Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is "a critical partner" in the fight against Al-Qaeda, US President Barack Obama said Friday, as the White House seeks to turn the page on a spat between the two allies.
"The reason we're putting American lives on the line is because 3,000 Americans were killed in an attack that was launched from Afghanistan," Obama told ABC, referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks."And those people are still out there, plotting to kill Americans," he said. "That means that we are going after Al-Qaeda to dismantle and destroy them."President Karzai, I think is going to be a critical partner in this effort."But he told the television's "Good Morning America" that Karzai still faces a "challenge" in dealing with domestic politics. "I think he has been a partner. But I think he has his own domestic politics he has to deal with," Obama said.Karzai has angered Washington twice within a few days with outbursts blaming foreigners for the widespread fraud in last year's elections which returned him to power.On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Karzai also told lawmakers the United States was interfering with Afghan affairs and that the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance movement if it did not stop.But the US administration on Friday appeared to be trying to put the furor behind it and strike a more conciliatory tone as Obama ramps up the level of troops fighting a Taliban insurgency and Al-Qaeda militants."I think real progress has been made ... part of President Karzai's challenge is, he's got to bring his country along into a 21st century, in which it is functioning and effective," Obama said.Earlier this week, US officials pointedly declined to call Karzai an ally, and hinted an invitation to visit the White House next month could be withdrawn if he repeated his anti-foreigner outbursts.But on Friday it appeared that May 12 visit was still on.
"There is no modification" in the plan for May 12 meeting, US national security advisor General James Jones told reporters on board Air Force One returning from Obama's historic nuclear deal signing ceremony in Prague.Obama extended the invitation to Karzai to come to Washington last month during his first whirlwind visit to Afghanistan since taking office in 2009.Jones said Obama also had written to the Afghan leader to thank him for his hospitality during the brief trip on March 28.Obama "pledged to continue our common efforts to make Afghanistan a success," Jones said.He added the White House considered the whole furor around Karzai's outburst behind them. "We have a democratically elected president who is,by definition, our partner," Jones added.Washington has demanded that Karzai embrace good governance and notably battle widespread corruption in order to create a functioning state that could allow US forces to finally leave the country.
"I think he's committed to doing that," Obama said Friday.
"That doesn't mean that it's easy. And that doesn't mean that there aren't going to be times when he and I disagree, in terms of how things should proceed and how rapidly things should proceed."
Karzai's behavior could risk becoming a domestic political problem for Obama, who last year ordered an extra 30,000 US troops into Afghanistan in an effort to finally crush the Taliban after a bloody eight-year war.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Peshawar's Fashion Show Defy Cruel Taliban
www.independent.co.uk/
Days after bombers tried to storm the US consulate, models defied the Taliban to sashay down a catwalk in Pakistan's troubled city Peshawar, flashing navels and exposing shoulders.Organisers told AFP that the private fashion show, arranged by a private university in the northwestern metropolis of 2.5 million, was intended as a stress reliever in a city that has been hard hit by bomb and suicide attacks.
"The situation is very tense. The atmosphere is very stressful and we arranged this show to bring some entertainment and as an opportunity for young people to show their capabilities," Mohammad Yasir, an organiser, told AFP.
"It was a great success. More people came than we expected," he said.
Trussed up in glamorous confections of gauze and silk, western-style skirts slashed to the knee, towering gladiator heels and millinery, male and female models marched down the runway, smouldering and pouting late Wednesday.
There were bare shoulders, trousers hanging from the hips and tops slashed to well-toned navels - a far cry from the heavy veils, baggy trousers and body-hiding shirts favoured by the city's women in public.Strict security was in force for the event at Deans shopping plaza in the heavily guarded and upmarket garrison-controlled central area of Peshawar where Indian Bollywood tracks and western pop blasted out of loudspeakers.
The show took place just 15 minutes' drive from the American consulate - targeted Monday by Islamist militants armed with guns, grenades and suicide car bombs who killed five security officials."I am really happy that the fashion show was successfully held in this stressful environment of Peshawar," Maheen Raza, a dress designer told AFP.While some models and designers came from the relatively moderate capital Islamabad, others live in Peshawar, one of the most conservative big cities in the country where fashion shows are rare.The city lies on the edge of Pakistan's tribal belt - branded by Washington a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous place on Earth, where a secretive US drone war is targeting top Islamist militant commanders.The US consulate attack was the most audacious this year in Pakistan, where insecurity, particularly in the northwest, has raised concerns in the United States as Washington steps up the fight in Afghanistan and against Al-Qaeda.Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the consulate attack, saying it was to avenge the US drone attacks and threatened further assaults on Americans.
The United Nations announced a two-day closure of its offices in Peshawar, citing security fears following a US consulate attack.
Around 3,200 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks over the last three years in Pakistan, blamed on militants opposed to the US alliance.
Peshawar's Street children increasing in City
The Frontier Post
PESHAWAR: The number of children cleaning windscreens, selling flowers and other stuff on traffic signals is increasing in provincial capital. Interestingly, these children not only include boys but also girls both aged between 10 to 14. As soon as you stop at a traffic signal one of these children will come in front of your car and start cleaning the windscreen without even asking for your permission. Increase in number of such children clearly depicts the failure of our governments to provide best possible facilities to the people. According to a report published sometime back in 2005, an estimated 1.2 million children were on the streets of Pakistan’s major cities and urban centres, constituting the country’s largest and most ostracised social group. These included ‘Runaway’ children who live or work on the street, as well as the minority that return to their families at the end of the day with their meagre earnings. People give them a meager amount of Rs 2 to Rs 5 for cleaning the windscreens, as these children stay on the roads till late night. If you ask these children why they are working on the streets and why not going to school, most of them will answer in the same way. “My father is sick and he can not earn, that is why I am here.” Or they will say “my father is an addict and there is no one at home who can earn for us, and I am the eldest one so I am doing this.” However, according to some NGOs most of these children start such work after running from their homes and having no contact what so ever with their families. There is also a growing concern that these children will be a victim of human trafficking or will be used for illicit purposes. Especially, the girls could be trafficked in sexual business. There is dire need of taking steps in order to give government protection to such children. The government should take some real measures in order to save the future of these innocent children.
PESHAWAR: The number of children cleaning windscreens, selling flowers and other stuff on traffic signals is increasing in provincial capital. Interestingly, these children not only include boys but also girls both aged between 10 to 14. As soon as you stop at a traffic signal one of these children will come in front of your car and start cleaning the windscreen without even asking for your permission. Increase in number of such children clearly depicts the failure of our governments to provide best possible facilities to the people. According to a report published sometime back in 2005, an estimated 1.2 million children were on the streets of Pakistan’s major cities and urban centres, constituting the country’s largest and most ostracised social group. These included ‘Runaway’ children who live or work on the street, as well as the minority that return to their families at the end of the day with their meagre earnings. People give them a meager amount of Rs 2 to Rs 5 for cleaning the windscreens, as these children stay on the roads till late night. If you ask these children why they are working on the streets and why not going to school, most of them will answer in the same way. “My father is sick and he can not earn, that is why I am here.” Or they will say “my father is an addict and there is no one at home who can earn for us, and I am the eldest one so I am doing this.” However, according to some NGOs most of these children start such work after running from their homes and having no contact what so ever with their families. There is also a growing concern that these children will be a victim of human trafficking or will be used for illicit purposes. Especially, the girls could be trafficked in sexual business. There is dire need of taking steps in order to give government protection to such children. The government should take some real measures in order to save the future of these innocent children.
Zardari......... The sudden hero .
The historic passage of the 18th Amendment Bill in the current National Assembly is rightly being paired with the country’s first ‘Constitutional revolution’ i.e. the making and passage of the 1973 Constitution during the government of the country’s first elected Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The 1973 Constitution was an outcome of a widespread consensus struck between the ruling PPP government and parliamentary parties, both on the left and the right.
But the recent (18th) Amendment, whose contents are said to be an attempt to restore the 1973 Constitution in its ‘original shape and spirit,’ is truly something special; perhaps even more so than the moment when the National Assembly passed the 1973 Constitution (the first of its kind in Pakistan).
However, it was Z. A. Bhutto who himself became the first violator of the said constitution. This act of his set a disastrous precedent for the many heads of state and governments who followed him after 1977.
By the time his executioner, General Ziaul Haq, began finding a firm footing as the country’s third military dictator, he is on record in describing the 1973 Constitution as nothing but a piece of paper. To pad his outburst against this, the wily General went on to ape the hyperbolic disposition of right-wing parties such as the Jamat-i-Islami (JI) and Egypt’s fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, by saying that ‘our constitution is the Qu’ran.’
Of course, the harsh (and so-called) ‘Islamic laws’ that the General enacted during his eleven terrible years as head of state, are not exactly based on the holy book; but rather on a vicious mixture of man-made fallacies such as what is called ‘Political Islam,’ and a perception of society, politics and gender that is rooted in ancient patriarchal cultures of Arab tribes.
Ziaul Haq went on to sabotage the constitution with a number of amendments, the biggest being the amendment that gave the president the power to dismiss a popularly elected government and parliament – mainly on the basis of his own individual whims.
This power has been used by (three) Presidents four times ever since 1985. It was finally revoked by the second Nawaz Sharif government in 1997 (through the 16th Amendment), but there was little celebration attached to the event.
That is because also in the pipeline were amendments being suggested by the Sharif government, which smacked of the kind of political and theological hypocrisies the Zia dictatorship was known for.
In the name of Shariah and Islam, Nawaz had actually wanted to (constitutionally) give the prime minister dictatorial powers. Whereas Zia had given the parliament an Islamic tone by calling it the ‘Majlis-e-Shoorah,’ Nawaz wanted the prime minister (mainly himself), to be known as ‘Ameerul Momineen’ (commander of the faithful).
It was such ‘Zia-ist’ acrobatics of the second Sharif regime, that (supposedly) made his tormentor, General Parvez Musharraf, reawaken the idea of returning the power of dismissing an elected government to the President (through the 17th Amendment). This act was vehemently opposed by the PPP and Nawaz’s PML-N, but Musharraf had enough support in the (post-2002-elections) parliament and senate to get the amendment passed.
When, after the 2008 elections, the majority party (the PPP) was able to form a coalition government at the centre and in the provinces (except in the Punjab), a lot was expected from the new elected regime.
The popular electronic media (much of which squarely reflects and represents the political disposition of the country’s [usually conservative] urban middle-classes), was in the forefront in airing the widespread discontent that the Musharraf dictatorship had started to trigger against itself after 2006.
But the same media suddenly changed gears when PPP Co- Chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, was elected as the country’s new president.
Disaster became the middle word in any discussion and analysis related to the matter. The new president was denounced by ‘analysts’ and the opposition as being ‘power hungry,’ ‘corrupt,’ and out to destroy Pakistan.
No doubt Mr. Zaradri is a controversial figure, but then which prominent politician or for that matter, General isn’t?
His misfortune in this respect was the way he was targeted by the media when he first arrived in the parliament as a minister in his wife, Benazir Bhutto’s first government (1988-90).
An entire generation of military men and politicians had greedily reaped great rewards during the Zia dictatorship (1977-88); a time when the US and Saudi Arabia were lavishly dishing out millions of dollars as direct and indirect aid to keep Zia’s military regime fattened and happy to continue fighting America’s proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
That impacted the overall psyche of the society as well. Exhibitionistic Islamic ritualism and lingo conveniently co-existed (and at times came together) with an overpowering need for greed and a get-rich-quick attitude that contributed in turning Pakistan into one of the most (ideologically and spiritually) confused nations.
This is the Pakistan that Benazir’s first government inherited. Being an astute pragmatist, she understood well the kind of cynicism and materialism that had begun to dot Pakistani politics.
Millions of rupees were being showered by the PML-N and certain remnants of the Zia era (in the intelligence agencies) against her (albeit not very affective) government.
For example, in 1989, industrial tycoons (in league with media bosses and PML-N seths), who still hadn’t forgiven her father for his (disastrous) ‘socialist economic policies’ in the 1970s, began running a paid campaign against the ‘corruption’ of her government and especially that of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari.
For weeks, the country’s mainstream newspapers were dotted with glossy quarter-page ads against the ‘misdeeds’ of the first couple. Then, on the behest of certain intelligence agencies, the opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.
Tons of money exchanged hands in the process, as the opposition tried to buy out the ruling members of the parliament and the government retaliated by putting in money and resources to keep them on its side.
Money spoke. In fact it screamed. It became the only valid option for politicians to take part (and survive) in politics. For this each and every prominent politician is guilty. Just like the military men, the bureaucrats and the civilian faces of Zia’s dictatorship who first introduced this trend in the game.
What’s more, also involved is the society at large. For example, when a common man is stopped by a cop for a traffic violation, bribery is not only on the cop’s mind. It is playing on the common citizen’s mind as well; because if the cop does not ask for a bribe and instead begins to book the violator, the violator is most likely to wriggle out of the situation by offering the cop a bribe. However, this man is then also likely to go home and curse corrupt politicians for all the ills plaguing Pakistan.
Such hypocrisy is common in this country. And perhaps to repress it, many of us look for punching bags to vent out our awkward (and guilty?) state of mind.
Thus, though it wont be an overstatement to suggest that almost every prominent politician, military man, industrialist and media boss (ever since the 1980s) has (in one way or the other) been involved in what we generally perceive to be as corruption, it is Asif Ali Zardari who has been bestowed the honour of becoming the punching bag of a highly contradictory society.
It was the media that enacted this bag, and it is the media (especially electronic) that has taken up the glorious task of turning Zardari into a punching bag once again.
If Zardari isn’t a saint, then neither are any of those calling him the devil.
Many of them would turn around and suggest that they are equally against the Sharif brothers. But the truth is, if one really has to make a just and fair sweep of everything and everyone whom we think is or was corrupt, we are bound to also take into account, not only politicians, military men, bureaucrats, cops and judges, but many of our own too, who we see exhibiting so much concern about corruption in drawing rooms and TV studios.
And what to say about Zardari’s most vocal opponents in certain clearly (if not proudly) biased TV channels?
If a thick book can be written on the corruption of our politicians, then one can easily scribble a dark comic book highlighting the shadowy and questionable ways of some of the media bosses and their anchormen whom we see every day contemplating the date of Zardari’s fall.
At times such talk shows start seeming like televised sessions of a whiners’ club, foaming and dining on the latest slice of conspiratorial pizza coming out from the rumour oven in Islamabad.
I won’t be surprised if one of these gentlemen begins to ramble about the presence of flying saucers over the President’s house, operated by evil aliens disguised as Swiss bankers!
But what now?
Against all odds (and rumours), Zardari has actually gotten his name highlighted in the bright sides of the country’s political history, thanks to his role in the passage of the 18th Amendment (that also includes the once impossible task of renaming the NWFP), and in the smooth running of an unprecedented coalition government (of former adversaries).
Something no government ever since Z. A. Bhutto's demise could do (or even imagine to do), has been done by a regime whose main architect is a man most detested by the media.
Fate seems to have rewarded a mixture of luck, rugged pragmatism and patience and rightly decided to bypass television, to give the ‘devil’ his due.
The 1973 Constitution was an outcome of a widespread consensus struck between the ruling PPP government and parliamentary parties, both on the left and the right.
But the recent (18th) Amendment, whose contents are said to be an attempt to restore the 1973 Constitution in its ‘original shape and spirit,’ is truly something special; perhaps even more so than the moment when the National Assembly passed the 1973 Constitution (the first of its kind in Pakistan).
However, it was Z. A. Bhutto who himself became the first violator of the said constitution. This act of his set a disastrous precedent for the many heads of state and governments who followed him after 1977.
By the time his executioner, General Ziaul Haq, began finding a firm footing as the country’s third military dictator, he is on record in describing the 1973 Constitution as nothing but a piece of paper. To pad his outburst against this, the wily General went on to ape the hyperbolic disposition of right-wing parties such as the Jamat-i-Islami (JI) and Egypt’s fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, by saying that ‘our constitution is the Qu’ran.’
Of course, the harsh (and so-called) ‘Islamic laws’ that the General enacted during his eleven terrible years as head of state, are not exactly based on the holy book; but rather on a vicious mixture of man-made fallacies such as what is called ‘Political Islam,’ and a perception of society, politics and gender that is rooted in ancient patriarchal cultures of Arab tribes.
Ziaul Haq went on to sabotage the constitution with a number of amendments, the biggest being the amendment that gave the president the power to dismiss a popularly elected government and parliament – mainly on the basis of his own individual whims.
This power has been used by (three) Presidents four times ever since 1985. It was finally revoked by the second Nawaz Sharif government in 1997 (through the 16th Amendment), but there was little celebration attached to the event.
That is because also in the pipeline were amendments being suggested by the Sharif government, which smacked of the kind of political and theological hypocrisies the Zia dictatorship was known for.
In the name of Shariah and Islam, Nawaz had actually wanted to (constitutionally) give the prime minister dictatorial powers. Whereas Zia had given the parliament an Islamic tone by calling it the ‘Majlis-e-Shoorah,’ Nawaz wanted the prime minister (mainly himself), to be known as ‘Ameerul Momineen’ (commander of the faithful).
It was such ‘Zia-ist’ acrobatics of the second Sharif regime, that (supposedly) made his tormentor, General Parvez Musharraf, reawaken the idea of returning the power of dismissing an elected government to the President (through the 17th Amendment). This act was vehemently opposed by the PPP and Nawaz’s PML-N, but Musharraf had enough support in the (post-2002-elections) parliament and senate to get the amendment passed.
When, after the 2008 elections, the majority party (the PPP) was able to form a coalition government at the centre and in the provinces (except in the Punjab), a lot was expected from the new elected regime.
The popular electronic media (much of which squarely reflects and represents the political disposition of the country’s [usually conservative] urban middle-classes), was in the forefront in airing the widespread discontent that the Musharraf dictatorship had started to trigger against itself after 2006.
But the same media suddenly changed gears when PPP Co- Chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, was elected as the country’s new president.
Disaster became the middle word in any discussion and analysis related to the matter. The new president was denounced by ‘analysts’ and the opposition as being ‘power hungry,’ ‘corrupt,’ and out to destroy Pakistan.
No doubt Mr. Zaradri is a controversial figure, but then which prominent politician or for that matter, General isn’t?
His misfortune in this respect was the way he was targeted by the media when he first arrived in the parliament as a minister in his wife, Benazir Bhutto’s first government (1988-90).
An entire generation of military men and politicians had greedily reaped great rewards during the Zia dictatorship (1977-88); a time when the US and Saudi Arabia were lavishly dishing out millions of dollars as direct and indirect aid to keep Zia’s military regime fattened and happy to continue fighting America’s proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
That impacted the overall psyche of the society as well. Exhibitionistic Islamic ritualism and lingo conveniently co-existed (and at times came together) with an overpowering need for greed and a get-rich-quick attitude that contributed in turning Pakistan into one of the most (ideologically and spiritually) confused nations.
This is the Pakistan that Benazir’s first government inherited. Being an astute pragmatist, she understood well the kind of cynicism and materialism that had begun to dot Pakistani politics.
Millions of rupees were being showered by the PML-N and certain remnants of the Zia era (in the intelligence agencies) against her (albeit not very affective) government.
For example, in 1989, industrial tycoons (in league with media bosses and PML-N seths), who still hadn’t forgiven her father for his (disastrous) ‘socialist economic policies’ in the 1970s, began running a paid campaign against the ‘corruption’ of her government and especially that of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari.
For weeks, the country’s mainstream newspapers were dotted with glossy quarter-page ads against the ‘misdeeds’ of the first couple. Then, on the behest of certain intelligence agencies, the opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.
Tons of money exchanged hands in the process, as the opposition tried to buy out the ruling members of the parliament and the government retaliated by putting in money and resources to keep them on its side.
Money spoke. In fact it screamed. It became the only valid option for politicians to take part (and survive) in politics. For this each and every prominent politician is guilty. Just like the military men, the bureaucrats and the civilian faces of Zia’s dictatorship who first introduced this trend in the game.
What’s more, also involved is the society at large. For example, when a common man is stopped by a cop for a traffic violation, bribery is not only on the cop’s mind. It is playing on the common citizen’s mind as well; because if the cop does not ask for a bribe and instead begins to book the violator, the violator is most likely to wriggle out of the situation by offering the cop a bribe. However, this man is then also likely to go home and curse corrupt politicians for all the ills plaguing Pakistan.
Such hypocrisy is common in this country. And perhaps to repress it, many of us look for punching bags to vent out our awkward (and guilty?) state of mind.
Thus, though it wont be an overstatement to suggest that almost every prominent politician, military man, industrialist and media boss (ever since the 1980s) has (in one way or the other) been involved in what we generally perceive to be as corruption, it is Asif Ali Zardari who has been bestowed the honour of becoming the punching bag of a highly contradictory society.
It was the media that enacted this bag, and it is the media (especially electronic) that has taken up the glorious task of turning Zardari into a punching bag once again.
If Zardari isn’t a saint, then neither are any of those calling him the devil.
Many of them would turn around and suggest that they are equally against the Sharif brothers. But the truth is, if one really has to make a just and fair sweep of everything and everyone whom we think is or was corrupt, we are bound to also take into account, not only politicians, military men, bureaucrats, cops and judges, but many of our own too, who we see exhibiting so much concern about corruption in drawing rooms and TV studios.
And what to say about Zardari’s most vocal opponents in certain clearly (if not proudly) biased TV channels?
If a thick book can be written on the corruption of our politicians, then one can easily scribble a dark comic book highlighting the shadowy and questionable ways of some of the media bosses and their anchormen whom we see every day contemplating the date of Zardari’s fall.
At times such talk shows start seeming like televised sessions of a whiners’ club, foaming and dining on the latest slice of conspiratorial pizza coming out from the rumour oven in Islamabad.
I won’t be surprised if one of these gentlemen begins to ramble about the presence of flying saucers over the President’s house, operated by evil aliens disguised as Swiss bankers!
But what now?
Against all odds (and rumours), Zardari has actually gotten his name highlighted in the bright sides of the country’s political history, thanks to his role in the passage of the 18th Amendment (that also includes the once impossible task of renaming the NWFP), and in the smooth running of an unprecedented coalition government (of former adversaries).
Something no government ever since Z. A. Bhutto's demise could do (or even imagine to do), has been done by a regime whose main architect is a man most detested by the media.
Fate seems to have rewarded a mixture of luck, rugged pragmatism and patience and rightly decided to bypass television, to give the ‘devil’ his due.
Tribal areas Of Pukhtunkhwa
Understanding tribal areas
Dawn.com
The British colonial rulers had governed the now Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) over half century. They are architects of the ‘controversial’ Durand Line, which divides Pakhtuns living on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and are well acquainted with the characteristics of the tribal people.
The administrative and judicial system that prevails today in the seven agencies and six Frontier Regions is the legacy of the British Raj. Our establishment has inherited the policy of “divide and rule” from the colonial rulers.
Still, the British government seems eager to learn more about tribal area and its people in the wake of war on terror. They are financing projects to conduct unique studies and surveys through non governmental organisations. Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme, an NGO, has been engaged for the last two years to conduct research studies in the region in the name of “Understanding Fata.” The survey contains a set of questionnaires being applied to simple and uneducated tribal men, women, children and youngsters.
These questionnaires cover the war on terror, world politics, UK role for safeguarding global environment, Pakistan nuclear weapons and security, UK-Pakistan relations, UK role in the UN, queries related to the USA, China, Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Taliban.
For example, respondents are asked: “Do you have favourable, some what favourable, some what unfavourable or very favourable opinion of the government of India, China, Iran, UK and the USA?” Another question is: “Do you think possessing nuclear weapons enhances Pakistan’s security?” The same questions are repeated again and again.
Honestly, if these questions are put to the candidates appearing in competitive exams they will scratch their heads many times before giving satisfactory answers.
One wonders whether the British government testes the IQ of the tribal people or want to select them for British foreign office by putting such questions to them. It might be better to ask people who introduced Frontier Crimes Regulation that still keep the tribal area in isolation and deprived its over five million inhabitants from fundamental rights. Or there should be a question about bringing “Blue Pipe” surface to air missiles and landmines to the tribal borderlands.
Interestingly, 41 per cent of the respondents, who had not been to school, were asked the same questions. Including 40 per cent women in the survey, to seek their opinion about global politics and terrorism, also seems funny.
Now the people seem to be fed up with these stereotype surveys and questionnaires. This is evident from the fact that in 2008 when the first survey was conducted percentage of the respondents was 92.4 and in 2009 it declined to 62.15 per cent.
Poverty and militancy stricken tribal people sitting in Waziristan, Bajaur and Kurram are no more interested in surveys, seminars, workshops or well written speeches.
Their main problems are poverty, ignorance, shelter, good governance, fundamental rights, education and health. Their immediate requirement is peace. There is need of good teachers, doctors and planners in the area.
Literacy rate in Fata is hardly about 17 per cent as only 3 per cent women population is literate. Literacy rate may have declined due to militancy, bombing of schools and large scale displacement, because around 80 schools have been blown up only in Bajaur during the last two years. Children and elders are dying because of lack of healthcare facilities.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted in Fata with the assistance of UNICEF in 2007, reveals that under-5 mortality rate in the tribal area is 104 per 1,000 live births while infant mortality rate is 86 per 1,000. In many areas only 7.2 per cent population has access to clean drinking water.
Few years back health centres in tribal area were properly equipped. Teachers were available in schools. Doctors also attended hospitals. Now health centres and schools are either occupied by security forces and militants or have been closed due to non availability of doctors and teachers. Successive governments had been making false commitments since 1947 to bring social and economic prosperity in Fata. The tribal people have been victims of proxy wars for centuries. They don’t see light at the end of tunnel so far.
The British government should no more waste its tax payers’ money. They should learn from their forefathers, who had established well equipped health centres, schools and communication network in early 20th century. Conducting surveys and studies can only enhance bank balance of NGOs like CAMP that was started from a single room in Peshawar and now has offices in posh localities of federal and provincial capitals.
It, however, cannot address real issues or bring any change in the lifestyle of the tribal people. International community should focus its attention on schools, hospitals, abject poverty and creation of employment opportunities to bring prosperity in Fata and improve the living standard of its people.
Dawn.com
The British colonial rulers had governed the now Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) over half century. They are architects of the ‘controversial’ Durand Line, which divides Pakhtuns living on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and are well acquainted with the characteristics of the tribal people.
The administrative and judicial system that prevails today in the seven agencies and six Frontier Regions is the legacy of the British Raj. Our establishment has inherited the policy of “divide and rule” from the colonial rulers.
Still, the British government seems eager to learn more about tribal area and its people in the wake of war on terror. They are financing projects to conduct unique studies and surveys through non governmental organisations. Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme, an NGO, has been engaged for the last two years to conduct research studies in the region in the name of “Understanding Fata.” The survey contains a set of questionnaires being applied to simple and uneducated tribal men, women, children and youngsters.
These questionnaires cover the war on terror, world politics, UK role for safeguarding global environment, Pakistan nuclear weapons and security, UK-Pakistan relations, UK role in the UN, queries related to the USA, China, Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Taliban.
For example, respondents are asked: “Do you have favourable, some what favourable, some what unfavourable or very favourable opinion of the government of India, China, Iran, UK and the USA?” Another question is: “Do you think possessing nuclear weapons enhances Pakistan’s security?” The same questions are repeated again and again.
Honestly, if these questions are put to the candidates appearing in competitive exams they will scratch their heads many times before giving satisfactory answers.
One wonders whether the British government testes the IQ of the tribal people or want to select them for British foreign office by putting such questions to them. It might be better to ask people who introduced Frontier Crimes Regulation that still keep the tribal area in isolation and deprived its over five million inhabitants from fundamental rights. Or there should be a question about bringing “Blue Pipe” surface to air missiles and landmines to the tribal borderlands.
Interestingly, 41 per cent of the respondents, who had not been to school, were asked the same questions. Including 40 per cent women in the survey, to seek their opinion about global politics and terrorism, also seems funny.
Now the people seem to be fed up with these stereotype surveys and questionnaires. This is evident from the fact that in 2008 when the first survey was conducted percentage of the respondents was 92.4 and in 2009 it declined to 62.15 per cent.
Poverty and militancy stricken tribal people sitting in Waziristan, Bajaur and Kurram are no more interested in surveys, seminars, workshops or well written speeches.
Their main problems are poverty, ignorance, shelter, good governance, fundamental rights, education and health. Their immediate requirement is peace. There is need of good teachers, doctors and planners in the area.
Literacy rate in Fata is hardly about 17 per cent as only 3 per cent women population is literate. Literacy rate may have declined due to militancy, bombing of schools and large scale displacement, because around 80 schools have been blown up only in Bajaur during the last two years. Children and elders are dying because of lack of healthcare facilities.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted in Fata with the assistance of UNICEF in 2007, reveals that under-5 mortality rate in the tribal area is 104 per 1,000 live births while infant mortality rate is 86 per 1,000. In many areas only 7.2 per cent population has access to clean drinking water.
Few years back health centres in tribal area were properly equipped. Teachers were available in schools. Doctors also attended hospitals. Now health centres and schools are either occupied by security forces and militants or have been closed due to non availability of doctors and teachers. Successive governments had been making false commitments since 1947 to bring social and economic prosperity in Fata. The tribal people have been victims of proxy wars for centuries. They don’t see light at the end of tunnel so far.
The British government should no more waste its tax payers’ money. They should learn from their forefathers, who had established well equipped health centres, schools and communication network in early 20th century. Conducting surveys and studies can only enhance bank balance of NGOs like CAMP that was started from a single room in Peshawar and now has offices in posh localities of federal and provincial capitals.
It, however, cannot address real issues or bring any change in the lifestyle of the tribal people. International community should focus its attention on schools, hospitals, abject poverty and creation of employment opportunities to bring prosperity in Fata and improve the living standard of its people.
Bangladesh Court Says Women Can't Be Forced to Cover Up
A Bangladesh court has ruled that Muslim women working at schools and colleges cannot be forced to wear a veil."If any person tries to compel a woman to wear a veil against her consent ... that would amount to a violation of her fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution," the High Court said following Thursday's ruling."The verdict came in response to a petition seeking a directive following a report that an education officer in northern district had insulted a female teacher for not being veiled, court officials told reporters.While most people dress conservatively in overwhelmingly Muslim Bangladesh, a veil or all-encompassing burqa is a rare sight, although orthodox preachers and radical patriarchs often try to enforce it in some remote areas.Wearing a veil -- or even a headscarf -- has become a political issue in Muslim-majority countries such as Turkey and Indonesia, and even in European nations such as France
Pakistani troops killed at least 15 militants in Orakzai
PESHAWAR : Pakistani troops killed at least 15 militants in a gunfight after an attack on a checkpoint in Orakzai Agency, a bordering Afghanistan, officials said on Friday.The clash took place in Bezot Khel village in Orakzai tribal district overnight, where troops are hunting Taliban insurgents."Troops killed 15 militants in a gunfight which started after an attack on a checkpoint," local military spokesman Major Fazlur Rehman told AFP.Rehman said the troops captured four militants wounded during the fighting and that three soldiers were also injured.Local administration official Sajjad Ahmad confirmed the incident and casualties.The military has announced a running death toll of more than 100 militants in the Orakzai operation since late last month, but the figures cannot be verified independently because access to the remote area is extremely limited.
Pakistan's NA unanimously passes 18th Amend Bill
SLAMABAD: The passage of the 18th Amendment Bill in the National Assembly has established the sovereignty of parliament, as “the impossible has been made possible by the House”, said Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday. Addressing the House from the floor of the National Assembly amid applause over the unanimous passage of the bill, Gilani said the system of parliamentary democracy was being restored to strengthen democracy in the country. “The impossible has been made possible by the House ... today we removed the anomalies. We are giving you a parliamentary form of government.” He said the unanimous passage of the bill had proven parliament was sovereign rather than rubberstamp. He congratulated the president, the chairman of the reforms committee and the nation for the passage of the bill. Gilani said a balance of power had been struck between the office of president and parliament. He also hoped for the policy of consensus to continue.
Israeli PM Netanyahu pulls out of US nuclear summit
BBC.COM
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a visit to the US where he was to attend a summit on nuclear security, Israeli officials say.
Mr Netanyahu made the decision after learning that Egypt and Turkey intended to raise the issue of Israel's presumed nuclear arsenal, the officials said.
Mr Obama is due to host dozens of world leaders at the two-day conference, which begins in Washington on Monday.
Israel has never confirmed or denied that it possesses atomic weapons.
Israel's Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor will take Netanyahu's place in the nuclear summit, Israeli radio said.
More than 40 countries are expected at the meeting, which will focus on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to militant groups.
Iran's issue
According to Israeli officials, Turkey and Egypt are planning to call on Israel to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"These states intend to exploit the occasion in order to slam Israel," said a senior Israeli source.
"The prime minister expressed his displeasure over these intentions, and he will therefore not be travelling to the summit."
Mr Netanyahu has said his main priority is dealing with Iran's supposed intention to develop both warheads and long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel.
Along with India, Pakistan and North Korea, Israel is one of just four states that have not signed up to the NPT, which has 189 signatories.
Earlier this week, President Obama unveiled the new Nuclear Posture Review - which narrows the circumstances in which the US would use nuclear weapons - outlining his country's long-term strategy of nuclear disarmament.
On Thursday, the US president and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a landmark nuclear arms treaty in the Czech capital, Prague.
That treaty commits the former Cold War enemies to reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 each - 30% lower than the previous ceiling.
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says the cancellation of Mr Netanyahu's Washington visit comes at a time of frosty relations between the two states.
The Israeli premier failed to see eye-to-eye with Mr Obama during his most recent US visit last month on the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, our correspondent adds.
Washington criticised the building of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, which prompted the Palestinians to pull out of US-brokered indirect peace talks.
There were also reports that one of Mr Netanyahu's confidants called Mr Obama a "disaster" for Israel
5 suicide bombers arrested in Kabul
Surgar Daily
KABUL – Afghan police arrested five would-be suicide bombers in Kabul on Thursday, the largest suicide team ever apprehended in the capital, officials said."If this team had made it through it would have been a disaster as we've seen in past instances," said Abdul Ghafar, deputy commander of the Afghan National Police crisis unit.He said police, acting on intelligence, stopped the suicide bombers as they were traveling in an SUV in the southeastern part of the city. He said the bomb team had been sent by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network.
"Today's operation marks a big success," Ghafar said. "Our capacities are improving day by day and also our ability to uncover such plots is improving day by day."
Such attacks are a hallmark of the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban faction whose leader was once a U.S. ally. The group is considered a serious threat to American and NATO troops in Afghanistan's east and operates on both sides of the border with Pakistan.Ghafar said the nationalities and exact identities of the five men had yet to be determined. He said their targets were crowded parts of downtown Kabul where they could cause the most carnage, but gave no specifics.The five were displayed before journalists at a heavily guarded police base on the city's outskirts, along with their vehicle and bags containing explosive material and suicide harnesses.All appeared to be young men and wore traditional Afghan tunics and trousers. They stood with their backs to the journalists, their eyes covered by blindfolds and hoods and their wrists in handcuffs, before being led off by police for further questioning.Ghafar said police are getting better at foiling such plots through a combination of improved intelligence and better training.
"I would call this a major blow to the terrorists," he said.
Despite Thursday's success, a number of suicide bombers have made it into the capital in recent months, including a team that targeted government buildings in Jan. 18, leaving 12 dead, and a car bomber who struck near a hotel frequented by Westerners on Dec. 15, killing eight people.
In the worst such attack, a suicide car bomb detonated at the gates of the Indian Embassy on July 7, 2008, killing more than 60 people.
5 suicide bombers arrested in Kabul
Surgar Daily
KABUL – Afghan police arrested five would-be suicide bombers in Kabul on Thursday, the largest suicide team ever apprehended in the capital, officials said."If this team had made it through it would have been a disaster as we've seen in past instances," said Abdul Ghafar, deputy commander of the Afghan National Police crisis unit.He said police, acting on intelligence, stopped the suicide bombers as they were traveling in an SUV in the southeastern part of the city. He said the bomb team had been sent by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network.
"Today's operation marks a big success," Ghafar said. "Our capacities are improving day by day and also our ability to uncover such plots is improving day by day."
Such attacks are a hallmark of the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban faction whose leader was once a U.S. ally. The group is considered a serious threat to American and NATO troops in Afghanistan's east and operates on both sides of the border with Pakistan.Ghafar said the nationalities and exact identities of the five men had yet to be determined. He said their targets were crowded parts of downtown Kabul where they could cause the most carnage, but gave no specifics.The five were displayed before journalists at a heavily guarded police base on the city's outskirts, along with their vehicle and bags containing explosive material and suicide harnesses.All appeared to be young men and wore traditional Afghan tunics and trousers. They stood with their backs to the journalists, their eyes covered by blindfolds and hoods and their wrists in handcuffs, before being led off by police for further questioning.Ghafar said police are getting better at foiling such plots through a combination of improved intelligence and better training.
"I would call this a major blow to the terrorists," he said.
Despite Thursday's success, a number of suicide bombers have made it into the capital in recent months, including a team that targeted government buildings in Jan. 18, leaving 12 dead, and a car bomber who struck near a hotel frequented by Westerners on Dec. 15, killing eight people.
In the worst such attack, a suicide car bomb detonated at the gates of the Indian Embassy on July 7, 2008, killing more than 60 people.
KABUL – Afghan police arrested five would-be suicide bombers in Kabul on Thursday, the largest suicide team ever apprehended in the capital, officials said."If this team had made it through it would have been a disaster as we've seen in past instances," said Abdul Ghafar, deputy commander of the Afghan National Police crisis unit.He said police, acting on intelligence, stopped the suicide bombers as they were traveling in an SUV in the southeastern part of the city. He said the bomb team had been sent by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network.
"Today's operation marks a big success," Ghafar said. "Our capacities are improving day by day and also our ability to uncover such plots is improving day by day."
Such attacks are a hallmark of the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban faction whose leader was once a U.S. ally. The group is considered a serious threat to American and NATO troops in Afghanistan's east and operates on both sides of the border with Pakistan.Ghafar said the nationalities and exact identities of the five men had yet to be determined. He said their targets were crowded parts of downtown Kabul where they could cause the most carnage, but gave no specifics.The five were displayed before journalists at a heavily guarded police base on the city's outskirts, along with their vehicle and bags containing explosive material and suicide harnesses.All appeared to be young men and wore traditional Afghan tunics and trousers. They stood with their backs to the journalists, their eyes covered by blindfolds and hoods and their wrists in handcuffs, before being led off by police for further questioning.Ghafar said police are getting better at foiling such plots through a combination of improved intelligence and better training.
"I would call this a major blow to the terrorists," he said.
Despite Thursday's success, a number of suicide bombers have made it into the capital in recent months, including a team that targeted government buildings in Jan. 18, leaving 12 dead, and a car bomber who struck near a hotel frequented by Westerners on Dec. 15, killing eight people.
In the worst such attack, a suicide car bomb detonated at the gates of the Indian Embassy on July 7, 2008, killing more than 60 people.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Kyrgyzstan New leader pragmatic politician, diplomat
The woman now leading the interim government in Kyrgyzstan after bloody unrest has a reputation as a pragmatic, skilled diplomat. The question is whether opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva can hold onto power and put her volatile country, once considered the most progressive in Central Asia, on a path to stability and prosperity.Otunbayeva, 59, has impressive credentials. She successfully has navigated political environments as varied as the labyrinth of the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s, as foreign minister of newly independent Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s and as an opposition political leader in her turbulent native country in the current decade.Otunbayeva claimed power Thursday, declaring the Kyrgyz parliament was dissolved and that she would head the government until elections were held. She urged the current president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, to resign.
"She is someone who is viewed as a hope. She inspired the confidence of people more than others," said Didier Chauvet, a specialist in Central Asia and lecturer at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris. "Her return is a hope"She also has modern political savvy, communicating with her followers by Twitter in both Kyrgyz and Russian.Otunbayeva, however, faces huge challenges, including holding the opposition coalition together, preventing Bakiyev from returning to power, a dire economic crisis as well as treading between both the United States and Russia, both of which have military bases in her country."She is a smart person and she understands the situation," said Leonid Bondarets, who has been affiliated with the Sweden-based Central Asia and the Caucasus think tank, "But the opposition primarily criticized the government and concretely did not propose anything themselves."Otunbayeva, a native of the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, has deep roots both in local and national politics.She studied at the philosophy department at the prestigious Moscow State University during the standstill years of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1970s, before embarking on a career as a Communist Party official in her native Kyrgyzstan.Wider horizons beckoned, and Otunbayeva took up diplomacy, serving as the Kremlin's chief delegate to UNESCO in Paris and then ambassador to Malaysia.The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union opened new opportunities when Kyrgyzstan, like all of the 15 Soviet republics, became independent. Otunbayeva quickly rose to influential positions, serving as her country's foreign minister and later as Kyrgz ambassador to the United States and Britain.Politics, however, called again. She returned home only to plunge into the political turmoil there. She became one of the leaders of the 2005 Tulip Revolution that swept then-President Askar Akayev, a former physicist and once the most promising leader in Central Asia, from power and brought Bakiyev in.Well-known in Kyrgzystan and abroad, Otunbayeva has earned a reputation as a solid diplomat who stayed free of the corruption that has tainted too many Kyrgyz politicians."Otunbayeva is a respected politician for the whole nation, her hands are clean and reputation immaculate," said Daniil Kislov, political analyst and chief editor of the Ferghana.ru online daily that was banned in Kyrgyzstan under Bakiyev. "She has enough talent and wisdom to be a president.""The primary task is to get a system of power that will function up and running," said Bondarets.
That will be a tough road.
As in 2005, order has collapsed in Kyrgyzstan both in the capital and the volatile south amid a severe economic crisis in which prices of gas, electricity and heating have soared in recent months."People are mad. People are angry," said Evan Feigenbaum, senior fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia."The question is: Do we get a government that can restore and maintain order but also set the country on a path to democratic governance?" he asked.In addition to restoring stability and providing hope for an improved economy, Otunbayeva will need to use all of her diplomatic skills to navigate between Washington, which wants to make sure it can keep its U.S. base in Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, which wants the United States out of Central Asia."The victory of the opposition shows that Russia has decided to have a dominant influence in Central Asia," Chauvet said. "She is closer to Moscow," he added. Russia has not gone as far as recognizing Otunbayeva, but Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been critical of Bakiyev and he spoke with Otunbayeva on the phone Thursday.Bakiyev's abysmal record could give Otunbayeva some time to cement her forces.Kislov of Ferghana.ru said that the formerly fractured Kyrgyz opposition joined their forces in recent months as they tried to counter Bakiyev's policies, and this unity might save the coalition from disbanding in the nearest future. That view, however, is not universal."I would expect a lot of pushing and pulling in the opposition. I don't think this thing is over," said Feigenbaum. "I think we're at the beginning of this story.
Pakistan 18th Amendment approved by majority vote
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's national assembly on Thursday unanimously approved reforms stripping President Asif Ali Zardari of key powers in a move to bolster parliamentary democracy weakened by military rule.The historic 18th amendment, which rolls back four decades of infringements by military rulers on Pakistan's 1973 constitution, is expected to sail through the upper house of parliament as early as next week and then pass into law.The package reverses sweeping powers amassed by former military dictators Pervez Musharraf and Zia ul Haq and could ease political instability in the country.All 292 lawmakers present at Thursday's session in the 342-member national assembly voted to approve the 102-clause bill, by filing into a separate lobby attached to the debating chamber. No one voted against.A jubilant Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared that parliamentary democracy was now being restored as MPs slammed fists on desks in celebration after shouting “hang Musharraf, hang” when his 1999 coup was declared illegal.“The impossible has been made possible by the house today,” Gilani told lawmakers in a speech that paused briefly for Namaz break.“We have been saying we will go to the Westminster-style parliamentary system... Today we removed the anomalies. We are giving you a parliamentary form of government with balance of power between president and prime minister.”Chaudhry Nisar Ali, member of Pakistan Muslim League-N party and opposition leader in the national assembly hailed the “win-win situation”.“Mr Prime Minister, the house has given you vast powers. The nation has put its fate in your hands. Mr Prime Minister, please move forward to resolve the problems of the people. We will support all your steps in this regard,” he said.“We should make a solemn pledge that in the future no politician will support military dictatorship in Pakistan. The country will be run under its constitution and no interference will be acceptable.”The NA session was delayed for over an hour due to poor attendance of participating MNAs whose presence was necessary for the voting on the 18th Amendment bill.
NWFP govt to talk to people of Hazara over renaming row
PESHAWAR: Following opposition from the people of Hazara over NWFP's renaming, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti on Thursday said the government will talk to the people of district to resolve the issue.Speaking to journalists, Hoti said the people of Hazara have the liberty to protest.With regards to the recent attack targeting the US consulate Peshawar, Hoti said the terrorists wanted to create a hostage situation by taking over the building.However, the crisis was averted due to the effective security mechanism, he added.Hoti said the closure of UN offices in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa seems unnecessary as the entire country is gripped by militancy.He said the three-month calm does not mean the militants have been completely eliminated.
Pakistan's President stripped of power of assembly dissolution
The power to dissolve the assemblies has been taken back from President of the State and the governors, as National Assembly is giving section-wise approval of the Constitutional Reforms Bill, Geo News reported Thursday.The first of all, the 17th Amendment was abolished with consensus. Also, the name of the NWFP was changed to Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw. Now, the House adopted the amendment regarding the annulment of the power of the President and governors regarding the dissolution of the assemblies.
The NA session, presided over by Speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza, began proceedings with the Section-2 of the Bill, which was adopted with 258 votes of support; while, no one opposed it.The members of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) tabled two amendments on the Section-3 of the Reforms Bill relating the name of the NWFP; the House jettisoned the PML-Q’s amendments with majority.Section-3 was approved with 264 votes; however, the members of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) did not take part in the voting.Also, the Section-4 of the Bill has been adopted with consensus to amend the Article-6 of the Constitution relating the suspension of the Constitution and its subsequent validation by the court.Also, the Section-5 of the Bill has been adopted with consensus to amend the Article-10 of the Constitution.The Section-17 also has been unanimously adopted to amend the Article-58 of the Constitution; under this, the President of the State and the governors have been divested of the power to dissolve the assemblies. This power has now been delegated to the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers and the President and the governors would act on their advice in this connection.Besides, Section-19 was approved to amend Article-61 of the Constitution and Section-18 was approved regarding setting aside at least four seats for women.Section-20 was approved to amend Article-62 relating the eligibility of the Parliamentarians and Section-21, 22 were approved for the amendment in Article-63 regarding the ineligibility of the public office.
The NA session, presided over by Speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza, began proceedings with the Section-2 of the Bill, which was adopted with 258 votes of support; while, no one opposed it.The members of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) tabled two amendments on the Section-3 of the Reforms Bill relating the name of the NWFP; the House jettisoned the PML-Q’s amendments with majority.Section-3 was approved with 264 votes; however, the members of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) did not take part in the voting.Also, the Section-4 of the Bill has been adopted with consensus to amend the Article-6 of the Constitution relating the suspension of the Constitution and its subsequent validation by the court.Also, the Section-5 of the Bill has been adopted with consensus to amend the Article-10 of the Constitution.The Section-17 also has been unanimously adopted to amend the Article-58 of the Constitution; under this, the President of the State and the governors have been divested of the power to dissolve the assemblies. This power has now been delegated to the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers and the President and the governors would act on their advice in this connection.Besides, Section-19 was approved to amend Article-61 of the Constitution and Section-18 was approved regarding setting aside at least four seats for women.Section-20 was approved to amend Article-62 relating the eligibility of the Parliamentarians and Section-21, 22 were approved for the amendment in Article-63 regarding the ineligibility of the public office.
How Kyrgyzstan affects U.S. AND RUSSIA?
NEWSWEEK.COM
The day of snowballing riots and violence that culminated in President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's fleeing his capital Wednesday evening is the worst nightmare of every despot in Central Asia and beyond. A government that thought it had secured itself against opposition by increasingly brutal police methods suddenly found a people rising in anger, besieging ministries, beating up the interior minister and finally forcing the president to scuttle to a private jet.It was a grim mirror image of 2005's Tulip Revolution that brought Bakiyev to power when a broad coalition of antigovernment forces ousted former president Askar Akayev, and with similar swiftness. International commentators back then were quick to lump Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution along with the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia and the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Indeed the popular anger at old, corrupt Communist elites was similar in all cases. But in truth the Kyrgyz "color revolution" brought to power not pro-Western democrats but a group of former apparatchiks who quickly became as hated as the ousted Akayev regime.
The Bakiyev family "ran the country like a criminal syndicate," says Professor Alexander Cooley of Columbia University. Worst of all, for the people of Kyrgyzstan and the region, Bakiyev and his allies soon began cracking down on opposition activism, on international observers such as the International Crisis Group, and on the U.S. presence in his country by threatening to expel American troops from the Manas airbase, a key staging post for NATO operations in Afghanistan.
But the swift collapse of the government isn't just a nightmare for the nervous rulers of the region; it's a serious cause for concern for both Central Asia's big neighbors, Russia and China, as well as for Western countries trying to fight wars against an Afghan insurgency as well as wider wars on terrorism and drugs. What Kyrgyzstan tells us is that the rulers of the oil-rich Central Asian nations are in fact far less stable than they pretend. Until the Tulip Revolution, four of the five former Soviet republics that make up the region were still run by the Communist-era strongmen—who controlled an estimated 35 percent of the world's natural-gas supplies. Two remain in power, Kazakhstan's 70-year-old Nursultan Nazarbayev and Uzbekistan's 72-year-old Islam Karimov. Both have been criticized for human-rights abuses, and the likelihood is that they will crack down even harder in response to the events in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek.
Bakiyev's ouster may make the West think again about its support for corrupt and unpopular regimes in the region. "Over the last few years, the West and the EU have posited a tradeoff between stability and governance," Cooley says. But Wednesday's events in Bishkek show "that's a false trade-off." In other words, repression and corruption weaken, rather than strengthen, regimes—and when they collapse, people remember who supported the hated despot. By that token, Russia, surprisingly enough, comes off looking better than the U.S. Moscow has been strongly critical of the Bakiyev regime for at least a year, ever since Bakiyev took a $300 million tranche of Kremlin aid money that came with the categorical (if secret) proviso that the Kyrgyz must kick the U.S. out of the Manas airbase in return. Instead, Bakiyev took the Russian money, doubled down on the Americans for more rent, and, in the process, made a sworn enemy of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"Neither Russia nor your humble servant have any links to the events in Kyrgyzstan," Putin told reporters, and he's probably telling the truth, since the limits of Russia's soft power in Kyrgyzstan were shown up by Moscow's failure to squeeze the Americans out of Manas. Still, Putin was unable to resist the temptation to twist the knife in the fallen president. "When Bakiyev came to power a few years ago he severely criticized his predecessor for nepotism—and now I have the impression that Bakiyev stepped on the same rake."
But though Russia has been the most prominent international critic of the Bakiyevs, Moscow's opportunities for leveraging that into soft and hard power are limited. U.S. rent on the Manas base, which was hiked last July from $17.1 million a year to $60 million, plus an additional $117 million for economic development, upgrading the airport, and fighting drug trafficking in the country, makes up a significant chunk of the nation's income. And it's unlikely that the incoming opposition leaders, who include former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva and veteran activist Temir Sariyev, will take an anti-U.S. stance. Indeed the U.S. Embassy criticized the imprisonment of Sariyev and his supporters over the last year, and the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Kyrgyz service remains the most trusted source of news for most Kyrgyz people, despite repeated government attempts to jam it.
The immediate cause of the latest protests couldn't have been more local—a protest at a rise in electricity tariffs, imposed by national utility companies controlled by the president's family. But their message is universal. In March, Bakiyev told a national congress that democracy based on elections and individual human rights would "no longer be suitable" for Kyrgyzstan and proposed a sham "consultative democracy" instead. Ordinary Kyrgyz obviously felt that less democracy would mean more corruption and came out on the streets to protest. Hopefully, the next government will learn the lesson that Bakiyev did not—and perhaps make Kyrgyzstan the first country in Central Asia to be both democratic and stable. Washington has both idealistic and very practical reasons to help make it so.
Obama, Russian president sign arms treaty
(CNN) -- President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed a major nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear stockpiles of both nations.The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -- known by its acronym, START-- builds on a previous agreement that expired in December.The two presidents signed documents and exchanged a firm handshake.
Obama has called the treaty "the most comprehensive arms control agreement in nearly two decades" and said it would cut the nuclear weapons of the United States and Russia by about a third.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hopes Congress will ratify the treaty with a large bipartisan majority, as it has with previous arms control treaties."We are hopeful that reducing the threat of nuclear weapons remains a priority for both parties," Gibbs said.
The full treaty and its protocols will be posted online at some point Thursday, Gibbs said. Brian McKeon, a senior adviser to the White House's National Security Council and deputy national security adviser to the vice president, will lead the administration's ratification effort, Gibbs said.
Administration officials will begin briefing members of the Senate on Thursday on the particulars of the treaty.Gibbs said Obama was also briefed on the situation in Kyrgyzstan, where the opposition claimed control of government Wednesday after deadly protests across the country.
Obama will have dinner with heads of government from 11 countries -- Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.The highlight of the two-day trip is the new treaty with Russia, which is another step in nuclear arms relations between the former Cold War adversaries. Its signing comes two days after the Obama administration announced a new U.S. nuclear weapons policy and four days before Obama convenes a summit of 47 nations on nuclear security issues."It significantly reduces missiles and launchers," Obama said of the new treaty, which lasts for 10 years. "It puts in place a strong and effective verification regime. And it maintains the flexibility that we need to protect and advance our national security, and to guarantee our unwavering commitment to the security of our allies."
Obama has made nuclear nonproliferation a major priority of his presidency, prompting criticism from conservatives who fear the president will weaken the U.S. nuclear deterrent against possible attack.
"We believe that preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation should begin by directly confronting the two leading proliferators and supporters of terrorism, Iran and North Korea," according to a statement issued Tuesday by Arizona's two Republican U.S. senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl.
"The Obama administration's policies, thus far, have failed to do that and this failure has sent exactly the wrong message to other would-be proliferators and supporters of terrorism."According to information released by the White House, the new treaty limits both nations to "significantly fewer strategic arms within seven years" of its signing. One of the limits: 1,550 warheads."Warheads on deployed ICBMs [Intercontinental ballistic missiles] and deployed SLBMs [submarine-launched ballistic missiles] count toward this limit and each deployed heavy bomber equipped for nuclear armaments counts as one warhead toward this limit," the White House said.
There also are limits on launchers.
The treaty also lays out a "verification regime" that includes on-site inspections, data exchanges and notifications, the White House said.
"The treaty does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or current or planned United States long-range conventional strike capabilities," according to the White House.
Obama said the agreement is part of an effort to "reset" the U.S. relationship with Russia."With this agreement, the United States and Russia -- the two largest nuclear powers in the world -- also send a clear signal that we intend to lead," the president said. "By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities."
Negotiators have been working since April 2009 to wrap up the "follow-on" to the 1991 START agreement. Talks were difficult, with disagreements over verification, including on-site inspection of missiles that carry nuclear warheads.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the talks earlier said that negotiators had found "innovative" ways to verify what each side has. Verification will be a top issue politically because the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament will each have to ratify any agreement.Russian officials at one point objected to the Obama administration's plans to build a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe. Specifically, they were angered by news leaks from Romania that it had agreed to allow missile interceptors to be installed in that country.
The issue, according to arms control experts, was resolved by including nonbinding language in the START treaty's preamble stating that there is a relationship between offensive and defensive weapons; however, the treaty itself deals only with limits on offensive weapons systems.
This resolution could help placate U.S. critics who want no link in the treaty between offensive and defensive weapons, arguing that it might be used to try to limit a U.S. missile-defense plan.
The new treaty would be the first pact related to arms control since the end of the Cold War, experts have said, setting the stage for further arms reductions that will tackle thorny issues such as what to do with nondeployed warheads that are kept in storage, tactical nuclear weapons and further cuts in missiles and launch vehicles.
Some of those issues are expected to come up at the nuclear security summit in Washington on Monday and Tuesday.
Obama, Russian president sign arms treaty
(CNN) -- President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed a major nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear stockpiles of both nations.The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -- known by its acronym, START-- builds on a previous agreement that expired in December.The two presidents signed documents and exchanged a firm handshake.
Obama has called the treaty "the most comprehensive arms control agreement in nearly two decades" and said it would cut the nuclear weapons of the United States and Russia by about a third.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hopes Congress will ratify the treaty with a large bipartisan majority, as it has with previous arms control treaties."We are hopeful that reducing the threat of nuclear weapons remains a priority for both parties," Gibbs said.
The full treaty and its protocols will be posted online at some point Thursday, Gibbs said. Brian McKeon, a senior adviser to the White House's National Security Council and deputy national security adviser to the vice president, will lead the administration's ratification effort, Gibbs said.
Administration officials will begin briefing members of the Senate on Thursday on the particulars of the treaty.Gibbs said Obama was also briefed on the situation in Kyrgyzstan, where the opposition claimed control of government Wednesday after deadly protests across the country.
Obama will have dinner with heads of government from 11 countries -- Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.The highlight of the two-day trip is the new treaty with Russia, which is another step in nuclear arms relations between the former Cold War adversaries. Its signing comes two days after the Obama administration announced a new U.S. nuclear weapons policy and four days before Obama convenes a summit of 47 nations on nuclear security issues."It significantly reduces missiles and launchers," Obama said of the new treaty, which lasts for 10 years. "It puts in place a strong and effective verification regime. And it maintains the flexibility that we need to protect and advance our national security, and to guarantee our unwavering commitment to the security of our allies."
Obama has made nuclear nonproliferation a major priority of his presidency, prompting criticism from conservatives who fear the president will weaken the U.S. nuclear deterrent against possible attack.
"We believe that preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation should begin by directly confronting the two leading proliferators and supporters of terrorism, Iran and North Korea," according to a statement issued Tuesday by Arizona's two Republican U.S. senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl.
"The Obama administration's policies, thus far, have failed to do that and this failure has sent exactly the wrong message to other would-be proliferators and supporters of terrorism."According to information released by the White House, the new treaty limits both nations to "significantly fewer strategic arms within seven years" of its signing. One of the limits: 1,550 warheads."Warheads on deployed ICBMs [Intercontinental ballistic missiles] and deployed SLBMs [submarine-launched ballistic missiles] count toward this limit and each deployed heavy bomber equipped for nuclear armaments counts as one warhead toward this limit," the White House said.
There also are limits on launchers.
The treaty also lays out a "verification regime" that includes on-site inspections, data exchanges and notifications, the White House said.
"The treaty does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or current or planned United States long-range conventional strike capabilities," according to the White House.
Obama said the agreement is part of an effort to "reset" the U.S. relationship with Russia."With this agreement, the United States and Russia -- the two largest nuclear powers in the world -- also send a clear signal that we intend to lead," the president said. "By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities."
Negotiators have been working since April 2009 to wrap up the "follow-on" to the 1991 START agreement. Talks were difficult, with disagreements over verification, including on-site inspection of missiles that carry nuclear warheads.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the talks earlier said that negotiators had found "innovative" ways to verify what each side has. Verification will be a top issue politically because the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament will each have to ratify any agreement.Russian officials at one point objected to the Obama administration's plans to build a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe. Specifically, they were angered by news leaks from Romania that it had agreed to allow missile interceptors to be installed in that country.
The issue, according to arms control experts, was resolved by including nonbinding language in the START treaty's preamble stating that there is a relationship between offensive and defensive weapons; however, the treaty itself deals only with limits on offensive weapons systems.
This resolution could help placate U.S. critics who want no link in the treaty between offensive and defensive weapons, arguing that it might be used to try to limit a U.S. missile-defense plan.
The new treaty would be the first pact related to arms control since the end of the Cold War, experts have said, setting the stage for further arms reductions that will tackle thorny issues such as what to do with nondeployed warheads that are kept in storage, tactical nuclear weapons and further cuts in missiles and launch vehicles.
Some of those issues are expected to come up at the nuclear security summit in Washington on Monday and Tuesday.
Obama has called the treaty "the most comprehensive arms control agreement in nearly two decades" and said it would cut the nuclear weapons of the United States and Russia by about a third.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hopes Congress will ratify the treaty with a large bipartisan majority, as it has with previous arms control treaties."We are hopeful that reducing the threat of nuclear weapons remains a priority for both parties," Gibbs said.
The full treaty and its protocols will be posted online at some point Thursday, Gibbs said. Brian McKeon, a senior adviser to the White House's National Security Council and deputy national security adviser to the vice president, will lead the administration's ratification effort, Gibbs said.
Administration officials will begin briefing members of the Senate on Thursday on the particulars of the treaty.Gibbs said Obama was also briefed on the situation in Kyrgyzstan, where the opposition claimed control of government Wednesday after deadly protests across the country.
Obama will have dinner with heads of government from 11 countries -- Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.The highlight of the two-day trip is the new treaty with Russia, which is another step in nuclear arms relations between the former Cold War adversaries. Its signing comes two days after the Obama administration announced a new U.S. nuclear weapons policy and four days before Obama convenes a summit of 47 nations on nuclear security issues."It significantly reduces missiles and launchers," Obama said of the new treaty, which lasts for 10 years. "It puts in place a strong and effective verification regime. And it maintains the flexibility that we need to protect and advance our national security, and to guarantee our unwavering commitment to the security of our allies."
Obama has made nuclear nonproliferation a major priority of his presidency, prompting criticism from conservatives who fear the president will weaken the U.S. nuclear deterrent against possible attack.
"We believe that preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation should begin by directly confronting the two leading proliferators and supporters of terrorism, Iran and North Korea," according to a statement issued Tuesday by Arizona's two Republican U.S. senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl.
"The Obama administration's policies, thus far, have failed to do that and this failure has sent exactly the wrong message to other would-be proliferators and supporters of terrorism."According to information released by the White House, the new treaty limits both nations to "significantly fewer strategic arms within seven years" of its signing. One of the limits: 1,550 warheads."Warheads on deployed ICBMs [Intercontinental ballistic missiles] and deployed SLBMs [submarine-launched ballistic missiles] count toward this limit and each deployed heavy bomber equipped for nuclear armaments counts as one warhead toward this limit," the White House said.
There also are limits on launchers.
The treaty also lays out a "verification regime" that includes on-site inspections, data exchanges and notifications, the White House said.
"The treaty does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or current or planned United States long-range conventional strike capabilities," according to the White House.
Obama said the agreement is part of an effort to "reset" the U.S. relationship with Russia."With this agreement, the United States and Russia -- the two largest nuclear powers in the world -- also send a clear signal that we intend to lead," the president said. "By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities."
Negotiators have been working since April 2009 to wrap up the "follow-on" to the 1991 START agreement. Talks were difficult, with disagreements over verification, including on-site inspection of missiles that carry nuclear warheads.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the talks earlier said that negotiators had found "innovative" ways to verify what each side has. Verification will be a top issue politically because the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament will each have to ratify any agreement.Russian officials at one point objected to the Obama administration's plans to build a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe. Specifically, they were angered by news leaks from Romania that it had agreed to allow missile interceptors to be installed in that country.
The issue, according to arms control experts, was resolved by including nonbinding language in the START treaty's preamble stating that there is a relationship between offensive and defensive weapons; however, the treaty itself deals only with limits on offensive weapons systems.
This resolution could help placate U.S. critics who want no link in the treaty between offensive and defensive weapons, arguing that it might be used to try to limit a U.S. missile-defense plan.
The new treaty would be the first pact related to arms control since the end of the Cold War, experts have said, setting the stage for further arms reductions that will tackle thorny issues such as what to do with nondeployed warheads that are kept in storage, tactical nuclear weapons and further cuts in missiles and launch vehicles.
Some of those issues are expected to come up at the nuclear security summit in Washington on Monday and Tuesday.
China assures Pak to back its demand for civil nuke deal with US
China has assured Pakistan that it would support the latter during the forthcoming nuclear summit in Washington on all issues, including Islamabad's long standing demand for a civil-nuclear deal with the US.According to sources privy to a special meeting of the parliamentary committee on national security, which was presided over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Beijing has assured of all help during Gilani's upcoming US visit.Sources said that Pakistan's Ambassador to China, Masood Khan, who participated in preliminary deliberations on the nuclear summit in Washington, briefed the committee on the objectives of the summit and Pakistan's preparations for it.A statement issued after the meeting quoted Gilani, as saying that Islamabad is aware about its responsibilities as a nuclear state."Pakistan had taken effective steps for nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation through 'extensive legislative and a regulatory and administrative framework'," The Daily Times quoted Gilani, as saying.Gilani, who is also the chairman of Pakistan's National Command Authority (NCA), said the objectives of nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security could only be served and promoted through a 'non-discriminatory paradigm' for international cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Bombing attempts on Peshawar schools
An attempt was made to blow up three government schools within an hour in Peshawar, Thursday.The police said that the first blast occurred in the Mehla Haiderzai area of Thana Bhana Mari where a bomb was planted in the main gate of the government girls high school. The bomb went off and completely destroyed the front part of the building.The second blast occurred in a government school in Reigi, and the third one occurred at Safed Dhairi Government Boys Middle School.The police has filed an FIR and has started the investigation.
US-Afghan relations sink further as Hamid Karzai accused of drug abuse
Guardian-Former UN diplomat Peter Galbraith questions Afghan premier's mental stability.The war of words between the former deputy head of the UN mission to Afghanistan and the country's president escalated last night when Peter Galbraith suggested that Hamid Karzai's "mental stability" was in question and that he has a substance abuse problem.Galbraith, the US diplomat who worked for the UN in Kabul until last year, made his remarks live on US television. His comments come as the White House considers withdrawing an invitation for Karzai to meet Barack Obama in Washington next month.Galbraith, the former UN deputy special representative in Afghanistan, was responding to allegations first made by Karzai last Thursday that the international community and Galbraith in particular had been responsible for "massive fraud" during last year's disastrous presidential election."He's prone to tirades, he can be very emotional, act impulsively," Galbraith said on MSNBC television. "In fact some of the palace insiders say that he has a certain fondness for some of Afghanistan's most profitable exports."Then asked whether he was saying Karzai had a substance abuse problem, Galbraith said there were "reports to that effect"."This continued tirade raises questions about his mental stability and frankly this has been of concern to diplomats in Kabul."Siamak Hirawi, a presidential spokesman, rejected Galbraith's claims and said the palace condemned the US diplomat's remarks."What Mr Galbraith said is far away from the principle of diplomacy and it simply confirms what President Karzai was saying about [Galbraith's] involvement in corruption."A White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, has said the US will consider cancelling Karzai's invitation to meet Obama in Washington on 12 May in the light of any "further remarks" the Afghan president makes.The foreign secretary, David Miliband, has intervened in the row, saying that "malign suggestions" the UK was involved in interfering with the elections were "completely without foundation".Karzai's claims that foreigners were responsible for "very widespread fraud" during the election were first made shortly after Barack Obama made a fleeting visit to Kabul last week.The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, tried to defuse the row during a phone call with Karzai on Friday, but he went on to repeat his claims to Afghan MPs and rhetorically threatened to "join the Taliban" if foreigners continued to interfere in the country's affairs.
On Sunday, during a trip to Kandahar, he told the BBC that he stood by his allegations despite the furore they had created.There is some evidence that by sticking up for Afghan sovereignty he has gained some kudos among ordinary Afghans, but many MPs and members of the country's establishment have been horrified to see him jeopardise the critical Afghan-US relationship.The controversy has emboldened his enemies to bring to public attention two issues that hitherto had been confined to the Kabul diplomatic rumour mill: Karzai's mental health and his alleged use of drugs.Last week Abdullah Abdullah, the opposition leader who polled second in last year's election, said Karzai's behaviour recently had been "erratic" and that "as a former colleague and doctor I think this is beyond a normal attitude".
In a move seen by some as a tactic to calm the row with his key allies, the Afghan government has announced that the much criticised head and deputy head of the country's election commission has stepped down and will not oversee September's parliamentary vote. The retirement of Azizullah Ludin and Daoud Ali Najafi had been a key condition of the international community, which had threatened to withhold funding for the next election.One western diplomat said the announcement had been long expected. "The question now is who Karzai appoints to replace them and whether it is a constructive or spiteful appointment. Will he simply pick another Ludin or will he find someone who is impartial?"
Kyrgyzstan Opposition Says Rule Will Last 6 Months
New York Times
MOSCOW — After a day of bloody protests against the repressive rule of the president of Kyrgyzstan, which forced him to flee the capital of Bishkek, an opposition leader said on Thursday that a transitional government had taken over, dissolved parliament and would remain in power for six months.
The unrest which erupted on Wednesday seemed to pose a potential threat to a critical American air base supporting the NATO campaign in nearby Afghanistan. But Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister who has emerged as head of a coalition of opposition groups, was quoted on Thursday as saying the supply line would not be immediately affected.
“Its status quo will remain in place,” Reuters quoted her as saying at a news conference in the Parliament building. But she warned: “We still have some questions on it. Give us time and we will listen to all the sides and solve everything.”
Opposition politicians, speaking on state television after it was seized by protesters Wednesday, said they had taken control of the government after a day of violent clashes that left more than 40 people dead and more than 400 wounded. Some news reports on Thursday put the death toll at more than 60.
The Associated Press and Russian news reports quoted her as saying an interim government would rule for six months.
“You can call this revolution. You can call this a people’s revolt. Either way, it is our way of saying that we want justice and democracy,” she said. The unrest threatened to have regional consequences and neighboring Uzbekistan closed its border with Kyrgyzstan, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday, riot police officers fired into angry crowds of demonstrators who gathered around government buildings to rally against what they termed the government’s brutality and corruption, as well as a recent decision to increase utility rates sharply. Witnesses said that the police seemed to panic, and that there was no sign of supervision. In several cases, demonstrators wrested their weapons away from them.
By early Thursday morning, opposition officials occupied many government buildings in Bishkek, and were demanding that the president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, sign a formal letter of resignation. Mr. Bakiyev has issued no public remarks since the protests began. An official at the Bishkek airport said Mr. Bakiyev was flying to Osh, a major city in the southern part of the country.
Ms. Otunbayeva was quoted in news reports as saying Mr. Bakiyev had fled to the south of the country and was seeking to marshal support among his followers there.
There was no immediate public response from Mr. Bakiyev to an apparent offer by Ms. Otunbayeva to negotiate his formal departure from power.
A coalition of opposition parties said Wednesday that Ms. Otunbayeva would head the transition government.. “Power is now in the hands of the people’s government,” she said in a televised address on Wednesday evening.
Those same opposition leaders were angered last spring when Obama administration officials courted Mr. Bakiyev — who they admitted was an autocrat — in an ultimately successful attempt to retain rights to the military base, Manas, used to supply troops in Afghanistan. President Obama even sent him a letter of praise.
Russia had offered Mr. Bakiyev a sizable amount in new aid, which the United States interpreted as an effort to persuade him to close the base in order to limit the American military presence in Russia’s sphere of influence. After vowing to evict the Americans last year, Mr. Bakiyev reversed course once the administration agreed to pay much higher rent for the base.
An American official said late on Wednesday that flights into the base at Manas had been suspended. Lt. Cmdr. Bill Speaks, a spokesman for United States Central Command, said late on Wednesday that some troops and equipment scheduled to transit from Manas to Afghanistan were likely to be delayed because of the government upheaval and that the military was preparing to use other routes.
The American attitude toward Mr. Bakiyev ruffled opposition politicians in Kyrgyzstan, who said it was shameful for the United States to stand for democratic values in the developing world while maintaining an alliance with him.
The Kyrgyz president’s son, Maksim, had been scheduled to be in Washington on Thursday for talks with administration officials. The opposition views the younger Mr. Bakiyev as a vicious henchman for his father, and was infuriated that he was granted an audience. The State Department said late on Wednesday that it had canceled the meetings.
Opposition leaders have been divided in recent weeks over whether they would continue to allow the American military base to remain, but it seems clear that they harbor bitterness toward the United States. And neighboring Russia, which has long resented the base, has been currying favor with the opposition.
“The political behavior of the United States has created a situation where the new authorities may want to look more to Russia than to the United States, and it will strengthen their political will to rebuff the United States,” said Bakyt Beshimov, an opposition leader who fled Kyrgyzstan last August in fear for his life.
Mr. Beshimov was one of numerous opposition politicians and journalists who in recent years have been threatened, beaten and even killed. Kyrgyzstan, with five million people in the mountains of Central Asia, is one of the poorest countries of the former Soviet Union, and has long been troubled by political conflict and corruption. Mr. Bakiyev himself took power in 2005 after the Tulip Revolution, one of a series of so-called color revolutions that seemed to offer hope of more democracy in former Soviet republics. Since then, the Kyrgyz human rights situation has deteriorated. Mr. Bakiyev easily won another term as president last year, but independent monitors said the election was tainted by extensive fraud.
Tensions in Kyrgyzstan have been brewing for months, and seemed to be touched off in the provincial city of Talas on Tuesday by protests over soaring utility rates. Then on Wednesday, thousands of people began massing in Bishkek, where they were met by heavily armed riot police officers. Dmitri Kabak, director of a local human rights group in Bishkek, said in a telephone interview that he was monitoring the protest when riot police officers started shooting. “When people started marching toward the presidential office, snipers on the roof of the office started to open fire, with live bullets,” Mr. Kabak said. “I saw several people who were killed right there on the square.”
Dinara Saginbayeva, a Kyrgyz health official, said in a telephone interview that the death toll could rise, and that more than 350 people had been wounded in Bishkek alone. Opposition leaders said as many as 100 people may have died.
While the fighting was raging, security forces still loyal to the president arrested several prominent opposition leaders, including Omurbek Tekebayev, a former speaker of Parliament, and Almazbek Atambayev, a former prime minister and presidential candidate. They were later released after the government’s resistance appeared to wither.
While opposition leaders have promised to pursue a less authoritarian course, Central Asia has not proved fertile ground for democracy. Mr. Bakiyev himself took office declaring that he would respect political freedoms.
Whatever happens domestically, a new government will have decide how to balance the interests of the United States and Russia, which both have military bases in Kyrgyzstan and want to maintain a presence in the region. Paul Quinn-Judge, Central Asia project director for International Crisis Group, a research organization, said Russia had stoked anti-American sentiment in Kyrgyzstan in recent months, often over the issue of the base.
Nevertheless, Mr. Quinn-Judge said he suspected that opposition politicians would in the end decide to permit the base, though not before giving the United States a hard time. “My gut feeling is that it can be smoothed over,” he said. “But they have got to move fast to reach out to the opposition, and do it with a certain degree of humility.”
NA approves Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw as new name for NWFP
National Assembly approved to rename the NWFP as Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw with majority of votes.The members of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) suggested to the House the amendments in Section-3 of the Bill relating the name of the NWFP. However, Chairman Constitutional Reforms Committee of the Parliament Mian Raza Rabbani baulked at the proposals.The name of Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw was adopted with 264 votes of support. At least 20 votes were against the new proposed name.
IDPs from tribal areas
Not only has the theatre of war against the militants in the northwest expanded in recent times, it has also extracted a heavy price in the process by displacing people from various affected areas on a very large scale. The fact must be kept in mind and both state and civil society should come to the aid of the IDPs. According to one relief agency, it has registered over 1.3 million IDPs from the tribal areas. The exodus from Orakzai Agency alone amounts to over 75,000 tribesmen at even conservative estimates. Parts of the agency have reportedly turned into ghost towns where starving children search for food. Unsurprisingly, the battle against militancy has led to mass migration, with people seeking refuge in Kohat and Hangu districts and Khyber Agency. The exodus was a predictable consequence of the operation against the militants, but little evidence is available of the state having made efforts to mitigate the IDPs' suffering. The sole relief camp in the area is in Hangu district, accommodating less than 4,000 people. There is no room for the hundreds of people streaming into the area everyday. Apparently, no relief camp exists in Kohat district, where over 22,000 IDPs have registered themselves with the social welfare department.
This is an unacceptable situation. The IDPs are caught in a war that is not of their making and they have a right to receive the state's protection. Tackling the militants must of course continue with full force — after all, just on Wednesday militants blew up five schools and a basic health unit in the Utmankhel area of Orakzai Agency. But the fallout on ordinary citizens must be mitigated as far as possible. The conflict must speedily be brought to a successful closure. Meanwhile, efforts are needed towards setting up relief camps.
This is an unacceptable situation. The IDPs are caught in a war that is not of their making and they have a right to receive the state's protection. Tackling the militants must of course continue with full force — after all, just on Wednesday militants blew up five schools and a basic health unit in the Utmankhel area of Orakzai Agency. But the fallout on ordinary citizens must be mitigated as far as possible. The conflict must speedily be brought to a successful closure. Meanwhile, efforts are needed towards setting up relief camps.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Attacks on schools prompted search operations in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: At least three schools located in separate parts of Peshawar were bombed with explosives by unidentified miscreants late on Wednesday night, prompting the security agencies to kick off search operation all across provincial capital, Geo news reported.
According to details media obtained from police, unknown miscreants planted explosives in a girls school in a Landi Arbab area while another two primary schools were blown up by firing rockets on buildings in Paja Garhi area of Regi locality.
Police said the bombings and rocket onslaughts partially damaged the school buildings, however, security forces have commenced search operations in adjoining areas to round up militants.
A boys’ middle schools was also came under fierce attack as explosives plants near school building went off causing havoc with a school wall but building’s key parts received no damages, police told media
ANP asks judiciary to keep out of parliament’s affairs
ISLAMABAD: The Awami National Party (ANP) on Wednesday called on the judiciary not to interfere in the affairs of parliament in the future, and said the institution’s respect for parliament will be reciprocated.
ANP leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour – participating in the debate on the 18th Amendment Bill in the National Assembly – said parliament was “the supreme institution ... the judiciary will not be allowed to interfere in its affairs”.
Bilour thanked the prime minister, the chairman of the reforms committee and all political parties for supporting provincial autonomy and accepting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as NWFP’s new name. While parliamentarians tabled various proposals seeking further amendments before final approval for the 18th Amendment Bill, they expressed confidence in the document. The PML-N fully supported the proposed bill, and asked President Asif Ali Zardari to fulfil his promise of handing over powers to the prime minister and parliament.
About provincial autonomy, the PML-N’s Abdul Qair Baloch said Balochistan must be given its due rights over the seashore and natural resources. “The Balochistan issue was not presented to the constitutional committee in its true spirit.”
Syed Nisar Ali Shah of the PML-N congratulated parliament and the nation over the tabling of the bill. Asfandyar Wali said provincial autonomy was the basis of the 18th Amendment.
Farooq Sattar of the MQM said provincial autonomy was incomplete if provinces were not given financial authority in running their affairs. The MQM also criticised the quota system, saying it was not in line with the system of merit in place in the rest of the world.
While the ANP thanked the constitutional reforms committee “for renaming NWFP”, the PML-Q criticised the committee’s choice of the new name. A PML-Q lawmaker even walked out of the House in protest at the decision to rename NWFP.
Riaz Pirzada, chief whip of the former ruling party, proposed that Hazara division be named as a new province because of “locals’ strike against the decision to rename NWFP”. “The amendments are the result of collective wisdom and it is good that a consensus was developed on all the amendments, but the government should hear the locals of Hazara,” he said.
Marvi Memon also opposed the decision to rename the province, and demanded that Gilgit-Baltistan be given the status of a province. She also sought seats for Gilgit-Baltistan representatives in the Senate and the National Assembly.
ANP leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour – participating in the debate on the 18th Amendment Bill in the National Assembly – said parliament was “the supreme institution ... the judiciary will not be allowed to interfere in its affairs”.
Bilour thanked the prime minister, the chairman of the reforms committee and all political parties for supporting provincial autonomy and accepting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as NWFP’s new name. While parliamentarians tabled various proposals seeking further amendments before final approval for the 18th Amendment Bill, they expressed confidence in the document. The PML-N fully supported the proposed bill, and asked President Asif Ali Zardari to fulfil his promise of handing over powers to the prime minister and parliament.
About provincial autonomy, the PML-N’s Abdul Qair Baloch said Balochistan must be given its due rights over the seashore and natural resources. “The Balochistan issue was not presented to the constitutional committee in its true spirit.”
Syed Nisar Ali Shah of the PML-N congratulated parliament and the nation over the tabling of the bill. Asfandyar Wali said provincial autonomy was the basis of the 18th Amendment.
Farooq Sattar of the MQM said provincial autonomy was incomplete if provinces were not given financial authority in running their affairs. The MQM also criticised the quota system, saying it was not in line with the system of merit in place in the rest of the world.
While the ANP thanked the constitutional reforms committee “for renaming NWFP”, the PML-Q criticised the committee’s choice of the new name. A PML-Q lawmaker even walked out of the House in protest at the decision to rename NWFP.
Riaz Pirzada, chief whip of the former ruling party, proposed that Hazara division be named as a new province because of “locals’ strike against the decision to rename NWFP”. “The amendments are the result of collective wisdom and it is good that a consensus was developed on all the amendments, but the government should hear the locals of Hazara,” he said.
Marvi Memon also opposed the decision to rename the province, and demanded that Gilgit-Baltistan be given the status of a province. She also sought seats for Gilgit-Baltistan representatives in the Senate and the National Assembly.
Zardari........ With clipped wings
Editorial:The News
The man who has borne the brunt of media and public attack as one who may have been involved in massive corruption, and as a controversial figure bent upon running most matters of state with his close aides, has made it clear he hopes to walk into history as a hero. In his third address to a joint session of parliament, Asif Ali Zardari called on it to undo the 17th Amendment – and by doing so restore democracy in its true spirit. The sight of a man calling for his own powers to be taken away is a rare one indeed. Whatever else one may say, Mr Zardari deserves credit for magnanimously relinquishing the extraordinary powers handed over to one man by distorting the Constitution. It is also true though that he did so under some pressure. The situation that will arise now will not be welcomed by all. Persuading parliament to act in a particular way is far harder than making one individual do so. There are elements who opposed the idea of powers being stripped from the president. Tampering with democracy becomes a far harder task in the future.
Mr Zardari also spoke of standing in the shadows of his late father-in-law and wife and continuing their legacy. This is no small aspiration. He must remember that the success of the PPP is linked to its standing with the people. The promise made to them by the party's founders lives on. And if he is to emerge as a knight in shining armour in the eyes of the people, it is this connection with the masses that the president must strive to resurrect. For the present it stands broken. Despondency hovers everywhere; the allegations of corruption fan it on and people have increasingly lost faith in their leadership. It would also be wise for the president to remember the last year and a half, during which he has held office, has resulted in his standing tumbling in the eyes of people. Speeches to parliament alone, no matter how eloquently worded, will not restore this. We need to see action as well. Once the 18th Amendment is passed, much of the responsibility for this will rest with parliament. But in his role as head of state and of his party, the president too needs to lead the way and demonstrate that he is committed to living up to the words he delivered before a nation that hopes to see real change.
The man who has borne the brunt of media and public attack as one who may have been involved in massive corruption, and as a controversial figure bent upon running most matters of state with his close aides, has made it clear he hopes to walk into history as a hero. In his third address to a joint session of parliament, Asif Ali Zardari called on it to undo the 17th Amendment – and by doing so restore democracy in its true spirit. The sight of a man calling for his own powers to be taken away is a rare one indeed. Whatever else one may say, Mr Zardari deserves credit for magnanimously relinquishing the extraordinary powers handed over to one man by distorting the Constitution. It is also true though that he did so under some pressure. The situation that will arise now will not be welcomed by all. Persuading parliament to act in a particular way is far harder than making one individual do so. There are elements who opposed the idea of powers being stripped from the president. Tampering with democracy becomes a far harder task in the future.
Mr Zardari also spoke of standing in the shadows of his late father-in-law and wife and continuing their legacy. This is no small aspiration. He must remember that the success of the PPP is linked to its standing with the people. The promise made to them by the party's founders lives on. And if he is to emerge as a knight in shining armour in the eyes of the people, it is this connection with the masses that the president must strive to resurrect. For the present it stands broken. Despondency hovers everywhere; the allegations of corruption fan it on and people have increasingly lost faith in their leadership. It would also be wise for the president to remember the last year and a half, during which he has held office, has resulted in his standing tumbling in the eyes of people. Speeches to parliament alone, no matter how eloquently worded, will not restore this. We need to see action as well. Once the 18th Amendment is passed, much of the responsibility for this will rest with parliament. But in his role as head of state and of his party, the president too needs to lead the way and demonstrate that he is committed to living up to the words he delivered before a nation that hopes to see real change.
Mismanagement, chaos hit IDPs registration centre
PESHAWAR: There was a complete mismanagement and chaos at a point opened at Pajagi Road in Peshawar for the registration of displaced persons from the troubled Orakzai Agency, as the officials were invisible, forms unavailable and the process later halted.
The fresh drive for registration was launched at a time when the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from different volatile tribal areas hit 1.3 million. However, this huge displacement could not get government and international community’s attention like those from Malakand division.
The baffled and helpless IDPs protested and blocked the Pajagi Road but the locals forced them to open the road at gunpoint. A clash was narrowly averted when the displaced people returned. This risk of a clash was caused by the inability of the relevant government departments to make proper arrangements for the registration to avoid mismanagement and chaos.
There was also a complete disorder at the point, established in centre for rehabilitation of the paralysed people, as the government had not deputed police or other security officials thereof. “Police officials came here but returned after a few minutes without assigning any reason. They told us to arrange security ourselves. Now you can see the disorder. We do registration or discipline them,” said Assistant Coordinator Social Welfare Mazhar Durrani.
It was observed the registration was not taking place for one hour at the centre on Monday, the first day of registration. The people seeking registration did not know what to do. They were desperate to get enlisted but were not being registered. Some of the displaced persons went unruly and were kicking the doors to force their entry.
“Officials doing registration here told us that the weather was too hot and they couldn’t continue it,” said Muhammad Nadeem, hailing from Ferozkhel area of Orakzai “Should we arrange fans or air-conditioners for them?”
But Mazhar said it was untrue. He argued that actually they had run out of forms. “We had only 200 forms and ran out of it shortly after starting the registration. I have sent some officials who will soon bring along the forms,” he explained.
To a question, he said they were not understaffed. “I think three persons are enough to handle registration but due to the disorder you see outside, the nine staff members can’t manage it,” he argued.
An angry young man, Asghar Khan, said there was no staff and they were just wasting people’s time. He claimed most of the people — about 400,000 million — had moved out from the troubled Orakzai but complained they were running from pillar to post to get registered. “We and many more are still unregistered.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), the number of uprooted persons from Orakzai and the neighbouring Kurram agencies has reached 197,667. It said the uprooted people from Orakzai constituted 71 per cent of the total number.
The intensifying fighting in Orakzai Agency has escalated displacement as thousands of residents of the troubled agency continued to move to safer places. “I fled Bizot area in Orakzai four days ago due to severe shelling and am now living in Sro Killay in a rented house for Rs400,” said Ahmad Khan.
The man who said he was unemployed complained the authorities had refused to register him. Ahmad said he had old national identity card and token for a computerised one but they did not accept it. “Please ensure my registration,” the poor man said, hoping this scribe could help him enlist as IDP.
The authorities have said both new and old NIC were valid documents for the registration. The OCHA said 800 families were being registered on daily basis in Hangu and Kohat districts. There is only one camp for the IDPs in Muhammad Khwaja in Hangu, housing only 3,630 persons.
The fresh drive for registration was launched at a time when the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from different volatile tribal areas hit 1.3 million. However, this huge displacement could not get government and international community’s attention like those from Malakand division.
The baffled and helpless IDPs protested and blocked the Pajagi Road but the locals forced them to open the road at gunpoint. A clash was narrowly averted when the displaced people returned. This risk of a clash was caused by the inability of the relevant government departments to make proper arrangements for the registration to avoid mismanagement and chaos.
There was also a complete disorder at the point, established in centre for rehabilitation of the paralysed people, as the government had not deputed police or other security officials thereof. “Police officials came here but returned after a few minutes without assigning any reason. They told us to arrange security ourselves. Now you can see the disorder. We do registration or discipline them,” said Assistant Coordinator Social Welfare Mazhar Durrani.
It was observed the registration was not taking place for one hour at the centre on Monday, the first day of registration. The people seeking registration did not know what to do. They were desperate to get enlisted but were not being registered. Some of the displaced persons went unruly and were kicking the doors to force their entry.
“Officials doing registration here told us that the weather was too hot and they couldn’t continue it,” said Muhammad Nadeem, hailing from Ferozkhel area of Orakzai “Should we arrange fans or air-conditioners for them?”
But Mazhar said it was untrue. He argued that actually they had run out of forms. “We had only 200 forms and ran out of it shortly after starting the registration. I have sent some officials who will soon bring along the forms,” he explained.
To a question, he said they were not understaffed. “I think three persons are enough to handle registration but due to the disorder you see outside, the nine staff members can’t manage it,” he argued.
An angry young man, Asghar Khan, said there was no staff and they were just wasting people’s time. He claimed most of the people — about 400,000 million — had moved out from the troubled Orakzai but complained they were running from pillar to post to get registered. “We and many more are still unregistered.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), the number of uprooted persons from Orakzai and the neighbouring Kurram agencies has reached 197,667. It said the uprooted people from Orakzai constituted 71 per cent of the total number.
The intensifying fighting in Orakzai Agency has escalated displacement as thousands of residents of the troubled agency continued to move to safer places. “I fled Bizot area in Orakzai four days ago due to severe shelling and am now living in Sro Killay in a rented house for Rs400,” said Ahmad Khan.
The man who said he was unemployed complained the authorities had refused to register him. Ahmad said he had old national identity card and token for a computerised one but they did not accept it. “Please ensure my registration,” the poor man said, hoping this scribe could help him enlist as IDP.
The authorities have said both new and old NIC were valid documents for the registration. The OCHA said 800 families were being registered on daily basis in Hangu and Kohat districts. There is only one camp for the IDPs in Muhammad Khwaja in Hangu, housing only 3,630 persons.
Pakistan Fashion Week
Models sashay down catwalks, flaunting the latest creations by designers during the first day of Fashion Pakistan week with an opulent opening ceremony in Karachi on April 5, The event is scheduled to feature 52 designers – 49 of them from Pakistan and one each from Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates – in a follow-up to a first event held in Karachi last November.–
Clinton outraged at Peshawar attack
Outraged by the attack on the American Consulate in Peshawar by the Taliban, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said "an attack on the diplomatic mission strike at the heart of international cooperation and is unacceptable in any country at any time.""The assault this morning is part of a wave of violence perpetrated by brutal extremists who seek to undermine Pakistan's democracy and sow fear and discord," Clinton said in a statement."I am outraged and deeply saddened by the assault on our Consulate in Peshawar. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Pakistani security personnel who were killed and all those who were injured," she said.The US Secretary of State said we condemn this attack on our mission, the recent bombings in Baghdad that targeted other diplomatic missions, and all such crimes.Noting that the US was taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of its staff -- both American and Pakistani -- as well as the security of its facilities, Clinton said: "We are coordinating closely with Pakistan authorities, who are working to bring the attackers to justice."State Department spokesman P J Crowley said the attacks were a part of a wave of violence perpetrated by brutal extremists who seek to undermine Pakistan's democracy and sow fear and discord.
"This tragedy underscores a common challenge our nations face to defeat violent extremists that threatens us both and deepens our commitment to see Pakistan prosper as a strong democracy in a stable region," he said.
Earlier, condemning the attack, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said "we strongly condemn the violence and the actions, and I would point out that extremists in Pakistan have succeeded in killing Pakistanis, which I think hardens the view that has led to gains that have been made over the course of the year against the extremism by native Pakistanis."
US team arrives in Peshawar to probe consulate bombing
Peshawar- A four-member team from the US has arrived in Peshawar to probe Monday’s terror strike on the American consulate.
The team visited the crime scene to collect ground evidence. The rubble from the adjacent buildings, damaged in the attack, has still not been cleared.
Meanwhile, North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Police chief Malik Naveed has rejected reports of there being any security failure.
“It was a great success that the attackers were not allowed to reach their target,” Naveed said.
The militants had first exploded a car bomb, then opened gun fire and hurled grenades and tried to enter the consulate, but were prevented.
Two Pakistani security officials were killed and many others were injured.
The team visited the crime scene to collect ground evidence. The rubble from the adjacent buildings, damaged in the attack, has still not been cleared.
Meanwhile, North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Police chief Malik Naveed has rejected reports of there being any security failure.
“It was a great success that the attackers were not allowed to reach their target,” Naveed said.
The militants had first exploded a car bomb, then opened gun fire and hurled grenades and tried to enter the consulate, but were prevented.
Two Pakistani security officials were killed and many others were injured.
Pakistan has secured its nukes: US
NEW YORK: Underscoring the need for establishing nuclear safety around the world, US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he is confident that Pakistan has secured its atomic weapons. “I feel confident that Pakistan has secured its nuclear weapons. I am concerned about nuclear security around the world, not just in Pakistan but everywhere,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. However, Obama refused to talk about the details of Islamabad’s nuclear programme.
Pakistanis get up before sunrise
PESHAWAR: Majority rise in morning before sunrise in their daily life. According to a recent survey by Gallup Pakistan 68% of urban and 83% of rural Pakistani men and women said they generally rise in the morning before the sunrise. The survey was done when the sun rose around 7 am. For their sleeping time nearly half (47%) of urban Pakistani adults said they generally went to bed by 10 p.m, whereas in the rural areas 70% gave this answer. The survey which was conducted among more than 1500 statistically selected households all over the country showed interesting variations across gender and age in addition to the variation between the rising and retiring habits of urban and rural areas. Marketing research analysts at Gallup say a study of rising and retiring habits helps them understand the media habits of rural and urban TV viewers and radio listeners. Besides this study gives an insight into various issues relating to working hours, transportation and some key health and hygiene issues, including such basic lifestyle matters as timing and space for latrines. This is especially true for rural areas but in the crowded urban housing conditions as well. The findings of this survey further show that there are variations across age groups. Sixty-five percent (65%) of those above the age of 50 said they rose before 6 in the morning, 29% said they rose between 6 and 7 in the morning and only 6% said they rose after sunrise. Among the under 30 the comparable figures were 34% before 6, 34% between 6 and 7, 19% between 7 and 8 and 13% of the youth said they generally rose after 8 in the morning. Among women the 6 to 7 time seemed most popular: 48% of them said they woke up during that hour. Interestingly more women than men said they stayed up until after midnight: 20% of women and 8% of men gave that answer in the national sample. Gallup intends to repeat this survey in the summer months to see the seasonal variations in rising and retiring patterns of rural and urban Pakistanis. The survey was conducted by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International among more than 1500 statistically selected men and women in both urban and rural areas of all the four provinces of Pakistan. The sample comprised a cross section of various income, education and geographic segments.
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