Monday, February 25, 2019
#Pakistan - #PTV trapped in the middle
- Bitter public rift among ruling party high-ups
The ideological divide within PTI, between the old guard who struggled for two decades before attaining power, and ‘electables’ who jumped on the PTI bandwagon sensing its imminent electoral triumph, has resurfaced in the sensitive media-management realm. No forceful coalition partner threatens the razor-thin government majority, instead it is loud public bickering within PTI leadership, between Fawad Chaudhry, the blunt federal minister for information and Naeemul Haq, the PM’s special assistant on political affairs (considered the PM’s oldest, closest confidant), over recent appointment of MD, PTV, that has become the source of party embarrassment.
The problem may reflect the larger ideological dispute between the old guard and the electables, but it has been termed a row between ‘unelected people’ and ‘newcomers in the party’ by the two antagonists. It seems more like an ego-driven, personal spat between two ambitious politicians seeking to enhance their priority and influence. To utter dismay, it has occurred when tensions on the border and region are high, demanding undivided government attention.
Like other public sectors organisations, the Pakistan Television too is facing a severe financial handicap, said to be a deficit of Rs5.8 billion, due to which it has been rendered unable to pay the pensions and medical bills of its bloated army of retirees and employees. Despite this, and also against Supreme Court decision in case of former MD, Ataul Haq Qasmi, the new MD has been granted a fabulous monthly package of reportedly Rs25 lacs, resulting in nearly three-week long worker’s protests and complete standstill of PTV working, as the new incumbent is not being allowed to enter his office. For an elected person, an angry protest is politically, poison.
Conversely, Naeemul Haq claims that the federal minister for information has not fully grasped the PM’s philosophy, which is to convert PTV into an independent organisation, like BBC. The Senate was briefed on raging employees’ protest by the information minister on Monday, and he has also agreed to change in his portfolio. The ball is now in the PM’s court, as ultimate arbiter of these ‘issues’ and ‘outside interference’ troubles. But this ugly dispute is best settled swiftly, and in private caucus, for PTI and PTV’s sake.
Conversely, Naeemul Haq claims that the federal minister for information has not fully grasped the PM’s philosophy, which is to convert PTV into an independent organisation, like BBC. The Senate was briefed on raging employees’ protest by the information minister on Monday, and he has also agreed to change in his portfolio. The ball is now in the PM’s court, as ultimate arbiter of these ‘issues’ and ‘outside interference’ troubles. But this ugly dispute is best settled swiftly, and in private caucus, for PTI and PTV’s sake.
Terrorism expanded in Pakistan due to state’s sympathetic policy for terrorists in Kashmir, Afghanistan
The origins and nature of terrorism in Pakistan and social, political and economic factors that have contributed to the rise of political violence there is known to everybody in the world. Since 9/11, the state of Pakistan has come to be regarded as the epicentre of terrorist activity committed in the name of Islam. The central argument of this volume suggests that terrorism in Pakistan has, in essence, been manufactured to suit the interests of mundane political and class interests and effectively debunks the myth of 'Islamic terrorism'.
A logical consequence of this argument is that the most effective way of combating terrorism in Pakistan lies in addressing the underlying political, social and economic problems facing the country. But while exploring the root causes of terrorism in Pakistan, one needs to relate the historical narrative of the development of the Pakistani state. The many complex factors that have shaped the rise of Pakistani terrorism need to be understood by the world before it will be too late.
The terrorism expanded in Pakistan when the state initiated soft and sympathetic policy for militants operating in Kashmir and Afghanistan and their facilitators in the country. The policy provided extremist groups as well as their political patrons with an opportunity to build a narrative of holy war and permeate it into the students studying in mainstream education institutions in the country. The devastating consequences of this policy emerged as a widespread extremism and radicalisation of youth.
Inappropriate education provides foundations for the proliferation of extremism in Pakistan, which in the long run emerges as abomination and violence. Criticism of Pakistani mainstream education is not a new phenomenon, but this time the teachers who are directly involved in this process are showing their dissatisfaction. The students who study in Pakistani elite universities are accepting radicalised narrative mainly propagated by right wing religio-political parties.
Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan is finding it extremely difficult to tackle the impending challenge posed by Islamist hardliners. This can no longer be hidden that Pakistan is in deep trouble. The worsening law and order situation points toward an internal security challenge that Pakistan has not faced for a long time. There have been unsustainable arguments on how Pakistan’s military establishment successfully dealt with the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and therefore the Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) can also be dealt with.
The TLP has been openly radicalizing Pakistani youths whose impact might not be clearly visible immediately, but has huge ramifications for Pakistani society in the longer-run. Those radicalized are based in Pakistan and strongly believe in religious narratives that are blatantly intolerant and fanatic. That is why the people protesting in the streets across Pakistan have scant regard for the judicial institutions, and are not willing to buy the argument that there is no evidence against Aasia Bibi that could prove she committed blasphemy.
http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/opinion-details/3265
#India - When others tell our stories: Why Oscar win for ‘Period’ is yet another Slumdog moment
KAVEREE BAMZAI
Like Period, both Bohemian Rhapsody and Slumdog Millionaire were films waiting for Indians to make them.
Indian filmmakers need to tell authentic stories of life, love and family, Gilles Jacob had told me when I interviewed him at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. They have to be true to themselves. “Tell splendid stories that will ring true all over the world,” he added. Jacob, the honorary director of the Cannes film festival, was a great admirer of Satyajit Ray, even going to the extent of ensuring that he had a special bed made for him every time he came to Cannes because he was so tall (6 feet, 4 inches).
Yet it took an Iranian American director (Rayka Zehtabchi) and an American producer (helped by co-producer, the very Indian and the very able Guneet Monga) to get the film and the campaign surrounding it off the ground. Monga was ecstatic, as she should have been, but didn’t even get to make it to the stage with the acceptance team.
In Bohemian Rhapsody, a sitting duck of a subject for an Indian filmmaker, the movie almost completely obliterates Freddie Mercury’s Indian roots. That was mostly because Freddie himself was so embarrassed by his Indian heritage. Yet, in the age of diversity and black and brown power, it would have made complete sense to make a movie about a global rock star who felt marginalised because of his ethnicity and sexuality. But if you watch the film, there are only off-hand mentions of the family spending time in Zanzibar without going into details of Freddie Mercury a.k.a. Farrokh Bulsara’s time in Mumbai and then Panchgani. Actor Rami Malek, an Egyptian-American who has gained much fame for playing Mr. Robot, has been quoted as saying, “I think about Freddie’s time in India, especially what it would have been like for him to spend so many of his reformative years there. I think the film will speak very deeply to the people of India and everyone else for that matter, but especially to Indians.” But wouldn’t it have been wonderful if some of that was reflected in the movie?
But then who are we to complain about cultural appropriation when we don’t want to make enough real stories, and even when we do, they are usually intended either as vanity projects for stars looking to score points on the government’s ‘nation-building’ meter or as attempting to bolster their resumes with some ‘actorly’ accomplishments.
We’ve been here before when Danny Boyle made Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, based on Vikas Swarup’s book, Q and A, and swept the Oscars with its spirited performances, foot-tapping music and salaams to the city of Mumbai. It was a book waiting to be adapted by an Indian filmmaker, but trust a Manchester-born Englishman to get there first. It made stars of A.R. Rahman, Dev Patel, and even Anil Kapoor, but it never did see a similar attempt from India.
Yes, we live in a global world where stories can be as local as they are international. Even in a post-Trump world, a movie like Black Panther triumphs because it encapsulates the spirit of learning from those least like us, best embodied in the Wakanda motto: The wise build bridges, the foolish build walls.
But surely our filmmakers can tell our stories as truly as possible, to as wide an audience as imaginable? Till then we will have to be content with scraps – such as Best Actress winner for The Favourite, Olivia Colman, discovering her family has roots in Kishanganj, Bihar.
#Pakistani Forces Killed in Southern Saudi Arabia - Saudi-hired foreign militants involved in the war against Yemen
Nine British special forces experts and 3 Pakistani agents were killed in the Southern regions of Saudi Arabia, a Yemeni military source announced late on Saturday.The killed British and Pakistani military officers were conducting a top-secret mission commissioned by the UK, the US, and the UAE, Taez news, a Yemeni news outlet, reported last night.
The source added that the killed officers were experts in planning and managing military operations, and were tasked with commanding the Saudi-hired foreign militants involved in the war against Yemen.
Last week, Britain’s Daily Express reported that two British Special Forces soldiers of the elite SAS regiment deployed on a top-secret joint US-UK mission in Yemen were injured in a roadside bomb blast.
Both soldiers were in a 12-man coalition taskforce which flew into the wartorn country three weeks before that. The SAS is working alongside members of Operational Detachment Alpha, the primary fighting force for the Green Berets. Under US command, the heavily armed Special Forces team flew into Aden from Djibouti aboard a UAE Chinook helicopter and met UAE commanders before heading Northeast in unmarked pick-up trucks.
Both soldiers sustained leg injuries and were evacuated in a Emirati helicopter to the US military base in Djibouti, a small heavily dependent country manipulated by regional and international powers like Saudi Arabia and the US.
Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan, launched a brutal war against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
The aggression initially consisted of a bombing campaign but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen. Around 20,000 people have died since the war began, says Yemen’s Health Ministry.
The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations (UN) has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.
Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.
According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13971205000249
#Pakistan - Absence of women from governance
The current Pakistani government is making a number of task forces as well as a number of committees on various issues ranging from economics to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM). However, one thing is common in all of these initiatives: a conspicuous absence of women. The federal government recently issued a new Federal Cabinet notification for a newly formed task force on science and technology. Out of 13 members, the task force has zero women. Earlier, as Pakistan celebrated International Day for Women and Girls in Science, 20 female scientists and science communicators were panelists at the National Dialogue for Women in Science in Lahore on February 11, however, not a single one of them could make it into the task force.
This is rightly making many women around Pakistan very uncomfortable. It is as if women with accomplishments are invisible to the ruling class. As emphasised many times, Pakistan is already at the bottom of the gender equality index and has been surveyed to be one of the ten most dangerous countries for women.
When Pakistan voted in the Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) government in July last year, many hoped that it signaled a time of change.
However the new “change” oriented government could not find any women representatives competent enough to run any of the four provinces that make up the federation of Pakistan. Moreover, not a single woman was appointed to the Economic Advisory Council (EAC). Pakistan is also the only country in South Asia that has never appointed a woman Supreme Court Judge, and has no plans on doing so in the near future.
The same goes for women in STEM. Conditions for women in STEM are already very difficult. According to the British Council’s report on understanding female participation in STEM subjects in Pakistan at the higher school level, 46 percent of girls and 72 percent of boys were enrolled in at least one STEM subject. At the university level, it was 26 percent for women and 51 percent for the males.
Pakistan is also the only country in South Asia that has never appointed a woman Supreme Court Judge.
In Pakistan, girls comprise 57 percent of all out of school children and face systematic discrimination. Though data suggests that the rates of enrolment at the tertiary level have almost reached parity in recent years , World Bank data confirms that gender parity remains elusive at all levels of education. Women complete far fewer PhDs than men and are subsequently seriously underrepresented in STEM careers. Research indicates that in the Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) field, women report feelings of isolation, hostile male-dominated work environments, and lack of effective sponsors as factors that cause them to leave the industry.
While the STEM workforce remains dominated by men and many a times women choosing to join the workforce are subjected to a toxic work environment, long inflexible hours and a never ending struggle to balance work and home life. In this back ground, women of Pakistan who still persist and manage to excel in STEM as both professionals and entrepreneurs when denied representation at the policy level adds insult to injury.
Women in Pakistan have rarely been given opportunities to be part of any process of change. However, a government that has come to power in the name of reform and progress can make an effort to change this.
Firstly, inclusion of women in STEM and other fields in respective task forces is needed. Not doing so gives the impression that women are not considered worthy of inclusion in change processes despite their progress. Secondly, no matter whatever initiatives are taken at the government level, if women are excluded, they will not work for 50 percent of the population. Therefore it is imperative that inclusion of women in governance be given prime importance.
It is time that the Prime Minister of Pakistan and his party empower women to be catalysts of this change for women. No reform that excludes women is sustainable in the long run.
#Pakistan - #FATF Not Satisfied
The red light signaled by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) over the progress of Pakistan to limit terror financing in Pakistan is a cause for concern. Members of the FATF are of the opinion that Pakistan has demonstrated an inability to understand the financing of the seven proscribed terror organisations. This is the result of the latest review in this month to assess the performance of 14 countries having strategic deficiencies in their systems to counter money laundering and terror financing. The next review is now scheduled for June before which Pakistan has been urged to follow the ten-point agenda and mobilise all relevant authorities to not only cooperate with each other on the matter but also take swift action.In this last couple of months, Pakistan has come a long way in terms of diplomatic stability. The ongoing diplomatic engagements with neighbouring countries and regional allies have helped Pakistan regain its relevance, especially after Pakistan’s efforts to play its part to end the war in Afghanistan. With such developments in motion, Pakistan cannot afford to be blacklisted. All the standards set by the FATF must be met within the due date, especially with the economy relying heavily on foreign investment and with little revenue generation streams in the country.
Finance Minister Asad Umer is of the opinion that Pakistan has taken significant steps to follow the agenda of the FATF, however, it is the influence of the Indian lobby which is resulting in excessive pressure over Pakistan. While there is no denying that Pakistan has, in fact, taken measures to counter the situation, but at this point, the problem is that the regulatory body does not feel satisfied with the country’s effort. What we need right now is rigorous following of the agenda given out by FATF and ensure that it gets implemented before the deadline in June. For this, the government has to cooperate on all fronts and with all governments. Perhaps this is the key issue which can unite the opposition and the government to work together because the impact will be huge.
This has also been pointed out by bankers in Pakistan, have expressed the need to follow the agenda given by FATF, pointing out how Iran also money in banks in Dubai despite sanctions because they are following the agenda given to them. The new regime has wonderfully directed foreign investment to Pakistan. Remaining out of the blacklist will further push their agenda and give the economy the required credibility.
#Pulwama - #India identifies owner of car used in #Kashmir bombing
The attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 paramilitary police on Feb. 14, in the deadliest single assault on Indian forces in 30 years of insurgency in the Muslim-majority region.The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack in the Pulwama district of Kashmir.The NIA identified the owner of the car as Sajjad Bhat, a student at a religious school in the Shopain area of Kashmir who is believed to have joined the JeM.
Police raided his home for more information and his links to the 20-year bomber who slammed the car into the convoy of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).“Piecing together remnants of the vehicle used by the suicide bomber in the Pulwama terror attack on CRPF convoy, from the scene of incident, NIA investigators, with the support of forensic and automobile experts have been able to identify the vehicle used for the blast,” it said in the statement.
India accuses Pakistan of harboring the JeM and has vowed a strong response to the attack. Pakistan has demanded that it provide proof to back its claim.Indian authorities have also vowed to crack down on militants and separatists fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.
Twenty suspected separatists were arrested in the latest swoop on Sunday, officials said after authorities killed at least eight JeM militants and detained around 50 militants, sympathizers and their relatives since the bomb attack.
#EU asks #Pakistan to take clear and sustained action against terror
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini has spoken to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi regarding the current tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.
The European Union (EU) has asked Pakistan to take clear and sustained action against terrorism, including targeting not only all UN-listed transnational terrorist groups but also individuals claiming responsibility for such attacks.
The statement is being interpreted in New Delhi as a tough message by the 27-nation grouping to act against not only the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack, but also its chief Masood Azhar, who enjoys the patronage of the Pakistani establishment.
While the JeM is proscribed by the UN, its head is yet to be designated as a global terrorist because of China’s refusal to allow the world body to list him in this category so as to save its ‘all-weather’ friend Pakistan from global embarrassment.
A statement issued by the European Union said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini spoke to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi regarding the current tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack.The EU official stressed the urgency to de-escalate the situation and confirmed that EU representatives were in touch with India too. ‘’The EU policy has always been to promote a dialogue between Pakistan and India to sort out differences,’’ the EU statement said.Appreciating the early commitment of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to reach out to India, the EU official highlighted the need for Pakistan to continue to address terrorism.
The Pakistani minister again claimed that Islamabad had nothing to do with the Pulwama attack and said his country was ready to investigate the incident if India provided actionable intelligence in this regard.
https://www.thestatesman.com/world/eu-asks-pakistan-take-clear-sustained-action-terror-1502734842.html