Americans grade the Supreme Court: Most dislike Voting Rights decision

http://news.yahoo.com/

Just 33 percent of Americans approve of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn a key part of the Voting Rights Act, a cornerstone of the civil rights movement aimed at preventing racial discrimination at the ballot box. An ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that 51 percent disapprove of the decision, with 15 percent undecided. Republicans are about equally divided on the decision, with large margins of independents and Democrats disapproving of it. The Supreme Court ruled last month in a 5-4 decision that the federal government cannot pre-emptively reject changes to election laws in states and counties that have a history of discriminating against minority voters. The court ruled that the formula used to decide which states merit this extra scrutiny is based on decades-old turnout and registration data, which is unfair to the states covered under it. The justices' decisions on gay rights are more popular with the public. Fifty six percent of respondents said they approved of the 5-4 decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions. A narrower margin of 51 percent of Americans said they supported the court striking down the 2008 ballot initiative Proposition 8, which means same-sex marriage will be legal in California. Most Republicans disapproved of both decisions expanding gay rights, with Democrats and independents backing them. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

U.S. Considers Faster Pullout in Afghanistan

By MARK MAZZETTI and MATTHEW ROSENBERG

Increasingly frustrated by his dealings with President Hamid Karzai, President Obama is giving serious consideration to speeding up the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan and to a “zero option” that would leave no American troops there after next year, according to American and European officials. Mr. Obama is committed to ending America’s military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and Obama administration officials have been negotiating with Afghan officials about leaving a small “residual force” behind. But his relationship with Mr. Karzai has been slowly unraveling, and reached a new low after an effort last month by the United States to begin peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar. Mr. Karzai promptly repudiated the talks and ended negotiations with the United States over the long-term security deal that is needed to keep American forces in Afghanistan after 2014. A videoconference between Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai designed to defuse the tensions ended badly, according to both American and Afghan officials with knowledge of it. Mr. Karzai, according to those sources, accused the United States of trying to negotiate a separate peace with both the Taliban and their backers in Pakistan, leaving Afghanistan’s fragile government exposed to its enemies. Mr. Karzai had made similar accusations in the past. But those comments were delivered to Afghans — not to Mr. Obama, who responded by pointing out the American lives that have been lost propping up Mr. Karzai’s government, the officials said. The option of leaving no troops in Afghanistan after 2014 was gaining momentum before the June 27 video conference, according to the officials. But since then, the idea of a complete military exit similar to the American military pullout from Iraq has gone from being considered the worst-case scenario — and a useful negotiating tool with Mr. Karzai — to an alternative under serious consideration in Washington and Kabul. The officials cautioned that no decisions had been made on the pace of the pullout and exactly how many American troops to leave behind in Afghanistan. The goal remains negotiating a long-term security deal, they said, but the hardening of negotiating stances on both sides could result in a repeat of what happened in Iraq, where a deal failed to materialize despite widespread expectations that a compromise would be reached and American forces would remain. “There’s always been a zero option, but it was not seen as the main option,” said a senior Western official in Kabul. “It is now becoming one of them, and if you listen to some people in Washington, it is maybe now being seen as a realistic path.” The official, however, said he hoped some in the Karzai government were beginning to understand that the zero option was now a distinct possibility, and that “they’re learning now, not later, when it’s going to be too late.” The Obama administration’s internal deliberations about the future of the Afghan war were described by officials in Washington and Kabul who hold a range of views on how quickly the United States should leave Afghanistan and how many troops it should leave behind. Spokesmen for the White House and Pentagon declined to comment. Within the Obama administration, the way the United States extricates itself from Afghanistan has been a source of tension between civilian and military officials since Mr. Obama took office. American commanders in Afghanistan have generally pushed to keep as many American troops in the country as long as possible, creating friction with White House officials urging a speedier military withdrawal. But with frustrations mounting over the glacial pace of initiating peace talks with the Taliban, and with American relations with the Karzai government continuing to deteriorate, it is unclear whether the Pentagon and American commanders in Afghanistan would vigorously resist if the White House pushed for a full-scale pullout months ahead of schedule. As it stands, the number of American troops in Afghanistan — around 63,000 — is scheduled to go down to 34,000 by February 2014. The White House has said the vast majority of troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of that year, although it now appears that the schedule could accelerate to bring the bulk of the troops — if not all of them — home by next summer, as the annual fighting season winds down. Talks between the United States and Afghanistan over a long-term security deal have faltered in recent months over the Afghan government’s insistence that the United States guarantee Afghanistan’s security and, in essence, commit to declaring Pakistan the main obstacle in the fight against militancy in the region. The guarantees sought by Afghanistan, if implemented, could possibly compel the United States to attack Taliban havens in Pakistan long after 2014, when the Obama administration has said it hoped to dial back the C.I.A.’s covert drone war there. Mr. Karzai also wants the Obama administration to specify the number of troops it would leave in Afghanistan after 2014 and make a multiyear financial commitment to the Afghan Army and the police. The White House announced last month that long-delayed talks with the Taliban would begin in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban opened what amounts to an embassy-in-exile, complete with their old flag and a plaque with their official name, “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” But the highly choreographed announcement backfired, with Afghan officials saying the talks gave the insurgents undeserved legitimacy and accusing the Obama administration of negotiating behind Mr. Karzai’s back. To the surprise of American officials, Mr. Karzai then abruptly ended the negotiations over a long-term security deal. He has said the negotiations would not resume until the Taliban met directly with representatives of the Afghan government, essentially linking the security negotiations to a faltering peace process and making the United States responsible for persuading the Taliban to talk to the Afghan government. The Taliban have refused for years to meet directly with Afghan government negotiators, deriding Mr. Karzai and his ministers as American puppets. There have been other points of contention as well. Meeting with foreign ambassadors recently, Mr. Karzai openly mused that the West was to blame for the rise of radical Islam. It was not a message that many of the envoys, whose countries have lost thousands of people in Afghanistan and spent billions of dollars fighting the Taliban, welcomed. The troop decisions are also being made against a backdrop of growing political uncertainty in Afghanistan and rising concerns that the country’s presidential election could either be delayed for months or longer, or be so flawed that many Afghans would not accept its results. Preparations for the election, scheduled for next April, are already falling behind. United Nations officials have begun to say the elections probably cannot be held until next summer, at the earliest. If the voting does not occur before Afghanistan’s mountain passes are closed by snow in late fall, it will be extremely difficult to hold a vote until 2015. Of potentially bigger concern are the rumors that Mr. Karzai, in his second term and barred from serving a third, is trying to find a way to stay in power. Mr. Karzai has repeatedly insisted that he plans to step down next year. The ripple effects of a complete American withdrawal would be significant. Western officials said the Germans and Italians — the two main European allies who have committed to staying on with substantial forces — would leave as well. Any smaller nations that envisioned keeping token forces would most likely have no way of doing so. And Afghanistan would probably see far less than the roughly $8 billion in annual military and civilian aid it is expecting in the coming years — an amount that covers more than half the government’s annual spending.

Obama to discuss economy with Black Caucus

President Barack Obama will meet Tuesday with black members of Congress about the economy and other issues. The White House says Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus will discuss economic issues, immigration, implementation of Obama's health care law and voting rights. It's the first meeting between Obama and the caucus since the Supreme Court last month stripped a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, who chairs the caucus, called it one of the worst days in U.S. history. A caucus spokeswoman says all 43 members are scheduled to attend. The meeting comes as Obama is seeking to shift focus back to the economy and an immigration overhaul after two recent foreign trips and global crises that have diverted attention from his domestic priorities.

Former President George W. Bush praises President Obama on counterterrorism and immigration reform

http://www.nydailynews.com/

Former President George W. Bush had kind words for his successor Sunday, praising President Obama’s push for immigration reform and his tough counterterrorism policies.

“I think the President got into the Oval Office and realized the dangers to the United States, and he's acted in a way that he thinks is necessary to protect the country,” Bush said during a taped interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”“Protecting the country is the most important job of the presidency,” Bush added, in response to a question about whether he felt surprised that Obama had kept many of the counterterrorism programs put in place during his own administration. Obama has come under criticism following the disclosure that the National Security Agency has continued to implement cellphone and Internet data surveillance programs created by Bush.The former President also said he felt encouraged by the progress of the comprehensive immigration reform bill being pushed by the White House and passed in June by the Senate. “It looks like immigration, you know, has a chance to pass," Bush said about the bill’s prospects in the House. “The reason to pass immigration reform is not to bolster a Republican Party — it's to fix a system that's broken.""It's very important to fix a broken system, to treat people with respect and have confidence in our capacity to assimilate people," Bush said. "It's a very difficult bill to pass because there's a lot of moving parts. The legislative process can be ugly. But it looks like they're making some progress,” he said. Last month the Senate passed the much-discussed bill, which would give about 11 million people in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship, but it faces uncertain prospects in the House, where Republican lawmakers have criticized the legislation.

Excessive use of force during Gezi protests should be punished

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights has said the excessive use of force during the Gezi protests should not go unpunished. “All instances of excessive use of force by the police must be fully investigated and adequately punished,” said Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights at the end of a five-day visit to Istanbul and Ankara, during which he discussed the Gezi Park protests and other human rights issues. The commissioner recalled that, according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the failure to effectively investigate the misconduct of security forces was a human rights violation in itself, and that Turkey had been condemned on numerous occasions by the court precisely for this reason. The commissioner had received serious allegations of human rights violations committed by law enforcement forces against demonstrators, backed up by witness accounts, photos, videos and forensic evidence, as well as the number of deaths and injuries over the course of the events. Most of these reports concerned excessive and improper use of tear gas, and ill treatment by police at the time of apprehension. On the other hand, members of the government and security forces considered the use of force proportionate in view of the actions of marginal groups hijacking the demonstrations, except for isolated incidents which are under investigation. “The only way to bridge this gap in perceptions, and to allow the healing process Turkey needs, is to conduct independent, impartial, and effective investigations with the involvement of victims into all allegations of misconduct by security forces, in accordance with the clear guidelines of the Strasbourg court. Given Turkey’s track record before the court, this requires a novel approach and determination by all relevant actors,” said the commissioner. The commissioner added that those demonstrators who resorted to violence must obviously also face the consequences of their actions, but said it must be the absolute priority of every democratic state to safeguard the trust of their citizens in law enforcement by combating impunity.

Turning on the Lights in Pakistan

By KATHARINE HOURELD | REUTERS

KARACHI, Pakistan — Since Pakistan’s biggest electricity company was privatized, its headquarters has been looted, its employees kidnapped and its boss nearly arrested by the government. Despite all of that, it is regarded as a roaring success. Power cuts lasting 12 hours a day or more have devastated the Pakistani economy. The loss of millions of jobs has fueled unrest in a nuclear-armed nation already beset by a Taliban insurgency. The only city bucking the trend is the violent metropolis of Karachi, Pakistan’s financial heart — and that is thanks to Tabish Gauhar and his team at the Karachi Electricity Supply Co. “It has consumed every ounce of my energy,” Mr. Gauhar, 42, said in an interview. “But we have helped millions of people.” The new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won an election in May partly because it had promised to fix the power cuts. Now many are wondering whether the Karachi utility’s successful privatization will be repeated elsewhere. Pakistan’s power companies share similar problems. Workers are often corrupt, and influential families rarely pay bills. The government sells power below the cost of production but pays subsidies late or not at all. Plants cannot afford fuel. At the state-run Peshawar Electricity Supply Co., the majority of workers are illiterate, most new hires are relatives of existing staff members, and 37 percent of the power generated was stolen, according to a 2011 audit funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Karachi Electricity Supply had all the same problems when the Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital bought a controlling stake in 2008. Mr. Gauhar and his Abraaj team decided to slash the work force by a third, cut off nonpayers and destroy illegal connections. The moves started a small war. Employees who had been laid off offered to work for free because they had made such fat kickbacks. When management refused, thousands of protesters ransacked the company’s headquarters. They camped outside for months. Gunmen attacked Mr. Gauhar’s house. Workers crossed picket lines every day, hunkered down on the floors of police cars. More than 200 employees of the utility were injured. “We felt very lonely then,” said Mr. Gauhar, who moved from chief executive to chairman of Karachi Electricity Supply earlier this year. “When I used to visit one of our injured employees in the hospital, it was hard for me to look them in the eye.” Many in the populist pro-labor government vilified the power company. Later, legislators tried to arrest Mr. Gauhar on charges that he had not attended subcommittee meetings in the capital. After the protests dissipated, Karachi Electricity Supply’s next problem was making customers pay. More than a third of the company’s electricity was stolen in 2009. Those who got bills often ignored them. One wealthy patriarch said he could not possibly start paying because his colleagues would think he had no influence left. Karachi Electricity Supply started cutting off those who did not pay their bills. When a transformer burned out in an area with high theft, the company asked for two months’ worth of payment from the area’s residents before replacing it. The company divided up the city of 18 million. Areas where 80 percent of people pay bills now have no regular power cuts. Areas with high loss — often crime-ridden, sweltering slums — have long power cuts. Karachi Electricity Supply is widely hated in such places. Muhammed Fayyaz, who works as a driver, says his neighborhood often has as much as 10 hours of cuts per day. Summer temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), and protests are frequent. “People block the main road and throw stones at passing vehicles,” he said. Mr. Fayyaz lives in a high-theft area. Stealing power is easy. Makeshift wires with metal hooks festoon Karachi Electricity Supply’s lines in the sun-baked streets. Some lead to roadside businesses. Others head into the distance atop lines of makeshift bamboo poles. “We clean them up, but in five minutes they are back again,” said Muhammad Siddiq, a manager at the utility. Local gangs control the illegal lines. Power company workers who remove them are often attacked. Ten were taken hostage in a single occurrence last month. A mob attacked Mr. Siddiq’s office. Some slums are held by the Taliban or gangs, and Karachi Electricity Supply workers cannot even enter. They are experimenting with licensing powerful local businessmen to collect bills and cut off nonpayers. But the painful changes have begun paying dividends. Last year, the company made its first profit in 17 years. Theft has fallen 9 percent in four years. Half of the city, including two industrial zones, does not have daily power cuts. “It has made a big difference to my business,” said S.M. Muneer, whose leather and textile factories employ thousands. “I cannot run a textile factory on a battery from my car.” Not everyone is happy. Shortages of natural gas and maintenance problems still cause long power cuts. Customers who do pay bills suffer if their neighbors do not. Many cannot afford the bills. To improve customer relations, the Karachi utility gives free power to hundreds of charity schools and provides uninterrupted or subsidized power to 18 big public hospitals. It has also built new call centers, connections and power plants. The gleaming Chinese-built natural gas plant at the Bin Qasim Port in Karachi can generate 560 megawatts. But Pakistan rarely has enough natural gas for the plant to work at full capacity. Karachi Electricity Supply blames that on nationwide gas shortages, but Sui Southern Gas Co., of which the government owns 70 percent, says that the Karachi power company owes it $500 million. Karachi Electricity Supply disputes the assertion that the figure is that high and says it is offsetting the payment against outstanding bills from government entities that total $720 million. “We’ve still got problems,” said Syed Nayyer Hussain, the Karachi company’s new chief executive. “But at least we’ve started.”

OPEN LETTER TO Mr. Imran Khan & CM Pervez Khatak :Who were doing sanitary workers jobs in Pakistan before independence?

http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/

By Faisal George

First of all – I am thankful to My Christian Community who shared this news, as many of us feel shy of sharing such news and talks, because of the hatred we get from the Pakistani Muslim Community. Secondly, I am not addressing to some or any specific community – I will write as an overall community of which we call Humans. So, please – before starting to write, I apologize early of using some of the harsh words which can hurt someone’s feelings but do not imply my words upon you. Before 1947 (Partition), the situation was different when only Hindus and Muslims were living together – all the Sanitary works or in easy words (dirty works) were done by Muslims in their densely populated lands and by Hindu Shudars in their lands, similarly in today’s KPK all the Pusthoons were doing all the dirty work before partition. But when the Missionaries (Christians) arrive in India and they conquered the whole land (India) then at that time many Hindus and Muslims converted to Christianity and those Christians started running the Churches, Cathedrals, Mission Schools, Colleges and Universities etc (I do not want to go in details, the list will be very long) with the help of the foreign Christians and after partition still these Missions are running in Pakistan and India by our local people. Ok – now coming to the point, in India the situation is different and there constitution too. So, let us discuss only Pakistan. Even till the late 60s the situation was very different in Pakistan (East and West) in Municipal Corporation more than 90% were Muslims and 10% were Hindu, Sikh and Christians. But after 70s when the Muslim Spiritual Leaders (Maulanas and Maulwies etc) started putting hatred in Muslim Communities against Minorities and especially in General Zia-ul-haq’s regime then the Muslims started a crusade against minorities because they were taught that they are the only true people on the face of the earth the rest is rubbish, so everything changed the minorities were thrown out from their white-collar jobs, their villages and lands were burnt and many people were hanged till death. So the minorities and especially Christians left with nothing because Hindus and Sikhs went to India but us (Christians) – we were left in the middle of nowhere, so our people forced to do the Sanitary works, because all Christian Colleges, schools and many other running departments were taken by the government of that time and our children were forced to stop education, so what than left behind is to do something for the living and from there it all was started and till now the pressure (crusade) of the Muslim Community increases on us and we are still forced to do the sanitary work. Now – I will start with my own personal experiences! Presently, I am living in Saudi Arabia – and working as Network / System Administrator in Computer House Marat, my cell # +966 56 531 2659. Why I am writing this all – if someone has any doubt he can contact me or can check my firm on the Internet. Because I am going to tell you real figures and about my Pakistani Muslim friends who are working in Baldia (Municipal Corporation), region Riyadh. You can check on the internet that more than 50% of the Pakistani Muslims are working in Municipal Corporation in Riyadh (cleaning streets, take the dustbins in front of every home empty them in another truck twice a day and all kinds of dirty works) you can also check the pictures available on the Internet. The person who takes my dustbin was telling me that he told his family in Pakistan that he is working in some good place but basically he does everything as Municipal Corporation people do in Pakistan. So – I was amazed at his talk that a Pakistani can do anything in other countries from cleaning till …. But in Pakistan he only does corruption. So, our Dear leader Mr. Imran Khan and Mr. Khatak Sahib please correct your statistics and have some mercy on our Minorities. We (our youth) do not need a Quota in Municipal Corporation but we need the Quota in Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Higher Government Organizations. Waiting for the comments and ready to answer any question? To Be Continued…. And really, I was amazed - that how badly Saudis treat our Pakistani Labor, why? Everyone knows... Saudis are thousand times better than our Pakistani Muslims, as I was also a victim of the hatred of our Pakistani Muslim Community when I was working in Islamabad and Lahore in different companies and firms on good posts. But when I compare working in Pakistan or in Saudia - the things are 100% different. My Saudi Boss (kafeel) he is just like friends - we sit together, we do lunch together - but he never mentioned any hatred sentences, as I used to hear from our community. So, why is it so - and why it happens with us only in Pakistan, I will write in more detail later The same situation – I have seen in Russia, when I was studying there Pakistani Muslims were washing clothes, cleaning etc and when I went to Malaysia, I stayed there in a hotel for one month, all labor was Pakistani, similarly in Thailand, I went to eat in a restaurant the cleaners were Pakistani. So, it means that if in Pakistan the will increase the salary of the people working in Municipal Corporation i.e., 40,000 or 50,000Rs. Per month I assure you that in Pakistan there will not be a single Christian working in such posts, all posts will be taken by the Muslims – if you do not agree, ask our government to do this experiment just for one month and see the change, it means Pakistanis can do anything for money. This is my experience and this is what I have seen….

PAKISTAN: Brainwashed: 2 arrested for attacking woman polio worker

Police on Sunday arrested two men for attacking a polio worker in Sahiwal. The injured worker was taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital, where doctors later said she was out of danger. The said she would be discharged from the hospital on Monday (today). An FIR was lodged with the Chichawatni police against the two men. Police said the polio worker, 23, who was assigned to the anti polio vaccination in Chichawatni, visited the house of Ziaullah Jutt to administer vaccine with a colleague. When Jutt entered the room, he began to hit her. He accused her of being a part of a US plot to give children a vaccine that caused mental retardation. When she tried to flee, Jutt and his brother Abrar Jutt ran after her. They caught her and dragged her by the hair into the streets shouting that “she was helping non Muslims to harm Muslim children”. Her colleague informed police and tried to get neighbours to stop the men. When police arrived, the brothers fled. They were arrested after a three-hour chase. Neighbours said that the brothers both taught at seminaries in nearby villages and used to give lectures on teachings of the Holy Quran in different villages and rural areas.

The Burnt ''MALALAS'' of Balochistan

The Baloch Hal

The 16, June 2013 was a day for severe suffering for the parents in Balochistan, when they were receiving burnt dead bodies of their daughters, whilst the rest of the world was gifting flowers to their fathers on world father’s day. Even as fathers with immeasurable pain and anguish were trying to identify their daughters’ dead bodies those had been burnt in 15th June’s suicide attack in students bus of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, The only women university in the city of Quetta with 3000 female students, established in March 2004. The bloody incident occurred on 15th June when about 40 students and teachers from English, Mathematics and other departments were in the bus, waiting to go home after classes. It was the last day of their examination and that was regular day ,though, usually SBK remains off but that day due to papers it was on. A Woman bomber got in the bus and detonated her causing the extensive damage and killings. Twenty-two women were injured by the powerful blast. After the attack when the injured were shifted to the Bolan Medical Complex, a male suicide bomber and other heavily armed militants struck the building and fired indiscriminately. In result of multiple strikes death toll rose to 26. The students who could not escaped martyred in the bus were identified as Shagofta Jamali, Reyana Aurangzaib, Seyda Noor-ul-Hain, Sajila Shajahan, Mevish Asif Bangulzai, Seydtahia Bibi, Sadaf Murad Baloch, Abida Baloch, Soman Magasi, Zehra Ahmed Kakar, Nadia Durani, Hirah Javid Rajpot. At least 12 people including four militants, four nurses and the deputy commissioner of Quetta were killed in the nearly four hour’s siege of the complex where the injured students were brought for treatment. The banned sectarian militant Organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for 15th June attacks on the bus and at the Bolan Medical Complex, counting them attacks for a raid against the group by security forces. The attack on the students is a clear message for the people of Balochistan, that already backward province in all sphere of life is clearly been occupied by religious extremists, allegedly given freehand by the secret agencies of the state. No doubt, more than 1000 people from Hazar community have been killed and thousands injured in the suicide attacks in Balochistan, mainly, in Quetta city. Prior to this the attacks were carried out against the Hazara community, whereas this time the victims were not from Hazara Community but Students of SBK women University and Suni Muslims. The attacks on Hazara community and Students are condemnable. The question rises on the freedom of religious extremists in Quetta city and it ratifies the allegations of victims of this religious extremism, that they are encouraged by the state patronized elements. It is being thought-out whether the state has failed, it is blackmailed by extremists or deliberately it is planned to now start killing Baloch female students to frighten others to give-up their education career. According to a lecturer and some students of the institution the dead students and injured ones belonged to middle class families and some of them are daughters of daily waged workers, who are now unable to bear their medical expenses. Balochistan, with the smallest population with a poor literacy rate is marked for backwardness; educating female is not less than a dream. The education backwardness or poor development is because of unequal opportunities and deficient interest of federation. Though it is claimed that tribal system is the biggest hurdle in the way of development of Baloch yet, the tribal people have always been part of government and pampered babies of establishment. On the other hand the religious groups have been creating obstacles for the development of not only female education but also education of male. The female students, who were attacked, belonged to far flung areas of Balochistan. The courage of their parents must be eulogized who sent their draughts to get education because their daughters are also models for other women in Balochista. In fact, the students who are getting education in Balochistan are the Malalas of this land, Malalas Yousaf Zai is famous for her struggle in female education in tribal areas, On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus and she received international attention .But the questions raise why the national and International human rights organizations are silent on this incident, which extraordinarily supported Malalas case. The international human rights organizations , media groups are rally to be censured who claim to be human rights defenders but their silences on the burnt Malalas in Balochistan becomes questionable. Even UN secretary general sufficed only with a statement against ugly attack. It becomes responsibility of state to ensure protection of common people; apparently we witness failure of state in the protection of common people, mainly, the female where development of a state is contingent to the development of women. The horrible extremism must come to an end now. The Amnesty international, Human Rights Watch, Asian human Right, and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan should not consider it enough only reporting the violence but they ought to pressurize state to bring the perpetrators to the book. I conclude my write-up with poem of Nausheen Qambrani , a well-known Baloch poetess and an English language lecturer at the Sardar Bahdur Khan Women University in Quetta, She has written this poem after being in process of identifying the burnt dead bodies and losing her students.

The history dried, religions melted… Wisdom burnt, civilizations buried… Lord of darkness dances around Spaces tremble on the evil’s sound, O’ killer of innocence, you turn to existence, Look your face in the blood of mirror, You find yourself just a pagan, May be a Shia, may be a christen Follower of wit or follower of love, Follower of dove… Had you felt the touch of earth, You’d have known the pain of birth

Bilour again in the run for Peshawar seat

The Awami National Party has announced its candidates for national and provincial assemblies’ seats for by-election to be held on August 22. A meeting chaired by provincial president of the party Senator Afrasiab Khattak announced that Ghulam Ahmed Bilour will be contesting election from NA-1 Peshawar, Daud Khattak from NA-5 Nowshera, Sitara Ayaz NA-13 Swabi, Ahmed Bahadar Khan PK-23 Mardan and Hussain Ali Shah PK-42 Hangu. The party has decided not to field candidate on PK-27 and support brother of an independent MPA Imran Mohmand who was killed in a suicide attack in Mardan last month, a press release said. The meeting was also attended by Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Senator Baz Mohammad Khan, Aqil Shah, Ghulam Mustafa, Sardar Hussain Babak and district presidents and general secretaries. It nominated coordination committees to work for success of the ANP candidates in the polls. On this occasion, Mr Afrasiab said that their workers would thwart any attempt of rigging in the election. He claimed that May 11 elections were engineered and the ANP faced defeat at the hands of agencies with the support of establishment. The ANP leader said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led coalition government in the province had failed to come up to the peoples’ expectations. He wondered why the PTI was undecided to ask Asad Qaisar to choose between the posts of KP Assembly Speaker and provincial head of the party. He said that Mr Qaisar should know that he could not be party president and Speaker at the same time.