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#Pakistan's #Shia Under Attack : Shias of #Parachinar; victims of #Wahhabi #Takfiri terrorism, govt. apathy

By: Ishtiyaq Hussain Toori

Since 1980s, Parachinar, nestled high in a remote, mountainous region of Pakistan and with majority Shia population, has seen the emergence of radical Saudi-sponsored Salafist groups, and sectarian violence has become a disturbing phenomenon, fueled by local and global terrorist organizations like the Taliban and ISIS.

Nestled high in a remote, mountainous region of Pakistan, not many people would have heard of Parachinar – described widely as the ‘heaven on earth’ for its scenic landscape. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1970s, it was used by Americans and Saudis as training ground for militias fighting the Soviets. The same militias later gave birth to the Taliban.

Since 1980s, Parachinar, with majority Shia population, has seen the emergence of radical Saudi-sponsored Salafist groups, and sectarian violence has become a disturbing phenomenon, fueled by local and global terrorist organizations like the Taliban and ISIS. These terrorist outfits have committed horrendous crimes in this mountainous region, killing Shias and rendering them homeless.

Situated along the line dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan, Parachinar is a volatile region where security situation remains fragile and people live dangerously. After the ouster of the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001, many Taliban militants crossed over into this region and established sanctuaries there. They would often launch targeted attacks against Shias, forcing many of them to abandon their homes. Government forces, instead of helping unarmed people against armed militants, stood paralyzed.

In 2007, almost seven years after the Taliban regime in Kabul was toppled, major violence broke out in Parachinar between local people and Taliban fighters. After years of suffering silently, people rose up and resisted with full might. In the ensuing clashes, more than five thousand people were killed and thousands were injured, most of them still dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the valiant people of Parachinar refused to retreat or surrender and eventually forced the militants to withdraw from the region.

Since 2007, after being thrown out, Taliban have carried out many dastardly attacks in Parachinar, resulting in heavy civilian casualties. In a disturbing development, according to reports, ISIS is also now trying to gain foothold in the Shia-majority mountainous region. Last year, after the Al Quds Day rally on the last Friday of Ramadan, more than 100 people were killed in two deadly explosions carried out by the militant group, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.

Prior to the attacks, some leaflets had been distributed in Kurram Agency, warning Shias to stop supporting Bashar al Assad government in Syria or brace up for more attacks. In Afghanistan also, Hazara Shias are attacked by ISIS on the pretext that they fight in Syria under the banner of ‘Fatemeyon’ brigade, defending the holy shrines.

It is important to note here that a large number of people from Parachinar are fighting in Syria, under the banner of ‘Zainabiyon’, protecting the holy shrine of Sayyeda Zainab (sa). Many of them have been martyred while defending the holy shrines, which is clearly a source of consternation for Salafist groups in Pakistan that receive briefings directly from Riyadh.

Parachinar, a federally governed area of Pakistan, is also a victim of government’s callousness and indifference. The region, through a systematic policy framed way back in General Zia ul Haq’s time, who was fiercely against Shias, has been kept away from the gains of economic progress and development. The economic condition of people is weak and living standards are shockingly poor.  

Following the twin-blasts in Ramadan last year, people in Parachinar protested for eight days, refusing to bury the dead, demanding peace, security and economic development. The protest was called off only after Pakistan’s Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the region and gave assurances to the protestors. The assurances proved to be hogwash as nothing much has changed in all these months.

While the security situation remains volatile, economic condition of people continues to go from bad to worse.  And, quite appallingly, nobody wants to listen to the woes of people – not the government, not the human rights bodies, not the international community. Their only crime is they are Shias.

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/133539/Shias-of-Parachinar-victims-of-Takfiri-terrorism-govt-apathy

#Pakistan - Jirga condemns electricity outages in #Peshawar

Khalil Qaumi Jirga, an association formed for the welfare of Khalil tribe of the provincial capital, on Thursday decided to hold strong protest against 10 to 12 hours electricity outages in Tehkal, Jehangirabad, Shaheen Town and Gharibabad areas. “The Peshawar Electric Supply Company has started massive loadshedding in these areas in the name of construction work for execution of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) project for the last four months,” said Arbab Khizer Hayat. The jirga met under the chairmanship of Maulana Amanullah Haqqani to discuss the issue. Former provincial minister and leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, the jirga also warned Peshawar Electric Supply Company authorities to mend their ways or else the masses would come on to the roads to lodge a strong protest against the un-announced loadshedding.


https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/309548-jirga-condemns-electricity-outages-in-peshawar

Billion dollars in Afghanistan funding at risk of misuse: SIGAR

By

Javed Hamim Kakar

The World Bank (WB) and Afghan government have been not adequately monitoring where the funds go and how they have been used, a watchdog appointed by the US congress has said.

Over the course of 15 years, the US has contributed more than $3 billion into a trust fund that is aimed at helping Afghanistan with its reconstruction, a report published in the two-way said on Wednesday.

In total, donors from around the world have given the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, which is administered by the World Bank, more than $10 billion.

But according to a watchdog appointed by Congress, those billions of dollars are at risk because the World Bank and the government of Afghanistan are not adequately monitoring where they go and how they are used.

"Once the US or any other donor provides its contributions to the fund, neither the World Bank nor USAID can account for how those funds are specifically spent," said the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in a statement. SIGAR is tasked with monitoring US spending in Afghanistan, and the US provides money to the fund through USAID.

The ARTF described itself as the "the largest single source of on-budget financing for Afghanistan's development ... delivering important results within key sectors including education, health, agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, and governance." It does not fund Afghanistan's security sector.

The funds from the trust fund are used to pay salaries of Afghan government workers, SIGAR says, but the World Bank does not require a third-party monitor to physically verify that those government workers actually exist.

The third party contractor's work is limited by security concerns because they are not always able to verify workers in insecure areas, the report states. The World Bank also does not publicly share evaluations of the third-party contractors who are monitoring how the money is used.

"Donors, including USAID and U.S. taxpayers, will continue to provide billions of dollars to the ARTF without adequate assurance that the money being spent is actually contributing to the ongoing operation of the Afghan government, addressing fiscal gaps in Afghanistan's national budget, and furthering the international community's overall reconstruction efforts," the report states.

The World Bank also is not consistently measuring performance of projects funded by the ARTF, according to the watchdog. "Without an accurate, reliable evaluation, the World Bank will be unable to determine the impact the roughly $10 billion in donor funding has had in improving Afghan development."

The fact that there is apparently little accountability for how the money is spent has an impact on the projects selected, according to the report: "A senior aide to Afghanistan's President told us that the structure of the ARTF allows for ill-conceived projects to be funded because there is no repayment obligation and that dysfunctional projects are nearly impossible to eliminate."

There's political pressure to spend the money, the aide reportedly said, "even if the programs and projects being funded are ill-conceived or unneeded, or risk losing future funding."

The World Bank did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. The report states that the World Bank has taken steps to improve its monitoring since the last report in 2011 but there are still major gaps.

https://www.pajhwok.com/en/2018/04/25/billion-dollars-afghanistan-funding-risk-misuse-sigar

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), state repression and the Marxists

Pakistan is a country of over 200m people, but at least 40 percent live in poverty. Life expectancy is low, at an average of 66 years and infant mortality is high, with about about 64.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. For a large part of the population life is a living hell. But on top of this there is also the impact of imperialist intervention in Afghanistan, the effects of which have spilled across the border, and the repressive operations of the state security forces.

The Pashtuns, an ethnic group of 30m people, living mainly in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, have suffered the brunt of state oppression. In recent years around 30,000 Pashtuns have disappeared in the hands of the state security forces. Families do not know where their relatives have been taken, whether they are being kept in secret prisons or whether they have been killed. This has been going on for some years now, but this year the people reached the limit of what they could take and a mass movement erupted.

The spark that set off this prairie fire was the killing in Karachi on 13 January of a 28-year-old shopkeeper Naqeeb ullah Mehsud by Rao Anwar, the infamous police officer known for many extra-judicial killings. Naqeeb was a member of a Pashtun tribe, the Mehsud. Such killings are common in Pakistan, but this time the ruling class of Pakistan got a shock they were not expecting. Hundreds of thousands of Pashtuns across the country began to mobilise, with tens of thousands turning up at public rallies to protest against the killing and demanding to know what has happened to the other disappeared people.

The massive PTM movement has seriously rattled the Pakistani ruling class / Image: fair use

Initially the state thought it could crack down on the movement, but when it saw how widespread the movement had become it had to change its approach. For instance, some officials started saying that they were open to “dialogue”, with the clear intention of slowly wearing down the movement and bringing the situation back under control. At the same time, they sought the most radical and advanced layers and targeted them for individual harassment as a warning that they should moderate their positions or face serious consequences.

What is significant about this movement is that it has erupted in one of the least-developed parts of Pakistan. The general mood among the wider left was that the situation in Pakistan is ‘reactionary’: that no big movements can be expected in today’s conditions. This, however, is a superficial approach that ignores the real underlying processes taking place within society.

It is true that if one looks at the parties represented in the Pakistani parliament, at the nature of the mainstream political leaders, and at the quality of the trade union leaders, one would draw a very pessimistic perspective indeed. But as Marx explained, the mole of revolution was burrowing away beneath the surface. The point is that the moment comes when that mole comes to the surface, and in Pakistan that has happened in a huge way, and it has come from a section of society considered to be one of the most ‘backward’ and conservative.

To Marxists, this does not come as a surprise. We understand that the objective situation everywhere is pregnant with revolutionary potential. In ‘normal’ times, people generally accept the status quo, they accept the role of the state, they tolerate corruption and so on, but the molecular process of revolution sooner or later turns everything into its opposite. Here we have the most ‘backward’ becoming the most advanced. Here we have ordinary, working people who no longer respect the state institutions, nor any of the established parties, and have begun to take their destinies into their own hands. That is what we see today among the Pashtun people of Pakistan.

The Marxists' slogans have found an echo in the PTM, which is why we have now been targeted / Image: PYA and RWF

This also explains why the slogans of the Pakistan Marxists have connected with the mood of the Pashtun mass movement taking place. The Marxists put forward the most advanced slogans in relation to the state and what needs to be done. They explain that the Pashtuns need to link up with the other oppressed peoples of Pakistan, and in particular with the working class. The Pashtun movement in fact has been attempting to spread to other parts of the country and on 22 April held a rally in Lahore of many thousands. On the same day, there were protests in other cities, such as Karachi in the south.

Because of their role in raising solidarity with the Pashtun movement, the Marxists of the Lal Salaam group, and the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) and the Red Workers’ Front (RWF) have been singled out for particular attention from the state forces. That explains the abduction on Sunday of seven comrades: Karim Parhar, leader of PTM and RWF Quetta; Attaullah Afridi, Organizer of PYA Karachi; Aftab Ashraf, central organizer of RWF; Umer Riaz, Organizer of PYA Islamabad; Zain ul Abideen, Central Organizer of PYA; Muhammad Gulbaz, Organizer of RWF Kashmir; and Bilawal Baloch, Deputy General Secretary of PYA.

These comrades have not been arrested, nor charged with anything; they have been abducted by the Rangers, a state paramilitary force known for its violence against protesters. They are also known for making activists “disappear” and are used to intimidate trade unionists and youth who refuse to buckle under and abide by what the authorities demand of them. The abduction of the seven comrades is part of this process of intimidation.

Intervention of comrades in Pakistan

We explained what happened here, where you will also find all the information you need on the abductions, where to send messages of protest (along with a model letter) and a model motion. Below, we list the activities of the Marxists in Pakistan in solidarity with the Pashtun movement and all the solidarity activities that have been going on around the world since the abductions took place.

Here, we have a copy of the leaflet produced by the comrades for the 22 April meeting of the Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement (PTM). It raises the slogans “For Revolution”, “Against State Oppression”, “Against National Oppression”, “Against Forced Disappearances”, “Combat Illiteracy and unemployment” and “Against Capitalism”. It also says that the students and workers of Lahore extend solidarity to the PTM:

The comrades also produced stickers for the day. Here we have an example of one against the privatisation of education:

Many youth went to Lahore from Multan on buses, a journey time of six hours. The police tried to stop the buses but the students beat back the police to continue their journey.

Meanwhile, on the same day in Karachi, there was a solidarity protest of the PTM outside the Karachi Press Club. The comrades of Lal Salaam joined the protest and many of their leading members were there, who gave some very radical speeches.

Immediately after this that there was a crackdown on the comrades, some of whom were on a train back to Lahore. The Rangers stopped the train and abducted four comrades, while another three were abducted elsewhere.

Here we have a protest against the abductions in Rawalkot, Kashmir:

PTM leader comes out in defence of abducted comrades

An important development in the campaign was when the leadership of the PTM came out in support of the seven abducted comrades, issuing a bold statement that if the comrades were not released they would call on the masses to take strike action. Here we have the statement from Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen:

Coverage in the bourgeois media:

What had happened to the comrades started appearing in the bourgeois media, which was useful to spread the news of what was happening and helping to shine a light on the operations of the Rangers, who prefer to operate in the shadows rather than be put in the public view. Here are reports in Dawn and Reuters.

Solidarity activities around the world

While everything is being done to get the comrades released in Pakistan, around the world our campaign for protest letters and emails got under way. Today, on 25 April, Pakistani embassies and consulates in different countries were picketed, with supporters handing in signed petitions and demanding that action be taken to free the abducted comrades.

We share reports of these activities below.

Canada

We received an important letter, addressed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan from Mike Palacek, the National President of the Canadian postal workers’ union, CUPW, representing 50,000 workers in Canada.

The comrades of Fightback picketed the embassy in Toronto, demanding our comrades’ release:

Brazil

We received an official letter from the National Executive of the PSOL in Brazil addressed to the Pakistan Ambassador in Brasilia, condemning the abductions.

We received another from Geny Beckert of the Célula SINTE, and a further one from the Núcleo Sindical Curitiba Norte, who also sent a letter of protest to the Ambassador of Pakistan in Brazil. Additionally, Johannes Halter, a Brazilian journalist in São Paulo, sent a letter of protest. Finally, Adilson Mariano, a History Teacher and President of the Partido Socialismo e Liberdade in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil wrote to the Pakistan Ambassador demanding freedom for the abducted seven.

The following key figures also added their names to the petition:

• Tiago de Carvalho, OAB/Santa Caterina, 37.119
• Professor Leandro Siqueira (PhD in Human Development and Technologies - UNESP/Rio Claro
• Postgraduate in Political Science at the Universidade Cândido Mendes - MG
• Teacher of Physical Education - UNIFAFIBE/Bebedouro-SP
• Mauro Nunes, General Coordinator of the Association of Parents of State School Students of Rido de Janeiro
• Fábio Bruno Ramirez, General Coordinator of the Union of Technical/Admin staff at the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá/MT - Brazil
• Rafael Prata, delegado sindical da PSO BB Campinas/SP, militante da Esquerda Marxista
• Alexandre Mandl, advogado dos trabalhadores da Fábrica Ocupada Flaskô e da Ocupação Vila Soma em Sumaré/SP
• José Cícero de Oliveira, trabalhador dos Correios, militante da Esquerda MarxistaGilvan de Souza Barbosa, trabalhador dos Correios, militante da Esquerda Marxista
• Thiago Oliveira, professor de filosofia da PUC-Campinas, militante da Esquerda Marxista
• Domingos Sávio, trabalhador químico aposentado, militante da Esquerda Marxista
• João Evangelista Dias, trabalhador químico da Fábrica Ocupada Flaskô, militante da Esquerda Marxista
• Daniel Carvalho, trabalhador de TI, militante da Esquerda Marxista
• Clarice Erhardt, Coordenadora do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação de Santa Catarina - Regional Joinville
• SINDICATO DOS TRABALHADORES EM EDUCAÇÃO NA REDE PÚBLICA DE ENSINO DE SANTA CATARINA - SINTE/SC - Regional Joinville
• PRISMA - Coletivo classista LGBT+ da UNESP - Bauru
• Diretório Acadêmico da FAAC - UNESP Bauru
• Cursinho Popular Acesso Hip Hop
• Ulrich Beathalter - presidente do Sinsej, Sindicato dos Servidores Públicos Municipais de Joinville e Região - Sinsej

Britain

A leader of the 2016 Junior Doctors' strike in Britain and member of the Momentum National Coordinating Group, Yannis Gourtsoyannis, issued a public statement on Facebook:

We also had the following important trade union and Labour party figures signing the petition of protest: Jane Loftus, President of the Communication Workers Union, Steve Hedley, Senior Assistant General Secretary of the Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, Apsana Begum, Momentum National Coordinating Group and Secretary Tower Hamlets Labour Party, and also the Queen Margaret University UCU branch:

The UCU Queen Margaret University Branch in Edinburgh also sent the following message of solidarity to the PTM activists in Pakistan:

“UCUQMU branch send our solidarity to the 7 Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement (PTM) activists abducted by the Pakistani state. As trade unionists we view the right to protest and the protection of oppressed minorities as vital principles that we defend the world over. We condemn this action and call for democratic processes and freedom of political expression for the PTM activists to be recognised and for them to be released immediately.”

Furthermore, the King’s College London branch of the UCU unanimously passed a motion of solidarity with the abducted seven. The same motion will be sent to the UCU’s annual congress in May. If passed, it will throw the weight of the entire union behind the fight against state abductions:

The official petition (set up in Britain) has also received 1,865 signatures at the time of writing, and is available to view and sign here.

There was also a picket outside the Pakistan Embassy in London this morning:

Argentina

Two Argentinian MPs, Nicolás del Caño and Nathalia Gonzalez Seligra, both of the PTS - FIT, sent protest letters to the Pakistani Embassy condemning the abductions.

Dr. Fernando Buen Abad Domínguez, Universidad de la Filosofía, Rector Fundador, wrote to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Interior Minister and the Pakistan Embassy in Argentina. As did Carlos Ghioldi: CTA Trade Union Secretary of the WORKERS (Rosario Regional) and President Workers’ Cooperative Solidarios en Lucha - Centro Cultural de la Toma (Rosario).

Spain

The Círculos Marxistas Universitarios of Spain added their names to the petition, along with the following:

• Alberto Arregui, member of the Federal Coordination of Izquierda Unida (national leadership of United Left)
• Lluís Perarnau . Local councillor Sabadell - Crida per Sabadell
• Concha Palencia, Senator in Spanish Parlament, member of PODEMOS
• Óscar Reina, national spokesman of the Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores (Workers’ Andalousian Union)
• Patricio Cabrerizo, Works council’s chairman in Aratubo (Vitoria-Gasteiz)
• Nadia García, shop-steward in Procavi (Marchena-Sevilla)
• Susana López, spokeswoman of the PODEMOS branch in Morón (Sevilla)
• (Fdo) Jesús Martínez de Carlos, Concejal de I.U- Orain del Ayuntamiento de Estella. Navarra
• (Fdo) Jesús María Martínez Berrueta. Miembro de I.U y de CCOO Correos. Estella Navarra
• José Antonio Cabrera Rodriguez, Diputado de la Diputación Provincial de Sevilla
• Patricio Cabrerizo, secretario del comité de empresa en Aratubo

Austria

Martin Gutlederer, a leading member of Socialist Youth, sent this on our behalf statement:

“This is an unacceptable attack on the democratic right of free speech and the freedom to assemble. It is not known where these comrades are now, which must be made public. I demand the immediate release of the mentioned persons!

Sincerely,

Martin Gutlederer BSc.,

Member of the Local Council of the market town of Krummnussbaum, Austria,

Member of the Vienna Committee of the Socialist Youth Austria,

Member of the District Committee of Alsergrund (Vienna) of the Social Democratic Party of Austria.”

The Austrian comrades also picketed the Pakistani embassy.

Switzerland

The Swiss Marxists held two solidarity pickets in Berne and Geneva.

They also received coverage in a local newspaper and are expecting a bigger article in a French-language newspaper from Geneva tomorrow. Two national leaders of the Young Socialists were present at Berne, and comrades aim to move a solidarity resolution at the YS delegation meeting next Saturday.

Macedonia

A letter of protest was sent from the Levica party in the Republic of Macedonia.

USA

The Steering Committee of the Boston DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) issued a solidarity statement with the comrades in Pakistan.

We also received the following, notable signatories from the States:

• Thomas Trottier, Member of the Organization of Staff Analysts (OSA) A NYC Public Employees union, Bronx, NY, USA
• Sam Swartz, Member of SEIU Local 1199, Queens, NY, USA

Comrades sent in solidarity images from the Minneapolis DSA and from the IMT branch in Pittsburgh:

Iraq

Akram Nadir, Union Organizer in Iraq and Kurdistan and International Representative of Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) sent the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Minister of Interior the following letter:

“We are deeply concerned about the disappearance of seven youth and labour activists, in Karachi on Saturday, after the seven attended a peaceful protest in support of the Pashtun movement.

“They are presumed to have been arrested by the Army and Sindh Rangers, a paramilitary state department notorious for extra-judicial killings and we fear for their safety.

“Furthermore, we view the disappearances as a very serious attack on the labor and democratic rights of Pakistani working people.

“We ask you to investigate this incident and assure us that these activists are safe and well. We also ask you to inform us as to where they are being held and ensure their immediate release, as they have not participated in any form of illegal actions."

Venezuela

Eduardo Samán, former minister and prominent leader of the Bolivarian left expressed his support:

The listed political and trade union figures and organisations in Venezuela also signed a protest letter:

• Sindicato de Artes Gráficas (SUTAG)
• Lucha de Clases - CMI Venezuela
• Supermercados Central Madeirense
• INCES
• Sindicato y Delegados de Ovejita
• Juventud Obrera Católica
• Juventud Comunista de Venezuela
• Movimiento Social Nora Castañeda
• Zona Libertad
• Liga de Trabajadores por el Socialismo
• Delegados de Prevención AIREYVENCA
• Alcaldía de Libertador
• Alcaldía de Caracas
• Vanguardia Obrera Aragua
• Marea Socialista
• Smurfit Kappa - Cartonera de Venezuela
• Tipografía Lago
• SIPTRAIVSS (Sindicato de los Seguros Sociales)
• Radio Comunitaria Voz Popular
• SINTRAITE
• Movimiento Estudiantil Revolucionario de la USB
• Célula San Martín - CMI
• Frente Nacional de Lucha de la Clase Trabajadora (FNLCT)

Germany

The comrades of Der Funke picketed the consulate in Frankfurt:

Furthermore, Hans Neumann, spokesman of the Anti-capitalist Left Lower Saxony, Germany, sent a letter of protest. As did Andrea Hügelschäfer, chairman of Die Linke in Odenwaldkreis.

Sweden

The Swedish comrades held a protest at the embassy in Stockholm.

From Sweden the following key individuals have signed up to the petition:

• Enzo Costa, chair Unga Byggare (young builders)
• Kajsa Ekis Ekman, journalist and author
• Claudia Venasquez, chair of the Left Party, Helsingborg and Parliamentary Candidate,
• Robert Lindelöf, shop steward Hamnarbetarförbundet (port workers union) section 4 in Gothenburg.

Belgium picket:

There was a protest this morning at the Pakistan Embassy in Brussels to demand the release of the [then] 9 abducted left wing activists from the Progressive Youth Alliance and the Red Workers Front. After a short moment of panic, members of the embassy staff let the comrades into the back garden to discuss with us. An official talked to with the comrades but refused to give his name or position. He also refused to be photographed...quite undiplomatic for a member of the diplomatic mission!

The comrades told him we wanted to know of the whereabouts of the missing activists. The only answer they got is that there must be a good reason for the arrests, but he did not know what they were, and that he would transmit our letter “to whom it concerns” in Pakistan. To conclude this unpleasant encounter, the comrades announced they would be back soon if the activists were still being held, and that they would get an intervention from MEPs in the European Parliament.

Yves Brusseel, Vice president of ACOD (Socialist Trade Union of Public Services) in Ostend, Belgium also wrote to the Pakistan Embassy stating:

“We demand the release of those people mentioned above; it is unworthy of a democratic country to arrest people for political and trade union related activities.”

Nick Deschacht wrote another protest letter, as did Pablo Sanchez Centellas, Communications and Campaigns Officer and Liaison with the EP.

Greece

Comrades in Greece picketed the embassy in Athens today:

Back in Pakistan

While the international campaign was building up, we got news of more repressive measures by the Rangers. Yesterday, Tuesday, 24 April, another protest was organised in Karachi. There was another crackdown and four comrades were taken away by the Rangers: Jalal Jan, Shay Razai, Faras Raj and Yasir Irshad. Two of these were released very soon afterwards. Shay Raza and Yasir Irshad were held overnight for a longer period, but today were also released. Here we have a picture of the agent who ordered the abductions:

And here we have a post from a left-wing group reporting what happened.

At the same time, an official petition was filed with the High Court requesting the whereabouts of the abducted comrades, and solidarity started coming in from other left groups.

This is far from a complete report on all the solidarity and protest messages and activities conducted by our comrades and supporters all over the world. We will publish an update in due course. Lal Salaam!

https://www.marxist.com/the-pashtun-tahafuz-movement-ptm-state-repression-and-the-marxists.htm

Afshan Zebi - Lokan do do yaar banaye

#Pakistan - Missing Activists

On Tuesday, the news broke that the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) accused law-enforcement agencies of picking up its four activists for supporting the campaign launched by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) in recent multiple demonstrations.

PYA joins a long series of movements, organisation and media houses which allege that their activists and journalists have been mysteriously picked up by unknown institutions. Throughout history, enforced disappearances have been a stain on Pakistan’s image, and undermine democracy, civilian supremacy and due process in the most brutal manner. If the allegation against enforced disappearances by the law-enforcement agencies are true, it constitutes aberration of the constitution, as it involves punishing activists for using their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech, and denies them due process of law.

Even though reports indicate that two of the nine missing activists were released, that still does not solve the problem. The real pernicious issue of enforced disappearances is the society of fear and terror it creates. The objective of those carrying out these disappearances is to spread a message, and to curtail freedom of speech and expression through threat and fear. There must be apology, and an attempt to regain the trust of the people which was lost by picking up activists.

Although Pakistan has been notorious for enforced disappearances throughout history, it is time that our law enforcement authorities recognise that disappearances and threat will not work, not in this age and time of political awareness and social media platforms. Enforced disappearances do not even fulfill their objective, as it has been time and time again proved that forcefully shutting mouths does not silence the voice of the activists. The only result such tactics achieve is the dirtying of Pakistan’s image, when international media ‘pick up’ and cover the story.


https://nation.com.pk/26-Apr-2018/missing-activists

#Pakistan - EDITORIAL: #Christians of #Quetta

ISIS is reportedly winning the war in Quetta. After all, according to media accounts, its relentless targeting of Christians there has prompted the beleaguered community to begin fleeing the city.

The terror group bombed a Quetta church in the run-up to Christmas and gunned down four members of a family a day after Easter. All of which is a sign to the 50,000-strong Christian community that they are not welcome. It is a message that echoes the plight of minorities across the Middle East in Iraq and Syria.

To be sure, this represents a stain on the record of the Pakistani state. For it signals the failure of the body politic to uphold its constitutional obligations to provide religious protection for all of the citizenry, equally. And what emerges is the triumph of support for a religious right wing agenda.

Had the state stood with those under fire, this would have considerably weakened the outreach of this and other terror outfits, if not capability. One only has to look at Europe to understand this. For when such groups hit — they strike the majority. Thus it is easy for the governments of Paris or London to unite their people against those who would do them harm; while paying tokenism to the blight of Islamophobia.

Here in Pakistan, things could not be more different. Sadly. Indeed, this is what the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) warns in its 2017 annual report. Whereby it notes that by the end of the first forty years of Independence — minorities went from constituting 20 percent of the population to just three. Similarly, it points to an increasing number of refugees seeking asylum in Europe. This should be a matter of immense shame for a nation fixated on showing only its soft side to the world at large. Yet faith-based violence continues unabated. Indeed, the HRCP goes as far as to say: “Extremist forces bent on creating an exclusive Islamic identity for Pakistan appear to have been given a free hand. A few hundred fanatics held the capital and the garrison cities hostage for 23 days in Faizabad, Islamabad in November this year until their demands were accepted. In ceding to the demands of the violent demonstrators, the state has virtually given blanket licence to fundamentalism and militancy in the name of religion.” Before concluding that this impunity has permitted terrorist outfits to proudly and confidently claim responsibility of murderous bigotry. And all the while no action is even taken against the latter’s social media accounts.

The state is understandably up against it; perhaps more so than its European counterparts. That is understood. Yet much more needs to be done to protect the right to life, liberty and property of all. For these are fundamental norms; the absence of which will merely provide the international community with greater reason to berate Pakistan. And that is something that no one should want.  

https://dailytimes.com.pk/232464/christians-of-quetta/

Pakistani court rules to remove FM for hiding assets

BY MUNIR AHMED

A Pakistani court Thursday disqualified the country's foreign minister from holding office after a petition from a rival politician sought his removal for concealing assets abroad.

The Islamabad High Court announced the much-awaited decision regarding Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif in the capital, Islamabad. Asif said shortly after the order that he would appeal the decision to Pakistan's Supreme Court.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article209867174.html

#Pakistan - #PPP - Bilawal rules out electoral cooperation with #PTI

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday ruled out any electoral cooperation with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) to dent the ruling PML-N.

“There is no justification in forging alliance with the legacy of Musharraf in order to defeat (political) heirs of Ziaul Haq,” the PPP chairman said, referring to Imran Khan as Musharraf’s legacy.

Bilawal said his party will resist presentation of sixth budget in parliament by the incumbent PML-N government.

According to him, the PML-N had constitutional right to present five budgets, which it has already done and it should have left the next budget for the new government to be instituted after general elections. Incumbent government plans to present the budget for FY2018-19 this Friday. Financial year in Pakistan starts from July 1. Elections are due in the country by end of July. Most opposition parties are of the view that PML-N should not be presenting budget for the whole financial year.

The opposition fears the outgoing government by announcing what is being tagged as a populous budget can get sympathies of people and cover up failures of its past five years.

Bilawal also echoed the same sentiments, saying, “Presenting the budget for the next year is tantamount to resorting to pre-poll rigging.” He said chief ministers of the three provinces staged a walkout from a meeting of the National Economic Council on Tuesday to oppose ruling party’s budget plans. To a question he said his party was in contact with other parties to nominate the caretaker setup.

However, he refrained from commenting on some of his key aides leaving the party, saying “the culture of turncoats is not a healthy trend for democracy”.

He advised the PML-N to shun the policy of confrontation with the state institutions and said that it would not augur well for the country.

He opposed scrapping of NAB at this juncture. “The PPP will rather improve the NAB laws,” he remarked.


https://tribune.com.pk/story/1695114/1-pre-poll-rigging-bilawal-slams-govt-budget/