Sunday, July 27, 2014
Netanyahu says Hamas 'violating its own ceasefire'
Israel and Hamas have resumed fighting despite tentative offers to extend a humanitarian truce since the end of an initial 12-hour temporary ceasefire on Saturday.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire that it had itself called and vowed that Israeli operations in Gaza would continue. "They are violating their own ceasefire. Under these circumstances, Israel will do what it must do to defend its people," Netanyahu told the news network CNN. Earlier, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas agreed to halt firing from 11:00 GMT in response to a request from the United Nations. Speaking to FRANCE 24 from Gaza City, journalist Jesse Rosenfeld said a Hamas spokesman had told him that the movement had accepted the latest truce specifically because it had been brought to them by the UN, which had not been the case before. However, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his group could not coexist with Israel as long as it occupied Palestinian land.
"We are not actually fighting the Jews because they are Jews," he said in remarks broadcast Sunday. "We fight the occupiers."
"I'm ready to coexist with the Jews, with the Christians and the Arabs and non-Arabs," he said. "However, I do not coexist with the occupiers."
On Saturday night, Israel endorsed a separate ceasefire plan promoted by Egypt that has not been accepted by Hamas, but Netanyahu was dismissive about Sunday's latest UN truce call. Netanyahu told CNN that Israeli forces would continue operations to attempt to dismantle Hamas' cross-border tunnel network and destroy its stocks of rockets. "Israel is doing what any other country would do and the US would do if any percent of your country were under fire and you have 60 or 90 seconds to get to a bomb shelter." "I would say we want to stop firing rockets for sure. We want to dismantle the tunnels, the terror tunnel network we uncovered," he said. " I don't know if we'll have 100 percent success. Our soldiers are dealing with it now." Rosenfeld said bombardment by Israel's air force and navy was continuing on Sunday afternoon. "It seems there is no more ceasefire," he said from Gaza City. Conditions for truce FRANCE 24's Jerusalem correspondent Gallagher Fenwick remarked that recent diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the latest fighting, which has left more than 1,000 people dead after 19 days, had failed to include the main actors in the confrontation. "There were no Egyptians, no Palestinians, and no Israelis" at Saturday's meeting of international foreign ministers on the Gaza crisis in Paris, he said. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has leaked the latest ceasefire proposal, drafted by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris. "Many Israeli papers are condemning it, saying Kerry has turned its back on Israeli demands and acceded to Hamas's," Fenwick reported.
On the Hamas side, tactical considerations may have dictated the preference for the terms of the UN-sponsored proposal of a daytime truce. "This would allow people to get out, resupply, let out some steam and hunker down again" during the day, said Jesse Rosenfeld in Gaza. "The fact is that Hamas has been striking far more Israeli casualties at night," he added. "It is more beneficial to them to have ceasefires during the day, than it is during the night when they carry out a far more intense guerilla campaign."
The Israeli army on Sunday confirmed firing a mortar round into a Gaza UN shelter where 15 people died on Thursday, but denied killing anyone at the site. Briefing journalists on the findings of an internal military enquiry into the incident at a UN school in Beit Hanun, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said militants "in the vicinity" of the school fired mortar rounds and anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces. The army responded with mortar fire, sending a stray round into the compound. "A single errant mortar (round) landed in the courtyard of the school," he said. "The courtyard was completely empty" at the time of the incident, he added. "We reject the claims that were made by various officials immediately following the incident, that people were killed in the school premises as a result of (Israeli army) operational activity," he added. Gaza emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said 15 people died in the blast and at least another 200 people were injured. "Many have been killed -- including women and children," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement, adding that he was "appalled". Lerner suggested the victims may have been hit in fighting raging elsewhere and "brought to the compound after injury" for first aid or shelter.
To punish Russia, Europe must be prepared to suffer
By Nina Dos Santos
For months, the West has struggled to take a strong stand against Russia for its incursion into Ukraine. And while Europe's leaders are acutely aware of the threat to peace on their Eastern flank, the countries with the most at stake have, time after time, seemed unable to present a united and resolute front. But the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has become a game changer -- a watershed moment which most concede would be too dangerous to let go.
And now, as Europe prepares to finally take decisive steps, its chiefs will have to recognize that, if they are to be effective, they will also have to hurt their economies. As a block, the European Union exports about 100 billion euros worth of goods and services to Russia and takes in roughly 200 million of the latter's imports. That is money that matters, for sure, but it's not Russia's role as a consumer that would affect Europe most. Rather, it's Russia's function as a major supplier of energy. Should Russia cut its gas to the West in response, the loss in European production would more damaging than the hit its trade balance would take. Just as the region is trying its best to revive a stagnant economy, attempting to mend a fragile debt market and tackle high unemployment, alienating a major trading partner next door is a risk Europe's ministers are understandably loath to take.
And some countries have more to lose than others.
With its billion dollar contracts for Mistral warships -- a deal which keeps some 1,000 Frenchmen and women employed in a country with a 10% unemployment rate -- France is Europe's largest supplier of arms to Russia. Will victims' families ever get justice? The UK also provides more minor military hardware and sells cars to Russia. With its own gas fields in the North Sea and the potential in future years to harness its shale oil, the UK does have other energy options. However if the EU hits Russian state-owned banks, London's financial center would suffer while its luxurious residences in the capital would also become less appealing to the swathe of oligarchs who have relocated to Britain of late.
For Germany, curtailed trade with Russia could really bite. And considering as the former is Europe's biggest economy the implications would be felt well beyond its borders.
More than 6,000 German firms operate in Russia, pouring in billions of dollars in foreign direct investment. Some 300,000 German workers depend on their country's trade with Russia for their livelihoods.Sectors like the automotive industry, defense and engineering which have haemorrhaged jobs since the 2008 crisis would be hit hard once again.
So, are such sanctions really worth it and would they work?
To answer this question it depends on what Europe hopes to achieve. Russia's economy was already headed for a recession before Europe and the U.S. started talking tough. Some $90 billion of capital is likely to flee its markets this year, according to the conservative estimates of Russia's central bank which was forced to pull a recent bond auction due to unfavorable market conditions. By tightening the noose over Russia's banks, Europe hopes not only to turn the country's key industrialists away from president Putin but also to limit the Kremlin's ability to fund its banks on the international markets, meaning Russia would have to dig deep into its currency reserves and undermine the value of the Ruble -- a currency which has up until now been surprisingly unruffled. In the longer term -- say in three to five years-- bans on equipment and so-called sensitive technologies to the energy sector could hamper Russian plans to further exploit its massive oil and gas reserves. Presumably the EU hopes that for everyone's sake the crisis surrounding Ukraine will be solved by then. But in the meantime, if the EU intends to send the strong message it needs, its leaders must reconcile their wish to make a point with the potential to lose a few points off of their GDP.
President Obama Could Be Impeached, White House Aide Says
A top aide to President Obama said it's possible that Obama could be impeached by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
House Speaker John Boehner's decision to proceed with a lawsuit against the president has "opened the door" to the third presidential impeachment in the nation's history, Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer told reporters at a Friday breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
"Impeachment is a very serious thing that has been bandied about by the recent Republican vice presidential nominee and others in a very un-serious way," he said, referring to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. "We take it very seriously and I don't think it would be a good thing."
Pfeiffer was quick to add that "no one has alleged anything that is even six universes from what is generally considered" to be an impeachable offense.
Boehner has dismissed calls for Obama to be impeached. His spokesman, Michael Steel, called Pfeiffer's comments "a fundraising exercise for Democrats."
"We have a humanitarian crisis at our border, and the White House is making matters worse with inattention and mixed signals," Steel said. "It is telling, and sad, that a senior White House official is focused on political games, rather than helping these kids and securing the border."
Later, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said "prominent voices in the Republican party" have called for impeachment, but was hard-pressed to name one other than Palin. "I think there are some Republicans, including some Republicans that are running for office, hoping that they can get into office so they can impeach the president," he said.
A CNN/ORC poll released Friday shows 35% of Americans favor impeachment, which is about the same support for efforts to impeach Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. Pfeiffer noted that a majority of Republicans -- 57% -- favor impeaching Obama.
Impeachment is the bringing of charges against a president or federal judge by the House of Representatives. A president can only be removed after a trial on those charges by the Senate.
Boehner has chosen a less drastic approach with a plan to sue Obama over his decision to delay enforcement of a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide health insurance. That plan passed the House Rules Committee Thursday, clearing the way for a vote on the House floor.
Pfeiffer said the lawsuit won't have an impact on how the president uses his executive authority. In fact, he said, the threat of lawsuits validates that Obama's executive actions are "far from the small ball that some have accused it of being."
Blast in Quetta
PPP protests against power outages outside K-Electric office
Pakistan: Troops deployment federal govt failure
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar’s proposal to hand over Islamabad’s control to the army for three months has proved that the government has completely failed to secure the lives of 1.5 million people living in the city. This also raises the question as to how this government can ensure security of the whole country. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah said this while talking to the media here on Friday. He said the proposal of the PML-N’s top minister had hurt him and the nation. Shah said he had been advising the government not to create hurdles in the scheduled long march of Imran Khan. He said such an intention of the government would create hurdles in the march and cause problems for democracy. Khursheed Shah also hoped that Imran Khan will not create any uproar on that day because 14th August is a day to share happiness and celebrate it with political and religious zeal. He said Imran Khan had made it clear that he intended to hold a political rally not a sit-in. To a question, Shah said he was totally unaware about Imran Khan’s new statement of playing a Test match not a 20/20 match. He said by changing his strategy, Imran Khan would develop a tug of war between both political parties, which would be bad for democracy. He reiterated that there was no chance of a martial law and the PPPP would not allow any effort to derail democracy. Calling Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza his sister, he said she has been misled by someone on the plea of NRO as there was no article of martial law imposition written in the NRO contract. Referring to Tahirul Qadri, Shah said his revolution was washed away when he met and held talks with Punjab governor in the plane. He said revolutionary persons never talk with the government and mentioned that Shaheed Z A Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto brought revolutions instead of bowing before dictators. Shah told a questioner that Pervez Musharraf will leave Pakistan today or tomorrow. Meanwhile, Khurshid Shah distributed clothes among poor women in a programme arranged by the Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz Foundation, Sukkur. Online adds: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Friday said troop deployment in the federal capital testified to the federal government’s inability to maintain peace and harmony. Talking to media persons here, he said if the government was not able to protect 1.5 million people of the federal capital then how it would run the country.Khursheed warned that the federal government’s move to stop Imran Khan’s long march will be dangerous for democracy. He said PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri’s revolution had died. Asim Yasin from Islamabad adds: The PPP on Friday opposed the handover of Islamabad to the army under Article 245 of the Constitution.“The decision is charged with serious consequences for the people and the country, as it means not only the failure of the civil administration, but also total suspension of the jurisdiction of higher courts. Worse still, in practical terms it also means setting up of military courts which cannot be permitted,” PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said in reaction to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s announcement that the federal capital’s security will be handed over to the army. Babar said the PPP had always opposed the invoking of Article 245 for calling the army in aid of civil authority whether it was Karachi or other parts of the country.“The situation in Islamabad is not worse than in any other part of the country to warrant inviting the security establishment to fix it by vesting in them powers beyond judicial oversight,” he said. He said the government had failed to recognise that if today it was Islamabad, then tomorrow Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, indeed the whole country may have to be handed over to the army under the Article 245 and practically dispense with the high courts. He said the decision to hand over the federal capital to the army will also send disturbing signals to the world about the prevailing security situation in the country. Babar said the decision reflects the penchant of the PML-N government to lean on the security establishment for everything, be it meter reading or tracing of ghost schools or appointing monitors and was most unfortunate. “And let us not forget the security apparatus once called in aid of civil power under this article might want to linger on even after it is no longer needed. No one wants to relinquish power or abdicate a position of authority and influence in which their actions are not called into question in the courts,” he added. He reminded the PML-N government of the Charter of Democracy (MoD). He said four articles of the charter (articles 32 to 36) called for concerted actions to address distortions in the civil-military relations. “The decision to hand over Islamabad to the army will, instead of correcting the existing huge imbalance, further tilt the balance against the civilian, political and judicial structures of the country,” he said.http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/
Obama: Embrace 'Economic Patriotism'
http://www.voanews.com/
U.S. President Barack Obama has criticized what he calls "a small but growing group" of big corporations that are fleeing the country to avoid paying taxes.
The U.S. leader said in his weekly address Saturday the companies are keeping most of their business inside the United States, but they are "basically renouncing their citizenship," declaring they are based somewhere else to avoid paying "their fair share" of taxes.
Obama said a loophole in the tax law makes this action "totally legal."
The president called on Americans to embrace "economic patriotism" that lowers the corporate tax rate and closes wasteful loopholes.
In the Republican address, Congressman Steve Daines of the western state of Montana said President Obama is waging a war on the middle class. Daines called on the Senate to pass House-approved jobs bills. The White House and Senate are controlled by Democrats; the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans.
Bill Allowing Americans To Unlock Cellphones Passes House, Heads To Obama
Approving a bill that has already passed the Senate, the House of Representatives has given its consent to legislation that lets U.S. consumers "unlock" their cellphones, rather than having them remain linked to specific service providers.
President Obama says he will sign the bill into law, applauding Congress today for taking "another step toward giving ordinary Americans more flexibility and choice, so that they can find a cellphone carrier that meets their needs and their budget."
The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., was passed by a vote of 295 to 114 Friday; the Senate version, championed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was approved 10 days ago.
The legislation repeals a recent ruling by the Library of Congress that found copyright laws could be strictly enforced over "locked" phones because of evolution in the cellphone marketplace.
But critics had said the rule hurt several groups of consumers: those who wanted to link their phones to overseas carriers when they traveled; those who wanted to switch carriers; and those who wanted to sell phones they've bought through a wireless company.
After today's House vote, Laura Moy, staff attorney at advocacy group Public Knowledge, said the new law would boost competition in the wireless market and "improve the availability of free and low-cost secondhand phones for consumers who cannot afford to purchase new devices."
She also said "it will keep millions of devices out of landfills."
The new law would re-establish an exemption to a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that prohibited unlocking a phone. The bill also directs the Librarian of Congress to review whether the exemption should apply to tablets and other devices as well as phones.
In February 2013, a public petition to legalize "unlocking" phones blew past the White House's 100,000-signature threshold that requires a response; later that year, President Obama asked the Federal Communications Commission to legalize the practice.
As NPR's Laura Sydell has reported, the FCC agreed on terms with wireless carriers in December, in a deal that would require companies such as AT&T and Verizon to unlock a phone from their networks, but only if a customer asks them to — and only if their contract has ended.
The earthquake in Gaza
BY AVI ISSACHAROFF
The destruction in the Strip is striking, but will it achieve deterrence or a thirst for revenge?I’ve known Ashraf for 14 years. When I began working as a reporter on Arab affairs, he accompanied me on my journeys to Gaza until, in 2007 if I’m not mistaken, Israeli reporters were forbidden to enter the Strip out of fears for their safety. Still, in those seven years we managed to accumulate quite a few shared experiences. There were cases in which my life was in danger, when Ashraf always knew how to steer me to safety, along with lighter experiences, visits to his family’s home in Beit Hanun, Iftar meals and more. In the past few days we had been in continuous contact and he told me his family had left their town near the Israeli border for fear of being hit and, like tens of thousands of others, had moved to a different neighborhood deeper in the Strip. On Saturday, several hours into the humanitarian truce, I hoped he wouldn’t call me. Somehow I knew that if he called during those hours, it meant something had happened to the house. And the call came.
“The house is gone,” he said. “My house is gone and my sister’s which was next to it. They’ve destroyed it completely. Completely.”I heard the sorrow in his voice and didn’t know what to say, how to console him. “Where am I going to go back to? I have no idea what to do now. We’re here at a friend’s house and I have nowhere to go back to. Everything that was in the house is gone: the furniture, the bedroom, the mementos, the children’s playthings. Do you understand? It’s all in ruins. I have nothing to do now. I’m in the street.” “Ten days ago the Israeli army told us to leave for Gaza City. I heard the message, took my wife and nine children and moved to an UNRWA school. The entire family, 60 people all told. My parents, myself, my sister, my brothers, their children with their grandchildren and my children with my grandchildren. At the UNRWA school we sat for three days but the agency had nothing to give us. So I moved south. For ten days I was far away from the house. Last night I heard the army had hit the al-Masri family area hard in bombings. Today they said there is a truce. So I went out there and found it all destroyed. Nothing’s left. All three stories are gone. It looks as if the house was hit in a bombing and then a bulldozer came and finished the job. All of our things were there. Why did they destroy my house? In the first war [Operation Cast Lead in 2009] and the second [Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012] we left the house but no one came to shoot from near our homes because they knew not to mess with us. If someone did it this time, why am I being punished? I blame Israel. No one else.” “I don’t have the ability to rent a house now. I can’t buy or rent one. We have no money for food. We are peaceful people, we’ve never had a problem. I’ve worked with Israeli and foreign reporters for many years. You know me, you’ve been at our house. Why did they destroy our house?” Dahiyeh in Gaza And indeed, the pictures that reached us Saturday from Shejaiyah, Beit Hanun, and the rest of the other neighborhoods confirmed what we already knew: Palestinian civilians are paying the heaviest price during this adventure that Hamas chose to embark upon. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed, dozens of bodies were discovered in the ruins, and tens of thousands of families were left without homes, without shelter. It looks like an earthquake. The residents, as stunned from the horror as the journalists who reached the area, are trying to digest, to understand, to figure out what to do now. If Israel wanted to create the “Dahiyeh effect,” modeled on the bombing of the Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon in 2006, then it has succeeded, perhaps even more than expected. The problem is that deterrence is fluid, abstract. At a certain point, if you strike the enemy too hard, he can become indifferent to the suffering, and may just develop a deeper hatred and desire for revenge. With close to 1,100 dead and 5,700 injured, according to Hamas’s health ministry, the consciousness of Gaza has indeed been seared. The Gaza population (a big portion of which, it must be said, supports Hamas) curses the day this escalation began. It is possible that the mass destruction will cause Hamas to think twice before it embarks on another armed conflict against Israel in Gaza. But the extent of the damage could lead to public pressure on Hamas not to stop fighting until it receives something tangible in return. Hamas seems more apathetic than Israel about the suffering of people in Gaza. The head of the organization’s political branch, Khaled Mashaal, who lives in Qatar in a fancy hotel, preaches from his distant perch that the military wing, and the people in Gaza, should continue fighting. He went further and said he was ready to die to make sure the siege on Gaza doesn’t continue — easy to say when you’re far from the Israeli shells and the danger, and close to the mini-bar and the waterpipe. There was a reason, it seems, that Mashaal chose not to stay in Gaza after his visit in December 2012. In Gaza, the organization does not look on this kindly. Last Tuesday, according to Palestinian and Arab sources, the Hamas leadership agreed to a ceasefire according to the American parameters. What held up the organization’s response, and ultimately led to the rejection, was Mashaal. Senior Hamas officials in the Strip, it turns out, knew that Mashaal’s speech on Wednesday would be extreme and would reject Kerry’s offer of a seven-day ceasefire. In their despair (and possibly because of technical reasons unrelated to Mashaal’s pronouncements), they turned to a well-known Hamas member, who tried to convince Mashaal not to be over-zealous. That didn’t work either. The individuals who have been in touch with Mashaal in the past week tell a sad story of a corrupt and hedonistic leader who pushes his people not to agree to a ceasefire, all with Qatar’s backing and encouragement. Up to this point, the perception had been that the military wing is the problem, and didn’t want to accept a ceasefire. According to Palestinian and Arab sources, however, it is Mashaal, or “Abu al-Walid,” along with the Qataris, who has been preventing a stop to the fighting. Read more: The earthquake in Gaza | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-earthquake-in-gaza/#ixzz38ftOsp6S Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
Destroy Hamas? Something worse would follow: Pentagon intel chief
Acid attacks cast shadow of fear over women in Balochistan
35-year-old Noor Jehan, an acid attack survivor lies on a bed in Quetta’s largest medical facility, the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital. Only a few days ago, her misery made headline news when armed militants sprayed acid on her face in Quetta’s Killi Kamalo area.
Dressed in the traditional Balochi dress, she speaks in measured sentences to narrate her ordeal.
“I was shopping for Eid when suddenly somebody sprayed acid on my face,” Noor Jehan tells Dawn.com as her voice breaks.
At least six women were injured in Balochistan in two separate acid attacks in Quetta and Mastung three days back.
Like Noor Jehan, the other victims, including two teenage girls, are also admitted to BMC’s Burn Ward.
“Thank God my dress saved me from the acid,” she said.
Surrounded by their grief-stricken parents and frightened family members, the acid attack victims had covered their faces.
According to doctors, three per cent of Noor Jehan’s face was damaged in the attack. She had agreed to speak to Dawn.com after covering her face and declined to be photographed.
“Now I pray for immediate recovery,” Noor Jehan said, asking whether “the treatment will bring back my identity”.
The acid had burnt her shawl and clothes.
An eye witness, who requested anonymity, told Dawn.com that the women cried for help in the aftermath of the attack.
“The terrified women were screaming in the market after the acid attack,” he recalled.
He revealed that some other women also suffered acid wounds but they preferred not to make it public and come to the hospital for treatment.
“The shopkeepers selling cosmetics pulled down their shutters,” he said.
The tortured movement still haunts Noor Jehan and other acid victims. Besides, burn injuries, they also suffer from psychological traumas.
“I cannot forget that horrific moment,” she said.
Growing radicalisation and militarisation in society has undermined women's rights in Balochistan, plagued by growing sectarian violence and an on-going insurgency.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s least developed province, has remained under the grip of violence for over a decade and has claimed thousands of lives.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the two acid attacks, while law enforcement appears to be clueless about the identity the assailants.
“This is a barbaric act and the perpetrators must be brought to book,” Home Minister Balochistan Mir Sarfaraz Bugti told Dawn.com.
"Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Malik Baloch has ordered an inquiry into the acid attacks. A team comprising of senior police officers have been tasked to probe into the incidents," said the home minister.
“Such barbarians will not be spared,” he said in a statement issued to the press. Bugti said there was no room for such kinds of incidents in Islam and under Baloch traditions and norms.
The attacks have drawn severe criticism from women and human rights groups who have expressed outrage over the unfolding events in Balochistan.
Visibly, the entire society was shaken in the aftermath of twin attacks at women shopping for fast-approaching Eid in Balochistan.
“Fundamentalists want to intimidate and terrorise us,” said Agha Hassan Baloch, the Central Secretary Information Balochistan National Party.
He expressed these views during a protest demonstration inside the hospital where the women were being treated.
Dozens of Baloch nationalists gathered inside the hospital and chanted full-throated slogans against government and law enforcement agencies for their failure to protect the women in Balochistan.
“We are a secular society, fundamentalism is being imposed on us,” Baloch lamented.
Activists said that during the last three years in Balochistan, there have been seven acid attacks on women.
“It is an alarming situation indeed,” Haroon Dawood, the Resident Director of Aurat Foundation, a non-government organisation said.
In all incidents, the attackers used a syringe to spray acid on the women's faces.
Dawood stated that women were injured in acid attacks in Kalat, Dalbandin and Quetta earlier.
“The assailants are still at large”, he added.
In all cases, the victims’ families have dispelled the impression of any personal dispute or enmity.
“We have no dispute with anyone,” Manzoor Ahmed, the brother of one of the victims told Dawn.com.
Ahmed sits along with other grief-stricken relatives outside the Burn Ward of BMC where their loved ones were admitted.
“My sister is innocent and she had covered her face while shopping,” Ahmed said.
Mercifully it appears that the injuries sustained by those targeted are not of a very severe nature.
But the message is terrifying for women, who are being made fair game if they choose to venture independently into the public domain.
Ahmed stated that unknown militants had distributed pamphlets in Killi Kamalo where the women were attacked, warning the women not to come out of their homes.
“Nobody considered it a serious threat,” he added.
“Their faces are partially injured,” Dr Hidayatullah, a doctor on duty inside Burn Ward of BMC told Dawn.com.
However, the facilities inside the ward were not up to the mark. Poor cleanliness coupled with inefficient staff was further compounding the problems of patients.
Such incidents have spawned horror among the women in Quetta and other restive parts of Balochistan.
Women in Mastung, Kalat and some parts of Quetta were forced to cover their faces or get accompanied by a male family member while walking in markets in the incidents aftermath.
Attacks such as these have now forced women to be confined to their homes in troubled areas of Balochistan.
Islamabad’s only cinema sealed for screening movies at ‘Iftar time’
The district administration on Saturday sealed Cineplex, the only cinema in the federal capital located at Centaurus Mall, and arrested five of its employees for screening movies at ‘Iftar time’.
The administration closed the cinema for an indefinite period under the Ehteram-i-Ramazan Ordinance, which prohibits screening of movies during Iftar and Taraveeh.
The fun-starved people of the federal capital expressed their fear that they would be deprived of entertainment during Eid days as Islamabad has no other cinema.
“Following a complaint by a citizen, we raided the Centaurus shopping mall and sealed Cineplex for showing film during Ramazan,” said Abdul Sattar Esani, additional deputy commissioner general.
Sources said during the raid fear and panic gripped the people visiting the Mall for Eid shopping.
It is relevant to note here that it was only entertaining place for around two million citizens of the federal capital.
“At the moment, I can’t say when the cinema will be reopened. Besides fine, the cinema could be sealed for a maximum of six months under the ordinance,” Mr Esani said and added that cases against the arrested employees of the cinema would be registered under the ordinance.
Islamabad used to have three cinemas: Nafdec, Melody and Sitara Market, which were closed due to various reasons, including riots, in which the Melody Cinema was burnt.
“Being a citizen, I have serious concerns about the closure of the cinema. I will request the authorities concerned to open the cinema for Eid, as in the federal capital we have no alternative source of entertainment,” said Mohammad Ishtiaq, a frequent customer to the Centaurus Shopping Mall.
Despite repeated attempts, the Cineplex administration could not be approached for comments.
Afghanistan: Audit Process Postponed Until Fourth Day of Eid
Why India and China Matter to America’s Afghanistan Drawdown Plan
Among the most consistent themes we heard throughout our travel in India and China was anxiety over developments in Afghanistan. While not a huge surprise—after all, there’s plenty of concern about Afghanistan’s trajectory here as well—it was useful to be reminded how New Delhi and Beijing perceive their interests, to hear their misgivings about U.S. drawdown plans, and to learn more about how India and China are attempting to manage the situation as it unfolds. Afghanistan’s history as a hub for anti-Indian terrorism (with Pakistani sponsorship), location bordering energy-rich Central Asia, opportunities for trade and investment, and longstanding cultural ties all motivate Indian interests there. In at least some Indian policy circles, there is also a tendency to read the impending U.S. military departure from Afghanistan as part of a broader shift: the waning of U.S. power and influence, or at least the narrowing of Washington’s global ambition. The contrast with New Delhi and Beijing is sharp; in both of those rising Asian giants, uncommonly powerful, energetic leaders are now at the helm. Resigned to the reality that U.S. forces are leaving Afghanistan sooner than many Indians think wise, New Delhi has agreed in principle to work with Russia to provide weapons to friendly Afghan forces. The crucial unanswered question is whether India will choose to make the arrangement operative. Since 9/11, Washington has always opposed Indian military involvement in Afghanistan, fearing that Pakistan would interpret it as a provocative escalation and start another round of externally-sponsored civil war. But as U.S. forces withdraw, sooner or later Washington will lose its effective veto power over Indian policies. If Afghan politics and security start to unravel, India will make its own calculations about the costs and benefits of greater intervention, whether by overt or (given the apparent predilections of its new national security advisor, Ajit Doval) covert means. India is, however, doing more than just hedging against downside risk in Afghanistan. For years, New Delhi has contributed to a range of Afghan development projects. These include private sector efforts to encourage Indian investment in Afghanistan and to improve Afghan capacity to promote foreign investment on its own. As valuable as these private initiatives may be, they remain small-scale; all involved are painfully aware that they float on the waves of broader political and security developments. China, like India, fears the consequences of an unstable Afghanistan and worries that the U.S. commitment will come up short. The good news is that Beijing has come to perceive that its near-term aims in Afghanistan are consistent with those of the United States: fighting terrorism and avoiding a relapse into civil war. To the extent the two sides disagree, it is over the specific sources of threat. China, for instance, views Uighur separatists as a more pressing concern than al-Qaeda. Beijing appears remarkably eager to cooperate with the United States in Afghanistan. After years of standing aloof from regional multilateral efforts, Beijing is now deeply invested in the Istanbul Process, a ministerial-level dialogue that brings together all of Afghanistan’s neighbors and major donors. Having decided to host the next conference in Tianjin, Chinese officials are eager to make it a meaningful event. They plan to link the group’s efforts to China’s own long-term scheme to develop a “New Silk Road” running through Central Asia all the way to Europe. The success of that grand project will hinge, especially in the conflict-prone territories of South and Central Asia, on whether China learns how to translate its massive foreign investments into local good will and sustainable development. To this end, some Chinese officials suggest Beijing is trying to expand its regional expertise and capacity to understand the political dynamics in developing states. Such efforts have been spurred, in part, by China’s disastrous failure to anticipate Myanmar’s 2011 decision to suspend the Myitsone Dam project. With billions of dollars of Chinese investments already on the line in Afghanistan (and tens of billions planned for the vaunted China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), progress along these lines cannot come fast enough. The more immediate problem for Beijing is Afghanistan’s ongoing political uncertainty. Without a new government in Kabul, Chinese officials have already been forced to postpone the Istanbul Process conference once, and are likely to have trouble holding to the presently scheduled date of August 29, given anticipated delays in Afghanistan’s election audit and negotiations between the presidential contenders. Beijing’s hope—one undoubtedly shared by U.S. officials—is to use the meeting as a means to confer the international community’s blessing on the next Afghan government. One way to deal with the problem would be to invite both of Afghanistan’s presidential contenders to Tianjin, but Chinese officials are clearly reluctant to move ahead with what would be a diplomatically cumbersome alternative. The news that Beijing has appointed a new special envoy for Afghanistan provides further evidence of China’s decision to play a more active role in Afghanistan. It also suggests that Beijing intends to strike a more conciliatory and constructive posture on its western periphery than it has on its eastern front. For the United States, this is a welcome, if belated, development, and one worth encouraging.Daniel Markey
Taliban Making Military Gains in Afghanistan
Taliban fighters are scoring early gains in several strategic areas near the capital this summer, inflicting heavy casualties and casting new doubt on the ability of Afghan forces to contain the insurgency as the United States moves to complete its withdrawal of combat troops, according to Afghan officials and local elders. The Taliban have found success beyond their traditional strongholds in the rural south and are now dominating territory near crucial highways and cities that surround Kabul, the capital, in strategic provinces like Kapisa and Nangarhar. Their advance has gone unreported because most American forces have left the field and officials in Kabul have largely refused to talk about it. The Afghan ministries have not released casualty statistics since an alarming rise in army and police deaths last year. At a time when an election crisis is threatening the stability of the government, the Taliban’s increasingly aggressive campaign is threatening another crucial facet of the American withdrawal plan, full security by Afghan forces this year. “They are running a series of tests right now at the military level, seeing how people respond,” one Western official said, describing a Taliban effort to gauge how quickly they could advance. “They are trying to figure out: Can they do it now, or will it have to wait” until after the American withdrawal, the official added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the coalition has officially ceded security control. Interviews with local officials and residents in several strategic areas around the country suggest that, given the success of their attacks, the Taliban are growing bolder just two months into the fighting season, at great cost to Afghan military and police forces. In Kapisa, a verdant province just north of Kabul that includes a vital highway to northern Afghanistan, insurgents are openly challenging and even driving away the security forces in several districts. Security forces in Tagab District take fire daily from the Taliban, who control everything but the district center. Insurgents in Alasay District, northeast of Kabul, recently laid siege to an entire valley for more than a week, forcing hundreds of residents and 45 police officers to flee. At least some of the local police in a neighboring district have cut deals with the Taliban to save themselves. In the past month, a once-safe district beside the major city of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, has fallen under Taliban control, and a district along a crucial highway nearby is under constant threat from the Taliban. South of Kabul, police forces in significant parts of Logar and Wardak provinces have been under frequent attack, to deadly effect. But there are only anecdotal reports to help gauge just how deadly the offensive has been. The Afghan defense and interior ministries stopped releasing casualty data after a shocking surge of military and police deaths in 2013 began raising questions about the country’s ability to sustain the losses. By September, with more than 100 soldiers and police officers dying every week, even the commander of the International Security Assistance Force suggested the losses could not be sustained.By AZAM AHMED
Asked for figures on the latest security force casualties this year, both ministries refused to provide data or confirm accounts from local officials. But there are signs that the casualty rate is already likely to be at least as bad as it was last year.
In one important indicator, the United Nations reported a 24 percent rise in civilian casualties for the first half of this year compared with a similar period from 2013, hitting a new peak since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began tracking the data in 2009. More significantly, for the first time, the highest number of those casualties came from ground fighting between the Afghan forces and insurgents rather than from roadside bombs.The United Nations found that more fighting was taking place near populous areas, closer to the district centers that serve as the government seats. Ground violence also seemed to increase in areas where coalition bases had been closed, as the Taliban felt more emboldened to launch attacks without fear of reprisal. One important effect of those gains, particularly where police forces are being driven away, is that the Taliban are establishing larger sections of lawless territory where they can intimidate local populations. They become safe havens, and staging grounds for more ambitious attacks against Kabul and other major cities, like the militant assault on Kabul’s airport on July 17. In the immediate vicinity of the country’s main cities, the Afghan military was still holding up well, according to American and Afghan commanders. But as more marginal districts have come under unexpectedly heavy attack, the military planners’ expectations have been tested. One widely accepted prediction was that soon after 2014, the Taliban would gain in rural areas and traditional strongholds, as the government made tough decisions about what to fight for and what to let go. Places of no strategic value in remote areas of the south and east, some officials said, could afford to be forgotten. But heavy attacks, and some territorial losses, are already happening in those places, earlier than predicted. On July 9, the Taliban overran a district center in Ghor Province, a rugged and violent area close to the center of the country, which left Afghan forces scrambling to reclaim it and smarting from the embarrassment. On Saturday, militants stormed Registan District in Kandahar, killing five police officers, including the district police chief, in a battle that continued into the evening.
The heavy fighting earlier this summer in northern Helmand Province, long a Taliban stronghold and a center of opium poppy production, was mostly expected. But the breadth of the Taliban assault, which is now said by locals to extend to four districts, has surprised many, and foreshadowed a more ambitious reach for the insurgents. The efforts of this fighting season have not been solely in the countryside, or traditional strongholds like those in Helmand. The Taliban have made strides in Nangarhar Province, home to one of the most economically vibrant cities in the country and a strategically important region. Surkh Rod, a district that borders the provincial capital Jalalabad and was safe to visit just three months ago, has become dangerous to enter.
“The difference is that five months ago there were more government forces here; now it is the Taliban,” said Nawab, a resident of Shamshapor village. Bati Kot District, too, has become more dangerous. Outside the district center, residents say, the Taliban dominate a crucial swath of territory that straddles the main highway leading from Kabul to the eastern border with Pakistan. Villagers living in the district say the Taliban force them to feed and house insurgents, and threaten to kill them if they refuse.
Much like Nangarhar, Kapisa is connected directly to Kabul, presenting a troubling threat for the government as it struggles to safeguard the security corridor around the capital. Trouble in three districts has been the focus of a concerted American Special Forces campaign to ferret out the insurgents, who many say appear more trained and disciplined than the average Taliban.
The command and control is incredible,” said one American Special Forces officer who has fought with his men in insurgent-controlled valleys in Kapisa. “They have found an awesome safe haven.” The biggest fear for the province stems from Tagab and Alasay districts. Though there is an entire battalion of Afghan soldiers in the area, the vast majority of the fighting and dying are done by the police forces. Two weeks ago, in the Askin Valley area of Alasay, insurgents surrounded a village where the local and national police had only recently taken root. Tribal and interpersonal rivalries fueled the animosity toward the police, but the consequence was clear: The government was not welcome. An estimated 60 insurgents surrounded Askin Valley and engaged in a gunfight with about 35 local and 10 national police officers in the area, according to police officials. The two sides fought for more than a week, with coalition aircraft entering the area to offer support for the beleaguered security forces. Eventually, the police were forced to retreat, along with hundreds of villagers. Two police officials in the area, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, relayed the account. One, a local police officer, said the Taliban’s reach permeated the entire district, and the security forces were consigned to their bases, trying to stay alive. “The Afghan security forces are controlling the bazaar for one in every 24 hours,” the commander said. “From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., the police, army and local police come out of their outposts and buy what they need, then they go back to their bases.”
Voice for Baloch Missing Persons to organised a protest rally on Eid Day
http://balochwarna.com/The Vice chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, Mama Qadeer Baloch, appealed the Baloch nation and other human rights activists to join the protest on Eid Day. Qadeer Baloch said that the protest rally will start off from Quetta Press Club at 2pm on Eid Day. He requested the families of abducted Baloch and Baloch martyrs, political activists, student organisations and members of civil society to join the protest of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons. Qadeer Baloch said: “This is an excellent opportunity to show our solidarity with families of abducted Baloch and those who have been killed & dumped by Pakistani security forces.” It is worth reminding that families of abducted Baloch have been protesting on every Eid Day since past many years to express their outrage over abduction and custodial killings of Baloch political activists by Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies. Voice for Baloch Missing Persons is a Human Rights Organisation comprised of family members and relatives of abducted Baloch activists. According VBMP Pakistani forces have abducted least 19000 Baloch since 2000 when Pakistani military dictator General Pervas Musharraf initiated military offensive in Balochistan which still continue unabated.
Pakistan: Suspected of being Ahmadi Muslims, Iftar hosts beaten, accused of blasphemy
Qari Muhammad Ahmed Faridi said that he had led several campaigns against Ahmadis in the area and had served time for killing an Ahmadi person.Guests at an iftar party in Ferozewala village in Sheikhupura on Saturday (July 19) turned on their hosts, accusing them of blasphemy, and handed them over to the police on Tuesday. Police said that they had registered a blasphemy case (under Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code) against five people to placate a charged mob that staged demonstrations against them in front of the Ferozewala police station on Sunday and Monday. On Monday, police said the mob even broke fast in front of the police station. Advocate Kamran Naseem Batalvi told The Express Tribune that initially the police were unwilling to register a case but the mob forced them to do so. He said on July 19, Muhammad Aslam of Ferozewala village and his cousins organised an iftar party at his artificial jewellery workshop. Aslam had also invited Qari Muhammad Qamar who delivered a speech on the occasion and allegedly uttered derogatory remarks against Allah and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He said after the iftar, Maqsood Ahmed, who was also invited, got together around 50 people and accused the hosts of committing blasphemy. Batalvi said the men forced entry into the workshop and beat up Aslam and other people there with sticks and clubs. Latif Ahmed Awan, one of the men being beaten up, tried to run away and someone from the angry mob shot at him. Elders in the area intervened and locked the victims in a room to keep them safe and called the police. He said the mob grew unruly and the police barely managed to take the men away with them.
Ahmadiyya TimesThe protesters marched on to the police station and demanded that the SHO register a case against the men under Section 295-C of the PPC. The SHO however told the mob that he would decide the matter after consulting the superintendent on Monday. The protesters were also joined by Qari Muhammad Ahmed Faridi, who had been performing aitekaf during the last 10 days of Ramazan. Faridi left the aitekaf and arrived at the scene. He told The Express Tribune that he had left the aitekaf so that he could eloquently argue the case for the mob before the police. He said that he had led several campaigns against Ahmadis in the area and had served time for killing an Ahmadi person. Faridi said that he had previously managed to shut down a school run by Awan’s brother-in-law Arshad. He said that people in the area had requested him to leave the aitekaf as the situation was dire. “I managed to have the FIR registered,” he said. He alleged that Latif was heading a sect introduced by Captain (r) Masoodudin Usmani in Ferozewala and also ran a school in the area. Faridi said that he would get that school shut down on the basis of the FIR. Rehmat Bibi, mother of Shabbir Ahmed, one of the suspects, told The Express Tribune that they were Muslims and had arranged an iftar party in good faith. She said the assailants had accused them of being Ahmadi and later said they were Parvaizis. She said, “We are Muslims and believe in one God.” She said six members of her family of 10 were in police custody after being severely beaten by the charged mob. She said first the guests attended the event and had dinner but later returned and attacked the hosts. She said he son Shabbir was on his way home from the market and had more than Rs50,000 with him. She said the mob snatched the money during the scuffle. She said among those arrested were Razzaq, Mansha and Usman Ali, who were nephews of her husband. She said Aslam and his father Muhammad Umar, Muhammad Qamar, Muhammad Qasim and Latif Awan were also among those arrested. Some officials at the police station said that the SHO had shifted the detained men to an undisclosed location and had not placed their arrest on record. SHO Rana Muhammad Azam told The Express Tribune that they were investigating the matter. He said they would bring on record the arrest of those found guilty. He said no one had been arrested or detained so far.
http://ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.com/2014/07/pakistan-suspected-of-being-ahmadis.html
Pakistan's Shia Genocide: This is Not Palestine, This is Pakistan!
http://lubpak.com/
by Ali Abbas Taj
July 23rd, 2014 was a typical day for Shia Muslims in Pakistan. A senior lawyer and relative of prominent Shia intellectual, Talib Jauhri, was shot down by Deobandi terrorists on his way home in Karachi. A Shia family shot at in another part of Karachi where the mother succumbed to her wounds while her husband and son are holding on for dear life. In the outskirts of Karachi, another Shia business owner gunned down.
If this was not heart rending enough, a Shia youth was gunned down near a graveyard in D. I. Khan in KP. As per this twitter clip by Anser Abbas, Akhtar was the 27th member of his family killed by the Deobandi terrorist group ASWJ-LeJ and their allies, the Taliban! At this point in time, some of us have just run out of tears. But we must not stop our protest!
For decades, Pakistan’s intelligentsia, both right-wing Urdu writers as well as pseudo-liberal English writers have worked hard to obfuscate the ongoing Shia Genocide in Pakistan at the hands of Deobandi militants. Pakistan’s targeted Shia community, along with the Sunni Sufi, Barelvi, Christain and Ahmadi communities should not depend on this compromised and bigoted “intelligentsia” and their urban flatterers to inform the world about their suffering. They cannot expect this sectarian intelligentsia to be clear on the Deobandi identity of the perpetrators of this violence. Even a cursory look at Pakistan’s deeply biased and mostly pro Taliban media highlights how the Shia identity of the victims and the Deobandi identity of the perpetrators is carefully wiped out. Every institute in Pakistan, be it the politicians, the army, the judiciary and a mostly pro Taliban media is complicit in this. It remains to be seen if the army has rectified the course that has lead to this situation. The governing PML N is firmly aligned with the Deobandi terrorists of ASWJ-LeJ-TTP who are wreaking all this havoc. And they have the judiciary, media and most of the intelligentsia in their pocket. Civil society is more concerned about Gaza and most oblivious to what is happening in its own backyard. Meanwhile Pakistan’s Shias who are 15% of the country’s population continue to mourn their dead. - See more at: http://lubpak.com/archives/318224#sthash.KEgac0JQ.dpuf
Bilawal Bhutto express grief on demise of Majeed Nizami
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari patron in chief Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has expressed grief over demise of Majeed Nizami the most senior journalist and head of Nawa-i-Waqt group of publication and offered heartfelt condolence to the members of the bereaved family. In his condolence message, Bilawal said services of Majeed Nizami would always be remembered as he introduced new trends in journalism and raised the standards of the field in Pakistan through hard work and creativity. His death is a great loss to Pakistani media, he added. Bilawal prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in heavenly abode and grant courage and fortitude to the members of his grieved family to bear this irreparable loss. staff report
Pakistan: PPP to protest against load-shedding outside K-Electric office
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced that it will stage a protest against prolonged loadshedding in Sindh outside K-Electric office in Karachi, ARY News reports. Information Minister of Sindh Sharjeel Inam Memon said that PPP will protest against loadshedding and power outages in Karachi and rural areas and of the province. Sharjeel Memon further said that a severe power crisis is being created in Sindh and the nation is facing severe problems due to the power breakdowns in the holy month of Ramzan. “PPP shares the grief of the people of Karachi and the city cannot be left at the mercy of K-Electric”, Sharjeel said. He added that sit-ins will be held at offices of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) across the division and Hyderabad Electric Supply Corporation (HESCO).
Pakistan:Swat shopkeepers receive ‘TTP threats’
The Express TribuneA cloth merchant in Madayan Bazaar has received leaflets purporting to be from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) warning him to shut down his shop and leave the area immediately. The leaflet also warned local women not to visit the markets and bazaars. According to local sources, the letter on a TTP letterhead was signed ‘Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah’. It was put up at the shop in the night by unknown persons. The businessman was told to ‘get ready for death’ if he failed to heed the warning. Locals in Swat say they have received threatening letters and leaflets, reportedly from the TTP, warning them to pay money or prepare for death. However, local activists and Village Defence Committee (VDC) members say some criminals are using TTP tactics to extort money. “Even if these letters are from the Taliban, it will not discourage our cause of keeping the peace here,” said VDC member Sher Ali Khan, a resident of Banr. “Now Swat is peaceful and no terrorist can enter it and if any terrorist dares to enter, he will be dealt with,” Khan said.
Pakistan: Lahore's Joseph Colony: '' Justice denied ''
The orchestration of blatant vandalism, and Sawan Masih’s “guilt” alongside it, were established on the basis of hearsay. Sawan Masih’s lawyer will appeal his case all the way to the Supreme Court, but it won’t make a difference. Even if the allegations are proved baseless, his life will be under constant threat from people like those in the mob who destroyed the lives of the inhabitants of Joseph Colony.
In a report released recently by the US government, Pakistan was found to use the blasphemy law more than any other country, with 14 people on death row for blasphemy charges. The government’s silence and inaction is perceived to be tacit approval, if not an active endorsement. And now, with so many victims of the Joseph Colony attack still left without compensation, there are questions that must be asked, and asked forcefully. Why has the then president’s word not been honoured as of yet? What conceivable delays could the government have run into? Officials have cited verification delays, but the verification of what exactly? How hard can it possibly be, how long can it possibly take, to verify the authenticity of victims’ claims; people who have lost all they had in barbaric acts of violence the state was helpless to stop? As the petition hearing filed by waiting victims is adjourned till mid- September, one is painfully aware that it is already far too late for a compensation that is fair.
Pakistan: Calling army a failure of federal govt of PML-N
Central leader of Pakistan People’s Party and Senator, Raza Rabbani has opposed the PML-N’s government decision of handing over Islamabad to army for three months. He termed the move illogical. He said the party strongly opposed the handing over of Islamabad to the army. He added the decision is loaded with serious repercussions for the people and the country as it means not only the failure of the civil administration but also total suspension of the jurisdiction of the high courts. He added it also means setting up of military courts which cannot be permitted. Rabbani said the PPP had always opposed invoking the Article 245 for calling army in aid of civil power whether it was in Karachi or other parts of the country. PPP Senator further said the situation in Islamabad was not worse than in any other part of the country to invite the army to fix it by vesting in them powers beyond the judicial oversight, he said. He said calling the army was a proof that the Islamabad administration, which comes under the control of Interior Ministry of federal government, had failed. “If today, it is Islamabad then tomorrow it will be Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore or indeed the whole country may be handed over to the army under Article 245.” Rabbani said the decision to hand over federal capital to the army will also send disturbing signals to the world about the prevailing security situation in the country. He added that the decision reflects the penchant of the PML-N government to lean on the security establishment for everything be it meter reading or tracing of ghost schools or appointing monitors. It will further distort the already distorted civil-military equation, he added.
Pakistan's Article 245 : Irresponsible act
Whatever its eminences and minions may say, the ruling hierarchy's decision to hand over Islamabad's control to the army for three months is absolutely unacceptable. This indeed is a wholly indefensible and an irresponsible act by every reckoning. The constitution may be allowing the hierarchy to call the army in aid of the civilian administration. But none of the conditions permitting this is obtaining in the federal capital presently. And not even the hierarchy's spin doctors with all the sophistry at their command can convince a deeply sceptical citizenry that the move was justifiable at all in any manner except for political impulsions. That is too apparent to take anybody with even a modicum of sense for a ride. And, then, our people are no simpletons or nincompoops.
The hierarchy would really be stunned to know that not even the most gullible on the street has bought its touted mantra for taking this extraordinary step. Each and all over there are convinced that the hierarchy has been prompted on to this unadvisable move just to deal with Imran Khan's planned long march on the federal capital on August 14. And this has alarmed enormously not just a whole lot of the thinking people, but the commoners on the street as well. As he as yet stands adamant to go ahead with his intended march in any event, this could potentially put his political rally at cross swords with the army, if the hierarchy does go ahead with its plans to deploy the military at high-security zones and sensitive installations. And his planned venue for the rally does fall into this category.
Yet more disconcertingly, quite a lot of the citizens view this in the context of the assertions coming out from various ministerial quarters of the hierarchy, alluding vaguely, though not so vaguely, that Khan as also Tahirul Qadri are acting the way they are at the behest of some powerful forces. What that means is not hard to know. It is all clear like daylight to the citizenry from one to all. Hence, not illogically, many a citizen senses a deep sinisterly-laid-out stratagem in the whole move, even as it is generally felt that the army may not be all forthcoming in its response to the hierarchy's call for the obvious politically underpinnings of the move. Surely, the army is all for fighting against the terrorists, militants and insurgents for the security of the country and for the safety of its people. But in all probability it will be deadly opposed to getting embroiled in the political fracas of our politicos, whether in office or in opposition.
In any case, this hierarchy's call has drawn deep concern and apprehensions from all around. Its move is predominantly being viewed as wholly irrational, insane and potentially very baneful. Indeed, the very panicky way with which this hierarchy is reacting to Khan's intended rally is beyond comprehension. One is simply flabbergasted why it is in such huge jitters when it lays claims to a heavy mandate day in and day out. Perhaps, it is time for the hierarchy to understand that it is not a ruling clan that itches for tumultuous times. That doesn't suit it in any manner. It is only the opposition that looks for turmoil and turbulence, which do level up the ground for it to possibly reap political gains and dividends. For the rulers, it is peace, calm and tranquility that stand them in good stead to serve the masses and harvest tremendous political profits consequently.
Furthermore, this ruling hierarchy must know that it is only in regimented polities and despotic autocracies where the people at the top of the state apparatus can have their way as they like. Not in a polity that is not under jackboots. And in such a polity, it is accommodation, compromise and consensus that work. This hierarchy should get out of its fond fantasy, propagated no lesser by sections of our equally pretentious and pseudo intelligentsia and commentariat, that the army has to live like a valet in subordination of the ruling political leadership. Not even in entrenched democracies the armies function like that. Nowhere are they voiceless and powerless entities. They have their roles as potent as all others have in their respective domains. And their voice is very decisive in security matters as well as in foreign policies all over.
If this ruling hierarchy comes to terms with this pulsating reality, it will be at great ease, and so would be the polity at large. And one would have though very much wanted Khan not to make the august Day of Independence as the day of controversy, contention and division. Yet the ball is in the ruling hierarchy's court. It can let him have his rally where he had originally planned. And if the hierarchy is so intent to have a public rally of its own, it should choose some other venue. Why to put confrontation against confrontation and stridency against stridency? Let the day pass peacefully and harmoniously. His public rally would definitely pull no heavens down, if the ruling hierarchy is really so sure of its heavy mandate.
Pakistan: Capital goes to the army?
The government’s stated justification for invoking Article 245 and calling up the military to assist with security in Islamabad for three months is to prevent any retaliatory militant attacks. But there are reasons to be sceptical. One cannot just chalk up to coincidence the fact that this action has been taken at a time when Imran Khan is ready to descend on the capital for his Long March and Tahirul Qadri is threatening to bring down the government. While one is not privy to the intelligence the government may possess about imminent threats and there is certainly every reason to fear that the militants may strike at any point, surely the rest of the country is as susceptible to attacks. Yet the government has not felt the need to call in the army in Karachi or Lahore. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was quick to point out that Islamabad isn’t being handed over to the military and that troops will merely be assisting existing law-enforcement agencies. Even if that is the case, this action is an admission on the part of the government that civilian agencies are not up to the task of protecting us. Surely the government should be spending more on recruitment and training rather than relying on the military.
Article 245 is a constitutional clause better left unused since it has truly frightening implications for democracy. The clause prevents high courts from exercising jurisdiction over any area in which the military is aiding the government. In theory the military could be used to use force against the PTI and its protesters under the cover of security and be shielded from facing any consequences for their actions. The PML-N needs to immediately vow not to do any such thing. After the killing of Pakistan Awami Tehreek workers by Lahore police in Model Town, the government should proceed with extreme care and wisdom. Having the armed forces patrolling streets is always an unwelcome sight and, as has been shown by the involvement of the army in the Karachi operations of the 1990s, it has the prospect of causing more damage than it prevents. The three-month deployment of the military in Islamabad seems excessive. Any benefits stemming from the decision may be outweighed by the likely problems it will cause.
Pakistan's Article 245 : The writing on the wall
Pakistan's Mini Martial Law: A controversial move
BY now, it has become apparent that neither is the PML-N government particularly good at explaining what it does, nor does it seem to be too concerned about its lack of necessary communication with the public it represents. But that does not mean that opaque decisions taken by the PML-N are not of great significance to the public and more should not be done to induce its leadership to explain controversial decisions. With little warning and absolutely no debate, at least in public, the PML-N has opted to invoke Article 245 of the Constitution to give the army the maximal legal space to operate in the federal capital. But what has triggered the need for army-led operations at this point in the capital? Neither the generic — unspecified security threats — nor the specific — blowback from Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan — that has been offered so far is nearly close to being adequate.
The questions are plentiful and serious. Why is only Islamabad specifically among all the cities and towns of Pakistan under the type of threat that requires such a dramatic escalation? Compared to the civilian law-enforcement and intelligence resources in many parts of the country, Islamabad surely has civilian resources that are reasonable. If the capital’s civilian resources are still inadequate, what has the PML-N done after 14 months of being in charge of Islamabad and nearly a year since a lone gunman humiliated the city’s law-enforcement apparatus by parading before TV cameras for hours near parliament? And what of the PML-N’s recent plan to draft in Rangers and special police squads from Punjab who can be seen patrolling the streets of Islamabad even now? Has the PML-N failed to protect Islamabad or has the threat escalated even further? There are few answers to be had at the moment, particularly since the once-again-active interior minister is loath to answer questions and the prime minister is on an extended summer break.
Yet, there is another dimension to the army-in-Islamabad question that simply cannot be avoided in the circumstances: the politics of the PTI’s rally in Islamabad on Aug 14. Like it or not — and it is difficult to see how politicians such as the PML-N can boast of in its upper ranks can ignore the obvious — the political narrative surrounding the invocation of Article 245 for Islamabad will entail speculation about whether the PML-N is trying to pull the army close and use it as a buffer between itself and the charging PTI. Whether the speculation is true or not, surely, at the very least, the PML-N ought to have been more forthcoming about the size, scope and duration of the army deployment and the specific responsibilities it would have. Else, there is just speculation of politics trumping security.
Pakistan: PML-N admitted failure by calling in army
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday rejected Pakistan Muslim League-N’s call to bring in army in aide of civilian security set up, terming it a failure of the latter towards maintaining the law and order.
In an official statement issued here today, the PTI’c Core Committee stated that it will not, under any circumstances accept the PML-N government’s invoking of Article 245 to invite the army in support of the federal government in Islamabad.
“Democratic sitting govts do not resort to Article 245 as it effectively signals an admission of failure to govern and maintain law and order to protect the citizens,” it said, adding, ‘it is also a clear sign that the PML-N government is, in desperation, trying to hide its rigging in May 2013 elections and PTI's expose of the same, by seeking to use Article 245.’
The statement further said that if the PML-N government was seeking to place the PTI's Azadi March in direct confrontation with the army, that was a dangerous tactic. “PTI has always had a culture of peaceful protests and Marches.”
“The army is a national institution not a tool for the PML-N to use against its political opponents,” it said and added that if the government thinks of using Article 245 again for Islamabad on August 14, PTI reserves the right to approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
PTI's Core Committee, also pointed out that the PML-N's own Long March took place just before the Swat Operation and they then claimed it was their democratic right. No Article 245 was invoked at the time.
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