Pakistan Faces Foreign Policy Challenges in Tensions With Neighbors

Recent cross-border attacks and disputes have strained Pakistan's ties with three of its four neighbors, which analysts say are challenging Islamabad's foreign policy strategy.

Tehran on Monday warned Islamabad that it would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront Sunni militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Ten Iranian border guards were killed and one abducted by militants last month in the southeastern province of Sistan-Balouchestan, which borders Pakistan.

“We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases.” said Major Gen. Mohammad Baqeri. The head of the Iranian armed forces was quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Iran, which shares nearly 1,000-kilometer (over 600 miles) border with Pakistan, alleges that anti-state militants use Pakistani soil for plotting terrorist attacks against Iran. Pakistan's western and eastern neighbors, Afghanistan and India, have long accused Islamabad of harboring and supporting militant groups that carry out attacks across shared borders.

Border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 80 others Friday when Pakistani authorities attempted to conduct a census in disputed villages.

Skirmishes lead to strained relations

Frequent skirmishes with Indian forces and militant infiltration across the Line of Control with India have kept ties strained between the two countries. New Delhi has accused Pakistan-based religious groups of supporting militancy in Indian Kashmir.

The United States has pressed Islamabad to do more to crack down on militant groups that operate from its soil. U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster called on Pakistani leaders during a trip to Kabul last month to go after militant groups on their soil “less selectively than they have in the past.”

Pakistan rejects the allegations of employing proxies from its soil, saying “Pakistan itself is a victim of state sponsored terrorism.”

Pakistan's foreign office would not officially comment Monday on the Iranian warning to launch attacks against terrorist's hideouts in Pakistan, but Pakistani officials say Islamabad has good ties with Iran.

“Our relationships with Iran are improving; not only economic ties but we are also moving toward a close cooperation on security issues,” Awais Ahmad Leghari, chairman of the Senate committee foreign affairs, told VOA.

Political and economic impact

But analysts say the failure of Pakistan's government to stop Pakistan-based militant groups from launching attacks against its neighbors is straining political and economic ties.

“Whatever is happening on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as on the borders with India and Iran, is in fact a major challenge for Pakistan's foreign policy,” said Rashid Ahmad, a professor of international studies at Punjab University.

“The situation is delicate and dangerous,” he said, adding that Islamabad's relations with its neighbors have worsened in the last four years.

“Pakistan is in an unenviable position now in that it faces major security challenges on three of its borders,” Michael Kugelman, a Pakistani affairs specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, told VOA.

A common theme

Though “the roots of these challenges are all very complex, there's one single theme that animates all of these border disputes: allegations of Pakistani support for militants on its soil that stage cross-border attacks," he said.

Analysts say the growing tensions not only strain political harmony but also hinder economic and commercial prospects in the region.

"If Pakistan's relations with its neighbors remain tense then its focus will be on security not the economy,” Talat Masood, a defense analyst told VOA.

Pakistani authorities in mid-February closed all border crossings with Afghanistan for over a month after a string of suicide bombings in Pakistan. The protracted border closure cost businesses on both sides tens of millions of dollars and fueled bilateral tensions.

Pakistan exporting terror, claim three neighbours

With Iran's top military official warning Pakistan of reprisals for sheltering Sunni militias attacking targets in Iran, three of Islamabad's neighbours have accused it of cross-border terrorism. Iran's warning that it might be considering its version of"surgical strikes"+ comes after 10 of its border guards were killed by a group identified as Jaish-al-Adl which Tehran believes is sheltered in Pakistan.

Sunni groups operating from Pakistan believe Shia-majority Iran does not conform to Islam and is a fair target for violence.

Iran has echoed the charge frequently levelled by Afghanistan and India. Successive Afghan regimes have held Pakistan responsible for the resurgence of Talibanwhich has attacked development projects, kidnapped foreign nationals and sought to impose hardline Islam in its territory.

Pakistan's sponsorship of Taliban is intended to ensure its control on territory in Afghanistan and is also a measure to pressure the incumbent government. It is also part of its 'strategic depth' doctrine, based on a calculation that Afghanistan must remain a subservient backyard.

The doctrine is linked to Pakistan's India strategy where its army and ISI arm and despatch terrorists for terrorist strikes in J&K and the rest of India. A dense network of "friendly" jihadi organisations operate in Pakistan and Afghanistan and train fighters for assignments in India. India has accused Pakistan of encouraging and sponsoring terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad as well as Hizbul Mujahideen who are responsible for terror attacks on Indian civilian and military targets.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-exporting-terror-claim-three-neighbours/articleshow/58584802.cms

Iran warns will hit militant 'safe havens' inside Pakistan

The head of the Iranian armed forces warned Islamabad on Monday that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront Sunni militants who carry out cross-border attacks.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants last month. Iran said Jaish al Adl, a Sunni militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

The border area has long been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants.

"We cannot accept the continuation of this situation," Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the head of the Iranian armed forces was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

"We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases."

"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are," he said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Pakistan last week and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security. Pakistan assured Iran it would deploy additional troops along its border.

In 2014 Iran warned it would send troops to Pakistan to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish al Adl. Pakistan said at the time that such action would be violation of the international law and warned Iranian forces not to cross the border. Iran refrained from sending the troops when a local Sunni cleric stepped in and resolved the situation.

Four of the guards were released a few months later, but one was killed by the militants.

Jaish al Adl is a Sunni militant group that has carried out several attacks against Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they say is discrimination against minority Sunni Muslims in Iran, where the majority are Shi'ites.

The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight border guards in April 2015 and 14 border guards in October 2013.

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Pakistani Christians demand action legal against murderers of Mashal Khan

As Pakistan still mourns the heinous killing of Abdul Wali Khan University’s student Mashal Khan, Pakistani Christians have demanded befitting action against the killers of the young student. In this regard, Reverend Shahid P. Mairaj has urged the government to take necessary action in this regard.

On April 13, a vigilante mob lynched Mashal Khan inside the university premises. Mashal was accused of committing blasphemy, and so faced extra judicial punishment by his fellow students. Mashal and another student Abdullah, were attacked because there were rumors that they were “promoting the Ahmadi faith on Facebook.” After being informed about the commotion, police reached the scene and were able to rescue Abdullah from the mob.

Soon after the incident, a video footage emerged showing Mashal lying on the floor surrounded by men. He can be seen motionless and wounded, while men around him could be seen kicking his lifeless body and beating it with wooden planks.“The charged students then wanted to burn his body,” DIG Shinwari revealed.

Reverend Shahid P. Mairaj stated: “The government must reject any expediency and do what is good for the nation.” Further paying homage to the courageous student he said: “We want to honor the sacrifice of Mashal Khan,” as he continued saying, “we demand clear punishment for his assassins.”

Reverend Mairaj urged the government to nurture tolerance in the country. Remarking about the religious extremism he said: “What we ask for is an impartial country that unfortunately is disappearing! For years we have been victims of these extremists. Politicians should go beyond power games and begin to save people’s lives.”

Cecil S. Chaudhry, who heads the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, called upon the government to wake up to the alarming situation. “Only the state can stop these elements; civil society is helpless. Law enforcement should take note of this kind of talk: they are an open challenge to the state itself. Looking at social media after this tragedy shows how the level of radicalization has become extremely alarming.”

He said that is this mindset is not controlled it will proliferate and spread in the society. Cecil Chaudhry said that if the extremists are not hooked, they will continue to operate with such ease and liberty. “If the perpetrators of Mashal Khan’s assassination and of all assassinations perpetrated in the name of religion are not put in jail, they will continue and multiply.”

“Taking justice in one’s own hands is indicative of an absent government, the failure of the civil administration to enforce the law, and the ambiguity of the judicial system. The latter continues to allow such crimes against humanity to go unpunished. Impunity linked to violence in the name of religion must end,” he continued.

http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/pakistani-christians-demand-action-legal-against-murderers-of-mashal-khan/

Pakistan's blasphemy allegations - Our darkest moments

By Umair Javed

SEVENTY-ONE deaths in 27 years. According to data collected by Al Jazeera, that is the estimated number of people killed in violence connected to blasphemy allegations. It includes the 12-year-old who lost his life in the town of Hub on Thursday, after a mob resorted to aerial firing in their hunt for a citizen, from a minority community, accused of blasphemy. It includes Mashal Khan, beaten, stomped, and shot to death by some of his own peers at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan last month.

These are just some of the recent events where lives were lost and the media’s gaze stuck around for more than a few days at a stretch. Between them lie many other incidents from which those accused still languish in prison, or where injuries were caused, people were forced to relocate, and only their homes, and not their bodies, were burnt down. The increasing frequency of such acts can be gauged by the fact that literally days after Mashal Khan’s lynching, a mob assembled in Chitral baying for the blood of another accused.

There are facets common to these incidents: Greed for property, money, or social status trigger accusations, while the deeply held religious beliefs of ordinary people take centre stage to deliver ‘justice’.

The state does not have a solution to vigilantism related to blasphemy accusations.

Material motivations are often couched in the language of purity, and status-seeking mullahs seek to further their own credentials by taking up these causes with great public fanfare. In the recent incident in Hub, reports say members of two religious groups travelled all the way from Karachi to participate in the organisation of a lynch mob.

This shameful, endless tryst with blasphemy-related allegations is happening under the nurturing shadow of the state and the political elite. A short while ago, member of the prime minister’s family and PML-N MNA Capt Safdar paid homage to Mumtaz Qadri’s ‘bravery’ as he went about extolling the virtues of vigilantism against alleged blasphemers. When a group of five bloggers were abducted by the state apparatus, the only charge that emerged against them was of anti-religious and anti-establishment provocation. As researcher Ammar Rashid points out, the architecture of blasphemy laws has clearly helped fan these disastrous flames. In the 59 years before 1986 — when Article 295-C introduced the mandatory death penalty for blasphemy — there were a mere seven accusations of blasphemy and two examples of vigilante killings; in the 28 years after the introduction of 295-C, blasphemy accusations increased to 1,335 and direct vigilante murders to 65 (a further six are indirectly related).

It is clear that the state and large swathes of the political elite is complicit in bringing us to a point where the easiest way to settle a score with an individual is to accuse them of blasphemy. This, however, is not the darkest aspect of our present moment.

Over the past few years, an emerging narrative tells us that the country has turned a corner in its fight against terrorism. Constituent of this narrative is the idea that the military has taken a clear position on militancy, and is now seeking to re-establish its monopoly over violence.

There is some truth buried amid all the hyperbole of success and consolidation. The state is clear about aspects of organised militancy, and the falling frequency of attacks suggests its proposed solution has worked to some extent.

However, the state does not have a solution to blasphemy-related vigilantism. This is because it has both legally — through the constitution and the penal code — and rhetorically — through frequent speeches against blasphemous content - elevated blasphemy as one of the highest offences in the land. Unlike anti-state terrorism, which is an identifiable political project, blasphemy violence is now a social project. It does not seek to alter the state any more, it seeks to alter or set societal limits. It seeks to tell you, me, and everyone around us what it means to be a good Muslim and what it entails to be a good, pliant member of a minority community. It is a unifying agenda that allows political leaders and religious clerics of all stripes to get together and cash in on the easily provoked sentiments of a majority Muslim population.

With each subsequent case, it becomes clear that unlike the TTP (that we can at least partially identify geographically and organizationally) we have no ways of identifying participants of the next lynch mob. There is enough ‘latent radicalism’ in all corners of our country — from Chitral to Hub via Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad — that a simple accusation, a little door-to-door work, and a loudspeaker is enough to gather a bloodthirsty crowd.

The absence of a clear or straightforward solution to this violent epidemic is what constitutes our darkest moment. The most banal answers — strengthen local policing, strengthen the court system — ignores the embedded nature of the problem. The same law enforcement institutions are working under a penal code that promises death for blasphemy.

There is very little that a small coterie of earnest citizens can do, other than express their outrage over frequent acts of savagery. And there are few allies even in this task: Most diluted, half-baked condemnations of vigilante murders are swiftly accompanied with a ‘but he/she shouldn’t have blasphemed either’. Any discussion over the problematic laws is now taken as blasphemy itself. Any attempt to add nuance is rejected by a perpetually hurt and sensitive majority. For a country that frequently gives reasons for pessimism, I find blasphemy-related violence to be the most crippling of them all.

Mardan admin denies activists permission to stage rally for Mashal Khan

The district administration in Mardan on Sunday denied a group of activists permission to stage a peaceful rally for Mashal Khan.

The protest had been arranged by some women activists of the province and was due to be joined by activists from other provinces at the Bacha Khan Square in Mardan on Sunday morning. But after the no-objection certificate (NOC) was turned down, the event was postponed.

Enraged at the denial by the district administration, the activists had requested the district police officer to provide security to their rally.

But lacking an NOC, District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Mian Saeed urged the women activists not to hold their rally as it could lead to a confrontation.

“We are law-abiding citizens and we have accepted the DPO’s request as he was of the view that this peaceful protest would result in a confrontation with the district [administration] and may endanger the security situation in the district,” activist and leading social worker Sana Ejaz said while talking to The Express Tribune.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party Central Vice President Bushra Gohar condemned the Mardan police and district administration for refusing to provide security and permission for the rally.

“The district administration can provide security and protection to those who demand that all those who took part in lynching Mashal but turn down an NOC for those who support justice and give strength to the voice for justice,” she said while expressing her shock at the move. Meanwhile, Mardan District Commissioner and other officers of the district administration declined to comment on the matter.

However, a senior officer at the Mardan DC office told The Express Tribune that the activists had applied for the NOC but the police, who has to clear such events, did not find the rally suitable

“Under the circumstances, things would have deteriorated,” the official said.

Pakistan - An independent woman buying herself ice cream is Siraj-ul-Haq’s biggest concern

By Wishal Raheel

JI chief’s comments reflect the deeply rooted insecurities that Pakistani men have, the biggest of them being a woman’s economic independence

A fellow party leader’s recent trip to the US apparently left JI chief Sirajul Haq in shock as the former saw a couple split an ice cream bill equally amongst themselves. The JI chief, at a clerics’ conference in Peshawar, stated that he did not want a similar culture in Pakistan. He then went on to add that he didn’t want the promotion of a culture where a man didn’t even send ‘5 rupees’ on an ice cream for his wife. Clearly the JI chief hasn’t taken his wife out for ice cream in a long, long time otherwise he’d have known that you don’t get an ice cream stick, let alone a full ice cream, for that amount. All jokes apart though, it saddens me to see that the leader of a political party has the audacity to pass such ridiculous comments. This shows the underlying mentality that happens to be the root cause of most problems in Pakistan’s patriarchal society.

It’s a shame that no matter what the situation, we expect a woman to be dependent on the man who is accompanying her. We expect women to never be equal to a man, no matter what. The JI chief’s comments reflect the deeply rooted insecurities that Pakistani men have, the biggest of them being a woman’s economic independence. His comments reveal how threatened gender equality makes an average Pakistani man feel.

Just in 2016, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report ranked Pakistan 143 out of a total of 144 countries on its gender inequality index. Pakistan happens to be the second worst country in the world for equal rights for women. It is worth noting that even a war torn country like Syria managed to perform better than Pakistan on the index. Sadly, comments such as the JI chief’s simply prove these findings accurate.

We live in a country where every day is a struggle for women to attain an equal status in society. Be it at work, or at home, managing to stay at the same level as their male counterparts is a routine struggle for all women. Women’s career choices remain limited to this day owing to the presence of gender discrimination. In a situation like this, the least that political party leaders can do is refrain from encouraging gender discrimination.

There are far more important and pressing issues that religious men need to be addressing at this moment. Our country has become hell for minorities, mobs kill people every other day in the name of religion and women are denied their basic rights. It would perhaps be a good idea for our clergymen to address these instead of talking about irrelevant and highly nonsensical ‘issues’.

Video - Emmanuel Macron Win The French Presidential Election. #France @EmmanuelMacron

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How Macron, the boy who preferred the company of adults, became president of France

As a boy, Emmanuel Macron was preternaturally smart, self-assured and seemed to prefer spending time with adults instead of kids his own age. These traits underscored his most significant relationships and helped propel him to the presidency.

His arms outstretched, fingers clenched, his boyish face basking in the spotlight, a young Macron lets out a dramatic sigh, prolonging every second of undiluted audience attention before launching into his lines.

The video clip of a 15-year-old Macron performing in a school play may have grainy visuals and scratchy sound. But the home movie is a harbinger of the phenomenon to come, like watching the making of a storm of sorts that would one day strike France with suddenspeed and intensity.

In many ways, that May 1993 production of Jean Tardieu’s “La comédie du langage” (The Language of Comedy) marked the public start of what was to become the Macron phenomenon.

For starters, the play was the product of a theatre workshop at La Providence Jesuit high school in the northern French city of Amiens, where Macron met his future wife.

It was pure theatre – in real life and onstage. Brigitte Trogneaux, Macron’s drama teacher, was 24 years older than him, married, and with children.

“He played a scarecrow, I remember that very, very well. And I found him incredible in this scene, what a presence,” recalled Trogneaux in the documentary, “Macron, a Meteor's Strategy.”

At 15, Macron fell in love with his 39-year-old drama teacher, whose three children included a daughter his own age.

It was the sort of romantic plot novelists would adopt only with trepidation. But life can be stranger than fiction and Macron at a very early age had a preternatural sense of his own destiny -- matched by a determination to get what he wanted.

Like Trogneaux, for instance. Before leaving Amiens at 17 to complete his studies in Paris, Macron informed his drama teacher that one day he would marry her.

In 2007 -- 14 years after they first met -- Macron married Trogneaux, who had since divorced her husband. It had taken dogged determination, overcoming first her resistance, then his family’s disapproval before reaching a stage where he could finally marry Trogneaux – after asking her children for their mother’s hand in marriage.

“It’s a powerful act because not everyone would have bothered to come and ask us for her hand in marriage,” Trogneaux’s daughter, Tiphaine Auziere, told CNN.

© Eric Feferberg, AFP

‘He was not a teenager’
Born in Amiens to a physician mother and a neurologist father, Macron was an extremely intelligent student. One of his most influential childhood figures was his maternal grandmother, Manette, who was also a teacher. Macron has told several journalists that it was Manette who introduced him to leftist ideals and instilled in him a lifelong passion for books.

As a teenager and young adult, Macron was always hanging around older people – having dinners with his teachers, avoiding the advances of girls his own age, according to his former classmates.

“He was not like the others. Most definitely, he was not like the others. He was always with the teachers, he was always discussing issues with the teachers. He had books, always a lot of books. He was not a teenager. He had a rapport with adults – teachers, school directors – he had an equal relationship with them,” explained Trogneaux in the France 3 documentary.

A mentor sees ‘the stuff of presidents’
That affinity for older people saw him establishing a close bond with Jacques Attali, a prominent French economic and social theorist who had served as advisor to former French President François Mitterrand.

Macron encountered Attali after graduating in 2004 from ENA (l'Ecole Nationale d’Administration), one of the country’s most prestigious grandes écoles and a breeding ground for future French presidents.

© HO, via Vanity Fair

That’s when he joined France’s General Inspectorate of Finance and was appointed deputy rapporteur of a bipartisan commission, chaired by Attali, to foster French economic growth.

© Screengrab, "Macron, la strategie du météore" (France 3)

Attali would play a critical role in opening a new chapter in Macron’s life, one that would earn him wealth, increase his grasp of the global financial system, but also earn him the opprobrium of the section of the French left that views bankers as villains.

Armed with a recommendation by Attali, Macron joined Rothschild & CIE Banque, an investment bank owned by Rothschild & Co. The young Macron rose rapidly up the bank’s ranks to become a managing partner -- and a millionaire in the process.

© Bertrand Langlois, AFP

By then, he had married Trogneaux in the northern French town of Touquet and had established what many would call a hyperactive life, juggling a high-stress job with sports such as tennis and cycling, as well as playing the piano. A prize-winning pianist with a Masters in philosophy – including an association with French philosopher Paul Ricoeur -- Macron so impressed Attali that the older Frenchman famously declared his protégé had “the stuff of presidents”.

© Les Échos du Touquet, July 2016

‘Mozart of the Elysée’
But life in the private sector, no matter how remunerative, could not hold the restless Macron’s interest for long and so, in May 2012, he was appointed deputy secretary-general at the Elysée presidential palace -- a senior role in President François Hollande’s staff. A complete unknown on the national scene, the young Macron was quickly dubbed the “Mozart of the Elysée” by the French press.

© Alain Jocard, AFP

Two years later, at the age of 37, he was appointed France’s youngest-ever economy minister, replacing Arnaud Montebourg.

In his new post as economy minister, Macron was responsible for pushing through a pro-business labour reform package that earned him the undying wrath of France’s hardline trade unions and their far-left supporters.

© Éric Piermont, AFP

But the ambitious young economy minister didn’t stay in that job for long. In August 2015, the maverick politician announced that he had left the ruling Socialist Party and was, from now on, an independent.

© AFP

A year later, when he launched his En Marche! (Onward) political movement, his chutzpah was severely criticised by the establishment on the left. But Macron apparently had read the political tea leaves and seen what that left-wing establishment was unwilling to confront: that the age of established parties, especially the unpopular ruling Socialist Party, was over.

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Pakistan: Another Christian sentenced to life in prison under blasphemy law

Another Christian man has been sentenced to life imprisonment under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, despite the absence of evidence to support the charge against him.

Zafar Bhatti was accused of insulting Islam in cell-phone text messages he sent in 2012. He denied the charges, and pointed out to the court that the cell phone in question was not his account. He had been held in prison since that time—in part for his own protection, because of threats against his life by Muslim zealots.

Pakistani courts frequently issue death sentences in blasphemy cases, but the court in Rawalpindi sentenced Bhatti to life in prison, perhaps because the evidence against him was so slim.

Pakistani Christians and human-rights advocates have repeatedly called for change in the country’s blasphemy law, which leaves enormous scope of abuse, allowing for false accusations. But legislators have hesitated to amend the law, and courts have been leery of finding defendants innocent, because of pressure tactics by Muslim militants.


http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2017/05/pakistan-another-christian-sentenced-to.html

Class divide — Pakistan's main problem

M Abrahim Shah

The elite’s capture of the state is the primary reason behind a segment of our population’s proclivity for intolerance

Arguments that hold a lack of tolerance or a poor education system responsible for the horrific incident of Mashal Khan’s killing are not just elitist but also they fail to let us analyse the real cause behind the incident. Intolerance may have led to the incident, but this intolerance is a product of a system which promotes the interests of the top one per cent only.

The idea that Pakistan’s lower socio-economic classes are somehow more prone to violence and intolerance is a very common one in our society. This belief begets the false image of a common Pakistani as an emotionally-charged and irrational being — easily beguiled by demagogues into committing the most gruesome acts of violence. Such a way of thinking contrasts the urban elite — seen as well-educated, moderate and rational — with the rest of the country — portrayed as illiterate, devoid of critical thinking skills, and prone to violence. Some people also reason that the ability of our well-to-do classes to think rationally is a product of their education. And if, somehow, the rest of the country is given access to this education, Pakistan will be cured of its intolerance.

Such thinking is a remnant of our colonial past — where the British ‘raj’ justified its rule by portraying the natives as ‘prone to anger’ and ‘unable to make rational judgements’. We inherited this harmful line of thinking, and it explains why several people — including civil and military bureaucrats like Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan — believed, and continue to do so, that Pakistan is not fit for democratic rule. This way of thinking is also reflective of the class divide that plagues Pakistani society.

The elite’s capture of the state is, in fact, the primary culprit behind a segment of our population’s proclivity for intolerance. There are lessons on repercussions of this class divide in the Mardan lynching incident. Like most other state-run institutions in Pakistan, Mardan University had been allowed to fall into a state of dereliction because our government failed to invest enough resources and energy in it.

This failure stems from the government’s inability to cater to the masses through inclusive public institutions. Thus, places like Mardan University have become more prone to hateful ideologies due to the state’s apathy. It is only inevitable that perpetrators of violent crimes will emerge from the population segment that attends such institutes.

Thus, a system that perpetuates class divide and marginalises large segments of our populace is the main problem, not the education system or the quality of education imparted at public institutions. The class divide is evident not only in our educational institutes, but also in our public spaces and workplaces. Over the past few years, big cities like Lahore and Karachi have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of privately-run cafes and restaurants. These places cater exclusively to the upper and upper-middle classes. Concomitantly, the condition of public parks and recreational areas in these cities has declined significantly. This illustrates how our state is failing to meet the needs of the people, as those with money continue to enjoy various comforts.

Class divide gives birth to the elitist view that Pakistan’s less privileged classes are backward, and that access to education can serve as the panacea to Pakistan’s losing battle with hate crimes. In fact, the capitalist structure of our economy, and social and political ramifications of this structure have led to this situation.

It is not simply education, but our privileged up-bringing which prevents us from suffering the day-to-day struggles of the common Pakistani and helps us to think ‘rationally’. We must also question how radicalisation took root in our society, and bring to task powers such as the United States and Saudi Arabia who funded radical organisations within our borders for their vested interests.

The first step, however, must be to indict a system which has resulted in such a stark class divide in our society. We must, then, let go of our views that those less-privileged than us are somehow more irrational and violent than us. It is imperative that we act now and change Pakistan for the better. We owe this to Mashal.

Bilawal Bhutto pays tributes to Shaheed Qamar Abbas

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has paid glowing tributes to Shaheed Syed Qamar Abbas, former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister and Senior Vice President of PPP KP, who was martyred by armed men ten years ago today.

In a statement, the PPP Chairman said that Syed Qamar Abbas stood loyal to the Party and remained in forefront of every struggle for the restoration of democracy and against dictatorship.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PPP was proud of the sacrifices of its martyred leaders and workers who laid down their lives for our future generation for the cause of downtrodden people and democracy.

He said that Party will never forget Shaheed Qamar Abbas and other workers and they will continue to be adorned in our hearts and minds forever.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/05/06/bilawal-bhutto-pays-tributes-to-shaheed-qamar-abbas/

Pakistan - PPP is the party of all classes: Bilawal

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PPP is the party of all the classes.

Addressing more than 100 political leaders, office-bearers and workers who had defected to the PPP from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Muslim League – Functional (PML-F) during the last eight months in Karachi, he said that those joining the PPP from other parties would be given full opportunities to change the political landscape of the provincial capital.

Zubair Khan, the central president of PTI’s labour wing, Naeem Shaikh, the former town nazim of Korangi, Sheikh Mohammad Feroz, Farah Shaikh and Samina Salam were among those who have recently joined the party.

“Let us work together for the restoration of the City of Lights and the City of Peace besides [ensuring] provision of food, shelter and clothes to every citizen,” said Bilawal.

According to Bilawal, the vision of the founding party leadership was to strengthen a democratic Pakistan with its destiny lying in the hands of the public. “PPP has experienced great political movements, leading the people from the front for the rights of the people and our country,” he added.

He said that PPP candidates will win majority of the seats in Karachi in the 2018 general elections.


https://tribune.com.pk/story/1403142/ppp-party-classes-bilawal/

Pakistan’s Emerging Threat: Highly Educated Youth Gravitate to Radicalization

The on-campus mob slaying of a journalism student and the arrest of a female medical student for allegedly planning a suicide attack underscore concerns that some of Pakistan’s highly educated youth are gravitating toward violent extremism and radicalization.

Security experts say the unrelated incidents show that religious militancy isn’t limited to the disenfranchised and uneducated poor. They contend the government has to wake up to a problem that may be getting worse as the country’s conservative streak growing deeper.

On April 13, a crowd in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa almost casually carried wooden planks and guns to fatally beat and shoot Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old journalism student who had been accused — falsely, as investigation later showed — of spreading blasphemy on social media.

Then Naureen Laghari, a bright, 20-year-old medical student from a well-educated family in Sindh province, was arrested for allegedly planning an Easter suicide attack on Lahore’s Christian community. She had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and had traveled to Syria, where she took military training.

“Laghari is not the first example of radicalized youth to become a foot soldier for a terror outfit,” security and defense analyst Aisha Siddiqa told VOA. “She’s certainly not the last one. When there’s no place in the country where you can engage in an open debate on religion, then the only way forward is in the form of radicalization.”

Confused youth, an easy target

Youth dominates Pakistan’s population of 200 million people, so its most important demographic group is also the most impressionable. A recent report in the Dawn newspaper indicates that education doesn’t prevent militancy: Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department said that out of 500 militants currently held in Sindh’s jails, 64 hold a master’s degree and 70 have a bachelor’s.

Analysts believe deprived and confused youth, particularly those who can’t find answers to their problems, are most vulnerable to fall into the hands of extremist groups, such as IS, which is highly tech-savvy and relies heavily on cyberspace to provide hardline narratives that glorify terrorism.

Other factors include political disillusionment, increasing militancy in the country, and poor security measures.

“I think they’re [youth] being attracted to extremism because there is so much religious ambiguity and no one to talk to,” Ayesha Ghaffar, a media sciences university student in Karachi told VOA. “I have a lot of questions but there's no one to answer them.”

Most of the current university students grew up in the ‘80s, when young men were openly recruited from universities for jihad as Pakistan and the U.S. joined to fight the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, then in Indian-controlled Kashmir in the ‘90s.

Experts believe the result was radicalization in youth on a national level, leaving them malleable as new causes emerged. That is bolstered by well-organized religious groups at most universities whose mission is to spread Islam among fellow students through prayer meetings, charities and other activities.

Deradicalization & counter-narrative

“Now is the time to make changes to the blunders we’ve made in the past, or we’ll pay the price forever,” Khadim Hussain, a security analyst, told VOA.

Education experts say it’s important to build a counter-narrative and cultivate an environment where youth can openly engage in conversations on issues considered taboo in Pakistan.

They believe outdated teaching methods, lack of development of new skills, and absence of sports and extracurricular activities lead to frustration allow youth to gravitate toward violent terrorism.

“The education system of Pakistan does not train a student in logical/scientific inference or critical thinking. So he’s unable to critically dissect the indoctrinating patterns,” Naureen Zehra, an education expert, told VOA.

Mughees ud Din Shaikh, dean of the Mass Communication department at the Superior University Lahore, added, “Social change takes decades. We need to change the curriculum and come up with a counter-narrative on an emergency basis. Everyone has to play a role towards deradicalization: teachers, religious scholars, mosques, state, security forces – everyone.”

Many see an urgent need to bring fast-spreading religious seminaries (madrasas) into the national education system. Once focused on the lower middle class, they have become prevalent in posh neighborhoods, too.

“As far as education is concerned, forget about universities and colleges, look at the religious schools in very elite neighborhoods in whole of Pakistan,” said Aisha Siddiqa.

Government’s challenges

Security experts say the government has been avoiding tough decisions.

“Organizations like IS are active on cyberspace and have sleeper cells, but the government doesn’t pay attention because they fear for their perception in the world,” Khadim Hussain said. “This fear has impacted the society and state badly.”

Abdul Qayyum, a lawmaker and prominent member of the ruling PML-N party, denied that, telling VOA that government is aware of the gravity of the matter and is taking measures to prevent radicalization.

“The government is keeping an eye on curriculum, schools, universities and religious seminaries, as well. Through continuous and vigilant monitoring, we were able to catch terrorists like Naureen Laghari before they could carry out any atrocity.”