Sunday, May 21, 2017
Perspective: CPEC marks the end of free speech in Pakistan
Haroon Riaz
The latest provocative Dawn story about the CPEC might as well be a pack of lies, but what about things unfolding right in front of our eyes? It is very hard, and almost feels immoral, to remain silent at the Interior Minister’s crusade against dissenting bloggers and social media activists. Since Zia’s period, we have not seen the Pakistani state practice such blunt and open crackdown against free speech and dissent in the countries. What are you to say of authorities who treat their own citizens, whose taxes pay for their livelihood, like the enemy? It is deeply disappointing.
There is a reason why people are skeptical of China. The Chinese Road and Belt initiative does sound very good to the ears and who in their right mind would oppose economic cooperation beyond borders? But the reason why people find it hard to trust them is because of the political culture and ideology they practice in their country. They do not practice the freedom they have preached in this initiative. There are no Google and Facebook in China and that is precisely why I am not too excited about the cross border optic fiber cable network from China border to Rawalpindi. The Chinese ideals are not shared by the Pakistani youth struggling for freedom of expression.
The Chinese cultural push in Pakistan also sounds more than just a rumor, with their political culture seeming to be creeping into the country. You see, in Pakistan people like to dissent, even when it comes to the blasphemy law. They like to vote for other parties, speak ill of the people of other sects and ethnicities. And considering the totalitarian trends that are also creeping into Pakistani politics with unanimously passed constitutional amendments, it is important to remind that we are not a one party country and would never be no matter what happens. It is only sad to see that these values of the Pakistani people are not being shared by those cracking down on dissenters.
We can only beg our higher authorities to please think about the people of Pakistan above everything else and stop crackdown on dissenters.
Ever since the CPEC has started, the government has been responding very aggressively and reactively to any criticism, without trying to understand what the concerns might be. In good conscience, you cannot possibly support that, especially when the democratically elected officials stand behind such policies. China may genuinely have a very encouraging vision of the regional economy but the questions that the local Pakistani businessmen and cultural critics have are worth listening to.
The Pakistani dissenting bloggers may criticize or insult the Pakistani armed forces all they want, at least we knew that their higher echelons appreciated finer things in life. At least they valued some freedom for themselves, some of which trickled down to us mortals. But with an authoritarian influencer in the picture, are we even going to have the little freedom that we used to enjoy? The future looks uncertain and scary.
Also, please do not mistake these lines to be a contradiction to the title of this piece. The more frightening aspect is that now the Pakistani authorities do not even fear if their reputation gets affected by openly targeting dissent. And that is precisely the effect of the CPEC.
Consider this and all the pieces to come from hereon to be heavily self-censored.
Long live Pakistan.
There is a reason why people are skeptical of China. The Chinese Road and Belt initiative does sound very good to the ears and who in their right mind would oppose economic cooperation beyond borders? But the reason why people find it hard to trust them is because of the political culture and ideology they practice in their country. They do not practice the freedom they have preached in this initiative. There are no Google and Facebook in China and that is precisely why I am not too excited about the cross border optic fiber cable network from China border to Rawalpindi. The Chinese ideals are not shared by the Pakistani youth struggling for freedom of expression.
The Chinese cultural push in Pakistan also sounds more than just a rumor, with their political culture seeming to be creeping into the country. You see, in Pakistan people like to dissent, even when it comes to the blasphemy law. They like to vote for other parties, speak ill of the people of other sects and ethnicities. And considering the totalitarian trends that are also creeping into Pakistani politics with unanimously passed constitutional amendments, it is important to remind that we are not a one party country and would never be no matter what happens. It is only sad to see that these values of the Pakistani people are not being shared by those cracking down on dissenters.
We can only beg our higher authorities to please think about the people of Pakistan above everything else and stop crackdown on dissenters.
Ever since the CPEC has started, the government has been responding very aggressively and reactively to any criticism, without trying to understand what the concerns might be. In good conscience, you cannot possibly support that, especially when the democratically elected officials stand behind such policies. China may genuinely have a very encouraging vision of the regional economy but the questions that the local Pakistani businessmen and cultural critics have are worth listening to.
The Pakistani dissenting bloggers may criticize or insult the Pakistani armed forces all they want, at least we knew that their higher echelons appreciated finer things in life. At least they valued some freedom for themselves, some of which trickled down to us mortals. But with an authoritarian influencer in the picture, are we even going to have the little freedom that we used to enjoy? The future looks uncertain and scary.
Also, please do not mistake these lines to be a contradiction to the title of this piece. The more frightening aspect is that now the Pakistani authorities do not even fear if their reputation gets affected by openly targeting dissent. And that is precisely the effect of the CPEC.
Consider this and all the pieces to come from hereon to be heavily self-censored.
Long live Pakistan.
http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2017/05/perspective-cpec-marks-end-of-free.html
Pakistan - Our Middle East predicament
By:
Pakistan’s entanglement in regional power politics has resulted from the accumulative effects of its economic dependence and the geopolitical legacy of General Ziaul Haq’s regime.
Pakistan, it seems, has permanently entangled itself into the regional power politics between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is not just because Iran and Saudi Arabia are, historically and intrinsically, associated with the cultural and religious outlook of Pakistan’s two sizable minority sects, namely Shiite and Ahle-Hadis. The later enjoys strong sympathisers in the Deoband sect as well.
Instead, Pakistan’s entanglement has resulted mainly from the accumulative effects of its economic dependence and the geopolitical legacy of General Ziaul Haq’s regime. Especially, Zia’s decision to renounce Z.A Bhutto’s policy of ‘bilateralism’ that had enabled Pakistan to establish normal diplomatic and economic relationships with rival Cold-War camps and, most importantly, the Arab and the non-Arab Muslim states or kingdoms, including Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Although, Iran, unlike Saudi Arabia, enjoys strategically indispensable position for Pakistan and the entire Southwest Asian region, yet under the dogmatic regime of General Zia, Riyadh was able to weave itself — with the help of oil’s money and the CIA — into the geopolitical dynamics of South and Southwest Asian region. This was particularly the case after the Kingdom became a major financier of America’s sponsored ‘Jihad’ against the then Soviet forces in Afghanistan — its role and influence in Pakistan’s or South Asian geopolitics, at large, became too consequential to be ignored.
As Pakistan tried to steer an independent foreign policy, the Saudis, mainly through the UAE, hit it where it hurts the most — sending thousands of Pakistani workers back to their homes while shamelessly courting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi At General Zia’s pleasure (the author of the ‘puritanical-mission’ in Pakistan), the Saudis, under the guise of Jihad against the so-called godless Soviets, launched their own ideologically driven power-struggle to counterbalance the Shiite-Revolutionary Iran of Khamenei that had pledged to export its ideology and revolutionary-zeal to the Muslim-World — especially the Middle Eastern Kingdoms to, apparently, dislodge pro-US monarchs and dictators from the region.
Since General Zia’s regime had already undertook to Islamise Pakistan’s polity and radicalise its geopolitics, the Americans and the Saudis found in him a willing and needy ‘frontline ally’ to contain both the Soviet’s and Iranian growing influence in the Middle East or the Southwest Asian region. Ironically, the Americans, Zia and Saudis felt no qualms in sharing the same bed with the godless Chinese against the godless Soviets. This shows how ideologies are manufactured and deployed as ‘smoke-screen’ to hide selfish interests and pernicious attributes of power politics.
In the name of his so-called ‘puritanical-mission’ or the ideology of Islamisation, General Zia’s regime justified Pakistan’s role as ‘frontline proxy state’ of Saudis and Americans against the Soviet Union and Iran. More so, Zia, tacitly allowed the Saudis to spread their Salafi-Ideology both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, countries that share border with Iran (Afghanistan on the north and Pakistan on the far south). To counter Saudi moves, Tehran responded with its own proxy war inside Pakistan and Afghanistan, a prelude to sectarian terrorism in the two countries. The decades of 1980s and 1990s witnessed one of the worst spate of sectarian terrorism in Pakistan and flames of sectarian hatred continued to engulf the entire country through 2000s. In addition, under General Zia, heroin-addicts and Kalashnikov-wielders in Pakistan reached to an alarming number, while his parasite regime continued to inject Dollars and Riyals into the social fabric of Pakistan, diminishing its ‘will and capacity’ to become self-reliant and economically independent.
Zia’s corrosive and divisive geopolitics became handy for New Delhi to carve a closer economic and strategic relationship with Tehran. He, in fact handed Iran (Pakistan’s oldest regional ally and strategically the most important country in the region) to India on a silver plate, for he and his successors failed to detoxify themselves from the chronic addiction of Dollars and Riyals.
Today, Pakistan, perhaps, can no longer steer an independent foreign policy, especially after Saudis and their vessel state UAE badly exposed Pakistan’s Achilles’ heel(economic dependence)when our ruling elite refused to play Saudi Arabia’s proxy in Yemen — gathering enough courage to bail Pakistan out of hellish geopolitics of the Kingdoms of Heaven, the Salafi-Saudi-Arabia and the Shiite Iran. However, as the ruling elite of Pakistan tried to steer an independent foreign policy, the Saudis, mainly through UAE hit Pakistan where it hurts the most, sending thousands of Pakistani workers or poor job seekers back to their homes while shamelessly courting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the butcher of Gujrat’s Muslims. Against this backdrop, our immune system collapsed, forcing us to return to the Kingdom of Heaven with our finest ex-Army Chief.
It is true that there is no quick remedy for our addiction to Riyals and Dollars, neither can we undo General Zia’s legacy in months. Down the road, we must however ensure that Pakistan — if it must steer an independent foreign policy and live with dignity among international community — acquires multiple and multidimensional deterrence capability. This would mean acquiring an independent and strong economy that can deter arm-twisters and blackmailers. For only a prosperous, democratic and united nation that can deter aggressors and exploiters.
Pakistan - Daesh is here
By Syed Arfeen
The Islamic State is successfully carrying out and claiming deadly strikes in Balochistan since August 8 last year. What is the extent of its presence in Pakistan?
On May 12, Balochistan was rocked with a powerful bang one more time in the area of Mastung when the deputy chairman senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery was targeted. He was lucky to have survived the attack but 25 other people lost their lives. The Islamic State (IS) claimed the deadly attack and released its statement in three different languages including Urdu.
On the same day, a trilateral meeting among the delegates of the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan was held at the General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi. The delegates underlined the need to defeat Daesh (Islamic State) through complementary efforts in respective areas of operations.
Despite the military offensive on both sides of the frontier — Pakistan and Afghanistan — data shows that Daesh is successfully carrying out deadly strikes in Balochistan since August 8 last year when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Civil Hospital Quetta killing at least 70 people. On October 24, three suicide attackers stormed the Police Training Centre Quetta and gunned down 62 cadets. After a few weeks, a suicide bomber detonated his vest at the Sufi shrine of Shah Noorani in the district of Khuzdar, at least 52 devotees were killed.
The target of the last attack was Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery, general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F). Attack on a right wing religious party leader may have been surprising for many; however, the head of the JUI-F, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, too, had escaped unhurt in three different suicide attacks in 2011 and 2014.
The last assassination attempt on Rehman was made on October 23, 2014 in Quetta when a suicide bomber exploded himself outside the rally of JUI-F. The banned outfit, Jundullah Pakistan, had claimed the responsibility of the attack. It was among the few groups who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State back in November 2014.
Militant circles have for long been criticising the JUI-F for showing an undeterred support for the democratic form of government in the country. The extremist organisations that claim to struggle for the revival of Khilafat have no place for democracy in a country. Likewise, in its recently celebrated 100th anniversary, the JUI-F had invited representatives of various faiths — something that was condemned by extremists.
Following the Balochistan Police Training College Quetta attack, Geo.tv spoke to Ali Bin Sufyan, LeJA’s spokesperson and he conceded that “it was a joint venture of LeJA and Islamic State, the suicide bombers were provided by Daesh”.
On October 31, 2014 the Home & Tribal Affairs Department of Balochistan issued a letter alerting about Islamic State activities: “It is reliably learnt that Daesh has offered some elements of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat to join hands with it in Pakistan”.
A high ranking intelligence official on condition of anonymity told The News on Sunday that Daesh is more like an umbrella organisation now, trying to attract international attention and getting projection by extending its area of influence. This will catapult it as a formidable terrorist organisation, thereby attracting more hardcore elements.
“IS does not have any militants on ground. Violent organisations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi or Jaish-ul-Islam have subscribed to their ideology or some converts from these and other militant outfits like TTP have joined them, in return for funding and provision of suicide bombers,” he added.
On December 5 last year, an intelligence agency along with the police conducted an operation in Pishin district. During an encounter Jahangir Badeni, the mastermind of the civil hospital blast, along with four others was said to have been killed. After investigation, it was revealed that those killed were affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi (LeJA) and Jaish-e-Islam.
A source who was privy to this operation disclosed that the head of the gang was Jahangir Badeni and all the affiliates had pledged allegiance to Islamic State before the execution of the hospital attack.
Following the PTC Quetta attack, Geo.tv spoke to Ali Bin Sufyan, LeJA’s spokesperson and he conceded that “it was a joint venture of LeJA and Islamic State, the suicide bombers were provided by Daesh”.
During early February in an interview to the United States Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC), Commander US Forces in Afghanistan, General John W. Nicholson said, “The Islamic State, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have also formed a loose configuration. So we see these alliances of convenience or coming together where they have complementary goals, and this is one of our big concerns.”
Former IG Balochistan Javed Ali Bukhari who has a sound counter terrorism background said, “Daesh in Pakistan is an extension of Middle East based ISIS. It is a brand and a saleable item these days, that’s why everyone wants to associate himself with it but on ground it is the LeJ that is still active”.
February this year, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Sindh prepared a report titled “Pakistan as a fertile growth area for the Islamic State”. The report says: “Despite the support for the Islamic State among tribal leaders, the group has garnered more support among the general population in Pakistan’s settled areas. Islamic State recruitment appears to be high in Pakistan’s well-off Punjab province as well as in Karachi”. The Counter Terrorism Department’s report further points out, “the focus now is on tribal areas as a likely theatre for IS expansion, but the real threat may come from IS luring individuals to its ideology in urban areas.”
The CTD report further notes the rise in hard-line schools of thought, both within Pakistan and among Pakistanis who work in Gulf countries — a trend that can make individuals more susceptible to Islamic State influence.
The Islamic State’s virulent hatred of Shiism has also contributed to its growth in Pakistan, as the country’s fault lines have allowed militant groups like the now-defunct sectarian terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) to operate. The top anti-Pakistan militant outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is also a deeply sectarian outfit. Some of the TTP’s sub-groups based in different tribal agencies are headed by individuals who were once affiliated with LeJ.
The Pakistani authorities believe that Pakistan is not as easy a target as Afghanistan for the IS. State institutions like Army, Law Enforcement Agencies and intelligence agencies are far more in control and a wave of IS-dominated militancy that would disturb the everyday life of citizens is far-fetched. Isolated incidents might continue to happen though.
“It is the ideology of religious organisations that trickles down to their ranks and file creating sympathies for the IS and other militant organisations,” says Bukhari.
The ultimate objective of Daesh is to attain enough political clout to declare a pan Islamic (sunni) Khilafat. It is a dream of establishing an overarching state all over the Muslim world, removing all disparity, promulgating a system of justice based on Sharia and social welfare. Fueling this ideology are factors like injustice, poverty, unemployment, and lack of response from State. The absence of Madrassa reforms and poor governance in militant infested areas are further exacerbating the mindset of the indoctrinated individuals.
The journey of radicalising youth and women in settled areas of mega cities is another potent threat as there is no major obstacle in its way.
Bilawal Bhutto strongly condemns target-killings of police personnel in Kohat and Karachi
Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has strongly condemned target-killings of police personnel in Kohat and Karachi and urged for stern response to the terrorists targeting police, law enforcing agencies and other citizens.
In a press statement issued here, the PPP Chairman said that terrorist elements cannot impose themselves on the people of Pakistan adding that every Pakistan is up against the menace of terrorism.
He said PPP would not sit silent until complete elimination of terrorism.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari saluted the martyred policemen and expressed sympathy and solidarity with the victims’ families.
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/bilawal-bhutto-strongly-condemns-target-killings-of-police-personnel-in-kohat-and-karachi/
When in Riyadh: Trump & Tillerson awkwardly join in Saudi sword dance
Footage from the welcome ceremony shows Trump and Tillerson dancing awkwardly in the large crowd that also included Reince Priebus, Stephen Bannon and First Lady Melania Trump.
The “Ardha” performance was hosted by King Salman on Saturday to mark President Trump’s first overseas visit to Riyadh.
On Saturday, the two leaders signed a series of agreements aimed at boosting their countries’ military and economic partnerships, including an arms deal worth a cool $350 billion over 10 years, with a payment of almost $100 billion to be made immediately.
Trump is the first US president to make a Muslim-majority country his first overseas visit as president. The nine-day trip will also include Israel, the Palestinian territories, Brussels, the Vatican and Sicily.
This isn’t the first time the president got hold of a saber this week. Following Trump’s speech to US Coast Guard Academy graduates on Wednesday, after which the commander-in-chief was presented with a ceremonial saber, a hot mic caught the DHS Chief John Kelly telling the president he should use the sword “on the press.”
Saudi women are disappointed with Trump on human rights
Donald Trump arrived Saturday in a country where women must secure a male guardian’s permission to get a passport, go to college and travel, and are forbidden from driving and can’t eat in certain restaurants.
But the new U.S. president, unlike his predecessors, was not expected to push the issue of human rights on his visit to Saudi Arabia despite the urging of some in the country.
“If he’s OK with human rights abuses, with the fact that women can’t drive, with the male guardianship system, with all the issues that we have in Saudi Arabia then that really shows the type of leadership that he represents,” said Eman al Hafjan, a Riyadh resident who helped organize a demonstration of women driving cars in 2013.
As a candidate, Trump frequently criticized Saudi Arabia for its treatment of women and gays, but in recent months he has praised Saudi leaders and other regimes around the world with poor human rights records — the Philippines, China, Turkey and Egypt.
Saudi leaders know that Trump is unlikely to press them about how they run their countries. Off the table are topics such as democracy, political reform and gender equality.
Trump arrived in Riyadh on Saturday, the first stop of his first foreign trip as president.
In Saudi Arabia, where women must cover themselves from head to toe in public, there are no federal elections, no protests and no political parties or trade unions. The media are controlled by the government. People can worship only Islam in public.
The latest State Department Human Rights Report listed the official U.S. view of the kingdom’s human rights problems: “citizens’ lack of the ability and legal means to choose their government; restrictions on universal rights, such as freedom of expression, including on the internet, and the freedoms of assembly, association, movement, and religion; and pervasive gender discrimination and lack of equal rights that affected most aspects of women’s lives.”
http://www.columbian.com/news/2017/may/20/saudi-women-are-disappointed-with-trump-on-human-rights/
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Journalism is not a crime (apart from in Turkey)
SERKAN DEMİRTAŞ
Turkey celebrated one of its most meaningful national days on May 19, Youth and Sports Day, marking the 98th anniversary of the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk headed from allied-occupied Istanbul to Samsun on the Black Sea coast in 1919.
However, this year the day was also marked as another example of growing oppression of the independent media in Turkey with the operation staged against daily Sözcü, a critical mass-market newspaper.
Police searched the newspaper’s offices in Istanbul and İzmir as well as the house of its publisher, Burak Akbay, and issued detention warrants for him and online manager Mediha Olgun, finance manager Yonca Kaleli, and İzmir reporter Gökmen Ulu. The four were reported to be investigated over alleged links to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of masterminding the July 2016 failed coup attempt.
They were accused of “being a member of a terror organization,” “committing a crime on behalf of the organization,” “assaulting the president,” and staging an “armed insurgency against the Turkish government.”
The prosecutor’s move also includes confiscation of the newspaper, according to Sözcü’s lawyers, increasing concerns that the prosecution could result in shutting the newspaper down.
The operation against Sözcü follows the arrest of Oğuz Güven, the online manager of daily Cumhuriyet, landing another heavy blow on freedom of the media in Turkey. Güven was arrested simply over the headline of a news report on the car accident that killed chief prosecutor of Denizli two weeks ago. The headline was removed from Cumhuriyet’s website in less than a minute, but that did not stop the launching of a judicial move against Güven. In Turkey, a simple editorial mistake can turn a journalist life into a nightmare.
Sözcü is one of the country’s most critical newspapers and is well-known for its long-standing opposition to the Fethullah Gülen movement, even back in the days when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was a close ally of Gülen. Accusing Sözcü of supporting the Gülen movement and taking part in last year’s coup attempt is ridiculous, even comical.
Sözcü, like all media outlets in Turkey, stood against the coup attempt and supported the crackdown on Gülenists within state institutions. But it also urged the government not to cover up the political branch of the Gülenists, especially within the AKP, through a number of insistent reports.
In his long address to mark the occasion of May 19, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the process that Turkey has been passing through since the AKP first entered office in late 2002 as a “silent revolution.”
However, in a country where more than 150 journalists are behind bars and oppression against freedom of expression, along with other fundamental freedoms, is constantly rising, it is not possible to talk about such a revolution. Rather, Turkey is in the midst of a noisy counter-revolution that deteriorates democratic principles and universal values.
Journalism is not a crime. Those who imprison journalists just because of what have written or reported are the onescommitting the real crime.
China - It’s high time to give Tsai an ultimatum
Tsai dares not confront the Chinese mainland head-on, and wants to buy some time for "Taiwan independence," so she has chosen to be ambiguous to scale back exchanges from the height of the Kuomintang era but prevent confrontations.
In the past year, Tsai has been busy aligning Taiwan with the US and Japan to create a "cold peace" with the mainland.
By contrast, the mainland has upheld the 1992 Consensus and squeezed the space for "Taiwan independence" by winning more international support.
Without recognizing the consensus, there is no basis for communication. In the past year, bilateral trade stagnated, Taiwan economy headed for marginalization, and investors in and outside of the island became hesitant.
Tsai's policies like the "new invention plan" and "new south policy" will also be undermined soon as they aim at breaking away from the mainland-led Asia-Pacific industrial chain and market system.
The "reform" that Tsai talks about is implicitly geared toward independence. The welfare of Taiwan and the well-being of the Taiwan people are merely a disguise for the reform policies she has advocated to uproot the Kuomintang's political influence and foster her Democratic Progressive Party and eventually achieve "Taiwan independence."
Taiwan people have become disappointed with Tsai. A latest popular poll in Taiwan released on Thursday shows that Tsai's approval rating has plummeted from 50.2 percent when she first took office a year ago to 33 percent now, while the rate of disapproval rose from 16.3 percent to 53.3 percent.
Tsai blamed this on "people's lack of patience," and she would never admit the true reason behind it.
The 1992 Consensus is a question that Tsai cannot bypass or ignore, and there is only one right answer to it. It cannot be circumvented with ambiguous answers. Tsai cannot make peace with herself if she does not answer the question.
One cannot wake a person pretending to be asleep. Tsai must be clear about the result of insisting on "Taiwan independence," as it will have no good ending. People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits will not tolerate "Taiwan-independence" forces to destroy the development outcomes of the past decades.
Now it's time to give Tsai an ultimatum.
Washington’s calls on US allies to stop contacts with Assad encourage terrorists — Lavrov
According to Lavrov, the US air strike against pro-government forces in Syria was illegitimate and unlawful regardless of what had caused it.
The new strike of the US Air Force in Syria confirms Washington’s intention to use the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) for the fight against Bashar Assad’s government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Friday.
Moscow is concerned over differences in understanding the need to unite those who indeed fight on the ground and in the air against terrorists of the Islamic State and the former Jabhat al-Nusra, he said.
"We see the confirmation of an intention to use opposition and some extremists, including Jabhat al-Nusra, in the fight against the legitimate government of Syria," Lavrov said.
This comes amid Washington’s calls to stop all contacts with Assad, he said, noting that the US Congress had passed a law demanding punishment for those who cooperate with the legitimate government of Syria.
"This distracts us from the Syrian settlement and the major goal of this settlement - preventing the seizure of Syria and other parts of the Middle East by terrorists," Lavrov said. "So, what we hear about Washington’s position on Syria now is in fact coddling terrorists."
The warning
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has no information that Washington warned Moscow before delivering an air strike on Syrian pro-government forces, Lavrov pointed out:
"I don’t know about any such warning."
US air strike against pro-government forces in Syria was illegitimate and unlawful regardless of what had caused it, the Russian diplomat added:
"The US command said the strike was delivered because these pro-government forces posed a threat to the opposition which cooperates with the US-led coalition."
"Whatever the reason the US command made such a decision, the strike was illegitimate and unlawful. It was yet another crude violation of Syria’s sovereignty," he stated.
An air force group of the US-led counter-terrorist group on May 18 attacked pro-government forces in Syria operating within the established de-escalation zone northwest of At Tanf. The coalition’s headquarters argued that the forces had posed a threat to the United States and its allies.
More:
http://tass.com/politics/946711
Pakistan - Four policemen killed in Kohat ambush
Four police personnel, including a station house officer, were gunned down in the Lachi sub-district of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa on Saturday night.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lachi Raza Khan told DawnNews that unknown assailants targeted a police mobile which was on routine petrol.
"The assailants ambushed the mobile, killing four policemen on-board, including SHO Khanullah and additional SHO Tahir Mehmood," said the DSP.
The mobile was targeted at Indus Highway, he said, adding that police personnel have reached the spot and initial investigations have been started.
The police official further said that the area has been cordoned off by police and a search operation is under way.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1334331/four-policemen-killed-in-kohat-ambush
Pakistan' blasphemy - ''The lynching games''
By Ziad Zafar
Inviting people to report blasphemy is like placing landmines across the country that could go off at anytime.
Millions of Pakistanis received a text message from their country’s telecommunications regulator asking them to report incidents of blasphemy. This was less than a month after we witnessed a public lynching and the spectacle of crazed mobs around the country baying for human blood. Over 3,000 complaints were received in the first week alone. If all these are true it means there have been more instances of blasphemy in the last week than have been documented in 70 years of the country’s existence. And we can be sure this is only the beginning. On a purely operational level one wonders how these complaints will be processed. Will the FIA, to whom these crimes are forwarded, investigate each instance separately? How much manpower will they need? Perhaps a centralised blasphemy database will have to be created or even a new federal authority formed to coordinate a national response?
The farcical nature of this exercise may have provided some humour if it weren’t so serious an issue. Indeed the PTA has not let us down on this score in the past. One is almost nostalgic for the time when all the authority wanted to do was prevent amorous couples from talking on phone using ‘midnight [cellular] packages’, or when it decided to filter ‘racy’ words like tongue, stupid, rape, joints, jugs, fairy, and camel toe, from SMS messages . The recent incident of soliciting blasphemy reports is a fair bit more sobering.
In sending out this mass message, the PTA has effectively put out a public tender for witch burnings. An act so grossly irresponsible, so callously deliberate, it is tantamount to throwing a match into a fireworks factory.
PTA officials maintain that it is an awareness raising campaign and they have provided an email address where citizens can report blasphemy ‘instead of taking the law into their own hands’. It’s hard to imagine anyone with a modicum of sanity who thinks this message was intended to promote law and order. The last thing this country needs is a 200-million-strong blasphemy neighbourhood watch. Let us be clear, it is an invitation to lynch: one of a series of recently taken steps which will result in the institutionalisation of blood lust, encouraging thousands to set out gleefully on a macabre treasure hunt for blasphemers.
When the 18th century Lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson had finished compiling the first English dictionary, he was paid visits by many admirers including a delegation of London’s respectable women who came to his parlour in Fleet street and said "Dr we congratulate you on your decision to exclude all indecent words from your dictionary." Johnson replied, "Ladies I congratulate you on your persistence in looking them up." In Pakistan we have decided that we are determined to be offended, even if we must seek it out. Blasphemy is a strange creature, a thing that predicts itself. Mere suspicion of its existence ensures that it exists. Those looking for it are certain to find it. And so on it will go.
One would be hard pressed to recall a more insincere, naked exploitation of religion by the state since General Ziaul Haq. The Sharif government which has otherwise scored surprisingly highly on the progressive agenda, has committed a most damaging act- almost unwittingly it seems. The PM appears reluctant, but weakened on other fronts, he has been unable to resist the horses dragging his chariot in this direction. The chain goes back and the dots are not hard to connect, but in the end he bears the responsibility..
A German proverb holds:“where they begin by burning books, they end by burning men”. What about places where they begin by burning men? Where does it end in these places? The most frightening thing about this storm of madness into which we are descending is that unlike storms, it is not certain to pass. We know all too well the near impossibility of putting this particular genie back in the bottle. Elapsed time has the effect of making it seem normal, and therefore harder to oppose. If ever Pandora had a suitcase, it’s just flown out of the chute and flipped open on the conveyer belt. Inviting the entire population to report blasphemy is like placing land mines across the country that could go off at anytime. If there is any chance of preventing this, it must be fought back now, not later.
The children of Zia are alive and well, resolved to claw back power from the shadows. Proliferation of fear is their biggest weapon, the PTA’s SMS is only the latest gambit- now brace for the holy month with a freshly sharpened Ehtaram-e-Ramzan ordinance set to debut. The lynching games are just getting started. One thing is for certain; those who seek to use blasphemy as a ‘strategic asset’ have already lost control of it. They are leading us to a fire that will swallow us all. A German proverb holds: "where they begin by burning books, they end by burning men". What about places where they begin by burning men? Where does it end in these places?
Pakistan - Population Growth is linked to Development: Aseefa Bhutto
Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has stressed that rapid population growth is an issue that cannot be seen in isolation from development, as the effects of population growth affect all development sectors. She was speaking as guest of honor at the 6th Meeting of the Sindh FP2020 Working Group here. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, MNA and the Chair of Sindh FP2020 Working Group.
Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari pledged her support for the objectives of the FP2020 Working Group on unchecked population growth. Ms. Bhutto-Zardari further said she may also visit districts and rural and remote areas and would play her role to mobilize young women and girls so that Sindh can achieve its policy objectives under international commitments made by Pakistan.
Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, while chairing the meeting said that Planned Parenthood is one of the ways to address poverty. She stressed the need for reducing high fertility which is a main cause for rapid population growth. She emphasized that it was necessary to engage young couples for Planned Parenthood. She pointed out the need for integrating Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) methods into the curriculum so that adolescents are educated about their basic needs of nutrition, hygiene, planning their future and other needs.
Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Coordinator for Public Health Oversight Committee, Sindh said that the efforts of the Sindh FP2020 Working Group are regarded as best practice by other provinces, and Sindh has become a role model in this regard since, it is far ahead in achieving its FP2020 goals.
Dr. Talib Lashari, Technical Advisor, CIP and Focal Person, FP2020 gave a detailed presentation on linkages between planned parenthood and socio-economic development and the status of implementation on CIP activities in Sindh. Dr. Lashari said that rising population strains infrastructure and social services like electricity, clean water, education, health, transportation etc. He said that as per credible surveys, the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) of Sindh stands at 30% which means fewer couples are using Planned Parenthood services. If the lower rate of CPR continues it will require more hospitals, schools to be built; more jobs to be created and more need for food. Dr. Lashari said that Sindh is the first province to come up with a robust family planning initiative called Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) in response to Pakistan’s international commitments thus; Sindh government is trying best to address the issue of rapid population growth.
Dr. Fazlullah Pechuho, Secretary Health, Sindh said that the Department was working towards integrating the different health programs related to planned parenthood to make a coordinated effort to ensure the provision of services.
Laeeq Ahmed, Secretary Population Welfare Department, Sindh pointed out that the province was making much progress on FP2020 initiative because there was commitment from the highest level of the government.
The representative from the Finance and Planning and Development Departments also committed their support in the ongoing work towards achieving Sindh’s FP2020 goals.
The meeting was attended by the members of FP2020 Working Group consisting of multiple stakeholders, including public sector organizations; USAID and its partners; United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA); non-government organizations, professional organizations like Society of Gynecologists of Pakistan (SOGP); NCMNCH; donors and other development partners.
At the end, Dr. Talib Lashari presented a copy of the Costed Implementation Plan to Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/population-growth-is-linked-to-development-aseefa-bhutto-zardari-2/
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