Civil society warns against intervention in Yemen’s civil war

Karachi
Human rights activists and civil society organisations have voiced concern over the likely deployment of Pakistan’s armed forces in Saudi Arabia at the request of the Saudi royal family to fight against rebellion forces in the civil war raging in Yemen.
Civil society organisations have condemned the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government and its allies for considering sending troops to Saudi Arabia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, they said that if Pakistan intervened in the civil war it would be a huge strategic mistake in the long term and could cause political, military, economic and foreign policy losses, whereas the ruling party would gain immediate or short-term financial gains.
The statement said the “mysterious gift” of $1.5 billion given to Pakistan in 2014 and the government’s reluctance to be transparent about it then had become clear now, the statement said, adding that the government should have the courage to be open and honest.
It also asked the government to not attempt to befool the citizens that “the holy land of Saudi Arabia is under threat of attack” because “it is not”.
The statement said: “We have not yet forgotten Black September: Gen. Zia-ul-Haq’s bombardment of Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan way back in 1970. We are still paying the diplomatic and political price for that disaster.”
It added: “Thirdly, we are in the midst of internal military operations against militants and terrorist networks such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, other parts of Fata, Karachi and Malakand, and the Balochistan turmoil, amongst others. How then can we spare our armed forces personnel and equipment? Do we even wish to do so? Where is our priority?”
“Fourthly, we should strictly stay out of the deadly proxy wars that Saudi Arabia and Iran are waging in several countries, including Pakistan, in addition to Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, and others. We have managed to stay out for over two and a half decades; we should not change our policy now.”
The statement further said: “Let [the] USA play its double and triple games in the region. We must not emulate it. We must be ethical. Pakistanis are no longer befooled. We are no longer silent. We are awake. We are watching. We are speaking out.”