M WAQAR.....
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
--Albert Einstein !!!
NEWS,ARTICLES,EDITORIALS,MUSIC... Ze chi pe mayeen yum da agha pukhtunistan de.....(Liberal,Progressive,Secular World.)''Secularism is not against religion; it is the message of humanity.''
تل ده وی پثتونستآن
Carrying the message right to the centre of the country, thousands of employees belonging to various ministries of the federal government assembled in Islamabad on Wednesday with a plan to march on the parliament. And the state heard their message loud and clear. When thought to be getting a little too close for comfort, police officials tried to disperse the crowd using tear gas canisters and even resorting to baton-charge. What a spectacular display of (mis)using power!
Swarms of discontented employees have been pressing for reasonable compensation for quite some time now. Across the country, the public servants were gathering under the umbrella of All Government Employees Grand Alliance for upgradation in their salaries. In light of the soaring prices of everyday essentials, these employees could not be called out for making unreasonable demands. It has actually become tremendously hard to manage a straitened budget.
As per Pakistan’s constitution (Article 16, 17 and 19) as well as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19 and 20), the protestors were well-within their rights to stage demonstrations for their legitimate demands and expected an ear from the state. Whether the government was ready to satisfy their requests, the least it could do was not create war-like conditions in the Red Zone. Security personnel should have been better trained to operate in favour of facilitating peace protests, not provoking violence. Utter chaos ensued when protestors retaliated to tear-gas with stones whilst government employees were seen running everywhere for cover. Ergo, another protest gone wrong at the behest of some officers willing to jump the gun.
Some media outlets are talking about expired canisters that were fired at the protestors. If what is being said about the shells (used beyond their shelf life and despite written warnings that they should not be fired directly at people) holds any weight, the authorities should launch an immediate investigation. Already one policeman has died after developing breathing difficulties in the demonstration. The tear gas shells could have claimed many more lives.
It is particularly interesting to note that only a day after the capital saw one group of government employees have a go at another, the official committee approved a 25 per cent increase in salaries of federal employees. Instead of letting the event spiral out of control, the state could have enjoyed an upper-hand narrative if it had acted a little earlier. This is something Islamabad clearly needs to work at. With ministers busy harking to their own tunes, a cohesive response–especially to a time-constrained decision–is usually missing. Even if the government was unable to provide relief to protestors belonging to provincial departments, it would have been ideal to sit at the deliberation table with the federal employees and direct the provincial authorities to do the same with their people. The protestors have left for now but if not given the relief they have been promised, they could return soon. Probably at a scale much, much bigger than the baton could manage!
https://dailytimes.com.pk/722870/islamabad-protest/
On January 18, 2021, in a massive pro-freedom rally organised in Sann Town in Jamshoro District of Sindh, on the 117th birth anniversary of Ghulam Murtaza Syed, one of the founding fathers of modern Sindh nationalism, protesters raised placards of several world leaders to seek their intervention for the liberation of Sindh.
The world leaders whose placards were used include Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina, British PM Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Indian PM Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, US President-elect Joe Biden (he later assumed office on January 20) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The posters declared, “Sindh wants freedom from Pakistan”.
A rally was organised on November 8, 2020, in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, where a large number of protestors took to the streets, protesting against what they called the illegal occupation of their land by Pakistan. Held under the banner of ‘Sindhudesh Freedom Movement’, the demonstrators carried placards reading: “Sindhudesh is our vision, mission, destiny and motherland.” People held up pictures of Sindhi political activists and leaders who had been abducted or killed.
Though, pro-freedom rallies in Sindh have been a regular feature since 1972 when the freedom movement was started by Ghulam Murtaza Syed, they have gained momentum of late.
The ‘freedom movement’ in Sindh is led by groups such as Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), Jeay Sindh Students’ Federation (JSSF) and Sindh National Movement Party (SNMP).
On November 8, 2020, Shafi Burfat, the chairman of JSMM, stated,
''Sindh is a colony of Punjabi imperialism and a victim of its atrocities and tyranny. Punjab has continuously been exploiting our natural and mineral resources including the sea, the river, the national wealth, the lands, the oil, the gas, the coal, the ports, and the sea islands have been plundered by Punjab for the last seventy-three years with both hands as spoils of war. There is no political, economic, moral, and historical basis for Pakistan’s existence after the separation of Bangladesh in 1971.''
The ‘freedom movement’ has got the support from terrorist groups operating in Sindh and Balochistan, which also is witnessing similar demands. The prominent groups include Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA), Sindhudesh Liberation Army (SLA), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and Baloch Republican Guards (BRG).
Parallel to the groups leading the ‘freedom movement’, Sindhi and Baloch militant groups have increased their activities on ground, resulting in increased violence in Sindh. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), Sindh recorded 52 fatalities (21 civilians, 20 Security Force, SF personnel and 11 militants) in 2020, as compared to 25 fatalities (15 civilians, five SF personnel and five militants) in 2019, registering an over two-fold increase. Significantly, overall fatalities had been declining in Sindh since 2014, when fatalities fell to 1,147 from 1,656 in 2013. 2013 recorded the maximum number of fatalities in a year since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data on major conflicts in Pakistan.
The numbers suggest that SFs have again lost ground. The SF:terrorist kill ratio was in favour of the terrorists in 2020, at 1.81:1, for the first time since 2010, when it was 2.57:1.
There were 21 civilian fatalities in 2020 as against 15 in 2019.
Further, the number of overall terrorism-linked incidents increased marginally from 69 in 2019 to 70 in 2020. However, incidents of killing increased from 18 to 29, and included one successful suicide attack in 2020, as against one failed attempt in 2019.
Nine persons, including four private security guards and one Police Sub-Inspector, were killed in a suicide attack targeting the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Chundrigar Road in Karachi, on June 29, 2020. Though all the four fidayeens (suicide attackers) were killed near the entrance gates, before they could enter the building, five SF personnel at the gates and one bystander were killed in the attack.
There was also a considerable increase in the number of explosions in 2020. As compared to just one blast resulting in one fatality in 2019, year 2020 recorded 13 explosions resulting in 16 fatalities.
The geographical spread of violence also increased, with fatalities reported from eight Districts of Sindh in 2020, as against just two districts in 2019. Provincial capital Karachi recorded the highest number of fatalities in 2020, with 38 killings, followed by Dadu, six; Sukkur, two; and one fatality each in Jacobabad, Khairpur, Larkana, Naushahro Feroze, Sanghar and Tando Allahyar. Sindh has a total of 29 Districts.
Of the two major attacks (each involving three or more fatalities) reported in 2020, the BLA and SRA claimed one each. While the BLA claimed responsibility for the June 29 Pakistan Stock Exchange attack, the SRA claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks on Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) at three places of Sindh (Larkana, Karachi and Ghotki) on June 19, in which nine SF personnel were killed and 14 were injured. SRA spokesperson, Sodho Sindhi, declared in a statement,
Pakistani Intelligence agencies had been abducting and later it (sic) throwing the bullet riddled bodies of Sindhi Nationalist Political workers. From Shaheed Samiullah Kalhoro to Shaheed Niaz Lashari have been victimized of these brutalities (sic) of Pakistani agencies. SRA owns those all (sic) Sindhi Martyrs and vows for retaliation of those all of Martyrdoms (sic) of Sindhi Political Workers.
According to SATP, out of 21 civilian fatalities recorded in Sindh in 2020, the BLA was responsible for 10, while 11 fatalities remain unattributed. Similarly, out of 20 SF fatalities recorded in 2020, SRA was responsible for 12, and BLA for one, while seven fatalities remain unattributed.
According to the Security Report 2020 released by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think tank, Sindhi nationalist groups perpetrated 10 terrorist attacks in Sindh in 2020, including eight by the banned Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army alone.
In view of the increasing violence by Sindhi nationalist groups, the Federal Government banned three groups on May 7, 2020: SRA, SLA and Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz – Arisar (JSQM-A), the militant wing of JSMM.
Further, to suppress the rising Sindhi nationalism movement, the Government continues with its policy of enforced disappearances. According to Pakistan’s Commission of Enquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED), Sindh accounted for a total of 1,618 cases of missing persons between March 1, 2011 (the date of inception of the Commission) and August 31, 2020. According to the Commission, of these 1,618 persons, 1,008 were traced – 53 dead bodies, 246 in prisons, 37 in internment centre and 672 returned home. The Commission ‘deleted’ cases of another 419 missing persons, claiming that these were “closed due to not being cases of enforced disappearances, incomplete address, withdrawal by complainants, non-prosecution. etc.” Thus, as per the commission, a total of 1,427 cases were ‘disposed of’, leaving another 191 cases under investigation.
In the most recent incident, on January 28, 2021, Sanaullah Aman, a Sindhi activist working against enforced disappearances, was arrested from Lahore (Punjab) and subsequently shifted to an undisclosed location. According to the Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh (VMPS), Sanaullah Aman has been ‘forcibly disappeared’ by state agencies.
Earlier, on January 20, 2021, Sagar Mukesh, a Sindhi nationalist and human rights activist, was abducted by unidentified persons in Karachi. Sagar Mukesh’s fellow activist have blamed the SFs for Sagar’s enforced disappearance.
To counter state atrocities, Sindhi and Baloch nationalist groups have decided to join hands. On July 25, 2020, the Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS) – a conglomerate of four Baloch ethno-nationalist militant groups – announced an operational alliance with SRA. According to BRAS’ communiqué, the decision to create an operational alliance between BRAS and SRA followed the meeting of senior ‘commanders’ of BLA (Bashirzeb Baloch faction), Baloch Republican Army (Gulzar Imam faction), BLF, BRG and SRA, at an undisclosed location. The common objective of creating this united front against Pakistan was declared to be to ‘liberate’ Balochistan and Sindh. Moreover, opposition to the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and ethno-nationalist grievances were other factors which have contributed to the alliance. The new alliance announced that it would connect with other ethno-nationalist militant groups to build a strong and vast united front against the Pakistani state.
The rising Sindhi nationalist movement and the simultaneous increase in violence will further undermine security in Sindh.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/13022021-pakistan-sindh-assessment-2021-analysis/
G Parthasarathy
Efforts part of attempt to find way into the good books of Washington.
Imran Khan appears to have a unique capacity to manifest his distrust and dislike for India, even in the conduct of Pakistan’s foreign policy. He appears ready to follow this route, even at the time of a raging pandemic. The only place in the world where he can get reliable vaccines quickly to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cases in Pakistan is on his doorstep — in India. Given the relative shortage of vaccines worldwide, India is providing vaccines to several countries. Except for Pakistan, all other SAARC members have approached India. They have received an immediate response, agreeing to supply the vaccines in a fair, equitable and phased manner.
After the change of guard in the US, Netanyahu and the Pakistan army find themselves ‘on the same page’.
China agreed to provide half a million Sinopharm vaccines to Pakistan, ‘free of cost’, after Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi pleaded for the vaccines with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. China has good reason to keep Pakistan on a tight leash. It has a practice of keeping its client states across Asia and Africa, who are asking for help, on bended knees. It then makes them heavily indebted. Pakistan has placed itself in a situation which compels it to approach China regularly to secure ‘emergency assistance’ from commercial banks to repay a $3 billion loan Pakistan obtained from Saudi Arabia. This is a rather drastic change in its ties with the Saudis, given that Saudi Arabia had even paid for American F16s supplied to Pakistan, just after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. That was also a time when there were Pakistan army units in Saudi Arabia to protect the holy shrines of Islam. There were also the days when Saudi Arabia was home for Nawaz Sharif and his family, when Sharif was exiled by General Musharraf.
Imran Khan has long been a favourite of the Pakistan army, which has a distinctly Islamist orientation. Islamist parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami are still regarded as allies by the army establishment. Nawaz Sharif was smart enough to portray manifestations of Islamist tendencies, while being ‘liberal’ in his political and social life. Imran Khan was influenced ideologically and brought into mainstream politics by a former Director General of the ISI, Lt Gen Hamid Gul, a hard-line Islamist, who looked at India exclusively in communal terms. It is with this communal background that Imran Khan, a novice in international affairs, has conducted relations with Islamic countries, overlooking their sectarian and civilisational differences. He forgot that historically the Turks, Arabs and Persians have been rivals. It is this lack of historic knowledge of Pakistan’s western neighbourhood that led Imran Khan to take the fatal decision of joining a new international Islamic grouping, led by Turkey and Malaysia, thereby undermining Saudi leadership.
The reaction of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to Imran Khan’s decision was immediate. He was forced to back off from his decision. The hostility to Pakistan, however, continued and economic assistance from the Arab world virtually ended. Pakistani workers were given notice to leave the UAE and were not warmly welcomed by Saudi Arabia. More importantly, Pakistan is being made to repay every cent it borrowed from Saudi Arabia, with no new money flowing in. Saudi Arabia has been relentless in demanding prompt repayment of debts by Pakistan. A desperate Imran Khan has been forced to borrow money from China’s banks to repay Saudi Arabia. The Chinese, in turn, are reviewing projects originally slated for CPEC. They have already tied up Pakistan in a debt trap.
Pakistan is also paying the price for its prodigious borrowings from China. It is losing sovereign control of more and more of its territory. The Chinese now ignore Pakistan’s sovereign control of its territory in Gwadar Port, where there are now entry restrictions for Pakistani nationals, including local Balochis. A similar scenario is set to be played out during and after the construction of naval bases by China in the Sind province. Likewise, Gilgit-Baltistan is being increasingly integrated with Beijing’s Xinjiang province, with a growing Chinese economic and military presence there, which includes a 1,100 MW hydel project. Pakistan had earlier ‘gifted’ the neighbouring Shaksgam valley in J&K to China, providing Beijing a secure road link through Gilgit-Baltistan for its access to the Arabian Sea. Moreover, China is steadily taking control of mineral resources, including gold and natural gas, in Balochistan.
Given the fact that Imran Khan has messed up Pakistan’s relations with the Islamic world, Army Chief General Bajwa is now moving for the army to play a more active role in Saudi Arabia. Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani journalist living in self-exile, has revealed that the army is taking over greater control of foreign policy by getting a senior military official, Lt Gen Bilal Akbar, appointed as its next envoy to Saudi Arabia. Siddiqa has also revealed that ever since his visit to Riyadh, General Bajwa has maintained his own ‘back channel’ with Crown Prince Salman. The principal role of Lt Gen Akbar would be to work with the Saudis to establish contacts with Israel and set the stage for Pakistan’s diplomatic ties with Israel — something the army appears keen to do. Pakistani and Israeli armed forces have worked together recently, when they were on the same side in the recent conflict in Armenia. The Pakistan army would now seek to use its moves for closer ties with Israel and to also alter its current friendly relations with Iran to restore a measure of trust with the Biden administration. Siddiqa notes: ‘After change in the US, the three stakeholders — Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Salman, and the Bajwa-led army — find themselves on the same page.’
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/pakistan-cosies-up-to-israel-207562
Pakistan's opposition hosts Hamas at mass rallies against a 'Jewish-Indian plot': Illegal funding for Prime Minister Imran Khan's army-backed party, in exchange for normalizing relations with Israel. It’s a potent rallying cry.
"Barry C. Schneps."
That’s the unlikely name on the lips of a swathe of Pakistani opposition figures, who allege he is the Israeli mastermind behind an illegal decade-old scheme to fund Prime Minister Imran Khan for the nefarious benefit of the State of Israel, including recent chatter about the possibility of Pakistan’s recognition of the Jewish state.
At a mid-January rally outside the Election Commission of Pakistan, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, daughter and political heir of former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, directly accused Khan of taking funds from Israel, calling it part of the "biggest fraud in Pakistan's history."
Maryam Nawaz, who is the effective head of the biggest centrist opposition party (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, or PML-N), also declared: "Do you know who funded Imran Khan from India? Bharatiya Janata Party member Inder Dosanjh. And the Israeli who funded him was Barry C. Schneps."
She maintained that "countless" Indians and Israelis had funded Khan’s Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaaf party, and warned: "When you take money from someone, you have to do their bidding."
Two days earlier, Karachi witnessed a major protest rally against Pakistan establishing relations with Israel, ambitiously marketed as a "million man march." Tens of thousands of protestors from several opposition parties did attend, spanning the political spectrum, from the Islamist Jamiat Ulema Islam (led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman) to the centrist Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz.
The rally showed video messages from two significant, if controversial, Palestinian figures.
The first was the head of the militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who declared: "Pakistan has always supported the Palestinians’ struggle" and that Palestinians, in response, "care for the sentiments of the Pakistani nation," and Ekrima Sabri, imam of the Al-Aqsa mosque, who praised the protestors’ "passionate" refusal to accept Israel as "standing up for the right cause," and a demonstration that the Muslim "ummah is not ready to accept defeat."
Taking up the Israel funding theme was senior Islamist politician Rehman, one of the co-heads of the anti-Khan coalition, known as the Pakistan Democratic Movement, which organized the protest.
"Israel and India are Pakistan's enemies. You [India and Israel] are using their money to make a person [Khan] [the prime minister]. Pakistan is a nuclear power, by making such a person sit on [the chair], they [Pakistan’s genuine regional allies] all become suspicious," he claimed.
While alleging the involvement of Israel’s hidden hand is an old tactic by politicians in Pakistan to discredit their political competition, the recent uptick in talk about potential Pakistan-Israel ties has given new life to the allegations of Jewish and/or Israeli funding.
And "Barry C. Schneps" has become a mythical figure on whom opposition politicians from the center and from the Islamist right can project (not for the first time) their criticisms of Khan as a tool of foreign powers, not least the international Jewish lobby in cahoots with Israel.
The fact that Pakistan’s most powerful opposition leader chose to use the Israel-Jewish influence trope is a salient reminder of its power to energize and steer public opinion, and of how the issue of Pakistan-Israel relations may now be determined by domestic politics rather than national interests.
Prime Minister Imran Khan's party has been indeed fighting a foreign funding case at the Election Commission of Pakistan since 2014. The case has dragged on, for a suspiciously long time.
The complaint against Khan’s "Indian and Jewish lobbies" funding was initially filed by a founding member of the Tehreek-i-Insaaf party, Akbar S. Babar, who became disillusioned by Imran Khan's allegedly corrupt practices.
Babar chose to fight for the control of his party through the Election Commission of Pakistan; however, the case has witnessed unprecedented delays and remains undecided, and has now become a key cause celebre for the opposition. Babar claims that an audit in 2011 had revealed illegal funding in the party but that its report was not made public.
Five years ago, a famous news anchor, Arshad Sharif, claimed to have proof of "Indian and Jewish" foreign funding of Imran Khan's party, mentioning Barry C. Schneps by name.
The case metastasized: Shneps, a New Jersey lawyer, was now a "Jewish conduit" for "Israeli funds," even though no evidence that he is even Israeli has appeared.According to various reports, what appears to have happened is that is a dual Pakistani-American national, M. Asif Chaudhary, who worked in the law office of Barry C. Schneps, donated between $750 to $1000 on behalf of himself and three other local friends to PTI in 2012.
Foreign funding of parties in Pakistan is forbidden according to the Elections Act 2017.
As opposition parties align under the umbrella of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, a union of 11 major political parties of Pakistan with a single point agenda of ousting Khan from power, the issue of Israel has become a key point of differentiation between the army-backed Khan government and the opposition.The opposition‘s aim is to undermine any faith in the government’s words, and to expose what is calls its double-dealing. The Israel issue is a perfect fit: it chimes with a long tradition of extreme suspicion towards Israel and "Jewish funding" (Khan got flak for meeting George Soros last year), Palestinian rights is a genuinely popular issue, and the trust deficit can be endlessly played on.While Prime Minister Khan and his foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, continue denying any peace overtures to Israel, there are still constant reports of secret communication channels and claims of surreptitious visits by "influential" Israelis to Islamabad.Ever since Pakistan's "hybrid regime" - the cohabitation of civilian and military establishments in support of the ruling party - came to power in 2018, opposition parties have refused to accept Imran Khan as prime minister, often calling him "selected," a mocking reference to him being "selected" by the military establishment to rule Pakistan.
While there is no direct evidence to suggest that Israel, or any Israeli, funnelled funds to Imran Khan, the foreign funding case has clearly managed to fuel the opposition's umbrella movement by turning more of the public away from Khan's government.
Khan himself has admitted Pakistan has come under intense pressure from a “brotherly Muslim country” to move towards ties with Israel. The clear insinuation was that the source of pressure was Saudi Arabia, on whom Pakistan has depended for financial support.
But it also seems clear that the military establishment, on whom Khan is dependent, is warming to relations with Israel - and that this is a trajectory that will continue even after the Jared Kushner-Donald Trump era of sticks and carrots to accelerate Arab and Muslim states’ normalization of relations with Israel.
Biden's Middle East policy "will be to support a mutually agreed, two-state solution, in which Israel lives in peace and security, alongside a viable Palestinian state," in the words of the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Mills.
That two-state language, if adopted by Israel, could defang some of the critiques aimed at Pakistan-Israel ties.
Indeed, days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, Pakistan's generals found it wise to remove career diplomat Raja Ali Ejaz and install a retired general, Bilal Akbar, as Pakistan's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, reflecting that Pakistan's foreign policy is dominated not by its parliamentary center, Islamabad, but by the army seat of power, Rawalpindi, the same Rawalpindi which seems inclined for peace with Israel.
And the army seems to be cultivating supportive voices on the Israel issue even among what London-based researcher and author Ayesha Siddiqa calls "rabid religious clerics."
Only weeks before the mass rally, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, a senior Islamist leader and a former member of the JUI-F, expressed a willingness to accept Israel, backing his stance with arguments from Muslim tradition.
He was subsequently kicked out of the JUI-F, and promptly started criticizing the Pakistan Democratic Movement, now led by his former party boss, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, reflecting that perhaps he was taking new directions from new handlers.
Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the U.S., and now at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C., explained in an interview that "Pakistanis have been brought up on a steady diet of anti-Israel sentiment, and Pakistan’s security establishment would have to deal with it before moving ahead with normalization with Israel." Thus its influence-by-proxy campaign.
Haqqani continued: "Many thinking Pakistanis understand the advantages of normal relations with Israel but rational thinking in Pakistan often runs against decades of brainwashing."
Siddiqa argues that a lot is cooking between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel. She writes: "[T]he recognition of Israel has emerged as a new common cause, a matter on which Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are tied, as if by an umbilical cord. Both cannot move forward without the other. One will not do it unless the other does it."
From its side, Israel is just as interested in expanding its circle of non-belligerence (not least next-door to arch-enemy Iran), especially to influential Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan which, to varying degrees, steer the direction the Sunni Muslim world will take.
And while Israel never intended to become such a powerful wedge issue in Pakistani politics, the old "Jewish conspiracy theories" have in some way worked in its favor, with the issue of relations with a small Middle Eastern state punching way above its weight in the national discourse.
One might hope this would lead to a genuinely combative but informed national debate which would actually impact the country’s decision. Those high hopes face two major obstacles: The first about the quality and motivations of that debate, and the second about its impact on policy.
The opaque background to chatter about normalization continues to be used to discredit Imran Khan and his government, especially at a politically volatile time when the opposition is using every weapon in its arsenal to remove Khan from power. The Karachi rally shows that protesting any movement towards Israel is itself a potent rallying cry.
If peace really is on the table, it should be brought to the public sphere so that regular people can make their own decisions based on accurate information, not on allegations made for political leverage. And Israel has a part to play: it should try not to fuel rumors that inflate the already oversized image it has in Pakistan, where it is often forced into the country's national discourse.
Haqqani comments: “In the end, Pakistan’s position on Israel will be determined by Pakistan’s domestic politics, not by who is in charge in Washington.”
But there’s a shadow over the whole nascent national debate, captured by Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, in an article with the sarcastic headline: "Pakistan’s enemy number one is Israel now. India can wait."
Inayat warns: "[To] think that the common Pakistani has a say in foreign policy is laughable. If the winds have to change, they will change, and the jazbaat [sensibilities] of the people will be the last thing anyone would worry about."
The issue of Pakistan-Israel relations is the latest battlefield for the tug-of-war between martial law and democracy, ruling party and opposition in Pakistan – and it could still end up an unwitting player in, or casualty of, those high-stakes skirmishes.
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-jewish-money-in-pakistan-israel-is-now-an-even-more-explosive-political-issue-1.9527197
Prime Minister Imran Khan has tightened the noose around nongovernmental organizations, alleging that they are working against the state. Why is the government so skeptical of civil society groups?
Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been under pressure in Pakistan for many years, but never have they faced greater suppression than under the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018.
The government has intensified a crackdown on NGOs under the pretext that they receive foreign funds, promote the "enemy agenda" and are working against the state.
Khan took up the issue of NGOs' foreign funding in a Cabinet meeting last month amid increasing concerns that his government is suppressing freedom of speech in the country.
Rights groups and campaigners say the crackdown on civil society organizations and the government's attempts to silence rights activists are part of the authorities' broader plan to silence dissent.
"The way Khan's government banned several international NGOs and took measures to create problems for local NGOs is alarming. We have never experienced this situation before. The government also wants to control the media," Mohammad Tahseen, executive director of the South Asia Partnership Pakistan organization, told DW.
The government denies the suppression claims and argues that it is necessary to monitor NGOs' funding.
"Pakistan has recently upgraded its laws to ensure that the movement of funds follows legal channels and the money is used for the right purposes," Zafar Yab Khan, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, told DW.
"Pakistan greatly values the work done by local and international NGOs and will always facilitate them. At the same time, it will be cognizant of its international obligations that require proper checks and balances for these organizations," he added.
'Anti-state agenda'
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, says that there have long been conspiracy theories in Pakistan that International NGOs are "essentially a front for intelligence operations."
"In a country where foreign intelligence agencies, especially the CIA, have long made a mark, it's an easy narrative to sell. Many in Pakistan believe that Save the Children was involved in the CIA-sponsored fake vaccination campaign that helped track down Osama Bin Laden. Longstanding suspicion about foreign NGOs was heightened after the Bin Laden raid, and it has remained strong today," Kugelman told DW.
Rights activist Tahseen believes it is easier for the government to target NGOs than to work for the welfare of the citizens.
"There is no evidence that NGOs are working against the country. NGOs are actually performing a very important role to enhance human development, fundamental rights and social justice in Pakistan," he underlined.
Political analyst Qamar Cheema says there is a lack of trust between state authorities and civil society groups. "The state fears that these organizations might create national disorder. It hopes to manage the situation," he told DW.
Conservative groups, which have a big influence on the state apparatus, also allege that NGOs promote liberal values that go against the teachings of Islam.
Lack of accountability
Some legal experts are of the view that a few NGOs misuse registration and foreign funding rules.
"Pakistan's registration rules for international NGOs are very strict. Some international organizations have found ways to bend these rules, while local NGOs continue to receive foreign funding without signing a contract with the government's Economic Affairs Division," Osama Malik, an Islamabad-based lawyer who deals with the NGO registration, told DW.
Activist Tahseen disagrees: "NGOs are subject to multiple layers of scrutiny and clearances at different government levels before they can register and start their operations. It is unfair to accuse them of wrongdoings," he said.
Kugelman believes that NGOs' "poorly regulated funding" has been a matter of concern for Pakistani authorities for quite some time.
"There is a concern about how foreign money enters Pakistan, and how it is used. The irony is that the security establishment has long welcomed foreign assistance for itself. Expelling foreign NGOs just because they're not properly accounting for their funding sounds harsh. But this is a consistent fixation of Islamabad's, whether because it is genuinely concerned about the funding or because it's just a pretext to get these groups out of Pakistan for some other reason," he said.
Image problem
The clampdown on foreign-funded NGOs has, to a large extent, dissuaded international donors and NGOS from engaging with the South Asian country. Experts say this will have a negative impact on the country's poor, who benefit from international cooperation.
"The crackdown is tarnishing the country's image. Pakistan is losing international aid and support," Tahseen asserted.
Kugelman shares a similar view: "If Islamabad continues to telegraph a message that foreign NGOs won't enjoy a welcoming environment, then that could temper the interest of these groups to enter Pakistan. While some factors may drive NGOs away, other factors – a more stable security situation, especially – should ensure there will still be an interest in engaging in Pakistan," he argued.
Analyst Cheema urges the government to increase international cooperation. "To achieve this, a transparent NGO regime is required in the country. It will reconnect Pakistan to global institutions."
AYJAZ WANI
Just a day before the Covid-battered year 2020 ended, a mob led by local leaders of a religious party vandalised a century-old Hindu shrine in Karak district of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP). The mob of more than 1,000 people set the shrine on fire. They did not even spare an under-construction house owned by members of the Hindu community. The incident occurred in the wake of the permission granted to the minority community to extend the temple.
The administration and police remained silent spectators as the mob went about vandalising and setting fire to the premises. The police arrested 24 people for the arson only after outcry from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community. The incident also caused global embarrassment to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI government, prompting Noorul Haq Qadri, the Minister for Religious Affairs, to condemn the attack, saying that the incident was “a conspiracy against sectarian harmony”.
The supreme court of Pakistan, during the hearing of a plea from Hindu lawmaker Ramesh Kumar, directed the Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) to start reconstruction of the temple and directed submission of the details of all non-functional and functional temples and Gurdwaras in Pakistan.
The police chief of KP, who was also present at the hearing, told the court that 92 police officials, including the superintendent of police and his deputy, were suspended after the incident and 109 people involved in the incident were arrested. The Chief Justice of Pakistan also directed the EPTB to clear all the encroachments from minority religious places and take actions against the officials involved in such incidents.
Same is the case of other Muslim minorities like Shia Hazara, who continue to face the wrath of the state, terrorists as well as other sectarian groups from time to time. On 4 January, 11 members of the Shia Hazara community working as coal miners were killed by unidentified gunmen. Their relatives protested for four days in Quetta and demanded a visit by the Prime Minister.
Pakistan’s minorities always live under the cloud of insecurity and fear. They are demonised. The plight of the minorities has not changed even under Imran Khan’s rule, who champions himself as a messiah of minorities and criticises other countries on the same issues.
Equal citizens…
From the time Imran Khan took the office of the Prime Minister, he had persistently claimed that minorities in Pakistan are equal citizens and were under state protection in many of his tweets and interviews. However, much of his words have remained mere lip-service. Like his predecessors, Imran Khan too seems to have caved in to pressure from the Islamists. In 2018, soon after Imran Khan became the PM, he was forced to revoke his decision to remove a globally renowned scholar from his Economic Advisory Council (EAC). A Princeton University professor and economist Atif Mian of prosecuted Ahmadi religious community was chosen to be a part of the 18-member EAC. Just hours after the announcement, Islamists, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and other opposition parties objected to his faith and started a vilification campaign against him.
Such was the hateful campaign against Atif Mian that Imran Khan’s PTI government revoked his appointment within days. The government initially tried to defend the decision when Information Minister Fawad Chaudury said, “Pakistan belongs as much to minorities as it does to the majority… we will not bow to extremists”.
Ironically, the minister continued to insist that the government wants to work with all sections of society, including Islamists, even after Atif’s ouster. It is pertinent to mention here that the Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims in Pakistan through a constitutional amendment passed on 7 September 1974 during the tenure of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Govt toothless
The government has historically remained toothless when it came to Islamists. Following the bomb blasts of 2013 at the PeshawarAll-Saints Church, the then Chief Justice of Supreme Court asked the government to set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM). The NCM was eventually launched in 2020 with six official and 12 non-official members, including the chairman for a term of three years.
Among the 12 members, three memberships each were reserved for Hindus and Christians, two each for Sikhs and Muslims and one each for Parsi and Kalash communities. The NCM has largely remained ineffective and often been criticised by human rights activists. Most of the religious minorities and their homes, religious places continue to be targeted by Islamists under the pretext of the infamous blasphemy laws.
Forced conversions, hate speech and discrimination remain unchecked. Instead of taking stock of the worsening situation of its own minorities, the NCM has been used by the PTI government to discuss the minority rights and discrimination faced by religious minorities across the border. Since its establishment, the NCM has come to be seen as merely a political gimmick of the government rather than doing any good for the minorities at home.
Over the years, the laws and rights of the minorities have seen a gradual shift from neutrality to blatant discrimination. In 2016, the Sindh government tried to outlaw forced conversions and marriages but failed because of the criticism and opposition from religious parties.
A revised version of the bill was introduced in 2019 but was again withdrawn following protests from Islamists. In March 2019, 2,000 Hindu minority members held protests, demanding justice for two sisters, Reena and Raveena. The Hindus claimed that the two sisters were forcefully converted and married. But the Islamabad High Court ruled out conversion.
Between 2013 and 2019, 156 forced conversions have reportedly taken place. Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that includes the right to freedom of religion. Still, the government has failed to comply with these international obligations and protect the minority non-Muslim women from exploitation.
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/pakistan-minorities-under-imran-khan-govt/
BEHIND THE LINES: Turkey and Pakistan’s growing closeness has deep foundations. These are two countries following a similar trajectory.
A joint military exercise involving Turkish and Pakistani Special Forces commenced this week in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan. The exercise, dubbed “Ataturk XI-2021,” is to focus on counter-terrorist operations. It is the latest manifestation of an emergent strategic alliance of these two countries, with significant implications – both for the Middle East, and for south Asia.Turkey and Pakistan’s growing closeness has deep foundations. These are two countries following a similar trajectory. Both were allies and assets of the US and the West during the Cold War. Both have moved far from this position in the last two decades, and are increasingly estranged from Washington. Both are medium-sized powers, governed today by a type of Islamic nationalist outlook. Both, importantly, are seeking an alternative alignment to their former ties with the West, which in a time of growing global polarization is leading both Islamabad and Ankara toward greater closeness with China.
So what form are the increased ties taking? Arms purchasing is a significant indicator. Turkey is now Pakistan’s fourth largest source of arms, as Islamabad seeks alternatives to the West for its source of weaponry (the main exporter of arms to Pakistan is now China).
Pakistan is in the process of purchasing four Turkish-built MILGEM corvette ships from the Turkish state-owned defense contractor ASFAT. It has also placed an order for 30 T-129 ATAK helicopters. The total cost of orders placed by Pakistan for the purchase of Turkish weapons systems is now in excess of $3 billion. However, the importance of this relationship goes beyond economic and commercial factors. Both Pakistan and Turkey have justified concerns regarding the possibility of Western sanctions as a result of the policy directions they wish to pursue. Reducing dependence on Western weapons systems is a way of broadening options.
The growing closeness is also reflected in the diplomatic sphere. Pakistani senior officials have expressed support for Turkey in its disputes over gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean. A series of joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean, involving the navies of both countries and including violations of Cypriot and Greek territorial waters and airspace, took place over the last year. Similar joint exercises have also been held in the Indian Ocean.
Turkey, in turn, in a development causing concern in New Delhi, has begun to support Pakistani claims in Kashmir. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in February 2020 that the issue was as important to Turkey as it is to Pakistan. Referencing the events of the Turkish War of Independence, Erdogan said, “And now, we feel the same about Kashmir today. It was Çanakkale yesterday and Kashmir today; there is no difference between the two.” Turkey raised the issue of Kashmir at the UN General Assembly in September 2019, shifting from a policy of non-interference on an issue that India regards as an internal matter.In this regard, recent reports in regional media (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Hawar News) suggesting that Turkey is in the process of deploying its Syrian Islamist client militias in Kashmir have raised concerns, though no concrete evidence for these allegations has yet emerged.
THE STRATEGIC partnership between Ankara and Islamabad is also raising concerns in the nuclear realm. Pakistan is a nuclear power, with 160 deployed warheads. Erdogan, in a September 2019 speech quoted by Reuters, said, “Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, not one or two. But [they tell us] we can’t have them. This, I cannot accept.”
He continued, “We have Israel nearby, as almost neighbors. They scare [other nations] by possessing these. No one can touch them.”
Turkey currently possesses two nuclear reactors, Tr-1 and Tr-2, maintained by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority. The country has rich uranium deposits. It thus possesses both the will and the raw materials to develop a nuclear capacity. It currently lacks only the required knowledge to do so. Pakistan, which is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, possesses this knowledge. While no concrete evidence of active cooperation in this regard has yet emerged, it is worth recalling that Turkey was a covert hub for the activities of the rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan 20 years ago.
The alliance between Pakistan and Turkey is coming into being in a rapidly shifting strategic landscape. The old post-Cold War US-led security architecture, and the assumptions that surrounded it can no longer be relied upon. In the major events of the region over the last decade – the Syrian civil war, the revolution and counter-revolution in Egypt, the competition over gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean – the US has been notably absent as it recalibrates its priorities and modes of engagement.
As a result of this absence, new connections and new power nexuses are emerging. From this point of view, the coming together of two mid-sized states inclined toward versions of Sunni political Islam and seeking major revisions of the current power balance in their respective neighborhoods, in their favor, makes logical sense.Both Turkey and Pakistan are also eager to connect their ambitions to the strategic advance of China. Turkey is of importance to Beijing as a transportation hub on the way to the Mediterranean and to Europe, and as a priority country for investment in infrastructure. Turkey is an observer country at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It is noteworthy that Erdogan’s efforts to present himself as a leader of the world’s Muslims and of all peoples ethnically associated with the Turks does not extend to solidarity with the Turkic Muslim Uighurs, on whose fate he has been notably silent.
Pakistan’s relations with China are deep and of long standing, related to the joint geopolitical rivalry with India. Pakistan has been the recipient of investments worth $11 billion, in the framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. These have centered mainly on modernizing the country’s rail system. A project to build a direct rail link from China via Pakistan and Iran to Turkey is in the process of being revived. The ITI (Istanbul, Tehran, Islamabad) line would be the first regular rail link between China and Turkey. It is expected to begin operating in 2026, according to a recent report in Nikkei Asia.
A joint declaration by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan and Azerbaijan signed in Islamabad on January 13 referenced the joint stances on Kashmir, the Aegean dispute, Cyprus and the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. The document is a useful summing up of the current reality of Turkish and Pakistani synergy. The Ankara-Islamabad axis looks set to form a significant and powerful presence on the complicated geopolitical chessboard of West and South Asia.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/turkey-pakistan-inside-the-ankara-islamabad-axis-658710
After a lapse of six years, the Sindh government has finally approved the construction of the Bilawal Bhutto Engineering College in Lyari on a proposed land of 7.5 acres located on Mirza Adam Khan Road near Dhobi Ghat.
The construction of the engineering college in Lyari was announced in 2015 by former Pakistan president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari while addressing a ceremony in the Kakri Ground, where a development package was announced for the people of Lyari.
On September 10 that year, the provincial government formed a five-member committee to execute the project. The body was constituted to conduct the site inspection to finalise the location for the establishment of the engineering college.
The capital cost reflected in ADP (Annual Development Programme) No. 499 was around Rs1.302 billion. However, the committee could not find any appropriate space for the institute’s construction.
In 2016 the provincial government formed a six-member committee and tasked it with selecting a site for establishing the college. The body proposed a family park located in front of the Lyari General Hospital, but some of the community members opposed the proposal and took the matter to court.
The government, however, has been allocating funds for the project since the 2016-17 budget. According to the approved project profile, the revenue cost has now increased to Rs541.98 million, while the total cost stands at around 1.844 billion.
Capacity of college
According to the establishment plan of the Bilawal Bhutto Engineering College Lyari, the institute is initially assumed to be able to accommodate 60 students in each of the four departments: civil, mechanical, electrical and software engineering.
The college will gradually expand to reach its full capacity of 960 students. Initially, the administration and academic blocks, a gymnasium, an auditorium and a playground will be constructed.
After 2018 elections
In the general elections 2018, the ruling PPP suffered a major setback by losing three important seats in Lyari, a long-time stronghold of the party. The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Syed Abdul Rasheed won the PS-108 (South-II) constituency, while Mohammad Younus Soomro secured the PS-107 (South-I) seat.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who had also contested the election, barely managed to bag the third-highest votes in NA-246. This constituency was the most favoured by his party because they had been winning this seat since the 1970s.
After losing the elections, however, the PPP-led provincial government continued to complete the announced projects, including the Bilawal Bhutto Engineering College Lyari. “The provincial government has been quite intent on developing Lyari, but the local PPP leaders have been creating hurdles in the completion of projects,” claimed Rasheed.
Local politics
The JI lawmaker said that Lyari’s people have been in desperate need of an engineering college. “Rather than working at mechanic shops, it will be the best option for our children to study engineering.”
He said that it was his team that identified an empty piece of land where the college is supposed to be constructed. The chief minister has approved the proposed land, but some local PPP leaders have been creating hurdles to regain their political influence in Lyari, he added.
Earlier this year, Rasheed had raised a calling-attention notice in the Sindh Assembly for the construction of the engineering college. “Finally, our voice was heard, and this year it is expected that the government will start the construction of the college.”
Earthquake tremors measuring a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter's scale were felt across several cities of Pakistan at 10:02 pm late Friday night, with Tajikistan's Murghab city reportedly being the epicentre.
According to reports, tremors were felt in Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Mardan, North Waziristan, Swat, Multan, Sargodha, Faisalabad, and Lahore.
The tremors were also felt in Killa Abdullah, Pishin, Toba Achakzai, Shangla, Buner, Malakand, Dir, and Chitral.
According to the Seismological Centre, the depth of the earthquake was measured at 80km. Citizens have been advised to be careful as the aftershocks of the earthquake are expected.
It is pertinent to mention here that such a high-intensity earthquake jolted Pakistan after 1.5 years, and during the previous incident, Azad Jammu and Kashmir suffered significant damages.
The U.S Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 5.9 and centred 35 km (55 miles) west of Tajikistan in central Asia.
Meanwhile, Rescue Punjab, speaking to Geo News, said that despite such a high-intensity earthquake, no casualties have so far been reported
Director-General Rescue Punjab has issued a high-alert, according to a spokesperson.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Similarly, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rescue officials said that citizens could call 1700 to inform the authorities of any losses, adding that a few injuries were reported, but there have been no deaths.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir
In the adjacent areas of Muzaffarabad, the intensity of the tremors was intense, including Neelum, Jehlum, Bagh, Poonch, Mirpur, and other areas.
Police and rescue officials said that two people were injured so far in Bagh, however, no life losses were reported.
In Muzaffarabad, where a2005 earthquake wreaked serious destruction, there was mass panic, according to witnesses and many rushed out of their homes in fear.
"I thought it's the same like what had hit us in 2005. My children started crying," said Asif Maqbool, a resident in Madina Market, a neighbourhood of Muzaffarabad that was almost flattened in the 2005 quake.
Gilgit-Baltistan
In Gilgit-Baltistan, Astore, Diamer, Hunza, and all four district of Baltistan were hit by the earthquake. People came out of their house and began prayers.
NDMA puts serves on alert
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) spokesperson said the institution was in contact with all the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA).
"NDMA is in contact with all PDMAs and getting updates from across Pakistan," the spokesperson said, adding that no loss of life had been reported so far.
The NDMA, furthermore, said that it had put its emergency services on alert as well.
Prayers for the nation
Responding to the development, PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz prayed for people's safety and "hoped" that everyone was safe.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis also prayed for everyone's safety.
Earthquake in India
Meanwhile, in India, an earthquake of 6.1-magnitude struck Punjab at 10:34pm on Friday, sending tremors across north India, including Delhi-and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
However, there was no immediate report of property losses or casualties.
Cracks were reported in some homes in northern Occupied Kashmir, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. A witness also reported a wall collapse near the northern Indian city of Amritsar, but there were no reports of casualties.
G. Suresh, a senior scientist at the IMD, told Reuters there were two earthquakes within 10 minutes in Tajikistan and Sichuan, China. An Indian government monitor had earlier said the quake was centred near Amritsar.
"The seismic waves have been mixed up in data monitoring," he said.
Tremors were felt across Pakistan including the capital, Islamabad, and northwestern Peshawar, and even as far as the eastern city of Lahore, which borders India.
