Who rules Pakistan?

In this episode of Head to Head , Mehdi Hasan challenges Hina Rabbani Khar, former foreign minister of Pakistan, on whether the army is in control of the country, and if Pakistan has been supporting the Taliban.

Pakistan's job is to protect its own people before the United States of America

by Hina Rabbani Khar

Last year’s Peshawar school attack reinvigorated the military campaign against the Pakistani Taliban, while civilian oversight was curtailed.

We explore Pakistan’s ambiguous stance towards the Afghan Taliban and the so-called ” war on terror ” and whether the alleged links between the ISI, Pakistan’s spy agency, and armed groups have brought the violence home.  

With the help of a panel of experts, we ask: did Pakistan support the Afghan Taliban and protect Osama bin Laden? Who calls the shots in Pakistan: the civilian authorities or the army? Are democracy, human rights and civil liberties safe in the fight against the Pakistani Taliban? And what should be done to bring peace to Kashmir? 

Joining the discussion are:

Omar Waraich, an award-winning British journalist and former Pakistan correspondent for Time Magazine; 

Humeira Iqtidar, Pakistani Senior Lecturer in Politics of South Asia at King’s College London and author of Secularising Islamists? 

Mosharraf Zaidi, former advisor to Foreign Minister Rabbani Khar as well as the EU and UN.

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Head to Head is Al Jazeera’s forum of ideas, a gladiatorial contest tackling big issues such as faith, nationalism, democracy and foreign intervention in front of an opinionated audience at the Oxford Union.  

Watch previous Head to Head shows here.