Oppn rarely gets chance to criticise govt in Pak: Author Ishtiaq Ahmed

New Delhi, 16 June (IANS) Swedish political scientist and author of Pakistani origin, Ishtiaq Ahmed, said on Friday that as a democracy, Pakistan offers voting rights to its citizens, but the opposition rarely gets a chance to criticise the policies of the government.

Ahmed was speaking at IIM Rohtak, where he was invited as a guest faculty for a panel discussion on 'Why good relationship is important for Pakistan for regional and global stability'.

"There are certain laws that are against human rights which should change. Till these things continue to happen in Pakistan, the problems will persist," Ahmed said.

Talking about forced conversion of minorities, the author said that the plight of minorities in India is better than Pakistan. However, he argued that India must strive hard to continue its tradition of openness.

He also said that Pakistan must try to normalise its relationship with India. India's decision to go forward with the Non-Align Movement and its subsequent slow growth was a better alternative in the long run, he said.

On the importance of language and culture in international relations, the author said: "Language along with culture is one of the most important aspects of international relations, and the relations built with language cannot be divided."

He said that Pakistan had forced the use of Urdu on people, which resulted in confused social identity.

"There is multiple news of China funding Pakistani infrastructure, but most of the internal details are not shared with people. China is giving loans to Pakistan at 8-16 per cent interest, which is very high. The relationship between Pakistan and China is not as good as it seems. Had the relations been good, China would have helped Pakistan given the crisis it is faced with now," Ahmed said.

He also said that neither China, the US nor Saudi Arabia are offering any assistance to Pakistan to pull it out of the present crisis. Once the disputes between India and China are solved, supporting and helping Pakistan will become irrelevant for China.

China helped Pakistan to support its own agenda -- trade -- and to have a second front open against India, he claimed.

"India and Pakistan should together recognise the Line of Control as the official international border," Ahmed said.

"Four wars have shown that this border cannot be altered drastically. The border should be opened, especially in Kashmir, and trust should be built between the two countries, he added.

"India's leadership in the world is well established. It is emerging as a great power. India has all the potential to play an important role in world politics. It has a great opportunity with the G20 Presidency to go forward for peace and growth," Ahmed said.