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Barack Obama and Me

By J. D. VANCE

I first became interested in politics as a middle school student in the late 1990s, when sexual scandal and presidential impeachment dominated national headlines. The opinion leaders of the day seemed to fall into two camps: those who argued that the president’s private life was none of the public’s business, and those who felt the president lied under oath and deserved to face the consequences.

I wasn’t sophisticated enough to have an opinion on that topic, though I watched the impeachment proceedings like an interested spectator at a sporting event. My politics had started to drift to the right of my family, many of them classic blue dog Democrats. Still, I admired President Clinton in a way that happens when someone like you really makes it. He was a poor boy with a vaguely Southern accent, raised by a single mother with a heavy dose of loving grandparents. As my grandmother told me, presidents were almost always rich people, but Bill Clinton was one of us.

Yet it was that very relatability that made Mr. Clinton’s personal failings frightening. The data shows that working-class families like mine face much higher rates of marital strife and domestic instability. Demons like Mr. Clinton’s had haunted my home and family for generations, and at an age when I first began to develop strong feelings about my future, I knew that I wanted to outrun them. I cared little for Mr. Clinton’s elite education, his economic success or even his ascendancy to the most powerful office in the world. I cared that he had managed to build the domestic tranquillity that he lacked as a child. But here, in one sex scandal, he had blown it all up. If a man of his abilities had done this, then what hope was there for me?

I often wonder how many kids look at our current president the way I once looked at President Clinton. Barack Obama was elected during my second year of college, and save for his skin color, he had much in common with Bill Clinton: Despite an unstable life with a single mother, aided by two loving grandparents, he had made in his adulthood a family life that seemed to embody my sense of the American ideal.

I suspected that there were skeletons lurking in his closet, too. Surely this was a man with a secret sex addiction, or at least an alcohol problem. I secretly guessed that before the end of his term, some major personal scandal would reveal his family life to be a sham. I disagreed with many of his positions, so perhaps a dark part of me wanted such a scandal to come out. But it never came. He and his wife treated each other with clear love and respect, and he adored and cared for his children. Whatever scars his childhood left, he refused to let those scars control him.

The president’s example offered something no other public figure could: hope. I wanted so desperately to have what he had — a happy marriage and beautiful, thriving children. But I thought that those things belonged to people unlike me, to those who came from money and intact nuclear families. For the rest of us, past was destiny. Yet here was the president of the United States, a man whose history looked something like mine but whose future contained something I wanted. His life stood in stark contrast to my greatest fear.

Eventually, I achieved something roughly similar to the president’s early, personal accomplishments: a prestigious law degree, a strong professional career and a modicum of fame as a writer. There were many personal heroes in my life: aunts and uncles, a protective sister, a father who re-entered my life at the right time. But I benefited, too, from the example of a man whose public life showed that we need not be defeated by the domestic hardships of youth.

It is one of the great failures of recent political history that the Republican Party was too often unable to disconnect legitimate political disagreements from the fact that the president himself is an admirable man. Part of this opposition comes from this uniquely polarized moment in our politics, part of it comes from Mr. Obama’s leadership style — more disconnected and cerebral than personal and emotive — and part of it (though a smaller amount than many on the left suppose) comes from the color of his skin.

On Jan. 20, the political side of my brain will breathe a sigh of relief at Mr. Obama’s departure. I will hope for better policy from the new administration, a health reform package closer to my ideological preferences, and a new approach to foreign policy.

But the child who so desperately wanted an American dream, with a happy family at its core will feel something different. For at a pivotal time in my life, Barack Obama gave me hope that a boy who grew up like me could still achieve the most important of my dreams. For that, I’ll miss him, and the example he set.

WHITE HOUSE RELEASES DETAILS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FAREWELL SPEECH IN CHICAGO

By Jessica D'Onofrio and Sarah Schulte


President Barack Obama will give his final farewell speech on Jan. 10 at Chicago's McCormick Place, the White House confirmed Monday.

The event will be free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

Tickets will be distributed at McCormick Place on Saturday. The exact time of the ticket release has not yet been set. Only one ticket per person.

For more information, visit www.whitehouse.gov/farewell/info.

For those who cannot get tickets, the event will be live streamed on the White House Facebook page and on the White House website.

Obama will say goodbye to the American people where his political career started and then gave his 2008 victory speech, which electrified Grant Park.

In an email from President Obama, he said he just started writing his speech, but he plans to make it a thank you to those who have been with him on what he's calling an amazing journey. He also wants to ensure the smooth transition of power.

Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States 10 days after this farewell speech.

"He's gonna talk about what's next in a trump administration not overtly but he's going to talk about some things that Trump is trying to dismantle and he's going to try to calm the waters," said ABC7 political analyst Laura Washington. "I think he is trying to keep his cool and make sure that there is no question about who is president and there's no question about that Trump is our new leader and we have to respond to that."

The speech gives President Obama one last chance to define his presidency and how his two terms have reshaped American life.

In an email, Obama said, "Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger."

The president also said he'll offer some thoughts on where he thinks the country is going in the future.

"I think it's appropriate. He's from here. I think a lot of people here care about his presidency. It impacted a lot of people," said Emily Flaherty.

"It's history. It's definitely history to see an African American president do the things he's done. I would definitely want to be there I will be there if I'm not at work," said Malik Covington.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FULL EMAIL ON HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS:
In 1796, as George Washington set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power, he also set a precedent by penning a farewell address to the American people. And over the 220 years since, many American presidents have followed his lead.

On Tuesday, January 10, I'll go home to Chicago to say my grateful farewell to you, even if you can't be there in person.

I'm just beginning to write my remarks. But I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.

Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger. That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding -- our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.

So I hope you'll join me one last time.

Because, for me, it's always been about you.

President Barack Obama

Video - Hamilton at the White House

More Than 1,000 Schools Closed Across Afghanistan

Speaking in the Upper House of Parliament on Sunday Mohaqiq said that the Education Ministry is trying to re-open schools in insecure parts of Afghanistan.

Acting minister of education Asadullah Mohaqiq has said that more than 1,000 schools are closed across the country due to insecurity. Speaking in the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) on Sunday Mohaqiq said that the Education Ministry is trying to re-open schools in insecure parts of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile Mohaqiq said the lack of text books and qualified teachers was also a problem.

Mohaqiq said nearly 40,000 teachers were needed for the new school year across the country. The Ministry of Education said recently a study has found that only six million Afghan children are at school – contrary to the 11 million as previously stated by the former government. Afghan government officials from former president Hamid Karzai’s administration said on a number of occasions that over 11 million Afghan children were attending school.

Pakistan - Sindhi Sangat rallies against amendment in Forced Conversion Bill in cities of Sindh

Activists of Sindhi Sangat Sindh and Sindhi Nari Sangat Sindh protested in Mirpur Bathoro, Bulri Shah Karim, Jhok Sharif and Sujawal against the decision of Sindh government to amend forced conversion bill, growing religious extremism, forced religious conversion of Sindhi Hindu girls, discrimination with religious minorities Sindhi Hindus and Christians in Sindh, Pakistan. 

Responding to the central call given by the central chairman of the Sindhi Sangat Sindh Mansoor Khaskheli, activists of Sindhi Sangat Sindh and Sindhi Nari Sangat Sindh staged protest rallies and demonstrated in Mirpur Bathoro, Bulri Shah Karim, Jhok Sharif and Sujawal against the decision of Sindh government to amend forced conversion bill, growing religious extremism, forced religious conversion of Sindhi Hindu girls, discrimination with religious minorities in Sindh, Pakistan. 

Addressing the crowed activists of Sindhi Sangat Sindh and Sindhi Nari Sangat Sindh Nawaz Kunbhar, Ahmed Baloch, Farooq Mallah, Khalique Ahmed, Rizwana Shah, Shehnila Qambrani, Nusrat Sindhi Fehmeeda Bano and others said that Sindh government's decision to take back recently passed Bill that criminalizes forced religious conversions is highly condemnable, religious minorities in Pakistan are continuously being victimized especially Sindhi Hindus and Christians. Recently Sindh assembly passed a bill The Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) according to the bill, change of religion will not be recognized until the person reaches 18 years of age, moreover at least seven years for perpetrators and five-year jail was recommended for facilitators of forced conversions. 

Moreover adults considering changing their religion be provided with a safe house to live for 21 days, to ensure that they are making the said decision without any coercion. After opposing recently passed bill of forced religious conversions by religious extremists PPP’s Sindh govt has bowed down before banned religious outfits to appease them. 

Sindhi Sangat Sindh strongly condemns PPP Sindh govt’s decision to amend the bill instead of taking action against internationally banned outfits, government trying to appease them. Activists of Sindhi Sangat Sindh and Sindhi Nari Sangat Sindh further said Sindhi Hindu girls are the victims of forced religious conversion. 

Every year several cases of forced religious conversions reported in Sindh, Pakistan. But in the most cases culprits often go unpunished therefore such incidents are continuously increasing. How many more daughters of Sindh will be kidnapped and become the victims of forced religious conversion therefore Sindhi Sangat Sindh demands immediate implementation of recently passed bill of forced conversion to protect daughters of Sindh from religious extremists. Activists of Sindhi Sangat Sindh and Sindhi Nari Sangat Sindh demands perpetrators involved in forced religious conversion must be brought to the justice and government takes immediate actions against them. 

Activists further demanded protection of religious minorities, atrocities against religious minorities Sindhi Hindus and Christians in Sindh, Pakistan must be stopped. - See more at: http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/detail.php?hnewsid=6245#sthash.X5aIba17.dpuf

Pakistan - Students disillusionment

Inamullah Marwat

Poor research culture may be attributed to incompetence of those who are at the helm, teachers, but is also because of the paucity of resources required for conducting proper research.

Pakistan has been churning out thousands and thousands of graduates across the country in Social Sciences every year. Majority of the graduates, as per authors’ view who are also fresh graduates, instead of pursuing their careers in their chosen field of studies and directing their academic pursuits in figuring out problems faced by the society at large in their chosen field of studies, try to become a part of the job market without considering whether they have required skills for the job for which they are applying. This mad pursuit of jobs among graduates, as per authors’ views after they asked a majority of the graduates, is fuelled by haunting fear of unemployment. This growing trend among graduates has popularised essence of education lying only in becoming a part of the job market. The trend has now seeped into the minds of about-to-become graduates who, while studying, instead of focusing on their studies for long-term academic pursuits, approach their studies in a non-serious way, thinking that their role is only to attain a degree and nothing else. This crazy pursuit of jobs on the part of graduates in other fields instead of academic pursuits in their chosen fields of studies is the failure of those who are at the helm in academia, and this trend has not let academia in Pakistan to thrive. The cost of which is that Pakistan, with a huge demographic dividend in the form of 60% youth bulge and thousands of graduates, thanks to its shambolic education system, can hardly capitalise on a small chunk of its youth bulge devoted enough to work on its problems in academia through research. Overall, there is a great disillusionment pervasive among Pakistani students with respect to pursuing a career in academia which is very much reflective of the way they desperately want to escape from the world of academia.

In the face of the problems that Pakistan has been facing, Pakistan needs vibrant academia to figure out solutions for its problems. But why is it so that academia in Pakistan is not resonating with its graduates’ lot as an option for a career? In this op-ed, an effort has been made to shed light on why is there a disillusionment among students to pursue a career in academia.

One of the major reasons students do not stand by their fields of studies resulting their escape from academia is because they have not chosen those fields of studies through consent after proper counselling. Students, most of the time, because of having no access to career counselling, ride on bandwagons in their academic pursuits without ascertaining whether she has a knack for a particular field of studies, and, later on, try to find an escape from those field of studies. This bandwagonism can be illustrated by the way students rush for pre-medical and pre-engineering after Matric or O-Levels. In the case of social sciences, this bandwagonism exists in the form of competitive exams. Everybody, who studies social sciences, is having an obsession with taking competitive exams like CSS and PMS. Because of not having a clear idea about the scope of their subjects, social sciences students most of the time go for these exams to say adios to the world of academia.

Moreover, academia in Pakistan does not inspire students’ lot as there is poor research culture prevalent in academia because of which students hardly find ideas of their subject resonating with their world view. Poor research culture may be attributed to the incompetence of those who are at the helm, teachers, but is also because of the paucity of resources required for conducting proper research. Moreover, because of the intellectual righty due to the conservative milieu, the academia generally does not provide a conducive environment for research over issues like women empowerment, religion, etc. Because of the poor research culture, students have poor analytical skills and have a superficial understanding of their subjects because of which they do not find academia interesting. Also, apathy on the part of teachers towards invoking students’ interest in the subject because of being paid a meagre amount as salary is also one of the reasons why students do not find academia as an appealing professional option.

Passion, yes, it is required by this profession. Selflessness, that too is called for. Devotion, yeah, definitely! These three attributes do seem quite difficult to inculcate and bring together in one single personality but believe us when we say that all three require an irresistible, or irrational as stated by many, motive for your belief. The only driving force that can convince an individual to deliver to the profession s/he wanted to learn the most from is the obstinacy and determination to change the course of the system. If you could not get what you wanted to from the prevailing norms of the system and if you are least bothered to mould and mend its ways, then how is it possible to expect transformation in future generations?

We realise the salaries are low. We acknowledge that working conditions are harsh. We concede that teaching is a thankless job. But someone has to become the torchbearer. Someone has to make all those quotations a reality from which inspiration is attempted to be taken. Someone has to teach the world what teaching actually is. And take this as gospel — the system can only be changed if the real brains are put to work.

Yes, we need doctors who could treat patients in hospitals. Yes, we need engineers so that we could run electrical appliances and travel on metalled roads. Yes, we need economists to define our social dynamics and dimensions. Yes, we need lawyers to provide justice to innocent and convict the criminals. Surely, we need bureaucrats to run our establishments and countries. However, we also need teachers who could tame, train and build these professionals for all societies and civilisations. We should not forget, after all, that people from almost all disciplines around the globe collectively venerate Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, while Charles Babbage and Albert Einstein are usually commemorated by scientists belonging to those specific fields.

To quote Aristotle: “The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.”

Why is China 'protecting' the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group?

China blocked a recent Indian move to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammad's chief Masood Azhar at the UN. In a DW interview, Siegfried O Wolf explains why China is protecting the Pakistan-based militant group's head.

On Friday, December 30, China vetoed India's request at the United Nations to designate the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad's (JeM) head Masood Azhar as terrorist. The UN Security Council has already blacklisted JeM, but not Azhar.

New Delhi accuses JeM and Azhar of masterminding several terrorist attacks on Indian soil, including a deadly assault on an Indian airbase in Pathankot in January 2016. Pakistani investigators say Azhar and his associates had no links with the attack.

Vikas Swarup, the spokesman for India's Foreign Ministry, said that his country had requested nine months ago that Azhar be blacklisted, and claimed that most members of the Security Council had backed the move.
"We had expected China would have been more understanding of the danger posed to all by terrorism," Swarup said in a statement, adding that the inability of the international community to ban Azhar showed the "prevalence of double standards in the fight against terrorism."

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of using jihadist proxies to mount attacks inside India, including the India-administered Kashmir. Islamabad denies these allegations.

In a DW interview, Siegfried O. Wolf, a South Asia expert at the University of Heidelberg, explains why Beijing continues to block the Indian move to blacklist Masood Azhar.

DW: China blocked a recent Indian move to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar at the UN. In April, Beijing put a similar move on hold. Why is China protecting Azhar? 

Siegfried O. Wolf: China's diplomatic support for Pakistan-based militants is multi-faceted. Therefore, one must look at Beijing's latest action at the UN in a larger context.

China's protection of Masood Azhar is only one component of the Chinese campaign to provide Pakistan its diplomatic support, which includes informal "lobbying work" to prevent Pakistan from being listed as a state that sponsors terrorism. The possible sanctions would not only have immense political and economic implications for Islamabad, they will also reflect poorly on Beijing as Pakistan is widely seen as a close China ally. Therefore, Chinese authorities try to undermine all Indian attempts to officially name Pakistan as a state-sponsor of terrorism on international platforms like BRICS or the Heart of Asia conference.

Beijing is now also drawing on Islamabad's improved relations with Moscow. China is increasingly involving Pakistan in multilateral dialogues on regional cooperation and security in relation to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and Central Asia in an attempt to minimize Pakistan's international isolation.

Another dimension of China's move to block the Indian effort to designate Azhar as a terrorist is the threat that anti-Indian militant groups like the JeM could turn against the Pakistani state. This would have dangerous implications for China, especially for its massive investments and development initiatives in the South Asian country, including the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. We must not forget that international terror groups like al Qaeda, "Islamic State" (IS) and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) oppose Beijing for its alleged anti-Muslim policies against the Uighurs in its western Xinjiang province. China doesn't want an additional confrontation with Islamist groups.

Finally, there is no doubt that the India-China rivalry might also be a factor in Beijing's support for Islamabad and Pakistan-based terrorists. In this context, China's major development projects like "One Belt, One Road" to link China with Europe and the Middle East, and several other infrastructure projects show that Beijing considers Afghanistan an important country for its economic, security and geopolitical interests.

Why does India want the UN to designate Azhar as a terrorist? What does it want to achieve through this move?

The Indian policy is that the internationally community recognizes Pakistan as a terror sponsor. New Delhi wants the global powers to impose sanctions on Pakistan. If the international community declares Pakistan a state-sponsor of terrorism, it would help India to justify its military action against militants on Pakistani soil and legitimize cross-border operations.

China is also facing a protracted Islamist insurgency in Xinjiang. Why are Beijing and New Delhi not on the same page over Islamist terrorism? 

China's counter-terrorism measures exclude the US and India. Chinese authorities have historically treated New Delhi as a geopolitical rival. India's close ties with the US are also perceived as a threat in Beijing, therefore China prefers not to cooperate with India. Last year, China bolstered its ties with Moscow, and at the moment it appears that Beijing is trying to construct a new security bloc in Asia. This, however, does not involve the Sino-Indian security cooperation.

Will Chinese support embolden Pakistan in what some experts say is its backing for jihadist proxies in India and Afghanistan?

China is indirectly encouraging Pakistan to continue its state patronage of cross-border terrorism. At the same time, Beijing is supporting Pakistan's policy of fighting anti-state militants, especially those groups that could pose a threat to CPEC.

Beijing will most likely not intervene in Pakistan's policy of backing militants that are operating in Afghanistan and India. Any measures against such groups, or the withdrawal of support, will be perceived as a hostile act by these jihadists. In this context, it is interesting to note that a recent tripartite meeting between Russia, China, and Pakistan on how to bring stability and peace to Afghanistan identified IS as the major threat and not the pro-Pakistan Taliban groups or the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network.

Siegfried O. Wolf is a researcher at the University of Heidelberg's South Asia Institute. He is also the director of research at the Brussels-based South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF).

The interview was conducted by Shamil Shams.

Pakistan - #RIP National Action Plan

Gul Bukhari

Just in the past couple of weeks I have come across a slew of Punjabi clerics of various sects committing hate speech and incitement to violence in full public view. I was staggered by the sheer number of such incidences, but did not see any reports of these gents being apprehended to face the law. Most of these incidents happened in Punjab. What is even more shocking than their freedom to openly carry on thus when government and military establishment do not tire of telling us how effectively they are fighting the war on terror in this country through the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), is that they are either receiving peace awards from obscure and mysterious but government run bodies, or actually threatening and persecuting peaceful citizens with help of government machinery.

These occurrences have come thick and fast on the heels of the damning Quetta Commission Report of last month investigating the attack in August 2016 on Quetta’s Civil Hospital wiping out almost the entire senior cadre of lawyers belonging to the Quetta bar and injuring scores of others. The Punjab incidents of hate speech and incitement to violence more than validate those areas of the Quetta Commission Report that hold the government criminally derelict in its duty to implement the NAP plan to target the nurturing and propagation of violent ideologies.

In one recent clip, one Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a Punjabi Barelvi cleric who travels all over Punjab addressing gatherings, is opening glorifying Mumtaz Qadri, killer of governor Salman Taseer and inciting violence against all those who still speak against the killing, or salute the slain governor, and or call for the release of the alleged blasphemer (Christian woman, Asia Bibi) the governor tried to rescue from the predatory and unfair blasphemy laws of the country. The governor’s fifth death anniversary is merely two days away. Obviously, at such a time not only is he remembered, but calls to free Asia Bibi are renewed together with calls on putting fetters on these hate mongers.

In another clip Rizvi is seen openly violating the government ban on the use of loud speakers to arouse religiously motivated hate. The icing is that he is using the loudspeaker to curse government in the most violent terms for the very restriction on loudspeakers, portraying the ban as against loud praise of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). He adds ‘Pakistan belongs to the Prophet’ (PBUH) to bolster his defiant use of the loudspeaker. However, there is no word on him being apprehended.

Another video to have surfaced is that of one Maulvi Sabir addressing a crowd in a mosque, abusing both slain Governor Salman Taseer and his son Shaan who had issued a video statement on Facebook wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and bidding everyone to keep in their thoughts at this time ‘especially those unfortunate people who had become victim of religious extremism and Pakistan’s inhuman blasphemy laws’. The vitriol of Sabir flays Shaan in the most violent and abusive terms.

Shortly thereafter, video evidence emerged of a large crowd of clerics from the Sunni Tehreek (ST) led by Maulana Mujahid Abdul Rasool Khan, President ST Lahore Division, having surrounded the Station House Officer (SHO) of a local police station in Mughalpura, Lahore to have a case registered against Shaan Taseer for his Christmas video message. The video of this occurrence is eye opening. Punjab Police known for its arrogance and rudeness towards ordinary citizens, has its SHO standing respectfully and listening meekly to this large crowd of clerics, murmuring his agreement with all they say and promising to revert soon to meet their demands.

The application the Sunni Tehreek submitted for registering a case against Shaan Taseer is instructive: it ‘accuses’ Taseer of calling Section 295(c) (of the blasphemy law) inhuman; of praying for Asia Bibi and other ‘gustakhan-e-rasool’ (blasphemers, but literally means those who disrespect the Prophet); of Shaan being a ‘gustakh’ (blasphemer) for having prayed for a blasphemer and having sympathy for a blasphemer; of having hurt Muslims’ religious sentiments by calling 295 (c) inhuman.

Before I move forward, it is important to understand the cunning of the Sunni Tehreek. The Blasphemy Law consists of four sections. Section 295, deals with defiling places of worship with a two year sentence, Section 295 (a) deals with malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings with 10 year imprisonment, Section 295 (b) deals with defiling etc. of the Quran with life imprisonment, and Section 295 (c) deals with disrespect of the Prophet Mohammed and a mandatory death sentence. Shaan had only referred to ‘the inhuman law’, not to any specific section of the law. But Sunni Tehreek’s complaint deliberately and falsely focused on 295 (c) so as to have a case registered against Shaan Taseer under Section 295 (c) that mandates death, not just by the state but also by the lynch crowds.

Barely twenty four hours had passed during which this video of Sunni Tehreek clerics pressuring the police was making the rounds of social media, invoking outrage at the audacity of the terror tactics of the Sunni Tehreek, that the bombshell came of a case actually having been registered against Shaan for hate speech under Section 295 (a). The fact that the police managed section (a) instead of section (c) is a small mercy in these dark times. But in the mind of the ordinary man on the street who does not know the technicalities, this would hardly matter. For the multitudes, Shaan is now a blasphemer, a ‘gustakh-e-Rasool’.

Human rights activists are reeling in disbelief. Far from arresting and prosecuting the violent extremists, the state has registered a case against a peace monger. This is the not the only reason the civil society says the National Action Plan (NAP) is napping. However, the best is yet to come.

Only a few days ago a photo emerged on Social Media of the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs presenting a ‘peace award’ to Masroor Nawaz Jhangvi at a gathering of the National Peace Council. Masroor Nawaz Jhangvi is son of Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, the anti-Shia cleric who founded the Sipah-e-Sahaba, and Masroor is himself a virulent anti-Shia hate spewing cleric who happens to be on the fourth schedule of the Anti Terrorism Act. The dysfunctionality of the NAP is further demonstrated by the fact that he was cleared by the Election Commission of Pakistan to contest elections for the Punjab Assembly from Jhang. He went on to contest and won the seat on 1st December 2016, backed by the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ), another sectarian terror organization. In just one of the ASWJ rallies at Rahim Yaar Khan, Masroor Nawaz Jhangvi is on record as having said that Sunnis were allowed to declare Shias as non Muslim, before glorifying Malik Ishaq and Ghulam Rasool Shah of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and vowing to continue their mission of killing Shia Muslims and threatening the DPO of Rahim Yaar Khan and the entire Police Department to never oppose ASWJ and never support the local Shia population.

When I checked to see what the National Peace Council was (the organisation that awarded Jhangvi the peace award), what were its mission and activities and for what exactly it had given the award to Masroor Jhangvi, I found its full name to include in smaller script ‘for interfaith harmony of Pakistan’. Its website is npc.gov.pk i.e., having a government domain name, with absolutely no information on its activities or how it promotes interfaith harmony. The ‘news’, ‘events’ and ‘gallery’ tabs contain nothing. One of the two tabs that contain anything is the ‘our team’ tab which provides pictures and names of large central and provincial teams. The other ‘Broshar’ (brochure) tab also contains several names and pictures. But the first page of the brochure has only two pictures, with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on top, and ex-COAS General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kyani beneath. I have yet to discover the services Mr. Jhangvi was awarded for.

Rest in pieces National Action Plan.