Malnutrition threatening lives in Balochistan

By:  Sana Samad

Balochistan is suffering from the risk of malnutrition which is causing deaths among children and women belonging to socially marginalized groups in the province. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared emergency in Balochistan in view of the indicators of Global Acute Malnutrition. 

According to United Nation Children Fund  (UNICEF) that 16 percent of the children in Balochistan are acute malnourished, 52 percent up to five years age are stunted and 39.6 percent underweight. Apart from this, five million children and around 70 percent of the women in the province are suffering from malnutrition and half of them are being endemic and Vitamin A deficient as suggested by the National Nutrition data.

Balochistan is recorded the highest infant and mother mortality as compare to other provinces just due to malnutrition. The Nutrition Cell with the accompany of WHO and UNICEF has been working just in nine districts of Balochistan total of 32 districts which are totally suffering from malnutrition. But the other districts are left where malnutrition is also growing rapidly. It is only cover 43 percent population, leaving 57 percent helpless and at the mercy of diseases. 

It is estimated that the population of these districts are 170,000, but only 35,000 of the population is protected from malnutrition. Mostly the affected people are staying in remote areas as more than 90 percent people reside in remote parts of the districts. The main reason is that the people do not have health care facilities, so they are continuously being affected from malnutrition and dying day by day. Even the children at the age of three years are suffering. Their family’ member do not have any facility to provide them good nutrition to protect their children precious lives.

After Sindh, Balochistan is having the highest level of food insecurity in the country. It is estimated that nearly 63 percent of households in the province are food insecure with 18 percent of them classified as food “insecure with hungry and 11.5 percent as food “insecure with severe hunger “. And none of the district is qualified to be food secure. Although the health authorities has been working to resolve these problems, but the security situation, geography location of the province, scattered population complex the issue of malnutrition manifold.  

With the support WFP the provincial government has been supporting the malnourished children, pregnant women and lactating women to prevent stunting and micronutrient deficiencies in the nine districts. Still only 28 percent of the households are reached by LHWs in the province as compare to a national coverage of 83 percent. It is estimated that Balochistan will not improve overnight; it needs billion of multi-sectors issue of malnutrition. Yet the provincial government with the help of WHO and other organizations need to cover the other districts means 57 percent of the population should be covered. Malnutrition is killing the innocent children and women, and causing such deadly diseases that they suffer till their death. 

Pakistan - Extremism unchecked

IF ever an image was emblematic of Pakistan’s progress in the war against extremism — and indeed of the fissures in its society — it is that of the viciously defaced Karachi Press Club walls. Last October, a group of artists had painted them with portraits of women who have made significant contributions to the country in various fields, including Fatima Surraiya Bajiya, Zubeida Mustafa, Yasmeen Lari, Perween Rahman and Sabeen Mahmud. To celebrate them in this manner was to celebrate the progressive ideas they embodied, the last two even having paid with their lives for their efforts towards a more inclusive and egalitarian society. On Wednesday night, those ideas came up against another side of Pakistani society — bigoted, fanatical and misogynistic. In what was clearly a premeditated act, members of ultra right-wing groups demonstrating outside the press club, one of several such protests to counter commemorations of Salmaan Taseer’s death anniversary in the country, spray-painted the walls with profanities and calls to murder.

This is the ugly reality of the state’s much-vaunted ‘fight against extremism’, a fight that it vowed to take on with unwavering commitment after the APS Peshawar attack in December 2014. Two years on, with kinetic operations to dismantle the terrorist network in the northern areas virtually over, the other aspect of the fight — the long, laborious work to stamp out extremism from society — has barely begun. It is not that the state is incapable of asserting its writ: we have seen it do so comprehensively when Mr Taseer’s killer was tried and convicted. The problem is that it chooses to do so selectively instead of sending a consistent, resolute message.

How else can one explain the impunity with which certain right-wing elements continue to menace anyone who rejects their noxious worldview? Notwithstanding ad hoc measures such as the arrest in Lahore of over 100 people — who will undoubtedly soon be released without charge — for attempting to hold a rally to ‘celebrate’ the former Punjab governor’s assassination, where is the concerted drive against hate speech and incitement to violence that should be the cornerstone of the civilian aspect of NAP? Why does the government not robustly demonstrate that it values progressive voices rather than appeasing those who would build a shrine to an assassin?

Instead, the state goes through motions such as the Punjab apex committee meeting on Thursday where it resolved to choke terror funding and launch an indiscriminate crackdown against those providing financial support to terrorists. Yet the province has not seen action commensurate with the fact of it being the heartland of jihadist organisations. On the contrary, well-known centres of radical thought continue to operate unimpeded here while members of right-wing groups are being ‘mainstreamed’ into charitable work. Only when ‘zero-tolerance’ is more than just a meaningless buzzword will there be any hope of us turning the corner.

PPP ‘white paper’ points out 25 major scandals of PML-N

Elected members of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have issued a white paper on "administrative failures" of the federal and Punjab governments during 2016, listing 25 major scandals of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

The white paper was issued by PPP-backed legislator MPA Faiza Malik on Friday. The white paper said that the central government and the Punjab government had deprived the regulatory bodies of their autonomy to allow corruption. It said that the Quetta inquiry commission report had also revealed the failure of the incumbent government regarding implementation on the National Action Plan (NAP). "Deficit of the Pakistan International Airline, Pakistan Railways and the Pakistan Steel Mills spiked up to Rs 705 billion," the white paper said, adding that the government had failed to address reservations of opposition and nationalist parties on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), while the dismal national rating of 146 out of 188 in Human Development Index was another indication of poor performance of the government.

The white paper revealed that the PML-N government has borrowed more than Rs 25,000 million so far. It said that each Pakistani was under the debt of Rs 115,911 while the total national debt had jumped up to 26 trillion rupees.

Quoting the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), the white paper stated that more than 500 industrial units were forced to shut down due to power crisis leaving two million people unemployed. "The State Bank has recorded 3.9% increase in the inflation rate last year while 10 percent increase in LPG prices is adversely affecting the lives of poor citizens."

The white paper also exposed performance of the Punjab government in education sector, saying Pakistan had been ranked 123rd in Standard of Education Index during the regime of current rulers. "Around 300,000 children are out of school in Lahore alone while the female illiteracy rate is 36.6% in urban areas and 69.4% in rural areas." Commenting on dismal governance statistics, MPA Faiza Malik said that the PML-N had badly failed to deliver on its electioneering promises. She added that the country needs a transparent accountability system for eradication of corruption.

http://dailytimes.com.pk/punjab/07-Jan-17/ppp-white-paper-points-out-25-major-scandals-of-pml-n

Pakistan's regional languages face looming extinction

Around a hundred women have gathered in a community centre in Peshawar, the heart of Pakistan’s fabled northwest — but they are conversing in a dialect incomprehensible to the Pashtun ethnic group that dominates the region.

Instead they are exchanging anecdotes and ideas in their native Hindko (literally, “the language of India”) at a conference organised to promote the increasingly marginalised language.

Pakistan’s 200 million people speak 72 provincial and regional tongues, including official languages Urdu and English, according to a 2014 parliamentary paper on the subject that classed 10 as either “in trouble” or “near extinction”. According to scholars, Hindko’s decline as the foremost language of Peshawar city began in 1947 when Hindu and Sikh traders left the city after the partition of British India.

Known for its curious aphorisms such as “Kehni aan dhiye nu, nuen kan dhar” (“I’m talking to my daughter, my daughter-in-law should listen”) — which is meant to convey a harsh message but indirectly), it only has some two million speakers across Pakistan as opposed to Pashto’s 26 million.

It has also become a minority language in the city of its birth.

SECP launches new bilingual website

“Years and years of political unrest in Pakistan’s northwestern region and Afghanistan have adversely impacted our language and it has lost grounds to Pashto,” Salahudin, Chief Executive of the Gandhara Hindko Board which organised the event, explained.

Some three million mainly Pashto speakers fled war from neighbouring Afghanistan over the past 35 years, while others are more recent migrants from other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkwa province.

The most endangered of Pakistan’s dialects are now spoken by only a few hundred people, such as Domaaki, an Indo-Aryan langauges confined to a handful of villages in remote northern Gilgit-Baltistan. Even regional languages spoken by tens of millions like Sindhi and Punjabi are no longer as vigorous as they once were. “There is not a single newspaper or magazine published in Punjabi for the 60 million-plus Punjabi speakers,” wrote journalist Abbas Zaidi in an essay, despite it being the language of the nationally revered Sufi poet Bulleh Shah and the native-tongue of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

English has been seen as the language of the elite in Pakistan since the country was founded.

It is used at the highest official levels, despite the fact this excludes the majority of Pakistanis — many of whom, as a consequence of low literacy rates, do not speak English well or at all, according to leading linguist Tariq Rahman.

Urdu, the most common national tongue and spoken as a second language by the majority of Pakistanis, has been relegated to the middle- and lower-level halls of power, while the widely spoken regional languages — usually native to their speakers — are not even taught in schools.

Celebrating national language: Ninth International Urdu Conference to begin tomorrow

“The result is an underclass that remains out of any public policy making, its upward mobility increasingly limited, and harbouring a deep sense of inferiority,” wrote Urdu poet Harris Khalique in a research paper.

“A majority of Pakistanis is unable to recognise car registration plates, many road signs that are only in English, the signboards of shops and offices.”

Around a hundred women have gathered in a community centre in Peshawar, the heart of Pakistan’s fabled northwest — but they are conversing in a dialect incomprehensible to the Pashtun ethnic group that dominates the region. Some language activists have taken a stand, such as Rozi Khan Baraki, a champion of the Urmari language of South Waziristan tribal zone that claims some 50,000 speakers.

At its peak in the early 16th century, the language flourished across much of Afghanistan and what is now northwest Pakistan.

“But then people in [the area] began speaking Pashto and Persian because many of the speakers of those languages migrated to the fertile lands of this region.

“Migrations have also threatened our next generation, who being Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar, and Karachi have stopped communicating in their mother tongue.”

Baraki said to avoid extinction, community elders have asked their people to “force their children to speak Urmari at homes, especially those who have married women who speak other languages”.

“Our next generation is threatened, this language is going to die if we don’t preserve it today,” he said.

Rahman lauds such efforts but says the process of saving dying languages can only happen when it is taken up at a governmental level as was the case with Welsh, a regional language of Britain.

A loss of diversity can have lasting ill effects, he warns.

Those who shift from their mother tongue to assimilate “try to become clones of another group — the one which they want to imitate, and lose respect for their former group,” he said.

Children find it difficult to communicate to their elders, while folk stories and music can also fade from memory.

“There are names of herbs and local names for fruit and animals that are lost. In some cases when you lose the name of the herb the use is also forgotten,” he said.

Pakistan - Asif Ali Zardari - The Diplomat -

Soon after’s Asif Ali Zardari’s return from an 18-month self-imposed exile on December 23, he announced his’ and his son’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari participation in by-elections to become part of the parliament.

He continues to stay in the limelight and has disclosed plans to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump later this month.

While PPPs antics have borne the brunt of political criticism, political analysts have to agree that Mr Zardari’s focus on maintaining strong bilateral ties with key geopolitical players both during his tenure and as a larger part of his portfolio as a political candidate, deserves recognition.

In fact, Mr Zardari’s foreign policy with regards to Russia has been the cornerstone of the improvement in Pak-Russo ties. While the public and media normally criticise high-level visits as they give loss to the national exchequer, Mr Zardari’s visit to Russia was much appreciated as it introduced a fundamental shift and a new opportunity in Pakistan foreign relations especially in view of the country’s burdened relationship with the United States.

Presidents Zardari and Medvedev met six times during the former’s term, raising the quality and quantity of the bilateral exchanges with Pakistan and encouraging Russia to pursue a multi-vectored policy in South Asia.

Similarly, while Asif Zardari’s attendance of Trump’s inauguration can be seen as a move to reinvigorate the political authority of PPP and foster public goodwill, it is also a chance for the returning candidate to lay grounds for a more promising US-Pak relationship. Miraculous as that would be, if managed, it would certainly be a feather in Mr Zardari’s cap.

The government has still not confirmed whether Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend Trump’s oath-taking but the premier is likely to visit the US soon for a bilateral meeting with the new president-elect. For now, while PML-N and PTI are locked in scandals, there is maybe a lesson to be learnt from how Mr Zardari is playing the political game in the lead-up to the 2018 elections.

Pakistan - The trap of status quo

By Afrasiab Khattak


Is this a country for Muslims or for Islam? This is the dilemma that Pakistan has faced from day one.

For the majority of Muslim League leaders, Pakistan was to be a country for Muslims where they could live their lives without any fear of domination. The idea of Pakistan as a country for Islam took root later when the feudal and bureaucratic elites ruling the country used the “ideological card” to resist democratic transformation. The dilemma was further compounded by the fact that for the founding fathers the aforementioned question of identity was a mere manifestation of the real issue, which was provincial autonomy. If the All India National Congress had accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan in 1946 presented by the British Raj, that envisaged a confederation in post-colonial India, Muslim League would have given up the demand for partition that took place in August 1947. But the new country took no time in joining the western military pacts of SEATO and CENTO for containing and defeating communism.

It is pertinent to remember that Western ideologues and strategists of the capitalist world had no confusion. For them the vast Muslim population living in the wide arc of Asia and Africa, from Sinkiang (Xinjiang) to Marrakech, was a potential explosive weapon to be used against Soviet communism. The Central Asian belt was regarded as the “soft belly” of the Soviet Union, as there was potential for penetration of religious influence into it from the contiguous Muslim populations. What was missing in the whole Western anti-communist project was an ideological “detonator” that could make the explosion possible. So the West focused on Pakistan to persuade her to play that role. The Pakistani security establishment had jumped on the Western bandwagon from day one. Even Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s “New Pakistan”, that apparently distanced herself from the West in foreign policy, could not break out from the old ideological axis internally. It goes without saying that this process was taken to the extreme, almost to the point of no return, by General Zia’s martial law.

It is hardly a coincidence that the decisive battle of the Western powers against the erstwhile Soviet Union in Afghanistan fought through Pakistan, and “Islamisation” of the country, progressed simultaneously. The situation was aggravated to dangerous proportions with the advent of Wahabism, Salfism and Takfirism in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s. Pakistan as a state and society became radicalised. The focus of the country’s national security policy isn’t confined to her borders any more. Pakistan involvement in international “jihadism” has turned it into a dangerous country and this adventurism is not confined even to her immediate neighborhood. It has gone as far as Bosnia and to many other places in the world.

After the collapse of the communist bloc the Western powers didn’t require the services of Pakistan, and that brrought Pakistan’s so-called strategic alliance with the West to an end. This relationship has become hostile now as the “mujahideen” of yesterday have become terrorists of today. But religious extremism (and violence and terrorism emanating from it) is putting Pakistan’s own future in question. After living for long years in denial Pakistan has ultimately come around to concede the existence of the problem after the killing of about 60,000 of its citizens at the hands of terrorists. But if the experience of the last two years (after the charting out of the National Action Plan) is anything to go by, Pakistan is still not ready to take on the problem. The stubborn insistence of security circles on providing space to Taliban, LeT, JeM and other terrorists networks closely linked to international terror syndicates proves that the policy of keeping militants as strategic assets for state policy is still intact. In fact, the fresh hobnobbing of Pakistan with Russia indicates that the country is looking for new markets for its militant outfits.

Apart from mere lip service there is no evidence that the Pakistani state regards religious extremism and terrorism as existential threat to the country. Sectarianism is tearing the country apart but the unreformed religious seminaries are producing brainwashed sectarian militants on a very large scale since their syllabus and administration is based on absolute sectarianism. Recently, when the Supreme Court-appointed judicial commission for conducting inquiry into a heinous terrorist attack in Quetta came out with a report criticising ineffective state policy towards extremism and terrorism, the interior minister chose to publicly dismiss the report and launch a verbal attack on the judicial commission. As if that was not enough, Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the proscribed organisation LeT was seen landing in Quetta with pomp and show as if in defiance to the recommendations of the Supreme Court judicial commission. The public demonstration in favor of the murderer of Salmaan Taseer on the death anniversary of the former Punjab Governor has exposed the policy of appeasement of the government towards extremist militancy, particularly in the Punjab.

But the problem is not confined to just state security policy. By ignoring the need for investment in human development for long years the ruling elites are guilty of preparing conditions conducive to the rise of extremism and terrorism. The collapse of the public education system and health services have had dire social consequences. The serious decline of our education system in particular has led to severe distortions and deformations in human material being produced by Pakistani society. Religious seminaries have flourished as the growing number of children remain out of school. Growing population, widening social divide, the deepening environmental crises and failure of judicial system is helping in the growth of extremism and militancy. Ruling elites, both civil and military, are busy in squeezing the dying system. Political squabbles mostly revolve around power games and the slogan of change has become mere rhetoric. There is no reform agenda in sight. There is strong potential for the rise of an Arab Spring like chaotic situation in Pakistan. Interestingly some Turkish political analysts are mourning the “Pakistanisation” of Turkey but Pakistan seems to be adamant in following the beaten path. Is there a way out of this possibly fatal trap of status quo?

Pakistan's military courts: What did they achieve?

Shamil Shams

A Pakistani law allowing military courts to try civilians on terror charges has expired. It's unclear if the government will extend the law, after criticism of the courts' legality and of their failure to curb terrorism.

The controversial tribunals have hanged 12 people and ordered the execution of 149 more since they came into force after the deadly Taliban attack on a Peshawar school in December 2014 that killed more than 150 people, mostly children.

The country's powerful military intensified its crackdown on extremists following the Peshawar massacre, as the civilian government introduced a National Action Plan (NAP) that included the creation of the military courts, which were allowed to try civilians on terror charges.

The South Asian country's parliament and Supreme Court approved the law as an "exceptional" short-term measure, but it was heavily criticized by Pakistan's civil society as "extra-constitutional."

Rights activists also say the courts failed to achieve the target they had set for themselves - the eradication of terror. In addition, they say, no efforts have been made to reform the civilian judicial system to speed up terror trials.

"The lapse of the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians is a step in the right direction, but unsurprisingly, there is no sign of the promised reforms to strengthen the ordinary criminal justice system to effectively handle terrorism-related cases," said Sam Zarifi, Asia Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).

"The Pakistani government must not re-enact legislation to continue secret military trials of civilians, nor resort to more short-term, short-sighted security measures that are contrary to human rights protection," Zarifi added.

Analyst Imtiaz Gul told the AFP news agency it was unlikely that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government would extend the courts that have been an "embarrassment" for the country.

Citing military sources, the ICJ said the military courts had convicted 274 people since January 2015, of which 161 were sentenced to death, adding that many details about the convictions had not been made public by the military.

A solution or a problem?

Despite the criticism, the military courts enjoyed considerable public support in Pakistan, as the civilian courts have failed to deal with terrorism-related cases.

In a number of instances, the civilian courts' judges were openly threatened by Islamic militant groups such as the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiba. A number of lawyers have been killed for prosecuting the extremists, and many judges have fled the country after receiving death threats. In Pakistan, it is not easy to proceed against Islamists; in the past, liberal politicians were killed for speaking against controversial blasphemy laws and in favor of secular legislation. The perpetrators of these crimes have still not been brought to justice.

But rights activists say that did not justify the military's involvement in civilian judicial matters. The Pakistani military already has more say in domestic and foreign policy matters than the civilian government.

A consensus to establish anti-terrorism courts was reached after the horrific Taliban attack on a Peshawar school in 2014

The powerful military of the South Asian nation has been receiving billions of dollars from Western nations for more than a decade to eradicate terrorism from Pakistani soil. This includes seven of the nine years of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf's iron-fisted rule from 1999 to 2008. Activists ask why the supporters of the military courts think they could solve the issue if the military could not rein in Islamists back then.

The chairperson of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission (HRCP), Zohra Yusuf, blamed political leaders for not taking advantage of the consensus against Islamist militancy and surrendering their powers to the army. "It is unfortunate that the nationwide resolve against the Taliban and other extremist groups did not translate into political action. It remained a military affair," Yusuf told DW after the Peshawar attack.

In a 2015 report, the International Crisis Group (ICG) criticized Pakistan's counterterrorism measures.

The National Action Plan introduced after the Taliban attack in Peshawar had given the army a dominance in security affairs that in a democratic setup should have belonged to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government, the report said.

"The militarization of counterterrorism policy puts at risk Pakistan's evolution toward greater civilian rule, which is itself a necessary but not sufficient condition to stabilize the democratic transition," the report released on July 22 underlines. "The NAP looks far more like a hastily-conceived wish list devised for public consumption during a moment of crisis than a coherent strategy," it added.

The ICG paper advises Prime Minister Sharif to take matters into his own hands and democratize the anti-terrorism strategy "in order to replace an overly militarized response with a revamped, intelligence-guided counterterrorism strategy, led by civilian law enforcement agencies, particularly the police."

CHAIRMAN BILAWAL GETS WARM WELCOME ON LARKANA VISIT

Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Friday paid a visit to Larkana where he was given a warm welcome by the locals. PPP chief Bilawal was given a warm welcome upon his arrival in NA-204 constituency in Larkana where he will be contesting bye elections.NA-204 constituency in Larkana where he will be contesting bye elections.NA-204 constituency in Larkana where he will be contesting bye elections.

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#Larkana: Chairman #PPP @BBhuttoZardari talking with party workers during his visit.

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People showered flower petals on him when he reached the constituency. He also inaugurated a newly constructed girls college in the constituency.

https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/chairman-bilawal-gets-warm-welcome-on-larkana-visit/

Bilawal Bhutto Set To Be Opposition Leader In Pakistan Parliament

Bilawal Bhutto is set to be the Leader of the Opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly after he is elected to parliament, according to media reports on Thursday. 

The 24-year-old scion of the influential Bhutto family will replace Khursheed Shah, 64, as the Leader of the Opposition, The Express Tribune reported.

Oxford-educated Bilawal is currently chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The news of Bilawal’s expected elevation was made public by none other than Shah himself, the paper said.

It came a day after PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari announced that Bilawal would contest a by-election for a parliamentary seat from Larkana, the hometown of the Bhutto family in Sindh province.

“Bilawal Bhutto will be the leader of the opposition and I will assist him as his adviser while his father will also guide him on parliamentary politics,” Shah told journalists in Sukkur, Sindh province, last night.

Bilawal is the son of former President Asif Ali Zardari and the slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and the grandson of late prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

A PPP spokesperson, when asked for clarification on Shah’s statements and any change in the PPP’s stance on the matter, said that it is possible that Bilawal may become the Opposition leader.

When asked whether Bilawal would be the new opposition leader or not, the spokesperson told Dawn newspaper that: “It is obvious. He [Bilawal] is the party head. He will become [the opposition leader].”

The PPP insists this decision is not made all of sudden, but after long consultation.

“PPP’s Central Executive Committee and Federal Council had been taken into confidence over by-elections and Bilawal’s nomination for the slot of opposition leader,” PPP Federal Council member Lal Bux Bhutto told The Express Tribune.

“Like his mother, Bilawal has the potential but he lacks exposure in parliamentary politics. But there is no harm in it. Benazir Bhutto was also junior than others when she had taken over as prime minister in 1988,” he said.

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Iraq war veteran accused of killing five at Ft. Lauderdale airport

By Zachary Fagenson

An Iraq war veteran took a gun out of his checked luggage and opened fire in a crowded baggage claim area at Fort Lauderdale's airport on Friday, killing five people, months after he showed up at an FBI office behaving erratically.

Esteban Santiago, 26, who was taken into custody immediately following the shooting and questioned at length, was expected to face federal charges in the shooting rampage, said George Piro, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in Miami.

Piro said investigators had not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive in the rampage and were reviewing the suspect's recent travel.

Santiago, who had served in the U.S. military, had arrived in Ft. Lauderdale shortly before 1 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) on a connecting flight from Alaska, authorities said, when he retrieved a 9mm semi-automatic handgun from his checked luggage and began firing indiscriminately.

Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said on Twitter that the gunman went into a restroom to load his weapon and came out firing. Witnesses told MSNBC television he only stopped after running out of ammunition, at which point he surrendered to police.

Cellphone video posted on social media showed travelers kneeling and treating victims on the floor next to a carousel. At least two victims had pools of blood from apparent head wounds.

The gunman, who wore a "Star Wars" T-shirt, said nothing as he fired, witnesses told MSNBC.

"This is a senseless act of evil," Florida Governor Rick Scott told reporters.

A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama had spoken to Scott and Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief and had extended his condolences to the loved ones of the victims. n addition to the five killed, eight others were wounded by gunfire and some three dozen were taken to local hospitals with bruises or broken bones suffered in the chaos surrounding the shooting massacre. Piro said that Santiago had turned up at an FBI office in Anchorage in November of last year behaving erratically and was turned over to local police, who took him to a medical facility for a mental evaluation.

A federal law enforcement official told Reuters that Santiago told agents at the Anchorage office in November that his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency, which was ordering him to watch Islamic State videos.

Santiago served from 2007 to 2016 in the Puerto Rico National Guard and Alaska National Guard including a deployment to Iraq from 2010 to 2011, according to the Pentagon. A private first class and combat engineer, he received half a dozen medals before being transferred to the inactive ready reserve in August last year.

An aunt said he came back from his deployment "a different person," MSNBC reported.

LEGAL TO FLY WITH GUNS

Flying with firearms is routine and legal in the United States as long as the guns are kept in a locked, hard-sided container as checked baggage only, under TSA rules. Ammunition is prohibited in carry-on bags but is allowed in checked luggage.

The attack was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years, some inspired by militants with an extreme view of Islam, others carried out by loners or the mentally disturbed.

John Schlicher, who told MSNBC he saw the attack, said the shooter was "directly firing at us" while passengers waited for their bags. His wife gave first aid to a victim who had been shot in the head, and his mother-in-law used her sweater to tend to another victim but it turned out that person was already dead, he said.

Mark Lea, another eyewitness, told MSNBC, "He didn't say anything; he was quiet the whole time."

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the second largest in South Florida, serving as an intercontinental gateway.

Nearly two months ago a former Southwest Airlines worker killed an employee of the company at Oklahoma City's airport in what police called a premeditated act.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place last June, when a gunman apparently inspired by Islamic State killed 49 people and wounded 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Russia scales down military presence in Syria following ceasefire deal

President Obama 'Heartbroken' Over Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting

Hours after the tragic attack on Friday in the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport that killed five and injured at least eight people, President Barack Obama told George Stephanopoulos “these kinds of tragedies have happened too often during the eight years that I’ve been president.”

Speaking to Stephanopoulos, 55, for ABC’s This Week, Obama said he would not comment on the incident “until I have all the information” but he did want to express “how heartbroken we are for the families who have been affected.”

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Pres. Obama on airport shooting: "I don’t want to comment on it other than just to say how heartbroken we are for the families." #ThisWeek
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“The pain, the grief, the shock that they must be going through is enormous,” he told Stephanopoulos. Obama, 55, added that his staff has reached out to the mayor of Fort Lauderdale “to make sure that coordination between state and local officials is what it should be.”

“I think we’ll find out over the next 24 hours exactly how this happened and what motivated this individual,” Obama continued.

Gunshots broke out on Friday at the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport. The Broward County Sheriff confirmed via Twitter that multiple people have been killed and the suspect is in custody. Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told CNN that 13 people were transported to local hospitals.

The suspected shooter used a gun he retrieved from baggage he checked on a Delta flight to the airport, a federal law enforcement official tells PEOPLE.

A federal law enforcement official tells PEOPLE the suspect is Esteban Santiago, 26. He is of Puerto Rican descent. He arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, Friday, on a Delta red-eye flight originating from Anchorage via Minneapolis, with checked baggage containing a firearm.

He picked up the checked firearm at baggage claim, before allegedly going to the bathroom, gathering his weapon and changing into a Star Wars shirt. He then exited the bathroom and allegedly began firing at those around the baggage carousel. Santiago had a military ID on him when he was taken into police custody.

The shooter was discharged from the Army last year on a general discharge, the official says.

Santiago was apprehended by a Broward County sheriff’s deputy and taken into custody, Sheriff Scott Israel said at a Friday press conference. Israel added that the gunman, who wasn’t hit by gunfire, is being interviewed by FBI agents and Broward County sheriff’s deputies.


http://people.com/archive/barack-obama-fort-lauderdale-airport-shooting/

3 Dead, Multiple Injured in Shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

A gunman opened fire at Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood International Airport Friday afternoon, killing at least three people before being taken into custody, law enforcement sources told NBC News. At least nine people in total were shot, sources said earlier.

The shooting occurred at the baggage claim inside Terminal 2. Aerial footage showed a crowd of people gathered outside on the tarmac.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Shooting-Reported-Inside-Fort-Lauderdale--Hollywood-International-Airport-409905825.html

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Pakistan - The murder of Salmaan Taseer screams of societal ignorance

By Manik Aftab

The brutal murder of Salmaan Taseer, a former governor of the Punjab who was gunned down by his own bodyguard at the Kohsar Market in Islamabad six years ago, screams of societal ignorance at large. Taseer was murdered because he sought reforms in Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws.

The late PPP stalwart also proved himself to be a champion of minority rights when he announced his open support for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who is alleged of blasphemy and is awaiting final verdict by the Supreme Court. Her case, which is the first such to be heard under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, dates back to 2009.

Fast forward to January 4, 2017 and pro-blasphemy law demonstrators are clashing with security forces as Pakistan walks a line between upholding human rights and appeasing hardliners. Over 150 persons were arrested in Lahore after they attempted to hold demonstrations against the proposed amendments in the blasphemy law. There was no official permission, yet the protesters belonging to the Sunni Tehreek, Tehreek-i-Khatme Nabuwat and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah somehow managed to convey their message.

Call them what you me, but these religious groups are so well-organized that the state has no other option but to bow down to their demands. Despite all their internal differences, these groups feed on the very emotion of human mind that considers hatred above humanity. Any sane person, who knows or practices any religion, is aware of the fact that every major religion in the world promotes humanity and tolerance. The idea of universal brotherhood is greatly stressed upon by major religions of the world. But these religious fanatics make sure that the society at large stick to their twisted interpretation of religion.

Just two days ago, Senate's Functional Committee on Human Rights unanimously approved the Hindu marriage bill. The landmark move set a precedent that the state is willing to deliver if it wants to. It shows that Pakistan is willing to protect its minorities, but we still have a long way to go.

It is a painful truth that the Zia regime destroyed three generations by implementing its twisted version of the religion. And we haven't been able to recover from that. We won't as long as we aren't able to understand the essence of religion, that is humanity. And as long as the state is governed by religious fanatics and hardliners who have forgotten that the Benevolent God indeed exists.

Pakistan, Blasphemy and the Murder of Salman Taseer

Raza Habib Raja 

Right now Pakistan is once again in the news related to its controversial anti-blasphemy law. Shaan Taseer, the son of late Salman Taseer is in hot water after posting a video message in which he condemned Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and tried to show solidarity to its oppressed Christian minority.

After seeing the message the religious community is calling for his arrest. Some have gone even further and have started to incite violence against him. Pakistan over the years has become so bizarre that now even criticism against a man-made law has assumed the status of blasphemy.

Shaan Taseer is now facing similar risks which his father, the late Salman Taseer, had faced after criticizing the blasphemy laws. If these religious zealots are not controlled, I fear that he may end up sharing the same unfortunate fate of his father.

His father, Salman Taseer, a politician and Governor of Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab, was an outspoken man and was murdered by Mumtaz Qadri, his own security guard, for speaking in favor of repealing Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, according to which a person found guilty of blasphemy can be sentenced to death. Salman Taseer had also asked for official pardon of an illiterate woman, Aasia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death by Pakistani courts after being found guilty of blasphemy.

However, even this humane gesture was construed as blasphemy by the religious lobby and they started to agitate against him. The drop scene finally came when Qadri, his own guard, shot him and surrendered himself to police.

Later, in embarrassing scenes which have been permanently ingrained in the memory, he was showered by rose petals. After Qadri’s arrest he went to court where finally he lost his appeal. He was executed on 29th February 2016 and his funeral was attended by millions.

But why did it happen? Why did Qadri shoot Taseer, and why was he subsequently showered with rose petals? Why was his funeral was attended by millions despite the fact that he cowardly murdered a person he was supposed to protect?

And why is Shaan Taseer, son of the late Salman Taseer being threatened so openly and the state is literally helpless to offer protection. In fact, the only thing it has done so far is to register a case of “hate speech” against him rather than against those who are threatening him!

To some extent the murder of Salman Taseer happened due to the extreme reverence attached to religion and the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). Outright religious fanaticism is of course responsible and perhaps the only cure in the long run is desensitizing people from religion. I will not dispute this obvious reality.

But this only partially explains the complex situation. Reverence alone does not lead men to commit murders. It is what the society explicitly or implicitly expects with respect to actual demonstration of reverence (particularly when the revered figures and symbols are perceived to be under attack) which often leads to adoption of a particular action.

These expectations are not always spelled out clearly but nevertheless articulated through loaded slogans and narratives which project some real life individuals as heroes and villains.

Extremely pervasive and loaded slogans in Pakistan like “Hurmat-e-Rasool per Jaan be qurban hai” (for the honor of the Prophet (PBUH) we are ready to sacrifice our lives) actually expect that the honor of the Prophet (PBUH) should be protected even if one has to give their life. Slogans such as these become extremely dangerous with respect to their potential impact. I am not saying that they affect every person in the same way, but it merely takes one individual to get affected in “that” way to do the unthinkable.

Moreover, such slogans and the related literature also lowers the threshold of the desired level of “reverence,” as that line where so-called blasphemy starts, becomes blurred, and is eft for the individuals to simply decide what they consider as blasphemy.

I think this is important because such acts are often committed for personal glorification which the society is willing to bestow on such individuals. Yes, Mr. Qadri courted possible death when he fired upon Taseer but he also looked towards widespread hero worship and “immortality’ in the similar vein of Ilm-ud-Din ( a hero for some Muslims) who had killed had stabbed a Hindu in 1929 on publishing a supposedly blasphemous book which had contained derogatory remarks about Prophet (PBUH). He was tried in court and hanged but over time has achieved a legendary status.

His act was subsequently glorified and his legacy has been immortalized in the following words of Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan: “This uneducated young man has surpassed us, the educated ones”. The narrative around Ilm-ud-Din is that he did the right thing and today he is highly respected. This, in my opinion, is a dangerous narrative as it is projecting the wrong kind of heroes.

In a society where Ilm-ud-Din has been made into a legend and a “Shaheed”, the murder of Salman Taseer is hardly a surprise. Mumtaz Qadri, in his head was going to heaven and on his way to attaining the same legendary status when he fired shots at Salman Taseer, despite the fact that the latter had only asked for a presidential pardon of an illiterate woman accused of blasphemy. And yet Mumtaz Qadri took the decision, a calculated one, and literally got away with it. And the subsequent showering of the rose petals demonstrate that he was not wrong in his calculations.

No society is monolithic, as it is composed of numerous individuals and has so many cultures and sub cultures. It would be totally wrong for me to say that actions of Mumtaz Qadri were supported by all and he is a universal hero. I know that many hated his act. And many of those who did not support his act were devout Muslims. I personally talked to many and found that apparently a large number was utterly shocked by Mumtaz Qadri’s act.

However, those many never came out to protest. Immediately after his act, it was the Islamists chiefly belonging to the Brailvi sect who thronged the streets. And they were celebrating and threatening that any review of the controversial blasphemy law would be met with severe resistance.

The vigil which was organized by those protesting Taseer’s murder barely attracted a few hundred and those who attended look so different from the rest of Pakistan. The size and the appearance of the crowd contrasted so much from the processions of the “other” side. There could be no greater disparity between the two groups.

So-called moderates may be more, but it is the hardliners to whom the street and the weapons belong. And by the word “moderate” too is relative to hardliners only. If we start judging with respect to Western standards then an overwhelming majority is hardliner.

We need to reexamine the narratives here about people like Ilm-ud-Din. Why do we try to narrate the story of men like Ilm-ud-Din in a consecrated manner? By such narrations, we may not be converting the entire population into fanatics but nevertheless a critical mass is getting “motivated,” and all the hardliners need is that critical organized mass which is ready to even adopt violence.

In the end, I would like to make a humble plea to all my Muslim brothers and sisters.

When you kill in the name of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) then you are portraying Islam and his legacy in an extremely wrong way. The world will, and in fact already is, judging Islam by the way Muslims behave in the name of Islam. If we want the world to consider Islam as a peaceful religion then remember to act in such a way. Being violent, endorsing violence, giving apologetic defense to violence and then also demanding that world should not “stereotype” Muslims and consider Islam as a religion of peace won’t work.