Courtesy: GEO TV (KhabarNaaq- Iftab Iqbal, Oct. 23, 2010)
Via ZemTV – YouTube link
Monthly Archives: October 2010
A changed political landscape – by Nadeem F. Paracha
…. The reason why the MQM-ANP-PPP coalition government (in the city) has struggled to contain the recent violence is mainly due to the top leadership’s failure to reign in their militants.
These militants who were used by their parties (on college campuses in the 1980s, and on the streets in the 1990s), spiralled away from their respective parties’ controlling apparatus and many of them are taking matters into their own hands.
The leadership of these parties have now become well aware of this phenomenon, but they see themselves trapped by it – as if blackmailed by the militant groups within their parties – because many of these groups also include members who mobilise voters during an election.
The good news is that there is now every possibility that the political parties in this respect are (if reluctantly) willing to finally allow law-enforcement agencies to crack down on these groups. The reason is simple: In the long run, it will be these leading parties of Karachi who stand to lose influence and popularity if the anarchic ways of their rough militants are allowed to continue for short-term gains.
Read more : DAWN
Karachi’s civil war: politics by other means —Dr Mohammad Taqi
… In a situation where the PPP is finding it difficult to break the cycle of violence and an army action may not be in sight, a bolstered police and rangers action with a clear mandate must start in earnest, and soon. The public perception of the PPP’s weakness is seriously damaging its political base, especially in Sindh. However, for such an action to deliver even the bare minimum, the PPP will have to restrain its coalition partners. If the PPP leadership is able to demonstrate some crisis management skills, it could project the party’s soft power through its image restoration. Karachi’s perennial inter-ethnic problems are unlikely to evaporate soon but a proactive PPP could manage to keep them from spiralling into a full intensity civil war.
Read more : Daily Times
Demografic prespective of Karachi-Sindh by Dr. Farukh Saleem
War between Judiciary & Executive in Pakistan
Call for end to bickering among institutions
HYDERABAD, Oct 20: Judiciary and Executive are two important pillars of a democratic society and the present split between the two is apt to creating disastrous situation for the state, if not checked early.
This and other similar concerns were expressed by the Sindh Democratic Forum over boiling political state of affairs ruling the country. The SDF, in a statement, criticized the national institutions of not resolving the basic issues of general public like growing inflation, increasing poverty, lawlessness, daily killings, unemployment, electricity problem and other allied issues instead were busy in bickering with each other over petty matters.
People had endured enough and now they want peace for which cooperation among national institutions was a prerequisite, it further stated.
Commenting over the midnight drama between the judiciary and the executive, it stated that perhaps it was for the first time in contemporary judicial history that a full bench was called on a rumour which has damaged the sanctity of justice.
The democratic-minded people feel the elected parliament a supreme body and because the 18th Amendment was passed by the representative of 16 parliamentary parties, therefore there appears no supra body which can challenge parliament’s decisions, said the SDF.
The coverage of court proceedings, judges’ statements, conservative comments by media and support of right wing political parties is portraying as if judiciary was being influenced by armed forces and they were trying to disband the present democratic setup, it further said.
The SDF appealed to superior judiciary to protect the cause of justice and avoid creating the impression as if it were against the elected parliament and democracy.
Judiciary being an important pillar of state and custodian of justice should give a shut up call to irresponsible statements of media, besides taking suo-motu notice against such utterances, it said.
Read more : DAWN
Calgary elects a Muslim Mayor – Those who make the claim of Islamophobia being rampant in Canada should hang their heads in shame
Election remakes Calgargy’s image – By Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald
For his Tuesday morning interview on CBC Radio’s The Current, Tarek Fatah was prepared to once again insist that “Islamophobia” in Canada simply doesn’t exist.
But when host Anna Maria Tremonti posed it to him on this particular day of all days, the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress answered with a whole new twist.
“I said, ‘If there is indeed Islamophobia, then we wouldn’t have elected Naheed Nenshi as the mayor of Calgary
Read more: CalgaryHerald
Ameen Khatak talking about the current situation of Karachi – Sindh
The duty of the Pakistan army is to obey a lawful command of civilian government and it does not over rule the civilian governemnt
Why is it contempt for one but not contempt for another party
IS THIS THE WAY THE INDIAN FORCES (CRPF) DO THEIR JOB IN KASHMIR
– YouTube link
Politics in Karachi get down & dirty – please do not kill each other!
No let-up in Karachi killings; toll 33By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI: As many as 33 people lost their lives and 50 were injured in incidents of violence in different parts of the city in 30 hours till Sunday midnight.
Five vehicles, including a car belonging to the DawnNews, were set ablaze at Safoora Chowk on late Saturday night. City Police Chief Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari said around 30 people had fallen victims to targeted killings.
In reply to a question about ethnic profiles of the victims, the CCPO said they belonged to different groups.
Read more : DAWN
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Courtesy: NewsBeat (Meher Bukhari, Oct. 19, 2010)
Nawaz Sharif admitted in an interview with Suhail Warrach that the fake cases made against President Zardari on the pressure of establishment
Pakistan doesn’t End at Lahore – Please listen the voice of the rest of Pakistan (Sindh, Balochistan, Pakhtunkhwah & Baltistan too)
Punjabian di shaan vakhri …
– Link
Why u-turn by Nawaz Sharif? Answer is blowing in the wind, says Najam Sethi
Sindhunagar [Ulhasnagar] سنڌو نگر (الهاس نگر) सिंधु नगर (उल्हास नगर)
Ulhasnagar also called Sindhunagar is a small city on coast of the West India, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) northeast of the city of Mumbai, in the Thane district in the state of Maharashtra. This city is part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region managed by MMRDA.
Taliban, Jamaat-i-Islami and post-Islamism
by Ali Arqam
In these times when extremists are brutalizing the society and the meek and timid politico-religious classes can’t speak out against these monsters, anyone who speaks out against them does so at the risk of his life.
The killing spree of the Taliban in Pakistan is not limited to combatants, notwithstanding the propaganda of their Pakistani apologists. It extends to non-combatant civilians, minority sects, tribal elders, journalists, educationists, members of parliament, clergy and intellectuals. Even shrines and mosques have not been spared. The Taliban feel that by stifling every whiff of dissent and rationality they are doing Allah’s work.
Read more : ViewPoint
Indian judges ‘no longer lords’
By Jyotsna Singh, BBC News, Delhi
Judges in India will no longer have to be addressed in court as “my lord” or “my lordship” – terms dating back to the days of British rule over India. …..
… Lawyers welcomed the move, with a top lawyer telling the BBC it was time to get rid of a “colonial hangover”. India won freedom from British rule in 1947.
“Maybe [such words] should have been given up earlier,” lawyer Subhash Kashyap said.
“It is perhaps psychological, like removing statues of former British governors and Viceroys in the country.”
Mr Kashyap added that it was also high time to meet a long-standing demand to change the dress code for lawyers.
Indian lawyers have to wear a tie and black coat, even in lower courts that often have no air-conditioning to counter the heat.
In a resolution passed on Wednesday, the Bar Council of India said the new rules for addressing judges would apply to all courts, including High Courts, local courts and tribunals.
The resolution comes after the Supreme Court recently ruled that it was for the bar council to decide on the matter.
Read more : BBC
Sindhi Intellectuals Vow to Resist Action to Dislodge Elected Government
NRO decision: Its political Implications on Sindh – Intellectuals vow to resist move to dislodge elected govt
Courtesy: daily dawn
Speakers at a dialogue said that even though the PPP had disappointed people, if it was removed through unconstitutional and undemocratic means, the people and Sindh would not accept it. They also said that Asif Ali Zardari was being targeted for being a Sindhi. –
Continue reading Sindhi Intellectuals Vow to Resist Action to Dislodge Elected Government
Bangladesh is secular again
Ruling that Bangladesh is now a secular state, the country’s high court has said that the constitution of 1972 has automatically been restored by a landmark judgment of the apex court that nullified a controversial amendment earlier this year.
“Bangladesh is now a secular state as the Appellate Division (of the Supreme Court) verdict scrapped the Fifth Amendment to the constitution. In this secular state, everybody has religious freedom, and therefore no man, woman or child can be forced to wear religious attires like burqa, cap and dhoti,” a high court bench said on Monday.
Read more : Rediff
Via – Globeistan
Judiciary is not non-partisan, it tilts towards Muslim league (PML-N) – says Fauzia Wahab; Chief Justice has characteristics of military generals – says Abbas Athar
Pakistan : weapons missing
Missing weapons – Dawn Editorial
It could well mean the Taliban and a large number of other terrorist militias have sympathisers and activists well-entrenched in the provincial law-enforcement machinery.
Even though there is little that surprises people at this juncture, the report that no less than three million weapons have disappeared from official warehouses in Punjab is appalling.
The details are shocking and give us an idea of the layers of corruption in the law-enforcement structure in the country’s most populous province. Yesterday, this newspaper carried a report based on an official document that revealed the ways in which weapons including grenades and Kalashnikov submachine guns seized from criminals and terrorists went missing: one, not all the arms seized by the police from individuals and gangs were deposited in the district and provincial malkhanas; two, no less than three million of a bewildering variety of arms deposited in the two categories of malkhanas and arsenals of the official bomb disposal squad disappeared.
The Punjab home department must be commended for preparing the report. In fact, it must have been shocked by the contents of the finding. It is a mystery though why the Punjab government did not deem it fit to order an inquiry to fix guilt and take action against those involved in a criminal enterprise of such dimensions. While the details of the weapons that have disappeared have been covered in the Dawn story, it bears repetition to recall that the number of lethal weapons which have gone missing include 3,454 grenades and 4, 490 of the killing machines that are Kalashnikovs.
One can only guess the modus operandi and motives behind the weapons lost. A large number of the weapons must have been sold to criminals by men who are supposed to guard the arsenal, and many others must have been gifted to terrorist outfits. If this is established, this could well mean the Taliban and a large number of other terrorist militias have sympathisers and activists well-entrenched in the provincial law-enforcement machinery.
The disappearances could also mean that Punjab warehouses are one of the terrorists’ major sources of arms ….
Read more : DAWN
We: Arundhati Roy
Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead. When independent- thinking people (and here I do not include the corporate media) begin to rally under flags, when writers, painters, musicians, film makers suspend their judgment and blindly yoke their art to the service of the Nation, it’s time for all of us to sit up and worry. …
Read more : topdocumentaryfilms
The return of the Taliban
Police: Plot to kill Pakistan PM uncovered
By Frederik Pleitgen, CNN
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Several people have been seized in a plot to kill Pakistan’s prime minister, and the suspects claim they were getting orders from a militant in the country’s volatile tribal region, police said.
Police official Babar Bakhat Qureshi told CNN that officers arrested several suspects who were plotting to attack the compound of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Shabir Anwar, Gilani’s press secretary, had no comment on the alleged plot because it is a security matter.
The plot to strike the compound, located in the Punjab provincial city of Multan, was in its “final planning stages,” Qureshi said. The location is about 395 kilometers, or 245 miles, southeast of the nation’s capital, Islamabad.
The suspects were planning to use a car bomb for the attack, and that they had acquired large amounts of fertilizer to manufacture an improvised explosive device, since confiscated by police, he said.
A vehicle for the attack had not been acquired yet.
The police confiscated one kilogram of gold and and two and a half kilograms of silver, which the men were going to sell to fund the plot, the official said.
Qureshi said the suspects have confessed that they were getting their orders and instructions from Kari Imram, a leader of a Taliban offshoot group from Miran Shah in North Waziristan. Drone strikes said to be conducted by the United States have targeted militants in North Waziristan, one of seven of the county’s tribal districts.
Read more : CNN
Massive bombardment and operation conducted over Mashkay
All area is Blacked Out, No trespassing to any media or news bureau, large number of civilian causalities due to indiscriminate bombardment.
Mashkay: According to reports coming from the area, the town is under siege and massive bombardment and operation have been conducted over the civilian population, many causalities were also recorded. The report further stated the area being black out and no trespassers were allowed be it Media or News bureau, town is being swapped house by house and the belongings of people are been taking forcefully.
Seven girls, one in chains, recovered from brothel
Police search for the man who allegedly forced his two wives into prostitution.
Pakistan – FAISALABAD: Seven girls, one chained, were recovered from a house in street no 5 of Sakhi Sarwarabad area on Monday after the mother of one of the girls and local residents broke into the house and released them. …
Read more : The Express Tribune
Viva Chile! A great country, heroic people & their fighting spirit. Salute to this great nation & its people
Rescued Chile miners recover, face celebrity status
By Cesar Illiano and Terry Wade
COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) – Chile’s 33 newly rescued miners recovered from their ordeal on Thursday while also pondering the celebrity status they have gained following a more than two-month entrapment deep under a remote desert.
Read more : YahooNews
President Zardari pardons 59 Christians in Pakistan
President pardons 59 Christians in Pakistan – By: George Masih
About 59 Christian prisoners in Pakistan received a new lease of life when President Asif Ali Zardari pardoned and freed them on Friday. Heeding to an appeal by ‘Life for All’, a Lahore-based Christian organization, the President released the prisoners who were falsely accused of minor crimes and languished in jails without obtaining legal aid due to financial constraints.
Continue reading President Zardari pardons 59 Christians in Pakistan
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