Deal in the making: Pakistan Army likely to begin training Afghan forces

Islamabad and Kabul are close to signing a deal that will allow the Pakistan Army to train Afghan national security forces, in the latest sign of improving ties between the neighbouring nations.

The progress was made during talks between visiting Afghan Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.

Pakistan has long been offering Afghanistan to train its army but, until now, Kabul had shown little interest, largely due to the trust deficit between the two countries.

The talks, led by the Afghan defence minister and the Pakistani army chief, proved to be decisive as the two sides agreed to explore the possibility of  “military training exchanges,” a senior military official disclosed to The Express Tribune.

The official said the Afghan delegation would visit military institutions as part of efforts to assess how the two neighbours could enter into an accord to strengthen military-to-military contacts.

Pakistan-India bus, trade resume as tensions ebb

 A cross-border bus service between India and Pakistan, suspended along with trade after deadly army clashes earlier this month, resumed Monday in a sign of easing tension between the neighbours.

Officials said 64 passengers from Pakistan crossed the de facto border in Kashmir into India while 84 went in the other direction on the bus service from Poonch to Rawalakot.

Cross-border trade, which had been encouraged in recent years as a means to improve strained relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, was also set to resume on Tuesday after being frozen for the last two weeks.

“We are assessing losses the traders suffered because they could not send perishable items across on time,” Shant Manu, secretary for industries and commerce in Indian Kashmir, told AFP.

Pakistan-India ties: ‘Dialogue process has not been derailed’

 Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal insisted on Monday that despite recent clashes on the Line of Control (LoC), the process of dialogue between India and Pakistan has not been affected.

“Peace between India and Pakistan is in favour of both the countries,” he said, while addressing the media on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

Sabharwal said India wants good relations with Pakistan and vowed that a peaceful, democratic and stable Pakistan was in the interest of his country.

The high commissioner said that the ceasefire on the LoC was a good and welcoming step, and added that things were now heading towards settlement.

Referring to Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s statements, Sabharwal said that the peace process between Islamabad and New Delhi had not been derailed and no irreversible damage had been made to the process.

The new face of folk music

WHAT I don’t understand,” says Chris Wood, “is why, when young people see so much misery, injustice … around them, they don’t see music as an expression of disgruntlement. Where are the young protest singers? Instead, we get this limp, bedroom ukulele music that keeps turning up on mobile phone ads.”

In 2011, fiddler and folk-singer Wood won the best original song category at the Radio 2 Folk awards for ‘Hollow Point’, his affecting account of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian who was shot dead by London police in 2005. “Awake arise you drowsy sleeper,” the song begins, its title a reference to the type of bullet fired by the police.

For most of the 1980s and ’90s, singer-songwriters barely got house room on the folk scene, as Celtic instrumentalists and traditional singers dominated. But since their inception in 2000, the Folk awards have highlighted changes in the scene — and not just in subject matter. The original song category boasts an especially strong shortlist this year, and all four nominees are women.

Challenge of new provinces

THE debate on creating new provinces in Pakistan is gaining momentum with the proposal approved by the parliamentary commission to create a new province — ‘Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab’.

But the fundamental question which needs to be addressed while considering the demand for new provinces is: should the new provinces be established on an administrative or ethnic basis? The existing four provinces are carved along ethnic lines though the option to redraw provincial boundaries along administrative lines has been presented.

It is not only the rationale behind demanding a change in Pakistan’s federal structure that needs to be addressed; the issue that must also be examined is the potential for violence and conflict if new provinces are created without taking into consideration the interests of ethnic minorities and other stakeholders.

Watch what you eat

The dreaded “C” word is what no ill person ever wants to hear from their doctor – yet there is no family I know of in Pakistan (or abroad) who has been spared from hearing this devastating news. With all the dangerous chemicals and toxins around us (a by-product of the industrial age), it is just a matter of time before they get into the food chain and into our bodies where they bio-accumulate and eventually turn cancerous. While there is still no conclusive evidence on what exactly causes cancer, doctors now say that mounting evidence shows that the foods we eat weigh heavily in the war against cancer.

Doctors say that the easiest and least-expensive way to reduce your risk for cancer is just by eating a healthy diet. When it comes to a diet rich in cancer-fighting substances, most experts agree that it should consist of a predominantly plant-based diet. Living in Pakistan, where various lentils (daals) and freshly cooked vegetables are already a part of our diet, that should not be too difficult. However, we do have to be very careful about what else we eat, given all the adulteration in our food.

A few years ago, I remember interviewing Imran Khan, the politician who as we all know, set up Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital after his mother died from cancer. He told me his typical main meal consisted of a karahi made of desi (free range) chicken, organic wheat chappatis (from flour sent from a friend’s village), fresh vegetable salad from his own kitchen garden and plenty of lassi from the milk of buffaloes kept in his house in Islamabad. He would have freshly made lassi all day, which is high in protein while low in cholesterol.

Army, judiciary in support of democracy, says PM

Pakistan’s military, judiciary and all political forces support a democratic system in the country, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Tuesday, urging all state institutions to continue working within their boundaries.

Speaking at a function of the Gujjar Khan Bar Association in Islamabad, PM Ashraf said that, despite the naysayers and all the challenges faced, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led government had completed its five-year term.

The premier said that the Army and judiciary support a democratic system, and that all political forces are also in agreement that only a democracy could run in the country.

Malik hints seeking spy agencies’ help over Karachi unrest

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday said that intelligence agencies might be contacted to help ease law and order situation in Karachi
Speaking to media representatives, he said that he would write a letter to spy agencies seeking their help to restore peace in the violence-ridden metropolis.
The minister said that all state institutions were working to curb lawlessness in the country, adding that improving law and order situation requires collective efforts.

Military jets bombard militant hideouts in Orakzai

At least 12 suspected militants were killed Monday when Pakistani military jets bombarded militant hideouts in Orakzai tribal region,

According to Assistant Political Agent Mohammad Rafeeq, security forces struck hideouts in upper Orakzai’s Mamozai area, destroying at least five such hideouts.
Security officials claim that up to 92 per cent of Orakzai agency has been cleared of militants in the ongoing military offensive in the restive tribal region.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants are said to have carved out strongholds.
The area was the original base of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud before he moved to South Waziristan to take up the Taliban leadership after the death of his predecessor, Baituallah Mehsud.
Unlike the six other tribal agencies, however, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan. The rugged mountainous territory provides a crucial link for militants operating in other tribal regions, as it borders the regions of

Pakistan seeks sustainable peace, security in Afghanistan: General Kayani

During a meeting with Afghan Defence Minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi on Monday, army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said Pakistan sought sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan, 
On the occasion, the Afghan defence minister said it was important to increase defence cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The meeting that took place at the GHQ in Rawalpindi discussed the situation at the Pak-Afghan border along with other defence cooperation between the two countries.
The Afghan defence minister said Afghanistan would continue to seek guidance from Pakistan in its defence-related matters.

Olson says US favours free, fair elections in Pakistan

US Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, on Monday said the United States was in favour of free, fair and transparent elections in Pakistan so that the country’s democratic system may strengthen, 
Pakistan is expected to hold elections by mid-May with the federal parliament due to disband by mid-March. The polls are expected to mark the first democratic transition between two civilian governments in the country’s history.
Speaking to media representatives in Lahore, Olson said the United States was not biased in favour of or against any political leader or party.
The envoy said the US was very hopeful with regard to the general elections in Pakistan and added that his country was a proponent of democracy.
During his first visit to Lahore since assuming charge as the ambassador, Olson said along with other engagements, he would also be meeting leaders and workers of various political parties in Lahore.

The common capital of India and Pakistan

It was not just the land that was partitioned. Hearts, minds, behaviours and emotions had been partitioned long before so the final division could be made ‘smoothly’, and it went as smoothly as expected. The ground was pulled from underneath someone’s feet, while the sky was pulled away from another’s head! Millions of people neither belonged here nor there, only those who were to lead the new states remained. The new leaders had not only been involved in dividing the state but also dreamt of ruling the new countries in the name of religion and nationalism. A single announcement managed to create a border that cannot be seen anywhere except in books, files and maps.
It was as if a wall was erected in the courtyard of a large, lively house. Those who lived and played together would sulk one moment and reconcile with each other the next. Their hearts beat together as one. If they liked a certain tune, they all sang it together. If they got drunk, they danced in harmony with each other. Their souls were fragrant with the scent of the soil; their breaths were perfumed with the same culture. But the formation of the wall of hate and treachery neither divided nor affected their breaths, their heartbeats.
It doesn’t matter whether the leaders belong to this side of the wall or to that side. They have always sowed seeds of hatred within the divided hearts of their nation in order to prevent the demolition of the wall erected within their hearts and minds so that not only their rule would be established but their sustenance is guaranteed, as well as their luxuries.
What does it matter if the people on this side or that of the wall live below the poverty line? Forget having healthcare and education, what does it matter if the people are deprived of basic needs like ‘roti, kapra aur makan’? Instead, not only did they build mountains of weapons but they also filled their own homes with the money they earned from the sale of weapons.
On one hand, both countries are atomic powers. On the other hand, they have no electricity, water, gas or petrol. We line up for CNG and other fuels; there is no electricity neither here nor there. We say it’s ‘loadshedding’ and they call it ‘katoti’. At night, their footpaths are full of sleeping, homeless people. A similar sight can be seen on our roads at night. We have katchi abadis and they have slums. Piles of rubbish litter our streets and theirs. There are armies of beggar children on both sides of the wall. But we still stand amongst the developed nations with our heads held high, saying that we are atomic powers. They stand in dhotis and we in old, torn shalwars.

Dera Bugti peace force personnel kidnapped in deadly attack

Dozens of armed men raided a tribal peace force post in Dera Bugti on Saturday, killing one man and abducting five, officials said.
“Armed men believed to be several dozens attacked the post and whisked away five members of the tribal force in their vehicles after forcing them to surrender,” provincial chief secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP.
One man who resisted was shot dead by the assailants, he said.
The district is about 400 kilometres southeast of Quetta.
Local administration chief Syed Faisal Shah confirmed the raid, saying security forces had been rushed to the area and a search operation had been launched.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Bin Laden hunt movie not to be shown in Pakistan: Report

Zero Dark Thirty – film depicting the hunt for Osama bin Laden will not be screened in Pakistan, The Telegraph reported.
The movie – which has been nominated for five Oscars – portrays the hunt for bin Laden through the eyes of a young CIA officer, played by Jessica Chastain, and is described by the filmmakers as based on first-hand accounts.
However, according to the report the distributors in Pakistan have decided “not to risk the wrath of the censor board, the military and terrorist groups.”
“Derogatory references to military and intelligence agencies meant any distributor would face awkward questions,” said Mohsin Yaseen – general manager for marketing at Cinepax.
“It’s a touchy subject for the local audience,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Recalling how censor board reacted to the movie Tere Bin Laden, Yaseen said “when Zero Dark Thirty came out, we thought it best just to keep away from it,”

Shahrukh Khan can come to Pakistan if he does not feel safe in India: Hafiz Saeed

 If Shahrukh Khan does not feel safe in India, he can come to Pakistan, said Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.
Saeed was speaking to Express News during an interview.
“I welcome him; I will help him with his stay here,” the JuD chief said, adding that Shahrukh will be respected in Pakistan.
Saeed’s invitation comes in response to Shahrukh’s recent statements about life as a Muslim in India. The Indian superstar – in a first person account – talked about how he became an “inadvertent object of political leaders.”
In the Outlook Turning Points magazine, Shahrukh said “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.”
“There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country — this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return what they refer to my original homeland,” he wrote.

Pakistani diplomats barred from Jaipur literary fest

The long-standing hostility between India and Pakistan has extended to the Jaipur Literary Festival, with New Delhi refusing to allow two Pakistani diplomats from attending the event.  
The two New Delhi-based Pakistani diplomats had sought permission from India’s External Affairs ministry to visit the historic city of Jaipur to attend a popular literary festival held there annually.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Friday that denial of permission did not specifically have anything to do with the festival but was a ”coincidence.”
Several noted Pakistani writers are participating in the five-day festival which brings together tens of thousands of literature enthusiasts and writers.

Militant clash in Khyber tribal region kills 32

An intense gun-battle erupted between two banned militant groups in Khyber Agency’s Tirah Valley on Friday, with at least 32 militants so far killed in the clash.
Intelligence officials said the gun-battle started late Thursday between the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and rival group Ansarul Islam (AI) in Tirah Valley’s Maidan village. The dead included 23 Ansar fighters and nine TTP militants, while several others were also injured.

Officials said the death toll was likely to increase as the fighting had not yet ended.
Speaking to a Dawn.com reporter, Sadat Afridi, a spokesman for the banned Ansarul Islam group, claimed that they had captured over three TTP bases in the valley’s Maidan village, and that the fight was still on for a fourth base.
Afridi said that his group has vowed to flush out TTP militants from Tirah Valley as they “carry out attacks on mosques and public places, which is against Islam.”
Afridi said that they would not allow the TTP to continue “killing innocent Muslims in the name of religion.”
Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and home to religious extremist organisations including the al Qaeda.
The remote Tirah valley holds strategic significance for militant groups. On one side, it shares a border with Afghanistan. On the other it leads to the plains of Bara, which connect the agency to the outskirts of Peshawar.

Indian president issues veiled warning to Pakistan

India’s president told Pakistan on Friday that its hand of friendship should “not be taken for granted” following a string of deadly border clashes between the two sides in the disputed Kashmir region.
President Pranab Mukherjee’s warning comes amid a ceasefire which took hold last week in Kashmir after the Indian and Pakistani armies agreed to halt cross-border firing that has threatened to unravel a fragile peace process.
“We believe in peace on the border and are always ready to offer a hand in the hope of friendship,” Mukherjee said in a televised address on the eve of the country’s Republic Day celebrations.
“But this hand should not be taken for granted,” he added.
Before the ceasefire, Pakistan said three of its soldiers had been killed in firing by Indian troops along a de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two nations that is known as the Line of Control (LoC).
India, in turn, accused Pakistani troops of killing two of its soldiers, one of whom it claimed was beheaded.
Pakistan has denied any responsibility for the violence.
“Neighbours may have disagreements, tension can be a subtext of frontiers,” Mukherjee said. “But sponsorship of terrorism through non-state actors is a matter of deep concern to the entire nation.”
Mukherjee was referring to Indian suspicions that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group that India blames for the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people died may have helped to instigate the hostilities.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since partition in 1947, two of them over the Kashmir region that both nations claim.

India says it is ‘too early’ to normalise relations with Pakistan: Report

Cross-border tensions on the Line of Control (LoC) have eased after talks between India and Pakistan, but it is “too early” for India to normalise relations with its western neighbour, Indian Defence Minister AK Anthony was quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI)  on Wednesday.

According to the report, Anthony said that infiltration attempts from Pakistan into India are continuing despite extreme weather. “If this is the case now, what will be the position (of infiltration) in summers?” he was quoted as saying.

He added, “We have to cross our fingers and after the tragic and inhuman incident, even though Pakistan has assured us certain things, we have to see how this assurance translates into action.”

The minister also said that India should wait and watch and “assess the ground situation,” and assured that no hasty decision will be taken regarding a future course of action.

Tensions between India and Pakistan were heightened earlier this month after a series of cross-border exchanges in the disputed Kashmir region where in which five soldiers were killed on both sides. India claims that one of its soldiers was beheaded.

Gold diggers in Balochistan

The caretakers were expected to take care and the governors were supposed to govern. However, in Reko Diq’s case, governance failed and the care was never provided.

In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared illegal the July 1993 agreement between the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) and Australia’s BHP.  Since the original agreement stands null and void, all subsequent sales and transfers of the exploration rights by BHP to Tethyan Copper Co. (TCC), which is jointly owned by Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation and Chile’s Antofagasta, have been deemed illegal and void.

An interesting debate has ensued in Pakistan since the Supreme Court’s verdict was released earlier in January. Some commentators are critical of the court accusing it of killing another golden goose.  They have argued that foreign investors had sunk over $400 million into the project and thus, they were acting in good faith. Others have accused the Balochistan government of mishandling the project, which has further delayed the development of a goldmine in Pakistan.

I believe that the ongoing debate fails to acknowledge the role of key players who were instrumental in a series of dubious deals, which have finally been declared illegal and void by the Supreme Court. I am of the view that the foreign investors were fully aware of the risks when they signed agreements with government departments that were not authorised to bind the government, especially when caretaker governments were in place in Islamabad and Quetta.  Concomitantly, the caretaker government and the provincial governor should not have exceeded their authority to sign agreements that are the purview of the elected governments. I further contend that the claims of $400 million investment by TCC during 2006 and 2011 appear grossly exaggerated.

Protest announced against army’s absence during voters verification

Different political and religious parties on Wednesday announced a three-day sit-in outside the Sindh Election Commission office against the absence of army personnel during the process of voters verification and not carrying out new delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.

The announcement was made by the political leaders while addressing a protest assembly set up outside the provincial election commission office.

The leaders informed that the sit-in will start from Jan 26 at 3 pm and will continue for three days.

The leaders, while addressing the gathering, said that by avoiding the Supreme Court’s verdict on the issue, the verification process has been made suspicious and unreliable.

Criticising CEC Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, they said that he has committed contempt of court by issuing a statement in which the CEC said that delimitation of constituencies was not possible before the upcoming elections.

Pakistani Taliban vow to attack “BJP-backed terror camps in Kashmir”

 Pakistani Taliban have said the UN bodies and the United States should stop the “BJP-sponsored state terrorism in Kashmir,” otherwise the TTP has the ability to strike inside Indian-administered Kashmir.

Speaking to Dawn.Com on Wednesday, the TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the Indian Home Minister’s statement regarding BJP-backed terrors camps is an open confession that Hindu extremists are being patronized under the state’s authority for killing innocent Kashmiri Muslims.

“The US and UN should also order drone strikes and coalition troops invasion, to target these terror camps, which are mentioned by the Indian minister of fanning Hindu terrorism,” said Ehsan.

“If the US and the UN could not take care of the state-sponsored-terrorism in Kashmir and the BJP/RSS terrorism against Muslims in India, then TTP has the ability to strike and take care of it.”

Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had accused the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday of promoting Hindu terrorism, which in turn was responsible for the fatal bombings of the Samjhauta Express among other Muslim targets.

US, Pakistan are moving out of tense phase

The United States and Pakistan are moving away from the tense phase that marred their relations last year, according to a senior US commander in Afghanistan.

At a Pentagon briefing, Lt Gen. James Terry, Deputy Commander of the US Forces in Afghanistan, also said on Wednesday that after 2014, the United States would focus on providing `right resources’ to the Afghans so that they could hold territory from insurgents.

The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan by December 2014 but plans to maintain a small but effective force there if Kabul grants legal immunity to those deployed in the country.

“From a military perspective, we are moving away from the tense phase with Pakistan,” said Gen Terry when asked about relations with Islamabad which nose-dived after a series of incidents last year put the two allies on a collision course.

The general, however, conceded that a trilateral mechanism, which aims to improve cooperation among the Pakistani, Afghan and US militaries will `take time to get in shape’.

But the US commander also noted that Pakistan and Afghanistan were now talking directly to each other on border issues, which was a good sign.

Collateral damage: Sports, arts pay price of India-Pakistan tensions

The guns may have fallen silent, but the collateral damage from a deadly flare-up between India and Pakistan is still mounting with major sporting and arts events among those hit by the fallout.
Less than a month ago, Pakistan’s cricket team embarked on its first tour to India in nearly five years.

But hopes the trip would herald a wider cultural thaw were soon dashed by tit-for-tat military exchanges in disputed Kashmir that killed five soldiers in nine days.
Although the two armies agreed a ceasefire on January 16, the impact of the violence is being felt far away from the front line.
In the last few days, some of Pakistan’s leading hockey players have been forced to pull out of a new money-spinning competition while its women cricketers have had to rewrite their World Cup plans.
A Lahore-based theatre group had to scrap a performance at a prestigious Delhi venue and a row has broken out over the participation of Pakistani authors in an international literary festival in Rajasthan.
“The arts are always a high-visibility and low-cost target,” said Sanjoy Roy, one of the organisers of this weekend’s Jaipur Literature Festival.
Last year’s festival made headlines when the Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie stayed away in the face of threats by Islamic activists.
Now Hindu nationalists are threatening to disrupt this year’s event to protest the presence of Pakistani authors such as Nadeem Aslam and Mohammad Hanif.

No evidence against Adiala Jail prisoners means no imprisonment: CJ

If there is no evidence, the Adiala Jail prisoners cannot be held captive even for a minute, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Tuesday.

While hearing the missing prisoners case, the chief justice said if the imprisonment is proven illegal, action will be taken against the concerned officials.

In November 2007, 11 men were detained for crimes not known. After spending several years in prison on mere suspicion, the Supreme Court ordered their release in May 2010. However, they disappeared from outside Adiala Jail the day they were set free.

The Supreme Court took up the matter, asking the agencies to present the men. In February 2012, the men, haggard-looking and barely able to stand or talk, appeared before the court. The counsel for the spy agencies claimed that the men were not picked up from outside Adiala Jail – rather they were detained from the war zone.

During today’s hearing, the chief justice remarked that the security agencies possess no proof against the detainees.

Pakistani writers should not attend Jaipur Lit Festival, BJP warns

As India returned Pakistani artists and athletes back home following the Line of Control tension between the two countries, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has warned that Pakistani writers should not Jaipur Literature Festival, Times of India (TOI) reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the work of seven Pakistani authors including Jamil Ahmad and Mohammed Hanif are shortlisted for the 2013 Prize for South Asian Literature.

Ahmad and Hanif had attended the JLF last year but because of the recent cross-border conflict, the BJP has decided to oppose the presence of these writers.

“We will not allow them to enter the festival venue. There is no question of welcoming the Pakistani authors here at a time when their country has disrupted peace at the border,” said BJP Yuva Morcha state president Rishi Bansal.

Attacks on polio workers would not deter us: Bill Gates

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said the recent attacks on polio fieldworkers in Pakistan would not stop his foundation from succeeding in eradicating the crippling virus.

“It’s not going to stop us succeeding,” he said, in an interview with the Telegraph. “It does force us to sit down with the Pakistan government to renew their commitments, see what they’re going to do in security and make changes to protect the women who are doing God’s work and getting out to these children and delivering the vaccine,” he added.
A major focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is eradicating polio in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. “We’re focused on the help of the poorest in the world, which really drives you into vaccination,” he said.

CIA campaign In Pakistan: UK judges block action over drone attacks

LONDON: Judges blocked on Friday a legal action brought by a Pakistani man against Britain over allegations that British intelligence has been used in US drone attacks in the tribal regions.
Lawyers for Noor Khan, 27, launched the action at the High Court in London in March after the death of his father Malik Daud Khan in a drone strike last year in North Waziristan Agency.
They sought to challenge the lawfulness of the help British intelligence gathering agency GCHQ reportedly provides to the CIA, such as information targeting militants, which is then used in drone strikes.
However, lawyers for British Foreign Secretary William Hague had urged the court to block the legal proceedings, saying the case was unarguable. They said it raised issues relating to sovereign foreign states that cannot be determined by English courts, adding that any ruling would have a “significant” impact on British relations with the United States and Pakistan.

Drone strikes go down in Pakistan

US drone strikes against militants decreased in Pakistan’s tribal regions for the second year in a row but intensified in Yemen, according to figures compiled by a Washington think tank.

In Pakistan, 46 strikes were carried out in 2012, compared to 72 in 2011 and 122 in 2010, the New America Foundation said, based on its compilation of reports in international media.

But Yemen saw an equally drastic increase in the clandestine attacks, with strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants rising from 18 in 2011 to 53 in 2012.

This “drone war” is officially classified, and the US does not provide any information on the strikes. US President Barack Obama, who has increased the use of drones compared to his predecessor, George W Bush, only incidentally recognised their existence at the end of January in an online exchange.


The vast majority of the strikes in Pakistan hit North Waziristan, al Qaeda’s main sanctuary and a stronghold for Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Many of the strikes were in and around the regional capital, Miramshah. These strikes, with Reaper or Predator drones, killed between 189 and 308 militants and at least seven civilians, the New America Foundation said.

US targeted killings guidebook allows CIA drones in Pakistan: Report

WASHINGTON: The administration of President Barack Obama is completing a counterterrorism manual that will establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations, The Washington Post reported late Saturday.
But citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the guidebook would contain a major exemption for the CIA’s campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan.
This exemption will allow the Central Intelligence Agency to continue striking al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan for a year or more before the agency is forced to comply with more stringent rules spelled out in the document, the report said.
According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, between 2,627 and 3,457 people have been reportedly killed by US drones in Pakistan since 2004, including between 475 and nearly 900 civilians.
The covert strikes are publicly criticised by the Pakistani government as a violation of sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against militants.
Few of the victims are publicly identified.
The manual is expected to be submitted to Obama for final approval within weeks, the paper said.
The Post said the adoption of a formal guide to targeted killing marks a significant milestone: the institutionalisation of a practice that would have seemed anathema to many before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The subjects covered in the playbook include the process for adding names to kill lists, the legal principles that govern when US citizens can be targeted overseas and the sequence of approvals required when the CIA or US military conduct drone strikes outside war zones, the paper said.

Development plans: Minister backs Pakistan Navy projects

Defence Minister Naveed Qamar on Tuesday assured that the government would support Pakistan Navy (PN), enabling it to materialise developmental plans in time.

During his visit to Naval Headquarters (NHQs), the defence minister appreciated PN’s initiatives to curb the menace of piracy and terrorism. According to a press release, the defence minister also acknowledged PN’s efforts in developing various facilities in coastal areas which is helping in uplifting socio-economic condition of Baloch people.

Joint naval exercise: Seafaring nations urged to team up against piracy

Seafaring nations need to collaborate and assist in protecting each other’s interests to deal with emerging maritime challenges, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila said on Saturday.

Terrorism and piracy were the two challenges that the naval chief singled out while talking to the media onboard a PN ship during a live weapon firing on the concluding day of the Pak-Saudi joint naval exercise Nassem al Bahr.

“Terrorism and piracy, being global challenges, demand a collective and coordinated response, as no single country can deal with this menace in its entirety,” he said.

Sandila said that exercises are critical to access the translation of military strategy into operational plans.

Royal Saudi Naval Force’s Western Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Ibrahim Othman Al Delaijan also witnessed the mega event and the professional display of various other maritime maneuvers at sea where an impressive demonstration of live weapon firing by ships and aircraft was conducted.

Admiral Sandiala stressed that a potent and effective navy is the need of the hour. Despite resource constraints, the government is making all the efforts to equip Pakistan Navy so that it can effectively guard the national maritime interests at Sea, he said.

Security and justice challenges

Based on perception surveys, World Bank analysis suggests that rule of law declined quite sharply in Pakistan between 1996 and 2009 — from 33:100 in 1996 to around 20:100 in 2007-09. In the region, Pakistan’s score was marginally better than that of Nepal and significantly better than Burma’s and Afghanistan’s. Much of this decline predates the dramatic rise in militancy in 2007-10 and indicates an acceleration of perverse incentives within the political economy of the legal and law-enforcement systems.  Women’s access to justice is particularly poor, although legislation from 2006 indicates some progress. Conflicts can arise among the three recognised legal traditions: English common law, British-Indian legislation and Sharia. Customary systems of justice (predominantly based upon tribal practice) provide vital services and are more credible in border areas, indicating alternative dispute resolution systems that have sprung up in response to poor regulatory frameworks.  According to the Supreme Court, unresolved legal cases increased year-on-year from 1995 to 2004, before the current chief justice came into office. By 2006, the number of petitions lodged at the Supreme Court had been reduced by 44 per cent over the previous year. A further decrease was recorded in 2007 (11 per cent) but the backlog has increased, once again, since the 2008 elections (12 per cent in 2008).

Doing the ‘thana-katchery’ rounds — to be caught between district courts and police stations — has become a running joke in Pakistan. The police are paid off to arrest people and the lawyers paid to spring them from prison. Many disputes end in deadlock: never-ending litigation while defendants languish in police cells. Local leaders, who deploy patronage to resolve disputes outside the legal system or help their constituents negotiate the complex system gain political stature, which they can trade for electoral loyalty. One consequence of patronage politics is that people’s direct experience of the state is extremely limited. The public education system, land revenue administration, courts and police remain the primary interfaces. Yet, incorporation of the law and order system into local patronage networks has created a market for a dispute resolution system running parallel to the security and justice sector.

Violation of oath: Supreme Court asked to disqualify PM from assembly

Lawyer Dr Imran Liaquat Hussain has asked the Supreme Court to declare Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf disqualified from membership of the National Assembly due to his alleged involvement in the rental power plants scam.

Hussain filed his petition with the SC Karachi registry on Thursday. He said that the prime minister while taking oath as member of the assembly had pledged to safeguard the solemnity of the country.

Contrary to his pledge, he violated the article 63(1)(g) of the constitution through his involvement in the rental power plants scam. Thus, he is no more a member of the national assembly, he added.

No funding for you: ADB admonishes Pakistan for not treating its own people fairly

The Asian Development Bank has urged Pakistani lawmakers to introduce legislation to provide legal cover to resettlement activities, as it believes the country pays little respect to those uprooted from their localities due to the construction of mega development projects.

The ADB report categorically states that there is a lot of confusion on sharing benefits and giving special attention to those who actually pay the price in terms of giving up their lands and resettlement in alien territories.

“The absence of a national or provincial policy on resettlement in Pakistan is resulting in displacement and compensation issues being addressed in an ad hoc manner with a high risk of impoverishment to those affected,” the Manila-based lending agency said in its report on enhanced safeguard management.

The report underscores a critical issue that often triggers violent protests, ending up at clashes between security personnel and affected populations.

Quaid wanted ‘Muslms’ to enter film industry

Where successive Pakistani governments have subjected the country’s once prosperous film industry to official neglect, a recently discovered letter penned by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah reveals the country’s founder gave seminal importance to the industry.

“I am in receipt of your letter of December 30th 1944, and I wish more Mussalmans would enter into this realm of film industry, and I shall always be glad to do all I can to help it. I have noted that Mr Mahboob is producing a historical picture “Humayun”, and if I have an opportunity of seeing it I might be able to express my opinion about it, but generally I do wish that more Mussalmans would enter this line, as there is plenty of scope for them in the film industry,” reads the Quaid’s letter, dated January 6, 1945.
The type-written letter clearly bears his personal monogram and is neatly signed by his own hand.
The letter was written in response to a letter by Mohammad Masud, then a young political activist, who sought the Quaid’s opinion on the role of Indian Muslims in the sub-continent’s film industry.
Now in his 80s, Masud resides in Karachi with his grandchildren. While he has never been particularly talkative, many an eager ear has been mesmerised by his narration of pre-partition experiences. From his youth to his old age, Masud has also cultivated a penchant for writing letters to the country’s leaders, past and present. The Quaid was among the few who got back to him.
Pakistani film industry today is exemplified by mustachioed men with ‘gandasas’ staring down plus-sized women as they dance.

Pak policy not dictated by US, says Indian FM

India has not been influenced by any foreign country, including the United States, in pursuing peace dialogue with Pakistan despite recent hiccups, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said on Saturday.

There have been reports from Washington, which wants to see no distracting surprises ahead of the second-term swearing in of President Barack Obama and his new team, that the United States would hate to see trouble brewing between India and Pakistan.

“We are not influenced by anybody, including the US,” Mr Khurshid told a private news channel. “Neither does America pressurise us nor does it have any expectations that it can do so.”

It is true though that be they “America, Russia, China, Canada, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Malaysia, we speak to everybody,” Mr Khurshid said. He was asked whether India was influenced by America in matters concerning Pakistan.

Asked if there was a need to review the dialogue process between the two countries, he said reviews periodically happened as these were inbuilt in the dialogue process.

Mr Khurshid said the decision to send back Pakistani players who were visiting for the Indian Hockey League, saw the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party speaking in one voice.

Imran threatens ‘tsunami march to save democracy’

Encouraged perhaps by the people’s response to the four-day sit-in by Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran in Islamabad, Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan has threatened to launch a ‘tsunami march’ if a ‘neutral’ caretaker prime minister is not appointed before elections.

“The PTI will take out a huge tsunami march if a neutral umpire (caretaker prime minister) is not appointed. We will protest to save democratic process from a total disaster,” the cricketer-turned-politician said at a news conference on Saturday.

The PTI, he said, would go for its own protest plan, when required, stating that the party workers had already been told to remain prepared for his call.

Referring to the long march led by Dr Tahirul Qadri, Mr Khan said it was the first step towards a ‘true change’ and the next elections would herald a major change in Pakistan. “The status quo forces are now claiming that the long march has failed. Actually this was the first step towards change as thousands of people came out on roads to bring about a change,” he said.

Mr Khan, who had refused to join the TMQ’s sit-in at the last moment, on the one hand termed Dr Qadri’s march a positive step but on the other called it ‘unconstitutional’, saying the PTI did not participate in the long march because it always resisted ‘unconstitutional moves’.

Pakistan political cliff

CHAOS Theory is a course taught at many prestigious universities to analyse and predict developments during crises. Pakistan’s short but turbulent political history provides excellent empirical data for such study. It is a history of almost endless crises and national calamities interrupted by brief intervals of calm and normalcy.

The causes of Pakistan’s crises, and periodic chaos, have been mostly internal. Almost always, they can be attributed to a remarkable inability to resolve political differences peacefully through accommodation and compromise.

Military coups — in 1958, 1968, 1977 and 1999 — and military-backed regime changes — in 1971, 1991 and 1993 — were the most frequent consequence of such failure.
But the consequences for the country of political failure were much more fundamental: Pakistan’s vivisection in 1971; industrial stagnation; religious radicalisation and militarisation; growing economic and social inequality; rising poverty; corruption; bad governance. What imbues our polity today, apart from terrorist and sectarian violence, is a general and callous disregard for the welfare and well-being of Pakistan’s enfranchised yet powerless millions.

The last major crisis in Pakistan emerged from the confrontation between the then president and the chief justice. It exploded into a national tragedy with the assassination of a popular former premier during electioneering. The present leaders won the democratic mandate, partly due to the resulting sympathy vote.

Combating militancy: Govt suggests amendments to anti-terrorism bill

Expressing dissatisfaction over the low conviction rate in terrorism-related cases, the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Friday suggested amendments to the anti-terrorism legislation.

“We are not satisfied with the conviction rate,” Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Azam Khan said at a news conference held at Officers Mess. “We have sent out the proposed amendments to the federal government and are trying to make them a part of the Anti-terrorism Bill, 2012 to help increase conviction rates of militants in courts.”

Flanked by provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Minister for Prisons Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, Azam said suggestions include not revealing the identities of judges, witnesses and prosecutors in militancy-related cases.

“If the suggestions are implemented, it would increase the conviction rates of terrorists,” said Azam, adding that judges and witnesses remain under constant fear.

Legal battle over blocked access to century-old Hindu temple in Tando Adam

: When Swami Teenu Ram Maharaj laid down the foundation of ashrams – Hindu spiritual centres – his objective was not only to teach religion but humanity as well.

About a century later, teachers of a ‘modern’ school established on the premises of the Maharaj’s final resting place in Tando Adam have been accused of doing the opposite.

Reejho Mal, a member of the Hindu community, has taken the provincial chief secretary and culture secretary to court over restrictions on pilgrims from entering a century-old temple built next to the Maharaj’s samadhi, his final resting place.

At a hearing of the case on Thursday at the Sindh High Court, he told the judges that members of his community were not being allowed to enter the historic temple, Amrapur Asthan of Prem Prakash Panth. He also claimed that the structure was not being preserved.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Shahab Sarki, said that the samadhi and the temple are spread over seven acres. They are important religious places visited by devotees from across the country and abroad.

Spare us the embarrassment; Stop inviting international teams to Pakistan

There was a time when Pakistan cricket was at its peak – a time when cricket teams and players from around the world wanted to visit Pakistan willingly, play cricket feverishly and intermingle with the locals openly. It was a time when Pakistan was able to successfully host World Cup matches on its soil.

Those days, it seems, are long gone.

The optimist in me tells me that those days will return and that good times are just around the corner, but the realist in me tells me that this is not to happen in the foreseeable future.

It is not news to anyone that the present situation in Pakistan, besides many more important things, has hurt Pakistan cricket quite intensely. The average citizen is deprived of watching his/her favourite stars play in their backyard. Young cricketers are deprived of portraying their skills in front of a home crowd and being cheered on.

The previous Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regime strained its relation with almost all cricketing boards around the world; the little goodwill it had left went down the drain when the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Lahore.

The, then, PCB chairman, instead of handing his resignation and apologising for the severe lack of proper security, went ahead blaming others for his shortcomings. As a result, no country in the world wants to visit us anymore and quite understandably so.

Doomsday scenario: IMF paints a gloomy picture of Pakistan’s economy

 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may sign a loan programme with the caretaker government if all major political parties agree on a broader set of action plans. However, before that is possible, Pakistan will have to take some tough prior actions, says the Fund’s representative for the region.

In a luncheon meeting with a group of journalists here on Friday, Jeffrey Franks, adviser to the IMF for the Middle East and Central Asia, spoke at length on the grave economic situation the country is faced with. He also shed light on the Fund’s ongoing dialogue with the government, aimed at building consensus on a set of conditions needed to be fulfilled before and during the course of a fresh bailout programme. Franks was accompanied by the new IMF Country Representative Mansoor Dailami.
“The current polices will have to be readjusted in order [for Pakistan to become eligible] for an IMF programme. The IMF has discussed with the government what kind of policies would be necessary,” said Franks.

The IMF’s prescription to Pakistan includes a healthy measure of – not surprisingly – increasing taxes, cutting expenditures, withdrawing electricity subsidies and increasing interest rates to check inflation, which is expected to rebound soon and devalue the currency further.

US will hate to see Indo-Pak ties jeopardised

The United States would hate to see the recent dispute over the Line of Control jeopardising the progress India and Pakistan have made in improving bilateral ties, a State Department official said on Friday.

“We have been saying all week, the best way for India and Pakistan to resolve this issue is to talk directly,” said the department’s spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

Asked to comment on a statement by the Indian prime minister last week that because of the dispute there cannot be “business as usual” with Pakistan, Ms Nuland noted that direct talks had helped improve economic and trade relations between the two countries and both sides also had relaxed visa restrictions.

“We would hate to see all that jeopardised,” she said.

The daughter of the nation

When in October 2012, a lone gunman shot a teenage girl in the head, he would not have known in his wildest imagination that the life he was meant to snuff out would come back to haunt, in perpetuity, him and those who had sent him on his mission. The point they wanted to make by killing her had backfired. She had defied them a second time. She defied death too.

They should have known better. In a country where so many believe so much to be wrong, but never have the courage or the motivation or simply the desire to speak up, Malala Yousafzai had written a glorious chapter with her steely will and grit in the early part of 2009. Who wouldn’t recall those days when Mullah (Radio) Fazlullah and his band of murderous marauders were allowed to establish sway over the Swat Valley and adjoining areas and enforce their brand of obscurantist Islam and spread darkness in a land where education had traditionally been cherished. In addition to a reign of terror where public beheadings and hangings in the main chowk in Mingora became the order of the day, Mullah Radio’s armed men also started to restrict the freedom of movement of women. They were ordered not to step out of the house without a mehram (male chaperone). All men were advised, under the threat of a bullet to the head, to grow beards. Salons were shut down as they were deemed to be plying an un-Islamic trade. Women suspected of being ladies of the night were kidnapped and executed. Swat residents say the environment was of such fear that nobody felt comfortable confiding even in close friends.

A war which is not yet over

THIS is in response to the letter ‘A war which is not yet over’ (Jan 9) by Amjad Rashid. Islam is not just a religion or faith, it is a way of life. It governs everything we do. From trivial daily chores to running a state.

Religion enjoins upon us to uphold justice. Yet we have seen Muslim rulers who refuse to uphold justice or follow the teachings of their religion, as in Islam we cannot separate the spiritual from the secular.

The word used for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state is ‘dhimmi’. It has is roots in ‘taking responsibility’ like the word used in Urdu ‘zimmadari’.

The meaning of the word ‘dhimmi’ is ‘a non-Muslim protected by the state’.

Here the word ‘protected’ is important. What happened to Salmaan Taseer was a cold blooded murder and nowhere in Islam is it allowed or ordered.

It is the current system that is wrong, not the Islamic system. In an Islamic state only the state can punish someone who has done any crime. Even in our current legal system the high court can give orders against blasphemy.

No one can take the law into his own hand no matter how right he is. Thus it is not religion Islam that is wrong, neither is its socio-politico-economic system.

Ten Americans doing great things for Pakistan

Over the last few years, the experiences of Americans in Pakistan have been quite memorable — for all the wrong reasons.
The actions of our government representatives in the country — from a certain Mr. Davis to those Navy SEALS in Abbottabad — have produced heaps of hostility. Yet more unsettling is how private American citizens have run into trouble. We’ve been enmeshed in scandal (think Greg Mortenson), detained (remember those photo-snapping Chicago hip hop singers?), and abducted (development worker Warren Weinstein’s captivity has now lasted nearly 18 months).
Even giving lectures can be perilous. Several years ago, the scholar Clifford May had a shoe thrown at him during a presentation at Karachi University.
Making matters worse are the powerful media narratives and hostile public opinion that constantly call into question American motives and actions. (It often seems every US aid worker in Pakistan is reflexively assumed to be a CIA agent.)
Despite this all, many Americans are making remarkable contributions to Pakistan. I present, in alphabetical order, 10 of these people here. They’re not motivated by any sense of duty arising from ancestral ties (on that note, I’ve written previously on the efforts of Pakistani-Americans). Rather, they’re simply driven by an abiding interest in and concern for Pakistan. Some names here will be familiar, others less so. Yet, they all deserve equal recognition.

Writing a new script

IN terms of pure political theatre, Tahirul Qadri’s Blue Area ‘revolution’ has been compelling viewing. Many of us were chaos junkies even before cable TV; round-the-clock coverage means that charlatans like Qadri leave no holds barred in feeding our habit.
Having successfully captivated the urban public, the script-writers are now busy choreographing their concluding scene.
For the record, an overwhelming majority of the masses that the newest brand of right-wing populists claim to represent is not nearly as concerned with long marches and so on as we might otherwise think. The everyday business of survival is what matters; the rhetoric of revolution rings increasingly hollow.
Indeed leftist political ideals are a sad casualty of the populist brand of politics with which we are currently afflicted. No longer do hordes of political activists make their way into villages and working-class neighbourhoods to mobilise the classes that they want to emancipate.

Urban middle classes are the vanguard of today’s ‘revolutionary’ politics, and the media and judiciary have replaced the political party as the instrument of change.
It is not just in Pakistan that this shift has taken place. Since the end of the Cold War structural changes in the global political economy that have reinforced the class power of the rich whilst opening up space for the mythical ‘middle class’ have been augmented by the discursive manoeuvres of pro-establishment thinkers and political practitioners such that the insurrectionary language of yesteryear is the politically correct terminology of today.
This is not to suggest, however, that it is all doom and gloom. There are still many progressive political movements operating outside the mainstream that are able to garner mass support.
Of course such movements are often isolated because they are easily criminalised by fearful states, but no matter how totalitarian the regime in question, there is no evidence that systemic challenges to the status quo are in danger of being eliminated. What appears to have been eliminated, unfortunately, is the kind of unified political challenge to capitalism (and the dystopia of liberal democracy) that was a constant on the political landscape throughout the 20th century.

Magsi reshuffles top bureaucracy

After taking over as the chief executive of Balochistan, Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi has made a major reshuffle in the provincial bureaucracy and warned that disciplinary action will be taken against officials who use political pressure for transfer and posting. The governor issued an order on Thursday to his secretariat not to issue any directive to any official regarding postings and transfers.
“Any government official using political pressure and approach for posting and transfer will face strict disciplinary action,” Nawab Magsi warned, adding that all transfers and postings would be made on merit and all powers in this regard would rest with the chief secretary.
After the imposition of governor rule, Mr Magsi has taken some important decisions in view of the Supreme Court orders in the Balochistan law and order case.
All officers who were waiting for posting have been appointed on different posts.
The finance, information, law and health secretaries; senior member of the Board of Revenue; director general of excise and taxation; and principal secretary to the chief minister have been transferred.
According to a notification, Energy Secretary Dosteen Jamaldani has been transferred and posted as Finance Secretary.
Mushtaq Raisani who headed the finance ministry will take over the minerals department. Mohammad Hashim Tareen who was waiting for posting has been appointed as Secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mazhar Rana will take over as Prosecution Secretary.
Planning and Development Secretary Miran Jan Kakar will take over as Senior Member of the BoR and his post will be filled by Implementation Secretary Shakeel Qadir.
Information Secretary Nasibullah Khan Bazai has been made Health Secretary in place of Asmatullah Khan Kakar who will work as P&D (Implementation) Secretary. Ikhtiar Khan Bangulzai, who was waiting for a posting, will be the Public Health Engineering Secretary, while Prosecution Secretary Asadur Rehman Gilani has been posted as Secretary for Law and Parliamentary Affairs.
BoR Senior Member Sarwar Javed has been posted as Information Secretary. PHE Secretary Mohammad Gul Mengal has been asked to report at the same department and Agriculture and Cooperatives Secretary Mohammad Aslam Mengal at the Agriculture College in Quetta.
Mohammad Hashim Rabbani, a senior officer awaiting a posting, has been made Power Secretary and Akhtar Mohammad Kakar Director General of Industries.
Ghulam Mohammad Sabir, who was also waiting for posting, will take over as Joint Chief Economist in the Planning and Development Department.

Throw open the LoC

There is only one moral to the story of the runaway grandmother who brought the armies of India and Pakistan to blows on the Line of Control (LoC) last week, so eloquently brought out by India’s The Hindu newspaper: the LoC must be made much more porous between the two Kashmirs in deference to the needs and emotions of both peoples who live on both sides of a ridiculous, electrified fence.
When she decided to abandon home on the Indian side of the LoC and decided to make a dash for the other side, because her son lived there and she wanted to be with him — and he, by the way, had moved to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir many years ago — the old Kashmiri woman was really thumbing her nose and all her fingers at the abysmal state of affairs in which the call of a mother’s heart is subordinated to the diktat of the state.
Let’s look at the situation. After putting Kashmir in deep freeze for decades, during which India and Pakistan fought over this piece of territory as if it were prime real estate devoid of the presence of mothers and fathers and daughters and sons, both countries finally agreed in April 2005 to open the LoC in a limited way. A bus from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad was flagged off by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi at the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar, after which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a speech from behind a bulletproof glass.

Government and democracy

As Oscar Wilde undoubtedly would have said, had he been around in Pakistan today, “To lose one prime minister may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” One doesn’t need to be too conspiracy theory-minded to say that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has got exactly what it wanted, even if the timing didn’t quite suit the party. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has been a dead man walking since the day he was appointed as prime minister. He was under investigation at the time of his selection and it was only a matter of time before his shady past caught up to him.
The Supreme Court announced his arrest while Tahirul Qadri was mid-speech, which undoubtedly caused suspicion due to the timing, however, it does not mean that the Court’s decision was incorrect. There is certainly enough evidence of wrongdoing in the rental power plant projects to place the prime minister under trial. And, those saying the Supreme Court has undermined democracy need to realise that Ashraf doesn’t need to leave his office if he doesn’t want to. Simply being accused of a crime is not enough to disqualify him from office and by the time his trial ends, new elections will already have been held. Of course, if one speaks in terms of moral duty, Ashraf probably should resign but then morality has never held much sway in our politics.

Now would also be a good time to consider the last five years of the PPP rule and wonder exactly what it has done to deserve anyone’s vote. Defenders of the party say, with much justification that, any civilian government has to contend with playing second fiddle to the military. As true as it is, one of the PPP’s chief goals should have been to try and shift this balance of power, no matter how slightly. Instead, the PPP

Pakistan urges India to cool rhetoric over Kashmir

Pakistan urged India again on Thursday to tone down the “Pakistan bashing” over a spate of military clashes in Kashmir between the nuclear-armed neighbours, and reiterated its offer for a foreign minister-level talks to try to cool tensions.
“I think it is important not to let this cycle escalate into something which becomes even uglier than it is today,” Pakistani High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir said in an interview with Reuters. “Let’s try to see if we can cool down and resume normal business.”
Three Pakistani and two Indian soldiers have been killed this month in the worst outbreak of tit-for-tat violence in Kashmir since India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along a de facto border there nearly a decade ago.
Following public and media outrage after India said one of its soldiers had been decapitated, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there could be “no business as usual” with Pakistan, and the army chief said his commanders should retaliate if provoked.
Bashir said India could have worked with Pakistan to get to the bottom of what happened instead of “stirring raw emotions and upping the rhetoric”, adding that “Pakistan bashing has become fashionable” in India.
The high commissioner told Reuters stuck to Pakistan’s policy statement on the killings of soldiers on the Indian side of Line of Control (LoC), that divides Kashmir, that Pakistani troops had nothing to do with them.
“Such heinous acts … are of course condemnable irrespective of where they happen and when they happen. But to say that these were done by Pakistan, that the Pakistan army was responsible, is something that we cannot agree to,” he said.

Fazl wary of MFN status to India

Chief of his own faction, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Thursday that granting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India could be stuck in the doldrums, if unrest along the Line of Control (LoC) exacerbates.

Speaking to the media at a South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) function, Fazl said that the unrest along the de-facto border should be resolved through dialogue, as the people of Kashmir have benefitted immensely from the ceasefire.
“It is clear that we want better relations with all neighbouring countries, including India, and prefer dialogue over war,” he said.
Fazl said that South Asia benefits from good relations between India and Pakistan.
Fazl was of the opinion, however, that Pakistan can face problems if it signs a trade agreement with India, as the regional giant can blackmail Pakistan by building dams and stop the flow of water from rivers towards the neighbour.