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Saudi Arabia and Egypt are excluded from Trump's ban. Why?

By Aryeh Neier

When President Trump issued executive orders limiting immigration on Friday, it appears there was at least one important omission. He has failed to instruct the National Park Service to put a hood over the Statue of Liberty, the world’s most renowned symbol of freedom.

It is not the only omission. In identifying Muslim-majority countries from which refugees and visas will be blocked because of concerns about terrorism, Trump left out Saudi Arabia. Yet most of those who hijacked airliners to attack New York and Washington DC on 9/11, the deadliest terrorist episode in history, were Saudis.

Does Trump shy away from offending Saudi Arabia because he has business dealings with wealthy Saudis? Or because he expects them to curry favor by patronizing his new hotel in Washington? We don’t know. By refusing to release his tax returns and by refusing to divest himself of his businesses, he raises such questions.

Another country left off the list is Egypt. Yet the leader of the 9/11 hijackers was Mohammed Atta, an Egyptian. Was Egypt omitted because Trump is developing a warm relationship with the country’s brutal dictator, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi? Again, we don’t know. Of course, excluding all Saudis and Egyptians from entering the US is a bad idea. Applicants for refugee status or visas should be considered individually. Yet failing to exclude them highlights the arbitrariness of barring all those from some countries whose nationals have had no part in terrorism in the US.

During his campaign, Trump focused particularly on excluding Syrian refugees, calling them “the ultimate Trojan horse”. It must be acknowledged that despite the extreme suffering they have endured, the US was not especially welcoming of Syrian refugees before Trump took office.

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees has registered more than 4,800,000 Syrian refugees. The great majority are in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The Obama administration proposed to admit 25,000 Syrian refugees to the US in the year beginning 1 October.

Trump has now halted that process. Meanwhile Canada has announced that it resettled 39,617 Syrian refugees by 2 January 2017. The process has gone very well. Many thousands of Canadians are voluntarily helping the refugees and contributing financially to enable them to adjust successfully to their new environment.

Before accepting the Syrian refugees, Canada vetted them with care. So far, there have been no security issues. The vetting by the US before Syrian refugees are accepted for resettlement has been similar, and has taken up to two years. As in the case of Canada, the US has had no security incidents involving Syrian refugees.

Yet now, except for a provision that appears intended to exempt the Syrian refugees who are Christians, and therefore of special concern to Christian right supporters of Trump, they are to be blocked from entering the US. This highlights the attempt to engage in religious discrimination. (Actually, if the exemption is applied as written to members of minority religions who have been most severely persecuted, the principal beneficiaries should be Yazidis from Syria and Baha’i from Iran. That may not be Trump’s intent and it may not be followed in practice.)

In the period following the devastating 9/11 attacks, the US committed a number of acts that damaged the country’s global standing. They include the invasion of Iraq that was justified by the false claim that Saddam Hussein possessed an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction that endangered the US; the water-boarding, wall-slamming and other abuses of detainees from many countries at CIA “black sites”; the extremely prolonged detentions without charges or trial at Guantánamo; the poor administration of occupied Iraq that allowed the country to descend into chaos and helped to spawn terrorist movements in the region; and the torture and sexual humiliation of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib.

Now, by excluding all refugees from certain Muslim-majority countries and by denying all visas to nationals of those countries, Trump is further detracting from the prestige of the US as a country where people are treated fairly regardless of race, religion or national origin. If he thinks this will enhance safety, he is sadly mistaken.

Even if he could keep out all those he thinks might threaten the US, he will heighten the danger to many millions of Americans who live, work and travel outside its borders. America, and Americans, would be safer if the country is seen by the world to live up to the ideals represented by the Statue of Liberty.

She's back! Hillary attacks Trump with tweets criticizing his travel ban from Gold Star father Khizr Khan

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jumped back into the political fray with a short tweet referencing the contributions of some of the people who help the U.S. but could be kept out by President Trump's new immigration order. 'What I'm thinking about today' is all the 2016 presidential candidate wrote, on a Twitter page that still features the 'Stronger Together' slogan of her failed campaign.

Clinton linked to two stories meant to show the contributions of immigrants, days after Trump signed an order that would halt immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries including Iraq and Syria for 90 days. The first article was a New Yorker interview with Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who Trump famously attacked following Khan's speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Clinton campaigned with Khan just two days before her defeat as part of a strategy that elevated women and minorities Trump had gone after, including Khan and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

Clinton's tweet had earned 24,000 'likes' by Tuesday evening. Khan went after Trump in his convention speech, waving a pocket copy of the Constitution as he told the story of his son, Humayan Khan, who died serving in Iraq.

Khan ripped the new order in an interview. 'It’s un-American. It’s against the safety of my country,' he told the magazine. 'I say to President Trump and his security advisers, the drafters of these executive orders, to get out of the White House and go to Arlington Cemetery and stand in front of all the tombstones and learn from observation that Muslims, and people from all other faiths, have given their lives to protect the Constitution and values of pluralism and equal protection.' 'I hope that their sense of patriotism is awakened and they realize that these executive orders banning Muslims and creating walls will not do,' Khan added.

He said of the order: 'It alienates Muslims who are patriotic citizens. The Bush and Obama Administrations learned that alienating a large Muslim population in the United States works against keeping the U.S. secure. It makes people think of harm.' Clinton also linked to a New York Times op-ed by Zachary Iscol, a former Marine infantry officer who is now on the board of the International Refugee Assistance Project. Iscol told the story of two Iraqis he knew who assisted his Marine unit. One, who he called Frank, served as an interpreter and got shot in the leg.

Another, Abood, was forced to flee the country after militants left a dogs head outside his door as a morning. Iscol writes that when testifying before the Senate in 2007 about the need to held Iraqis who assisted troops, he met with Gen. John Kelly, then head of legislatie affairs for the Marines.

Kelly is now the secretary of Homeland Security. He told reporters Tuesday that Trump's order is 'not a Muslim ban.' Iscol wrote of his meeting with Kelly at the time: 'Officially, he needed to ensure that I wasn’t going to embarrass the Marine Corps. But I’ll never forget his words to me: Abood had worn the Marine Corps uniform in combat, and we had an obligation to keep him safe.'

In the hours after Trump signed the order Friday night, it was not clear whether it applied to Iraqis and Afghans who assisted troops and qualified for special visas. Among the first lawsuits filed agains the order was for two Iraqis who had aided the U.S. war effort. Clinton took a cue from President Barack Obama, who weighed in publicly on a political issue for the first time since leaving office when he sent out support for demonstrations that have spread across the country in protest of President Donald Trump's immigration order. 'President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,' according to a statement released by his post-presidential office.

'Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,' Obama said. Clinton has kept a limited profile since her stunning election loss. She has spoken to fundraisers and staff, blasted FBI Director James Comey's role in the elections, and appeared at Trump's inauguration.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4177986/Hillary-links-Khizr-Khan-attack-Trump-again.html#ixzz4XS6l3XoY Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

U.S. - A Government on Edge and in the Dark

So this is where we are, just under two weeks into the presidency of a man who has never had to report to a boss or a board, who likes to imagine he gives all the orders, who fires or sues those who complain:

An acting attorney general, Sally Yates, fired and accused of betrayal because she told her Justice Department subordinates not to defend President Trump’s order closing the nation’s borders to more than 200 million legitimate foreign travelers, because it targets Muslims.

A State Department where more than 1,000 career employees have publicly and lawfully dissented from that order, which they fear will weaken, not strengthen, the nation’s defenses against would-be terrorists.

A Pentagon that thinks the order will needlessly alienate vital allies in conflict zones like Iraq where Americans and Iraqi Muslims are together resisting ISIS.

And all across the government, in the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and even the Interior Department, a universe of federal employees rattled by directives on regulations and hiring, shaken by rumors of cuts in basic science involving energy, health and climate change, and wondering where the next edict will come from.

And of course a press secretary, Sean Spicer, with a belligerent message not just for the State Department dissenters but for any federal employee worried about Mr. Trump’s rule by decree: Get with the program or get lost. Mr. Trump’s supporters thrill to see him pumping out executive orders and memorandums aimed at turning his campaign pledges into action — building a wall, killing trade deals, gutting Obamacare and barring Muslim refugees. Yet in doing so he has not only flouted traditional policy-making machinery but, in some cases, opened the way for legal challenges.

He has issued more than a dozen orders and memorandums, often without significant review by Congress or federal lawyers, and always with little regard for the agencies responsible for overseeing the outcome. None of the relevant departments and agencies — State, Homeland Security, Defense, Immigration and Customs Enforcement — were asked to weigh in on creation of the Muslim ban, which was written largely by Stephen Bannon, late of Breitbart News, and Stephen Miller, a former aide to Senator Jeff Sessions, Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, whose role during the campaign was whipping up the xenophobia at rallies before Mr. Trump took the stage. Indeed, nobody in the White House thought to call most of these officials until Mr. Trump was signing the order on television.

“This gang shoots, and then they look around to see what they’ve hit,” said a former senior government executive who’s been fielding agency complaints. “There’s a danger not just of unintended consequences, but of significantly dangerous consequences.”

In similar fashion, the executive order inviting the Canadian company TransCanada to reapply for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Barack Obama had killed, came without consultation with the State Department, which worked on the issue for years. The order on dismantling Obamacare rattled congressional Republicans, who were recorded in a closed-door retreat last week arguing over the re-election perils of stripping Americans’ health benefits without a replacement. An order freezing federal government hiring sought no input from federal agencies on how such a freeze would affect services and no guidance as to whether its exemption for military personnel included veterans, who make up nearly one-third of the civilian work force.

When he isn’t beating up on the press, Mr. Spicer denigrates civil servants as “career bureaucrats,” and in the case of the State Department dissenters, invites them to “question whether or not they should continue” in their jobs, suggesting disloyalty to the official line. Yet what these employees are doing has an honorable history, dating back to the Vietnam War, when the “dissent channel” was established with the express purpose of encouraging unorthodox thinking. It has been used in recent years to voice disagreements over policies in Bosnia and Syria.

During Ms. Yates’s Senate confirmation in 2015, Senator Sessions asked her, “If the views a president wants to execute are unlawful, should the attorney general or deputy attorney general say no?” Ms. Yates replied, “Senator, I believe the attorney general or deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution.” She did that, and Mr. Trump made her pay for it.

Pashto Music - Gola Gul Wareena - GUL RUKHSAR

'د فاټا ولس د کېدونکې پرېکړې عمليکولو هڅه به کوو'

د پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند تر سيوري لاندې نن [ګل ورځ] د اسلام آباد په يوه هوټل کې پر فاټا اصلاحاتو د قبايلي ولس يوه جرګه روانه ده. دغه جرګه پر دې غږېږي چې په خیبر پښتونخوا صوبه کې ورګډ شي او که ځان ته یوه خپله صوبه ولري.

د پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند سينټر عثمان کاکړ مشال راډيو ته وويل چې په جرګه کې د اووه واړه اېجنسيو او شپږ ايف آرز څخه موجوده او پخواني پارلېماني استازي، قبايلي مشران، پخواني سفارتکاران او له سرکاري افسرانو سره سره زده کونکيو هم ګډون کړی دی.

د نوموړي په وينا چې د قبايلي سيمو د راتلونکې فيصله به د فاټا ولس کوي نه چې حکمرانان او يا د دوی لخوا ګمارل شوې کمېټه به یې کوي.

د عثمان کاکړ په وينا، په نننۍ جرګه کې چې قبايلي ولس څه هم فيصله وکړه نو د هغې عمليکولو لپاره به يې ګوند خپلې هڅې کوي.

بلخوا د قبايلي سيمو سياسي ګوندونو اتحاديې د پښتونخوا معپ د جرګې بايکاټ کړی او مشر نثار مومند یې وايي چې دغه جرګه د قبايلي سيمو د پرمختګ مخه نيسي.

د ذکر ده چې په دا ورستيو کې د وزيراعظم نواز شریف سلاکار امير مقام مشال راډيو ته ويلي ول چې د قبايلي سيمو تر اويا فيصده زيات خلک غواړي چې فاټا دې په خیبر پښتونخوا کې شامله کړل شي نو جميعت علماء اسلام او پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند دې د اصلاحاتي کمېټۍ د سپارښتنو مخالفت پرېږدي.

خو په جرګه کې موجود د خیبر اېجنسۍ پخواني پارلېماني استازي حميد الله جان مشال راډيو ته وويل چې د فاټا اصلاحاتي کمېټۍ پر سپارښتنو اندېښنې او تحفظات لري. د نوموړي په خبره حکومت دې د يوې ټولپوښتنې [رېفرېنډم] له لارې د فاټا له ولسه پوښتنه وکړي چې هغوی په خېبرپښتونخوا کې شامیلېدل غواړي او که ځان له صوبه غواړي.

د يادونې ده چې په قبايلي سيمو کې د اصلاحاتو لپاره وزيراعظم نواز شريف ۲۰۱۵ کال کې د سرتاج عزيز په مشرۍ پنځه کسيزه کمېټې ګمارلې وه. دغه کمېټۍ د قبايلي سيمو تر دورو وروسته د فاټا اصلاحاتو په نامه یوه راپور وکښۍ او دا سپارښتنه یې کړه چې قبايلي سيمې دې په مرحله واره توګه په خيبر پښتونخوا کې شاملې کړل شي.

خو په اسلام اباد کې د پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند تر سیوري لاندې د جرګې یوه ګډونکوونکي او د فاټا يو مشر مولوي ډاکټر تاج محمد وايي چې د فاټا ښه راتلونکې په خېبر پښتونخوا کې له شامليدو سره نه بلکې ځان له په یوه خپله صوبه کې نغښتی دی.

خو له خېبر اېجنسۍ منتخب پارلېماني استازی شاه جي ګل اپرېدی وايي چې د قبايلي سيمو اکثریت ولس په خېبرپښتونخوا کې شاملېدل غواړي او په روانه جرګه کې به هم دا خبره په ډاګه شي.

نوموړي زياته کړه چې د فاټا هغه پارلېماني استازي چې د قبايلي سيمو په خېبر پښتونخوا کې د شامیلېدو مخالفت کوي نو د هغوی د ګټې واحده ذريعه خو دا سیسټم دی او هغوی هېڅکله نه غواړي چې دا نظام دې ختم شي نو ځکه د کمېټۍ د سپارښتنو مخالفت کوي.

دا دې هم ياده وي چې قبايلي سيمې په اووه (۷) اېجنسو او شپږ (۶) اېف آرز مشتملې دي او د سيمو د پارلېماني استازیو په وينا چې آبادي يې تر يو کروړ وګړو زياته ده.

Pakistan - 33 SHIA MUSLIMS KILLED IN JANUARY 2017 IN TERRORIST ATTACKS BY ASWJ/DAESH

During the month of January, 2017 at least 33 Shia Muslims embraced martyrdom and more than 100 injured due to attacks on them by terrorists of banned Deobandi outfit ASWJ (Sipah-e-Sahaba), allied with Daesh.

The Deobandi terrorists of banned outfit claimed responsibility for the massacre of 28 Shia Muslims in Parachinar bomb blast. Innocent children, women and elderly Shia Muslims were among the martyrs in Parachinar. 

Three Shia Muslims were made target in Karachi. One Shia banker of Multan was kidnapped and his body was thrown in Khanewal district of Punjab. The most oppressed Shia Muslims Naveed Hussain who was hanged for a crime which occurred when he was already spending his life behind the bars. 

The first month of new year also has begun with the unabated genocide against Shia Muslims in Pakistan but government seems to have failed to protect lives and honour of Shia citizens due to some black sheep who are political facilitators of the banned terrorist outfits within the government.

Pakistani Christian leaders ‘disappointed’ at acquittal of arsonists of Joseph Colony

By Madeeha Bakhsh

Followed by acquittal of arsonists of Lahore’s Joseph Colony; Pakistani Christian leaders have expressed “deep disappointment” over the ruling of Anti-Terrorism Court. In a recent ruling, the ATC had acquitted 115 suspects in the arson attack on the Christian neighborhood in 2013. In this case all the accused were acquitted, maintaining that there was lack of evidence against the suspects.

While remarking about the ATC ruling, Roger Randhawa Operations Management at Caritas Pakistan Lahore stated: “It’s a sheer disappointment. The message is clear for us; those who attack minorities and openly preach hate can go spot-free. Perhaps the pictures and video footages clearly showing faces was not enough evidence. Where is the national Action Plan.”

Another Christian leader, Advocate Ijaz Farhat, former President of Christians Lawyers Association of Pakistan CLAP said that the pressure from the public and slackness on part of the Christian leaders. “The victims are hijacked by NGOs, many try to flee the country and nobody pursues the case. The Church leaders only visit the day court passes judgments. Christian lawyers are at high risk when taking up cases of minority persecution. Nobody provides us security from the crowd of hundreds waiting outside the court”, he said.

In March 2013, more than 125 homes in Lahore’s predominantly Christian neighborhood Joseph Colony were torched by a mob of more than 3,000 Muslims responding to rumors that a local Christian resident Sawan Masih, had made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad. Nearly all the houses were torched however no one was killed in the incidents had fled their homes. In this incident, two churches and dozens of Bibles were also desecrated in the attack.

“We had no expectations; our faith in legal system has shattered. The political leaders of Punjab province and the ruling elite have strong alliances with jihadi groups. There is no justice for minority who continue to be victimized,” Irfan Mufti Muslim director of South Asia Partnership Pakistan said while remaking about the court’s ruling.

Would Pakistanis welcome Christian refugees like the Americans turning out to support Muslims?

RAFIA ZAKARIA

On Jan 27, 2017, United States President Donald Trump issued an executive order that banned citizens from seven Muslim countries from travelling to the United States. The countries included in the 90-day ban were Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Libya; all refugees from Syria were banned indefinitely. The ambiguously worded ban did not clarify whether legal permanent residents (green card holders) were included in the ban on entry.

According to news reports, the Trump White House departed from usual protocol in not informing either the affected countries or even the president’s own justice and homeland security departments that the ban was coming. US border officials who would be enforcing the ban did not know about it until President Trump had actually signed the document.

What happened in the days after the ban was instituted has been seen by the world. Since the night the ban was passed, crowds of protesters have gathered outside US airports holding signs and banners welcoming immigrants and refugees. The American Civil Liberties Union filed and won injunctions whereby judges barred border officials from enforcing the ban and from deporting those who had valid visa documents. Teams of lawyers have gathered at most major US airports to provide legal representation to those being detained in violation of judicial orders.

It is impossible to imagine crowds of Pakistanis standing at airports to welcome Christian refugees.

In New York, congressional representatives waited for hours until all detainees were freed. By Sunday evening, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security seemed to be backtracking on parts of the order, stating that it may not apply to those holding green cards. It was unclear, however, whether the language of the original executive order would be altered to reflect this new interpretation. Internationally, the outcry in the US was also seen in Europe. Protests were held in many European cities over the weekend, expressing solidarity with immigrants and refugees and with the protesters standing in support of them in the US.

The Canadian prime minister issued a statement condemning the ban and offering temporary emergency refuge to those that the US was turning away. A large protest occurred on Monday in front of the British prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street, with protesters demanding that she condemn the order. Even Israelis came out on the streets of Tel Aviv to protest America’s Muslim ban.

Here is who did not care. On Sunday, President Trump called several world leaders. This included, among others, the king of Saudi Arabia. The press releases issued following the telephone call said that the two leaders had talked about creating a safe zone in Syria for those displaced by the war. They did not talk about the Muslim ban that Donald Trump had just instituted in his own country. If the issue was raised, neither official Saudi or American sources said anything at all about it. It was as if the events of Friday, the innocent people detained at US airports for hours, the crowds supporting them, the outcry and outrage around the world had just not happened.

The contrast raises a question that few in Muslim countries wish to consider. It reveals first and foremost how self-serving some of the richest and most influential Muslim countries are. Even as ordinary Americans were braving extreme cold temperatures to protest what they saw as gross injustice, Muslim rulers did not seem to consider the issue worthy of attention. Americans were concerned about the principle behind the issue, the fact that discriminating against people based on their religion and national origin was not something they could permit in their name. Immigrants coming out of the secure areas of US airports into the arrivals lounge found huge crowds of strangers cheering them on.

While Pakistanis have not currently been included in the list, it is quite possible that they may be added. This will impact all Pakistanis who are currently studying, receiving medical training and working in the US. That the ban is discriminatory, and particularly so against Muslims, is obvious. It is also true that many hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims will pay the price. It is likely that Pakistanis will be among them. Students and scientists and all those who constitute the ranks of white-collar workers that Pakistan exports will feel wronged.

Theirs will be a legitimate claim; after all, discrimination based on religion is always wrong, regardless of which country resorts to it. Yet even as Pakistanis may believe in this premise when it comes to the US and Western countries denying them visas, they are unwilling to take a stronger stand on the same issue at home.

If one terrorist Pakistani does not make all Pakistanis terrorists, then it may also be true that not all Israelis are opposed to a free and independent Palestinian state. Yet Pakistanis are unwilling to consider this fact or have any opposition to the fact that no Israeli citizen (even if they are Muslim) is permitted to enter Pakistan.

On the same note, it would be impossible to imagine a similar number of Pakistanis standing at airports or border posts to welcome Christian refugees or even Afghan refugees.

The dissonance between what Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular expect from the US and the West overall and what they are willing to do in their own countries deserves immediate and urgent attention. If religious discrimination is always wrong and the cruelties imposed on the borders of others undue and unwarranted, then so too are those we impose ourselves.

Hatred, whether it appears at home or abroad, is the same venomous beast; the constrictions of borders and the imposition of bans based on generalisations is always wrong, not there or here, but quite literally everywhere.

Pakistan - The Real Punjab - ‘The dance of the death’

Waseem Shaukat Malik

We can’t expect any improvement unless the corrupt, politically appointed agents and blue-eyed are not thrown out of these institutions.

A general perception about Punjab government in other provinces is that they have made Punjab a heaven as compared to the other provinces by building up bridges, roads, inter-passes etc. Huge parks and gardens are also built. A large number of Universities, colleges and other similar institutes are also established. The health and cleanliness matters are also looked after very well. The institutes in this province are working amicably following the government’s directions. In other words, the general perception is that All is Well. But my fellow countrymen unfortunately this perception is completely wrong and based on mere postulation. If we talk about Lahore, most of its main roads are not worthy of travel and traveling on these roads is in fact a nightmare. Damaged roads, uncontrolled traffic and encroachments cause heavy delays for the commuters. Pollution and the dust flying around everywhere is causing serious illnesses like throat and breathing infections to the people living in this city. The parks and gardens are full of rubbish and are a picture of mismanagement. Most of the parks and the vacant plots in the city are covered with the piles of construction material for metro and orange train projects. You find mounds of general waste and the gutters also oozing out spreading filth in quite a few areas of this city. The education sector is dominated by Private schools mafia. Majority of the shinning students are forced to sell their properties to get quality education from these privately run institutes. This mafia has become strong enough now to establish their presence felt in the government corridors and in media. They have started to dictate their policies in these sectors now. That’s right; I am talking about Punjab here and All is Not Well here!!

Health sector is the worst amongst other provinces. The estimated population of Punjab is around 105 Million which is around 55% of the total population of Pakistan. According to the official figures of the government of Punjab, there are around 151 government hospitals, 194 dispensaries, 293 rural health centres and 2461 basic health units. The total numbers of beds inside all the hospitals in Punjab is around 37272. There are only 250 beds in ICUs. According to the figures of PMDC, including the federal area there are only 67486 registered doctors for the whole of the Punjab. This includes the doctors practising privately and those who have left the country. And for almost half the population in Sindh province there are 60315 registered doctors which suggest that the situation in Sindh province is lot better than Punjab. Now have a look at some astonishing facts in Punjab. I will quote the official figures here to avoid any contradictions from government. In Punjab 77 infants in every 1000 die in infancy and 112 die before the age of 5. 34% of the children lack proper nutrition. The government figures suggest that 3 out of every 1000 mothers die during the delivery of the children, whereas the fact is that this ratio is lot higher than this mentioned by the government. Thousands die of the epidemiologic or contagious diseases in Punjab. Hence the health situation in Punjab is lot worse than other provinces and the cities around the world.

The rulers of this country are spending Billions on Metro Bus and Metro Train projects which are a mere ‘eye-wash’ and an effort to win the votes of the illiterate and common people of this province. Thousands of helpless poor people are dying in the government hospitals due to the lack of facilities and the basic services required. These hospitals severely lack the staff, doctors, nurses, medicines and infrastructure. The M.S, D.M.S and the people in charge of the emergencies are all political appointments appointed without any merit. To make the situation worst, the government has distributed the contracts to their own allies/partners and blue-eyed in the institutes like, Punjab Horticulture Authority, LDA, WASA, Planning & Development and Citry District Government hospitals. And these ‘mafias’ have their strangle hold on all the resources to safeguard their vested interests. The postings, transfers, financial matters, contracts, buying and selling of the medicines, all are managed by these mafias.

Millions of people approach these hospitals for the services they should get but are sent back empty handed. The basic medical tests, ultra sounds X-rays, CT Scans and MRI test are scheduled for months without giving any consideration to the priority and need for these test for the patients. There are literally three patients on one bed in emergency wards in these hospitals. You will find some on the floor too. Apart from the emergency medications, most of the medicines are never available at all. And even if there are few exceptions, the staffs are selling them in back market instead. There are only two ways to get the treatment in the government hospitals, bribe or nepotism and to me bribe works better if compared.

The emergency ward is the most important ward in a hospital but in the government hospitals in Punjab, this ward is the worst affected and the doctors are not ready to pay any heed to the situation either. The doctors are not even trained to handle the patients in an appropriate manner. Patients with mere headaches but with an official reference are a priority to those facing a life-threatening situation but have no references or money to bribe.

The rulers go to UK for their routine check-ups and the commoner of this country is left to die without any help. PML(N) has governed Punjab for over 30 years and yet have not been able to build a single hospital where they can get their own check-up and treatment they need. Isn’t it a concrete evidence of this government’s enmity with the people of this country, the wrong priorities and their Hippocratic approach for the last 30+ years? The doctors draw lacs in salaries but are not able to deliver. In Punjab Cardiology which is a government hospital, the doctors are allowed to charge the rich and treat them urgently whereas the poor are made to wait for months for their tests. This is horrendous and shame on the management of this hospital and the rulers in general.

The Punjab government has failed to deliver the basic facilities of health, cleanliness and education. And to make matters even worst and complex the ‘District Commissioners system’ in the government is being brought back. We can’t expect any improvement unless the corrupt, politically appointed agents and blue-eyed are not thrown out of these institutions. The rulers should provide free and quality medicines in the hospitals. Build new hospitals on emergency grounds, and not to play with people’s lives by appointing incompetent people in the existing hospitals. Please have some pity on the people of this country!!!

Some 300 water facilities faulty across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Despite the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led provincial government’s claims, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa faces acute shortage of water as 318 Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Schemes across 25 districts of the province are either dysfunctional or damaged.

Documents available with The Express Tribune reveal that Karak district faces the most shortage with a total of 43 WSS schemes out-of-order and the locals are forced to bring water from far-flung springs or rivers. After Karak, a total of 32 WSS schemes are dysfunctional in Lakki Marwat district while 13 schemes are damaged each in Peshawar, Nowshehra and 22 are not working in Charsadda.

In Tank, locals are forced to consume water from ponds for washing clothes, dish washing and even for drinking purposes.

A resident of Tank Ahmad Shah said that for many years the residents were using water from the same ponds animal used for drinking.

He lamented that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had always been voted into power from Tank, Karak, Lakki Marwat and other southern districts but they [JUI-F] are yet to address the water issue.

The officials of the Public Health Department in respective districts blamed low electricity voltage for the damaged water schemes. They said the department concerned has time and again informed them about the water issue but it has yet to be resolved.

The issue has also been raised in the provincial assembly by Mufti Saeed Janan. Janan told the house there are various reasons for the damaged WSS schemes including overdue motors used in them.

“The tube well machinery has a lifespan of 10-15 years in every WSS scheme and it should be replaced after this period but most of the damaged schemes have machinery installed of many decades which is not properly working.”

Additionally, other schemes were damaged in various districts owing to natural disasters but have not yet been replaced.

The K-P government each year in its Annual Development Programme allocates budget to make damaged WSS schemes functional but the issue is yet to be resolved.

When contacted, Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman did not respond.

Pakistan's Terrorist - ''Hafiz Saeed’s Arrest''

Hafiz Saeed’s detention has come as a surprise.

Not only because there was little foreshadowing of the move by the government but also because there existed no debates or circumstances which could have prompted such a step. However, the biggest surprise is the manner with which the government handled the issue.

Where it had previously relied on relief given to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief by local courts to justify its inaction against him – and to defend Pakistan from the international criticism for letting the JUD run free – now it has sent heavily armed contingents to arrest Hafiz Saeed and his associates from Qudsia Mosque in Lahore, removed the organisation’s banner’s from the city, and replaced the party flags in its Muridke headquarters with Pakistani flags instead.

It is described by the government as a “crackdown” and it feels like one.

As such, this action is highly commendable, and more so since the announcement of the crackdown and the orders come from the Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar, who has previously given us cause for concern rather than comfort by meeting with and acting as an apologist for sectarian organisations.

This time however, the Minister must be commended for his efficient handling of the arrest.

And as the sudden nature of this house arrest signifies, it is perhaps time to recognise that calls to “do more” have not motivated the state, as much as possible denial of entry into the US through a visa has. While there is no evidence that a ban was threatened, it can be safely assumed that the volatile situation surrounding the US immigration policies were a factor in the decision to make such a move.

If it was that, so be it.

Pakistan has been trying to grapple with the question of Hafiz Saeed. Why does the state tolerate him? Why does he seem so untouchable? For the first time however, it seems like he isn’t. It remains to be seen whether this detention is temporary, and whether the state will buckle under pressure and let him go. Already the JUD has started mobilising its masses to protest and Hafiz Saeed has petitioned the courts for his release – which have come to his rescue in the past too.

However, the crucial point here is that for the first time the state has acted to contain Hafiz Saeed, and denied him a pulpit. And that is a step in the right direction.

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