#Pakistan - Alarming increase in neonatal, maternal mortality rates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has moved an application in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, seeking a suo moto notice of the deaths of 22 newborn babies and one pregnant woman in hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa every day.

The application has been moved by PMA president Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon. He has requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar to take a suo moto notice of the serious issue.

In the two-page application, the PMA president discussed and explained the present condition of the KP hospitals after introduction of the Medical Teachings Institutions Act by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in the province.

However, he explained in the application that as per media reports based on government released data of the Basic Health Units, Regional Health Centres and District Headquarters Hospitals, 22 newborn babies and one pregnant woman die every day.

However, he stated that this data is without the 10 teaching hospitals of the province and thousands maternity homes, and if right data is collected, the number would go much higher.

As per the report submitted with the application, it was stated that 3,979 newborn babies from the first day up to one month time had died in the first 180 days of 2018. Besides, it said 178 pregnant women had also died in the hospitals during this period.

The data is provided by the District Health Information System and collected from Rural Health Centers and labour rooms of tehsil and district government hospitals of the province.

As per the report, 2259 children who died were suckling babies, not more than one month of age, and 1720 babies died immediately after the death.

It said that 560 babies died in Bannu hospitals, 506 in Haripur, 226 in Swat and 110 in Kohat.

Similarly, it said 178 pregnant women had died in the hospitals, including 31 in Nowshera, 15 in Abbottabad, 20 in Mansehra and 21in Dera Ismail Khan hospitals.

The PMA president also pointed out before the Chief Justice of Pakistan that there is no ICU Ventilator in District Headquarters Hospitals of the province and many patients died during operations due to non-availability of ICU Ventilators.

Besides, he stated in the application that the ICU Ventilators were also not available in the private hospitals of the province except a few.

However, he pointed out that legally no surgery can be conducted in a hospital where there is no ventilator facility.

It was stated in the application that the present PTI government through MTI law had given a status of private hospitals to majority hospitals of the province and are being through Board of Governors (BoG).

The applicant said that first their members were selected from government departments in BoG, and now no member is being elected from government departments including health department.

It was also stated that the condition of government hospitals is worsening day by day.

He said that people are dying in hospitals and the government did not take measures in this regard.

The PMA president said that death ratio of newborn babies in KP is more than Thar area of Sindh and requested the CJP to take suo moto notice of these deaths.

Why is there no room for Asia Bibi in Britain’s Intersectional Inn?

Asia Bibi, identifiably the world’s most oppressed woman, has been disqualified from the International Olympics of Oppression 2018. A month before Theresa May, Britain’s Christian PM celebrates Christmas, her government is replaying the Nativity by slamming the door of Britain’s Intersectional Inn in the face of a woman who is arguably the most deserving refugee on the planet. Intersectionality is the nomenclature for Leftism’s taxonomy of oppression. It refers to how different forms of discrimination (like racism or sexism) overlap.

 So, according to Kimberle Crenshaw, who coined the term “intersectionality”, black women have a higher status on the hierarchy of victimhood because they are black and women and these two experiences of marginalization intersect and their “intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism”. Your value as a human being depends on how many victim groups you belong to. Consequently, a one-eyed, black, lesbian, Palestinian, Muslim woman gets the Olympic gold medal, while, a heterosexual, black, woman, is awarded silver, and a white, homosexual, American male is at the bottom with a bronze medal. The religion of identity politics not only has a hierarchical creed; it also has a great commandment—love your neighbour based on their position on the totem pole of intersectionality.

Thus, a female bishop in the male-dominated Church of England must make alliances with other oppressed folk—Muslims, Palestinians, Native Americans, and every noodle in the LGGBDTTTIQQAAPP alphabet soup, depending on the degree of overlapping categories of oppression. Your value as a human being depends on how many victim groups you belong to. This is the one, unholy, apostate and cultic faith that unites Theresa May’s government, Leftists and the Church of England (and liberal denominations). Its high priests are innkeepers holding the keys to opening or shutting the doors to Cool Britannia’s Intersectional Inn—where the world’s huddled masses yearning to breathe free and indulge in LGGBDTTTIQQAAPP sexual congress—may be welcomed like Joseph and Mary fleeing the genocidal lunacy of King Herod. It follows that, on merit alone,

Asia Bibi should win the gold in the Oppression Olympics and be accorded a red carpet state welcome by the innkeepers of the Intersectional Inn. Asia Bibi is a coloured (20 points) woman (20 points), who has been brutalised by Pakistan’s patriarchy (25 points). She is a low-class (10 points) and low-caste (20 points) farm labourer (15 points). She has rotted on death row facing the death penalty (30 points) for eight years for a crime she did not commit (15 points). That’s a whopping 155 points on Bibi’s scorecard. A victim can get into the Intersectional Inn with as few as 20 points—being a woman is enough (even better a man who self-identifies as a woman). Taking a leaf from the Jim Acosta School of Journalism, the Messiahs of Migration should be snatching media megaphones and demanding open borders for Asia Bibi and her family. So why has Britain so dishonourably refused Asia Bibi asylum? The Home Office has reportedly told Pakistani Christians campaigning on her behalf that Bibi’s “moving to the UK would cause security concerns and unrest among certain sections of the community and would also be a security threat to British embassies abroad which might be targeted by Islamist terrorists”.

 Islam is a religion of peace, no? Why, then, is our Islamophiliac Home Office so terrified?

 Is it because protestors in Pakistan have already caused damage in the region of £900 million, bringing the country to a standstill? Or is it because a Chamberlain, not a Churchill, heads our government?

Elsewhere, I have written about Theresa May’s cowardly capitulation to Salafist Islam. History will remember Mrs May as an appeaser—the antipodean opposite to Mrs Thatcher. When Fiona Bruce MP asked Mrs May about Pakistan’s Supreme Court verdict overturning Bibi’s death sentence, with adroit subterfuge the PM replied that the UK was committed to the global abolition of the death penalty. Note, she did not say we were committed to the abolition of Islam’s reprehensible blasphemy law. Because May, a globalist, favours the European Court of Human Rights, which recently maintained it was a crime to call Muhammad a paedophile. Traitor Theresa is a female Faust who trades what is left of Britain’s Christian soul with the Muslim Mephistopheles in exchange for her political survival.

She’d rather sign Bibi’s death warrant than offer Bibi asylum in Britain’s Intersectional Inn. What then, of the progressive brigade and their first cousins in the Church of England? Do we see women bishops wearing ‘pussy hats’ and demanding justice for Bibi? Do we see hashtags #ArrestMeToo and #JeSuisAsiaBibi trending on Twitter? The hordes funded by Patron Saint of Open Borders St George Soros and caterwauling in support of Honduran migrant caravans are selling Asia Bibi T-shirts on college campuses, no? Islam is a religion of peace, no? Why, then, is our Islamophiliac Home Office so terrified? Why has Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, not flung open his cottage at Lambeth Palace to this Christian refugee? A couple of years ago Welby persuaded the Home Office to get a Muslim Syrian refugee family into his studio flat, yeah? Welby called the Syrian migrant problem a “wicked crisis”.

We “cannot turn our backs on this crisis”, Archie thundered. “Jesus was a refugee!” bellowed Welby. Cat got your tongue now, Archbishop? Disgracefully, in 2016, the Home Office gave visas to Muslim clerics Muhammad Naqib ur Rehman and Hassan Haseeb ur Rehman who began their tour by visiting Welby at Lambeth Palace for “interfaith relations”. In Pakistan, the duo is infamous for promoting Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. Taseer wanted to end Pakistan’s blasphemy law. He specifically opposed Asia Bibi’s execution. Perhaps Judas Iscariot could take correspondence courses from you, eh Archbishop? And why have Jayne Ozanne and her chums like Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool, not rushed to Bibi’s advocacy? The Ozanne Foundation works “with religious organisations around the world to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender in order to celebrate the equality and diversity of all”. It’s because Asia Bibi is not a lesbian, no, Jayne?

 Bayes is proud to march for Gay Pride. When it comes being proud of persecuted Christians we haven’t heard a dicky bird from this valiant social justice warrior. The only person proud to be a Christian in this comedy of intersectional errors is Asia Bibi. “I will not convert. I believe in my religion and Jesus Christ. And why should I be the one to convert and not you?” Asia Bibi boldly asks staring her executioners in the face. You dig? Capiche? Now you can understand why the Left doesn’t want Bibi in the Intersectional Inn. Bibi believes in Jesus Christ. She is a conservative Christian. She confesses Jesus as the only way to salvation. For Bibi, Jesus and Muhammad are not interchangeable. For Bibi, Jesus is God’s Son; Muhammad is a mere man. Her exclusive belief in Jesus as her Saviour excludes her from the hierarchy of intersectionality. It automatically excommunicates her latae sententiae from the blessed communion of victim-saints. Why? First, the belief that all religions are basically the same and one religion is no better than another is a cardinal doctrine of progressivism.

Asia Bibi must be blamed for her stubbornness in not converting to the religion of peace! Second, Muslims are at peak of the pyramid in the hierarchy of intersectionality. Not surprisingly, Britain was quick to offer asylum to Malala Yousufzai, the teenage Muslim girl shot by the Taliban. The world now believes the Big Lie that Muslims are the real victims and Christians are the oppressors. Since it was wicked Western missionaries who took the gospel to Pakistanis—Asia Bibi must renounce her Christianity and return to Islam. Third, being a Christian is equivalent to having white privilege. This is a dogma—(all Leftist dogmas must be accepted by faith, not reason, because Leftism is a religion) which stands on feet of clay because, (a) Christianity is originally an Asian religion, and, (b) the truth is that the persecution facing Christians is the largest human rights violation issue in the world today. The only person proud to be a Christian in this comedy of intersectional errors is Asia Bibi. Fourthly, by definition, a biblical Christian betrays the fraternity of victimhood. Unlike Jayne Ozanne, Asia Bibi does not regard herself a victim. She believes she is a victor in Christ because by his death and resurrection Christ has conquered Satan, sin and death. No wonder she’s holding firm to her faith for eight years while languishing in a Pakistani prison where even the guards are waiting to poison her food. Fifthly, the cult of cultural Marxism, which includes progressive Christians, hates orthodox Christianity as much as Lucifer hates God.

 That’s why it has structured its Olympics of Oppression to exclude Christianity by default. Written into its rulebook is the statue: Christianity cannot be a category of oppression. You may be black or brown or blind but coming out of the closet as a confessing Christian disqualifies you by default. It’s like taking steroids to boost your performance in the Olympics. Persecuted Christians, be they black or brown, will never be accepted in Britain’s Intersectional Inn—which stands exposed and denounced by Bibi’s exclusion as one gigantic fraud. The only Western leaders to welcome them are so-called far right, racist, nationalist, white supremacist, anti-immigrant, anti-open border, populists like Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who has offered Asia Bibi asylum in Italy. God bless Matteo Salvini! God bless the populists and may their popularity increase!

https://www.julesgomes.com/single-post/Why-is-there-no-room-for-Asia-Bibi-in-Britain-Intersectionality-Inn

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When will America stop participating in Yemen's genocidal war?

By Mark Weisbrot

 Sooner or later, the Trump administration will be forced to withdraw from this war. But how many people will die before it happens?

On Wednesday the Republican leadership briefly transformed the US House of Representatives into a theater of the absurd in order to block a debate and vote on US military participation in a genocidal war.

In an odd spectacle, representatives went back and forth between speaking about wolves, who kill other animals, to the Saudi monarchy, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people – mostly civilians including children – and pushed 14 million people to the brink of starvation.

The Republicans had hijacked the “Manage our Wolves Act” – a bad but unrelated piece of legislation – to pass a rule that would prohibit the House from debating H Res 138, introduced by Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California. The latter resolution would give the president 30 days to get the US military out of the war in Yemen.

The Republicans won by a vote of 201-187. But the Democrats could have easily defeated this surprise attack with some of the 17 members of their party who didn’t vote and the 6 who voted with the Republicans.

Most Americans have heard nothing of this ongoing clash in Congress, which has lasted for more than a year, and is probably the most important foreign policy action that Congress has launched since it cut off funding for the Vietnam war.

What the Republicans did on Wednesday was illegal and unconstitutional. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Khanna’s resolution must be allowed a debate and vote.

The War Powers Resolution was a response to the prolonged tragedy of the Vietnam war. It reaffirms that under the constitution the president does not have authority to use offensive military force without specific authorization from Congress. And it establishes procedures to help Congress prevent and end unauthorized wars. One of these procedures is that when the president introduces US armed forces into hostilities without authorization, any member of Congress can demand a debate and vote on that military intervention, and it cannot be blocked procedurally.

The 1973 War Powers Resolution is still the law of the land, and the courts have not overturned any part of it. There are officials in the “national security state” who believe that the president can decide without Congress to participate in a war. But that is not the law, or is it consistent with the US Constitution – even if some prior presidents have claimed this power.

Two Republican representatives who supported H Res 138 cited James Madison in a letter to their colleagues on Wednesday: “In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department.”

In the 20th century the most important checks on US military overreach came from Congress. In addition to the historic 1973 War Powers Resolution, the Congress cut off funds for US military intervention in Angola in 1976. In the mid-1980s the Congress cut US aid to the Contras who were waging a war to topple the government of Nicaragua; this led to the Iran-Contra scandal, after the Reagan White House decided to continue funding the war through illegal weapons sales to Iran.

Following the Saudi murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, more people have begun to see that ending US military participation in this war and complicity in war crimes – which include using mass starvation as weapon – is the most urgent priority in the “re-evalutation of our relationship with the Saudis.”

Fortunately, this battle in Congress is far from over, and the proponents of war are losing. In the Senate, Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee, are re-introducing a similar resolution that got 44 votes in February. If that vote were held today, it would likely pass.

The Trump administration knows this, and so the White House announcedlast Friday that it would stop refueling the Saudi and UAE bombers in mid-air. It hasn’t happened yet, and of course any suspension of re-fueling not ordered by Congress could simply be resumed. Congressional sources believe that Trump may do something just before the Senate vote in order to try to pull a few Senators away from voting to end the war.

In addition, even if mid-air refueling is suspended, without congressional prohibition on all offensive US military activities, the US can continue its engagement in logistics, special operations, and targeting assistance – all of it concealed from view of American public.

The new House in January, with a Democratic majority and solid supportfrom the leadership, should have no trouble passing the resolution. But the human costs of delay are enormous. Experts have pointed out that once a famine breaks out it will be too late to save many of the victims.

Sooner or later, the Trump administration will be forced to withdraw from this genocidal war. The only question is how many people will die before it happens.

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John Kerry: US 'cannot afford truculent child president'

Patrick Wintour

Former US secretary of state criticises Trump’s failure to attend Armistice Day ceremony

America cannot afford “a truculent child president” if it is to fulfil its global leadership role, the former US secretary of state John Kerry said on Thursday as he lambasted Donald Trump for failing to attend a key Armistice Day commemoration ceremony in Paris at the weekend.

Kerry is visiting the UK to promote his book and will be speaking at a Guardian Live event in London on Thursday night.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Kerry spoke of “a dearth of a leadership on a global basis” adding: “Every country is feeling the pressure of this nationalistic populist and in some cases very frightening rightwing advance.”

He said: “I was appalled that rain drops prevented the president from going to pay honour to those that died in rain, gas, snow and mud. That was the reason he came to Paris.”Trump refused to attend the rain-swept ceremony citing concerns that his helicopter could not fly due to the weather, and his belief that if he travelled by car, the Paris traffic would be severely disrupted.

Kerry said: “People are tired of the embarrassment of what took place in Paris in the last few days. We cannot have a truculent child president. We need something serious.”

Despite his personal criticism of Trump, Kerry urged his party to avoid becoming so obsessed with Trump that they call for his impeachment. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives should do whatever is appropriate, he explained, but he said: “the Democrats should not even be talking about impeachment right now. We should be talking about the alternatives that might make life better for the people in our country.”

He highlighted climate change, saying in 30 years of political activity he had “never seen evidence mounting so powerfully as it is today about the urgency of action, but it is not happening on a global basis. Scientists have just said if we do not get our act together in the next 12 years we are in for a serious catastrophe”. He also called for a global cyber-agreement on a similar scale to the deal restricting nuclear weapons. Speaking on the UK Brexit debate, he said: “Suffice it to say both President Obama and myself, as secretary of state, came here to Britain before the referendum and we both were remainers”. When asked if he supported a second referendum, he replied: “I said President Obama and I were, and are, remainers”.

He said the most recent midterm elections had made a powerful statement.

“We had, for the first time in history, more than 100 million people – 113 million people vote in the midterm elections. We had seven mid-governorships flip to the Democratic party, six legislatures and the largest number of Democratic Congresspeople elected since Watergate, which took place two months after Richard Nixon resigned.” He also rebutted the often-repeated claim that wherever Trump campaigned he won, saying Trump lost in Montana, Nevada and Arizona.

He said he had not ruled out standing as the Democratic candidate for the presidency, but said he was not “actively running round” to secure the nomination, saying as many as 20 to 25 names were being bandied around in what he described as a “mish-mash”. The only specific names he mentioned were former vice president Joe Biden and the former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, but added there was a lot of talent in the party.

Music - Ustad Awalimir - Da Zamong Zeba Watan Da #Afghanistan

#Afghanistan - Losing A Winnable War – OpEd

By Tamim Asey

The Afghan government and its allies are winning battles in Afghanistan but not the war. The Afghan war started as the “good war” and as President Obama termed it later as “war of necessity” and was won in less than two months. Quickly the success of the Afghan war was termed as an international model for fighting global terrorism. It was hailed as a model of international cooperation but what has happened since then? Why is it is now at worst a “lost war” and at best a “forgotten war”. Is this war winnable? Who is the enemy we are fighting? What are the costs of inaction and withdrawal and what are the costs of winning? What does victory look like? And finally how we can achieve victory? Do we have the right means both on the Afghan side and on the side of the international community to win it and how long would it take to win this war? I don’t have a crystal ball but firsthand experience and history tells me that the heart of the matter is that we have been winning battles and losing the war; short-term tactical successes over long term strategic win over the enemy. The crust of the failures lies in a halfhearted approach to war, zigzag policy making and the lack of a broad-based reform minded government in Kabul.

Essentially – the Afghan war still counts as the “good war” because it really hasn’t met its objectives: destroying Al Qaeda, prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for international terrorist organizations and ensure no terrorist plot is planned from Afghan soil against US and its allies. On the contrary – Al Qaeda is not yet annihilated, there are more than 20 terrorist organizations active in Afghanistan and ISKP has managed to create a foothold in Afghanistan. The question is why such a reversal? The answer is simple – a halfhearted and under resourced campaign under heavy scrutiny.

The war in Afghanistan is not a civil war no an insurgency as portrayed by some within the security and military circles. It started as a war against terrorism, which is now transformed to proxy war with elements of criminal economy, and terrorism. It is in this environment that terrorist organizations thrive thus making victory difficult to claim in the absence of a long-term strategy and commitment.

At the outset -everyone had a plan to win the war but not a strategy to win the peace in Afghanistan. It is important to note because if you look at the trajectory of war policy making you will find out that immediately after the Taliban regime was overthrown nobody knew what to do next post first Bonn conference in 2001. Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, alongwith former President Bush did not want a major US presence in Afghanistan. Then they had to train Afghan forces to be able to maintain security and stability in the country and got NATO involved and subsequently we have witnessed a plethora of haphazard often-contested prescriptions for the Afghan war. Nobody defined victory and what does victory look like in a war as complicated and multifaceted like Afghanistan. Since then we have seen a plethora of zig-zag policy making by the Americans and NATO allies often focused on short term results and under pressure from their parliaments aimed at achieving quick wins. Afghan experts and policy makers at times joke that the only country which had a consistent and robust policy towards Afghanistan is Pakistan – keep the war going on enough to hurt but not at a boiling point to recall for an international retaliation. This policy has not changed and as we can see is starting to pay dividend to GHQ in Rawalpindi.

On the otherhand – Taliban have transformed themselves from a regime hosting Al Qaeda who plotted the 9/11 tragic events to a terrorist group and subsequently now a full blown “insurgent group” who supposedly poses no risk to the west and its allies and are merely leading a national struggle and the Afghans need to reconcile with them.

The fact of the matter is that the Afghan war has been for many years in a stalemate but still winnable. The NATO train and assist missions has failed to break this stalemate for many reasons chief among them a lack of resources, political considerations in US and European capitals and finally geopolitical priorities in other parts of the world such as Syria, Iraq and nowadays Russia. But against all odds – the Afghan war is still winnable and a just war and one, which is vital for the national security interests of the west and Afghanistan. In fact – the war in Afghanistan symbolizes victory and defeat against terrorism. It all started here and will end here.

Afghanistan faces a proxy war imposed on its population from outside. Unlike Syria Afghanistan is not in a civil war or an insurgency as some may define this war. Afghanistan faces a full blown proxy war imposed on its population thriving in an environment of criminal economy and international terrorism. The question remains how you win such a war?

What is the Afghan war and who are we fighting?

The war in Afghanistan is multilayered and multifaceted with deep regional and global roots. It is not a civil war like Syria and nor it is an insurgency whereas a group of dissidents with no freedom control large swaths of land and wage a war of national freedom. It is a proxy war coupled with elements of criminal economy and terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan. For the Afghans it is a national struggle and war of freedom from the reign of terror financed and provided safe havens outside of Afghanistan and for the international community it is the global war on terrorism. Afghan have suffered more than anyone and have been victims of this long war. According to the United Nations civilian casualties report – last year more than 4000 civilians lost their lives in Afghanistan and over the last 17 years more than 80,000 Afghan civilians were killed. This is the price Afghans are paying on a daily basis for this struggle.

Essentially – this war is as much about the region and global security as much as it is about the national security interests of Afghanistan. More than 20 terrorist organization operate under various outfits in Afghanistan and fight Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) whose primary objective is to plan and execute deadly terrorist attacks in the capitals of the region and the west. The security of Afghanistan is tied to the security of Tehran, Delhi, London, Berlin and New York.

Therefore – the war in Afghanistan is not only the war of Afghans but also the war of the west against its original motto of global terrorism. This consensus is unfortunately broken. When the global war on terrorism was launched it was due to broad-based consensus inside Afghanistan and the region that the Taliban regime was toppled in a matter of days and it is precisely due to this the lack and breakdown of such a consensus that Taliban are now stronger and more terrorist groups are operating in Afghanistan. Taliban provide the umbrella for many of these regional and global terrorist groups to operate in Afghanistan. The Taliban and these terrorist organizations enjoy a symbiotic relationship and mutually feed on each other.

This is why it is crucial to debunk the myth that Taliban are no more a threat to the west and the region because they are waging an insurgency against the Afghan government. This will only be true if they have truly broken ranks with Al Qaeda and other groups. WE still have not seen evidence of such a breakaway in ranks.

What is victory and how you win the war?

The ultimate end of the Afghan war comes with a political settlement but through a decisive military win on the battlefields. We should search for peace on the battlefields and not European capitals and the capitals of Afghan neighbors. Victory against Taliban and terrorist co-conspirators is a decisive military win in the battlefield no matter at what cost followed by a political settlement with the remnants of the Afghan Taliban. This is not the case now. The war is in a painful stalemate taking lives of dozens of Afghans on a daily basis and Taliban feel they have the upper hand in view of the waning support for an unpopular war in the west. What the western politicians have failed to convey to their populations is that winning the war in Afghanistan against terrorism is directly related to the security on the streets of Europe and the United States.

Meanwhile – one third of the fighters in the Afghan battlefields are foreign fighters from Pakistan, Central Asia and Europe. They are transit fighters whose ultimate aim is to hurt the region and the west. For them the only option should be leave to your countries of origin, surrender or get killed.

This victory requires a long-term commitment; resources and a decisive military win in the battlefields with a broad-based and credible Afghan partner.

What is needed for victory?

To achieve victory we need a 3D approach. On the Defense side we need to crush the Taliban military machinery by targeting their command and control structure, sources of financing and safehavens. We are now killing the expendable soldiers and at best mid level commanders. The leadership of the Taliban and their foreign collaborators do not pay any cost and are comfortably planning operations and killing Afghan and NATO service members in Afghanistan from their safe havens in Pakistan and increasingly now Iran and some Central Asian states.

On the diplomacy – the Afghan government and its NATO allies need to patch up and bring back the much needed but broken consensus of fighting terrorist as a collective security threat. This consensus of security for all as opposed to privatizing the war on terror needs to be restored.

And finally – Afghan and the Afghan government should start long term planning for an economic renaissance and increasingly taking responsibility for its economic revival and funding of its security forces. The short-term sources of finance are agriculture, transit and water while long-term economic development of Afghanistan to bring much needed revenues can rely on mining and natural resources development.

#Pakistan: Festering Wound In Balochistan – Analysis

By Tushar Ranjan Mohanty

Five construction workers of non-Baloch ethnicity were shot dead while another three suffered injuries in an attack near Ganz, some 15 kilometers west of Jiwani town in the Gwadar District of Balochistan on October 31, 2018. According to official sources, the labourers were working at a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)-related private housing scheme on Peshkan-Ganz road, which links Gwadar with Jewani, when a group of unidentified assailants riding motorcycles appeared on the scene and opened fire. Security officials identified four of the deceased as Naeem Ahmed and Hunzullah, residents of Karachi (Sindh); Irshad Ali of Sukkur (Sindh); and Muhammad Shakir of Multan (Punjab). The identity of the fifth deceased is yet to be ascertained.

Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) ‘spokesperson’ Azad Baloch, claiming responsibility for the attack, stated,

The site attacked today was part of CPEC project… Today’s attack is a clear message to China and all other countries that Balochistan is an occupied territory. We warn all military and other constructions companies to immediately stop working on their projects in Gwadar or they will be targeted by Baloch fighters.

He added that any agreement with China and other countries by Pakistan, without the consent of the Baloch nation and before the freedom of Balochistan, has no legal standing. Further, that Pakistan on October 29, 2018, organised a conference of 26 countries – Asian Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Political Affairs – in its attempt assert the legality of its illegal occupation in Balochistan. Warning against the ongoing ‘colonisation’ of Balochistan he stated,
China and Pakistan are settling Punjabis and Chinese in Gwadar and other areas of Balochistan’s coastal belt to turn the Baloch into a minority under their expansionist designs… If the international community fails to fulfil their responsibilities and turns a blind eye to the Pakistani and Chinese colonisation of Balochistan, then the Baloch nation will have no other option but to target all non-Baloch settlers in Balochistan… The BLA will continue to resist against the occupation of Baloch Ocean and coastal belt…

He added that China and Pakistan were building around 70 housing schemes under the exploitative CPEC colonisation project.

On August 11, 2018, six persons – among them three Chinese engineers – were injured in a suicide attack on a bus in the Dalbandin area of Chagai District in Balochistan. The bus carrying 18 Chinese engineers was being escorted by Frontier Corps (FC) troops to the Dalbandin airport from the Saindaik copper and gold mines, when a suicide bomber tried to drive his explosives-laden vehicle into the bus. “The explosives-laden vehicle exploded near the bus on Quetta-Taftan Highway – and as a result three Chinese engineers, two FC soldiers and the bus driver were injured,” an unnamed Levies official stated. Saifullah Khatiran, Deputy Commissioner of Chagai District, disclosed that the engineers were working on the Saindak project, a joint venture between Pakistan and China to extract gold, copper and silver from an area close to the border.

Jiand Baloch, a BLA ‘spokesperson’, had then stated, “We targeted this bus which was carrying Chinese engineers. We attacked them because they are extracting gold from our region, we won’t allow it.” In a statement issued on Twitter, the BLA identified the suicide bomber as Rehan Baloch, who died in the attack, as the elder son of BLA’s ‘senior commander’ Aslam Baloch.

On May 4, 2018, six ethnic Punjabi labourers were killed and one injured in an incident of firing in the Laijay area of Kharan District. Levies sources said the labourers, who hailed from eastern Punjab, were working on a mobile tower and were sleeping in tents at the site when unidentified militants on motorcycles opened fire on them. The assailants escaped unhurt after the attack. There was no claim of responsibility.

There is persistent discontent among the ethnic Baloch with regard to CPEC, as the Province is at the heart of the USD 62 billion scheme – a massive series of projects that includes a network of highways, railways and energy infrastructure spanning the entire country. CPEC is a flagship project in China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This discontent constitutes an enduring threat to Chinese engineers, workers and people associated the constituent projects from Baloch nationalists, who consider it part of a ‘strategic design’ by Pakistan and China to loot Balochistan’s resources and eliminate the Baloch culture and identity.

Highlighting the existing discontent, the then Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on April 11, 2018, had said that his province was being neglected by the Federal Government in the CPEC project: “More than Rs. [PKR] 5,000 billion is being spent on the CPEC, but Balochistan is not receiving even one per cent of it.”

Earlier, on March 5, 2017, pro-Government Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) president Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal had asserted that no development could be seen in Balochistan under CPEC, and that this project would not benefit its people, as not a single development project had been launched in the region as part of the mega project. He had also argued that CPEC was not meant for the development of Balochistan, but rather for converting the Baloch nation into a “minority on its own soil.” Sardar Mengal alleged, further,

The Punjab is looting resources of the small provinces for its own interest. We do not ask anything from the Punjab, but want ownership of all the resources of Balochistan. The people of Balochistan, and not Sardars and Nawabs, deserved and owned these resources.

Asserting that CPEC would convert the Baloch people into minorities in their own homeland, Noordin Mengal, a human rights campaigner from Balochistan, stated that, with an influx of outsiders as a result of the project, the identity of the Baloch was being threatened.

Much earlier, on August 13, 2016, dubbing China, a ‘great threat’ to the Baloch people, United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Balochistan representative Mehran Marri had argued,
China really-really is spreading its tentacles in Balochistan very rapidly, and therefore, we are appealing to the international community. The Gwadar project is for the Chinese military. This would be detrimental to international powers, to the people’s interest, where 60 percent of world’s oil flows. So, the world has to really take rapid action in curbing China’s influence in Balochistan in particular and in Pakistan in general.

Indeed, the Senate (upper house of the National Assembly) was informed on November 24, 2017, that 91 per cent of the revenues to be generated from the Gwadar port as part of CPEC would go to China, while the Gwadar Port Authority would be left with a nine per cent share in the income for the next 40 years. This was disclosed by the then Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Mir Hasil Bizenjo, after senators expressed concern over the secrecy surrounding the CPEC long-term agreement plan, with many observing that the agreement tilted heavily in China’s favour. Balochistan will not get a single paisa from the revenue, because ports are a federal subject and no steps were taken to make an exception for the impoverished Balochistan province.

The Gwadar Port is the epicentre of whole of CPEC project in Pakistan, yet the residents of the city have a hard time getting drinking water on a daily basis. In order to address the drinking-water shortage in Gwadar, the Federal Government has announced many desalination plants, but none has yet materialized.

Most of the other CPEC projects are for power generation, as Pakistan was facing a severe power shortage. CPEC projects are expected to generate almost 10,000 megawatts of electricity for the national grid. But again, Balochistan has not benefited from this. Of the 21 electricity-generation plants planned under CPEC, only one is in Balochistan, and that will also supply electricity to the national grid and not exclusively to Balochistan.

Provoked by a sense of deliberate neglect of the province and systematic loot of its natural resources, the Baloch militant groups have been targeting non-Baloch workers and people associated with CPEC. Militants trying to disrupt construction of CPEC projects in Balochistan have killed 66 persons since 2014. According to Colonel Zafar Iqbal, a spokesperson for the construction company Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), “The latest figure has climbed up to 44 deaths and over 100 wounded men on CPEC projects, mainly road construction in Balochistan, which began in 2014.” Since September 7, 2016, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), another 22 persons have been killed in different CPEC related projects across the province (till November 4, 2018).

The latest attack, on October 31, came a couple of days before newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan’s departure for China on a three-day official visit. Khan’s visit evoked considerable interest as it comes in the wake of his past criticism of CPEC projects. On October 6, 2018, Khan declared that Pakistan was reviewing the projects under CPEC to safeguard the interest of the people in Balochistan Province, adding, “Balochistan will get its due share, whatever it may be, in the CPEC.” Unfortunately, the Province has been getting such assurances for a long time, without any visible positive movement on the ground.

"Very Concerned" Over Terror, US Says "Pakistan Certainly Needs To Do More"

US State Department Coordinator for Counter-terrorism Nathan Alexander Sales said during a Congressional hearing that the US was "very concerned" over the support for terrorism in any region of the world.

Pakistan certainly needs to do more in its fight against terrorism and the Trump administration expects Islamabad to act against terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba in same way as it did against Al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks, a top American official has said. US' State Department Coordinator for Counter-terrorism Nathan Alexander Sales said during a Congressional hearing that the US was "very concerned" over the support for terrorism in any region of the world.

"And I can tell you we have communicated to the Pakistani government at the highest levels that we expect them to do more just like we expected them to act with us after 9/11," Mr Sales said on Wednesday.

"Pakistan has in the past been a very effective counterpart in taking the fight to Al Qaeda. We need them to do the same thing with respect to the Haqqanis, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the other terrorist groups that are active in the region," he said.

Mr Sales said Pakistan "certainly needs to do more" in the fight against terrorism.

His remarks came after several Congressmen expressed concern over the continued resistance by Pakistan to take satisfactory action against terror groups operating from its soil.

The lawmakers alleged that Pakistan was not doing enough against the terror groups.

"I think they're not doing the job, despite terrorism, because the terrorists come in from Pakistan into Afghanistan, do their mischief, and run back across the border. I think they've been doing that for years," said Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.

"They take our money....million of dollars we give Pakistan every year. It befuddles me why we do that when they don't... and they allow a safe haven for terrorists in their own country that invade another country, namely Afghanistan," Mr Poe said. He, however, praised the State Department for not giving Pakistan funds for counter-terrorism.

The State Department's Inspector General filed a report last year that found much of the anti-terrorism assistance US had given to Pakistan was not being used, including dozens of courses not implemented."I am pleased to hear the Bureau has since repurposed many of the resources that had been sent to Pakistan to other more worthwhile programs. We cannot afford to throw good money after bad. Effective monitoring and evaluation programs are crucial to spotting what is not working and making changes that do," he said.In his first tweet of the year, US President Donald Trump had expressed his dissatisfaction over Pakistan's reluctance in taking strong action against terrorists.

"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" President Trump had tweeted.

He had ordered to stop all security financial assistance to Pakistan.

#Pakistan - #PPP - Bilawal Bhutto to visit GB on 17th

Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is scheduled to arrive in Gilgit-Baltistan on a five-day visit from Nov 17 (Saturday).

According to PPP media office in Islamabad, Mr Bilawal will address a public gathering in Gilgit on Nov 18 (Sunday).

It will be his first visit to GB.

Meanwhile, talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, PPP GB president Amjad Hussain Advocate alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government in the region had distributed Rs15 million among 15 families in GB from the government exchequer.

He vowed to reveal names of the beneficiary families at the party’s rally on Nov 18.

He claimed that Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman would be in the hot waters when his advisers and government officials would turn against him in the alleged corruption.

He vowed that the PPP would continue exposing corruption, bad governance and mismanagement of the regional government, adding the masses had already lost confidence in the government as it had badly to come up to their expectations. Replying a question, he said the GB chief minister had become more powerful after the PTI came into power in Islamabad.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1445619/bilawal-to-visit-gb-on-17th

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Foreign Office 'allowed Pakistan mob to dictate Asia Bibi asylum case'

By Patrick Wintour

Home Office urged not to grant asylum out of fears for the safety of consular staff.

The Foreign Office has been accused of allowing government asylum policy to be dictated to by a Pakistan mob after it was confirmed it urged the Home Office not to grant Asia Bibi political asylum in the UK out of fear for the safety of UK consular staff.

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy, is seeking asylum after threats to her life in Pakistan. The former UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson was among many MPs calling for her and her family to be granted sanctuary in Britain.

The acquittal of the 53-year-old Catholic farmworker by Pakistan’s supreme court last month prompted demonstrations by hardline Islamist parties in Pakistan who had campaigned for her to be hanged.

She remains in protective custody in an undisclosed locationin Pakistan after the prime minister, Imran Khan, agreed to allow a petition against the court’s decision as part of a deal to halt the protests.

Her husband, Ashiq Masih, has appealed for help to Britain, Canada, Italy and the US but the UK high commissioner in Islamabad is reported to have warned he could not protect his staff if asylum was granted by the UK.

Tom Tugendhat, the foreign affairs select committee chair, asked the Foreign Office permanent secretary, Sir Simon McDonald, whether the episode “does not raise the question that either staff should be withdrawn or security increased or otherwise UK policy is effectively dictated to by a mob?”.

Tugendhat took the committee into lengthy private session after McDonald said he did not wish to give evidence in public on a such a sensitive issue

McDonald defended Britain’s efforts to find a third country to take Bibi, saying this would allow UK policy objectives to be achieved without any risk to its staff.

Tugendhat said the episode represented “one of the clearest examples of free conscience being challenged today”. The senior Labour MP Mike Gapes said: “Given the clear inability of this new Pakistani government of Imran Khan to stop these mobs from intimidating and killing Christians in Pakistan, is it not time to reassess our relations with Pakistan? There are big concerns if religious minorities in Pakistan are not safe.”

McDonald said the Britain’s relationship with Pakistan relationship was important to both countries.

He added: “If the objective is to protect life and some other country can provide some more complete safe harbour, why should the UK not be open to working with that country?”

The Pakistan foreign office confirmed on Tuesday that it had been holding talks with the Canadian foreign ministry over granting Bibi asylum.

Confirmation of talks between the two governments came after the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Monday his government was talking to Pakistan about the case.

“We are in discussions with the Pakistani government,” Trudeau said in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, where he was attending a peace conference organised by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

کردار کشی کے سوا حکومت کے پاس کوئی ایجنڈا نہیں، بلاول

چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے حکومت پر تنقید کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ کردار کشی کے سوا حکومت کے پاس کوئی ایجنڈا نہیں، وزیراعظم خود تو کیا وزراء بھی ایوان میں جواب دینے کے لیے تیارنہیں۔

ایک بیان میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا تھا کہ وزیراعظم نے اسمبلی کے فلور پر سوالوں کے جواب دینے کا دعویٰ کیا تھا، وزیر اعظم عمران خان ایوان کا رخ ہی نہیں کر رہے، وزیراعظم خود تو کیا وزراء بھی ایوان میں جواب دینے کے لیے تیارنہیں۔

چیئرمین پیپلز پارٹی کا کہنا ہے کہ تحریک انصاف نے معیشت کے بہت دعوے کیے مگر اب تک نتیجہ صفرہے، حکومت نے ڈلیور نہ کیا تو عوام کی مایوسی کے ساتھ، حکومت کو لانے والے بھی اُکتا جائیں گے۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/575894-govt-have-no-agenda-but-character-assassination

چین اور عمران خان

سلیم صافی

المیہ یہ ہے کہ چینی عمران خان کو اس طرح مغرب مخالف نہیں سمجھتے جس طرح وہ اپنے آپ کو پاکستان میں پیش کرتے رہے ۔ اس سے بھی بڑا المیہ یہ ہے کہ گزشتہ سالوں کے دوران پاک چین تعلقات اور سی پیک کو عمران خان صاحب اسٹرٹیجک آئینے میں دیکھنے کے بجائے میاں نوازشریف کے آئینے میں دیکھتے رہے۔ تنائو کا آغاز دھرنوں کے دوران ہوا ۔ تب چینی صدر پاکستان کے دورے پر آرہے تھے ۔ انہوں نے بی آر آئی (Belt and road initiative)کے تحت پورے خطے کے دوروں کا پروگرام شیڈول کیا تھا۔ سی پیک ، بی آر آئی کا ایک اہم پروجیکٹ تھا اور دورہ پاکستان خطے کے ممالک کے دوروں میںسے ایک اہم دورہ تھا۔ تب چینی صدر کے دورے کا تعطل صرف ایک دورے کا تعطل نہیں تھا بلکہ بی آر آئی منصوبے کی پوری ترتیب اس سے متاثر ہورہی تھی ۔ چنانچہ چینی سفارتکاروں کی پوری کوشش تھی کہ پاکستان کا دورہ شیڈول کے مطابق ہو اور اس سلسلے میں چینی سفیر نے چوہدری شجاعت حسین جیسے لوگوں کی منتیں بھی کیں لیکن افسوس کہ عمران خان صاحب اور ڈاکٹر طاہرالقادری صاحب کے دھرنوں کی وجہ سے چینی صدر کو اپنا دورہ ملتوی کرنا پڑا ۔ صرف دورہ ملتوی نہیں ہوا بلکہ دھرنوں کے دوران عمران خان صاحب نے چینی صدر کے دورے کا یہ کہہ کر مذاق بھی اڑا دیا کہ وہ تو سرے سے پاکستان آہی نہیں رہے تھے ۔ اسی طرح انہوں نے پہلے سی پیک میں کوئی دلچسپی نہیں لی اور پھر جب دھرنوں سے فارغ ہوگئے تو اس کے پیچھے پڑ گئے ۔ وہ سی پیک منصوبوں پر معترض تھے اور بار بار سوال اٹھاتے رہے کہ شریفوں نے اس میں بڑا گھپلا کیا ہے ۔ دوسری طرف ان کے وزیراعلیٰ پرویز خٹک نے دھمکیاں دینا شروع کردیں کہ وہ اپنے صوبے سے سی پیک کو گزرنے نہیں دیں گے ۔ یوں پاکستان میں چین اور پی ٹی آئی کے مابین خلیج بڑھتی گئی ۔ جب پاکستان میں پانامہ پر غلغلہ بپا ہوا اور یہ واضح ہونے لگا کہ مستقبل میں نوازشریف کی گنجائش نہیں تو پاکستان کی ایک مقتدر شخصیت نے چینیوں سے بات کی کہ وہ عمران خان کے ساتھ فاصلے کم کردیں جبکہ خود عمران خان کو بھی بتایا گیا کہ وہ چینیوں کے ساتھ تعلقات بہتر بنالیں ۔ پہل چینیوں نے کی اور انہیں دورہ چین کی دعوت دے دی ۔ چینی وزارت خارجہ نے ان کے دورے کو بھرپور بنانے کے لئے پورا شیڈول تیار کیا اور اہم اداروں اور شخصیات سے ان کی ملاقاتیں بھی شیڈول کردیں لیکن روانگی سے ایک روز قبل اپنا دورہ چین عمران خان نے یہ کہہ کر ملتوی کردیا کہ چونکہ پانامہ کا فیصلہ آنے والا ہے اس لئے وہ فی الحال چین نہیں جاسکتے ۔ ان کی اس حرکت کا بھی چینیوں نے بہت برا منایا اور خصوصاََ پاکستان میں چینی سفارتکاروں نے تو اسے اپنی توہین سے تعبیر کیا ۔ بہر حال انتخابات منعقد ہوئے اورنتیجتاً عمران خان وزیراعظم بن گئے۔ ان کے وزیراعظم بن جانے سے شاید چینی، شریف برادران سے بھی زیادہ پریشان تھے لیکن چونکہ ان کی دوستی پاکستان کے ساتھ ہے اس لئے انہوں نے نئی حکومت کے ساتھ کام کی کوششیں شروع کردیں ۔ چین میں پاکستان کے سفارتخانے کی کوشش تھی کہ چینی صدر عمران احمد خان نیازی کو مبارک باد کے لئے فون کرے کیونکہ میاں نوازشریف کو صدر نے فون کیا تھا لیکن چین کی طرف سے صرف وزیراعظم کے فون پر اکتفا کیا گیا ۔ جس کا ظاہر ہے عمران خان صاحب نے کچھ نہ کچھ اثر ضرور لیا ہوگا اور شاید یہی وجہ تھی کہ کابینہ کے پہلے اجلاس میں سی پیک کے منصوبوں کو ری اوپن کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا گیا جو کہ چینیوں کے لئے کسی بم شیل سے کم نہ تھا۔ اپنی تشویش کے اظہار کے لئے چینی وزیر خارجہ نے پاکستان کے دورے کا پروگرام بنایا لیکن نئی حکومت نے ان سے متعلق وہ گرمجوشی نہیں دکھائی جو پیپلز پارٹی یا مسلم لیگ (ن) کی حکومت میںدکھائی جاتی تھی ۔ چینی وزیرخارجہ جب پچھلی مرتبہ پاکستان آئے تھے تو ہوائی اڈے پر وزارت خارجہ کے حکام کے علاوہ خود شہباز شریف نے ان کا استقبال کیا تھا لیکن نیازی حکومت نے ان کا استقبال دفتر خارجہ کے ایک معمولی افسر سے کروا دیا ۔ بہرحال اپنے دورے کے دوران انہوں نے پاکستانی حکام کو اپنی تشویش سے آگاہ کیا اور یہ واضح کیا کہ ان کی حکومت ہر معاملے کو ری اوپن کرنے کوتیار ہے لیکن عوامی سطح پر پروجیکٹ کو متنازع بنانے کے بجائے جے سی سی جیسے متعلقہ فورمز پر بات کی جائے ۔ تاہم ابھی چینی وزیرخارجہ اپنے ملک واپس نہیں پہنچے تھے کہ مشیرتجارت عبدالرزاق دائود نے مغربی میڈیا کو انٹرویو دیتے ہوئے کہہ دیا کہ سی پیک پر ایک سال کے لئے کام روکا جاسکتا ہے ۔ اس بیان نے تو گویا چینیوں کی نیندیں اڑا دیں ۔ پاکستان کی عسکری قیادت کی مداخلت پر اگرچہ بعدازاں اس بیان کو واپس لے لیا گیا لیکن جو نقصان ہونا تھا وہ ہوچکا تھا اور مجبور ہوکر چینی سفارتخانے کو سی پیک سے متعلق وضاحتی بیان دینا پڑا ۔ ان حرکتوں سے چینیوں کی بے چینی مایوسی میں بدل گئی اور یہی وجہ تھی کہ جنرل قمر جاوید باجوہ ، جنہوں نے پہلے شیڈول کے مطابق وزیراعظم کے ساتھ سعودی عرب جانا تھا، چین جاپہنچے ۔ انہوں نے چینی قیادت کو سی پیک کے حوالے سے مطمئن کیا اور نئی حکومت کی حرکتوں سے جن خدشات نے جنم لیا تھا ان کو رفع کرنے کی کوشش کی۔ ان کے دورہ چین کے موقع پر ہی یہ طے ہوا کہ وزیراعظم پاکستان چین کا دورہ کریں گے اور چینی قیادت کے ساتھ جنرل قمر جاوید باجوہ کے طےپانے والے معاملات کو آگے بڑھائیں گے لیکن ابھی جنرل قمر جاوید باجوہ واپس نہیں پہنچے تھے کہ سعودی عرب کے دورے سے واپسی پر اسے سی پیک کا اسٹرٹیجک پارٹنر بنانے کے وفاقی وزراکے بیانات نے ایک بار پھر چینیوں کو پریشان کردیا اور یوں ایک بار پھر عسکری قیادت کی مداخلت پر چینیوں کے اطمینان کے لئے اسد عمر اور فواد چوہدری کو پریس کانفرنس کرکے اپنے اسٹرٹیجک پارٹنر کے بیان سے رجوع کرنا پڑا ۔ اس پس منظر میں وزیراعظم کے دورہ چین کا مرحلہ آیا لیکن جانے سے قبل حکومتی وزرا نے ایسا تاثر دے دیا کہ جیسے وہ چین پہنچے نہیں اور وہاں سے ڈالروں کی بارش شروع ہوجائے گی تاہم وہاں پہنچ کر انہیں ایک دوسری طرح کی صور تحال کا سامنا کرنا پڑا ۔ ائیرپورٹ پر وزیراعظم کا استقبال ٹرانسپورٹ کے نائب وزیرنے کیا ۔ پھر جب چینی قیادت کے ساتھ مذاکرات ہوئے تو وزرا کی عدم تیاری کی وجہ سے کئی مواقع پرپاکستانی وفد کو سبکی اٹھانا پڑی ۔ میٹنگ کے دوران چینی قیادت نے عبدالرزاق دائود کی نجی کمپنی کےچینی کمپنی کے ساتھ معاملات کا ذکر کرکے جیسے منہ پر تھپڑ رسید کیا ۔ سی پیک کے انچار ج وزیر خسرو بختیار نے چینیوں کے سامنے بھی روایتی لفاظی سے کام لیا لیکن کوئی ٹھوس لائحہ عمل سامنے نہ رکھ سکے جس کا چینیوں نے انہیں احساس بھی دلایا۔ افسوسناک بات یہ تھی کہ وزیراعظم صاحب نے چینی قیادت کے سامنے بھی روایتی تقریر کی جس کے جواب میں چینی قیادت نے جو کچھ کہا اسے جھاڑ پلانے کے سوا کوئی اور نام نہیں دیا جاسکتا ۔ اسی طرح چینی قیادت سے مدد تو طلب کی گئی لیکن کوئی ٹھوس منصوبہ سامنے نہیں رکھا گیا ۔ چینی قیادت نے مدد کی ہامی تو بھرلی لیکن جب پاکستانی وفد سے یہ پوچھا کہ کس مد میں ، کس منصوبے کے تحت وہ کیا مدد کرسکتی ہے توپھر ٹیبل پر کوئی منصوبہ موجود نہیں تھا ۔ اس لئے یہ طے کیا گیا کہ دورے کے فوراً بعد پاکستانی ماہرین جاکر چینی ماہرین کے ساتھ لائحہ عمل طے کریں گے ۔ چینی قیادت کس حد تک بددل ہوئی اس کا اندازہ چینی صدر زی کا وزیراعظم عمران خان کے ساتھ مصافحے کی تصویر میں بیزاری سے بخوبی لگایا جاسکتا ہے اور وزیراعظم کس قدر بددل ہوکر واپس لوٹے ہیں یہ تو وہ جانتے ہیں۔اب حکومتی ترجمان تو دعوے کررہے ہیں کہ دورہ چین بے انتہا کامیاب رہا لیکن درون خانہ وزیراعظم اور وزرا اپنے ساتھ روا رکھے گئے سلوک پر زیادہ خوش نہیں اور مجھے ڈر ہے کہ اب وہ مزید برہم ہوکر مزید ایسے اقدامات نہ کر بیٹھیں، جو چین کے ساتھ معاملات کو مزید خراب کردیں ۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/575579-saleem-safi-column-14-11-2018

#Pakistan - From bad to hilarious governance

Two officers, who were transferred four and five times in 15 days by the Punjab government, have received fresh orders regarding their postings only two days after The News highlighted their cases.
Three days after the two officers were given a marching order as reflected in The News story -- “Governance in disarray in Punjab”-- appeared on Sunday last, the Punjab government on November 12 issued a new notification.

The Nov 12th notification reads as: “Looking at by-election schedule of PP-168 Lahore-XXV and resultantly ban on transfer/posting imposed by Election Commission of Pakistan vide its notification dated 01-11-2018, the transfer/posting orders of Mazhar Ali Sarwar (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commissioner, Model Town, Lahore, and posting of Abid Shaukat (PMS/BS-17), Section Officer (Services-III), Services Wing, S&GAD, as Assistant Commissioner Model Town, Lahore, in place of Mazhar Ali Sarwar, issued vide S&GAD’s notification of even number dated 09-11-2018, are hereby cancelled. Both the officers are allowed to continue working at their respective posts.”

Whether it is government’s incompetence, bad governance or hilarious handling of administration, what has happened to these two officers- Abid Shaukat and Mazhar Ali Sarwar- is considered unprecedented. It also makes a new record of how a government changed its mind about posting the officers not once, twice, thrice and four times but five and six times in a span of a few weeks.

Although for their repeated transfer orders before the latest one there is no reason mentioned for government’s repeated change of mind, the Nov 12th notification refers to ECP’s order of November 1. The same reason of ECP was there even before Nov 9 notification, which has been now cancelled, but still repeated transfers orders were issued by the S&GAD without bothering about what the Commission had said.

On October 25, Services & General Administration Department (S&GAD) issued a notification saying “Mazhar Ali Sarwar (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commissioner, Model Town, Lahore is transferred with immediate effect and posted as Assistant Commissioner, Kasur, vice Syeda Amna Moudoodi.”

Five days later, on October 30, the S&GAD issued another notification announcing, “The transfer/posting orders of Mazhar Ali Sarwar (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commissioner, Model Town Lahore, as Assistant Commissioner, Kasur, issued vide Notification No……. are hereby cancelled.”

A day later, on October 31, the S&GAD issued another notification to convey, “Mazhar Ali Sarwar (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commissioner, Model Town, Lahore, is transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to Administrative Wing, S&GAD, for further orders.”

After six days, on November 5 (five days after the ECP ban on transfer) the S&GAD first placed Sarwar’s services at the disposal of Senior member, Board of Revenue, Punjab, Lahore but the same day issued yet another notification, cancelling the transfer/posting of Mazhar Ali Sarwar (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commissioner, Model Town Lahore. The S&GAD said, “He is allowed to continue working as Assistant Commissioner, Model Town, Lahore.”

Four days later, on November 9, yet again the S&GAD issued another notification regarding the same officer and notified, “Mazhar Ali Sarwar (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commission, Model Town, Lahore is transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to Administrative Wing, S&GAD, for further orders.”

Now, as per Nov 12 notification, the November 9th transfer order of Mazhar Ali stands cancelled and he is allowed to continue as AC Model Town, Lahore. In the case of the other officer - Abid Shaukat, again an Assistant Commissioner- he was transferred four times again within a fortnight before the latest notification of Nov 12.

According to S&GAD notification dated Oct 31, Abid Shaukat (PMS/BS-17), Assistant Commission, Nankana Sahab, was transferred and posted as Assistant Commissioner, Model Town, Lahore, vice Mazhar Ali Sarwar.

Five days later, on November 5, the S&GAD issued another notification ordering the cancellation of Abid Shaukat’s appointment as Assistant Commissioner, Model Town Lahore. The officer was further posted as Section Officer (Services-III) in the Services Wing of the S&GAD.

Four days later, on November 9, the S&GAD took another U-turn, cancelled Abid Shaukat’s appointment as Section Officer, Services Wing of the S&GAD and transferred him as Assistant Commissioner, Model Town, Lahore. Now after the Nov 12th notification, the officer’s posting as AC Model Town has been cancelled and he has been asked to continue as Section Officer in S&GAD.

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