Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Saudi Arabia helps ISIS with anti-Shia ideology
Over the last 10 days, Saudi Arabia has experienced terrorist attacks on Shia mosques, with attackers killing men, women and children as they pray for peace.
On May 22, 2015, a suicide bomber entered Imam Ali mosque in Al-Qudaih, Qatif, Saudi Arabia, killing more than 20 people and leaving more than 130 wounded. Ambulances and medical staff did not respond to the scene of the explosion – a Shia mosque – leaving neighbors to move the bodies to the hospital in their own cars.
A second explosion took place on My 29, 2015. A car bomb in front of Imam Hussein mosque in the Dammam left four dead.
While ISIS detonated the bombs, the House of Saud laid the groundwork for the anti-Shia attacks.
While the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks, a major contributing factor is the hate against Shia Muslims; a hate fomented by the Wahhabi leadership in Saudi Arabia that believe that as Shia Muslims are not Wahhabi they are are heathens and enemies.
This is the culture that has encouraged ISIS to target Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia.
Wahhabism, a Sunni-based movement that started in the mid-18th century is the basis of Saudi Arabia’s religious ideology. Wahhabism is the most austere and strict of the four schools of Sunni Islam and follows a literal interpretation of the Koran and adherents believe that all who do not follow Wahhabism are infidels.
Founded on the tenets of Wahhabism, the theology has long dominated Saudi Arabia. In 1744, the founder of the current Saudi royal family, Muhammed bin Saud, joined forces with the founder of Wahhabism, Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab making pact whereby Wahhab backed Saud in his efforts to unify the various tribes of Arabia into a single country, Saudi Arabia, which Saud controlled.
In exchange, Saud agreed to continue his adherence to Wahhab’s religious ideology.
The agreement brought the nomadic militias that backed Wahhabi, called ikhwan (“brotherhood”), under the Saud umbrella and allowed Saud to win political and military victories that established the Saudi state.
The Saud dynasty has used Wahhabi scholars to provide religious legitimacy for its actions since that time and to move against its rivals. As a result, Wahhabism and anti-Shia ideology has dominated the Saudi culture.
This extreme view of Islam by Saudi Arabia has led Riyadh to back extremist groups in the region who target Shia Muslims as well as Christians, Jews and Izidis.
The Islamic State, also known as Daesh or ISIS, shares the Wahhabi’s extreme ideology. The Saudi government has designated ISIS a terrorist group and provides no direct funding to ISIS. It also prohibits private citizens from donating to terrorist groups.
However, Saudi donors, likely including at least some government officials, were believed to be the most significant funding source for the precursor group to ISIS.
This funding likely allowed ISIS to thrive and develop its own financial sources.
The same ideology that prevented women from driving in Saudi Arabia leads to taking Christian, Izidis and Shia women as slaves and to selling young girls to wealthy elder men in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For Wahhabi followers, the term “jihad” means a form of violence.
For Shia Muslims, the term “jihad” means sacrificing your time and life to make the community better, not pledging to fight against others.
In Saudi Arabia, Shia Muslims make up 15 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia. The Shia are systematically discriminated against, thanks to the prevalence of Wahhabism.
Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Shia Rights Watch regularly report inhumane treatment of Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia. Yet there has been no action to prevent discrimination against the Shia minority in this country.
Shia, who have no right of citizenship in Saudi Arabia, are marginalized and excluded from government. Even in provinces where the majority of the population is Shia, they have virtually no rights and are barred from participating in elections.
Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/featured/saudi-arabia-helps-isis-with-anti-shia-ideology-42630/#EyDOFQ9q8O64wFmS.99
Pakistan Should be Designated A Country of Concern For Minorities: USCIRF
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedm (USCIRF) recently visited Pakistan. A high level meeting with officials including National Securtiy Advisor Sartaj Aziz, Minister of Religious Affairs, Attorney General and leaders of religious minorities was held.
The USCIRF analyzed that in numerous ways, Pakistan’s blasphemy law and related issued are a growing problem. Religious minorities are facing the affects of this law. It was also stated that despite Pakistan’s claims of being a nation that provides religious freedom and diversity, minorities continue to face the dilemma of being targets of the blasphemy law.
The law openly violates all claims of religious openness but is vigorously implemented in Pakistan. In addition, enforcement of such laws emboldens religious extremist groups and their sympathizers to assault these minorities—as seen most recently when terrorists slaughtered Ismaili Muslims on a bus.
Notably, when it comes to countering the violence, a strong Pakistani Supreme Court ruling in 2014 recognized that the state must do more.
Analysis conducted by the USCIRF concludes to say that despite Pakistan being a multi cultural and diverse nation, minorities are not treated as equal citizens of the nation.
Consequently, they remain convinced that the State Department should designate Pakistan a “country of particular concern” for its continued record of failure in protecting religious freedom. Such a designation would elevate the discussion between Washington and Islamabad by signaling serious concern about current conditions.
- See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/pakistan-should-be-designated-a-country-of-concern-for-minorities-uscirf/#sthash.A7v6hyPm.dpuf
Pakistan - Why Do The National Media Ignore Balochistan?
Adnan Aamir
Balochistan, the most deprived province of Pakistan is ignored by federal government, different federally controlled organizations and also the mainstream national media of Pakistan. News channels, national newspapers in Urdu and English ignore it like it’s not a part of Pakistan. In the current age, being ignored in mainstream media is aggravating the plight of the province.
There are dozens of news channels operating in Pakistan and the number is growing with the passage of time. These news channels are hyperactive in terms of treating frivolous issues which are relentlessly being presented as breaking news. However, major potential news coming out from Balochistan is not on the radar of Pakistani news channels. Balochistan is only given coverage whenever a mishap takes place in the form of a bomb blast or target killing. Other than broadcasting small news packages, which can be termed as fillers, Balochistan is completely blacked out in national news media. Not long ago, Baloch Students Organization shut down all the Pakistani new channels in Balochistan in order to record their protest against Balochistan being ignored in news media.
In Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), news channels have their offices, staff and DSNG vans in almost all the major cities. This enables them to cover all urban centers in those three provinces. In the case of Balochistan, new channels along with their staff and DSNG vans are only stationed in Quetta and have no presence in the rest of the 31 districts of the province. Moving to the major English language newspapers, their policies towards Balochistan are not different. Some newspapers have only one correspondent in the province while don’t have a single correspondent for the largest province of Pakistan. These facts speak for themselves.
Why is Balochistan ignored by the national media? The first reason is that Balochistan is facing an ongoing separatist insurgency and security forces filter a great deal of information going out from the province. Undoubtedly, that’s one of the reasons which contribute to blacking out of Balochistan in media. However the main reason behind ignoring Balochistan is the commercial interests of the corporate media of Pakistan. Profit-driven corporate media of Pakistan doesn’t earn much revenue from Balochistan and that’s why it has no interest in giving converge to Balochistan which has become a news desert.
Advertisements are the primary source of revenue for TV channels in Pakistan. TV ratings determine the rates at which different channels would get advertisements. So, entire electronic media is in a race for earning higher ratings. Ratings are measured by 1,100 rating meters which are installed in nine major cities of Pakistan. The trio of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad has over 800 rating meters installed in them. Unfortunately, there is not a single rating meter installed in Balochistan. Technically, it means that which channels people of Balochistan watch has no bearing on ratings. As a result, TV channels have no business interest in covering any issue about Balochistan due to the flawed mechanism of TV ratings in Pakistan.
The media has a huge role to play in the modern day societies and therefore being ignored has several consequences for people of Balochistan. The media often highlights social injustices that are meted out to people in Punjab or Sindh. When news channels highlight such issues, government authorities are compelled to take action and provide life to the victims. Due to similar coverage, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has visited homes of dozens of families who were victims of social injustice and ordered immediate relief for them. The people of Balochistan are deprived of this benefit as the social injustices taking place on daily basis never make it to the TV channels.
Balochistan is facing a lot of issues due to the apathy of federal government, ranging from long hours of electricity load shedding to fewer PIA flights, amongst others. These issues continue to be unresolved because there is no media pressure to force the federal government to stop discriminating Balochistan.
Media activism has been one of the biggest problems for different provincial and federal governments in Pakistan. Rental Power Projects were shelved when mega corruption in those projects was reported by media. Similarly, governments in Punjab, Sindh and KP are forced to improve their governance in order to avoid media criticism. Fortunately, the incompetent government of Dr Malik Baloch or his predecessor, the infamous Nawab Aslam Raisani, never faced such problems.
From 2002 onwards Balochistan has been a fertile land for government corruption. Successive governments have taken their share of the pie. It’s astonishing to reveal that not a single story of corruption from Balochistan has ever been revealed by the national media. All the investigative journalists of Pakistan pretend that Balochistan doesn’t exist while choosing news stories to work on. Hence, politicians and bureaucrats in Balochistan are filling their pockets with government funds without any fear of media reporting. People of Balochistan are paying the price because the funds allocated for them end up in the pockets of crooked government officials.
A media group owner, who visited Balochistan recently, said that whatever coverage we are providing to Balochistan is already a big favor and don’t expect anything more form us. Those self-serving and corrupt media bosses, who don’t pay their staff on time, need to behave and treat all the parts of the country on equal basis.
In fact, it should be obligatory on all mainstream news channels and newspapers to give sufficient coverage to all provinces of Pakistan. A clause can be added in the license agreement of news channels to prevent them from ignoring a province of Pakistan just for the sake of petty monetary gains.
Pakistan - Asfandyar Wali demands Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government's resignation
Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan demanded on Wednesday the dissolution of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government over the failure of holding free and fair local body elections in the province.
Speaking at a press conference, the ANP Chief demanded the resignation of K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.
“Re-elections should be held to ensure free and fair polls, and a caretaker government should be formed,” Wali said.
The ANP chief said as long as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is in rule, free and fair elections will not be possible.
Khan criticized Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, saying he “has double standards.”
“In Punjab, he blames Najam Sethi, while for the rigging in K-P local government elections instead of holding the provincial government responsible, he blamed the ECP.”
Falling back on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013, ANP chief stressed upon the need for a new local government act.
Pakistan - Democracy knocks at KP door, albeit rather violently
Utterly mismanaged and furiously contested local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have brought the PTI chief Imran Khan both name and shame: his party has retained its vote bank but his incessant imputation on others of rigging sounds hollow. As figures pour in nearly a score of people have been killed and many more injured, often at the hands of those who lost at the polling booths. Quite strangely, while electoral campaigns were peaceful the day of polling gripped unprecedented heat, and all that could go wrong in terms of holding fair and transparent elections went wrong. Since the local bodies' elections have the ambience of face-to-face democracy, unlike the provincial and national assemblies' elections where voters have relatively limited knowledge about the candidates' credentials, the stakes are always very high. It is quite apparent that the KP government has miserably failed to rise above its political ambitions and provide the required wherewithal for peaceful polling. The PTI chief may blame anybody, as he would often do, but he must accept that pious hopes hardly make safe landings. Of course, it is not a stellar electoral win for the Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf, but it has to be accepted that it won the highest number of seats. To say the KP local bodies elections were not rigged the PTI leadership would need a refresher in jugglery. And then there are these Independents, who stand second on the score board. Securing maximum control at the local government level maximum number of district governments in the province without their support - you know how much an Independent costs - would be yet another challenge for the PTI leadership. With rival political parties in control of some district councils, which cannot be ruled out, for the PTI sandwiched between the federal government and hostile district governments in some districts may well be an upcoming scenario, governance won't be a bed of roses. But having said that, it must be accepted that even though exceedingly blood-stained, the local bodies elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are a huge step towards, deepening the roots of democracy in Pakistan. Of course, we have had democratically-elected governments for many years now, but their delivery at the grassroots level was only nominal. Once elected the members of the national and provincial assemblies would disappear and would return to their voters at the next election. In the absence of this third tier of government they would pocket budget allocations for the local bodies and use it the way they would like. And how ironic it that leaders who become rulers courtesy democratic elections remained in denial for local governments - even at the cost of violating the Constitution. But for the Supreme Court's final deadline to hold local bodies' elections they would have stayed in that state of denial. Now that local bodies elections are a reality and can neither be denied nor delayed we expect of the remaining provinces, Punjab and Sindh, to exercise due vigilance in order to ensure these are violence-free. It is so very easy to accuse the Election Commission of Pakistan of doing everything that goes wrong with the electoral process. But that is hypocritical, for the violence on the day of election and then at celebratory rallies is essentially the product of political parties. To organise elections at 11,000 polling stations contested by some 100,000 candidates in KP that is a rich mosaic of inaccessible tough terrain was no mean achievement of the Election Commission of Pakistan. The one wants removal of all four provincial election commissioners but not the Chief Election Commissioner, owes an explanation as to what stopped him from putting in place the needed security at the polling stations, and whose activists were baying for the blood of Mian Iftikhar Hussain. That the local bodies elections in KP were grossly mismanaged is a verdict announced by FAFEN, a non-governmental organisation committed to help free and fair elections. According to it, the KP government is guilty of 'severe mismanagement, irregularities and rigging'. It also says that women voters were 'deprived of their right to vote at 15 polling stations'. Is it true that the main beneficiary of these san-women polls is the PTI's coalition? Ideally, these elections should have been staggered and held in three or four phases, and the ballot papers made simpler. But, all in all democracy has knocked at the door of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, albeit rather violently.
Sherry Rehman - Neither Pakistan nor China will accept dictation on where to build economic corridors
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Vice President PPPP Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday that reports about India organizing and celebrating a war carnival to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Indo-Pak war will further shrink the space for any semblance of normalcy left in the bilateral relationship.
“Muscular articulations such as these, or objecting to Pakistan’s CPEC route, will be seen as beating a war drum. Clearly, such moves will do very little in the way of resuming dialogue, which the BJP leader has stated his government’s interest in,” said the former ambassador.
According to reports, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered the armed forces, including the Indian Army and Air Force to organize the event from September 1 to 23 – the dates of the actual war. The carnival – reportedly comprising tableaux, exhibitions, processions, public lectures and film shows – will be held in the Indian capital.
Rehman said that any agenda for peace requires an appetite for it, not an investment in valourising memories of conflict.
CPEC reservations
Speaking on Indian reservations over the CPEC route, Rehman said that it must be borne in mind that the corridor passes entirely through Pakistan’s territory, and the reservation over transit through Kashmir is misplaced.
“Infrastructure projects are being developed on both sides of the LoC, which impact, foremost, the communities within Jammu and Kashmir. It may serve Kashmir and the broader region better if India’s foreign policy decision makers were to consider the economic benefits created from expanding trade with China and increased trade across the LoC.
Instead of finding pathways to peace and trade, it is unfortunate that the new “global re-positioning” of India includes large doses of coercive diplomacy and hard posturing. None of it will be helpful to constructing new regional economic dividends for South Asia,” she cautioned, “since neither China nor Pakistan will take dictation from India as to where to build highways that connect people for prosperity.”
Pakistan - LG elections - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ruction
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Local Government (LG) elections continue to hit the headlines with charges and counter-charges of rigging and mismanagement, putting the role of the KP Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) into the spotlight. First and foremost, the arrest of ANP secretary general Mian Iftikhar Hussain on charges of being responsible for the killing of a PTI worker in Pabbi has taken a new twist, with the father of the slain worker deposing in court that he had been ‘pressurised’ to name Mian Iftikhar in the case. There is no clarity from the reports who pressurised him, but the statement has given rise to more suspicions that Mian Iftikhar is being politically victimised in the matter. Leaders of political parties and even the prime minister have condemned the arrest. Latest reports say Mian Iftikhar has been bailed out of police custody, but the bitter aftertaste of what is looking increasingly like a manipulated victimisation of a political rival will not quickly or easily go away. The police have added to the confusion surrounding the affair by claiming it whisked Mian Iftikhar away into protective custody to save him from an angry mob baying for his blood. If this is so, why was he then charged with murder and his physical remand obtained from the court? The police have some explaining to do regarding their inexplicable and unacceptable double facedness. And let us not forget in this context Imran Khan’s repetition ad nauseam that the KP police are autonomous. Neither, it seems, will the blame game between the ECP and the PTI government go away so easily. Each is blaming the other for the violence that attended the polling. The ECP says law and order remains the responsibility of the provincial government while LG elections are held, while Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak are passing the buck onto the ECP, claiming they had ‘surrendered’ the police and therefore security and law and order to the ECP. The correct position is probably what the ECP has delineated, that this is a joint responsibility. If that argument is accepted, it seems fair to apportion at least part of the blame to both of the two protagonists.
Imran Khan has done well to suspend the basic party membership of provincial minister Ali Amin Gandapur for interfering with and disrupting polling in his home district of Dera Ismail Khan. Mr Gandapur first tried to pull a ‘scarlet pimpernel’ act on the police by disappearing through a back door of his house while the police waited in front to arrest him, but was later persuaded by the chief minister to surrender to the police. He is now under arrest and charged with the election misdemeanour. Complaints about rigging and mismanagement meanwhile continue to flow in thick and fast from Peshawar and other parts of KP, including the recommendation of the returning officers to hold re-polling in 26 Peshawar stations. The ECP has responded to the massive questioning of the polls process by announcing it will set up one election tribunal for each district, to be headed by a retired district and sessions judge, which will have to dispose of all complaints within 45 days. Many parties, including the PPP, ANP, JUI-F, QWP, PML-N, and even the PTI’s coalition ally Jamaat-i-Islami have complained and protested against rigging allegedly carried out by the PTI government. Whatever the outcome after the event of the to and fro accusations between the ECP and PTI regarding responsibility for the violence on polling day, now that the voting hurly burly is done, what excuse can the PTI government offer for the continuing violence between political rivals and their supporters to date? The massive exercise of holding LG polls in the troubled KP province has indeed been completed, but the manner of their holding leaves much to be desired and raises serious questions about the coming Punjab and Sindh LG elections. The ECP’s contention that it had recommended a phase-wise holding of the LG polls in KP, which it says the PTI government rejected, may by now be seen as the only way to avoid a similar ruction in the LG polls in Punjab and Sindh, both bigger and more thickly populated than KP.
Pakistan - #PTI's Rigging - Polls And Controversy
The accusation of rigging in elections is never a surprise for to the people in the region. Its history dates back to the referendum held in the then North West Frontier Province, which was to decide the fate of the province at the time of partition. It is very unfortunate that almost every election has been made controversial by the contesting parties ever since in Pakistan. The current outbreak of allegations from the political parties as well as the disappointment shown by the ECP while defending its own role is definitely a setback for the PTI which had been portraying itself as a flag bearer of fair and free elections in the country. The ECP and the PTI have been having varying opinions over the schedule of holding these elections for quite some time. The provincial chapter of the ECP opposed the idea of the KPK government of holding the Local Government polls in one go citing security issues. PTI effectively insisted to have these polls on the same day. The violence on election day exposed the weaknesses of the provincial government. The issuance of seven ballot papers for every category of seats is also being criticised by the political stakeholders in the due to the literacy level of the populace. The forced ban on the women voters to cast their vote is another issue which resulted in a low turnout in certain districts, and turned the whole process into a mockery. If nothing less, the liberal and self-righteous façade of the PTI in the urban areas will be scrutinised by the electorate in the rest of the country. The PTI government in KPK will have to come clean out of this controversy otherwise it is certainly going to have a negative impact on the PTI’s image as a liberal democratic party. They have been shouting out, blue in the face, that they are different, uncorrupted, honest, but actions speak louder than words.
Pakistan - Directive to officials: Resolve Karachi water crisis urgently: Bilawal
PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday directed officials to gear up efforts to resolve the water crisis in Karachi on a war footing.
He issued the direction while presiding over a meeting on the Karachi water crisis at Bilawal House. This was his first meeting after his arrival in Karachi. The meeting that was co-chaired by PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, was attended by CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Information and Local Government Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon.
The Chief Secretary Sindh Siddique Memon, officials of KMC, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and Sindh government were also present.
The officials briefed the PPP chairperson about pending issues and government initiatives taken including K-4 water scheme and rental desalination plant being set up in Karachi. “We will inaugurate K-4 by June 10 to provide 260 million gallons of water per day in the first phase. This project will be completed within two to three years. We are also planning to set up the rental desalination plan to supply 80 MGD water to the city by Ramazan,” Sharjeel briefed the attendees.
He said that 3000 water tankers will be provided in Karachi daily in the holy month.
Meanwhile, the CM and Inspector General Police separately called on PPP leaders Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. They briefed them about the law and order situation, especially the targeted operation in Karachi.
Pakistan - Bilawal Bhutto summons meeting of PPP leaders today
Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto announced to hold a meeting over prolonged water shortage in Karachi.
According to the details, Chief Minister of Sindh (CM) Qaim Ali Shah and Minister of Information Sindh Sharjeel Memon would brief the PPP chief about the water scarcity in Karachi during the meeting.
Sources have reported that co-chairman of PPP and former president Asif Ali Zardari would also attend the meeting.
Moreover, other isues are also likely to be taken under discussion in the meeting.
Earlier, Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto returned to Pakistan after a span of 7 months on Monday. He was greeted in grand fashion at Bilawal house.
According to the details, Chief Minister of Sindh (CM) Qaim Ali Shah and Minister of Information Sindh Sharjeel Memon would brief the PPP chief about the water scarcity in Karachi during the meeting.
Sources have reported that co-chairman of PPP and former president Asif Ali Zardari would also attend the meeting.
Moreover, other isues are also likely to be taken under discussion in the meeting.
Earlier, Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto returned to Pakistan after a span of 7 months on Monday. He was greeted in grand fashion at Bilawal house.
Strict security arrangements were in place for the arrival of party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto at Karachi airport.
Commandos of Special Security Unit (SSU) were also deployed at airport along with a heavy contingent of police.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari landed at Karachi airport after which a helicopter, which was present on scene, took him straight to Bilawal house.
It is pertinent to mention here that Bilalwal Bhutto started his political career in October 18, 2014 after which he departed for overseas due to differences in opinion.
During his period of self-exile, Bilawal Bhutto did not attend PPP’s foundation day celebrations and mother’s anniversary.