asif said Pakistan had hosted Afghans for five decades and shared its limited resources with them. He said Pakistan had also expressed goodwill towards Afghanistan following the withdrawal of NATO forces, hoping that the country’s borders would remain secure and that the two neighbouring countries would live together peacefully.

The defence minister claimed that 70 to 80 percent of the terrorists involved in attacks on Pakistani mosques, schools and military installations were Afghans. He further alleged that Afghans were showing solidarity with India, which he described as Pakistan’s long-standing adversary.

Asif said direct and indirect contacts between him, Pakistan’s military leadership and civilian leadership and Afghan counterparts had continued. However, he claimed that despite these repeated engagements, there had been no reduction in what he described as hostility and resentment among Afghans towards Pakistan.

He also said the solidarity shown by Pakistani students towards Afghan students reflected their political leanings more than genuine affection. According to the defence minister, decades of Pakistan hosting Afghan refugees and sharing its resources with them had not changed what he described as their mindset.

Asif urged Pakistani students supporting Afghans to try studying at an educational institution in Afghanistan as a gesture of goodwill. He said the conduct of such students amounted to an insult to the blood of those Pakistanis who had been killed by terrorists coming from Afghanistan.

The defence minister also warned Pakistani students against allowing their political affiliations to overshadow their national concerns. “Do not go so far in your love for a political party that Pakistani blood begins to seem cheap to you,” he said.