Sunday, August 23, 2015
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Endorses Hillary Clinton for President
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he will support Hillary Clinton in her bid for the presidency.
In an exclusive statement to ABC News, Richardson said after speaking with former President Bill Clinton and his wife, "we have patched up our disagreement from the 2008 election." The former governor, who served in Clinton's administration, gave his endorsement to then Sen. Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign cycle.
“I have spoken to President and Secretary Clinton and we have patched up our disagreement from the 2008 election,” the statement read. "I am pleased to announce I wholeheartedly support Secretary Clinton's candidacy for the Presidency. Her leadership on issues like foreign policy, immigration, climate change and economic populism are important to the future of the country."
Washington 'Disappointed' About Collapse of Pakistan-India Peace Talks
The United States has expressed disappointment about the cancellation of scheduled talks between the national security advisers of Pakistan and India.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said on August 23 that Washington was encouraging India and Pakistan to try to resume a formal diplomatic dialogue soon.
The talks, scheduled to be held in New Delhi on August 23-24, collapsed on August 22 amid disagreements about the agenda and with Pakistan's Foreign Ministry finally saying the meeting "would not serve any purpose."
The two countries had blamed each other for weeks that the talks were at risk of failing.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had said the talks would not take place if Pakistani adviser Sartaj Aziz insisted on meeting with separatists from Kashmir under Indian administration.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said "It is not reasonable for India to now assume the right to decide unilaterally that, from now onwards, other issues will be discussed after terrorism has been discussed and eliminated."
Two Years Extension in Stay of Afghan Refugees?
Conflicting news reports are emerging about an agreement signed between Pakistan and Afghan governments to extend the stay of Afghan refugees in Pakistan for two years.
Pakistan hosts 1.5 million Afghan refugees and their legal period of stay is set to expire in December this year.
A tripartite meeting took place between officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR in Kabul on Saturday to discuss the issue of stay of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
In the meeting Afghan government has requested Pakistan to extend the period of stay of Afghan refugees till December 2017.
According to report of Express Tribune, Pakistan government will discuss the request of Afghan government in Cabinet and then make a final decision.
However, BBC Urdu and Afghan media is reporting that Pakistan government has agreed to extend the period of stay of Afghan Refugees.
“If it’s true then its disappointing news for Balochistan,” Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini told Balochistan Point.
“We demand that all Afghan Refugees should be respectably sent back to their homeland as soon as possible and CNICs of Afghan refugees in Balochistan should be cancelled,” added Senator Jamaldini.
It was also decided in the tripartite meeting that all unregistered Afghan Refugees in Pakistan would be registered with the help of Afghan government.
No official statement has been issued by government of Pakistan on this matter.
The plight of minorities in Pakistan - No respite
The plight of minorities in Pakistan seems never ending. A week after the most festive Independence Day celebrations in recent years, reports of two new cases of minority oppression are cause for sombre reflection about the direction the country has taken. Though the brutal killing of the 37-year-old Ahmadi pharmacy owner by “unknown gunmen on motorcycles” in Taunsa and the arrest of three Christians for ‘blasphemy’ in Gujrat may be geographically far apart, the two incidents are one in being part of a larger trend of Pakistan’s descent into an intolerant powder keg. The murderers of Ikram Ullah, the deceased pharmacist, are unlikely to ever be brought to justice, given the prevalent indifference the police show towards the Ahmaddiya community as revealed by the unpunished arson attack that claimed the lives of four Ahmadis in Gujranwala last year where policemen were known to be present at the scene. The Gujrat Christians’ only ‘crime’ was using a reverential honorific largely reserved for prophets on a poster celebrating the services of Pastor Fazl Masih on his 20th death anniversary. For this the police arrested them and proceeded to raise the issue to farcical heights by inexplicably booking the trio under anti-terrorist charges. An attempt to mediate was rebuffed by the local Muslim clerics, who rejected the apology of the area’s Christian elders.
The fate of the trio seems grim, given the history of anyone accused of blasphemy. If not death at the hands of a mob, then a life languishing in jail and filing appeals against the mandatory death sentence awaits all accused. The process of investigation is minimal as the police find it convenient to hide behind the excuse of ‘sensitive cases’ and neglect their duty to get to the truth. Accusations of blasphemy and vitriolic and inflammatory speeches have become the most potent tool to organise a readily available mob for purposes distinctly removed from religion. Eliminating rivals, land grabbing, political point scoring — all can be achieved by invoking blasphemy for the flimsiest of reasons. The inherent hatred for religiously distinct groups is the fuel that feeds the fire. The situation has deteriorated so much that every second of a minority individual’s life has to be governed by the consideration of not causing inadvertent offence. Unwanted in their own country, they have nowhere to run. Successive governments have found it inconvenient to pursue this matter and the cancer of fanatical intolerance has spread far and wide. As a result Pakistan faces an unimagined, locally created existential threat, not to mention a continued desecration of its image internationally, and it has become critically essential that there be a concentrated pushback targeting the root causes of this violent hatred. The dream of a tolerant Pakistan has to be kept alive
IDPs protest closure of schools at Jalozai camp
The displaced population of North Waziristan and Khyber agencies took to the streets on Saturday against the closure of their schools at Jalozai IDP camp in Nowshera.
The schools have been shut down permanently from August 15 due to a lack of funding from NGOs. During the protests, a large number of IDPs, including children, pressed the federal government to make alternative arrangements for their education.
Fuel to the fire
Although 60% of IDPs from the camp have been repatriated, hundreds of people still remain. Many of them include students who study at the makeshift schools on the camp.
“We are still homeless and do not even have access to schools anymore now,” said Moneem Khan, a student. Moneem added schools in the camps were run by NGOs and received financial support from Unicef. “However, the funding has now ceased and schools have been closed down,” he said.
Khalil Khan, another IDP, said, “We are also the citizens of this country and have the basic right to education.” He added the responsibility to provide education does not lie with NGOs. “On the contrary, the federal government must make provisions for us.”
Pakistan - Tribal leader, PPP tehsil president killed in Bajaur blast
At least two people, including a tehsil president of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), were killed and three security officials were injured on Sunday in two separate acts of terror in Zari Mamond and Sapari Mamond Tehsils of Bajaur Agency.
A convoy of security forces hit a roadside remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED), wounding at least three security personnel, a political administration official of the agency told The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, a tribal elder and PPP tehsil president Malik Muhammad Khan were killed after their vehicle hit an IED on their way in Zari Mamond.
“PPP tehsil president Malik Muhammad Khan was targeted by an IED planted in his way,” the political administration official said.
Security forces, along with political administration, have launched a search operation in the area to arrest the alleged perpetrators of the terror attacks.
On Saturday, at least two tribal leaders and a minor had been killed while two others were injured in an IED blast conducted by Islamic State (IS) in the Agency’s Utmankhel Tehsil area.
An IED was planted on the road which exploded when the tribal leaders drove near it and as a result the two men were killed, while 5-year-old Sahil Khan succumbed to injuries, reports had said. Shortly after the attack, Islamic State (IS) had claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The ‘Khelafat-e-Islamic’ claims responsibility for the mine blast that killed Malik Dawa Khan in Bajaur’s Ghazi Baba area,” a spokesperson for the group, Shahidullah Shahid had told The Express Tribune.
Majority of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leaders and commanders from Bajaur have joined the IS and they are believed to operate from the Afghan side of the border.
Bilawal Bhutto summons session over Punjab LB polls
Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has summoned session over Punjab local bodies election in Islamabad, Dunya News reported on Sunday.
As per details, the session will start from August 25 in which Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would make strategies regarding Punjab LB polls whereas he would also hold meetings senior PPP leaders of Faisalabad, Nankana Sahab, Kasur, Okara, Pak Patan, Gujrat, Lahore and Chakwal.
Moreover, Bilawal Bhutto said that PPP is ardent in participating in LB polls.
Pakistan - Bilawal Bhutto asks govt to accept Farmers demands
PPP Chairman was talking to PPP leader Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmed Khan son of democratic leader late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan who called on him at Bilawal House today.
Nawabzada Iftikhar briefed the situation in Punjab where the farmers and growers are up in the protest for not getting fair prices for their produces by the PML-N government which was deliberately targeting the growers and peasants. He pointed out that rural economy of entire country had a boom during PPP government in Islamabad because it ensured that farmers are paid handsomely for their crops besides giving them the required facilities.
Nawabzada further stated that farmers, growers and peasant communities of Punjab are looking towards the PPP for support in struggle for their rights.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PPP and its leadership has always fought the injustices and atrocities committed against labour and peasant class and would continue to side by them in any movement for their genuine rights.
He said PPP supported the dharna and protests of the Kissan community for fixation of support prices for different crops and urged the government to accept their demands without any delay.
https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/bilawal-bhutto-zardari-asks-govt-to-accept-farmers-demands-fix-the-support-prices-for-their-crops-in-a-just-and-favorable-manner/
#Polio: The ROTARIAN conversation with Aseefa Bhutto
The Rotarian
Before her family was forced into exile, before her mother was assassinated, before her father became president, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari was known for something simpler, but in some ways equally powerful: In 1994, she became the first child in Pakistan to receive the oral polio vaccine, as part of the country’s first National Immunization Day. Benazir Bhutto, then prime minister, gave the drops to her daughter herself, a compelling endorsement of the nascent campaign.
“I was a baby at the time, so I don’t remember it,” says Bhutto Zardari, now 22. “But the moment was an inspirational one for the nation, and encouraged women to believe that polio drops were and are safe.”
In 1988, at age 35, Benazir Bhutto became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim country. She was assassinated in 2007, just months after she had returned to Pakistan after almost nine years in exile. But Aseefa Bhutto Zardari – whose father, Asif Ali Zardari, served as president of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 – is carrying on her mother’s work. As a Rotary polio ambassador, she meets with officials, visits schools, and talks with families of health workers who were killed while working to vaccinate children.
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has raised the profile of the polio eradication campaign in Pakistan and around the world. She writes about the topic for the Huffington Post and joined Rotary International General Secretary John Hewko onstage at the 2012 Global Citizen Festival in New York City’s Central Park. On Twitter, with more than half a million followers, she encourages people in Pakistan to support ending polio and chastises those who stand in the way. In April, she invited two other prominent women in Pakistani politics to join her in the polio eradication effort, a move that garnered media coverage across the country.
In 1994, the year Aseefa Bhutto Zardari received those first drops of vaccine, Pakistan had an estimated 35,000 cases of polio. As of 10 June, 24 cases had been reported in the country in 2015. Bhutto Zardari, who is completing a master’s degree in global health and development in London, talked to us about ending polio in Pakistan, her future in politics, and prospects for peace in her country.
THE ROTARIAN: Recently in Pakistan, some parents who refused the polio vaccine for their children have been arrested. Are those arrests justified?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: There is a great ethical debate about whether the arrests are justified. Is it the right of the citizen to refuse care? Is it the right of the child to have the best health care? Personally, I don’t believe arresting people is the best solution. Parents want the best for their children, and they are trying to ensure their safety. Educating the parents and persuading them to let their children have the polio drops is more powerful and, although time consuming, will be more successful in the long term.
TR: You’re active on Twitter. If you could use more than 140 characters on Twitter to send a message to parents who choose not to vaccinate, what would you say?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: In the media environment today, so much of our lives and what we seek to do is oversimplified, often stripped of meaning and context. Much of what I say on Twitter about this topic [of vaccination] is directed at people in positions of influence who are abusing their position by taking an anti-vaccination approach, rather than at individual parents. I know that the majority of parents, even those refusing vaccinations, have their children’s best interests at heart.
To parents who have held off on vaccinating: Do not take rumors as truth or let people use health as a political or religious weapon. Your children’s lives are at risk, and by giving them two small drops, you can ensure they will avoid the suffering that polio can cause. Speak to families who have experienced polio personally. Talk to the polio workers and learn from them.
If we had to reduce it to a campaign slogan, I would say to those parents: Don’t rob your children of a future they deserve. Give them a chance. Let them get the polio vaccine.
TR: What is the future of the polio eradication campaign in Pakistan? How will you continue your involvement?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: There is a serious disconnect between the significant and targeted efforts put in by the provincial governments and the hands-off approach taken by the federal government. To ensure the best chance of success, we need collaboration with the federal and provincial governments in order to have a united front. Along with this, we need to focus on training more lady health workers [a program launched by Benazir Bhutto that has trained more than 100,000 women to provide community health services] and polio workers. These health care workers will be able to use their expertise to support other areas of our health service in the future, and we need to plan for this. I am committed to a polio-free Pakistan, but I’m also committed to a healthier Pakistan overall. For now my focus is on polio, but I hope to carry on my training to get involved in other areas of health care.
This campaign needs more resources, especially in the environment of fragile security that so many of our heroic vaccinators face. The PPP [Pakistan People’s Party, founded by Bhutto Zardari’s grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto] recently proposed that donors fund a security health corps to protect vaccinators as they attempt to reach children in dangerous areas. This is crucial to protect the lives of our vaccinators and to ensure the success of the program. I often hear of vaccinators returning from high-security-risk areas, such as Quetta, who were unable to reach children because of the danger. The conventional methods of taking the program forward may not be enough if we do not simultaneously address the security concerns.
TR: Will you go into politics?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: I have always been in politics. Since I was a child, I have been surrounded by it. With a mother who was prime minister twice and a father who served as president, it is impossible to avoid politics. I am keen to make my own mark and ensure that I have the skills to best serve Pakistan in the future. That is why I have dedicated so much effort to my education, specifically focusing on health care and humanitarian concerns.
TR: What was it like to grow up in exile?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: I spent a good portion of my life in Dubai. It was difficult to see the struggles my mother faced being away from our home. At the same time, it was inspiring to see how she was able to maintain a presence in Pakistan while in exile. My father was in jail, and she was petitioning leaders worldwide to help bring democracy back to Pakistan. Despite all of that, she always made the effort to help my siblings and me with our homework, and attend our school functions and plays. We were always hoping to return home, but she made sure we never felt lost.
TR: Your grandfather was executed under a military dictatorship, your father was jailed, your mother was killed. What drives you to risk your own security by staying involved? Why not walk away?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: Walking away is not an option. My mother, father, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brother, and sister have all committed themselves to serving Pakistan. They have all believed that they could have a positive impact. While to many, they are simply political figures, they are my family. I trust them, and they have shaped who I am. I will carry on the cause that they have believed in, and that many of them have died for, to honor them and to serve my country.
TR: What prevents you from focusing on the tragedy you have experienced?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: While there has been great tragedy in my life, I am also aware that I have been given great opportunities. I have been able to study, I have been able to travel, and I have been able to create friendships with people from all over the world. I have also been blessed with an incredible brother and sister and a wonderful father. The support I get from my family is a great comfort.
TR: One of your mother’s legacies was inspiring women and girls, including Malala Yousafzai, who calls your mother her role model. What will it take to develop more female leaders in Pakistan?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: Just as I have been blessed to have such an inspiring mother, I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know Malala. She is exactly right in identifying how we will empower women to take the lead in Pakistan in the future: education. We must ensure that women and girls have access to quality education so they are able to obtain leadership positions. At the same time, we must make sure that men and boys are being educated about equality.
TR: Will your country and the region ever see peace?
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: I have great faith that one day Pakistan will have peace. I pray for the day when people can look beyond the bombs and the bullets and see my beautiful country, where the people have so much talent and bravery. It is a region in deep transition. One can only hope that the challenges of rapid population growth in South Asia will motivate leaders to strive harder for peace, and that we will be able to work with our neighboring countries to form a more stable and safe environment for our families.
Host an event for World Polio Day on or around 24 October and spread the word in your community about Rotary’s role in the campaign to eradicate polio. During your program, watch an update on the state of polio atendpolio.org.