India- Pakistan: War Is Won, But Battle Goes On – OpEd

By Manoj Joshi

It is said that Indians pass off myth for history, while the Chinese mythologise their history.

It is not surprising that both subcontinental cousins share the trait when it comes to the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Pakistan has long celebrated September 6 as Defence of Pakistan (Yaum-e-Difa) Day. This was the day when, it says, it defended itself against the Indian Army that had been launched on three axes towards Lahore.

For this myth to take life, they gloss over Operation Gibraltar, the attack on Kashmir by thousands of irregulars on August 5, and Operation Grand Slam of September 1 where Pakistan’s six armoured divisions came close to cutting the highway connecting Jammu to Poonch.

The Indian myths are only being unveiled now, when the government has decided on a large-scale celebration of the event.

A celebration implies an achievement, but truth be told, the Indian performance during the 1965 war was just a shade better than that of Pakistan. And in that was our victory.

This is what the commander of the main effort, Lt Gen Harbakhsh, had to say about the main thrust to Lahore that faltered on day one itself, largely due to incompetent leadership of the division and its brigades.

Surprise attack

On September 6, XI Corps launched a surprise attack at 4am, which led to the crossing of the Ichhogil canal and the capture of the Bata shoe factory on the outskirts of Lahore by 11am. But the senior commanders could not cope with the situation, and ordered a withdrawal to the east bank of the canal by that evening.

Despite XI Corps capturing some 140 sq miles of land, and crippling Pakistan’s 1st armoured division at Khem Karan, Singh says it was “a sickening repetition of command failures leading the sacrifice of a series of cheap victories.”

The performance of India’s premier I Corps, built around the 1st armoured division, was no less disappointing. I Corps captured 200 sq miles of territory and destroyed a great deal of Pakistani armour. But it did not deliver what it was meant to – a decisive battlefield victory.

“With the exception of a few minor successes… the operational performance was virtually a catalogue of lost victories.” Singh praised the performance of units like the Poona Horse, but was harsh in his judgment of the higher commanders.

Harbakhsh’s third corps – the XV Corps, which then, as now, looks after Kashmir – fared better. It gained an unambiguous victory in capturing the Haji Pir Pass and in defeating Operation Gibraltar. However, it was battered by the surprise attack launched by Pakistan in the Chamb sector on September 1.

India also launched an offensive in the Rajasthan sector with a view of tying down Pakistani forces in Sind. But the plan was poorly conceived and executed. There was no joint planning, leave alone coordination, between the air force and the army. This led to the Lahore fiasco when Pakistani air strikes disrupted the Indian offensive on September 6.

Despite seeing action on September 1 in Chamb, the IAF was unprepared for the strike on September 6 when the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) destroyed 13 aircraft in a raid on Pathankot, including two new MiG-21s.

Similar raids found the IAF station Kalaikunda in the east unawares, leading to the destruction of eight aircraft on the ground.

Shoddy intelligence

Intelligence was equally shoddy. India failed to pick up the fact that the Pakistanis had surreptitiously raised an additional armoured division, and the IAF could not locate PAF aircraft in East Pakistan.

There are, of course, bigger questions. Indian accounts claim that there was no plan to capture Lahore. If not, then why were three divisions thrown at it?

And if the plan was to just carry out shallow attrition attacks, it nearly came a cropper in Khem Karan when Pakistan launched its 1st armoured division in a bid to reach the Beas bridge that would have cut off Amritsar. Fortunately, they were trapped at Asal Uttar and defeated.

Biggest blunder

Perhaps the biggest blunder India made was to terminate the war when it did by accepting the UN mandated ceasefire on September 22nd, which also happened to be the date in which the Chinese ultimatum expired.

While these were important considerations, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri wanted to know from Army chief JN Chaudhuri whether India could gain any great victory if it continued to fight.

In his typically offhand style, the general declared that India had run out of ammunition and it would be okay to accept the ceasefire. But later it was found out that only 14 per cent of the front line ammunition had been used and the number of tanks India still had was double that of Pakistan.

We can still be proud of the bravery and grit of our fighting men in 1965, but we can only pray that the higher management of our armed forces has improved.

Pakistan - Imran Khan versus the ECP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan seems to have forced the Election Commission of Pakistan into ceding its position after the PTI threatened to start a dharna – yet again – outside the ECP offices on October 4. Neither Imran nor the ECP seem to have had the larger interests of the country in mind during this entire affair, letting ego come in the way of prudent politics and decision-making. Issuing his dharna warning, Imran had said that only a mad man would contest elections under the current ECP composition. His party has also filed a reference in the Supreme Judicial Council to de-seat the ECP members. After Imran’s latest threat, the ECP called an emergency meeting on Saturday where, as per reports, three of the four ECP members decided to tender their resignations. Whatever the details of the meeting, there are questions over why the ECP members are resigning so late after having stood their ground for so long. The demand had been made immediately after the Judicial Commission report which confirmed a number of procedural errors on the part of the ECP. If the ECP members were to resign, this principled position could have been taken without any criticism immediately after the JC. Now, the entire affair leaves us with little clarity and many questions.

Why did the ECP members choose to stand their ground for so long only to resign now? The ECP could have easily agreed to resign when both the PTI and PPP made the joint demand. The late decision to resign leaves a number of questions about the upcoming local bodies elections and by-elections to the National Assembly. First, it will take the government and opposition quite some time to appoint new members to the ECP. Given the pressure being put by the PTI it is likely that Imran will put up another set of hurdles. This means that the entire process is likely to delay the elections for at least another few months. While the ECP is to blame for the original irregularities in the elections and then delaying resolving this issue, Imran has also come across as someone not interested in letting things move forward smoothly. The election process looks to have lost more credibility due to Imran Khan’s varying stance. The ECP’s performance is already under scrutiny and the reforms needed in the electoral system have become glaringly obvious to all. That said, the tradition of political parties taking on an autonomous body whose duty it is to conduct elections in the country also sets in place a precedent that could lead to more complications in the future. What is important now is that for the future the ECP corrects the weaknesses that have been exposed in recent days and ensures these do not mar polling in the future. Only a transparent, above-board and professionally sound performance by the ECP will ensure continuity of the democratic process, accepted and followed by all stakeholders.

#WeStandWithAsifZardari: Asif Zardari warns Nawaz Sharif against reverting to the politics of 90’s

Co-Chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party and the former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has said that Mian Nawaz Sharif is repeating the politics of 1990’s. We accepted the results of 2013 General Elections for the sake of democracy, although those elections were RO’s elections. The decisions just announced by the Tribunals have proved our point that the PML-N received outside help and was made to win the elections.
In a statement issued from London today the former President said that at a time when our innocent citizens were being killed by indiscriminate bombing in border villages by the enemy; when Pakistani Army is fighting a decisive war against the terrorists and also fighting at our borders, Mian Nawaz Sharif, instead of challenging the real enemy, is targeting Peoples Party and other political opponents.
The former President said that the steps being taken by the government clearly indicates that they are dividing the nation in an attempt to save their natural allies Taliban and the terrorists and weaken the war against terror.
Asif Ali Zardari said that Pakistan People’s Party stands fully with the Army in the ongoing war against terrorism. We salute our jawans who gave ultimate sacrifice in this war.
He said that first Qasim Zia and son of Senator Bangash were arrested and now Dr Asim has been arrested. Immediately after that warrants for arrest for the former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Makhdoom Amin Fahim who is ill has also been issued. Bureaucrats in Sindh are being harassed by the FIA and NAB. The Chief Secretary of Sindh is on bail. All this unmistakably presents a clear pattern of political harassment and revenge, he said By doing so Sindh has been immobilized, under the direct orders from the Prime Minister House.
Former President of Pakistan said that in Punjab a video surfaced in which a Provincial minister Rana Mushhood is seen receiving money on behalf of Mian brothers, but he has not yet been arrested.
Asif Zardari said that Pakistan Peoples Party is a party of fearless followers who cannot be defeated by the threat of executions, lashing or imprisonment.
It seems that Nawaz Sharif has not learnt any lessons from the past. We are not the ones who fled to Jeddah after seeking pardon. The nation very well knows that the ‘honor’ of applying for pardon by any politician in the country only belongs to Mian Nawaz Sharif.
He said that today Mian Nawaz Sharif is the Prime Minister of the country and Mian Shahbaz Sharif is the Chief Minister of Punjab only because of the Peoples Party. It was the Peoples Party which removed ban from becoming Prime Minister or the Chief Minister for the third time– although it was evident to us that it will only serve the interests of Mian Brothers.
Asif Zardari warned that the politics of revenge should immediately be stopped otherwise it will produce disastrous consequences.
He said that actions being taken by the federal agencies in Sindh are clear violation of the Constitution. If they want to conduct fair accountability, they should first take action against a Federal Minister who has given a confessional statement before a magistrate that he has been involved in money-laundering for the Sharif-brothers. Only then we will know how clean the followers of the N-league are.
He demanded that the report of Justice Najafi on Model Town killing should be made public and all involved in this gruesome murder of innocent people be arrested. He also demanded that all characters involved in the Asghar Khan Case should also be apprehended.
The former President asked that those who killed 14 people, including women in the Model Town tragedy, aren’t they terrorists? Why they are not being arrested? He said that this dark night of injustice will end very soon.

#WeStandWithAsifZardari: Mian Manzoor Wattoo says Asif Ali Zardari’s statement represents sentiments of PPP rank & file & nation

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While welcoming the statement of the former President, Asif Ali Zardari, Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President PPP Punjab, said here today that the Co-Chairman has perfectly represented the sentiments of the PPP rank and file and the people of Pakistan. He stated this in a statement issued from here today.

He regretted that while the nation was united against terrorism and extremism and standing behind the army whereas the government was dividing the nation by unleashing the political victimization of the political opponents.

He added that Nawaz Sharif was repeating the history of ninety adding he had not learnt any thing from the past mistakes that reflected his mindset that was not prone to appreciating the realities of practical politics so far as the domestic politics was concerned.

He said that Pakistan’s all time enemy, India, was killing the innocent people of Pakistan and the government had turned it guns towards the political opponents instead towards the enemy of the country residing across the boarders.

He observed that it was easy to form a government with majority after doubtful mandate but to run the government without the co-operation of the opposition political parties was not possible. It is a matter of ordinary prudence and the rulers should appreciate it instead of disapproving it, he added.

He pointed out that the nation was facing the existential threat emanating within and without and the government should pay full attention to forge unity in the nation instead of sowing the seeds of disunity to the disadvantage of democracy and the war against terrorism. Such coarse of action is bound to raise the question regarding sense of proportion of the rulers, he added.

He maintained that Nawaz Sharif had not learnt lesson from the mistakes because he was reverting to the politics of political victimization of ninety’s. He is the biggest enemy of his own government and his actions tantamount to repeating the history instead of re-writing the same, he commented.

Pakistan - Protecting minorities

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) organised a seminar evocatively titled “Qabza, Qatl, Muqadma” (Land grabbing, Murder, Justice) to demand the redressal of illegal occupation of lands belonging to the minority communities. The title succinctly captures the precarious situation of minority groups in Pakistan, where their property is stolen from them, their lives are constantly in danger and the justice system only makes them jump through hoops in vain. Needless to say, the issue of illegal land occupation is broadly contextualised in the larger milieu of intolerance, degrading of non-Muslims and general corruption at a bureaucratic and investigative level. As the seminar attendees mentioned, the toxic land mafia finds it that much easier to exploit weak legislation and ineffective policing to take over lands either allotted or outright belonging to religious minority groups because of the aforementioned culture of contempt for minorities. ETPB demanded a rectification in the relevant Illegal Possession Act so that loopholes are not exploited by powerful land grabbers, and for that end they are setting up a committee headed by a former judge to make practical recommendations that will be presented to the Senate and National Assembly. To their credit, the government, as claimed by Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid, intends to consider and implement the recommendations of the ETPB committee and furthermore is taking steps to computerise land records with the cooperation of the land revenue departments, thereby lessening the influence of corrupt patwaris.

While these steps and stated intentions are indeed welcome and the role of ETPB in trying to safeguard the interests of the minorities’ properties under its purview is to be commended, the hope for meaningful reform remains slight. The perceptive title of the seminar reveals this truth, and optimism is dampened when the overall milieu is once again brought into focus, as illegal occupation of minorities’ properties, which include residence colonies, graveyards and places of worship, is facilitated by easily abused laws. It is imperative to make attempts to transform the hateful culture that promotes insecurity of life, liberty and property for non-Muslims. Delayed justice is once again a societal level problem and it does not seem likely that a single-issue committee has the ambit or wherewithal to implement any effective change in the judicial system. In the same vein, the bid to digitise records is also a semi-herculean endeavour, and can only happen over multiple years and that too without any guarantee that this process will not be influenced unduly by the land mafia groups and patwaris on the ground. Serious political will and continued pressure by civil society members are the only way to climb this steep mountain. 

Pakistan - Samosa Vendor's Son Tops Pakistan Exam

A son of a samosa vendor in Pakistan has secured the top position in Class 12 examination, a media report said on Monday.

Shah Faisal, like his father, sells samosas - a fried snack with a savoury filling.

His hard work and love for education turned him into a brilliant student, The News International reported.

Mr Faisal has got himself enrolled for System Engineering program in the Peshawar University but lack of funds remains a barrier for him.

After returning from college, Mr Faisal sells samosas with his father.

Mr Faisal has appealed to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government to get him a scholarship in the Peshawar University.

Gunmen attack remote #Pakistan airport, kill two engineers

Gunmen stormed a remote airport in troubled southwestern Pakistan before dawn on Sunday, killing two engineers and destroying the facility's radar system, authorities said.

No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Jewani airport in Balochistan province, which is fighting separatist insurgents as well as various other militants.

The airport is in the province's Gwadar district, home to a strategic port of the same name that is key to a planned $46 billion China-Pakistan economic corridor linking the port to China's far-western Xinjiang district.

About a dozen armed men on motorcycles were involved in the attack, said provincial government spokesman Jan Muhammad Buledi.

"They entered the control room at about 3:30 a.m. and set it on fire," said a senior police official in the province.

He said one man was killed, one wounded and a third engineer was abducted.

The body of the abducted engineer was later found in nearby mountains on Sunday afternoon, police said.

Flights have not been running to Jewani airport since Pakistan International Airlines, the state carrier, suspended service several years ago.

However, civil aviation workers continued to use airport's radar and navigational systems to aid aircraft flying over the area.

An official with the Civil Aviation Authority said later on Sunday that back-up systems already in place meant there was no disruption to international air traffic.

Last year, Pakistani Taliban fighters staged a stunning attack on the international airport in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, killing 34 people in a five-hour battle before authorities killed the militants.

US national security advisor warns Pakistan on recent militant attacks

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned Pakistani political and military leaders on Sunday that recent attacks in Afghanistan by militants based in Pakistan threaten regional security, an official said.

Rice also delivered an invitation from President Barack Obama for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit the United States in October, the U.S. National Security Council said.

The meetings came at a tense time for Pakistan's relations with neighbors Afghanistan and archrival India, along with uncertainty over whether the United States will release $300 million in military aid to Pakistan.

Media reports have suggested the money could be held back if the United States determines Pakistan is not doing enough to combat the Haqqani network, accused of some of the deadliest attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

A senior U.S. official who briefed reporters in Islamabad said Rice brought up this month's rash of attacks that killed more than 50 people in the Afghan capital as an example of how militants based in Pakistan continue to destabilize much of South Asia.

"We think a series of recent deadly attacks in Kabul were perpetrated by the Haqqani network," the official said.

"This is absolutely unacceptable," the official added.

The Haqqani network was described as a "veritable arm" of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency - Pakistan's powerful military spy wing - by the then-chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2011.

Pakistan denies supporting the Haqqani network, an Islamist movement loosely allied with both the Afghan Taliban and al Qaida.

The latest Kabul attacks came after the revelation of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's death two years ago, which derailed nascent peace talks initially hosted byPakistan between the Taliban and the Western-backed government in Kabul.

Militant attacks have "developed into a key point of regional friction. Addressing this challenge will be imperative for Pakistan's relations with its neighbor and with Washington," the U.S. official said.

Rice met with powerful military chief General Raheel Sharif as well as local political activists during her two-day visit to Islamabad.

She urged Pakistan to end escalating tension with arch-rival India, who canceled planned peace talks last weekend. Nine people were killed during an exchange of fire on Friday along a disputed border.

Prime Minister Sharif's office on Sunday hailed Rice's visit and said Rice "expressed deep appreciation" for the cooperation the allies have had in combating radical Islamist militancy.

Pakistan's military has been waging an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban and its radical Islamist allies in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, since last year.

Some have questioned whether the Haqqani network's key leaders had been allowed to leave ahead of the assault.

Pakistan - PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto reaches Karachi after successful Punjab visit

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Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has on Sunday reached Karachi along with Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari after his successful Punjab visit.

During his stay in Islamabad, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has successful meetings with Punjab Ten districts; District Faisalabad and City Faisalabad, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Gujrat, Lahore, Okara, PakPattan, Chakwal and Bhakkar.

He has directed party legislators to raise the issues of the farming community over which the farmers in Punjab have been agitating for quite sometime.

The PPP chairman met party leaders in Punjab and issued orders regarding party policy in local government elections.

Participants of Punjab’s districts expressed grave concern over the plight of farmers in Punjab and stressed the need for evolving a strategy to rescue the farmers from starvation at the hands of the policies pursued by Nawaz regime.

The meetings vowed that as guarantors of the food security for the two hundred million people of Pakistan the farmers’ vital interests will not be allowed to be sacrificed for the myopic and politically expedient development model pursued by the ML-N government.

The meeting condemned the excessive load shedding in Faisalabad and recalled how the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif used to criticize the PPP for load shedding vowing also that on coming into power he will end load shedding in six months failing which ‘he will change his name’.

The speakers said that instead of ending or even reducing it, the load shedding had increased by almost the double of what it was during the PPP government and asked the Punjab Chief Minister to honor his pledge and change his name as he had failed to end load shedding in six months.

Punjab PPP president Mian Manzoor Wattoo briefed the meeting on the measures taken by the provincial and divisional chapters of the party for the forthcoming local bodies’ polls in the province besides highlighting the pathetic condition of Punjab farmers and stressing the need to reverse to the anti farmers policies pursued by the PML-N government.

The participants welcomed the decision of the party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to reach out to the workers of the Party and apprise himself with the problems and issues.

Thanking the participants of the meetings PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he will expand the breadth and depth of consultative meetings with party workers. He also expressed grave concern over the deplorable condition of the farmers and said that he had already directed party legislators to agitate the issue in the parliament. Recalling that the last PPP government had fixed wheat support price at a level that brought unprecedented prosperity to farmers he said that the past PPP government had set up the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and the Rice Corporation of Pakistan primarily to protect the interests of the farmers adding that the party will pursue its pro-farmers policies. He called upon the party workers to close their ranks and brace themselves for the challenges that lie ahead.

Agriculture is the mainstay of national economy and the growing frustration among the farming community bodes ill for the national economy, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned the government.
Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the PPP chairman asked the party leaders and cadres to reach out to the farmers, hold public meetings and also raise their issues at all forums including parliament to save the people from starvation.
The PPP chairman said that the PPP government’s policies of giving good support price and fixing tariff for tube wells at eight rupees per unit enabled the country to become self sufficient in wheat. As agriculture thrived the national wealth and purchasing power of the rural people also increased, he said.
He demanded subsidy to rice growers as was promised by the government recalling also that the PPP government had purchased potato stocks from farmers when its prices declined steeply so as to save the famers from ruination.
“A strong and vibrant agricultural sector guaranteed food security and no investment should be considered too great for the food security of the 200 million people”, he said and asked the government to revisit its policies towards agriculture sector.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also expressed solidarity with the tenants of the farmlands in Okara and other towns in their heroic struggle for their rights and vowed that the PPP will not abandon them.
He said this when the PPP delegation from Okara drew his attention towards the atrocities committed against the tenants of the farmlands by the PML-N government.
He recalled that a few weeks before her martyrdom Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had while hailing the heroic struggle of the tenants on the farmlands in Okara promised that the PPP would not abandon them.
Following in the steps of my martyred mother I pledge that I will not abandon these tenants who have been the victims of state brutality for long, he said.
The atrocities committed against the tenants and how their lands were being grabbed is damaging the image of the country, he said.
He said a Senate body report sometime back had also lamented the massive human rights violations of the tenants and the filing of false cases against them and recommended that the investigations into cases should be entrusted to agencies outside Okara.
The PPP Chairman demanded that the recommendations of the senate body on resolving the tenants’ issues be implemented in letter and spirit.

The meetings held separately in Zardari house Islamabad were also attended by Ms Faryal Talpur MNA, former Prime Ministers Yousuf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, Punjab President Mian Manzoor Watto, vice president PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira, Tanveer Ashraf Kaira General Secretary PPP Punjab, Jamil Soomro media advisor to Chairman PPP, ex MNAs Nadeem Afzal Chan, Mehrin Anwar Raja and Fouzia Habib.

While underscoring the importance of Social media in the age of digital participatory democracy Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called for further streamlining and strengthening the social media wing of the party to package the party’s message and spread it far and wide, as social media has revolutionized communication strategies and a revolutionary party like PPP has to play lead role.

During his stay, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also chaired a meeting of the PPP leaders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, those attending the meeting include Ms Faryal Talpur, Raja Pervez Ashraf, senator Khanzada khan president PPP KPK, senator Sherry Rehman Vice President PPP, Senator Rubina Khalid, ex Provincial Presidents Zahir Ali Shah and Rahimdad Khan, Najmuddin Khan, Shuja Khan, Humayun Khan, Noor Alam Afridi, Faisal Kundi, Muhammad Ali Shah MPA, Akhumzada Chatan President PPP FATA, Aurangzeb Burki, Jamil Soomro media advisor chairman PPP.
Spokesperson senator Farhatullah Babar said the meeting is discussing issues relating to organizational matters of the party and political situation post local bodies Chairman ppp Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has set up a 2-member committee to visit Gilgit Baltistan, hold consultations with party cadres and submit recommendations for reorganization of the Party in GB.

The decision was taken at a meeting with ppp leaders from GB including ex CM Mehdi Shah and Jafar Shah in Zardari house in Islamabad late Wednesday night.

Spokesperson senator Farhatullah Babar said the two member committee comprising of Qamar Kaira and Nadeem Afzal Chan has been directed to visit GB next week for this purpose.

The meeting was attended by former Ms Faryal Talpur MNA, opposition leader in NA Syed Khurshid Shah, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Qamar Kaira, senator Sherry Rehman, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Shehla Raza and Jamil Soomro media advisor of chairman

Addressing the meeting Bilawal Bhutto said that Gilgit Baltistan has been bastion of the Party and called for urgent measures to recover the lost political ground in this strategic area of the country.

Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting that lasted for over two hours also discussed post-reorganization strategies for recapturing the political space in GB.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that ups and downs were part of political life. As one climbs one also slips. The important thing is not whether one slips or not; the important thing is what one does when one slips, he said.

Let us demonstrate to the world that the ppp will once again emerge as leading political force in GB as it has been in the past, he said.election in the province.

The 20-member APHC delegation that called on him comprising of representatives of all parties in the Hurriyat conference included Ghulam Muhammad Safi, mir Tahir Masood, Mahmood Saghir, Yousuf Naseem, Abdul Hameed Lone, Shafi Dar, Ijaz Butt, Shamim Shal, Faiz Naqashbandi and others.

Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that while paying tributes to the brave people of Jammu and Kashmir .
PPP chairman also reassured them that the PPP will always stand with them in their just struggle.
The right to self determination of the people of Kashmir is also enshrined in the UN Charter and cannot be wished away by force and brutal suppression, the PPP chairman said.

This he said during meetings with representatives of Peoples Youth Organization PYO and Peoples Students Federation in Zardari House Saturday evening.

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U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice Condemns Pakistan-Based Militant Attacks in Afghanistan

U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice on Sunday told top civilian and military leaders in Islamabad that attacks in neighboring Afghanistan by Pakistan-based militants were “absolutely unacceptable,” according to a senior American official.

During a one-day stop in Pakistan after a visit to China, Ms. Rice also delivered an invitation for Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington in October.

Ms. Rice pressed Pakistan to do more to prevent terrorists from using its territory as a base for attacks on its neighboring states and to improve ties with India and Afghanistan. Islamabad accuses both countries of sponsoring anti-Pakistan militants.

“In Islamabad today, discussed how to deepen coop. to tackle shared priorities. Encouraged Pakistan to advance regional peace & stability,” a post on Ms. Rice’s Twitteraccount said on Sunday. She met Mr. Sharif and the country’s army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif.

Washington has warned Pakistan that it stands to lose $300 million in U.S. military aid if it doesn’t crack down harder on the Haqqani network, American officials said. U.S. officials have described the Haqqani network as closely tied to Pakistan’s military intelligence agency.

A statement from Mr. Sharif’s office said: “The United States is an important partner of Pakistan in all areas especially the economy, defense and counterterrorism.”

The Afghan government has lashed out at Pakistan over a series of deadly bombings in Kabul in recent weeks that have killed dozens of people—including three Americans—andwhich the Afghan government blames on the Haqqani network, a jihadist group it says is based in Pakistan.

“We share the concern of the Afghan government. This is absolutely unacceptable,” said the American official. Ms. Rice told Pakistani leaders that “terrorist and militant attacks have developed into a key point of regional friction. Addressing this challenge will be imperative for Pakistan’s relations with its neighbors and with Washington,” the official said, though she said U.S.-Pakistani relations were “very good.”

Analysts believe the U.S. wants Islamabad to go after the leadership of the Haqqani network, which Washington says operates freely in Pakistan. The head of the Haqqani network was made deputy leader of the Taliban at a meeting late last month in the western Pakistani city of Quetta, after confirmation of the death of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, according to the Taliban.

Pakistan denies that leaders of the Taliban or Haqqani network are based in the country, though Islamabad admits they may visit the country. Critics allege Pakistan uses these groups as its proxies in Afghanistan.

A tweet from the official Twitter account of a Pakistan military spokesman said that during the meeting between Ms. Rice and Gen. Raheel, “Both dignitaries also recognized the continued need for close coordination for ensuring peace & stability in [Afghanistan] and the region.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/rice-condemns-pakistan-based-militant-attacks-in-afghanistan-1440958218

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Rice makes surprise visit to Pakistan on peace mission

Amid rising tensions and firing on the Line of Control, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice is in Islamabad for a day-long visit to discuss “regional security issues”, sources in Islamabad said.

Ms. Rice, who was on a scheduled visit to China on Saturday, had not announced the Pakistan stopover before leaving for Washington, giving rise to speculation that she will discuss the India-Pakistan situation, a week after talks between the NSAs were called off.

Ms. Rice is also expected to discuss the U.S.’ decision to hold military funding over Pakistan’s lack of action against the Haqqani network, the suspended talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the U.S. in September. According to officials in Pakistan, Ms. Rice will meet Mr. Sharif, NSA Sartaj Aziz and Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif during what one Pakistani national TV website called an “emergency visit.”

At least 9 civilians, including 3 Indians and 6 Pakistanis, and several people have been injured in the latest escalation of violence on Friday that India blames Pakistan for, while Pakistani Defence Minister Khwaja Asif accused India of conducting a “limited war” on the LoC. The deaths were the single largest toll for a day of LoC tensions since 2013. The U.S. has expressed its disappointment over the cancellation of NSA talks and the increase in the tensions in the past few weeks.

Ms. Rice’s visit also comes a day after U.S. Under Secretary of State Nisha Biswal was in Delhi for talks ahead of the coming Indo-U.S. Commercial and Strategic Dialogue to be held in Washington from September 21 to 23. During her interactions with MEA officials, Ms. Biswal is understood to have discussed the cancellation of talks and the tensions as well.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are expected to lead the C&SD talks ahead of PM Modi’s visit to New York to attend the UNGA special session.

While Mr. Modi and President Obama are expected to meet on the sidelines of a peacekeeping conference on September 28th, officials told The Hindu a structured bilateral meeting is yet to be scheduled.

Why Has Pakistan Become So Intolerant?

I was beaten in Pakistan for my religion. I am far from alone.

A Christian couple, parents of three children with a fourth on the way, were accused of blasphemy by a mob and incinerated in a brick kiln at their worksite in Punjab last November.  Suicide bombers blew themselves up at two churches in Lahore in March.  Asia Bibi, a Christian laborer and mother of five, awaits a hearing on her death sentence after being accused of blasphemy in 2009.  In Peshawar 127 worshipers were killed and 160 wounded by suicide bombers at All Saints’ Church in September 2013.  

My getting beaten up by agents of Pakistan’s military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the back cab of a pickup truck on the outskirts of Peshawar last year was mild compared to the discrimination and violence that the country’s religious minorities have experienced since Pakistan was founded in 1947. 

Nevertheless the beating was significant, for it illustrated the extent to which governmental authorities in Pakistan are willing to violate their own constitution’s mandate for religious freedom in order to placate the radicals pressing Pakistan in ever more extreme Islamist directions.   

For starters, I’m a U.S. citizen, not a Pakistani.  I was principal (the south Asian term for president) of one of Pakistan’s oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education: Edwardes College, established in Peshawar in 1900 by a mission agency of the Church of England and since 1940 an institution of the local church.  And I was being attacked not by the Taliban but by agents of the government’s most powerful intelligence unit. 

The assault on me was not personal but political, and the politics had everything to do with religion.  Edwardes had about 2,800 students and over 100 faculty members – 92% of them Muslim and 7% Christian – and a longstanding reputation for a liberal learning environment that fostered inter-religious understanding.  The campus has both a chapel and a mosque.  

The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was so enthusiastic about our educational innovations that they made an unprecedented grant of Rs. 300 million (over $3 million at the time) to support the college’s effort to award its own degrees and de-affiliate from the University of Peshawar.   

Degree-awarding status required a charter, and this was where conflict arose.  Edwardes has always been a church institution, but its auspices got confused during the nationalization drive of the 1970s, when the local governor illegally installed himself as chair of the board, with a majority of government appointees.  The Church of Pakistan and its Diocese of Peshawar never accepted this shift, but the risk of violent retaliation prompted them, understandably, to muddle along with confused governance rather than actively resist.

Until, that is, the charter issue arose in 2013.  Following the guidelines of the government’s own “Model Charter for Private Universities,” the proposed charter restored a church majority on the board, with the diocesan bishop as chancellor.  Government officials and some Muslim faculty members insisted that the government’s majority be retained, but the church rightly rejected codifying by charter an illegal and dysfunctional governance system.  Without constitution, law or history on its side, the government resorted to threatening Bishop Sarfaraz Peters and me, abusing a Christian administrator, and physically attacking me.  I had to leave the country, and the church is still trying to resolve the situation.  

In addition to mandating that all persons shall have the right to “profess, practice and propagate” their religion, Pakistan’s constitution states that “every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions” (Article 20).  Violations of this institutional protection are less dramatic than individuals being accused of blasphemy or neighborhoods going up in flames, but in the long run they’re just as important because they affect the longterm viability of religious minorities and their contribution to society. 

Several factors feed into the personal, communal and institutional violations of religious freedom in Pakistan today, violations visited on Christians, Hindus and Sikhs, but also Shiite, Ahmadi and Ismaili Muslims.    

An irony in the case of Pakistan is that it achieved nationhood almost 70 years ago, but its 96% Muslim majority still exhibits the siege mentality of the minority status it sought to avoid in India.

One factor is the struggle within Islam about the future of Islam, a struggle that for years, especially since 9/11, has dominated news about North Africa and the Middle East, with ISIS atrocities now occupying center stage.  Muslims are wrestling with Islam’s place in the modern world, especially in relation to democracy, education and freedom as promoted by Western Europe and North America.  

In Pakistan this struggle was aggravated by U.S. and Pakistani support for the mujahedeen as they transformed jihad into a tactic of modern warfare against the Soviets in Afghanistan.  Today it is aggravated by the proxy ideological battle being waged between Iranian Shiite Islam and Saudi Wahabi Islam.  Yet as Farahnaz Ispahani argues in her forthcoming book, Purifying the Land of the Pure: Pakistan’s Religious Minorities, persecution is not a new development, for minorities have been oppressed in Pakistan since shortly after independence in 1947.  

Another factor is the global revival of religious chauvinism across many religions, including both Christianity and Islam but also in Hindu nationalism in India and Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.  As populations increase and governments fail their constituents, religious majorities prey on minorities in competition for resources, especially as local identities have resurfaced since the end of the Cold War.  

An irony in the case of Pakistan is that it achieved nationhood almost 70 years ago, but its 96% Muslim majority still exhibits the siege mentality of the minority status it sought to avoid in India.  Distrust of the different results in efforts to suppress and eradicate the other.   

And then there is terror of the violence that can be meted out to those who oppose extreme views and policies.  The vast majority of Pakistanis are moderate and tolerant in their convictions.  Newspaper columnists regularly condemn radical views, violent incidents and the government’s inaction.  “We were not like this!” a Muslim colleague of mine cried out at news of another outrage.  It was a well- connected Muslim who saved me from being killed by the ISI.  

Yet the assassinations of two prominent government officials in 2011 – Salman Taseer, the Muslim governor of Punjab, and Shabhaz Bhatti, the Christian federal minister of minority affairs – for opposing the nation’s draconian and much abused blasphemy laws illustrated how there is no limit to the radicals’ reach.  The threat of such violence, especially when coupled with the ability of religious political parties to sway voters, intimidates governmental officials into doing little except speechifying after horrifying incidents.  Perpetrators go unpunished, and school textbooks continue to disparage religious minorities.  

At 200 million inhabitants, Pakistan is the world’s sixth most populous nation, and it will be fourth by 2050.  So what happens with religious freedom in Pakistan is important for the future of religious freedom globally in the 21st century.  Can religious people in the human family honor one another’s search for the sacred and explore each other’s paths?  Or will religious people disparage, oppress and kill the religious other and thereby defile the divine?