According to Pakistan Christian Post, David Alton (Lord Alton of Liverpool), met Pakistani Christian asylum seekers detained at Bangkok’s detention centre during a recent visit.
According to reports, David Alton was told by one of the Pakistani Christian detainee that he and his 6-year-old son share a detention cell with 95 other men and children. What is more, he told that he is allowed to meet his wife and daughters for only an hour once a week; concluding that his wife and other children are detained in another cell.
At the same time, he told the British Peer that he was a Pastor back home in Pakistan. He said that he and his family received death threats constantly, as a result of which he decided to flee from Pakistan.
According to some estimates, as a direct result of trepidation and constant threats to their lives, about 4,000 Pakistani Christians poured into Thailand and are now living illegally or in detention in Thailand. All of these Christians are primarily asylum seekers being least helped by the UNHCR.David Alton consecutively held meetings with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). He also put forth the petition organised by Pakistani Christian leaders in Bangkok along with a database document.
This database document contained actual facts including the indecent overfilling in the detention centres, the deplorable letdown in processing asylum applications, a murky lack of UNHCR resources being made available to these asylum seekers, a lack of legal representation for detainees; utter failure to provide protection to women and children; too little or flawed translation facilities; refusal of providing education for children of asylum seekers ; inadequate health care, which causes deteriorating health conditions or even deaths of refugees in detention; most importantly Pakistan disposing off official records of Christians being persecuted on religious grounds in the country.
Thereupon, after seeing the dossier the UNHCR officials agreed that there is “extreme overcrowding” in the detention centres and that “conditions in Thai prisons are actually better than in the detention centres.”
David Alton met with senior British officials who are supervising the crisis situation and presented the evidence he had accumulated while meeting with several Pakistani Christians who are currently counted as living illegally because UNHCR has failed to process their asylum applications.
Further, David said, “the exodus from Pakistan is driven by visceral hatred and a fanatical disregard for the rights of minorities. In a country where the brave Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, can be murdered in broad daylight, where churches are bombed, where an illiterate woman can be sentenced to death of alleged blasphemy charges, where a husband and wife can be burnt alive in front of their young children, and where there is a culture of impunity which rarely leads to those responsible being brought to justice, it is little wonder that many Christians are fleeing for their lives.
It doubly compounds their suffering when the international community fails to step up to the plate in defence of those who have to endure such pitiless suffering and hardship.”
- See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/life-under-terrible-conditions-a-british-peer-meets-pakistani-christian-asylum-seekers-in-detention-centre-of-bangkok/#sthash.9DntP6cd.dpuf
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Pakistan's Shia Genocide - - BANNED ASWJ TERRORISTS KILLED GEO TV SHIA SATELLITE ENGINEER
Armed terrorists Of banned AhleSunnat Wal Jamaat ( ASWJ) o Tuesday night killed Geo News Shia Digital Satellite Engineer Arshad Jafari in the attack on Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) van at Bahadurabad area of Karachi. The driver and satellite engineer were injured in the attack and rushed to a local hospital for treatment. Shia satellite engineer Of Geo News Arshad Ali Jafri succumbed to his injuries at the hospital while the driver Anees is said to be in stable condition. The eye witnesses said that the Shia satellite Engineer Of Geo News Arshad Ali Jafari was the main target Of terrorists Of ASWJ aka SSP terrorists In the DSNG Van attack adding that Arshad Jafari received 7 bullets on him. DIG East Munir Sheikh said three gunmen riding a motorcycle attacked the DSNG van. Police have recovered 9MM bullet shells from the site and the DIG added all three attackers were wearing shalwar kameez. He also said that raids would be conducted overnight to arrest the attackers. The attackers fled the scene shortly after attacking the Geo News van. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has summoned a report of the incident from Inspector General Police Sindh. Speaking from the hospital, Geo News Karachi Bureau Chief, Faheem Siddiqui, said that seven of the shots wounded Arshad, the Satellite Engineer. Three of the shots wounded his stomach, while three were fired on his hands, while one on his face. While the driver received two bullet wounds on his shoulders. Two members of the team who were also in the van during the attack remained unhurt.
http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/18302-banned-aswj-terrorists-killed-geo-tv-shia-satellite-engineer
http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/18302-banned-aswj-terrorists-killed-geo-tv-shia-satellite-engineer
Pakistan - Crackdown On Seminaries
Twice the Islamabad Police had checked the aforementioned seminary, but they failed to retrieve information regarding their students and their backgrounds. They were also denied entry to the residential area of the seminary and due to the lack of support from their higher ups; the check was concluded without yielding results. Now that the Rangers have officially begun a covert operation in Punjab more incidences like these are bound to come to light.
The government’s efforts to rein in madrassas have prompted anger from many clerics, who accuse the authorities of maligning religious leaders in a bid to build an “anti-Islamic narrative”. There is also the question of possible resistance from Pakistan’s wealthy friends in the Gulf. In January, a Senate committee heard that seminaries were receiving funding from Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. But the government is seen to go ahead with the operation despite the opposition from the religious groups and the external pressure and it is most certainly a move welcomed by many.
With such a long-standing support for religious seminaries and madrassas this opposition was expected. Pakistan is a deeply religious society and, despite misgivings about madrassas, clergy are generally well respected. Overcoming resistance from them will take tantamount political will and determination that seems to be lacking so far. The Interior Ministry had been seen making excuses regarding the effectiveness of the National Action Plan but Shuja Khanzada’s death has spurred all authorities into taking serious steps towards rooting out terrorist elements from these seminaries.
The police needs to be empowered if these checks are expected to yield any real results. Relying on the Rangers to be the heroes is all well in good but the local police has an important role to play to in the daily monitoring and surveillance of the activities carried out by the seminaries and the students to ensure law and order in the capital. If their hands are tied we cannot blame them for not doing their job effectively.
Pakistan - Bilawal Bhutto promises policy for farmers, labourers and students soon
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will soon announce its policies for farmers, labourers and students, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Monday.
He was speaking to party workers from Lodhran and Vehari at Bilawal House.
Bilawal said the PPP would continue to work for the rights of farmers and labourers. He urged the jiyalas (PPP workers) to not lose hope and said that he would soon tour the province to meet PPP workers and listen to their proposals for the party.
Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, PPP south Punjab president Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood and PPP leaders Shaukat Basra and Abdul Qadir Shaheed were also present at the occasion.
https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/bilawal-bhutto-zardari-promises-policy-for-farmers-labourers-and-students-soon/
The current crisis of civilian rule in Pakistan
The civilian political order headed by elected federal and provincial governments appears to be in decline because of poor delivery of essential services to the people and its inability to deal effectively with internal security affairs. It has yielded a large space during 2014-15 to the military for countering terrorism, coping with violence in Karachi and dealing with the external threat because of Indian aggression on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary.
The problems of the civilian federal government began with its policy of dragging on negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013-14 even when the Taliban were not willing to engage in direct dialogue on any issue. The Taliban leadership used this time to relocate from its original hideouts in North Waziristan and traditional locations in mainland Pakistan. On June 15, 2014, the military decided unilaterally to start an operation in North Waziristan. The federal government decided to go along with it. The success of the security operation in North Waziristan and the significant decline in violence in mainland Pakistan during the last 15 months has improved the image of the military in general.
The problems of the civilian federal government began with its policy of dragging on negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013-14 even when the Taliban were not willing to engage in direct dialogue on any issue. The Taliban leadership used this time to relocate from its original hideouts in North Waziristan and traditional locations in mainland Pakistan. On June 15, 2014, the military decided unilaterally to start an operation in North Waziristan. The federal government decided to go along with it. The success of the security operation in North Waziristan and the significant decline in violence in mainland Pakistan during the last 15 months has improved the image of the military in general.
The problems of the civilian federal government began with its policy of dragging on negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013-14 even when the Taliban were not willing to engage in direct dialogue on any issue. The Taliban leadership used this time to relocate from its original hideouts in North Waziristan and traditional locations in mainland Pakistan. On June 15, 2014, the military decided unilaterally to start an operation in North Waziristan. The federal government decided to go along with it. The success of the security operation in North Waziristan and the significant decline in violence in mainland Pakistan during the last 15 months has improved the image of the military in general.
Meanwhile, the Rangers expanded their domain in Karachi by focusing on the financiers and sponsors of terrorism and violence. It was also decided that federal institutions would be used for curbing corruption in the government on the assumption that some of these monetary gains also made their way to terrorism. These issues were discussed in the Sindh apex committee and the Federal-level apex committee and the prime minister was on board for the extended scope of action by the Rangers and other federal institutions, such as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigarion Agency (FIA) in Karachi. Once equipped with the blessings of the apex committees, the Rangers, under the guidance of the military, went ahead for tough action without seeking the specific approval of the chief minister of Sindh for each and every action.
The freedom of action of the Rangers in Karachi hit the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) quite hard, whose activists were arrested on charges of terrorism and related crimes. Later, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) expressed strong anger at the arrest of some its key people for corruption or terrorism related charges.
This caused in-fighting among the political parties, i.e., the MQM versus the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the PPP versus the PML-N, thus weakening the civilian system. The problem is that the prime minister cannot offer much to the MQM to save them from the wrath of the Rangers. The same is the case when it comes to the grievances of the PPP. This means that the prime minister’s political position will be weakened if these two political parties decide to openly oppose him.
The PPP is pursuing a two-pronged strategy of asking the prime minister that as the chief executive of the country, he should take the lead in controlling the role of security agencies and federal institutions and that he should accommodate the grievances of the political parties. On the other hand, the PPP is asking the military not to pursue the anti-corruption and antiterrorism drive in a selective manner. They want such actions to be extended to Punjab so that the PML-N and its beneficiaries should also face the accountability process.
Facing pressures from the MQM and the PPP, the prime minister has decided to stand with the military for the currently expanded security operation. If he accommodates these two political parties, he runs the risk of undermining his apparently smooth interaction with the armed forces. However, if the military takes the initiative in pursuing sectarian and other hardline groups in Punjab and NAB decides to take up corruption related issues in Punjab, the Nawaz-military relations can run into serious trouble.
The next four to six weeks will determine the direction of civilian politics and Nawaz-military relations. If the in-fighting amongst the political forces escalates, Nawaz Sharif’s position will be weakened vis-à-vis the military. The situation can become more problematic if the London-based issues diminish the role of the MQM chief.
The problems of the civilian federal government began with its policy of dragging on negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013-14 even when the Taliban were not willing to engage in direct dialogue on any issue. The Taliban leadership used this time to relocate from its original hideouts in North Waziristan and traditional locations in mainland Pakistan. On June 15, 2014, the military decided unilaterally to start an operation in North Waziristan. The federal government decided to go along with it. The success of the security operation in North Waziristan and the significant decline in violence in mainland Pakistan during the last 15 months has improved the image of the military in general.
The problems of the civilian federal government began with its policy of dragging on negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013-14 even when the Taliban were not willing to engage in direct dialogue on any issue. The Taliban leadership used this time to relocate from its original hideouts in North Waziristan and traditional locations in mainland Pakistan. On June 15, 2014, the military decided unilaterally to start an operation in North Waziristan. The federal government decided to go along with it. The success of the security operation in North Waziristan and the significant decline in violence in mainland Pakistan during the last 15 months has improved the image of the military in general.
The problems of the civilian federal government began with its policy of dragging on negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban in 2013-14 even when the Taliban were not willing to engage in direct dialogue on any issue. The Taliban leadership used this time to relocate from its original hideouts in North Waziristan and traditional locations in mainland Pakistan. On June 15, 2014, the military decided unilaterally to start an operation in North Waziristan. The federal government decided to go along with it. The success of the security operation in North Waziristan and the significant decline in violence in mainland Pakistan during the last 15 months has improved the image of the military in general.
Meanwhile, the Rangers expanded their domain in Karachi by focusing on the financiers and sponsors of terrorism and violence. It was also decided that federal institutions would be used for curbing corruption in the government on the assumption that some of these monetary gains also made their way to terrorism. These issues were discussed in the Sindh apex committee and the Federal-level apex committee and the prime minister was on board for the extended scope of action by the Rangers and other federal institutions, such as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigarion Agency (FIA) in Karachi. Once equipped with the blessings of the apex committees, the Rangers, under the guidance of the military, went ahead for tough action without seeking the specific approval of the chief minister of Sindh for each and every action.
The freedom of action of the Rangers in Karachi hit the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) quite hard, whose activists were arrested on charges of terrorism and related crimes. Later, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) expressed strong anger at the arrest of some its key people for corruption or terrorism related charges.
This caused in-fighting among the political parties, i.e., the MQM versus the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the PPP versus the PML-N, thus weakening the civilian system. The problem is that the prime minister cannot offer much to the MQM to save them from the wrath of the Rangers. The same is the case when it comes to the grievances of the PPP. This means that the prime minister’s political position will be weakened if these two political parties decide to openly oppose him.
The PPP is pursuing a two-pronged strategy of asking the prime minister that as the chief executive of the country, he should take the lead in controlling the role of security agencies and federal institutions and that he should accommodate the grievances of the political parties. On the other hand, the PPP is asking the military not to pursue the anti-corruption and antiterrorism drive in a selective manner. They want such actions to be extended to Punjab so that the PML-N and its beneficiaries should also face the accountability process.
Facing pressures from the MQM and the PPP, the prime minister has decided to stand with the military for the currently expanded security operation. If he accommodates these two political parties, he runs the risk of undermining his apparently smooth interaction with the armed forces. However, if the military takes the initiative in pursuing sectarian and other hardline groups in Punjab and NAB decides to take up corruption related issues in Punjab, the Nawaz-military relations can run into serious trouble.
The next four to six weeks will determine the direction of civilian politics and Nawaz-military relations. If the in-fighting amongst the political forces escalates, Nawaz Sharif’s position will be weakened vis-à-vis the military. The situation can become more problematic if the London-based issues diminish the role of the MQM chief.
However, all this will not necessarily benefit the military. The unravelling of the civilian system will adversely affect the ongoing campaign against terrorism and related evils. The military cannot by itself compensate for civilian disarray. Some political and civilian arrangements will be needed in any case. Pakistan is increasingly becoming ungovernable from one point or by one authority. Therefore, the present or a reshuffled civilian order is needed to deal with multiple problems of political participation and socio-economic justice that are over and above the external and internal threats currently faced by Pakistan. A civil-military hybrid may work better even if the greater initiative stays with the military.
http://timesofoman.com/article/67140/Opinion/Columnist/Infighting-among-Pakistani-political-parties-escalates-as-military-governance-role-expands
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