Jan Achakzai

1434: In terms of what a second Obama presidency means for Pakistan, Jan Achakzai, the leader of Pakistani right-wing political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, tells BBC Urdu: "As long as the Americans are in Afghanistan, which is over the next two years, there won't be any major change in US policy towards Pakistan." 1435: Mr Achakzai continues: "Afterwards, American and Western countries may increase pressure on Pakistan in certain areas about which they have some concerns. First there are Pakistan's nuclear weapons, second terrorism and third is the human rights situation. These are the three areas about which Americans can arm-twist Pakistan. But this will happen only after America reduces its [involvement] in Afghanistan." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21117466

Report: Road to martyrdom by Zia Ur Rehman "Jan Achakzai, a senior security analyst, said the geopolitical dynamics of Balochistan were complicated, and the military was currently more focused on dealing with Baloch militants instead of sectarian groups. The provincial government was a scapegoat, he said, and it did not have the power to stop the insurgency or deal with sectarian groups, many of which were proxies of foreign governments". The Friday Times

http://www.qissa-khwani.com/2013/01/united-by-history-divided-by-reality.html?spref=fb&m=1

 After the Paris Talks with other Afghan factions, the Taliban reiterated that they will negotiate with the US and that the current government of Karzai is a puppet regime. They revealed on Tuesday, Dec., 26 to open  Qatar office as HuffPost said: "The Taliban announced that they had reached a preliminary understanding to open the representative office, an unprecedented step toward peace negotiations that might lead to a winding down of the 10-year conflict. The statement did not say when the office would open". The Qatar office is perhaps aimed at conducting talks with the US. The Office will be their address where their envoys will be based. The perception of the Taliban is that the current political system has been carved out by the US. It is Washington that is likely to sustain the political and other  institutions in the post 2014 era. As such they need to engage Washington directly. Shrewdly enough they can still turn around to their followers—without losi...

Pakistani Taliban’s umbrella group, the TTP has conditionally offered to hold negotiations. Ehsan Ullah Ehsan, the spokesman for the TTP, said the TTP had always been ready for negotiations. In a letter to renowned journalist/Anchorperson Saleem Safi, the TTP called for repeal of all laws in Pakistan which are repugnant to Islam and added that the Constitution should be amended in the light of the Quran and Sunnah. Later, Hakeemullah Masood, the TTP Chief, also conformed himself the offer. He also said that the Pakistani government was following foreign dictates and talks would only be possible if the government would have the authority to hold them freely and end participation in the US’s war in Afghanistan. On of the main coalition partners, the ANP’s response was a cautious welcome: the chief of the ANP, Asfanyar Wali Khan, said that talks with the TTP were possible if they renounced violence. The governmnet’s reaction was ambivalent: it initially dismissed the offer by respond...

Paris Talks for Afghan reconciliation, positive step: Jan Achakzai VOA Urdu As just concluded Paris Talks are going to be a helpful step in intra-Afghan reconciliation process, the Taliban are gearing for political dialogue, said Afghan affairs' expert Jan Achakzai while to talking to VOA (Urdu)'s leading Anchorperson Syed Qamar Abbas Jafari.(Abridged version of the interview) .

http://muckrack.com/Jan_Assakzai/interview

I am the second generation in my family to have the honour to serve my Pashtun community . It started from a small village in Balochistan's Pishin district when my late father Abdul Nabi Khan Achakzai joined Late Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai Shaheed in his fight against the English imperialism. Since my father spent nearly 2 decades of his life in South India, he knew what it meant to be under the subjugation of English Raj what he used to refer to "Farangi Raj". After partition, he continued to struggle with Khan Shaheed against various dictators in Pakistan. It was due to my father that we all brothers unconsciously knew only one party and one politics: Khan Shaheed's political heir e.g., the PMAP's nationalist politics. This is why my late brother Zarif Khan Achakzai Shaheed during Zia Ul Haq's harsh rule, participated in nationalist struggle for democracy. He was frequently arrested due to his political activities under the banner of the PMAP. He wa...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pashto/multimedia/2012/06/120620_im_assange_assakzai_interview.shtml

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - VIEW: Post-2014 Afghan economy in peril — Jan Assakzai VIEW:  Post-2014 Afghan economy in peril — Jan Assakzai The ability to launch mega  projects  and create job opportunities in post-2014 Afghanistan will be stifled by donor fatigue As TV studios in Washington and London discuss whether to ‘precipitously’ withdraw NATO forces from Afghanistan or stick to the scheduled 2014 deadline, they largely ignore the predicted decline in aid to Afghanistan’s economy once the transition of security to Afghan forces is completed. The dire prediction comes from none other than the World Bank itself. However, before the negative effects of the coming decline in financial assistance are discussed, a cursory look at what has been achieved over the past decade in the economy, following NATO’s intervention, is warranted. The best gauge is perhaps the state of the reconstruction effort. On the positive side, ring roads have been cons...

As Pakistan poised to reopen NATO supply routes, Regional Analyst Jan Assakzai says Islamabad has climbed down on its demand from the US.

As re-election in Greece is  likely, Greece may be forced to exit Euro, says Jan Assakzai while responding to a question by famous anchor Saeeda Mehmood of BBC Pashto Service.

Regional Analyst Jan Assakzai takes questions from VOA Urdu listeners on French elections, Syria, Iran parliamentary elections and Pakistan-US relations.

As Pakistan media is increasingly becoming powerful, debate has started whether it (media) addresses real issues of people. Being a media person,  Jan Assakzai offers a glimpse of how  western media covers issues compared to Pakistani media.

Though Karzai government and Obama administration reached an understanding on Afghan, US strategic partnership, the agreement is not robust enough to send strong message to the Taliban and  regional countries, says Jan Assakzai in iv with VOA Urdu Service's Behjat Gilani.