Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Prosecutors Convene Grand Jury That Could Weigh Potential Trump Charges: Report
سعودی عرب کی زیر زمین ثقافت - سعودی معاشرے پر رکھے تقدیس کے مہین پردے کے نیچے ہر طرح کی عیاشی عام ہے
بین الاقوامی ذرائع ابلاغ میں ان دنوں سعودی معاشرے کی منافقت کا چرچا ہو رہا ہے۔سعودی عرب میں وقت گزارنے والے مغربی شہری پےدر پے انکشاف کر رہے ہیں کہ سعودی معاشرے پر رکھے تقدیس کے مہین پردے کے نیچے ہر طرح کی عیاشی عام ہے۔ نوجوان لوگ شراب اور منشیات میں دھت نظر آتے ہیں اور ایسی پارٹیوں کا منعقد ہونا عام ہے جہاں کھلے عام جنسی افعال سے لطف اٹھایا جاتا ہے۔ سعودی عرب کی سخت گیر پولیس ان سرگرمیوں سے چشم پوشی کرتی ہیں۔برطانوی میڈیا میں سعودی عرب پر تنقید کا یہ سلسلہ تب شروع ہوا جب سعودی حکام نے ایک بزرگ برطانوی شہری کارل آندرے کو وائن کی بارہ خانہ ساز بوتلیں رکھنے پر 350 کوڑوں کی سزا سنائی۔
نامعلوم برطانوی شہریوں نے سنڈے مرر کو بتایا ہے کہ سعودی عرب کے اشرافیہ کے بچے اسلامی قوانین کی کھلے عام خلاف ورزی کرتے ہیں۔ ٹنڈر جیسی موبائل سہولتوں کی مدد سے طوائفیں حاصل کی جاتی ہیں۔ چرس کا استعمال عام ہے ۔ زیر زمین مارکیٹ میں اسقاط حمل کی ادویات آسانی سے مل جاتی ہیں ۔ گھریلو طور پر تیار کی ہوئی ایسی وہسکی عام طور پر مل جاتی ہے جس میں الکحل کی مقدار ننانوے فیصد تک ہوتی ہے۔
سعودی حکومت دنیا بھر میں اپنے سخت مذہبی قوانین پر فخر کرتی ہے لیکن تقدیس کی اس چادر کے نیچے صحیح قیمت ادا کرنے پر سب کچھ دستیاب ہو سکتا ہے۔ دنیا کے چند امیر ترین ممالک میں سے ایک ہونے کے باعث بہت سے لوگوں کے لیے پیسہ کوئی معنی نہیں رکھتا چنانچہ پولیس کی ہمدردیاں جیتنا بہت آسان ہے۔ جن علاقوں میں مغربی گھرانے آباد ہیں وہاں آلو سے ننانوے فیصد پروف والی شراب تیار کی جاتی ہے اور اسے کھلے عام سعودی عرب کے تمام بڑے شہروں میں خریدا جا سکتا ہے۔ بتایا گیا ہے کہ پلاسٹک کی بوتلوں میں الکحل صرف چند پاﺅنڈ کے عوض خریدی جا سکتی ہے ۔ پولیس افسروں کی تنخواہ عموماً سات سو پاﺅنڈ ماہانہ سے زیادہ نہیں ہے چنانچہ انہیں بالائی آمدنی کی ضرورت رہتی ہے۔
ایک اخبار نے لکھا ہے کہ سعودی عرب میں زیر زمین پارٹیاں مغربی معیارات سے کئی گنا زیادہ کھلی ڈھلی ہوتی ہیں۔ بہت سے گھروں میں گرم پانی کے تالاب موجود ہیں اور وہاں لوگوں کو کھلے عام جنسی سرگرمیوں میں مصروف دیکھا جا سکتا ہے۔ بہت سے سعودی نوجوان ایسی ادویات استعمال کرتے ہیں جو داعش اپنے لڑاکا فوجیوں کا حوصلہ بلند رکھنے کے لیے استعمال کرتی ہے مثلاً کیپٹا گان۔ سعودی نوجوان یہ دوا استعمال کر کے تیز رفتار گاڑیوں میں خوفناک کرتب دکھاتے ہیں۔
چند برس قبل برطانیہ میں دو لاکھ دس ہزار افراد نے ایک عرض داشت پر دستخط کیے تھے جس میں وزیراعظم ڈیوڈ کیمرون سے درخواست کی گئی تھی کہ وہ 74 سالہ کارل آندرے کو ملنے والی کوڑوں کی سزا پر عمل درآمد ر کوائیں۔ کارل کے بیٹے سائمن نے کہا ہے کہ اس کا 74 سالہ باپ تین دفعہ کینسر میں مبتلا رہ چکا ہے اور دمے کا مریض بھی ہے۔ اس کا امکان کم ہے کہ وہ اس سزا سے جانبر ہو سکے۔سائمن نے بتایا ہے کہ اس کی معلومات کے مطابق سعودی حکام نے برطانوی حکومت کو یقین دہانی کرائی ہے کہ کوڑوں کی سزا پر عمل درآمد نہیں کیا جائے گا۔ سعودی قوانین کے مطابق شراب پینے اور زنا کرنے پر کوڑے مارنے اور سرقلم کرنے تک کی سزائیں دی جا سکتی ہیں۔
سندھ میں غربت کی شرح میں واضح کمی اس بات کا ثبوت ہے کہ پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی نے ڈلیور کر کے دکھایا ہے، چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری
کراچی/اسلام آباد(—–) پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ پی پی پی حکومت نے غربت کی کمی کیلئے بینظیرانکم سپورٹ پروگرام شروع کیا اور عمران خان نے اس کا نام بدل ڈالا، میڈیا سیل بلاول ہاؤس سے جاری اپنے ایک بیان میں چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی نے ایک ایسے وقت میں بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام شروع کیا کہ جب دنیا میں معاشی بحران تھا، عمران خان بتائیں کہ بینظیرانکم سپورٹ پروگرام کا نام تبدیل کرنے کے علاوہ انہوں نے غربت میں کمی کیلئے اب تک کیا کیا؟ انہوں نے کہا کہ عوام کو سب پتہ ہے کہ احساس کفالت پروگرام دراصل بینظیرانکم سپورٹ پروگرام ہی ہے، عمران خان کی غربت میں کمی کے بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام کی چوری پکڑی جاچکی ہے اور اب عمران خان بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام کا نام کچھ بھی رکھ دیں، پاکستان کے عوام سب جانتے ہیں،
چیئرمین پی پی پی نے بتایا کہ بینظیرانکم سپورٹ پروگرام دراصل شہید محترمہ بے نظیر بھٹو کا ایک آئیڈیا تھا جسے پی پی پی حکومت نے عملی جامہ پہنایا، پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی نے ایک بڑے سماجی بہبود کے بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام کو شروع کرکے دنیا میں ایک مثال قائم کی اور یہی وہ وجہ ہے کہ آج عالمی ادارے پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کی حکومت کی جانب سے شروع ہونے والے بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام کی اہمیت کا اعتراف کررہے ہیں،
پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا تھا کہ سپریم کورٹ میں بینظیرانکم سپورٹ پروگرام کے نام کی تبدیلی کے اعتراف کے باوجود احساس پروگرام کو نیا منصوبہ قرار دینا عوام سے دھوکا ہے، وزیراعظم منصوبوں، اداروں اور عمارتوں کے نام بدلنے سے عوام کے دلوں سے شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کا نام نہیں مٹاسکتے، ان کا کہنا تھا کہ جھوٹ اور دھوکے کو یوٹرن کا نام دے کر اس پر فخر کرنا عمران خان کے مزاج کا حصہ بن چکا ہے،
اس موقع پر پی پی پی چیئرمین نے سندھ حکومت کے حالیہ عوام دوست منصوبوں کا ذکر کرتے ہوئے بتایا کہ پی پی پی نے عمران خان کے معاشی سونامی کے دوران سندھ کی لاکھوں دیہی خواتین کو فنی تربیت دی تاکہ وہ خودکفیل ہوسکیں جبکہ سندھ میں پی پی پی حکومت نے عمران خان کی مسلط کردہ مہنگائی کی ستائی لاکھوں دیہی خواتین کو کاروبار شروع کرنے کیلئے بلاسود قرضے بھی دئیے، انہوں نے بتایا کہ یہی وہ وجوہات ہیں کہ پی پی پی کی سندھ حکومت نے اپنے عوام دوست اقدامات سے صوبے کی فی کس آمدنی کو ملک بھر میں سب سے زیادہ کردیا جبکہ سندھ میں غربت کی شرح میں غیرمعمولی 7.6 فیصد کی کمی بھی اس بات کا ثبوت ہے کہ پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی نے ڈلیور کرکے دکھایا ہے
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24898/
All that the incompetent PTI government can do is put up new plaques on old projects initiated by PPP – says Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
In a statement issued from the Media Cell Bilawal House, the Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that PPP government launched BISP to alleviate poverty and provide aid to the poor at a time when the world faced the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. PPP then implemented the programme to provide the needy with financial assistance. The past two and half years of this government have shown that selected PM lacks the vision or the ideology to launch a project so big that it attributes to reducing Pakistan’s poverty levels.
The ongoing Ehsas Kafaalat Programme is originally the BISP, and the puppet Prime Minister has exposed himself to the people. This government’s petty attempts to erase the legacy of Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister would always fail, as Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is synonymous with the welfare of the poor. It does not matter how the puppet Prime Minister tries and change the name to erase the name of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, she lives in the hearts of the people and they will always see through these petty and regressive steps.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stated, “PPP implemented the social welfare programme under the title of BISP, and the project is recognised and admired by international institutions as a unique and progressive way of addressing extreme poverty and the need for women empowerment.”
Today, the PTI-led Federal government is shamelessly trumpeting the drums of pioneering the Ehsas Kafaalat Programme despite previously confessing before the country’s apex court that the BISP’s title has been amended to the Ehsas Kifalat Programme. The PTI-led Federal government is deceiving the people, he remarked.
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is the most incapable and incompetent PM in Pakistan’s history. All he can do is rename projects and put up new plaques on old projects initiated by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. “No matter what the illegitimate selected Prime Minister does, he can never erase the love and respect people have for Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. In contrast, the only legacy Imran Khan will leave behind is one of economic turmoil, unemployment, and poverty. This governments lack of direction, as is evidenced by its constant U-turns on all matters of national importance, is an apt reflection of the lack of vision of the Prime Minister himself.”
Referring to the people-friendly, social welfare projects in Sindh by the PPP-led government, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stated that though PTI has exposed the people to economic ruin, the Sindh government is doing its best to stem the tide of destruction and protect the most vulnerable. One of Sindh’s flagship initiatives, the Peoples Poverty Reduction Program, has imparted Vocational training to millions of women of the province so as to make them economically self-reliant. Interest-free soft loans have also been released to aid them in establishing and growing their enterprises, he added.
The PPP-led Sindh government has also successfully managed to boost the per capita income in Sindh through its public-friendly social welfare programmes. In addition, the decline in the poverty by 7.6 percent is proof that the social welfare policies and measures the PPP government has adopted are reaping dividends for some of the most marginalized communities in the province, he asserted.
Pakistan: Government attempts to 'Islamize' mainstream curriculum
Prime Minister Imran Khan's administration is preparing to implement a uniform education system in the country with a strong focus on an Islamized syllabus and teaching the Quran.
Pakistan's government is all set to implement a uniform education system across the country, which critics fear could increase Islamization of schools and universities.
The first phase of the implementation involves primary school students in the first through fifth grades. The plan mandates the students to read the entire Quran with translation, learn Islamic prayers and memorize a number of hadith (words, actions and approval of the Prophet Muhammad).
It also stipulates that every school and college must employ a pair of certified Hafiz (a person who has memorized the Quran) and Qari (a Quran reciter) to teach these subjects.
Critics believe that the move will increase the influence of Islamic clerics, sharpen sectarian fault lines and greatly damage the social fabric.
Urdu, English and social studies have been heavily Islamized, Abdul Hameed Nayyar, an Islamabad-based academic, told DW. He added that students will also study the Quran's 30 chapters and a translation of the entire book at a later stage, besides the book on Islamic studies.
Nayyar said critical thinking was a basic tenet of modern knowledge but the government seemed to be promoting ideas that are antithetical to this through the syllabus.
Kowtowing to Islamic forces
Since Pakistan's creation in 1947, there has been an alliance between the state and Islamic conservatives.
Though Islamization creeped in gradually during the 1950s and '60s, it picked up pace in the 1970s before intensifying in the '80s, under the dictatorship of General Zia-ul Haq.
Haq launched a vigorous drive to change the liberal nature of the constitution. He also introduced Islamic laws, Islamized the educational curriculums, opened up thousands of religious seminaries across the country, inducted Islamists into judiciary, bureaucracy and the army and created institutions headed by Islamic clerics to oversee the affairs of the government.
Since his death in 1988, almost all governments have tried to appease the religious forces through Islamization.
The current government, under Prime Minister Imran Khan, has also been accused of kowtowing to the Islamic establishment.
'Madrassification' of schools
In 2018, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party promised to introduce a uniform education system.
Many hoped that the new curriculum would emphasize science, arts, literature and other contemporary subjects.
But, in 2019, Khan's government unveiled its plan, which focused heavily on Islamized syllabus. Implementation has been delayed during the coronavirus pandemic, but is expected to begin this year.
Books for primary school students have already been published, with Islamized content featuring heavily in textbooks for English, Urdu, social studies, and other subjects.
In the next phase, the government intends to introduce the new Islam-heavy syllabus for middle school students and possibly for high school students in the 11th and 12th grades.
Rubina Saigol, a Lahore-based educationist, told DW that the "madrassification" of public schools would have serious ramifications.
"The syllabus is likely to produce students with an Islamic conservative global outlook, who would view women as subservient souls who do not deserve freedom and independence," Saigol said.
Over 30% more Islamic content
Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist based in Islamabad, told DW that the new syllabus could inflict damage upon Pakistan's education system in a manner never seen before.
"The systemic changes hidden in it go far deeper than the ones conceived and executed by General Zia's extremist regime," Hoodbhoy said. A deep analysis of the syllabus shows that "it will impose more rote learning of religious materials on ordinary schools than even madrassas," he added.
Some have already challenged the proposed changes in the nation's highest court.
Peter Jacob, a Lahore-based human rights activist, told DW that about 30-40% of the content in compulsory subjects was religious in nature.
"Many people have approached the court because it is against the constitution," Jacob said. He added that members of minority communities do not believe that such text should be in compulsory subjects.
'We should learn from Bangladesh'
It is not just liberal academics or minorities' groups that are voicing concern about the Islamization of the school syllabus. Even some government allies have also expressed reservations.
Kishwar Zehra, a parliamentarian of Muttehida Qaumi Movement, which is part of Khan's ruling coalition, strongly opposes the Islamization.
"We should learn from Bangladesh, which is promoting secular values," Zehra told DW, asserting that the current drive to further Islamize the syllabus is aimed at appeasing the Islamic right-wing forces.
Instead of increasing religious content, Zehra said, the government should incorporate the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which she believes Pakistani students desperately need to know.
The government, however, has so far dismissed the criticism.
Muhammad Bashir Khan, a parliamentarian from the ruling party, said the Islamization of the syllabus is was the right step.
"Pakistan is an ideological Islamic state and we need religious education," he said. "I feel that even now our syllabus is not completely Islamized and we need to do more Islamization of the syllabus, teaching more religious content for the moral and ideological training of our citizens."
The Islamization of curricula has not been limited to schools. Recently, the government in Punjab province has also made teaching of the Quran with translation mandatory for all university students.
According to the provincial government, students will not be awarded degrees if they do not study the Quran.
https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-schools-islamization/a-57640587
Indian Army has new strategies for Pakistan, China: Punitive deterrence, credible deterrence
SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP
With tensions continuing with China, India has deployed more troops along the Line of Actual Control this summer than before.The Indian military is bringing a series of key changes, including in the Order of Battle (ORBAT), with the strategy being punitive deterrence against Pakistan and credible deterrence against China, ThePrint has learnt.This strategy, which called for integrated formations rather than just corps-level response, forms the foundation of the Indian military’s re-balance from the western borders with Pakistan to the northern and eastern borders with China. Government sources told ThePrint that the overall strategy does not involve the military alone but also diplomacy and economics. “From a military point of view, the western theatre has always been the focus area. Our strategy there has been that of punitive deterrence. This means that India has overwhelmingly higher military power for punitive action,” a source said. Explaining the nuance of the strategy against China, the source said the aim is credible deterrence. “Under credible deterrence, the opposite side should know that India has the ability for a counter operation and to inflict damage. China sees itself equal to the US in terms of military power. However, it has realised that while militarily it might be bigger, India won’t budge and can actually hit back. This affects the image that they want to portray internationally. This is called credible deterrence,” the source said, refusing to go into the key changes planned and set in motion. Sources gave the example of the last year’s August 29/30 operation by the Indian forces when they outflanked the Chinese and occupied the heights in the southern banks of Pangong Tso, much to the discomfort of the Chinese.
Sources explained that this strategy is for along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and not just Ladakh which comes under the Northern sector. This means that the strategy will extend to the Central and Eastern sectors too.The Army chief Gen M M Naravane had in January this year said the force was “re-balancing” its deployment and strategy along the western, northern and northeastern borders to deal with any kind of threat that might emerge — be it from Pakistan or China. The re-balance strategy came following an internal study conducted by the Army on how to prepare for the threat from China and Pakistan. ThePrint had on 12 April reported that a summer strategy has already been put in place in Eastern Ladakh and also implemented key changes in the ORBAT.
More troops along the LAC than before
Focus on integrated battle and not just Corps level responseUnder the changes in ORBAT, while India earlier had three Strike Corps focused against Pakistan, it now has two. And instead of just one Strike Corps against China, it has two now. “The focus is not just on corps-level response to an aggression but also a more integrated response,” said a source. This means not just the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs), the brainchild of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat when he was the Army chief, but also a joint response from the three Services — Army, Navy and Air Force. Incidentally, the Army had in October 2019 put into action its concept of IBGS for the first time. The IBGs were carved out of the Panagarh-based 17 Corps’ (Mountain Strike Corps) 59 Mountain Division. The plan was that this would be a study case and the IBGs would be rolled out after fine-tuning. Each IBG would be based on specific operational requirements considering the topography as well as threat perceptions. Gen Naravane had in May last year said the IBGs would be operational “soon”. However, the process got hit because of the pandemic and the tensions that broke along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. https://theprint.in/defence/indian-army-has-new-strategies-for-pakistan-china-punitive-deterrence-credible-deterrence/663748/
Monday, May 24, 2021
Israel should take note: the weight of opinion is turning against it
Thanks in part to a global focus more intense than on any other conflict, western attitudes to the Middle East may be shifting.It’s not over, because it’s never over. But there is at least the hope of a pause. After less than a fortnight in which nearly 250 people have been killed, both Hamas and Israel agreed late on Thursday to hold their fire, each crafting a victory story to tell the world and themselves. For Hamas, the narrative is simple enough. Despite being caged in a tiny terrain, and with a fraction of their foe’s resources, they managed to surprise the enemy and strike at its civilian heart. They unleashed a torrent of missiles, more sophisticated than before, some of them breaching Israel’s Iron Dome defence system and landing not only on Israel’s peripheral towns but also its central city of Tel Aviv. It can claim, ahead of its Fatah rivals in the West Bank, to be the guardian of the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem. What’s more, it watched with satisfaction as a hole was ripped in Israel’s social fabric, with the country’s Jewish and Arab citizens attacking each other on streets they once shared. For Israel, the generals are briefing that Operation Guardian of the Walls degraded Hamas’s military capacity, that most of those it killed were Hamas fighters, and that more has been done in the last 10 days than the equivalent offensives of 2009, 2012 and 2014 combined. But they’re not fooling anyone. Israel knows that it has endured a strategic disaster, the “most failed and pointless border war” in its history, according to Haaretz’s editor, Aluf Benn. It did not see the Hamas attack coming and its vulnerability under fire will have been noted by Hezbollah to the north, which holds a much more powerful arsenal than Hamas’s, and by Hezbollah’s patron in Tehran.Still, the bigger failings predate and go beyond this latest eruption. Israel told itself all was quiet on the Gaza front. More than that, it thought it had stilled the Palestinian issue altogether, convinced that its “Abraham accords” with Gulf states and others had made the Palestinians all but irrelevant. It has now seen the folly of that delusion.Which points to the other strategic danger for Israel. It could yet prove ephemeral; the international attention span is short, people might soon scroll on to the next big thing. But plenty of credible observers wonder if a turning point was reached this last fortnight in the way the Israel/Palestine conflict is seen around the world and especially in the west. For a loud and influential segment of opinion, it is being reframed not as a national conflict of competing claims, but as a straightforward matter of racial justice. Note the placards at last weekend’s demonstration in London: Palestine Can’t Breathe and Palestinian Lives Matter.Framed that way, #FreePalestine could be on its way to joining #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter as an issue that a global generation regards as of paramount importance, championed not just by politicians but by the leading lights of popular culture, from footballers to singers to fashion influencers with millions of followers. The intercommunal clashes between Jews and Arabs inside Israel reinforce that reading, with incidents of police brutality or discrimination in the criminal justice system that seem to map neatly on to the BLM template. Those with a strong connection to Israel scratch their heads at this, wondering why, of all the appalling things going on in the world, this is the one that cuts through – bringing huge crowds on to the streets of European capitals, filling up social media timelines. They note that people who have barely stirred at the detention of a million Uyghur Muslims in China; who have not so much as “liked” a tweet about the tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims murdered by Myanmar; who rarely get agitated by the 200,000 civilians butchered by the Assad regime in Syria or by the 130,000 killed in Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen; and who might be wholly unaware of the 52,000 estimated to have been killed in the Ethiopian-Tigray conflict since November, have nevertheless been filled with fury by events in Gaza. Much of the explanation is that Israel/Palestine is simply more visible, with media coverage on a scale unmatched by any of those other catastrophes. When 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed in a single month, the major broadcasters did not fly out their presenters to anchor coverage on the spot or nearby. There are no hourly updates of the death toll in Ethiopia, and few interviews with or photographs of the grieving relatives of Yemen. A former Associated Press reporter in Jerusalem has written that he was one of more than 40 staff journalists covering Israel/Palestine, which was then “significantly more news staff than the AP had in China, Russia, or India, or in all of the 50 countries of sub-Saharan Africa combined”. The effect, he wrote, is to signal to readers that Israel/Palestine is “the most important story on Earth” – and, by implication, that the wrongdoing there is worse than anything else on the planet. You could fill many doctoral dissertations asking what explains this intensity of focus. It can’t be the number of deaths, because many, many more have been killed in those other places. It can’t be the fact that Israel is a favoured western ally; so is Saudi Arabia. Perhaps it’s simply that the Israeli occupation has now endured for 54 years, though Turkey, a Nato member, has waged a war on the Kurds nearly as long. In a way, the search for an explanation is secondary. More important are the consequences. Jewish communities know they have to brace themselves every time violence erupts: this latest episode brought a sixfold increase in reports of antisemitic incidents in the UK, according to the Community Security Trust. Of course, most pro-Palestinian campaigners stress they have no grievance against diaspora Jews. But the fervour stirred up by this conflict can get so hot, it is not always easy to control. As for Israel, for its leaders to complain about the scrutiny they get is, as the old line has it, like a sailor complaining about the sea. Instead, they need to adjust to the fact that they could soon face a new strategic reality in which the politics of their closest ally, the US, is changing especially. No less striking than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez branding Israel an “apartheid state” was this week’s move by longtime pro-Israel Democrats in Congress to delay the transfer of an arms package to Israel. At the moment, it’s easy to dismiss this as a passing fad – to note that even if Capitol Hill might be shifting, plenty of continental European politicians are heading in the opposite direction, becoming more, not less, sympathetic to Israel. But Israel should read the warning signs. Those of us who have long condemned the occupation always argued that if Israel did not do the right thing and end it, it would eventually be branded a pariah state. If the last two weeks are anything to go by, that day is getting closer.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/21/israel-opinion-western-attitudes-middle-east?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Middle East peacemaking - How Joe Biden Can Win a Nobel Peace Prize
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Leon Trotsky once supposedly observed, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” To President Biden I’d say today, “You may not be interested in Middle East peacemaking, but Middle East peacemaking is interested in you.”Can Pakistan Remain Immune If Afghanistan Descends Into Chaos? – Analysis
By Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar
Pakistan, which shares a 2,640 km land border with Afghanistan, has undoubtedly much to gain from a peaceful Afghanistan. However, as foreign troops depart, the persistent failure of Afghan parties to strike a lasting peace deal could pose multiple challenges for Pakistan and its security interests. At this moment, it needs to make careful choices to preserve the intended goals it always sought to achieve through sustaining what many saw as a proxy conflict in Afghanistan.
It is no secret that jihadi Islamist groups operating inside Pakistan share an ideological and working relationship with the Afghan Taliban. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly knowns as the Pakistan Taliban, has always shown its allegiance to the Afghan Taliban. The emboldened prospect of the Afghan Taliban will likely act as a booster for these groups in Pakistan.
“The Taliban’s war next door is easily taken up by radical groups, like the TTP, on this side,” Sherry Rahman, a Pakistani senator and the president of the Jinnah Institute, said in a commentary published by the institute. “Pakistan must anticipate the spillover of violence from Afghanistan and consider the humanitarian aspects of war next door,” she added.
The recent spate of high-profile attacks by the TTP bears the signature of what the future might be holding for the Pakistani state.
Violence resurgence
The resurgence of sectarian violence — as recently witnessed in Afghanistan in the form of attacks against Shia Hazaras– also remains a dangerous possibilityity in Pakistan. For many years, major cities in Pakistan faced attacks, suicide bombings, and violence on sectarian lines.
Earlier in the 90s, Afghan refugees flooded Pakistan when the country descended into the civil war. Today, despite most of its border already fenced, Pakistan could not easily rule a future influx of Afghan refugees. If only the Taliban genuinely agree to the idea of power-sharing and sign a peace deal, this crisis can be averted.
Najummuddin Shaikh, former Pakistan foreign secretary, commented, “Pakistan must complete the fencing of its border, ask the Taliban leaders to move into Afghanistan to negotiate with other Afghan parties and to the extent possible insulate itself from the chaos that is bound to engulf Afghanistan.”
A future Taliban victory in Kabul can’t be taken for granted, said Pakistan’s former foreign secretary Riyaj Mohammad Khan.
Pakistan’s dilemma
Also, food supply chains– the most crucial link that integrates the economies of the two neighbors– might be disrupted if the instability in Afghanistan continues to grow. That could further adversely affect businesses in Pakistan.
Pakistan, therefore, must explore opportunities and ways to support the Afghan people, Sherry Rahman, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US and a former federal information minister, suggested, adding it should in fact increase aid assistance to support their interests.
So far in the peace process, Pakistan has played a significant role– by delivering the Taliban to the negotiation table. However, the world expects more from it, for example, using its historical influence over the Taliban to force them to a political deal.
“There are signals from the US that the blame will lie on Pakistan’s doorstep if the end results in Afghanistan is not achieved according to the script written in Washington,” Jalil Abbas Jilani, former foreign secretary of Pakistan, commented.
War inevitable
Most recently, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, said Washington “now plays only a minor role” and the “question of peace or hostility is now in Pakistan hands”.
However, some experts also question Pakistan’s supposed ability to influence the Taliban’s decisions. The argument is the insurgent group today is a lot more diplomatically acceptable to the world powers as a political group than what it used to be a decade earlier. The group has also expanded its outreach and tactical understanding among regional countries.
As former top diplomat Shaikh puts it bluntly, “The Taliban will have a war on their hands,” especially over control of spoils from the opium cultivation, Afghanistan’s main cash crop, and “because 31 percent of the population (the Tajiks Hazaras and Shias, Uzbeks) will not accept Taliban domination nor will the Pukhtuns opposed to the Taliban.
“None have a shortage of the sort of arms this sort of strife will require”, Shaikh declared.
Overall, whatever sway Islamabad holds over the Taliban, Pakistan realizes it must weigh its options with considerable circumspection to at least mitigate blowback effects in case Afghanistan descends into a civil war. And that is what is weighing on the minds of Pakistani policymakers and strategic analysts.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/23052021-can-pakistan-remain-immune-if-afghanistan-descends-into-chaos-analysis/
Pakistan’s Private Vaccine Sales Highlight Rich-Poor Divide
An inoculation push, plagued with limited supplies and red tape, makes doses available to those who can pay for them. In a country with a struggling economy, most can’t.The coronavirus was ripping through Pakistan, and Muhammad Nasir Chaudhry was worried. Long lines and tight supplies plagued the government’s free vaccine campaign. Newspapers were filled with reports of well-connected people jumping the line for a free dose. Then Mr. Chaudhry, a 35-year-old government consultant, discovered he could pay to leapfrog the long lines himself. He registered to take two doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine for about $80 from a private hospital. That’s a lot of money in a country where the average worker makes about $110 per month, but Mr. Chaudhry was ready to make the commitment. Critics have assailed such private sales in Pakistan and around the world, saying that they make inoculations available only to the wealthy. But in Pakistan, like elsewhere, tight supplies have stymied those efforts. The private hospitals are out of supplies, and Mr. Chaudhry still hasn’t been vaccinated. “I am willing to pay double the price for the vaccine, but I don’t want to wait on and on,” Mr. Chaudhry said. Access to the coronavirus vaccine has thrown a stark light on global inequality. The United States and other rich countries have bought up most of the world’s vaccine supplies to protect their own people, leaving millions of doses stockpiled and in some places unused. Less developed countries scramble over what’s left.To speed up vaccinations, some countries have allowed doses to be sold privately. But those campaigns have been troubled by supply issues and by complaints that they simply reflect the global disparities.
“The Pakistani example is a microcosm of what has gone wrong with the global response — where wealth alone has primarily shaped who gets access,” Zain Rizvi, an expert on medicine access at Public Citizen, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group, said in an email. “Ending the pandemic will require the global community to do much more than just that.”India sells vaccines to private hospitals, though they are scrambling to find supplies now that the pandemic there is so serious. Kenya authorized private sales, then blocked them over fears that counterfeit vaccines would be sold. In the United States, some well-connected companies, like Bloomberg, have secured doses for employees.
Indonesia on Tuesday allowed companies to purchase vaccines from the government to inoculate employees and family members free of charge. The only vaccine approved for that program so far is one made by Sinopharm.Pakistan says the private program could make more free shots available to low-income people. By purchasing doses of the Russian-made Sputnik 5 vaccine, the country’s wealthy wouldn’t need to get the free doses, which are made by Sinopharm of China. Some people would prefer to get inoculated at a private hospital because they are widely believed to be comparatively better organized and more efficient than overwhelmed government facilities. Pakistan’s need is growing. The country of nearly 220 million people is reporting more than 2,500 new infections a day, but its low rate of testing suggests many more cases remain undetected. The government has toughened restrictions and limited public gatherings.
But the government’s vaccination campaign has been slow. It has started giving doses to people over 40 this month. Younger people may need to wait several months.Tight global supplies are to blame, said Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Pakistan’s information minister. In addition to the Sputnik and Sinopharm vaccines, Pakistan earlier this month received 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Covax, the international body that promotes vaccinations, and is due to get 3.5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China by the end of May. Private sales set off a fiery debate in a country where the economy has stalled from the pandemic and from longstanding issues like a lack of foreign investment and heavy government debt. Critics say the decision will deepen the divisions within the country, where a large section of the society lives under the poverty line.“The government did not think about the suffering of the poor while allowing the importers to sell the vaccine,” said Dr. Mirza Ali Azhar, a leader of the Pakistan Medical Association, the nationwide medical professional body. “Such discriminatory policies will increase the sense of deprivation among the poor young people, especially those with weak immune systems.” Mr. Chaudhry, the information minister, played down the pricing issue, saying that private vaccines could not cater to the public need anyway. The initiative has run into another problem: Hospitals can’t find vaccines to buy. Demand has been strong. The government sets a ceiling on prices but has been locked in a dispute with private importers over how much that should be. In April, in the city of Karachi, long lines formed when two private hospitals began selling the Sputnik V vaccine to walk-ins. Private hospitals in Islamabad, the capital, and Lahore faced a similar rush of people and ran short within days. Hospitals in the major cities have now stopped taking walk-ins, and online registration has also been put on hold. Sputnik V isn’t the only vaccine that the government allows to be sold privately. A one-dose shot made by CanSino Biologics of China is priced at around $28. Demand has been weaker because of greater public confidence in the Russian vaccine. Still, supplies sold out quickly after the CanSino doses went on sale last month. The government has said another 13.2 million doses will arrive in June. AGP Limited, a private pharmaceutical company that has imported 50,000 doses of Sputnik, is urging patience. “Sputnik V received an overwhelming response in Pakistan with thousands of people being vaccinated in just a few days and an even higher number of registrations confirmed in hospitals across Pakistan,” said Umair Mukhtar, a senior official of AGP Limited. He said the company has placed large orders for more.The government price dispute could delay further expansion. The drug regulatory authority wants Sputnik V to be sold at a lower price. AGP won an interim court order on April 1 to sell the vaccine until a final price is fixed.For those who can afford the doses, frustration is growing. Junaid Jahangir, an Islamabad-based lawyer, said several of his friends got private inoculations. He registered with a private lab for Sputnik V but got a text message later saying that the vaccination drive was on hold. “I am being denied a fair chance to fight this virus if I end up getting infected,” Mr. Jahangir said. “The demand is there, and I don’t see what could possibly be the reason behind the inefficiency in supply.” Some of the people who paid for private doses justified their decision by citing media reports that some well-connected people were jumping the line to get free, public doses. In May, at least 18 low-level health care workers were suspended by the authorities in Lahore for vaccinating people out of turn after taking bribes.
Iffat Omar, an actor and talk show host, apologized publicly in April for jumping ahead of the line to get the vaccine. “I am sorry,” she said on Twitter. “I am ashamed. I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I will repent.”
Fiza Batool Gilani, an entrepreneur and the daughter of Yusuf Raza Gilani, the former prime minister, said she knows of several young people who jumped the queue and got the free government vaccine in recent weeks.
“I was myself offered out of turn, free vaccine, but I declined as I wanted to avail the private vaccine,” said Ms. Gilani. Wealthy people should pay for their doses, she said, adding that her family would pay for CanSino shots for its household staff.
Many people, like Tehmina Sadaf, don’t have that option.Ms. Sadaf, 35, lives along with her husband and a 7-year-old son in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad. Her husband is a cleric at a mosque. She gives Quran lessons to young children. She said the pandemic had negatively impacted the family’s income of around $128 per month. “After paying the house rent and electricity bill, we are not left with much,” she said.She had her doubts about the public vaccine, “but the price of the private vaccine is very high,” she said. “It should have been lower so that poor people like us can also afford it. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/asia/pakistan-private-vaccines.html
Imran Khan trying to cover up economic disaster with lies: Bilawal
https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/602911-Imran-Khan-trying-to-cover-up-economic-disaster-with-lies-Bilawal
Bilawal announces PPP candidates for AJK elections
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Monday unveiled his party candidates for the upcoming Azad Jammu & Kashmir General Elections 2021.
The candidates that will contest the AJK elections on a PPP ticket are as follows:
| Constituency | Candidate |
| LA-1 (Mirpur-I) | Muhammad Afsar Shahid |
| LA-2 (Mirpur-II) | Chaudhry Abdul Majeed |
| LA-3 (Mirpur-III) | Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf |
| LA-5 (Bhimbher-I) | Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf |
| LA-7 (Bhimbher-III) | Anees Ahmed Kashmiri |
| LA-8 (Kotli-I) | Muhammad Aftab Anjum |
| LA-9 (Kotli-II) | Javed Iqbal Budhanvi |
| LA-11 (Kotli-IV) | Sardar Muhammad Bashir Pehalwan |
| LA-13 (Kotli-VI) | Muhammad Waleed Inqalabi |
| LA-14 (Bagh-I) | Raja Khawar Qayyum Advocate |
| LA-15 (Bagh-II) | Sardar Zia Ul Qamar |
| LA-16 (Bagh-III) | Sardar Qamar Zaman |
| LA-17 (Bagh-IV) | Faisal Mumtaz Rathore |
| LA-18 (Sudhnoti & Poonch-I) | Sardar Amjad Yousif Khan |
| LA-19 (Sudhnoti & Poonch-II) | Sardar Saud Bin Sadiq |
| LA-23 (Sudhnoti & Poonch-VI) | Sardar Muhammad Raees Khan |
| LA-24 (Sudhnoti & Poonch-VII) | Sardar Inayat Ullah Arif |
| LA-27 (Muzaffarabad-I) | Sardar Muhammad Javed Ayub |
| LA-28 (Muzaffarabad-II) | Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi |
| LA-29 (Muzaffarabad-III) | Sardar Mubarak Haider |
| LA-30 (Muzaffarabad-IV) | Mubashir Munir Awan |
| LA-31 (Muzaffarabad-V) | Chaudhry Latif Akbar |
| LA-32 (Muzaffarabad-VI) | Sahibzada Muhammad Ishfaq Zaffar |
| LA-33 (Muzaffarabad-VII) | Sahibzada Muhammad Imtiaz Zaffar |
| LA-35 (Jammu-II) | Muhammad Iqbal Mujaddadi |
| LA-36 (Jammu-III) | Chaudhry Shoukat Wazir Ali |
| LA-39 (Jammu-VI) | Chaudhry Fakhar Zaman Gulpera |
| LA-40 (Kashmir Valley-I) | Amir Abdul Ghaffar Lone |
| LA-42 (Kashmir Valley-III) | Hafeez Ahmed Butt |
| LA-43 (Kashmir Valley-IV) | Azhar Gillani |
| LA-44 (Kashmir Valley-V) | Rashid Salam Butt |
The candidate list was issued after last week's PPP Parliamentary Board of AJK completed consultations regarding the elections and submitted a report to the PPP chairman.
The meeting of the board was held at the Zardari House, Islamabad, and was chaired by Faryal Talpur, central president of the PPP Women's Wing, and other senior leaders.
The general elections in AJK are due to take place in June or July this year. However, the exact date for the polls is yet to be announced by the region's election commission.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/351706-bilawal-announces-ppp-candidates-for-ajk-elections