Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Happy New Year: Seeing and now smelling fireworks
Londoners will see in 2014 the world's first multisensory firework display. CNN's Isa Soares reports.
Australia: Celebration nation rockets into the new year 2014
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ACROSS Australia the new year rituals were duly observed tonight, as revellers gathered to greet 2014 in style. Sydney's dazzling harbour shone under the glow of more than seven tonnes of pyrotechnics at a cost of $6 million. More than 1.6 million partygoers positioned themselves at vantage points around the iconic Harbour Bridge at the centre of the country's biggest fireworks display.
In Singapore, people will flock to the financial district for fireworks while thousands of white spheres will be launched to bob on Marina Bay, holding residents' wishes for 2014. Jakarta has set up 12 city centre stages for performances to showcase the vast archipelago's kaleidoscope of cultures. However, 6500 police will be out to ensure security amid warnings that extremists in the Muslim-majority nation may target the celebrations, prompting travel warnings from countries including neighbouring Australia. Tonga, located near the international dateline, will be one of the first nations to greet 2014. The religious Pacific state is holding a prayer festival that culminates with bamboo "cannon" fired into the air. In Rio de Janeiro, authorities are predicting 2.3 million people - a third of them tourists - will crowd Copacabana Beach for fireworks and pop music. The theme will be romantic, said the city's tourism secretary, Antonio Pedro Figueira de Mello. "At one moment of the musicalised fireworks, the music sort of falls, and there we have a kiss in Copacabana, we'll hear a 'smack', ... we'll have 100 hearts exploding on Copacabana beach to toast for this reveillon of love," he said. Major spectaculars will also light up Moscow's Red Square, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and central London when Big Ben bongs midnight. An expected one million revellers will gather in New York to mark the stroke of midnight and the traditional New Year's Eve ball-drop over Times Square. Cape Town will have a free concert with fireworks and a 3D tribute to Nelson Mandela who died December 5. Images from the anti-apartheid hero's life will be projected onto City Hall where he gave his first speech after release from 27 years in prison in 1990.
Violent protests leaves 2 dead, 8 injured in northern Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Sharp rise in violence against journalists in 2013
Nai Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan (NSPMA) on Monday released its annual report about violence against Afghan journalists, reporting of 76 cases of violence in 2013. The cases including 3 murders, 34 cases of beating, 6 arrests, 7 cases of injuries and 26 cases of threats and insult have been registered by NSPMA administration. The perpetrators mostly were the police, government officials, militants, ordinary people and private sector. Head of Nai Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan, Sediqullah Tawhidi, addressing a press conference said that in 2012, 69 cases of violence against journalists had been registered in NSPMA, but in 2013, 76 different cases including 3 murders have been registered, a rise of 10% in violence against journalists. He tied the increase in violence against journalists to the inertia and negligence of relevant government organizations in investigating cases and prosecuting perpetrators. Tawhidi termed one of challenges of reporters the internal problems of media and said that most of the contracts of TV channels were against Labor Law, and the owner of private channels acted like taskmaster every time they wanted relieved their reporters adding that in this issue the Ministry of Information and Cultural hasn’t done any legal measures for resolution of the reporters problem in the media. “Influence of the media’s owners marred the standard work of medias also using of media as a tool to overcome in their political and tribal ambitions is seriously going on it created some tribal struggles, and accusing of medias by some government bodies also brought arrange of concern over medias” said Tawhidi. He asked the Ministry of Information and Cultural to send the occupation regulation to the minister council for conferment so that the current job immunity of reporter and media owner’s problems should be solved. Tawhidi expressed his concern over delaying of confirmation of Access to Information Law and said that if the concerned law is not confirmed by the parliament the reporters may face with various challengeable issues during providing investigative reports asked the parliament to confirm the Access Information Law as soon as possible so that the people profit the freedom of speech in the country. “The parliament of the country should confirm the Access to Information Law before presidential and provincial election till the reporters provide complete reports according to its principles” said Tawhidi. According to increasing of violences toward newsmen in the country, Nia Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan is not optimistic about the secure future of reporter’s activities in 2014 asking the responsible organs to take serous measure for securing of reporters in the country. According to report of NSPMA in 2012 four television satiations, 11 newspapers, 24 weekly letters, two monthly letters, one magazine, started to activities. Head of NSPMA said that so for there are 100 televisions network 200 private and government Radio stations, 200 print Medias and 12 Agencies, it shows that media are expanding in spite of too many problems in the country.Afghanistan remains an insecure country for reporters, where they are subjected to threats from state and nonstate actors, besides facing hurdles in access to information
Peshawar Residents Accuse Police Of Extrajudicial Killing
Pakistan: KP and Pesco
Karachi: Policeman Killed
Bravest politician in Pakistan: '' Staying Alive ''
By Saroop Ijaz
Controversial interview: Army should clear its position on Musharraf, says Khursheed Shah
The Express Tribune
Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Monday demanded that the army explain its position with reference to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s statement, in which he had claimed the army was upset over his trial. “If army is not with Musharraf, it should rebuff his statement,” he said, adding that its silence could be misconstrued as its consent. Speaking to newsmen after Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, Shah said Musharraf, by claiming to have army’s support, was trying to involve it in the treason case. Earlier, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari declared that defending Musharraf in treason case was also ‘treason’Musharraf’s interview also attracted response from the government side, as Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid advised him to express his views in the court instead of doling out sensational statements in the media. He was talking to reporters on Monday. The former military ruler, while talking to a foreign news agency, had said that he was leaving his treason trial issue to incumbent Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Gen Raheel Sharif. “I would say the whole army is upset. Certainly, they wouldn’t like anything happening to their ex-army chief,” he had claimed adding, however, that the army was not his last hope. “Though the army chief has the final word but the top brass always goes through due consultations before an important decision is taken. Let’s see what the COAS does in this case,” Musharraf had said. The case is due to resume on January 1, but Musharraf said he had not yet decided whether or not he would attend the proceedings. British lawyers will monitor treason trial Human rights activists and UK-based lawyers Toby Cadman and Solicitor Raza Anjum say they will monitor Musharraf’s trial and report to the United Nations and human rights bodies across the world, at a press conference with a member of Musharraf’s legal team Barrister Saif ur Rehman. Saif did not confirm whether Musharraf will appear before the special court on Thursday. “We are deliberating on this issue and no decision has been taken so far,” he added.
Pakistan: Counterterrorism confusion
ALTHOUGH more than six months have elapsed since the new government came to power, neither the federal nor provincial policymakers have been able to formulate a clear strategy on combating terrorism and organised crime. At the federal level, there’s no internal security policy. Two, the peace talks with the Taliban have not begun in the wake of US drones hitting targets in Fata, exposing the weakness of our security establishment’s half-hearted operations in the militants’ sanctuaries. Three, the Cabinet Committee on National Security has yet to come up with a clear role and charter along with the rules of business for its secretariat pertaining to whether it will be under the prime minister’s office or the cabinet division. Such decisions have implications for the professionalism and autonomy of a set-up tasked with devising and implementing a national security policy. Four, the National Counter Terrorism Authority has neither been reorganised nor staffed with professionals. A decision on posting an experienced counterterrorism expert as Nacta head is still pending. There’s confusion whether Nacta should report to the prime minister (as per the law) or to the interior ministry. Such indecision is sending mixed signals as if the political leadership is facing resistance from all-powerful stakeholders. Professionals usually look to Punjab for providing the lead in facing challenges arising out of internal security threats such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s countrywide acts of terrorism. They often quote the example of the firm political will displayed by the Punjab government in the 1990s to tackle sectarian terrorism. It was then that the Crime Investigation Department was created by raising a special cadre of police and security officials with intelligence, analysis and investigative sections to augment the capacity of the district police to apprehend the sectarian terrorists of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Mohammad. The Anti-Terrorism Act was promulgated in 1997 with the provision of speedy trials before special courts, resulting in the death penalty for 72 terrorists within two years. In order to provide muscle to the law-enforcement machinery, specialised combat squads called elite police units were raised, along with a state-of-the-art training facility in the suburbs of Lahore and trainers especially seconded from the SSG commandos. The Punjab police, assisted by intelligence and investigative agencies, squarely met the threat of sectarian terrorism and acquitted itself well because it had a clear mission and an able leadership. Today, Punjab is emitting confused signals as it struggles to organise itself to face far more devastating terrorist outfits that threaten to shatter the peace and cause mayhem in the otherwise comparatively tranquil economic powerhouse of the country. In a meeting presided over by the prime minister, the Punjab government decided to raise a counterterrorism force comprising 1,500 retired and serving army and intelligence officers and to place it under the home instead of the police department. The CID, which had been upgraded to the Counterterrorism Department during the previous tenure of the Sharif government, is to be disbanded or placed under the home secretary. This decision means that the essentially policing function of counterterrorism is to be given to serving and retired military officers under the bureaucratic command of the home secretary. It also means that the authority of the inspector-general as commander of police is to be further eroded and the officers and units under him to be placed under a non-professional bureaucrat. Instead of strengthening or reforming the police, politicians and bureaucrats are expressing no confidence in the present 250,000-plus policemen and policewomen. This retrogressive step is a reminder and extension of decisions taken by the military rulers and their political surrogates in handing over law and order in Karachi to the Rangers under army command and taking away the counter-narcotics role from the police and creating the Anti-Narcotics Force under serving army officers. This trend of militarisation of civilian policing functions continues even under a democratic political dispensation. The prime minister seems disillusioned with the performance of the police who he believes are responsible for the failure to control crime, including terrorism. He wants a new force raised, instead of relying on an institution perceived as criminalised and corrupt. The politics of patronage and kinship, institutionalised in Punjab since the 1990s, has resulted in the deterioration of police professionalism and discipline. Successive political governments are responsible. Loyalty rather than merit has been the matrix of the governance framework. This has resulted in institutional decay. The present state of affairs in Punjab also reflects police command failure. While some mid-level and junior officers have raised their voice and conveyed their concern through the Police Service of Pakistan Association, senior commanders have chosen not to speak. They lack the courage to respectfully inform the chief executive that nowhere in the world are counterterrorism functions outside the purview of policing. Many countries have raised specialised task forces or professional counterterrorism units such as the SO15 in Scotland Yard UK, the NYPD CTF in the US and the National Investigation Agency in India. They are all under police command. Our prime minister and the Punjab chief minister would have surely learnt from the Turkish prime minister that counterterrorism is handled by the Turkish National Police with whom the Punjab Police have signed an MoU on capacity building and reforms. This matter is too serious to be made a turf issue between the bureaucracy and the police. They must rise above petty service rivalries and think about the principles of policing a society through a chain of command that upholds the rule of law rather than the use of force. Police commanders must stop acting as loyal courtiers of politicians. Integrity, professionalism and hard work will earn them respect from the public they serve. It is time to speak up and be counted.TARIQ KHOSA
Pakistan: Extremism breeds terrorism
Babar Ayaz
The humanist social democrats cannot debate with Islamists freely without being charged for blasphemy. For much less Salmaan Taseer was killedIt is seldom that journalists from the print and electronic media take time out to reflect and introspect on the crucial issues they cover on a day-to-day basis in the line of duty. Once in a year, the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) provides such an opportunity. Last week it invited over 100 journalists from all over the country to discuss the exploding issue of extremism and what media can do to promote tolerance in society. As the government has failed to provide an alternate to the extremist ideology, there is widespread confusion in society about what is the fascist agenda of extremism and its offshoot: terrorism. The apologists of these extremists compound the confusion when they try to justify it by declaring that terrorism is because Pakistan is supporting a US war. I wonder: if the US will not tell us to fight terrorist organisations, which operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will the state of Pakistan still allow the terrorists to impose their brand of sharia in the country and launch an insurgency against a neighbouring country? To legitimise terrorism their apologists rely on the famous saying that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. That makes their credentials as democrats weak, as use of terrorist tactics to achieve legitimate or illegitimate objectives is negation of democratic norms. Then the question is raised both from the far left and also from the far right: what is the answer to state or imperialist violence or what is also called ‘state terrorism’? Another delicate question is: what is a national liberation war? When does it degenerate to fall in the category of terrorism? However, first let us take to task the more immediate issue. In the case of religious terrorism we have to understand that the people who resort to terrorist tactics do so because they have a weak case and little public support. Actually ‘militant Islam’ is an offshoot of ‘political Islam’ as it has failed to capture power through democratic means. Militant Islam’s lineage can be traced to Shah Waliullah in this part of the world and to the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt under the teachings of Hasan al Bana and Sayid Qutab. Olivier Roy, Farzana Sheikh and Ayesha Jalal, to name a few, have explained this phenomenon in their compelling books. These books should be on the ‘essential reading list’ for journalists in Pakistan. The Pakistani establishment, which has India paranoia, started patronising terrorism since its inception, e.g. the creation of a tribal lashkar (militia) in 1948, and continues to sponsor non-state militant jihadis to this day. Even at present our establishment considers India specific terrorist groups and Afghan terrorist as its assets although they were and are liabilities. If in a country’s accounting books ‘liabilities’ are entered as ‘assets’, the state is bound to collapse. Another aspect of this religious terrorism is that it is based on a strong ideology of al Qaeda. It cannot be ignored that they are official and unofficial al Qaeda franchises. Military operations against them in the tribal areas are tactical moves. The fact is that the state does not have a comprehensive strategy for countering al Qaeda’s ideological thrust. Crudely applying the principle of equity, some journalists, at the two-day SAFMA conference, talked about listening to the other side. Yes, that is a democratic value but is not this question frivolous when on the one hand the Islamists invoke democratic rights of free speech and the right to preach, but on the other hand they do not allow a rational dialogue? The humanist social democrats cannot debate with Islamists freely without being charged for blasphemy. For much less Salmaan Taseer was killed. If the other side had a rational scientific ideology they would not have resorted to terrorism. Perfidy apologists of terrorist outfits also ask why we support talks and a political solution for Balochistan’s chronic problems and demand that the state first establish its writ against the Taliban and then talk peace. The issue is that Taliban demands are not for the rights of the tribal people — they want to impose their brand of sharia on the country through the barrel of a gun. If they win the elections and form the government with an large enough majority to write another constitution, they are more than welcome. But they should not try to turn the wheel of history back to Salafiism. Now the second question: what is the difference between a national liberation war and terrorism by ethnic parties? When a democratic movement is suppressed by state terrorism then the militant struggle in aid of a normal democratic independence movement is a national liberation war. However, history has shown that non-violent movements have been more successful. The litmus test is that independence should lead to economic, social and political development of the common man. If it is retrogressive in itself then it is anti-people, and hence it should not be given the respectability of a national liberation war. Only a rational and dispassionate strategy covering economic, political and social facets can bring peace and tolerance to our society. My fear is that we are heading towards bloodier times. Once the government moves towards building a peace bridge with India, the Kashmir specific terrorists, who are mostly Punjab-based, will turn their guns towards the government. I hope I am proven wrong this time.
Pakistan: Imran’s insanities
Pakistan: PTI should not instigate workers to violence: govt
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/Information and Broadcasting Minister Pervaiz Rashid said on Monday the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) must not instigate its workers to violence as use of force in politics could give birth to anarchy. Talking to the media, he said that the government was ready to hand over the control of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) to PTI Chairman Imran Khan to make possible the recovery of electricity bills from the defaulters. To a question, he said the “court of history has already given its verdict regarding former president Pervez Musharraf and now his case is in the court of law”. The government has provided ample opportunity to the former president to give his side of the story in the court of law. “And his statements outside the court have no relevance as we have already seen him airing statements while hovering pistols and fists”, he added. To another question, he said the standard of living of people could not be improved via satellite while sitting in the cosy atmosphere of Canada. “The standard of living of people has registered significant improvement during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz,” the minister added. He cited the examples of motorway, Metro Bus Service, Green Channel facility at airports and laptop scheme “which helped improving the standard of living of the people of the country”. He said the government has relaxed various conditions of prime minister’s business loan scheme.
Pakistan: Spiteful enterprise
So saddening it is that just for political point-scoring the politicos across the spectrum are feeling the least inhibited in trashing the most serious and grave into sheer triviality. Not even they seem any pushed about how their childish pranks are searing the hearts of a citizenry reeling under the worst of times in its life. They even seem not knowing that their silly antics are indeed hurting the people's sentiments ruefully.
At this point in time, the people all over the land are groaning woefully under the backbreaking load of tortuous power and gas load-shedding. For the most part, they are not getting electricity even to light their homes and gas even to cook their meals. The land is filled from end to end with the deafening shrill of a phenomenally distressed citizenry, crying hoarse to rid them of this torture. Yet, dismayingly, amid this public uproar, the federal and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments have got embroiled in a tiff over power distribution and generation in the province.
Not that this is something unheard of. If indeed there are countries where the federal authority alone controls both generation and distribution, instances no lesser abound where the federating units hold this monopoly. Indeed, in the Gujarat state of neighbouring India, the Narenrda Modi-government has attracted so much of private investment in power sector with alluring incentives that it caters abundantly to electricity needs of its consumers, industries and businesses while the mainland continues suffering from chronic power shortages acutely.
Had indeed the offer and demand for power generation and distribution been part of some thoroughly-considered and well-planned action strategy, that would have been admirably worth it. Arguably, the problems confronting the nation presently necessarily entail tight cooperation and collaboration between the federal and the provincial governments. And nothing like that if Islamabad and Peshawar get together to give a stab to disastrous power shortage that is eating irredeemably into the vitals of the polity.
But it is more than evident that there is nothing serious about the whole show; it is all politics. In all likelihood, neither the federal government will devolve power generation to the KP's domain. Nor will the KP government be prepared to collect electricity bills from the users in the province. Ludicrously enough, the tiff between the two has incited the Sindh ruling hierarchy as well to start flapping its wings heatedly to take the same hop. But, unmistakably, this too would be just politics.
It really hurts that power-wielders and power-contenders could be so obsessed with their political ambitions and political agendas that for their objectives' perpetuation they would desist not ever from riding roughshod over the masses' acute sensitivities. Whatever the May general election was, the electorate had expected that winners would come to power with a sincere intent to overcome miseries making the people's lives increasingly unlivable.
The general expectation was that politics would henceforth be put behind and the people's wants and needs would occupy the incoming rulers' top priority. But from street to street, the common citizenry is livid that politics instead has become the political elites' prime, and sole, mover. The people are outraged that political capital is being sought to be made even on matters that should best be left to the forums they are being dealt with at. Pervez Musharraf is arraigned before the courts and the law will take its own course to decide his fate.
Yet the political hierarchs, particularly at the centre and in Sindh and Punjab, are apparently out to squeeze it to the last drop. With bowls in hands, they are wandering all around to make hay while the sun shines. He is being accosted blithely. Surmises are being thrown at him giddily. And he is being demonised with every ill on the earth. This political discourse may be enthralling the chattering classes, the media, the commentariat and the seminarians.
But the street it is not. There is dead silence over there. No one is talking of him; no one is listening about him. The street is all engrossed about its own woes of bread and butter. It is all preoccupied with deepening concerns if ever power and gas would become available in quantities that homes are lit, industries, businesses and undertaking start working full blast and throw up jobs and opportunities aplenty and the access to basic needs becomes easier to make the people's lives livable.
On this account, the political elites across the board are indeed under the microscopic scrutiny of the mass of the people. The public is not judging them by what political acrobatics are they playing. They are adjudging them strictly by their deeds in the service of the public. And there, truthfully, the political elites must be shocked from one to all. None lives in the people's good graces any more. They all stand condemned in the popular perception. It is only in the core constituencies of their loyalists that they still live lovingly. The street has begun distancing itself from them all unexceptionably. Even now, not all is lost. The political elites can still reclaim the lost territory. Only, they have to abandon petty politics and focus on public service both collectively and separately. But will they?
Iran’s Border Violations in Balochistan
Tensions are brewing on Pakistan-Iran border in Balochistan. To explicitly explain the situation, on needs to borrow a term or two from the contemporary Pakistani political lexicon. The Iranians are violating our “sovereignty”. The Pakistanis routinely use the term “sovereignty” only to refer to the drone strikes launched by the United States. But there are two reasons why the Pakistani media does not report the violation of our sovereignty on the Pakistan-Iran border. One, sovereignty, according to the Pakistani official narrative, is something only a non-Muslim country such as the United States violates whereas Iran is an Islamic republic which cannot be involved in breaching the sovereignty of a brotherly Muslim country. Secondly, it indeed sounds absolutely ludicrous to call for Islamabad’s help considering the fact that Pakistan itself has been involved in violating people’s sovereignty in Balochistan for decades. For the past one month, the Iranian security forces have been excessively firing rockets from their side on the bordering towns of Panjgur and Mashkil located in Pakistani Balochistan. The unprovoked cycle of rocket attacks has caused significant outrage as well as fear among the local population. While one rocket attack on November 25 killed a three-year old Baloch girl and injured her parents and two siblings in Kech district, another citizen, Nasir Ahmed, a resident of Paroom area in Panjgur district, was shot dead by the Iranian authorities on December 10th. Mr. Ahmed’s killing took place only a day after the Iranian security forces fired nine rockets on Mashkil town of Washuk district while they shot another four rockets on Panjgur district. Local residents say the the attacks killed several goats and cows which are the primary source of livelihood for the poor Baloch families in the border areas. Last week, when the Iranians fired four more rockets on Baloch towns, Mir Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, a member of the Balochistan Assembly from the frontier towns, described the attack as a ‘border violation’. He said that a memorandum had been shared both the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Islamabad against previous such unprovoked rocket attacks. On November 25, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr. Malik Baloch expressed his anguish over the Iranian aggression and repeated violation of the border. The head of the provincial government “condemned” the attacks and said he had raised the issue with Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Pakistan’s Interior Minister. Contrary to the Chief Minister’s condemnation of the Iranian aggression, Balochistan’s Interior Secretary, Akbar Hussain Durrani, ironically, has been insisting that the Iranians did not fire the rockets. Mr. Durrani may only be attempting to cover up the issue but the matter is rapidly getting so serious that even officials in his own department have begun to leak information to the media about the unfolding situation. For example, Dawn, on December 9, 2013, quoted a Home Department official confirming that the Iranians had violated the border and fired rockets on 11 to 12 occasions within a month. The official added that the Iranian helicopters were also flying in Balochistan’s airspace. In the wake of these alarming activities, the Balochistan government, according to the same report published in Dawn, has written a letter to the National Crisis Management Cell while the Frontier Corps (F.C.), whose primary responsibility is to guard the border, has written a separate letter to the Interior Ministry. Pakistan’s foreign office and relevant departments have not uttered a single word to protest the killing and terrorizing of the Baloch population by the Iranians. The federal government’s indifference is deeply disappointing but still understandable, as stated above, because Islamabad is known for killing, not protecting, the Baloch people within its own borders. In the backdrop of absolute silence observed in Islamabad, one is compelled to agree with the assessment of the situation by the Baloch Republican Party. Headed by Switzerland-based pro-independence leader Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti, the B.R.P. has alleged that Iran is carrying out these operations inside Balochistan with the support of Pakistan as a continuation of their longstanding anti-Baloch nexus. “Iranian attacks on the Baloch population have become the order of the day,” charged the B.R.P. in its statement which also condemned the recent unfortunate incidents. Pakistani Urdu columnist Saleem Safi may not even be acquainted with what Iran is doing inside Balochistan but his observations about Iran’s changing role in the region that he has mentioned in his column on December 10 in Daily Jang merits attention. Mr. Safi, an ethnic Pashtun and an expert on Afghan affairs, predicted that Iran would follow an aggressive policy toward Pakistan as soon as it improves its relations with the United States. That time has not fully arrived but Iran’s behavior indicates that it has already started asserting its hegemony in the region. As the Baloch expect little from Islamabad to come to their rescue from increasing attacks from the Iranians, we wish to remind Tehran that the world is fast changing and it’s become a different place. Therefore, it is the time for Tehran to give up its decades-old policy of suppressing the Baloch because of their race and (Sunni) religion. There are always batter ways to win the hearts and minds of the people. By attacking the Balochs on the Pakistani side of the border, Iran, in a way, is unnecessarily provoking mass reaction within the Baloch community on both sides. Attacking the Balochs on the Pakistani side will only mount tensions and create new enemies for Tehran. While the Balochs on the Pakistani side are fighting a non-religious, nationalist, secular battle against Islamabad for a free land, Tehran should stay away from this battle as they do not pose a direct threat to Iran’s interests. We fear that the mistreatment of the Baloch on both sides of the border could possibly lead to an unprecedented alliance between the religiously motivated anti-Iran Sunni militant groups, such as the Jundullah, and the multiple left-wing Baloch armed groups operating inside Pakistan. Intensification of the existing conflicts will not serve anyone’s interests. Both Islamabad and Tehran should end their war against the Baloch and treat them as equal citizens instead of brutalizing them.MALIK SIRAJ AKBAR
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb - review
Malala Yousafzai's tale is infamous throughout the world. Malala is an education activist from Swat district in Pakistan.
At the age of 16, she has written for the BBC (under a pseudonym) describing her life in Swat valley, stood up for education at various protests, been nominated for the Nobel peace prize and been shot in the eye socket and neck by one of the worlds most dangerous extremist terrorist organisations, the Taliban.
I Am Malala, written from Malala's point of view, is a beautifully written, brutally honest and heart-warming tale of a girl's innocence and will to make a positive difference, and how she was almost lost to the hands of a brutal and suppressive body who attempted, and still continue to threaten, to kill her.
Malala has been described as a martyr for her cause countless times. She's been portrayed as the 'poor brave girl who got shot' or the 'girl who survived the Taliban shooting and spoke at the UN'. We're all so caught up in making Malala sound like a heroine, that we forget she's a teenager as well.
We're so busy talking about how brilliantly she speaks and what a wonderful vision she has for the world, that we tend to not care about her friends and her encounters, and what she likes to do in her free time. She's outstandingly bold, and a true idol, but Malala lives in the real world. She is one of us.
The way the book progresses is so powerful, it tends to hold on even after you've closed that perfect last page. Every child in the world must read this, or must have Malala's story read to them. For us readers, it may seem like a fairytale.
Malala now lives in the UK with her family; they're safe and happy. But the revolution that she started still continues to shake the world, and especially Pakistan, with its impact.
There's still a long way to go before the children of Swat valley can pick up a book and a pen, stand up for education and not have their lives in danger.
I Am Malala, written from Malala's point of view, is a beautifully written, brutally honest and heart-warming tale of a girl's innocence and will to make a positive difference, and how she was almost lost to the hands of a brutal and suppressive body who attempted, and still continue to threaten, to kill her.
Malala has been described as a martyr for her cause countless times. She's been portrayed as the 'poor brave girl who got shot' or the 'girl who survived the Taliban shooting and spoke at the UN'. We're all so caught up in making Malala sound like a heroine, that we forget she's a teenager as well.
We're so busy talking about how brilliantly she speaks and what a wonderful vision she has for the world, that we tend to not care about her friends and her encounters, and what she likes to do in her free time. She's outstandingly bold, and a true idol, but Malala lives in the real world. She is one of us.
The way the book progresses is so powerful, it tends to hold on even after you've closed that perfect last page. Every child in the world must read this, or must have Malala's story read to them. For us readers, it may seem like a fairytale.
Malala now lives in the UK with her family; they're safe and happy. But the revolution that she started still continues to shake the world, and especially Pakistan, with its impact.
There's still a long way to go before the children of Swat valley can pick up a book and a pen, stand up for education and not have their lives in danger.
لاپتہ بلوچ افراد کی بازیابی کے لیے پیدل لانگ مارچ ہالہ سے سعید آباد کی جانب روانہ
posted by Aamir Hussaini
حیدرآباد-لاپتہ بلوچ افراد کی بازیابی کے لیے پیدل لانگ مارچ کا قافلہ آج ہالہ پہنچ گیا-جہاں پر سندھی قوم پرست،بائیں بازو ،انسانی حقوق کی تنظیموں اور مقامی صحافیوں نے لانگ مارچ کے شرکاء کا زبردست استقبال کیا ،پھول کی پتیاں نچھاور کیں اور لاپتہ بلوچوں کی بازیابی کا مطالبہ کیا
لانگ مارچ منظم کرنے والے ماما قدیر بلوچ نے اس موقعہ پر خطاب کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ وہ استقبال کے لیے آنے والی تنظیموں اور افراد کے شکر گزار ہیں ،ان کا کہنا تھا حکومت لانگ مارچ کے شرکاء کو سیکورٹی فراہم نہیں کررہی -اگر ان کے ساتھیوں کو کچھ ہوا تو زمہ دار حکومت ہوگی
کراچی سے وائس فار مسنگ بلوچ کی طرف سے پیدل لانگ مارچ کا یہ 17واں روز ہے جبکہ کوئٹہ سے چلے اس لانگ مارچ کو 42 دن ہونے کو آئے ہیں-لانگ مارچ کا سندھ کے شہروں اور گوٹھوں میں زبردست استقبال کیا جارہا ہے
استقبال کرنے والوں میں نوجوان،عورتیں،بوڑھےسب شامل ہیں -لانگ مارچ کے سندھ میں شاندار استقبال سے بلوچ قوم کی نسل کشی میں ملوث قوتیں بہت خوفزدہ نظر آتی ہیں ان کی کوشش ہے کہ یہ لانگ مارچ پنجاب کی سرحد عبور نہ کر
- See more at: http://lubpak.com/archives/300675#sthash.HMJR67KZ.dpuf
Pakistan: Bahawalpur Church carnage 2001, she still fears to speak
Christians Not Enjoying Equal Rights In Pakistan: PCC
Pakistan Christian Congress foremost denies PM Sharif’s claims of Christians enjoying equal rights in Pakistan. -Dr. Nazir S Bhatti-President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC glumly asserted in a statement issued from the Central Secretariat of PCC that declaration made by Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Nawaz Sharif in a Christmas get-together organized in Governor House Lahore. During this get-together PM Sharif said: Christian in Pakistan are enjoying equal rights in Pakistan; which has been seen with impudence by the PCC’s President saying, ”It is not true as Christian leaders on stage with him were all selected by his Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Group PML (N) but not elected by votes of Christians.” Dr. Nazir Bhatti said: Islamic Republic of Pakistan not allows Christians to elect their leaders with their votes which is guaranteed under Article 226 of Constitution then how PM of Pakistan can claim that Christians are enjoying equal right in Pakistan. It’s unfortunate that Bishop Michael Nazir Ali was present in this event who always raised voice for equal Christian rights in Pakistan and against blasphemy laws but remained silent to speak truth because its on record that majority of cases under blasphemy laws are registered in Punjab against Christians under government of Pakistan Muslim League PML (N) which is headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif. Dr. Nazir Bhatti went on to maintain that: To comment on presence of Catholic Bishop of Lahore and Church of Pakistan Bishop in Christmas function of Governor Choudhry Sarwar is not important because our clergy bows to ever government weather its democratic or dictatorship because they are only “Yes Men” and never care for due rights of Christians in Pakistan but only speak truth when visiting Western countries to collect funds against blasphemy laws. Dr. Nazir went on to censure that: Pakistan Muslim League the ruling party declares to be legacy of All India Muslim League which strived for the formation of Pakistan in 1947. He maintained that, Founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah assured Election on votes in 14 Point doctrine during Pakistan Movement to Christians to favour formation of Pakistan but Selection system instead of Election is favoured by PML (N) in elections after 2002. He strongly disapproved the fact that the Pakistani Christians are not authorized to “elect” Christians leaders of their choice in the parliament on the seats reserved for the minorities by casting their votes save for Muslim political parties “select” Christians of their choice. In the statement Dr. Nazir Bhatti sternly predestined claims of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif while demanding “equal rights for Christians in Pakistan with rights to elect their representatives in the parliament and repeal of blasphemy laws along with all laws. - See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/christians-not-enjoying-equal-rights-in-pakistan-pcc/#sthash.UalZQqBb.dpuf
Pakistan: Woman Charged With Blasphemy Out Of Revenge For Refusing Arranged Marriage
Charsadda: Blast outside Baba Saheb mazar damages wall
Monday, December 30, 2013
Lenin Statue Toppled, Reinstated in Ukraine
Syria: US, Europe begin to realize they need Assad to stay in power - expert
Sun ‘flips upside down’ while reversing magnetic poles
The sun has undergone a “complete field reversal,” with its north and south poles changing places as it marks the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24.
“A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event,” NASA’s Dr. Tony Phillips said in a statement issued on the space agency’s website.
“The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle,” Stanford solar physicist Phil Scherrer explained.
While it may seem like the event could have catastrophic repercussions for the galaxy, its effects are actually more subtle, mostly interfering with space exploration.
“Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth,” said Phillips.
Both the aurora borealis and its southern counterpart - the australis - are set to become broader, more frequent, and more visible now that the event has reached its final stage.
The process has been slow and steady, with solar physicist Todd Hoeksama telling Metro: “It’s kind of like a tide coming in or going out. Each little wave brings a little more water in, and eventually you get to the full reversal.”
Scherrer explained earlier in December that “the sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the South Pole is racing to catch up.”
The impact of the process has been extremely far-reaching.
“The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the 'heliosphere') extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space,” Phillips explained.
NASA has released a visualization of how the switch occurs. Beginning in 1997 and ending in 2013, it shows the green (positive) polarity switching with the purple (negative) polarity.
Solar Cycle 24 has been viewed as quite unpredictable. First, it came late by about a year, with extremely low activity recorded throughout 2009. This prompted astronomers to shift a predicted 2012 peak to 2013. Scientists say the cycle is already among the weakest reported and if the trend continues, the Earth might see another Little Ice Age.
Obama and Clinton Top ‘Most Admired’ List Again
President Barack Obama is the most admired man in America for the sixth year in a row, and Hillary Clinton is the country’s most admired woman, according to a survey out Monday.
Each year Gallup asks Americans to name the living man and woman they most admire. In 2013, 16 percent named Obama, a strong showing but down significantly from the 30 percent Obama drew in 2012. Former President George W. Bush and Pope Francis each earned 4 percent while Bill Clinton and Billy Graham got 2 percent each.
Hillary Clinton earned the Most Admired Woman designation for the 18th time, more than any woman in Gallup’s history. The 15 percent she earned in 2013 is down from 21 percent last year. Behind Clinton is Oprah Winfrey with 6 percent, and Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin, with 5 percent each.
Read more: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Top ‘Most Admired’ Survey | TIME.com http://swampland.time.com/2013/12/30/obama-and-clinton-top-most-admired-list-again/#ixzz2p1HSuqxv
Women in Saudi Arabia are caught in a system of gender apartheid
Author Elham Manea
No professional or vocational training, no visits to the doctor, no lawsuits without male approval: Yemeni-Swiss political scientist Elham Manea bemoans the plight of women in Saudi Arabia.I will never forget the words of my father when he turned down an offer to work at our Yemeni embassy in Saudi Arabia in the mid-80s. He simply said: "I have a daughter!" His words came back to me this October 26, when more than 60 Saudi women's activists got behind the wheels of their cars protesting against a ban on women driving in the kingdom. Their demand symbolized in a nutshell what it means for a woman to live in Saudi Arabia: perpetual minors in a system of gender apartheid. Saudi Arabiais the only country in the world that outlaws this right of driving. And yes, depriving a woman of the right to drive serves the purpose of controlling her physical mobility and hence independence. But focusing on the right to drive misses the whole spectrum of the issue. Systematically treated as perpetual minors Women in the Kingdom, a 2008 Human Rights Watch report maintains, are systematically treated as perpetual minors through a system instituted by the state that infringes on their basic human rights. In other words, every adult Saudi woman, regardless of her economic or social status, must obtain permission from her male guardian to work, travel, study, seek medical treatment or marry. She is also deprived of making the most trivial decisions on behalf of her children. This system is supported by the imposition of complete sex segregation, which prevents women from participating meaningfully in public life. Sex segregation is strictly monitored by the government's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (the religious police) in all workplaces with the exception of hospitals. Unlawful mixing between sexes leads to the arrest of the violators and criminal charges. The brutality of the members of this commission and the unequal punishments men and women receive when committing the same 'crime of mixing' was best described by the Saudi writer Samar Al Muqren in her novel "Ni'saa al Munkar - Women of the Abominable," published in 2008, which she wrote based on her work as a journalist. Reinforcing discriminatory gender roles The ramifications of this system of male guardianship and sex segregation are felt by Saudi women in their daily lives. In the field of education, the general framework of education is tailored to reinforce discriminatory gender roles and what the authorities consider as suitable to "women's nature and future role as wives and mothers." In addition, women's and girls' access to education depends on the good will of male guardians, whose permission is essential for their educational enrollment. Sex segregation undermines women's right to equality in education, especially when female university and professors are often relegated to unequal facilities with unequal academic opportunities. In the field of employment, the Saudi labor code, which came into force in 2006, repeated a former stipulation decreeing that in line with article 4 of the code, which requires adherence to Sharia, "women shall work in all fields suitable to their nature" (article 149). The result is that Saudi women continue to be marginalized almost to the point of total exclusion from the Saudi workforce. Both public and private sector require female staff to obtain the permission of a male guardian to be hired, and employers can fire a woman or force her to resign "if her guardian decides for any reason that he no longer wants her to work outside the home." In jobs in clothing stores, amusement parks, food preparation and as cashiers, guardian permission is no longer required. However, strict sex segregation in the workplace is imposed and female workers are prohibited from interacting with men. The male guardianship system jeopardizes Saudi women's fundamental right to health. Depending on the religious orientation of those working in hospitals, health officials may require guardian's permission for a woman to be "admitted, discharged, or to administer a medical procedure on her or her children." A recent example occurred this July: After a car chase by religious police left the driver dead and his wife and daughter in critical condition, King Fahd Hospital in Baha postponed amputating the wife's hand because she had no male legal guardian to authorize the procedure. Women under this system are denied their legal capacities, rendering them unable to make decisions for themselves. And as legal minors their ability to access and engage with the courts and the government is severely constrained without a guardian. Some of these limitations border on absurdity; mostly they have grave consequences. For instance, women were granted in 2001 the right to an independent identification card; yet this right, which is optional, still requires a guardian's permission to be granted! Excuse me, may I sue you? More gravely, it is nearly impossible for victims of domestic violence to independently seek protection or obtain legal redress because the police often insist that women and girls obtain their guardian's authorization to file a criminal complaint, even when this complaint is against the guardian! Moreover, even when women manage to file a domestic violence case, often the measures taken against the perpetrators are flimsy and shameful. For example, in May, Jeddah's Summary Court convicted a man for physically abusing his wife to the point of hospitalization, but sentenced him to learning by heart five parts of the Quran and 100 sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Finally, Saudi Arabia applies a personal law system based on the Hanbali School of Islamic Jurisprudence, the most strict and literal among the Sunni schools of jurisprudence. The result is that a male guardian has the unilateral authority to marry off his female ward without her consultation and to dissolve a marriage he deems unfit. Given the effects of this system of guardianship and segregation on women's lives, it comes as no surprise that Saudi women activists have been the most vocal against this system of apartheid. In their shadow report prepared for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2008, they argued that this principle of "imposing the guardianship of a male over the woman all her life in Saudi Arabia is linked to the inferior look to women and her traditional role in society and family." Alliance between king and radical clerics The perception is certainly inherent in the Wahabi Salafi interpretation of Islam. What makes it relevant though is the Saudi regime itself, because its state's apparatus is the one faithfully implementing Wahabi gender doctrines. An alliance between the Saudi dynasty and the Wahabi establishment has meant that in return for legitimacy, the religious establishment will have a free hand in applying its conservative and reactionary religious provisions in areas of social norms and women's lives. This has made the difference between Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Arabian Peninsula, including Yemen. Survival for the kingdom has meant dependence on the Wahabi religious establishment for legitimacy. It may introduce some measures to make life "less restricted" for women, but the core of "inferiority" still remains the same. The kingdom is also very wary that women's demands for change may turn to an overall social movement for political change. Given the kingdom's shameful records in citizenship and human rights, democracy and good governance, the fear is realistic. Subsequently, a real change in Saudi gender apartheid system is not likely in the near future. In the meantime, women will continue to bear its consequences - living as perpetual minors segregated by law from their male fellow citizens. It seems my father was right after all: Life for a woman is better elsewhere.
Syria's Assad urges fight against Saudi religious ideology( Wahhabism )
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Monday called for a battle against Wahhabism, the political and religious ideology embraced by the Saudi government.
The comments came amid ongoing tensions between the two countries, which are fiercely opposed to each other.
"President Assad said that extremist and Wahhabi thought distort the real Islam, which is tolerant," state news agency SANA said.
"He underlined the role of men of religion in fighting against Wahhabi thought, which is foreign to our societies," the agency said.
Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative Muslim tradition, which is predominant in Saudi Arabia and applied to both religious and political life.
Assad's remarks during a meeting with religious clerics from Lebanon come a day after Saudi King Abdullah accused the Syrian leader of "destroying his country".
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_30/Syrias-Assad-urges-fight-against-Saudi-religious-ideology-2084/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)