One hundred and thirty-four journalists and media support staff were killed while on reporting assignments last year, with India fourth on the list of countries with the most number of deaths, the London-based International News Safety Institute (INSI) said on Tuesday.
Most of those killed were targeted deliberately.
Of these, 65 died covering armed conflicts - primarily in Syria, where 20 were killed, and Iraq, where the death total was 16 - while 51 were killed in peacetime covering issues like crime and corruption, and 18 died in accidents.
After Syria and Iraq, cited by the Institute as the most dangerous countries for journalists last year, came Philippines with 14 deaths, India with 13 and Pakistan with 9.
The total was down from 152 deaths recorded in 2012, but there was an accompanying rise in assaults, threats and kidnappings directed at journalists which largely go unreported, said the INSI study, "Killing the Messenger."
The institute, funded by major world news organisations including Reuters, has been issuing the report since 1996. Its main work is providing security training for journalists reporting in dangerous situations.
INSI said local journalists were the main victims, with 123 of the dead killed while covering their own country. Of the 20 who died in Syria, 16 were Syrian nationals.
"Most journalists were targeted, and shooting was the most common cause of death," INSI said. The report, compiled for INSI by the Cardiff School of Journalism in Wales, showed 85 of the victims were shot.
Others died in explosions, stabbings and beatings, under torture or by strangulation, or in accidents, according to INSI.
In 2012, 28 reporters died in Syria, 18 in Somalia, 12 in Nigeria, 11 in Mexico and 11 in Pakistan.
The 2013 total for the Philippines, which in past years has seen a mass shooting of reporters as well as individual assassinations, included five who lost their lives in natural disasters.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
India 4th most dangerous country for journalists in 2013
One hundred and thirty-four journalists and media support staff were killed while on reporting assignments last year, with India fourth on the list of countries with the most number of deaths, the London-based International News Safety Institute (INSI) said on Tuesday.
Most of those killed were targeted deliberately.
Of these, 65 died covering armed conflicts - primarily in Syria, where 20 were killed, and Iraq, where the death total was 16 - while 51 were killed in peacetime covering issues like crime and corruption, and 18 died in accidents.
After Syria and Iraq, cited by the Institute as the most dangerous countries for journalists last year, came Philippines with 14 deaths, India with 13 and Pakistan with 9.
The total was down from 152 deaths recorded in 2012, but there was an accompanying rise in assaults, threats and kidnappings directed at journalists which largely go unreported, said the INSI study, "Killing the Messenger."
The institute, funded by major world news organisations including Reuters, has been issuing the report since 1996. Its main work is providing security training for journalists reporting in dangerous situations.
INSI said local journalists were the main victims, with 123 of the dead killed while covering their own country. Of the 20 who died in Syria, 16 were Syrian nationals.
"Most journalists were targeted, and shooting was the most common cause of death," INSI said. The report, compiled for INSI by the Cardiff School of Journalism in Wales, showed 85 of the victims were shot.
Others died in explosions, stabbings and beatings, under torture or by strangulation, or in accidents, according to INSI.
In 2012, 28 reporters died in Syria, 18 in Somalia, 12 in Nigeria, 11 in Mexico and 11 in Pakistan.
The 2013 total for the Philippines, which in past years has seen a mass shooting of reporters as well as individual assassinations, included five who lost their lives in natural disasters.
Not Knowing The Worst Thing For Kin Of Slain Pakistani Soldiers
http://www.rferl.org/Are they dead or alive? That’s the question haunting relatives of a group of Pakistani soldiers who were captured four years ago. When the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, or TTP) announced on February 16 that they had executed 23 members of the Frontier Corps, families of the missing soldiers expected answers. Instead, their questions have multiplied. In total, 35 Frontier Corps troops were kidnapped in June 2010 in Pakistan's northwestern Mohmand tribal agency, a district of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas that has been a source of militant activity in recent years. The killings announced this week by the Mohmand branch of the TTP came in response to the extrajudicial killings of militants in recent weeks, and amid efforts by Islamabad to negotiate an end to an insurgency that has left 40,000 dead since 2007. The Taliban has not revealed the identities of the 23 they claim to have killed, however, leaving relatives of the missing in despair. Mustafa, whose brother Anwar Shah was among the troops captured in 2010, said the family wants closure. "Our family is in mourning. Our women and children are crying. If they are really dead, we ask the Taliban to hand over their bodies, even if they have to drop them from a helicopter on the road," Mustafa said. "At least if we get their bodies it will end our mourning." Dawood Khan's nephew, Rahim Khan, was also among the soldiers captured when TTP militants overran their checkpoint in Mohmand tribal agency on June 17, 2010. He says his nephew's kidnappers have twice contacted the family to set up a meeting. On both occasions the family declined. Khan has slammed the government for what he sees as its unwillingness to go after the militants and rescue the missing soldiers. "If a single spent [ammunition] cartridge is lost, the army launches an inquiry," Khan said. "But when 23 soldiers are missing for four years the government doesn't do anything. The government doesn't do anything and doesn't tell us what to do. We don't know where to go." The militants posted a video message in Pashto this week explaining their reasons for the executions, but the recording did not show the bodies of the soldiers. It was not immediately clear whether the faction acted with the approval of the TTP's central command. The Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella organization of over a dozen militant groups, is fiercely divided and local commanders have often acted on their own. Feroz Khan, whose son Zahid Khan was captured during the 2010 operation, says his family is anxiously awaiting news of his fate. "Yesterday we rushed to the army offices and met with the colonel and he told us the army had no information about the killings," Khan said. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has led the effort for a negotiated peace with the TTP since taking office in 2013, called the purported deaths a "heinous" crime and warned they would impact the reconciliation process that began between Islamabad and the militant group last month. Meanwhile, government peace negotiators pulled out of scheduled talks on February 17. Negotiators declared the meeting "purposeless" after the "sad and condemnable" killings. Niamatullah, whose brother Nasim who was among the abducted soldiers, reiterated the feeling of helplessness felt by the families of those missing in action. "If they were killed, we ask that they hand over their bodies," Niamatullah said. "If not, then we will continue our mourning."
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
نواز حکومت نے پاکستان کی خارجہ و سیکورٹی پالیسیوں کو سعودیہ عرب کا تابع کردیا – تجزیہ تعمیر پاکستان
سوموار کی شام پاکستان اور سعودیہ عرب نے علاقائی ایشوز پر مشترکہ موقف اختیار کرنے کا اعلان کیا سعودی وزیر دفاع اور ولی عهد پرنس سلیمان بن عبدالعزیز کے پاکستان کے تین روزہ دورے کے اختتام پر مشترکہ اعلامیہ جاری کیا گیا اس مشترکہ اعلامیے میں جو حیران کن انکشاف ہے وہ پاکستان کا شام کے اندر شامی حکومت اور باغیوں کےدرمیان جاری سول وار پر موقف کی تبدیلی ہے اس اعلامیے میں بشار الاسد کو فوری طور پر عبوری حکومت قائم کرنے کو کہاگیا ہے اور بشارالاسد سے اقتدار چهوڑنے کو کہا گیا ہے جبکہ اس سے قبل پاکستان کی جانب سے یہ اعلان کیا جاتا رہا کہ وہ شام کے ایشو پر غیر جانبدار ہے اور وہ شامی تنازعے کو بشار الاسد و شامی حزب اختلاف کو مل جل کر حل کرنے پر زور دیتا رہا ہے مشترکہ اعلامیے میں شام میں غیر ملکی فوجی اڈوں کو ختم کرنے کا مطالبہ بهی کیا گیا اس مطالبے کا براہ راست اثر روس ایران پر پڑتا ہے روس کا ایک فوجی اڈا شام میں موجود ہے جبکہ پاکستان کا یہ موقف روس چین کی پالیسی کے بهی خلاف ہے شام پر پاکستان کی پالیسی میں بنیادی بدلاؤ آنے سے ظاہر ہورہا ہے کہ پاکستان کی خارجہ اور دفاعی پالیسی کی تشکیل میں سعودیہ عرب کا کردار اہمیت کا حامل ہوتا جارہا مشترکہ اعلامیہ میں دو طرفہ دفاعی تعاون کازکر موجود ہے لیکن اس کی تفصیل نہیں بتائی گئی سعودیہ عرب کے ساته پاکستان کے دفاعی تعاون کی تفصیلات کو پردہ اخفا میں رکهے جانے کی پالیسی بہت پرانی ہے سعودی ولی عہد نے پاکستان کے جوائنٹ چیفس آف سٹاف جنرل راشد محمود ،چیف آرمی سٹاف جنرل راحیل شریف اور ڈی جی آئی ایس آئی سمیت دیگر عسکری عهدے داروں سے طویل ملاقاتیں کیں لیکن ان ملاقاتوں کی تفصیل کو چهپایا جارہاہے پاکستانی مین سٹریم میڈیا میں اردو پرنٹ و الیکٹرانک میڈیا نے پاکستان کے شام تنازعے پرموقف میں تبدیلی جیسی اہم خبر کو سنسر کی نظر کرڈالا جبکہ ڈان نے اس خبر کی اہمیت کے برعکس اعلامیے بارے خبر کو شایع کرتے ہوئے اعلامیے بارے سرخی میں اس کا زکر نہ کیا سعودیہ عرب کے ولی عهد کی آمد پر پاکستانی میڈیا نے سعودی عرب کی جانب سے پاکستانی سرحد کے قریب واقع کنٹر صوبہ افغانستان میں پانچ هزار دیوبندی طالبان کی تربیت پر خرچ کرنے اور بلوچستان میں ایرانی سرحد کے قریب دیوبندی دهشت گردوں کی سرپرستی کی خبروں کا بهی بلیک آوٹ کیا پاکستان کی موجوده حکومت سعودیہ عرب کی گرتی ساکه کو بدلتے عالمی تناظر میں سنبهالنے کی کوشش کررہی ہے پاکستان میں ریاست ،حکومت اور مین سٹریم میڈیا کی کوشش یہ ہے کہ سعودیہ عرب اور پاکستان کی موجودہ سٹریٹجک شراکت داری کی فرقہ وارانہ جہت کو نمایاں ہونے سے روکا جائے اور پاکستان اور سعودیہ عرب کے درمیان علاقائی ایشوز پر جو ہم آہنگی بڑھ رہی ہے اس میں چھپے ہوئے خدشات کو سامنے آنے سے روکا جائے اردو اخبارات اور ٹی وی چینلز میں آنے والے فیچرز،کالم ،تجزئے اور خبروں کا اگر اس حوالے سے جائزہ لیا جائے تو صاف نظر آتا ہے کہ پاکستان اور سعودیہ عرب کی سٹریٹجک پارٹنر شپ کی فرقہ وارانہ جہت اور اس حوالے سے خطے میں دیوبندی خارجی تکفیری دھشت گردی کے پھیلاؤ کا جو خدشہ ظاہر کیا جارہا ہے اسے مغربی پروپیگنڈا اور بیرونی دشمن کی سازش قرار دیکر بے اثر کرنے کی کوشش کی جارہی ہے جبکہ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ پاکستان کی موجودہ حکومت اور عسکری قیادت مڈل ایسٹ اور جنوبی ایشیا میں سعودیہ عرب کی خارجہ پالیسی کی پیروی کرنے اور سعودیہ عرب کو اس حوالے سے درکار لاجسٹک سپورٹ دینے پر رضامندی ظاہر کرچکی ہے سعودیہ عرب کی مرضی اور منشاء کو پاکستان کی خارجہ و دفاعی پالیسی میں مرکزی حثیت حاصل ہونے کا مطلب یہ ہے کہ پاکستان مڈل ایسٹ میں خاص طور پر اور جنوبی ایشیا میں عمومی طور پر سعودیہ عرب کے سٹریٹجک مفادات کے حصول میں ہرممکن مدد فراہم کرے گا سعودیہ عرب کی پہلی ترجیح یہ ہے کہ ایران کے گرد گھیرا تنگ کیا جائے اور اس کے لیے مڈل ایسٹ اور جنوبی ایشیا میں وہ سلفی اور دیوبندی تکفیری خارجی دھشت گردوں کو ایک مضبوط پراکسی کے طور پر استعمال کرنے کو پہلا آپشن قرار دیتا ہے پاکستان ایسے سلفی اور دیوبندی دھشت گردوں کی گوریلا تربیت میں سعودیہ عرب کا ہاتھ بٹاسکتا ہے سعودیہ عرب نے زرداری حکومت کو بھی کہا تھا کہ وہ شام میں مداخلت کے لیے اسے سریع الحرکت باغی گوریلا فوج کی تربیت کے لیے فوجی انسٹرکٹر فراہم کرے لیکن زرداری حکومت نے ایسا کرنے سے معذرت کرلی تھی لیکن مسلم لیگ نواز کی حکومت ایسا کرنے پر رضامند نظر آتی ہے دیوبندی طالبان ،لشکر جھنگوی اور دیگر پاکستانی بیسڈ گوریلے سعودی عرب کے لیے ایران کے خلاف ایک مضبوط گوریلا فورس ثابت ہوسکتے ہیں اگر پاکستان سعودیہ عرب کا ساتھ دینے پر تیار ہو جبکہ ان میں سے بعض گروپوں کے سعودیہ عرب سے پہلے سے تعلقات کا شبہ ظاہر کیا جارہا ہے سعودیہ عرب اور پاکستان کی موجودہ سٹریٹجک شراکت داری پاکستان ،انڈیا،بنگلہ دیش ،ایران ،افغانستان میں بسنے والی شعیہ،بریلوی،احمدی ،ہندؤ ،عیسائی مذھبی برادریوں کے لیے سخت خطرناک ثابت ہوسکتی ہے کیونکہ اس کے نتیجے میں ان مذھبی برادریوں کے خلاف کام کرنے والے تکفیری و خارجی سلفی و دیوبندی گروپس مزید طاقت پکڑ کر ان مذھبی برادریوں کی نسل کشی کی مہم مزید پھیلا سکتے ہیں یاد رہے کہ سعودیہ عرب پاکستان کے اندر ایسے دیوبندی و سلفی مدارس کی مالیاتی اور لاجسٹک مدد کررہا ہے جو پاکستان میں بسنے والی غیر سلفی و دیوبندی مذھبی برادریوں کے خلاف انتہا پسندانہ اور ان کے خلاف تشدد کو فروغ دینے والے خیالات کو پھیلانے میں مصروف ہیں تحریک طالبان پاکستان ،سپاہ صحابہ پاکستان ،لشکر جھنگوی ،جیش محمد جیسی دھشت گرد تنظیموں کو ںطریاتی اور فکری رہنمائی فراہم کرنے والا دیوبندی مدرسہ جامعہ بنوریہ کے مولویوں بشمول مفتی نعیم کا سعودیہ عرب کے ساتھ بہت گہرا تعلق اور رشتہ ہے اور یہ مدرسہ مرکز ہے تحریک طالبان پاکستان ،لشکر جھنگوی جیسے دھشت گردوں کی ساکھ بنانے کا اسی طرح سے سعودیہ عرب جماعت اہلحدیث ،جماعۃ الدعوۃ جیسی سلفی وہابی تنظیموں کو بھی مدد دے رہا ہے پاکستان میں تکفیری اور خارجی آئیڈیالوجی کو فروغ دینے میں سعودی عرب کی امداد سے قائم ہونے والے مدارس و مساجد کا بہت بڑا ہاتھ ہے اس تکفیری و خارجی آئیڈیالوجی کے دیوبندی مکتبہ فکر میں دخول اور غلبے میں سعودی عرب کا بہت بڑا ہاتھ ہے پاکستان کی فوجی اسٹبلشمنٹ ،سول بیوروکریسی اور سیاسی اشرافیہ میں سعودی عرب کا اثرورسوخ اس قدر زیادہ ہوگیا ہے کہ سعودی عرب کے سفیر کا کردار بعض تجزیہ نگاروں کے سعودی عرب کے وائسرائے کا نظر آنے لگا ہے جبکہ پاکستان سعودیہ عرب کی ایک کالونی نظرآتا ہے سعودیہ عرب نے پاکستان سے سعودیہ جانے والی ورکنگ فورس کے ساتھ جو سلوک روا رکھا ہوا ہے اور وہاں پر آزادانہ کام کرنے کی آزادی سے جو محروم رکھا گیا ہے اس پر پاکستان کی ریاست اور حکومت نے کبھی سوال نہیں اٹھایا سعودی ولی عہد کی پاکستان آمد پر پاکستانی ریاست نے کسی ایک موقعہ پر بھی سعودیہ عرب میں قید ہزاروں پاکستانیوں کی رہائی کا ایشو نہیں اٹھایا اور سعودی سفارت خانے نے پاکستان کی اہم فوجی ،حکومتی ،سیاسی شخصیات کے اعزاز میں جو عیشائیہ رکھا اس میں بھی کسی سیاسی جماعت کے نمائندے نے سعودیہ عرب میں قید پاکستانی شہریوں کی حراست اور ان کی ملک بدری کے خدشے بارے کوئی سوال نہیں اٹھایا گیا ادھر یہ اطلاعات بھی ہیں کہ پاکستانی حکومت ایک لاکھ ایکٹر زرعی رقبہ سعودیہ عرب کے حوالے کرنے کا منصوبہ بناچکی ہے اور سعودیہ عرب پاکستان میں خاص طور پر سرائیکی بیلٹ ،بلوچستان اور سندھ میں زرعی رقبہ حاصل کرکے ایک بہت بڑا فوڈ زون بنانا چاہتا ہے جہاں یہ سعودیہ عرب کی غذائی ضروریات پوری کرنے کا منصوبہ عمل میں لاسکے سعودیہ عرب اور پاکستان کی مجوزہ سٹریٹجک پارٹنرشپ اور اس کے مضمرات بارے پاکستان کی بائیں بازو کی سیاسی جماعتوں جیسے سنٹر لیفٹ پارٹی پی پی پی،اے این پی اور سنٹر رائٹ پارٹی ایم کیو ایم ،سیکولر قوم پرست جماعتوں کی جانب سے کوئی مخالفت سامنے دیکھنے کو نہیں ملی حیران کن طور پر تکفیری خارجی دھشت گردی کا شکار بریلوی ،شیعہ کی مذھبی سیاسی جماعتوں کی لیڈرشپ نے بھی اس مسئلے پر چپ تان رکھی ہے جس سے پاک-سعودی سٹریٹجک شراکت داری کے ممکنہ متاثرین میں شدید بے چینی پھیلی ہوئی ہے کہ ان کی آواز بننے والا کوئی ںظر نہیں آتا - See more at: http://lubpak.com/archives/305449#sthash.SuIvzukj.dpuf
Pakistan govt says Islamabad 'extremely dangerous'
The Interior Ministry report will be presented before the standing committee of National Assembly. The capital was recently put on high alert for nearly a week after a suicide bomb blast in Rawalpindi last month. Heavy security checks were introduced while alerts were sent out to all Embassies and High Commissions here. The Embassies had warned its citizens here to avoid a number of places in the capital. Diplomatic sources had said such kind of an alert was issued after many years. Over the past six months, the Islamabad police claim to have busted a number of sleeper cells here besides seizure of large amount of explosives and arms. Nasiruddin Haqqani, the chief financier of the Haqqani militant network - one of the most feared groups fighting US-led forces in Afghanistan was shot dead in the Pakistani capital in November last year. He was believed to have been based in the federal capital for long.
Christian Sisters in Shadows After Failed Attempts Of Islamists
Pakistan: Murder most foul
Disturbing news has come out of the tribal village of Manzkai in Balochistan where, it appears, medieval practices are in full swing. It is being reported that on the orders of a local cleric, a couple has been stoned to death for the ‘crime’ of adultery. Eyewitness accounts relate that after the stoning the man and woman were shot to make sure that there were no chances of survival. So far, eight people have been arrested in connection with this atrocious crime, including the cleric who issued the fatwa (religious edict) to have the couple killed via stoning. We in Pakistan are unfortunately used to hearing about this kind of monstrous behaviour emanating from the tribal areas and villages where verdicts passed by jirgas (tribal or village councils) are taken as law. These verdicts usually sentence women to all sorts of cruel treatment and honour killings of both women and the men they are accused of being associated with are common. However, we do not normally hear of fatwas leading to killings. Also, the gruesome punishment of stoning is also very rare. To stone a person to death requires a particularly cold-blooded and jaahil (barbaric) disposition and, unfortunately, there seem to be many takers for this in Pakistan. The cleric in this instance took the law into his own hands much like the members of jirgas will do to practice a particularly cruel and draconian interpretation of Islam. We have a system of law and, while achingly slow and creaky, the judicial system of the country in no way condones these practices. What has happened in Balochistan was illegal and nothing less than murder most foul. A man and a woman have been heinously murdered and all those who participated in this slaughter must be brought before the courts where exemplary punishments should be meted out.
We do not live in the Dark Ages and we must do everything possible to establish this truth. The judiciary in Pakistan must get its act together and understand that it is because of our grindingly slow and inefficient legal system that traditional communities choose the alternative recourse for ‘justice’ through these jirgas and now, it seems, mullahs who will stop at nothing to impose their orthodoxy on us. It is imperative that a loud and clear message be sent out regarding this savage murder and how we will not tolerate the law being taken into anyone’s own hands.
Bilawal Bhutto to visit Lahore next month
The Express TribunePakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will visit Lahore early next month to meet party leaders and workers, Pakistan People’s Party Punjab President Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo told office bearers of Narowal and Hafizabad organisations on Tuesday. Wattoo said party leaders and workers were anxiously waiting for the forthcoming visit. He emphasised the importance of mobilisation at the grass roots level. He said the PPP would continue its struggle to build a democratic and pluralistic Pakistan according to the vision of its founding fathers. He said the government had made false promises during its election campaign. The delegation from Narowal, led by former federal minister Tariq Anees, called on Wattoo with with other office bearers. They informed him of the PPP’s position in the district. They also presented suggestions to organize the party. The delegation from Hafizabad reviewed the election results of the May 2013 elections with a view to restructure the party so that it could emerge as a political force again. They emphasized the importance of holding public meetings. Punjab Secretary General Tanvir Ashraf Kaira was also present in the meeting.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Malala Yousafzai: Obama Should Visit Syrian Border to See ‘Suffering’ Up Close
When Malala Yousafzai met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office last October, she boldly told him that drone strikes are “fueling terrorism” in her home country of Pakistan. Today, during a live appearance via satellite from the Jordanian-Syrian border on CNN, the 16-year-old activist had another message for the president: Come here and see the Syrian refugees’ “suffering” for yourself.
“I would request that the president go to the Jordinian-Syrian border, or go to the border of Lebanon and Syria, and see how these people are suffering,” Yousafzai said when Wolf Blitzer asked her what more she thinks Obama should do about the civil war in Syria. “When he will look at it, he will feel it. And then he will understand what it happening here.”
Yousafzai advocated for peace in Syria, not only when it comes to the Syrian government but also from the various opposition groups fighting against them. “Put your guns down, talk through peace,” she said, adding that she believes it’s always better to choose peace over war.
Pakistan: Taliban talks pointless now
Representatives of the Pakistani government have suspended peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban in the wake of recent attacks by the group, the Pakistani Prime Minister's office said Tuesday.A four-member government panel had been in peace talks with the group, also known as Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, for 13 days. But during that time, the group has carried out several deadly attacks, the office of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said.
The committee unanimously decided that continuing talks was pointless until the violence stops, the office's statement reads.
The Pakistani Taliban has long been conducting an insurgency against the Pakistani government and has claimed a number of violent attacks in its history.
Pakistan’s policy vis-à-vis Syria: An ill-conceived departure
Pakistan’s policy vis-à-vis Syria has been non-interfering and neutral. Neither any solution to the dispute was offered nor did Pakistan side with any of the players in contention in that civil war-racked country. So far it was a benign, conciliatory and noncontroversial approach by any standards. As a result, our relations with Iran, China and Russia — major contenders in the Syrian war on one side — remained unaffected. All this is going to change now. Our relationship with Saudi Arabia, with a new veneer of collaboration, has affected our policy on Syria. Reflecting the Geneva I and II conferences’ declarations, Pakistan would also now seek a transitional government excluding Bashar al-Assad so that the country pulls out of the civil war it has been drenched in for three years. So far, taking their cue from the Libyan crisis where the US and NATO intervened in the name of protecting the people but instead engineered regime change, stoking the conflict into an unending war, countries like China and Russia did not allow a UN Security Council resolution to fool the world again and allow the US-led west another opportunity to remove the Syrian thorn from their plans for a Middle East re-ordered to suit their interests. The expanding imperial designs hidden behind the ‘right to protect’ slogan, which has exhausted its shelf life, has saved Syria from becoming another plaything of the western agenda. Russia, with its political and strategic alliance with the Syrian government, had made the excuse of intervention because of Syria’s chemical weapons null and void, avoiding thereby another western military intervention. The Syrian civil war, with its existing sectarian and ethnic overtones, is also the result of the Saudi and Qatari intervention through proxies to destabilise Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The overblown presence of al Qaeda and a rush of rebels with new weaponry have been made possible because of the US-Saudi-Qatari nexus. The regional power play wherein Iran and Saudi Arabia are trying to extend their influence in the Middle East through warfare laced in religious tones has neither served the regional cause nor would it do any good to Pakistan if it gets too close to the Saudis in this regard merely for the expedient goal of garnering more Saudi aid.
Pakistan’s present suffering, emanating from jihadi terrorism, is a product in part of our Saudi relationship. The manpower used in the Soviet-Afghan war was raised, trained and nurtured in the Saudi-funded madrassas across Pakistan. Having become a virtual industry, the madrassas are now churning out terrorists not only in Pakistan, but exporting them to the entire world. Converted into a weapon, ‘jihad’ is used to pressurise the other side, as the Saudis tried to do by threatening Russia on the Syrian issue with unleashing the Chechen jihadis on Russia if it refuses to toe the Saudi line. Already, Wahabi and Salafi theology is playing havoc in Syria and other parts of the world. The Taliban’s moral policing and their assault on the Pakistani state smacks of the outcome of Saudi Arabia’s design to spread its brand of Islam. The Shia-Sunni divide is the by-product of the same strategy that separates Wahabis from the rest of the Muslim world.
Why do we want to put our fingers into a seething cauldron that would only create more enemies and conceivably alienate our friends? Are we not already in the throes of enough problems that we should invite more through an ill-conceived departure from our hitherto wise policy of non-intervention? On the one hand the government of Nawaz Sharif had wanted to enhance Pakistan’s economic position through regional cooperation, on the other it wants to toe Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy prescriptions. Such diplomatic posturing would only expose our weak internal disposition on foreign affairs by exposing our opportunistic hankering for financial benefits from our allies at the cost of all principles.
Former President Asif Ali Zardari condemns killing of Army Officer
Former President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned cowardly attack by militants on a military vehicle resulting in the martyrdom of Major Jahanzeb.
Former President in a message paid tributes to valiant forces for fighting militants “the savage and barbarians who want to impose their distorted ideology by force on the people”. He said the people of Pakistan will never succumb before these militants and fight them to the finish.
Former President Prayed to Almighty Allah for grant of eternal peace to the soul of Major Jahanzeb and courage and strength to members of bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss with equanimity. Our martyrs like Major Jahanzeb are heroes and the nation is indebted to them, he said.
Pakistan:Army major killed in militant attack near Peshawar
Dawn.comA senior army officer was killed on Tuesday in an exchange of fire with militants, the military said, after peace negotiations between the government and Pakistani Taliban insurgents broke down a day earlier. “(The) exchange of fire continues,” the ISPR said in a statement, adding the attack took place near Frontier Region Peshawar close to the Afghan border. Major Jahanzaib suffered bullet injuries and succumbed to his wounds, the military's media wing said, adding that three militants were also killed in the exchange of fire. According to news agency Reuters, a Pakistani Taliban militant from Peshawar confirmed the attack. However, there was no word from the main spokesman of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Militants attacked the convoy of a security official in Peshawar and killed one army major,” he said. “The official announcement will come shortly.” This is the second attack on security forces personnel in the last 24 hours. An attack on a security forces checkpost in Ladha area of tribal South Wazirstan agency killed one soldier late Monday night. The recent violence is likely to further hamper prospects of meaningful peace negotiations between the government and Pakistani Taliban militants. An attempt by representatives of both sides to meet and talk peace collapsed on Monday after insurgents said they executed 23 soldiers in revenge for army operations in the volatile tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Targeting Of Religious Minorities: Forgetting Pakistan’s Constitution
Targeting of religious minorities in Pakistan is still a painful point. Since Pew Research Center report named Pakistan, which is 96 percent Muslim, is one of the most unsympathetic states for religious minorities. Pakistan is one of the top five overall for margins on religion, for most commonly due to its blasphemy laws. Pakistani judiciary habitually use blasphemy laws to give fatality or life in prison penalties to minorities charged of offending Islam.All religious minorities in Pakistan – and not just Christians, faces biased regulations, enforced conversions of religious faiths, bombs and shootings meant at minority sections of Muslims, such as Shiites and Ahmadis. Pakistan began a 10-year process of “Islamization” under general Zia-ul-Haq in 1978. He forced to renovate material laws into religious ones, establishin Sharia judiciary. School textbooks in Pakistan frequently demonize minorities and highlight the nation’s Islamic roots over assistances from inhabitants of other faiths. Religious minorities are time and again stuck on the inferior stage of the market, often working as servants, sweepers and day laborers. Even they are considered eligible for just such jobs. Regardless of this miserable presentation, there are accounts of minority assent. A host of interfaith activist movements is rising, approaching for multi-faith edification and less hostility. Minority leaders are now vocalizing worldwide in the media and throughout religious and human rights associations. They work for a more liberal Pakistan with less tolerance for terrorists. Among 183 million Pakistanis, religious minorities total just nine million. The biggest faiths among are Christians and Hindus, each of which accounts for less than two percent of the total population. Other faiths include Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Baha’is, Jews and Ahmadi Muslims. Shiite Muslims formulate up to about a quarter of Pakistanis, but they, too, find themselves gradually more victimized by leading Sunni Muslims. Despite the fact that Pakistan’s constitution gives assurance for freedom of religion. Reports of enforced conversions to Islam, abducting of non-Muslims, job inequity, and blasphemy imprisonments and demolishing of minority worship places have become every day’s news. - See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/targeting-of-religious-minorities-forgetting-pakistans-constitution/#sthash.4ffCmtZS.dpuf
Government of Pakistan Is Not providing Security for Witnesses In Shahbaz Bhatti Assassination Case
http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, Dr. Nazir S. Bhatti, articulated severe distress on not endowing enough safety to protect Akmal Bhatti, Sikander Bhatti and other key witnesses in Shahbaz Bhatti assassination case who got life threatening letters from forbidden outfits and similar arrived to office of Interior Minister of Government of Pakistan Choudhry Nisar Ali arguing for security to make sure justice is prevailed.
BALOCHISTAN: “I Have Lost My Health, Not My Courage”
Pakistan needs to be wary of Saudi intentions
After differences with the US over Syria, Egypt and Iran and an expected decline in petroleum profits, Saudi Arabia is looking towards east. After visiting Pakistan the Saudi Crown Prince is expected to visit India and Japan. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a number of MoUs. The significance of some is clear while that of others will manifest itself in days to come. There are issues over which the interests of Pakistan coincide with those of Riyadh. There are others where the interests conflict. Pakistan must jealously guard its national interests and agree to nothing, openly or secretly, that has the potential to harm Pakistan’s national interests. With US developing its shale oil reserves and a number of other countries following suit, they would depend less on petroleum inflows from the Kingdom, thus decreasing the Saudi ability to dictate the OPEC oil prices. Saudi Arabia can thus no more depend on entirely oil revenues. It is therefore looking for more sources of revenue including investments abroad. The country has already made investments in Near East and is trying to discover possible avenues of investment in countries like Pakistan, India and Japan. Here the interests of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia converge. There is however little possibility of any large scale private sector investment from the Kingdom as long as terrorist activities continue and power and gas remain scarce. What remains to be seen is if Saudi government will agree to make big investments in Pakistan. Currently whatever trade Pakistan has with Saudi Arabia is skewed in favour of the later. Will the two countries devise ways to reduce the imbalance? There is a perception that if the Kingdom transfers only a fraction of its funds invested in the western banks, the country would be rid of some of its forex headaches. Saudi Arabia is keen to reach an understanding with Pakistan on regional security. This is a tricky subject. It must have come up during COAS Raheel Sharif’s Saudi visit. On Monday the Crown Prince had yet another meeting with Gen Sharif and CJCSC Gen Mahmud. While Riyadh is free to hold whatever views it likes about Turkey and Iran, no regional security arrangement at the cost of Turkey or Iran will be in Pakistan’s interest which has good relations with both. Similarly Pakistan must in no way be a part of meddling in Arab conflicts and decline to offer any support in suppressing the dissent in the Arab lands. Pakistan may sell weapons to any country but has to refrain from becoming a party in any conflict in the region under whatsoever slogan. Pakistan and Saudia are sovereign countries. It is facetious to maintain, as Defence Minister Khwaja Asif has done, that the defence of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the same thing.Casting around for allies
Pakistan: Former President Asif Ali Zardari condemns killing of 23 FC personnel
Former President Asif Ali Zardari has denounced the assassination of over 20 kidnapped troops by a group of Taliban as “most barbaric, coward and inhuman”. “The admission by a faction of the militants has exposed once again the real intentions of the savage people”, he said in a statement today. The TTP Mohmand Agency last night formally admitted to killing nearly two dozen soldiers of Frontier Corps in June 2010. It is hoped that in the fullness of time perpetrators of such heinous crimes will be brought to justice and they will have no place to escape, he said. The former President also expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for those martyred. Those who were assassinated by the militants in cold blood are our martyrs and the heroes of the nation, he said adding their sacrifices will not go in vain.http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/
Pakistan: Two Karachi TV channels come under grenade attacks
Offices of two private TV channels located near Guru Mandir and Mazar-e-Quaid came under grenade attacks on Monday evening, however, no casualties resulted in the separate incidents.
According to sources, unknown assailants lobbed a hand grenade at the office of Aaj TV, which damaged its entrance without causing any casualties. Ball bearings were also recovered from the site of the blast.
In a similar incident, a cracker was hurled at the office of Waqt News near Mazar-e-Quaid which failed to go off. Police rushed to the spot and collected the evidence.
The attacks on the offices of media outlets drew strong condemnation from various political parties, journalists’ organizations and others.
Iran 'may send forces to Pakistan' after capture of guards
Iran's interior minister has warned it may send forces into Pakistan if it does not act to free five Iranian border guards seized 10 days ago.
The men are thought to have been taken into Pakistan after being captured in Iran's Sistan Baluchistan region.
Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli demanded that Islamabad treat the case "strongly and seriously" and "take the necessary measures" to secure their release.
The Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl has said it was behind their capture.
The group has posted what it said were photographs of the guards, bound and being held in an unknown location.
A video broadcast by al-Arabiya TV on Friday purportedly showed one of the men, Sgt Jamshyd Danaifard, saying they were "safe and sound".
He added that Jaish al-Adl wanted the Iranian authorities to exchange 300 Sunni prisoners in Iran and its close ally Syria for the guards.
'New security sphere'
The day after the capture of the guards on 8 February, the Iranian foreign ministry reportedly summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to demand that Islamabad "act firmly against the leaders and members of the terrorist group who have fled into Pakistan".
On Monday, Mr Rahmani-Fazli told state TV that Iran had "asked Pakistan to deal with the issue strongly and seriously".
Otherwise, he said, Pakistan must "allow Iran to maintain the security of the region deep on Afghanistan and Pakistan soil".
"We are expecting a proper and precise answer. Otherwise we do consider it our own right to intervene and create a new security sphere for our safety."
The Isna news agency reported separately that an Iranian delegation had travelled to Pakistan on Monday to try to secure the guards' release.
The deputy chief-of-staff of Iran's armed forces meanwhile told the Fars news agency that "political and military measures are under way to set them free".
Sistan Baluchistan, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been the scene of frequent clashes in recent years between Iranian security forces and drug smugglers and Sunni rebel groups.
In October, Jaish al-Adl said it was behind the killing of 14 Iranian border guards and the capture of three others in Sistan Baluchistan.
The authorities in the provincial capital, Zahedan, responded by hanging 16 people they claimed were "linked to groups hostile to the regime".
In November, Jaish al-Adl shot dead a local prosecutor and his driver. The next month, a bomb blast killed three Revolutionary Guards.
Dictator Zia’s Pakistan
By Kahar Zalmay Bhutto was a symbol of modernity; Zia represented darkness and made Pakistan an entity of hatred where only Muslims of a certain school of thought could live, and where the more illogical one is, the more acceptance and appreciation one receives.Seeing young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spearheading the two-weeks long Sindh Festival is refreshing but is this effort enough to revive a Sindhi culture that historically has promoted peace, harmony and diversity among the residents of Sindh, irrespective of differences in faith? In his promotional video speech, Bilawal Bhutto said that the culture was in danger and expeditious acts were needed to protect it. “The Sindh Festival will make us aware of our existence. The heritage was under threat and the festival is an effort to protect it,” he said. However, it is not just Sindhi culture that is in danger; Pashtun, Baloch and Punjabi cultures are in danger too after Zia’s tyrannical 11-year-rule. There is little doubt that after the demise of General Zia, Pakistan remains clearly divided between two distinct blocks, one associating itself with Bhutto, the other linked with Zia. The block representing Zia is gradually taking hold of Pakistan while the space for Bhutto’s mindset is shrinking. The recent threat from the Taliban to the peaceful Kalash community in Chitral to convert to Islam or prepare for elimination, or their stopping students in Peshawar University from celebrating Valentine’s Day instead of haya (modesty) day, are manifestations of that disturbing reality. The incessant attacks on Shias, Hindus and Ahmedis in Pakistan indicate that people belonging to Zia’s block hold the strings of our lives in their hands and that the militancy and religious extremism nurtured by Zia are making it impossible for people of other faiths or free thinkers (like me) to live in Pakistan. It seems that the sunlight is receding and the shadows are increasing in this God forsaken country. The words ‘liberal’ and ‘secular’ have become gaalis (insults) in Pakistan. A good example of the dominance of Zia’s followers is the weakness of Bhutto’s own party on the small matter of unblocking access to the popular video sharing website YouTube, where it could not take on the radical elements belonging to Zia’s block. Who could foresee in the time of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that one day his own liberal party, after forming the government, would feel so weak and powerless against the forces of darkness that it would dither in its decision to unblock the website? The PPP also failed to stand up for Salmaan Taseer when he was singled out by the media and religious forces for defending a woman accused of blasphemy. The constant media coverage awarded to Maulana Abdul Aziz, the man responsible for the killing of dozens of innocent people in the Red Mosque incident, is another reminder that Zia’s forces are dominating the mainstream discourse. Bhutto was a symbol of modernity; Zia represented darkness and made Pakistan an entity of hatred where only Muslims of a certain school of thought could live, and where the more illogical one is, the more acceptance and appreciation they receive. He turned Pakistan into a laboratory of Islam, the kind that religious forces dreamed of: a laboratory that is under the control of militant groups and their sympathisers, who silence any voice remotely connected with modernity and liberalism. What crime did hundreds of Hazara Shias commit that they were killed by the scores in Quetta? What crime did Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti and others commit that they were killed? Meanwhile, Salmaan Taseer’s killer was garlanded with flowers, not by people in the tribal belt, but by people in Rawalpindi, in the heart of Pakistan. The armed groups — the Sipahs and Lashkars — are so numerous that at times it feels like we have outsourced security matters to them. When I see campaigns and banners demanding Jinnah’s Pakistan, I ask myself: is today’s Pakistan not, in fact, Jinnah’s Pakistan, despite the confusion and disorientation of the founding leadership? The leadership lacked a clear vision of what kind of Pakistan it wanted: a theocratic state or a liberal democratic state, of the kind Jinnah advocated in his speech just before the birth of Pakistan. Unfortunately, his decision to declare Urdu the national language gave the oppressors a tool that set the ground for alienation and separation. The language was later used by the Punjabi dominated ruling elite — led by Pakistan’s military — against the smaller ethnicities like the Pashtuns and Baloch. What could be more ironic than the fact that the millions who were uprooted from their villages, cities, their hearths and homes, their friends and dreams, the people who actually steered the Pakistan movement, are, to this day, called Mohajir and more derogatively Biharis? Because of the poor vision and shortsightedness of our founding fathers, in our first constitutional document, the Objectives Resolution set the foundations of a state that would later embrace a particular group of oppressors like Zia who left no stone unturned in their quest to shrink the space for people belonging to other sects and religions, and free thinkers. Bhutto can never be more relevant than today. When I say Bhutto I do not refer to the person of Bhutto or his party but the philosophy of modernity, liberalism and secular beliefs that existed in pre-Zia Pakistan. With the arrival of Zia, shadows descended on Pakistan. If change is the only constant in nature, then the time for change has come. What the shrinking majority of Pakistan wants is the Pakistan of Bhutto, clear in its direction and outlook, a modern, democratic and secular Pakistan that is, unfortunately, losing its ground to the onslaught of Zia’s followers and sympathisers.
Bilawal Bhutto condemns killing of 23 FC personnel
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Patron in Chief, Pakistan Peoples Party has strongly condemned the reported brutal killings of 23 soldiers of Frontier Constabulary in Mohmand Agency by TTP terrorists and termed it an open challenge to the entire nation and its security forces. In a press statement issued here, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said a handful of individuals and Taliban apologists are trying to push our country into terrorist hands and such massacres of nation’s brave soldiers are an eye-opener for all those who love this land and its people. “It is time to react instead of regret,” as Pakistan, its people and security forces are under attack from the disguised enemy and our very sovereignty for which our past generations sacrificed is at stake. PPP Patron in Chief said some people are out to misguide the nation by appeasing terrorists and rubbing salt on the wounds of the victims of terror. He said Pakistan, Pakistanis and all their institutions have to become one and up against the terrorists and their patrons before everything is wiped out. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari sympathized with the families of victim soldiers adding that being himself son of terror victim he feels their pain in complete solidarity.
PPP Human Rights Cell demands Government’s response to Taliban threat to minorities
The PPP Human Rights Cell has urged the Government to respond forcefully to the threats given to the Kalash and the Ismaili community in Chitral by the TTP and to take every step to protect the valley from the Taliban incursions. This was stated by Dr Nafisa Shah, Central Coordinator of the PPP Human Rights Cell. “This threat of attack must be deemed a threat to Pakistan, and core values in Pakistan’s constitution which ensures protection of its citizens particularly the religious minorities. It is the government’s responsibility to protect life and property of citizens – the threat on an entire community which is already vulnerable is a grave matter” she stated. Dr Nafisa Shah further added that it was also surprising that despite repeated bloody attacks in all the major urban centres by the Taliban and their proxies, the government was continuing talks as if it was business as usual. It seems that in the eyes of the ruling elite the blood of the citizens is cheap and that the government has no counterterrorism strategy to protect the 180million people of Pakistan, the Human Rights Cell Coordinator added. The PPP Human Rights cell also criticized the electronic media for glamourising Taliban apologists and those representing their viewpoint and for providing them with space to rationalize their evil war against the country and its citizens stating that this was an insult to the thousands of our people who had lost their lives to terrorism.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Bilawal Bhutto’s courage
Bilawal Bhutto Speech at Sindh Festival by abbtakktv That message was further driven home by Bilawal’s speech at the closing ceremony of the Festival in Thatta. The speech threw down the gauntlet to the Taliban, the threat to Bilawal and his family notwithstanding. No one can deny, whatever their other differences with the PPP, that the party, and in particular the Bhutto family, have played a big role in the resistance to the reactionary forces in our society. In that endeavour, the party’s cadres, and first and foremost the Bhutto family, have rendered tremendous sacrifices of life and security for the sacred cause of preventing the forces of darkness sweeping all that is good and healthy in our society into a cesspool of extremism, narrowness, theological dictatorship of the Taliban, and, as Bilawal put it, drag the country back into the Stone Age by misusing the name of Islam. Bilawal made a passionate appeal to the country to rise against the Taliban plan to impose their narrow ideology by force. Bilawal ‘advised’ the Taliban not to cross the limits, try to teach Islam to the sons and daughters of Babul (gateway of) Islam and understand that they would have to follow the constitution. Dialogue, he said, was always an option, but from a position of strength, not weakness. Since the Taliban are fighting us, we will have to beat them on the battlefield, he argued. Their attacks, he pointed out, were not confined to North Waziristan, they were attacking us as far afield as Karachi. Bilawal pledged that he would like to eliminate the Taliban from Pakistan. Everybody in the country should just admit that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an enemy driven by the lust for blood and they have no interest in peace, despite the show of participating indirectly in the peace talks. Despite this obvious truth, Bilawal expressed surprise at some parties’ continuing insistence on holding talks with such deadly enemies. “Every drop of blood being sacrificed by the public and the nation’s brave armed forces is creating unity and consensus that beasts can never be lured through roses and they need to be responded to in the same language,” he added. Showing sympathy for and solidarity with the bereaved families of terrorism’s victims, he said he shared their pain since he too had lost his mother in the nation’s war for survival. Rounding off his address, Bilawal once again reiterated that the solution lay not in a dialogue with the terrorists but military operations to root them out. Since the start of 2014, 130 people have been killed. This has brought pressure to bear on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government for the lack of a strong response to rising acts of terrorism. The government, despite paying lip service to the ‘other’ option, so far has put all its eggs in the basket of negotiations. In its own interest, it must tread carefully that this so far one-sided approach does not end up leaving all that egg on its face if the talks do not succeed in restoring peace and the government is found wanting for not having a strategy to fall back on. En route home from Turkey, the prime minister said the government was sincere, but violence must stop to allow the peace talks a chance. He also dispelled the speculation that the military was not one with the government on its talks strategy. While Bilawal clearly spelt out his view and that of the enlightened amongst us in Thatta, the maulvis (clerics) were at their obfuscatory best once again in the ulema convention in Islamabad. The path ahead has been lit by Bilawal. It is for us to take up that banner and march forward.`
Balochistan still at risk of poliovirus circulation: WHO
Educating Balochistan
If there is one certain way to impede development, it is to deny education to a population. It was Alexander Pope who, in his 1709 work An essay on Criticism, who wrote: ”A little learning is a dangerous thing.” This was later paraphrased into ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’.The Express Tribune
Bilawal Bhutto appreciates Alif Ailaan for promoting literacy
At a briefing on the state of education in Sindh, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Patron in Chief, Pakistan Peoples Party said that he will put his own shoulder to the wheel for bringing about a revolution in the education sector to achieve national goals. None of the targets are easy to achieve, he said, but added that this is one issue the province and party leadership have committed to reform as a key priority.http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/
Bankrupt Pakistani Banks on Drugs Trade for Funds
http://www.newindianexpress.com/While New Delhi has been improving the infrastructure for expanding trade with Pakistan across the Wagah-Attari land border, a new source of concern has emerged in trade across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. There are presently two check posts across which cross-LoC trade occurs. These are at the Poonch-Rawalkot checkpoint in Jammu region and the Uri-Muzaffarabad checkpoint in Kashmir Valley. A truck carrying 100 kg of heroin (brown sugar) from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was intercepted by Indian authorities in the third week of January at the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre in the Uri sector. The estimated value of the brown sugar seized is Rs 100 crore. When New Delhi impounded the heroin and filed charges against the driver, Islamabad reacted astonishingly. It prevented 26 trucks from the Indian side from returning across the LoC and also refused to permit the return of 47 trucks from the Indian side. Islamabad asserted that India had no right to prevent return of the impounded truck or to arrest its driver. This is a novel feature of Pakistan diplomacy, virtually demanding diplomatic immunity for drivers involved in drug smuggling. While cross-LoC travel was restored soon, Pakistan remained adamant that trade could be resumed only if its outrageous demands were met. Another strange feature was that while the Indian delegation for talks to resolve the issue was led from the Indian side by the deputy commissioner Baramulla, Ghulam Ahmad Khwaja, the Pakistan side was led by Brigadier (Retired) Ismail Khan of the Pakistan Army, weirdly designated as ‘Director General of Trade and Investment’. What has emerged from these developments is that unlike elsewhere in the world, cross-LoC trade and investment in PoK is controlled not by civilian officials, but by a retired Pakistan Army officer, who reports not to the Foreign Office or Ministry of Commerce but to the GHQ in Rawalpindi. Hence, on this issue, it is the army and not the civil authority that calls the shots, leaving the country’s diplomats with the unenviable task of claiming virtual diplomatic immunity for a driver caught red-handed and charged with drug smuggling. This development should surprise no one who understands the link between the Pakistan military and the illicit drug trade. On September 23, 1994, the Washington Post had a detailed report written by Thomas Manton and Pakistani journalist and television anchor Kamran Khan. The report carried an interview that Nawaz Sharif gave them in May 1994, about the Pak Army’s involvement in drug smuggling. In this interview, Sharif who had just been ousted in his first term as PM by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, revealed that just after his election in 1990, his then army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and ISI Chief Lieutenant General Asad Durrani, told him that the army needed money for its covert programmes. It wanted to raise the money through large-scale drug deals. General Durrani added: “We have a blueprint (for drug smuggling) ready for your approval.” Dumbfounded by this proposal, Sharif remarked: “I was totally flabbergasted.” Earlier in 1992, a report by a consultant of the CIA stated: “Drug corruption had permeated all segments of Pakistan society,” adding that “drug kingpins were closely connected to the country’s institutions of power, including the President (Ghulam Ishaq Khan) and military intelligence.” Like in the early 1990s, Pakistan is today facing near bankruptcy. ISI needs money for covert operations in Afghanistan and India. Drug smuggling to and through India would in all likelihood be stepped up, especially given growing instances of drug addiction in Punjab. Assistance of Pakistan-linked groups like the Indian Mujahideen and organisations linked to Dawood Ibrahim could well be sought by the ISI. Monitoring at trade checkpoints along the LoC and international border will require substantial strengthening.
Taliban claim killing 23 abducted Pakistani soldiers
Taliban militants late Sunday night claimed to have killed 23 security personnel kidnapped in 2010 in the country's northwestern tribal region of Mohmand Agency, a leading Pakistani daily reported. The announcement was made by the Mohmand Agency Taliban chief Umar Khalid Khurrasani, who issued a letter on social media, saying the personnel of paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) were killed to avenge the custodial killing of Taliban fighters in various parts of the country, The Dawn reported. The letter, written in Urdu and attributed to Umar Khalid Khurrasani, says the Taliban had warned against the killings of their fighters. The claim of the Mohmand agency Taliban however could not be confirmed from any independent sources. There is also no confirmation of the incident from the political administration or the FC authorities. The Taliban letter and a video further claim that the release of Taliban prisoners is one of the main demands of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for agreeing to hold talks with the government. Analysts believe that Mohmand Taliban are a group which is not in favour of talks with the government and has always shown a rigid stance.
Bomb kills policeman as polio vaccination targeted in Peshawar
The Express Tribune NewsA bomb killed at least one policeman and wounded another during a vaccination campaign for polio and other diseases among children in Budhni area on the outskirts of Peshawar on Sunday, officials said. “The police team was being deployed in Budhni area before the start of the campaign when a remote controlled bomb exploded near their van, killing one police official and wounding another one,” local senior administration official Zaheerul Islam told AFP. A senior local police official, Faisal Mukhtar, confirmed the incident and casualties. Militant groups see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage, and there are also long-running rumours about polio drops causing infertility. More than 40 people including health workers and police officials providing security to the teams administering polio drops to children have been killed in Pakistan in different incidents of violence since December 2012. The latest campaign, which started early this month, will continue until April. It sees vaccinators go door-to-door every Sunday across Peshawar to administer drops to children for various diseases including polio, tuberculosis, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and hepatitis. Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. According to the World Health Organisation, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. The World Health Organisation has warned that Peshawar was the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio. The country’s failure to defeat polio stands in stark contrast to its neighbour and great rival India, which recently celebrated the eradication of polio three years after its last case.
Pakistan: Christian of Nazareth Colony Faisalabad under threat of Muslim mob attack
pakistanchristianpost.comThe thousands of Christian residents of Nazareth Colony fled from their homes when Muslims threaten to burn their homes and to kill them if Muslim girl who married a Christian boy shall not to hand over to them. A Muslim girl of Nazareth Colony neighborhood fell in love with a Christian boy and married him on which Muslim radicals of the area gathered and threatened to Christians to give back Muslim girl to her family to avoid attack on their homes after Friday prayers. The police moved in Nazareth Colony and registered case against Christian boy under sections of kidnapping and forced marriage. According to sources close to PCP, the police picked up two boys and father of the boy whom they tortured to confess involvement in kidnapping of the Muslim girl. The news also surfaced through sources of WVIP, one leading Human Right organization of Pakistan that Saleem Masih, father of Christian boy who married Muslim girl, was so severely tortured by police that he suffered heart attack and died. Mr. Bhatti who is District Reporter of "Daily Pakistan News" and Bureau Chief of Daily “Jinnah" visited Police station to ask about whole situation and about his two cousins who were arrested on being friend of Christian boy with whom Muslim girl married. The SHO told Mr. Bhatti that they kept these two boys for safety of Christian community to show extremists that they have kept these two boys to show extremist leaders that they have caught Christian people in prison. There are more than dozen cases in Pakistan every month when Christian girls are kidnapped and enforcedly converted to Islam and married to influential Muslim but police denies to register any case against Muslim kidnapers.
A journalist's story: The pain of being disabled in Pakistan
Al Jazeera
After losing both arms in a suicide attack, journalist Anser Abbas continues to work and push for peace.
Anser Abbas is a full-time journalist in Islamabad, having left his hometown of Dera Ismail Khan in northern Pakistan to earn a better livelihood - and escape the suicide attacks. As the Pakistani government mulls over peace talks with the Taliban, the cry, and need, for peace continues to get louder and more emphatic. No one values peace more than Abbas - he lost both arms, and 21 of his relatives, in a suicide attack six-years ago. Abbas is just one of 18 million handicapped or disabled people in Pakistan, according to the UN, but unlike the majority of those, he doesn't want charity or sympathy."I've never let a single negative thought enter my head, even when I was lying on the ground, my left arm a few metres away from me, and I could see my family and friends dying in front of me," Abbas told Al Jazeera. "I feel normal. What's happened has happened and nothing can be done about that. I knew that if I had given up lying in a pool of blood, I wouldn't have been able to survive. I follow that same principle now - optimism and trust in God is what is taking me forward." Family targeted Abbas had arrived at the hospital - where the suicide attack took place - to cover a story on targeted killings while working as a journalist. It was only later that he discovered the target this time was his relatives. After one family member was attacked and taken to the hospital, his relatives gathered there to check on the victim. That's when the Taliban struck again at the medical facility - a common tactic in the war for the enforcement of a strict interpretation of Islamic law throughout Pakistan. The majority of the 35 casualties were known to Abbas - cousins, uncles, childhood friends - and as they were buried side by side, the family was left shattered. Living in a country that looks down on disabled individuals, Abbas decided not to let his handicap meddle with his aims and dreams. He spent a few months on the hospital bed and became tired of doing the same at home, so even without his arms and hands he decided to use the computer and continue where he left off.
"I've never let a single negative thought enter my head, even when I was lying on the ground, my left arm a few metres away from me, and I could see my family and friends dying in front of me," Abbas told Al Jazeera. "I feel normal. What's happened has happened and nothing can be done about that. I knew that if I had given up lying in a pool of blood, I wouldn't have been able to survive. I follow that same principle now - optimism and trust in God is what is taking me forward." Family targeted Abbas had arrived at the hospital - where the suicide attack took place - to cover a story on targeted killings while working as a journalist. It was only later that he discovered the target this time was his relatives. After one family member was attacked and taken to the hospital, his relatives gathered there to check on the victim. That's when the Taliban struck again at the medical facility - a common tactic in the war for the enforcement of a strict interpretation of Islamic law throughout Pakistan. The majority of the 35 casualties were known to Abbas - cousins, uncles, childhood friends - and as they were buried side by side, the family was left shattered. Living in a country that looks down on disabled individuals, Abbas decided not to let his handicap meddle with his aims and dreams. He spent a few months on the hospital bed and became tired of doing the same at home, so even without his arms and hands he decided to use the computer and continue where he left off.Change of attitude Sheikh blamed a lack of effective planning at the school level for the behaviour, arguing that unless educational institutes were disability friendly, there is no hope. And the awareness should not stop at creating wheelchair ramps and toilets designed for the disabled. "You need to change people's attitude as well," Sheikh said. "You need to train teachers in those schools on how to handle children with disability. You then need to teach the other kids how to behave. If a disabled kid is being made fun of, why would he bother with anything? It is only after that you move on to interpreters, sign-language instructors, Braille and transport with disable access." The acceptance is very gradual, added Sheikh, but the training given by STEP - with CV writing, computer courses and leadership skills - is the need of the day. The media, he added, needs to take the first step. "You see dozens of political talk shows on TV every day, but has anyone thought of inviting an expert in a wheelchair, or getting a partially sighted person on the panel? When people with disability realise that society is accepting them, they may come out of their houses and live their lives normally." Abbas, too, is keen on helping and volunteers for an NGO to help people with disabilities, while also working on several projects pushing for peace in Pakistan. Other than the tens-of-thousands wounded, more than 1,560 civilians have been killed in attacks, most claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan , or its allies, since it was formed in 2007. "You can't impose peace, you just need to promote it," Abbas said.
Baluch Separatists Claim Deadly Pakistan Train Blast
http://www.rferl.org/The Associated Press quotes a spokesman for the separatist Baluch Republican Army as claiming responsibility for the blast in the Kashmore district. The spokesman said the attack was in response to what he alleged as killings by paramilitaries in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti region. The area where the explosion occurred is in Sindh Province, but adjoins Balochistan. Baluch separatist militants last week blew up three gas pipelines, cutting supplies to millions of Pakistani households. Balochistan sees chronic violence, with sectarian extremist, Islamist militant, separatist, and criminal groups all operating in the impoverished province.
Pakistan: Blast on railway track near Jacobabad kills 8 including 4 children
A remote-controlled bomb blast on a railway track near Jacobabad killed eight people including four children of the same family and injured at least 30 others, Express New reported on Sunday.
Three bogeys of Khushal Khan Khattak Express were derailed as a result of the blast.
The incident took place near Thul station and the train was going to Peshawar from Karachi.
According to an eyewitness, around 200 people were injured.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals for medical assistance. Three of the injured were reported to be in critical condition. Thul Civil Hospital, where most of the injured were taken for treatment, is 15 km from the site of the attack. Emergency was declared at the hospital.
Another bomb was found only 10 feet away from the blast site but Bomb Disposal Squad has not reached the site as yet.
Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique ordered an investigation into the explosion. He also asked General Manager railways Anjum Pervez to speed up the recovery work.
Rafique further asked the inspector general for a report on the blast. He also announced Rs0.5 million compensation money for the families of the deceased.
Pervez informed Express News that information centers were set up in Jacobabad, Sukkur and Lahore.
A relief train from Rohri was sent to the site of the explosion.
Bilawal Bhutto condemns Kashmore blast
http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/Patron-in-Chief of Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned the bomb blast targeting a passenger train near Kashmore which resulted into loss of several innocent human lives including four children while injuring many others. In a statement, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that those who killed innocent human beings in merciless violence were barbarians who deserved no mercy. He said that these elements were trying to destabilize the country through ferocity. Their subversive activities were highly condemnable. PPP Patron sympathized with the families of the victims and expressed solidarity with them. He also directed local party leadership to help the victims and ensure best possible medical treatment to those injured.
Injured Taliban blast victims inspire Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Patron in Chief, Pakistan Peoples Party visited the injured victims of Taliban bomb attack at PNS Shifa Hospital in Karachi to inquire about their health and observe their treatment.http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/
Pakistan: Talking amongst themselves
As this petty squabbling goes on in the palatial luxury of the state’s palaces, the merciless campaign of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks by the Taliban goes on unabated, killing and maiming innocent, ordinary peopleIt is rather surprising that the Taliban did not include Shahbaz Sharif or Rana Sanaullah, along with Imran Khan, in the list that would represent them in the ‘peace talks’ with the government. Although Imran Khan appreciated the gesture he could not go ahead to bat for the Taliban knowing well the futility of these peace talks that he has been peddling as a political rhetoric in a situation where the present state and system are so convolutedly involved in this game of changing loyalties and shared vested interests coming into conflict so intermittently. Imran’s inclusion in the Taliban committee was an embarrassment for his liberal petit bourgeois supporters, tarnishing his image of a moderniser. One outcome of this has been the unmasking of all grey smog, vagueness and confusion surrounding Imran and his ideological bearings, enabling more people to become aware of his real political/ideological grooming by Islamic bigots, mainly from the Jamaat-e-Islami. The much-hyped talks have begun in the full glare of numerous television shows, as if a miracle is about to occur. The government committee came out with the notion that the ‘talks’ would be held within the four corners of the constitution while the representatives of the Taliban call it a precondition in the talks that were supposed to be unconditional. In reality, the constitution of the committees in itself is a façade as the members of both so-called committees are from the religious right and ideologically belong to a tendency that has never gotten more than five percent votes, even in state-doctored election results. It is as if a reactionary minority section of the ruling elite’s representatives are talking amongst themselves, all in agreement with the implementation of sharia. The only difference is the interpretation and the version of it. And there are so many. The Jamaat-e-Islami, JUI and other mainstream religious parties have proclaimed the constitution to be in accordance with sharia and are demanding its full implementation. The other more hardcore sections are echoing the Taliban’s much harsher version to be implemented with the enthronement of Mullah Omer as amir-ul-momineen and Mullah Fazlullah as khalifa of the new Islamic Emirate of Pakistan. As this petty squabbling goes on in the palatial luxury of the state’s palaces, the merciless campaign of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks by the Taliban goes on unabated, killing and maiming innocent, ordinary people. This in itself is proof of the spuriousness and deceptive nature of these peace talks. This farcical exercise is even acknowledged by the serious strategists of imperialism and capitalism. In its latest issue, The Economist wrote with cynical scorn, “Pakistan suffers such relentless violence that any peace effort may seem worth a try...Nominees on both sides lack authority. The Taliban put forward rigid religious types yet none of them was a TTP member...Just possibly negotiations could start, though it remains unclear over what...But Pakistan’s chronic failing is precisely the state’s weak writ. Ceding more space to extremists would invite more violence not less...If talks go ahead, a breakdown remains a more likely conclusion than a breakthrough.” Most participants in these talks, despite their duplicitous statements of the talks ‘progressing positively’, are fully aware of the futility of this gimmickry. Abusing free airtime, these right wing fundamentalists are putting forward their own obscurantist agendas and building their political and personal clout. Some of these ‘negotiators’ are accused of heinous crimes against women. The burqa escape fame mullah of Lal Masjid, a protégé of vicious dictator Ziaul Haq, instigated brutal violence and psychological terror in Islamabad with his women vigilante brigades enforcing their sharia through venomous pogroms against women. The huge cache of armoury recovered from Lal Mosque after the operation spoke volumes about the intent and the extreme reactionary mindset of this creed of despotic clergy. If all these reactionary committeemen are to decide the lifestyle of society and impose draconian laws on the personal and private life of individuals, it is tantamount to pushing back society to pre-medieval times of ignorance and barbarity. The continuum of terrorist attacks during the talks has shattered the fabricated myth, so much in vogue with the media, the state agencies and political elite that the Taliban are a united, centralised and organised whole. These terrorist outfits, warlords and fundamentalist sects continually split, change loyalties and become friends or adversaries. All this is taking place in pursuit of criminal activities and the massive amounts of black money, which runs in billions of dollars and has attained a size twice that of Pakistan’s formal economy. These groups also have links with global and regional imperialist powers that finance, buy and use them for their own vested interests in this region. In a recent television interview, one of Pakistan’s most shrewd politicians Maulana Fazlur Rehman spilled the beans when he said, “The key to the fate of these talks lies in the GHQ” of the Pakistan army. He also asserted that he thought preparations were being made for a major operation by sections of the military’s top brass. The US imperialists manufactured the dollar jihad in the late 1970s. It was the CIA’s biggest covert operation ever. The intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia recruited these religious fanatics and gave logistical support to this counterrevolutionary insurgency against Afghanistan’s Saur revolution of 1978. Heroin production and criminal networks were set up to finance this jihad. This created a parallel economy, which has grown at a rate of nine percent per year. Around this massive black economy these Islamic outfits have developed vested interests that come into conflict more than often. This rogue economy has created rogue warlords and fanatic vigilantes that are now being termed Taliban. Such is the complexity of this internecine conflict that it has turned into a war of attrition that is out of control of the mentors of these fundamentalist groupings. It is next to impossible to tame or unite these Frankenstein monsters by the present rotting system. Neither is capitalism in any position to develop these areas, industrialise them and create jobs for the youth. So, if the Taliban access to easy earnings through terrorist activities ceases, how will they survive? The bosses of these terrorist groups use this muscle power to blackmail, extort and indulge in crime with huge turnovers. Without the elimination of the economic infrastructure of jihad or terrorism, it is only a deception and delusion of ending this conflagration through ‘peace talks’ or a military operation. Pakistan’s existence depends on this economic cycle set in motion by black money and corruption. How can a state and a system deeply tangled and indulging in this orgy of blood and money ever eradicate it?
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