Quaid said: “Those days have gone when the country was ruled by the bureaucracy. It is people’s Government, responsible to the people more or less on democratic lines and parliamentary practice…Make the people feel that you are their servants and friends, maintain the highest standard of honor, integrity, justice and fair play.” ….
Read more: → Book Review: Quotes from the Quaid
Courtesy: → The Express News Tv (Front Line with Kamran Shahid, 8.8.11 – P1)
→ YouTube
-by Farooq Sulehria
Ayesha Siddiqa is an independent social scientist with expertise in civil-military relations and political-economy. She has a doctorate in War Studies from King’s College, London. She has has authored two books on the military and Pakistani politics. Her book ‘Military Inc.’ was banned under the Musharraf dictatorship. She was the first Pakistan fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Ford Fellow. These days she is writing a regular column for the Express Tribune. In an interview with Viewpoint, she discusses Jihadification of Pakistan Television and Lollywood. Read on:
In the 1980s and the 1990s, the PTV aired plays like Sunahary Din, Alfa Bravo Charlie, Nishan-e-Haider series etc that glorified the Pakistan Army. If PTV being state-owned institution was bound to glorify the army in the 1980s when there was a military dictatorship, why the trend continued in the 1990s when there were elected governments running the country?
Military’s domination of the society does not end with the end of direct military rule. In Pakistan’s case the military represents one of the two key poles of power politics. Continued domination in power politics, in turn, is linked with control of the society which depends on intellectual control. These plays are one of the many ways employed by the army to maintain its control over the society. In fact, this is one of the many methods for exercising military hegemony as defined by Antonio Gramsci. Intellectual control helps dominate or shape the national discourse. On the one hand the military weakens political forces, and, on the other, it trains the youth and the general public to accept military as a credible social and political force.
Alongside the plays glorifying Pakistan Army, the PTV serials like Akhari Chattan, Shaheen, Tareekh o Tamseel which glorified Muslim past or Panah 1 and Panah II that depicted Afghan ‘resistance’ against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, were a permanent PTV feature in the 1980s. Do you think this Jihadification of the PTV drama contributed to a militaristic culture in the country? If yes, how? ….
Read more → ViewPoint
– Declaration of Grand Sindhi event at Karachi, Hyder Manzil.
We, the representatives of political parties, intellectuals, writers and Civil Society members representing various cross sections of the population of Sindh have met today and deliberated on the vital issue of unity and integrity of Sindh torpedoed by the PPP government
– BY IMDAD SOOMRO
» During recent incidents of violence, ISI recorded conversations between Command and Control Centre officials and target killers, On Feb 28, SHC ordered handing over centre to Home Department, but directives not complied with so far
SINDH: KARACHI – The officials of the Command and Control Centre established by former Karachi nazim Mustafa Kamal is aiding target killers and terrorists in their activities, Pakistan Today has learnt. Sources said that with their eyes on various parts of the city through the cameras installed all across the metropolitan, the officials of the centre’s Cam Wing provide anti-social elements with information about movement of the police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies as well as instructions for terror activities.
During the recent incidents of violence, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has recorded conversations of the centre’s officials with target killers and terrorists, the sources added. They said that officials of the Cam Wing were discovered directing criminals regarding targets for killing and causing disruption as well as vandalism, looting and arson.
The ISI has recorded conversations of Cam Wing officials on separate occasions of violence and found that they directed criminals to leave a particular location or reach a specific site, they added. Sources said that the ISI has forwarded a letter to the federal government to immediately investigate the Cam Wing officials, and has recommended that the centre be handed over to the law enforcers immediately because due to these corrupt officials, the law enforcers have been unable to take action against target killers and terrorists among other criminals.
In its letter, the ISI has also expressed its reservations over the department of Community Police, more commonly known as the City Wardens, the sources added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Community Police Department was also established by the former city nazim, and some 7,500 activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were appointed in the department without conducting any interviews to determine their eligibility.
It is also relevant to mention here that on February 28 this year, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered handing over the Command and Control Centre to the Sindh Home Department, but despite the passage of over five months, no action has been taken in this regard due to the Pakistan People’s Party’s policy of reconciliation.
An SHC division bench comprising Justices Gulzar Ahmed and Imam Bux Baloch had ordered constituting a committee headed by the Sindh Special Home Secretary and Sindh Additional Inspector General of Police with Pakistan Rangers-Sindh Lieutenant Colonel and a grade-19 officer of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) as its members to supervise the centre.
The bench had issued the orders on a constitutional petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi President Muhammad Hussain Mehanti who sought handing over the centre to the Sindh government.
At the time of the SHC decision, Sindh Additional Advocate General Miran Muhammad Shah had assured the court on behalf of the provincial government that the centre would be run under the control of the Home Department.
Shah had said that the centre would be run under the supervision of the Home Secretary and law enforcers among others.
The court had then disposed of the petition and ordered handing over the centre to the Home Department.
The Command and Control Centre was established by the CDGK in its last tenure following the directives of the former city nazim to control the traffic problems of the city; however, according to sources, the centre has been misused by a specific political party.
They said that the law enforcers have expressed their reservations on many occasions and suggested that instead of a political party or the local government, this centre be supervised by the provincial government because the centre has been misused by a political party for its own interests.
Several terror incidents – including the 12 Rabiul Awwal, 12 May and April 9 incidents as well as the Ashura and Chehlum tragedies – shook the metropolis, but no video evidence was maintained or handed over to the law enforcers, they added.
They also said that former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza had publicly complained that the Command and Control Centre was being misused by a specific political party. The video clip of a recent quarrel between Mirza and a private television channel’s team was also provided by the officials of the centre to the said channel, they added.
Courtesy: →PAKISTAN TODAY
By Haider Warraich
The door creaked open as the therapist led Pakistan into the room, his clothes drenched, his hair wild, his shirt unbuttoned, his hands covered in mud. “This is the last time I see you without an appointment, Pakistan.” The therapist tried not to reward Pakistan by obliging to his unannounced visits and subsequent tantrums, but this time, she knew that there was something terribly wrong.
Pakistan lay on the couch, with the therapist sitting behind him close to the door. She dimmed the lights, giving the weathered wood paneling a bronze glow. She hadn’t known Pakistan for long, but long enough to detect a disturbing pattern. Having changed several therapists, Pakistan followed a predictable course with all of his previous shrinks — starting off in a blaze of intimacy, slowly withdrawing, reaching a point of violent confrontation and then starting over with someone else. ….
Read more →THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE
– Saggaan ra kushaada-and, ‘o’ sing ra basta – by Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
Half-hearted denials and condemnations are not going to appease the tormented and agonised families who lose their dear ones nor hoodwink the people who struggle for their rights
Dissembling, deceiving and denying are the coveted tools of statecraft for those who essentially fear people and their rights. These tools have been the cornerstone of the state policy in Balochistan with which the state tries to convince the world that it is the Baloch people who are to blame.
Talking to the press recently, Lieutenant-General Javed Zia denied that the missing Baloch were kidnapped and killed by the army, the FC or the ISI. He said some people, who for monetary gains burnt the Pakistani flag or carried out subversive activities, were hit by ‘patriotic elements’. Well, well if the gentleman knows that these Baloch were hit by ‘patriotic elements’ then he surely must know who these ‘patriotic elements’ are. If they deny knowledge of these ‘patriotic elements’, how on earth do they know that these atrocities-committing elements are ‘patriotic’? Not a single soul among the obsequiously compliant media bothered to ask this touchy question.
One wonders how is it that those who consider “killings of missing persons as abhorrent acts” and rule the roost for all practical purposes in Balochistan fail to see the weapons and activities of these ‘patriotic elements’? Certainly these ‘patriotic elements’ are not characters from Harry Potter movies wearing invisibility cloaks; how come they always successfully carry out the abductions and killings in spite of numerous checkposts that dot Balochistan?
This indeed is an extraordinary situation because ordinary Baloch suffer ordeals of numerous restrictive checkposts but somehow the ‘patriotic elements’ evade detection. It so happens that the ‘flag burners’ and ‘subversives’ neither adorn fortified palaces and mansions nor ride the bulletproof Mercedes and BMWs like the ‘patriotic’ politicians and Generals. ….
Read more → Daily Times
Censoring Dawn TV – by A. H. Nayyar
A very interesting thing happened this evening (28th July).
DawnTV was airing Arshad Sharif’s talk show Reporter. The topic today was growth of Islamic militancy, especially Jundullah within Pakistan’s military and its connection with Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
He started by showing a documentary on how Jundullah started in Quetta cantonment, how it spread across different formations of the military, showing some footage that looked original.
The discussants with Arshad were Air Marshall Shahzad Choudhry, Zahid Hussain and ret Gen Hamid Nawaz. As the documentary started, we saw, Hamid nawaz getting up and leaving.
Arshad then showed another short documentary which gave public sentiments on such trends in the military. Then came a commercial break.
After the break, the viewers saw that the program has been taken off the air. Instead Dawn started airing a completely different and old episode of Reporter. Clearly, the live program was censored. And clearly, from the top military brass.
What does the military have to hide that needed this censoring? Any comments from anyone knowledgeable?
I truly fear for the life of the brave journalist who had prepared the documentary.
Courtesy: → LUBP
via → LIC blog
By: Humayun Gauhar
So long as we keep blaming others for our woes, so long we will not realise that the fault is ours for allowing others to take advantage of us. Pakistan pompously professes to be an Islamic Republic but doesn’t know what that means. Which Islam? The Islam of God or one of the 72 versions of the cleric? That is our core problem from which all other problems arise. We don’t know who we are and why we are. This leads to an erosion of self-confidence and self-esteem (except in rhetoric), the lack of which make us in thrall of alien ideologies and their political, economic and social constructs.
This poem on the Holy Quran written some 35 years ago by the ninth President of India, Dr Pandit Shanker Dayal Sharma, says it beautifully. It’s very good because it’s very true. I have translated it myself.
Amal ki kitab thi.
Dua ki kitab bana dia
It was a command for action.
You turned it into a book of prayer.
Samajhne ki kitab thi.
Parhne ki kitab bana dia.
It was a Book to understand.
You read it without understanding.
Zindaon ka dastoor tha.
Murdon ka manshoor bana dia.
It was a code for the living.
You turned it into a manifesto of the dead.
Jo ilm ki kitab thi.
Usay la ilmon ke hath thama dia.
That which was a book of knowledge;
You abdicated to the ignoramus.
Taskheer-e-kayenaat ka dars denay aayi thi.
Sirf madrason ka nisaab bana dia.
It came to give knowledge of Creation.
You abandoned it to the madrassah.
Murda qaumon ko zinda karne aayi thi.
Murdon ko bakhshwane per laga dia.
It came to give life to dead nations.
You used it for seeking mercy for the dead.
Aye Musalmano ye tum nay kia kiya?
O’ Muslims! What have you done?
Please don’t take kneejerk offence. Righteous rage before thinking is a hallmark of the ignoramus. Don’t focus on who says something but on what he says.
Look at the Muslim condition. They remain on the lowest rung of the ladder. The Jews, numbering less than the people who live in Karachi, are on the top rung. Why? Because they educated themselves, used their minds, recognised and understood the real levers of power, bought stakes in them and became the most powerful people in the world. The Muslims, on the other hand, remain mired in ignorance, waiting for divine deliverance without bothering to lift a finger, fooling only themselves by wallowing in their undoubtedly glorious past, deluded in their present illusions. They live on homilies and humbug.
The Obama administration’s decision to suspend $800 million of its $2 billion in annual security aid to Pakistan inevitably raises the question of why the United States should continue to give Pakistan any military aid at all.
The White House acted after Osama bin Laden was found living near Pakistan’s leading military academy and Pakistan then expelled American military trainers. Islamabad should see this as a serious warning that Washington has all but run out of patience with its double games. Both sides will pay a high price if this goes on too long. ….
Read more → THE NEW YORK TIMES
The language of the talk show is urdu (Hindi).
Courtesy: → SAMAA TV (Tonight with Jasmeen, 27th July 2011)
Courtesy: → Duniya Tv News (Cross Fire with Meher Bokhari, 27th July 2011)
Ethnic Discrimination in Pakistan Judicial System. The language of the interview is urdu (Hindi).
Courtesy: → Meher Bokhari via → Chagataikhan → YouTube
– Brigadier F.B. Ali (Retd.), who fought in the ’71 war, gives his account of the events that resulted in the dismemberment of Pakistan and left behind a legacy of shame. The Supplementary Report of the 1971 War Inquiry Commission (headed by Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman) has recently been published in the magazine India Today. There is little doubt that this is a genuine document. It is unfortunate that, even though 30 years have passed, the Commission’s report has not been made public in Pakistan, and we are forced to depend on foreign sources to learn of its contents in dribs and drabs.
A key American ally, Pakistan, makes its own deals with the Taliban in Afghanistan, who, in turn, are killing U.S. and coalition soldiers. Judy Woodruff and Washington Post foreign correspondent and author, Pamela Constable, discuss her new book, “Pakistan’s Double Game,” which looks at this relationship.
→ YouTube
By Saeed Qureshi
Excerpt;
Is there someone who can rescue Pakistan and its hapless people from the bloody clutches of Wolves and predators in the garb of humans? A massive deep drift and deadly decay is caving into the fabric of Pakistan and debilitating it like slow poisoning. …
…. Lawlessness in Pakistan and pointedly in Pakistan’s leading city Karachi seems to be a blood soaked legacy of the Rwandan massacre. There is no let-up in bloodletting between the rival factions or by the trigger happy shooters. One can draw the only conclusion from incessant wanton killings that either the government is an accomplice or it is not concerned about such manslaughters and target killings that have become the order of the day. ….
….. There is no use of projecting ourselves as nuclear power when the common man is caught in a fatiguing struggle of earning two loaves of bread for his starving children.
Why is the army fighting a war to serve the interests of other nations? It is a supportive fight for establishment of neo-colonialism whose agenda is to establish military bases, capture markets and to further their nefarious objectives of robbing and exploiting the untapped resources of the captive nations for their factories and mills.
The Pakistan armed forces are mandated to protect Pakistan and its people from external aggression. It is not obligated to fight in submission to the wishes and designs of foreign powers that nurse their own blighted concepts of self protection and priorities.
Why should Pakistan a poor and economically weak country become pawn and part of the global diabolic game that is hollowing her from inside like termite and one day the edifice would crumble to the ground?
Can the leaders of Pakistan both in power and out of power think rationally and patriotically to apprehend and foresee the horrendous dangers and threats lurking over its stability and existence? Would they continue their sinister and insidious musical chairs game of intrigue and greed to take turn in ruling the country and grabbing power by foul and dubious means?
Do they realize that Pakistan is in deep and dire straits? Do they have an iota of commonsense to comprehend the hurricanes that are ferociously blowing to tear this country into pieces?
Can they feel the pains and sufferings of the oppressed people of Pakistan passing every day through a life and death ordeal due to hunger, poverty, disease, unbridled and galloping cost of living and scarcity of items of daily use?
Do they know people are losing their lives because of bomb blasts and vendetta killings and gang wars? Do they know young girls are kidnapped on the way to schools and colleges and subjected to rape and sold to prostitute dens? Do they know every day 22000 young boys are molested by the sex predators in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?
We call ourselves Muslims and that is what the Islamic demagogues exhort us from the pulpit and from lavishly decorated religious congregations, to become. What is the ground reality? These religious orators incite their followers and sect fellows to slander their opponents and even kill them.
These religious zealots never initiate or start a campaign or float a mission against the social crimes, against the blood-thirsty mafias, against the evil doers, the rapist, the thugs, the looters of public funds, the adulterators, the bribe takers and bribe givers, the up to neck corrupt parliamentarians, the easy to buy jurists, the corrupt bureaucrats, the sleazy generals and the robbers occupying the power corridors.
These religious preachers can interpret to hang a powerless woman for adultery but do not want to punish a muscular and powerful man who kidnaps her and ruins her life at gun point or knife. We believe in distorted version of religious injunctions that hardly bring us any relief, redemptions and justice against the heinous culprits. Where are we heading to?
How can a woman produce four witnesses to prove that she was raped or molested? How a young and teen age girl molested by savage men can brace against the perpetrators for dishonoring her? Why, in the first instance, the laws are not implemented in letter and spirit.
To read complete article → Upright Opinion (Saeed Qureshi blog)
by Wichaar Desk
WASHINGTON: The US has halved its reliability on Pakistani supply routes to Afghanistan from over 70 per cent to 35 per cent, given the volatile nature of the border areas where a number of NATO suppliers have come under attack.
America’s reliability on Pakistan for supplying goods and arms and ammunition for its troops in Afghanistan has reduced to just 35 per cent, a top Pentagon official told US lawmakers.
This is a considerable achievement given that till recently it was more than 70 per cent and this was considered to be one of the main bargaining points for Pakistan with the United States.
This figure of 35 per cent is expected to come further down in the coming months as the Pentagon is working to increase its supply to Afghanistan through the Northern Distribution network.
“It’s my understanding that approximately 35 per cent moves through the ground, and the other is moving through the Northern Distribution Network, coupled with also lift as we bring in supplies by air,” General William M Fraser told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing to be Commander, United States Transportation Command.
The US officials have stated in recent times that they were working on reducing their dependency on the supply routes in Pakistan after a series of attacks on NATO tankers carrying oil and other goods to western forces and Afghanistan.
Courtesy: → WICHAAR.COM
The hypocrite mullahs drowning in their own droll. The language of the talk show is urdu (Hindi).
Courtesy: → Duniya Tv News (In session, 24th July 2011, p4)
By MARK MAZZETTI, ERIC SCHMITT and CHARLIE SAVAGE
WASHINGTON — F.B.I. agents hunting for Pakistani spies in the United States last year began tracking Mohammed Tasleem, an attaché in the Pakistani Consulate in New York and a clandestine operative of Pakistan’s military spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence.
Mr. Tasleem, they discovered, had been posing as an F.B.I. agent to extract information from Pakistanis living in the United States and was issuing threats to keep them from speaking openly about Pakistan’s government. His activities were part of what government officials in Washington, along with a range of Pakistani journalists and scholars, say is a systematic ISI campaign to keep tabs on the Pakistani diaspora inside the United States.
The F.B.I. brought Mr. Tasleem’s activities to Leon E. Panetta, then the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and last April, Mr. Panetta had a tense conversation with Pakistan’s spymaster, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
Within days, Mr. Tasleem was spirited out of the United States — a quiet resolution typical of the spy games among the world’s powers.
But some of the secrets of that hidden world became public last week when two Pakistani-Americans working for a charity that the F.B.I. believes is a front for Pakistan’s spy service were indicted. Only one was arrested; the other is still in Pakistan.
The investigation exposed one part of what American officials say is a broader campaign by the Pakistani spy agency, known as the ISI, to exert influence over lawmakers, stifle public dialogue critical of Pakistan’s military and blunt the influence of India, Pakistan’s longtime adversary.
American officials said that compared with countries like China and Russia — whose spies have long tried to steal American government and business secrets — the ISI’s operations here are less extensive and less sophisticated. And they are certainly far more limited than the C.I.A.’s activities inside Pakistan.
Even so, officials and scholars say the ISI campaign extends to issuing both tacit and overt threats against those who speak critically about the military.
The ISI is widely feared inside Pakistan because of these very tactics. For example, American intelligence officials believe that some ISI operatives ordered the recent killing of a Pakistani journalist, Saleem Shahzad. ….
Read more → The New York Times
An interesting but debatable account
by Chidanand Rajghatta
WASHINGTON: It was during the Presidency of Ulysses Grant, the first prominent US politician to visit India (in 1878, after he demitted office), that the term lobbying entered the American lexicon. The story goes that Grant used to repair to Willard Hotel, next door to the White House, to relax with a cigar and brandy after a hard day’s work. Political wheelers and dealers, fixers and nixers, hung around the hotel foyer, hoping to get a word across to him. Lobbying arrived in US, although the term existed across the pond. The word ‘lobby’ itself is thought to have originated in England from an old Germanic word meaning “leaf,” to convey a shelter made of leaves and branches. ….
Read more → TOI
via → Wichaar
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan will resist expected attempts by the United States to link the country to terrorist attacks in Norway’s capital a few hours ago.
Washington is working closely with Indian intelligence to target Pakistani interests worldwide. This is retaliation against Pakistan’s refusal to act as an American satellite. ….
Via → Siasat.pk
By ANI
Lahore, July 21 (ANI): Pakistan authorities will keep the American and Western diplomats under strict surveillance to prevent them from going to places they are not authorised to, sources have said. The Nation quoted the sources ….
Read more → Yahoo News
The language of the discussion is urdu (Hindi).
Courtesy: → ARY News Tv (Pakistan Tonight with Fahad Hussain and Maliha Lodhi, 21st July 2011 -3)
The language of the talk show is urdu (Hindi).
Courtesy: Aaj Tv News (Bolta Pakistan with Nusrat Javaid and Mushtaq Minhas – 20 July 2011)
via → Chagataikhan → ZemTV → YouTube
– – – – – –
→ Meeting was arranged by Qazi Hussain Ahmed (read daily Jang column “Qazi Saheb Ka Chaaekhana” by Irfan Siddique)
– – – – – – – – – –
Courtesy: → Express News Tv (Shahid Nama with Dr Shahid Masood and Gen. (r) Mirza Aslam Beg, 21st July 2011)
– – – – – –
As per 1973 Constitution of Pakistan http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part1.html
“QUOTE”
PART I -→ 6. (1) Any person who abrogates or attempts or conspires to abrogate, subverts or attempts or conspires to subvert the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.
(2) Any person aiding or abetting the acts mentioned in clause (1) shall likewise be guilty of high treason.
(3) [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] shall by law provide for the punishment of persons found guilty of high treason.
“UNQUOTE” → Definition of Accomplice: An accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offense.
– Damaging revelations emerge from Fai arrest
FBI allegations that diasporic Kashmiri protests were paid for by ISI plunge movement into crisis
Last summer, as bloody clashes broke out between police and protesters on the streets of Kashmir’s cities and towns, Ghulam Nabi Fai had an impassioned message for the world. ….
Read more → New Digital Point
– Execution Videos Strike Terror in Pakistan
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR, Jul 19, 2011 (IPS) – A video showing a group of 16 Pakistani policemen, hands tied behind their backs, being executed by Taliban gunmen in the Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is only the latest in a series showing brutal acts designed to strike terror in the areas bordering Afghanistan.
In the video, released on Monday, an unknown member of the Taliban (Islamic scholars) explains that the policemen are being punished for abandoning Islam and to avenge the deaths of six Pakistani children killed during security operations in adjacent Swat district.
The policemen are believed to have been abducted by the Taliban during a raid on a security post in the village of Shaltalo on Jun. 1.
“We first thought that we were watching a scene from an action movie and could not believe that it was an authentic recording of executions,” Imranullah, a resident of Dir, told IPS. …
“But, given the Taliban’s reputation for brutality, we were soon convinced that it was genuine,” Imranullah said. “We still remember how the Taliban murdered a popular female dancer called Shabana in Swat and strung her body up from an electricity pole as warning.”
Read more → IPS News
– FBI: Pakistani Spies Spent Millions Lobbying U.S.
WASHINGTON – For years, the Pakistani spy agency funneled millions of dollars to a Washington nonprofit group in a secret effort to influence Congress and the White House, the Justice Department said Tuesday in court documents that are certain to complicate already strained relations between the U.S. and Pakistan.
FBI agents arrested Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, the executive director of the Kashmiri American Council, on Tuesday and charged him with being an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Under the supervision of a senior member of Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, Fai donated money to political campaigns, wrote newspaper op-eds, organized congressional trips and met with White House and State Department officials.
Read more: → Fox News
By Kevin Bogardus
The Justice Department charged two individuals Tuesday with acting as unregistered foreign agents for Pakistan. Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai and Zaheer Ahmad are charged in a one-count criminal complaint alleging that they violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by not registering their lobbying work on behalf of the Pakistani government. ….
Read more → THE HILL
By ZALMAY KHALILZAD
Excerpt;
SINCE the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan has behaved toward the United States as both friend and adversary — and gotten away with it. The latest evidence of its duplicity is the revelation that Osama bin Laden lived for years in a house near Pakistan’s national military academy and a local branch of its intelligence service without any evident interference.
Even before the American raid last week on Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan had a huge credibility problem. It provides arms and safe haven for Afghan insurgent groups and pays their commanders to carry out attacks, but denies doing so. …
…. The killing of Bin Laden only 60 miles from Islamabad, its capital, has put Pakistan on the defensive, and the nature of our strike capability is not lost on Pakistani leaders and their terrorist and insurgent clients. ….
….
First, the United States should reduce its dependence on supply lines running through Pakistan to Afghanistan. We should expand alternative supply routes through Azerbaijan and other countries in Central Asia. Also, as we draw down forces in Afghanistan, our logistical requirements will diminish; this will give the United States more leeway to consider unilateral attacks against terrorists and insurgents in Pakistan.
Second, the United States should stay on the course set by President Obama to build, train and support Afghan security forces and reduce our own military presence while retaining the capacity to provide air support, intelligence collection and other capabilities that the Afghans currently lack. Such a posture can strengthen Afghanistan against Pakistani interference and help persuade Pakistan to embrace a settlement.
Third, the United States should conclude a longer-term agreement with Afghanistan to maintain a small, enduring military presence that would give us the capability to conduct counterterrorism operations and respond to possibilities like Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremists.
Fourth, the United States could consider seeking a United Nations Security Council resolution to authorize an investigation into how Bin Laden managed to hide in plain view. The inquiry should examine the presence of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in Pakistan. ….
…. It is in neither America’s interest nor Pakistan’s for relations to become more adversarial. But Pakistan’s strategy of being both friend and adversary is no longer acceptable. ….
To read complete article → THE NEW YORK TIMES
Excerpt;
…. The state, its institutions and luminaries here are complicit in the spread and sustenance of fundamentalism because they were the immediate beneficiaries and without it could not have sustained themselves; it is only now when this tsunami is engulfing them that they are having second thoughts. The fundamentalist ‘brainwashing’ here is societal and if this tsunami of fundamentalism is to be rolled back it has to be tackled on a similar scale. Pebbles of de-radicalisation are not going to stem this tsunami.
The remedy, which may take a generation or more to take effect, is adopting a secular constitution like Bangladesh, curbing the media channels spewing hatred in name of religion, allowing nations the right to self-determination, disempowering the army, shunning ‘strategic depth’ and ‘assets’, ensuring transparency in governance, revamping education curriculum, banning loud speakers and keeping madrassas in check. But I ask the impossible. They simply will not move an iota from their established lucrative position and will readily take down all with them; this tsunami will haunt the world for a long time.
To read complete article → Daily Times
Indus Asia Online Journal (Click here to go to home page)