Monday, December 30, 2013
Lenin Statue Toppled, Reinstated in Ukraine
Syria: US, Europe begin to realize they need Assad to stay in power - expert
Sun ‘flips upside down’ while reversing magnetic poles
The sun has undergone a “complete field reversal,” with its north and south poles changing places as it marks the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24.
“A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event,” NASA’s Dr. Tony Phillips said in a statement issued on the space agency’s website.
“The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle,” Stanford solar physicist Phil Scherrer explained.
While it may seem like the event could have catastrophic repercussions for the galaxy, its effects are actually more subtle, mostly interfering with space exploration.
“Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth,” said Phillips.
Both the aurora borealis and its southern counterpart - the australis - are set to become broader, more frequent, and more visible now that the event has reached its final stage.
The process has been slow and steady, with solar physicist Todd Hoeksama telling Metro: “It’s kind of like a tide coming in or going out. Each little wave brings a little more water in, and eventually you get to the full reversal.”
Scherrer explained earlier in December that “the sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the South Pole is racing to catch up.”
The impact of the process has been extremely far-reaching.
“The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the 'heliosphere') extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space,” Phillips explained.
NASA has released a visualization of how the switch occurs. Beginning in 1997 and ending in 2013, it shows the green (positive) polarity switching with the purple (negative) polarity.
Solar Cycle 24 has been viewed as quite unpredictable. First, it came late by about a year, with extremely low activity recorded throughout 2009. This prompted astronomers to shift a predicted 2012 peak to 2013. Scientists say the cycle is already among the weakest reported and if the trend continues, the Earth might see another Little Ice Age.
Obama and Clinton Top ‘Most Admired’ List Again
President Barack Obama is the most admired man in America for the sixth year in a row, and Hillary Clinton is the country’s most admired woman, according to a survey out Monday.
Each year Gallup asks Americans to name the living man and woman they most admire. In 2013, 16 percent named Obama, a strong showing but down significantly from the 30 percent Obama drew in 2012. Former President George W. Bush and Pope Francis each earned 4 percent while Bill Clinton and Billy Graham got 2 percent each.
Hillary Clinton earned the Most Admired Woman designation for the 18th time, more than any woman in Gallup’s history. The 15 percent she earned in 2013 is down from 21 percent last year. Behind Clinton is Oprah Winfrey with 6 percent, and Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin, with 5 percent each.
Read more: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Top ‘Most Admired’ Survey | TIME.com http://swampland.time.com/2013/12/30/obama-and-clinton-top-most-admired-list-again/#ixzz2p1HSuqxv
Women in Saudi Arabia are caught in a system of gender apartheid
Author Elham Manea
No professional or vocational training, no visits to the doctor, no lawsuits without male approval: Yemeni-Swiss political scientist Elham Manea bemoans the plight of women in Saudi Arabia.I will never forget the words of my father when he turned down an offer to work at our Yemeni embassy in Saudi Arabia in the mid-80s. He simply said: "I have a daughter!" His words came back to me this October 26, when more than 60 Saudi women's activists got behind the wheels of their cars protesting against a ban on women driving in the kingdom. Their demand symbolized in a nutshell what it means for a woman to live in Saudi Arabia: perpetual minors in a system of gender apartheid. Saudi Arabiais the only country in the world that outlaws this right of driving. And yes, depriving a woman of the right to drive serves the purpose of controlling her physical mobility and hence independence. But focusing on the right to drive misses the whole spectrum of the issue. Systematically treated as perpetual minors Women in the Kingdom, a 2008 Human Rights Watch report maintains, are systematically treated as perpetual minors through a system instituted by the state that infringes on their basic human rights. In other words, every adult Saudi woman, regardless of her economic or social status, must obtain permission from her male guardian to work, travel, study, seek medical treatment or marry. She is also deprived of making the most trivial decisions on behalf of her children. This system is supported by the imposition of complete sex segregation, which prevents women from participating meaningfully in public life. Sex segregation is strictly monitored by the government's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (the religious police) in all workplaces with the exception of hospitals. Unlawful mixing between sexes leads to the arrest of the violators and criminal charges. The brutality of the members of this commission and the unequal punishments men and women receive when committing the same 'crime of mixing' was best described by the Saudi writer Samar Al Muqren in her novel "Ni'saa al Munkar - Women of the Abominable," published in 2008, which she wrote based on her work as a journalist. Reinforcing discriminatory gender roles The ramifications of this system of male guardianship and sex segregation are felt by Saudi women in their daily lives. In the field of education, the general framework of education is tailored to reinforce discriminatory gender roles and what the authorities consider as suitable to "women's nature and future role as wives and mothers." In addition, women's and girls' access to education depends on the good will of male guardians, whose permission is essential for their educational enrollment. Sex segregation undermines women's right to equality in education, especially when female university and professors are often relegated to unequal facilities with unequal academic opportunities. In the field of employment, the Saudi labor code, which came into force in 2006, repeated a former stipulation decreeing that in line with article 4 of the code, which requires adherence to Sharia, "women shall work in all fields suitable to their nature" (article 149). The result is that Saudi women continue to be marginalized almost to the point of total exclusion from the Saudi workforce. Both public and private sector require female staff to obtain the permission of a male guardian to be hired, and employers can fire a woman or force her to resign "if her guardian decides for any reason that he no longer wants her to work outside the home." In jobs in clothing stores, amusement parks, food preparation and as cashiers, guardian permission is no longer required. However, strict sex segregation in the workplace is imposed and female workers are prohibited from interacting with men. The male guardianship system jeopardizes Saudi women's fundamental right to health. Depending on the religious orientation of those working in hospitals, health officials may require guardian's permission for a woman to be "admitted, discharged, or to administer a medical procedure on her or her children." A recent example occurred this July: After a car chase by religious police left the driver dead and his wife and daughter in critical condition, King Fahd Hospital in Baha postponed amputating the wife's hand because she had no male legal guardian to authorize the procedure. Women under this system are denied their legal capacities, rendering them unable to make decisions for themselves. And as legal minors their ability to access and engage with the courts and the government is severely constrained without a guardian. Some of these limitations border on absurdity; mostly they have grave consequences. For instance, women were granted in 2001 the right to an independent identification card; yet this right, which is optional, still requires a guardian's permission to be granted! Excuse me, may I sue you? More gravely, it is nearly impossible for victims of domestic violence to independently seek protection or obtain legal redress because the police often insist that women and girls obtain their guardian's authorization to file a criminal complaint, even when this complaint is against the guardian! Moreover, even when women manage to file a domestic violence case, often the measures taken against the perpetrators are flimsy and shameful. For example, in May, Jeddah's Summary Court convicted a man for physically abusing his wife to the point of hospitalization, but sentenced him to learning by heart five parts of the Quran and 100 sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Finally, Saudi Arabia applies a personal law system based on the Hanbali School of Islamic Jurisprudence, the most strict and literal among the Sunni schools of jurisprudence. The result is that a male guardian has the unilateral authority to marry off his female ward without her consultation and to dissolve a marriage he deems unfit. Given the effects of this system of guardianship and segregation on women's lives, it comes as no surprise that Saudi women activists have been the most vocal against this system of apartheid. In their shadow report prepared for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2008, they argued that this principle of "imposing the guardianship of a male over the woman all her life in Saudi Arabia is linked to the inferior look to women and her traditional role in society and family." Alliance between king and radical clerics The perception is certainly inherent in the Wahabi Salafi interpretation of Islam. What makes it relevant though is the Saudi regime itself, because its state's apparatus is the one faithfully implementing Wahabi gender doctrines. An alliance between the Saudi dynasty and the Wahabi establishment has meant that in return for legitimacy, the religious establishment will have a free hand in applying its conservative and reactionary religious provisions in areas of social norms and women's lives. This has made the difference between Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Arabian Peninsula, including Yemen. Survival for the kingdom has meant dependence on the Wahabi religious establishment for legitimacy. It may introduce some measures to make life "less restricted" for women, but the core of "inferiority" still remains the same. The kingdom is also very wary that women's demands for change may turn to an overall social movement for political change. Given the kingdom's shameful records in citizenship and human rights, democracy and good governance, the fear is realistic. Subsequently, a real change in Saudi gender apartheid system is not likely in the near future. In the meantime, women will continue to bear its consequences - living as perpetual minors segregated by law from their male fellow citizens. It seems my father was right after all: Life for a woman is better elsewhere.
Syria's Assad urges fight against Saudi religious ideology( Wahhabism )
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Monday called for a battle against Wahhabism, the political and religious ideology embraced by the Saudi government.
The comments came amid ongoing tensions between the two countries, which are fiercely opposed to each other.
"President Assad said that extremist and Wahhabi thought distort the real Islam, which is tolerant," state news agency SANA said.
"He underlined the role of men of religion in fighting against Wahhabi thought, which is foreign to our societies," the agency said.
Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative Muslim tradition, which is predominant in Saudi Arabia and applied to both religious and political life.
Assad's remarks during a meeting with religious clerics from Lebanon come a day after Saudi King Abdullah accused the Syrian leader of "destroying his country".
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_30/Syrias-Assad-urges-fight-against-Saudi-religious-ideology-2084/
Volgograd blasts: IOC 'confident' Games will be safe
Russian Foreign Ministry: terrorist acts in Volgograd organised by single pattern
At Least 14 Killed in Second Volgograd Suicide Bombing
The Times names Vladimir Putin 'Person of the Year'
Polling Comes to Afghanistan, Suggesting Limit to Sway of President Karzai
CNN Poll: Afghanistan war arguably most unpopular in U.S. history
Support for the war in Afghanistan has dipped below 20%, according to a new national poll, making the country's longest military conflict arguably its most unpopular one as well. The CNN/ORC International survey released Monday also indicates that a majority of Americans would like to see U.S. troops pull out of Afghanistan before the December 2014 deadline.Just 17% of those questioned say they support the 12-year-long war, down from 52% in December 2008. Opposition to the conflict now stands at 82%, up from 46% five years ago. "Those numbers show the war in Afghanistan with far less support than other conflicts," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "Opposition to the Iraq war never got higher than 69% in CNN polling while U.S. troops were in that country, and while the Vietnam War was in progress, no more than six in 10 ever told Gallup's interviewers that war was a mistake." The U.S. timetable for Afghanistan calls for the removal of nearly all troops by roughly this time next year, and that can't come fast enough for the vast majority of Americans. Just over half would rather see U.S. troops withdrawn earlier than December 2014. Only a quarter say that America should still have boots on the ground in Afghanistan after that deadline. Fifty-seven percent say the conflict is going badly for the U.S. and only a third say America is winning the war in Afghanistan. "Independents have a much gloomier view of the war in Afghanistan than Republicans or Democrats," Holland said. "That may be because a Republican president started the war and a Democratic president has continued it, so there may be some residual support among people who identify with either party." Some 2,300 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the war began in the autumn of 2001. The U.S. is quickly drawing down its forces in Afghanistan. If a bilateral security agreement that would keep up to 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the end of 2014 isn't signed in the near future, the U.S. could withdrawal all forces from Afghanistan at the end of next year. The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International between December 16 and 19, with 1,035 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points. The discontent evident in the CNN poll is also seen in two other national surveys conducted earlier this month. Two-thirds of those questioned in an ABC News/Washington Post poll said the war has not been worth fighting, and an Associated Press/GfK survey showed 57% saying the U.S. did the wrong thing in going to war in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Billions of dollars have no bearing on poor's fate: Report
Afghanistan: 1st snowfall in Kabul brings joy & hassle
Afghanistan: Ashraf Ghani emerges as leading candidate in pre-election survey
According to a new survey report, Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai has emerged as the leading candidate as compared to other presidential candidates.
Glevum Associates and its Afghan research partner AIRC in its latest survey report ‘Afghan Presidential Pre-Election National Opinion Survey Findings’ revealed that Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzay currently has a 4-point lead over his nearest rival Doctor Abdullah Abdullah (29% compared to 25%, respectively).
According to a statement released by Glevum Associates, the survey was conducted in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, with around 2,500 Afghans questioned about the upcoming elections.
The survey report consists feedbacks of 2,148 likely voters, which was conducted between November 27 and December 3, 2013 using face-to-face interviews.
Glevum Associates in its statement said that the sampling margin of error is + 2.11 with a 95% level of confidence. For subgroups, the margin of error is larger.
The survey report also revealed that Abdul Qayoom Karzai is next most popular with 8%; Professor Sayaf is at 6%; Zalmay Rasool 6%; and Rahim Wardak 5%. All other candidates are below 5% at this time. About one in ten likely voters (11%) remain undecided.
A large majority (89%) say that they would not vote for a candidate with a history of involvement in corruption. Similarly, 78% indicate that they would not vote for a candidate with a history of human rights violations, according to the survey report.
Glevum Associates in its survey report also stated that a majority of those surveyed (59%) would or might vote for a female candidate for President. Fully 82% would or might vote for a candidate who asked a woman to run as a vicepresident. Half (50%) think it important that a presidential candidate supports women having
more freedom.
In the meantime, 49% of the respondents insist that the new president must address the security issues, while 17% insisted on economic issues and only 6% of the likely voters said that the new president must address education.
The respondents were also questionned regarding the relations of the candidates with the United States, where a larger majority (71%) would vote for a candidate who wants positive relations with the United States.
Meanwhile, a sizable minority (40%) considers it important that candidates should want to keep some international troops in Afghanistan after 2014, according to the survey report.
Pakistan: Rs 15 lacs spent on President’s portraits from national treasure
Around Rs 15 lacs was spent from national treasure on the portraits of the President Mamnoon Hussain which would be put on the President House’s lounge walls.
Meanwhile, the presidential spokesperson said that it is not good to spend so much money on the portraits, adding that the issue would be investigated.
Mamnoon Hussain as a president of Pakistan hired a photographer Qamar Pervez from Lahore for the photo shoot.
Family members of the president also have their photo shoot from the same photographer which costs Rs 1.5 lacs.
Five Killed, Including Two Children, In Separate Pakistan Attacks
Pakistan Needs a Mandela
One of the world's most celebrated heroes passed away this week. Nelson Mandela was known for his persistent and heroic struggle against the South African apartheid -- a system of racial segregation enforced through legislation after World War II -- under which the rights of the black population were severely curtailed. Social discrimination was wanton, ugly and frequently violent. Mandela's stance is best stated in his quote: "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Many Pakistani friends on social media shared Mandela's inspiring quotes in celebration of his grand legacy. They showed great admiration for the man who spent his life fighting for the equal rights of his people. They were in awe of his tireless struggle for the emancipation of blacks from the callous discrimination they faced in South Africa. I was happily surprised, yet confused. These were the same people who endorsed -- and continue to endorse -- the anti-Ahmadi laws of Pakistan in a recent debate. They justified the continued persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. How could a person celebrate Mandela's fight against discrimination in his society and condone the same bigotry against a community at home? How can we love the doctor and the disease he fights, at the same time? Today, Pakistan is the only country in the world to deny a section of its citizens the basic human right to identity. Ahmadi Muslims are forbidden calling themselves Muslim by the State's constitution. Through the same abuse of legislation, the state denies its Ahmadi citizens the basic freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and worship as promised by the United Nations Charter of Human Rights and the very preamble to the constitution of Pakistan. Ahmadi Muslims live under continued threat of imprisonment for "posing as Muslims" -- a vague phrase that is left to the mullah's (cleric's) interpretation and includes everything from writing 'inshAllah' (God willing) on a wedding card to sacrificing a lamb on Eid, from saying the Salam (Islamic greeting of peace) to reciting verses from the Quran. Hundreds have been rounded up for such 'crimes' since the promulgation of the anti-Ahmadi laws in 1984. While applying for Pakistan's national identity card and passport, Pakistani Muslims are routinely required to prove their 'Muslimness' by attesting to the non-Muslim status of the Ahmadis and by insulting the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. This de jure persecution comes along with its more opprobrious de facto counterpart. The hatred against Ahmadis in society is well known and well documented. Religious clerics regularly demonize the Ahmadiyya community and call for further banishment of its members. Many radical clerics openly call for the death of all Ahmadis. Ahmadis are regularly discriminated against at work places and schools. All 23 Ahmadi students enrolled in a popular medical college, for instance, were expelled in the recent past, following strong protests by right-wing student groups. Sporadic incidents of expulsions on the basis of faith are commonplace. Boycotts are routine. Posters and banners presenting Ahmadis as traitors of the country and Islam are plastered all across the country, including academic institutions, businesses, bus stops and random walls. Anything remotely linked to the Ahmadis is met with calls for restrictions and bans. The bigotry against the Ahmadis is so deep it is hard to quantify. The hatred is so widespread it cannot be measured. Reminiscent of the South African apartheid, the Ahmadi community is viciously ostracized in Pakistan today -- and has been for the last many decades. Mandela was not merely a person. He represented a noble cause. If my Pakistani friends' admiration for him is true, they have the perfect opportunity to become a Mandela of their own. All they need to do is raise their voice for equal rights and equal status of their Ahmadi citizens. They must call for the repeal of all discriminatory amendments in Pakistan's constitution and all such ordinances passed in law that take away Ahmadis' fundamental human rights. They must speak up against the rampant hatred against Ahmadi citizens and embrace them as their fellow countrymen -- equal in all regards. They must ensure an end to the never-ending hate speech and calls for violence against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Like Mandela, they must also live by his goal of a free and equal society and they must be prepared to die for it. South Africa was lucky to have him. Pakistan's own apartheid now calls for a Mandela.Kashif N. Chaudhry
Number of polio cases reach 82 in Pakistan this year
Pakistan's Shia Under Attack: Police officers killed outside imambargah in Rawalpindi
The Express Tribune News
Two police officers were killed and another injured in a firing incident in Rawalpindi, Express News reported on Monday. The officers were deployed for the security of an imambargah in the Race Course area of the city. Police said four unidentified armed men attacked the police officers. The injured – who is in critical condition – was taken to a hospital for medical assistance.
Pakistan: PTI’s road blockade attracts veiled complaints from Afghan officials
A Pakistani trade delegation’s talks with Afghan counterparts and senior functionaries were overshadowed by veiled complaints from the hosts about the ‘unpredictability’ of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s land route due to protests and insecurity.
Trade delegates, who just returned after a three-day visit to Kabul, told Dawn that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s road blockade at Peshawar had added salt to injury for Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan, making Afghans to go for other options to fulfill their import needs.
“They told us in plain words that Pakistan is no more their first option for bilateral and transit trades,” said Zahidullah Shinwari, president of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
A delegation of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, involving 21 businessmen and professionals from Karachi, Peshawar and other cities, undertook a three-day visit to Afghanistan from December 23.
Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director of the joint chamber, said Afghan businessmen and officials expressed displeasure over the ongoing road blockade at Peshawar.
“They complained that the road blockade in the name of stopping supplies to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has proved a last nail for the normal trade, adding to their costs of doing business with or via Pakistan,” said Mr Sarhadi.
The echoes of complaints about obstacles to normal trade because of the blockade made rounds during the delegation’s meetings with Afghans during the visit, according to delegates.
“We were not feeling comfortable about easing restrictions on trade with Pakistan because of troubles at home,” said Mr Shinwari when asked about the level of confidence with which they raised their issues with Afghan authorities in the face of PTI’s ongoing road blockade against drone strikes since Nov 23.
He said the road protests had done more harm than good to strengthen trade ties between the two countries.
According to Mr Sarhadi, the delegation, led by the chamber’s co-chairman Zubair Motiwaala from Karachi, held meetings with senior Afghan functionaries, including the country’s vice-president Ustad Mohammad Karim Khalili, commerce minister Kargar, deputy commerce minister Muzzamal Shinwari, customs director Gul Bacha, and private businessmen.
The delegation focused on convincing the Afghans to lower import duties on Pakistani items from the existing ratio of 110 per cent. It solicited favourable treatment for visa applications by Pakistani businessmen. A case for waiving $100 fee on Pakistani containers on way to Central Asian markets via Afghanistan was also made.
Mr Sarhadi said they also suggested the Afghan authorities to construct ‘export houses’ and warehouses to help exporters save money spent on handling charges and demurrage.
On their part, said Mr Shinwari, the Afghans raised the delays in clearance of their transit trade items at Karachi. Afghans, he added, complained that delay in clearing the consignments caused them Rs200,000 to Rs250,000 additional costs on account of detention charges.
“They said that they had already diverted their transit business to Iran,” said the KPCCI chief, adding the recent road blockade had strengthened their idea of taking Pakistan as the second option for trade.
Though the senior Afghan functionaries, said Mr Shinwari, did not refer to the PTI’s ongoing road seizure, they did express their reservations tacitly.
The Afghan authorities, said the businessman, pointed out that Pakistan had subjected the transit good to Afghanistan to five different types of securities, including insurance, digital trackers and other conditions, at a time when it could not guarantee an unhindered land route for transporters.
They told the delegates, said Mr Shinwari, that they did not consider Pakistani route dependable and as a result they had already shifted 70 per cent of the transit business to Iran.
ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان جیل ٹوٹنے کی انکوائری رپورٹ پی ٹی آئی کی صوبائی حکومت نے سردخانے میں کیوں ڈالی؟
ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان جیل پر دیوبندی تکفیری طالبان کے حملے اور 253 قیدیوں کو رہا کرائے حانے والے واقعے پر جو انکوائری ٹیم قائم کی گئی تھی اس کی مرتب کردہ رپورٹ سامنے آگئی روزنامہ ڈان کے رپورٹر اسماعیل خان کی اس رپورٹ کے حوالے سے ایک خبر 29 دسمبر 2013ء کی روزنامہ ڈان میں شایع ہوئی اسماعیل خان اس رپورٹ کو “معلوم دشمن کے سامنے لاچار قانون نافذ کرنے والے ادارے،ڈی آئی خان جیل بریک عدم تیاری کا نتیجہ”کا نام دیتی ہے اسماعیل خان کا خیال ہے کہ اس رپورٹ کا بغور مطالعہ کسی بھی آدمی کی ریڑھ کی ہڈی میں سنساہٹ پیدا کرنے کے لیے کافی ہے ریڑھ کی ہڈی میں سنساہٹ پیدا کرنے والا وہ خاکہ ہے جو اس رپورٹ میں موجود ہے جس کے مطابق پولیس اور ملٹری کی پوزیشنیں بالکل حملہ آور طالبان کی پکٹوں کے سامنے تھیں جس آسانی کے ساتھ دھشت گردوں نے قانون نافذ کرنے والی ایجنسیوں کو مفلوج کیا،253 قیدی چھڑائے اور پھر اپنی قبائلی پناہ گاہوں میں لوٹ گئے اس سے تو ریاست کی کئی سطحوں پر خطرے کی گھنٹیاں بجنی چاہئیے تھیں ایک تجزیہ نگار کے مطابق یہ حملہ مختصر وقت کے لیے ٹاؤن پر قبضہ تھا لیکن کچھ کرنے کی بجائے یہ رپورٹ شیلف میں رکھ دی گئی ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان جیل پر یہ حملہ 29 اور 30 جولائی کے درمیان رات کو ہوا 20 سے 25 محسود جنگجو،ان کے پنجابی طالبان اور ازبک جنگجو ساتھی جنوبی وزیرستان سے اپنی کمین گاہوں سے نکلے اور راستے میں کسی چیکنگ کے بغیر8:30 رات کو جیل کے سامنے ٹاؤن ہال پہنچ گئے 3 گھنٹے کے اندر عسکریت پسنددوں کی 7 ٹولیوں نے جیل کے اردگرد سڑکوں اور چھتوں پر پوزیشنیں سنبھال لیں اس پکٹنگ کا مقصد سیکورٹی اہل کاروں کی رسائی یا راستوں کو سیل کرنے سے روکنا تھا شہر کے مشرقی اور مغربی حصّوں سے کسی کا جیل کی طرف آنا ناممکن بنادیا گیا تھا اس کے بعد بم دھماکے اور فائرنگ شروع کردی گئی مقصد سیکورٹی اہلکاروں کو کنفیوژ اور عام شہریوں کو ہراساں کرنا تھا جیل تک آنے والے تمام راستوں کو کاٹنے کے بعد جیل کے مرکزی دروازے کو راکٹ اور گرنیڈ مارکر توڑ دیا گیا جیل کے تمام سیل اور بیرک کھولے گئے -253 قیدی آزاد کرالیے گئے شیعہ مذھب سے تعلق رکھنے والے چار قیدیوں کو باقاعدہ شناخت کرنے کے بعد زبح کردیا گیا حملے کے بعد 25 منٹ تک ایک طالب سٹی ڈی ایس پی کا کوڈ نام طارق ٹو استعمال کرے پولیس فریکونسی پر پولیس کو چتاونی دیتا رہا اور شہر کو زمین بوس کرنے کی دھمکی دیتا رہا انکوائری کمیٹی کے مطابق جیل کے اندر تمام کاروائی 45 منٹ میں مکمل ہوئی تاہم جیل کے اردگرد پکٹنگ بنائے لوگ دو گھنٹے تک وہاں رہے حملہ کرنے والی پارٹی دربان روڈ اور آرے روڈ سے جیل تک پہنچی جبکہ کئی ایک جنگجو بنوں روڈ سے فرار ہوئےجبکہ پکٹنگ کرنے والے شہر کے اندر غائب ہوگئے تاہم اس رپورٹ میں یہ نہیں بتایا گیا کہ خاکہ میں فوج اور پولیس کی پوزیشنوں کو جس طرح سے خاکہ میں عین حملہ آوروں کے سامنے دکھایا گیا ہے انھوں نے کیا ایکشن جنگجوؤں کے خلاف لیا؟ 27جولائی کو ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان کی ایڈمنسٹریشن کو انٹیلیجنس رپورٹ ملی تھی کہ طالبان جیل پر حملے کی تیاری کررہے ہیں انکوائری رپورٹ اس حوالے سے کی جانے والی تیاریوں کی خبر بھی دیتی ہے رپورٹ میں پولیس،سول ایڈمنسٹریشن،ایلیٹ فورس کے ضلعی افسران کے خلاف تادیبی کاروائی کرنے کی سفارش کی گئی مگر ایسا کوئی کام نہیں کیا گیا پاکستان آرمی کا کہنا ہے کہ وہ اس واقعے کی اپنی انوسٹی گیشن کررہی ہے رپورٹ میں جنوبی وزیرستان پولیس کی جانب سے عسکریت پسندوں کی نقل وحرکت بارے رپورٹ نہ کرنے کو بھی ایک بڑی وجہ قرار دیا گیا ہے مگر جنوبی وزیرستان کے پولیس حکام کے خلاف کسی کاروائی کی سفارش نہیں کی گئی کیونکہ حملے کے وقت جنوبی وزیرستان آئین کی شق 245 کے تحت آرمی کنٹرول میں تھا اس رپورٹ میں پولیٹکل ایجنٹ کے کردار کو یکسر نظرانداز کردیا گیا جس کو بنوں جیل جملے کی پاداش میں افسر بکار خاص بنادیا گیا تھا ڈی آئی خان جیل پر حملے کی پیشگی اطلاع بارے چیف منسٹر کے پی لاعلمی کا اظہار کرتے ہیں لیکن کمشنر ڈی آئی خان کا 29 جولائی کو چیف منسٹر کے پی ایس او کو لکھا گیا خط موجود ہے جس میں اس حملے کے امکان اور سول ایدمنسٹریشن کی تیاری بارے خبردی گئی تھی انکوائری رپورٹ میں چیف منسٹر کے سٹاف کی کال کا ریکارڑ چیک کرنے یا فورنزک شہادت اکٹھی کرنے کا کوئی تذکرہ نہیں ہے چیف منسٹر کی بے خبری کا سبب یا تویہ ہے کہ انھوں نے صبح بریفنگ نہ لی یا ان کو ان کے پرسنل سٹاف افسر نے خبر ہی نہ دی سب سے اہم بات اس رپورٹ کی یہ ہے کہ انکوائری کمیٹی نے خبیر پختون خوا حکومت کو سفارش کی کہ وہ فوری طور پر وفاقی حکومت کو فاٹا میں عسکریت پسندوں کی تنظیموں کے ہیڈکوارٹرز کو تباہ کرنے کے لیے ٹھوس پالیسی اور اقدامات اٹھانے کو کہے اس رپورٹ کے مطابق تحریک طالبان پاکستان ایک ایسا عفریت ہے جو نہ صرف کے پی معاشرے اور قانون نافذ کرنے والے اداروں کو تباہ کررہا ہے بلکہ وہ پورے ملک کی بقاکے لیے خطرے کا سبب بنا ہوا ہے اس رپورٹ میں یہ کہا گیا ہے کہ “یہ سوچنا غلط ہوگا کہ افغانستان میں غیرملکی فوجوں کے انخلاء کے بعد حکومتی تنصیبات اور سیکورٹی اہلکاروں پر حملے بند ہوجائیں بلکہ غیرملکی فوجوں کے انخلاء سے طالبان کا نیٹو سے مقابلہ ختم ہوگا جبکہ تحریک طالبان پاکستان فاٹا میں رہے گی تو مطلب صاف ہے کہ پاکستانی ریاست اور عوام پر حملے جاری رھیں گے رپورٹ کہتی ہے کہ سیٹلڈ ایریاز میں چاہے کتنا مضبوط سیکورٹی نظام قائم کرلیا جائے حملے نہیں رک سکتے جب تک دھشت گردوں کی محفوظ جنت کا خاتمہ نہ کیا جائے اس رپورٹ کو پاکستان تحریک انصاف اور جماعت اسلامی پاکستان کی مخلوط حکومت نے ملکر سردخانے کی نظر کیوں کرڈالا؟ اس رپورٹ کی فیصلہ کن سفارشات دونوں جماعتوں کی طالبان کے حوالے سے اب تک اختیار کی جانے والی پالیسی کو ایک حماقت اور پورے پاکستان کے پرامن شہریوں کی جان سے کھیلنے کے مترادف ثابت کرتی ہیں پاکستان تحریک انصاف کے چئیرمین عمران خان اور امیر جماعت اسلامی منور حسن کیا بتاسکتے ہیں کہ ان کی کے پی میں حکومت نے ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان جیل بریک کی انکوائری رپورٹ کو سردخانے کی نذر کیوں کیا؟ آخر اتنی واضح سفارشات کے باوجود وفاقی حکومت کو خط لکھکر فاٹا میں دھشت گرد تنظیموں کے اڈے تباہ کرنے کو کیوں نہیں کیا گیا؟ تحریک طالبان پاکستان اور اس کے جملہ اتحادیوں نے ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان جیل میں جو 5 شیعہ ذبح کئے کیا اس کے بعد بھی ٹی ٹی پی کی بربریت اور درندگی میں کوئی شک رہ جاتا ہے؟ پھر پی ٹی آئی کے چئیرمین اور کے پی حکومت ٹی ٹی پی کا دفاع کس - See more at: http://lubpak.com/archives/300807?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.9trzcIXA.dpufby Aamir Hussaini
Pakistan: D.I. Khan jailbreak: damning report
IN the years that Pakistan has been mired in militancy and terrorism, there has been no dearth of detractors maintaining that it is the inefficiencies of different arms of the state — if not outright collusion — that has allowed matters to reach such a pass. This charge is hotly denied, by state representatives who say they have no part in the mess, and by a citizenry that cannot digest the levels of ineptitude on part of the leadership that this would imply. Unfortunately, there is no denying that with distressing frequency, evidence of such monumental incompetence surfaces that questions cannot but be raised about the state’s levels of political will and operational ability. In this category must be included the revelations about July’s Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak, when militants managed to free over 250 prisoners without so much as a peep from the law enforcement and security apparatus.
The report of the inquiry commission tasked with investigating the incident, the contents of which were made public by this newspaper yesterday, constitutes an indictment of the security and law enforcement agencies. It ought to have served as a wake-up call of no minor proportions at all levels. Instead, it was shelved — to the utter lack of surprise of those familiar with the head-in-the-sand approach in Pakistan. The report notes that over two dozen Mehsud militants, accompanied by several more from Punjab, Uzbekistan and other places, managed to travel all the way from South Waziristan to D.I. Khan. Once there, they set up pickets at 10 strategic locations around the prison, cutting off security and law enforcement personnel’s access to the area. Shockingly, most of these pickets were located not far from police and military checkpoints. The militants blew the prison’s gates open with rocket-propelled grenades and over the next 45 minutes or so conducted a “methodical” search of the cells and barracks, freeing prisoners and even identifying and executing four members of a minority sect. Having done so, they dispersed; some headed back to South Waziristan, others melted into the city. All this was achieved with virtually no interference from the security and law enforcement apparatus, which had in the preceding days been beefed up, according to the report.
It could be argued that a jailbreak on such a large scale would have been difficult to counter — except that not only had a similar incident taken place before, this time there was even intelligence that an attack was imminent. Clearly, no lessons were learnt from the assault in Bannu last April, claimed by the TTP, which resulted in nearly 400 prisoners being sprung from jail. Further, in the case of D.I. Khan, the civilian and security administrations had been made aware of the threat and had even made efforts to ward it off. If this was the state of preparedness of the authorities in an area which has long borne the brunt of militancy and terrorism — one that has, with great fanfare, been announced as having been brought back into the fold of the state’s writ — what the situation must be in other areas can only be guessed at. Most worryingly, perhaps, the report notes that about half an hour into the assault on the jail, a militant came onto the police wireless frequency to taunt the law enforcers and to say the city would be razed to the ground. The confidence is astounding; the image conjured is of a savvy, well-equipped militant network running merry rings around a helpless state and security apparatus.
The report refers to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan as a “Frankenstein” and warns that as long as “even a semblance of these outfits” exists, the violence will continue unabated and all strengthening of the security apparatus will be in vain. Is the state refusing to look the threat in the eye? Is it shying away from recognising the enormity of the problem? Or, even more disturbingly, is it impotent, unable to muster the strength and intelligence that the task requires? On the answer to this question hinges the future of the country.
Bilawal House clash
Balochistan: Confusing protest
So stupefying indeed it is that Balochistan's government ministers and lawmakers would be descending on Islamabad to stage protest against mounting kidnappings for ransom in the province. Isn't law and order constitutionally the provincial domain and its maintenance the provincial responsibility? Then, why are the ministers and lawmakers rushing on to Islamabad for something that they themselves should be tackling?
If there is some internecine tiff obstructing them to curb lawlessness and eliminate kidnapping, they should tackle it. If the security apparatus is not delivering, they must plug off the chinks in its armour and make it to perform. And if they think that some law-enforcement agency is not amenable to their control, they can set out to discipline it; and if not under the provincial government's writ, they can just ask for its withdrawal.
Why to run to Islamabad? Why are they itching so flutteringly to follow suit of their predecessors, who accumulated in mountains public disdain, scorn and ridicule for similar funny stunts instead of putting their act together? It was in their stint that kidnapping for ransom turned into the province's most booming industry. Nobody was safe from the grab of kidnappers. Doctors, lawyers, professors, you name it, and all were there on their hit list. Yet that ruling mob sat pretty, moving not even a finger to hobble the wicked criminals.
So much so, Hindu jewellers and businessmen, who together with Parsi merchants made up the kidnappers' choicest quarry, left the province in numbers and migrated mostly to India. Even as that could have possibly brought Pakistan internationally accusations of persecution of minorities, the mob was least pushed. More shockingly, a minister of that mob claimed publicly that his some ministerial colleagues as well as provincial legislators were involved in abductions for ransom. Although he later backtracked, when summoned to the court to testify, probably fearing vengeance and reprisals, the street listened and believed him.
The incumbents too would fare similarly in public rage and fury if they take to evasive pursuits instead of confronting the challenges confronting their troubled province headlong. Their work lies in Quetta, not in Islamabad. Their corrupt and incompetent predecessors have left Balochistan in their trail as a sprawling junkyard, with its law and order condition abysmally dismal. This isn't brought out any poignantly by the current popular discourse about Balochistan, which in itself is highly populist and motivated. The province has not just the malaise of missing persons and dumped bodies to afflict it grievously.
Scores of innocent Baloch children, women, men and elderly persons have been losing lives or limbs, unmourned and unlamented, in the blasts of improvised explosive devices that militants plant on roads and pathways in the countryside. Hundreds of Punjabi settlers have been slain and many more driven out by Baloch extremists in the Baloch region. Sindhis too are having a rough time at their hands. The Urdu-speaking migrant teachers and professional too have moved out of the province in flocks for fear of their lives after the community was targeted murderously by insurgents. Not even the Pakhtuns have been spared from this deadly chase. The grief of on this score palpably is no little. It is colossal, and heart-rending. And if it is still going unnoticed, it is because the human rights nobility, the media gentry and the political aristocracy find it not populist enough to be part of their favourite discourse. But the state cannot ignore it, nor can push it under the rug. It has to come to the rescue of the distressed, whoever or whatever the pedigree. But, for the present, the provincial government has not the adequate means to face up to this onerous job creditably.
Only a small patch of the province's territory is under the police writ. Not equipped any awesomely is the police even to secure this swathe for its residents' safety of lives and security of their businesses and properties. The rest of the province is wholly under the policing of levies. Say whatever apologists want, this force in official uniform is undeniably just a private militia of sardars, chieftains and their scions, nothing less, nothing more. It practically is mere additional force given to these feudal barons at the state expense to fatten their own private armies and beef up their muscle power to fight out their own feuds and fracas more bloodily.
The situation thus stands gravely aggravated for the incumbents to tackle it any effectively. And their task could become all the more harder, given the low morale which the paramilitary FC must be in believably for the wholesale castigation it has been subjected to on one pretext or the other over these times. The incumbents would hence be only on a very sticky pitch if they do not understand that what they are actually to do. Kidnappings definitely cannot be put paid by paying visit to Islamabad or, for that matter, to Timbuktu. The task necessarily requires the raising of a credible, dependable and trustworthy security apparatus. And that requires deep thinking, meticulous planning and hard decisions. Hence, the incumbents, both ministers and lawmakers, should better stay back and bang their heads together how to do it and start working on it.
Blast in Peshawar kills woman, two children
The Express Tribune NewsA blast in Peshawar killed three people including a woman and two children, Express News reported on Monday. The blast, which took place at a house, left another child injured. The child was taken to a local hospital for medical assistance. The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) reached the blast site and initial investigation revealed that explosives were planted inside the house. Previous blasts
VBMP Long March reaches Sakrand town of Sindh
http://balochwarna.com/The long march of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons completed its day 17 of march toward Islamabad on Sunday and reached to Sakrand town of Sindh.
Imran intent on destroying the country, says Bilawal
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