Pakistan News and Discussion-8

[Guest]

I like this new map.
But I think, till US is in Afghanistan, it will use this idea to scare Paki dictators. As far I know, US will stay in Afghanistan for ever.
China will change according to new setup, may encourage having separate anti-US Balouchistan.

Anyway, we should give moral support to freedom struggle.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Karzai, Musharraf and the Durand Line </b>
FT.com
Khaled Ahmed
<b>The turmoil of non-consensus in Pakistan is a manifestation of nervous expectation of the impending change </b>

President Karzai of Afghanistan went to Washington saying his country was endangered by the extremist Islam infiltrating from Pakistan. During his visit he kept repeating this, cleverly avoiding saying Pakistan was sending in the Taliban fighters. President Musharraf who was also in the city riposted roughly and his message was that Karzai was lying.

The world doesn’t believe Karzai when he says all is well with Afghanistan but for Pakistan’s intervention. He has not delivered what he promised when he became head of the state.<b> The world also doesn’t believe Musharraf when he says Pakistan has no hand in the trouble the Taliban are causing in Afghanistan. He too has not delivered everything that he promised after 2001 when he became the world’s warrior against terrorism.</b>

Both are presiding over countries where the writ of the state doesn’t run completely. Afghanistan lost the habit of being governed normally almost 30 years ago and now it is a Hobbesean wilderness; some call it a failed state.<b> Pakistan too had large areas where it had little or no governance, but after 20 years of covert wars it waged inside its neighbours’ territories through ‘non-state’ actors, it is losing its ‘regular governance’ in many additional areas.</b>

Karzai is not a well-liked man in Afghanistan; he nearly got killed once or twice when attacked; Musharraf too is increasingly disliked in Pakistan and he nearly got killed once or twice. They have agreed to meet each other’s jirgas. When Karzai comes to Pakistan he will face a jirga that really wants to replace him with the Taliban. When Musharraf meets the Loya Jirga he will face people who have nothing but grievances to address to him.

Karzai is a Pushtun but he clings to Pashtun nationalism with the skin of his teeth. In 2005 he was able to induct an appropriate number of Pushtuns in the Loya Jirga which was skewed against them in the past. But he has not been able to protect his Afghan Pushtuns against the Taliban. In a Hobbesean state, that is very important. People learn to love you if you can protect them. Musharraf has been speaking for the Pushtuns when advising Karzai, but no Pushtuns like him. His defence of the Pushtuns is ‘strategic’ rather than real.

The 2002 election In Pakistan empowered the clerical alliance the MMA. The vote the alliance got was not religious but ethnic. And the Pushtun chose the clerics on the promise that they would enforce the Islam of the Taliban in Pakistan. They all despise Musharraf for being a slave of the United States. Since their society is honour-based, they see dignity only in what the Taliban are doing. There is honour only in isolation and defiance. The Pushtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan dislike Musharraf in equal measure.

In a way Karzai and Musharraf are champions of the rights of the Pushtun but are hated by them. This unites the Pushtuns on both sides of the border. When Pakistan denies that any Taliban are crossing over from Pakistan into Afghanistan and offers to fence the Durand line to stop infiltration, Afghanistan doesn’t agree. The reason for that is Pushtun nationalism in Afghanistan. It is curious that Afghanistan decided to recognise Pakistan as a state but did not recognise the international boundary separating the two states.

Pakistan was the big state and Afghanistan the revisionist small neighbour. It feared India but not Afghanistan and therefore left the territory abutting Afghanistan unconsolidated. The Durand Line is difficult to enforce today because populations of both sides will not accept it. Smuggling negates boundaries and Pakistan never stopped it till a large population from its territory became economically cut off from it and became a part of Afghanistan’s large-scale enterprise of smuggling.

<b>Obsession with India also negated the Durand Line. Pakistan – a small revisionist neighbour to India just as Afghanistan is to Pakistan – began to think of Afghanistan as its ‘strategic depth’, </b>which means Pakistan should control Afghanistan enough for its military assets to retreat into it to fight India from a depth that Pakistan doesn’t have. This policy was contested by other neighbours of Afghanistan. But it negated the boundary and united a nation whose division had created Pakistan in the first place. The 2002 elections in Pakistan showed that clearly.

<b>The real threat to Pakistan is from Afghanistan</b>. Military course books change too slowly to take account of this, this year or the next. Pakistan no doubt had more strategic traction in Afghanistan than the other neighbours, but it should have avoided competition with them. If Pakistan has tacit control of Nangrahar (Jalalabad), Iran has a similar economic and cultural dominance in Herat and Uzbekistan (backed by Russia) over Mazar-e-Sharif. All three have proved that they will not let these regions of influence be challenged.

Neither Iran nor Uzbekistan has allowed its border with Afghanistan to be obliterated despite intersecting cultural and ethnic identities. Pakistan has done that and has allowed the ‘disorder’ of a Caliban state to spread into its own territory. More and more cities are falling under what Pakistanis call Talibanism, a euphemism for the rolling back of the modern state. In Sindh and in many parts of Punjab, people are choosing to accept the illegal jurisdiction of the local jirga instead of the court of law. And in the NWFP, increasingly local governments based on sharia have ousted the state.

<b>Pakistan is vulnerable from the inside.</b> It needs the NATO presence in Afghanistan to prevent Afghanistan from morphing into a kind of ‘external proletariat’ to bring Pakistan down without giving it an alternative governance. The turmoil of non-consensus in Pakistan is a manifestation of nervous expectation of the impending change. This is a threat that the politicians of Pakistan will have to face after Musharraf leaves. It has nothing to do with democracy which simply brings salience to problems but takes too long to resolve them.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Killing Kashmir with “self-governance” </b>FT
Khalid Hasan
privateview 
I did not have the opportunity to have a one-to-one with President Pervez Musharraf (except at a UN press conference but the question I had in mind was asked by someone else). Had it come my way, I would have asked him to ship a few of his boxes to India so that someone out there could also do “out of box” thinking on Kashmir. So far, all the thinking and all the boxes have been found in Islamabad, more particularly, in the General’s backyard.

<b>The UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir were all but kissed goodbye by Gen Musharraf at an iftar party held at the evergreen (and ever black-headed) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s farmhouse in Islamabad last year</b>. I do not recall much of a reaction from the opposition, whose sole contribution to Pakistani parliamentary politics has been walking out every five minutes in protest so that the government can have a free run. Many of its members could do with the attentions of a barber and some of its women members are likely to be mistaken by the unwary for hooded bandits, since they keep themselves covered at all times. The leader of the opposition – why is there a stench of fumes in the air? – hunts with the hounds and runs with the hair, no small achievement for a man of his girth.

In his book In the Line of Fire, Gen Musharraf sets out his self-governance formula in some detail and those still interested in Kashmir will do well to look it up. Whether they beg, borrow or steal, the General’s maiden effort at writing (he is not to be held responsible for most of it), is their business. The reaction to Gen Musharraf’s “out of box” ideas in India has been no, no, no and then another no. His messages have either been ignored or dismissed. <b>The Indian parrot – if I may be forgiven for flying into the realm of the winged ones – knows only two words when it comes to Kashmir: Atoot Ang . And that is all we have heard from New Delhi. Kashmir is an integral part of India and, therefore, it is not negotiable, “but we are always prepared to talk about Kashmir.” Alice would have asked: “if it is not negotiable, dear Mr Mad Hatter, then what are we going to talk about?” Unfortunately, we have no Alices in Islamabad, only a certain snake lady who hisses at all and sundry in the name of patriotism and scholarship. Angels and ministers of heaven, help us!</b>

Indian rejections and contempt notwithstanding, voices continue to be raised from our side pushing self-governance as a “solution.” At the last conference held on Kashmir in Washington this July by the Kashmiri-American Council, an entire paper was devoted to self-governance by a gentleman based in Brussels for the ostensible purpose of selling the Kashmir cause to Europeans. What he is actually selling is a can of worms. He is Barrister Majid Tramboo, Executive Director, Kashmir Centre, Europe and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. Mr Tramboo is as much a barrister as Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry is. Neither has ever practised law, but what of it; at least they have gained a nice, respectable suffix to their names. Barrister Tramboo’s operation is financed through sources unknown but I would advise that no one be so foolish as to go asking at the Invisible Soldiers Inc in Islamabad unless he wants to get himself a bloody nose.

Barrister Tramboo’s paper, which raised no more than a few heckles, was a barefaced effort to ditch the pivot on which the Kashmir issue has revolved since 1947, namely the right of self-determination, and replace it with “self-governance.” He argued that since 9/11 “organised crime” had found its way to “the realm of activists of self-determination, thus providing incentive for occupation authorities to embark on more restrictive – some would say repressive – policies against activists for freedom.” According to him, the world is not easily going to recognise a new state as it will bring instability to the region where such a state is established. It will also be a “dangerous precedent.” Hence the need for “new concepts.” He argued that self-determination had been “one of the most prevalent causes of international and inter-state crises” since the mid-19th century. Freedom struggles, he added, had caused “tremendous human suffering and destruction in. . . Jammu and Kashmir.” The “War on Terrorism” had only “hampered the possibilities for self-determination” and the “freedom fighter” of the past is now a “terrorist.”

Barrister Tramboo wrote that it was important to find a Kashmir solution that accepts the “national interest” of the “powers concerned” (for which, read India). In effect, the Kashmir struggle is now reduced to protecting the “national interest” of India. There had to be found, therefore, he wrote, “a feasible and acceptable alternative to full classical self-determination . . . in line with the emerging, globalised international system.” He said self-governance was “more positive, extensive, humane and forward looking than classical self-determination.” Self-governance, he added, was also “inherently democratic” and combined with regional integration it “ought to ascertain the cultural independence and human rights of any minority within” a community. He then went on to plug the theory of “multiple identities”, which amounts to saying that there is more to Kashmir than the Kashmiris of the Valley. The only people in the former State of Jammu and Kashmir who have consistently struggled for self-determination since 1928 are the Kashmiri-speaking people of the Valley.

Barrister Tramboo, speaking for those who sponsor him, wrote, “The introduction of multiple identities as part of ‘self-governance plus regional integration’ is supposedly on offer as a possible solution of the traditional Kashmir problem. Instead of making a decision on the territory and searching (for) a solution for redrawing external boundaries, self-governance plus regionalisation could be introduced to permit the Kashmiris and those on either side of the Ceasefire Line to keep their sovereign territories and (it) could spare India to give up completely what it considers within its borders. This possible solution is aimed to [ sic ] avoid a redrawing of international boundaries. No territorial change would take place and it could be considered to arrange [ sic ] for international assistance to monitor borders or help prevent influx on either side of criminal elements (for the last phrase, please read ‘freedom fighters’).”

Barrister Tramboo concluded his case with the assertion,<b> “The concept of self-governance is absolute and ultimate in itself and (in) no way should be deemed as a step to self-determination. On the contrary, it is a substitution [ sic ] for self-determination.”</b>

So there you have it. The cat is out of the bag. But has anyone in Pakistan even noticed?
<i>This is a regular column by TFT’s Washington correspondent. He can be reached at khasan2@cox.net</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nuggets from the Urdu press </b>
These nuggets are culled from the Urdu press. They are summarised here without comment.
Absurd or ridiculous, TFT takes no responsibility for them

<b>Palejo is agent of Punjab!</b>
As reported in daily Khabrain, the leader of Saraiki Qaumi Movement, Hameed Asghar Shaheen said that Akbar Bugti is not our hero and that Palejo is an agent of Punjab who is working against the interests of Saraikis. He said nationalists shall get rid of the feudal and tribal leadership who are using them. He said the seed of corruption was laid by America at the creation of Pakistan. He said Saraiki Qaumi Movement is working for an independent state.

<b>Sectarian conflict claims 23</b>
According to Daily Pakistan, two sectarian religious groups are fighting over the ownership of a shrine in Orakzai agency. The warrior sects are using mortar guns, missiles, anti-aircraft guns and modern weapons against each other. The shia sect gained control over the shrine. 23 people died on both sides and the political administration failed to mediate a ceasefire between the warring sects of Islam.

<b>Durga shall be armed with modern weapons</b>
As reported in daily Jang, one Abhe Kumar Chaudhry has filed a petition in a district court to arm Durga devi with modern weapons because modern devils can’t be killed with old weapons like trishuls or sabers. A caretaker, Kishwar Kinal of the famous mandir of Patna didn’t agree with the proposal and said the traditional arms are just symbols of Durga’s power, as she kills her foes with her intentions and not with weapons.

<b>Muslims shall integrate into host countries</b>
As reported in Daily Pakistan, a British national of Pakistani origin Zahid Hassan has said that Pakistani Muslims in western countries have to change their attitudes so that they can integrate into their host societies. The Indians have tried to integrate and progressed in comparison with Pakistanis. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 have damaged the Muslim cause in the West and thus are now looked upon with suspicion. He said our ulema karam (religious scholars) who were funded by foreigners have misled a group of youth towards terrorism. Sectarianism has led this group towards jihad and terrorism.

<b>Heart of Mullah Omar is like perfumed garden</b>
Lyricist and writer Irfan Siddique commented in daily Nawa-i-Waqt that President Musharraf wrote in his book, In the Line of Fire that the defeated Mullah Omar disappeared on a Japanese motorcycle. He said Mullah Omar was Amir-ul-Momineen and people of Afghanistan adored him. The heart of Karzai is a stinking dustbin of hatred for Pakistan. The heart of dervish (Mullah Omar) was like a perfumed garden of love for Pakistan. He didn’t choose the illuminated and decorated aircraft towards Camp David. He chose the way of his forefathers. He is wandering with a $25 million head on his wide chest and strong shoulders.

<b>Pakistani boxer slipped into France</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the Pakistani boxing squad in France was in the middle of a doping allegation when boxer Sohail Baloch was found missing. Pakistan Air Force boxer Sohail Baloch couldn’t be found as the squad was leaving for Pakistan. Earlier, two Pakistani boxers disappeared in Atlanta Olympics and one in Sydney Olympics.

<b>Graves would answer for AQ Khan’s innocence</b>
In daily Nawa-i-Waqt, lyricist and columnist Irfan Siddique wrote that everyone replied against the allegations of President Musharraf except one patient of cancer, whose mouth is sewn and hands and feet are chained. If he didn’t speak now, when he is alive, then every particle of his grave would speak aloud and name those who tore his cloth of innocence into shreds.

<b>Hijacking for political asylum</b>
As reported in daily Khabrain, the hijacker of a Turkish airplane surrendered in Italy and asked for political asylum. The hijacker had earlier converted to Christianity and was serving in Turkish army. He had earlier written a letter to Pope Benedict for help as he didn’t want to serve in the army of a Muslim country.

<b>Hang the Pope!</b>
As reported in Daily Pakistan, the leader of Jamiat-e-Islami (Sami group) Maulana Ajmal Qadri stated that more Christians are becoming Muslims after the blasphemy of Pope Benedict while addressing the national cricket team members under the leadership of Mohammad Yousaf (Youhanna). He said in Islam anyone who blasphemes against Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) is headed for murder. The Muslims leaders shall get united to get the Pope killed. He urged the Christian nation to disqualify him and have him hanged.

<b>Friendship with beautiful ladies first</b>
Sarerahe wrote in daily Nawa-i-Waqt that the Urdu book of President Musharraf would hit the stands with a title, ‘Pakistan first’. Pakistanis would now read how to make friendship with beautiful girls first from this book. He said some Pakistani youth only believe in, ‘first myself, then Pakistan’. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Scientific proof of fasting</b>
In Daily Pakistan, a feature by Naeem Ahsan said that it’s now proved that every living being can treat diseases by leaving food for a certain period of time. An American scientist found that, ‘during fasting, the cells are under pressure and in response improve their performance’. He also found that before cultivation of crops mammals were used to living without meals and that is why our bodies can endure hunger. Humans are used to avoid eating or drinking from time immemorial. And all the great religions have termed it as worship. A famous book on yoga says, ‘ fasting is the secret of long life’.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pakistan says Foreign Ministry letter head stolen for fake statement  </b>
Islamabad, Oct 26, IRNA
Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswomen Tasneem Aslam Khan has said that letter head of the Foreign Ministry as been stolen for issuing a fake press release.

Newspapers and wire services received a press release with number and title of the Foreign Ministry saying that the U.S authorities have confirmed that leading Al-Qaeda operative Moazam Musa Matwali Atta involved in the bombings at the US embassy in Kenya and Tanzania has been killed in an encounter with security forces in North Waziristan.

Spokeswomen Tasneem Aslam when contacted by a private TV channel said the Ministry has released no such news and added the news was released on a fake letter head stolen from the computer network of the Ministry, after breaking the system.

Asked if she confirmed the news about the killing of most wanted terrorist in North Waziristan, she said, If you are asking with reference to probably issued press release by the foreign office, confirming the death of Al-Qaeda activist.

<b>"No we have not, let me clarify, taking this opportunity, that we have not issued any press release of this nature</b>."
In the meanwhile the American CIA has said after the DNA test it has been established that Atta, 42, an Egyptian had died in an encounter with Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan early this year.

<b>The FBI later deleted his name and photo posted on its website of most wanted people.</b>
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Nareshji,
Kya ho raha hai.
I know Pakis steal each other wives but now they have started stealing writing pad/letterheads.
Just can't believe they did on Eid day.
Now, person will get only 71 huris and no dates.

[Naresh]

<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 27 2006, 10:10 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 27 2006, 10:10 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pakistan says Foreign Ministry letter head stolen for fake statement  </b>
Islamabad, Oct 26, IRNA

Nareshji,
Kya ho raha hai.
I know Pakis steal each other wives but now they have started stealing writing pad/letterheads.
Just can't believe they did on Eid day.
Now, person will get only 71 huris and no dates.
[right][snapback]59834[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<b>Mudy Ji :</b>

They not only steal each others’ wives but also their Daughters-in-Law from their Sons.

In Pakistan everything is stolen i.e. Blank Pakistani Passports by the Thousand, Blank Official Government Forms – right up to the Ministerial Level etc. etc.

Stealing, Thieving etc. is second nature to the Pakistanis.

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Nareshji,
here are Pakistani Mani Shankar Aiyar's sweet memories
Enjoy it. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The Liaquats And I  </b>
dine with my old friend, Akbar Liaquat Ali Khan, son of the first Pakistani premier. Our bond is that he and I were born on the same day of the same month of the same year—April 10, 1941, for anyone who wishes to send us a card. The resemblance stops there, however, for Akbar is now into his third wife, whom I'd known all those years ago as the ravishing Durre Islam. His first wife went off with Mumtaz Bhutto and the second, he tells me, with what I might have wrongly suspected as a touch of unexpected pride, is now Her Highness, the wife of one of the Malay Sultans. No tears spilt, though, because the eye-catching Durre would be comfort enough for the most demanding of jilted suitors.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
<b>Adultery In Another Land  </b>
SO many of my Karachi friends seem, over the years, to have got divorced or involved with others that I am obliged to juggle my invitations around to ensure I meet both husband and wife without running them into each other. Yet, there is so much pain in the eyes of those who were once inseparable and are now separated that I cannot help asking one couple who have stuck it out together, "Why can't you people manage your adultery better?" "As if you don't have infidelity in India," she responds. "We do," I confess, "but we don't have this awful business of second wives." "Why not?" she asks. "Because it's not allowed by law," I say. She looks as if she thinks that might be a good idea.  <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

link

[Guest]

<b>Musharraf's lies about Kargil pullout nailed</b>
http://in.news.yahoo.com/061028/139/68twm.html

[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>MUSH THE TUSH SUFFERS MASSIVE LOSS OF HONOUR AND DIGNITY</span></b> <!--emo&tupid--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pakee.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pakee.gif' /><!--endemo--> [/center]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>No comparisons with India, says Musharraf</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--> [/center]

Daily Times Monitor

<b>LAHORE : <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Pakistan should not compare itself to India</span></b> because both countries have peculiar characteristics and each has its own strengths and weaknesses, said President Pervez Musharraf. In an interview with TVONE, which aired on Saturday, the president said that Pakistan had gained in stature in terms of its image in the comity of nations and its role in international politics cannot be ignored.

He said that the government and the people of Pakistan believed in an independent Palestinian state and that Pakistan would review its policy towards Israel if the Middle East peace process moved in a positive direction. He said that the world had realised that addressing the resentment, which was the root cause of terrorism, was the best way to fight terror on a global scale, adding that the Palestinian issue was the primary cause of terrorism in the Middle East.

The president said that some elements in Afghanistan were deliberately ignoring the facts to save themselves. He advised the Afghan government to follow the precedent which Pakistan had set in its policy on North Waziristan.

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Born in Pak, yet ‘Made in India’ </b>How does a foreign terrorist build an Indian identity? By forging the documents and bribing his way through.

Mohammad Ali Hussain — the Pakistani terrorist who claims allegiance to Al-Badr, a militant outfit, did just that to create an Indian identity for himself.

According to highly placed sources, Ali, who sneaked into India four years ago through the Lepa Valley had a smooth going in India with the locals providing him support, knowingly or unknowingly.

“He forged his SSLC (Class X) certificate with the help of a computer. He photocopied someone else’s SSLC marks-sheet and forged his name on it. For his date of birth, he reportedly bribed the officers at the Mysore City Corporation with Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. He also bribed his way to the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) to get a driving licence,” said the source.
...................
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>Pakistans ex-President dies</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->POL-PAKISTAN-PRESIDENT-DEATH
ISLAMABAD, Oct 27 (KUNA) - Pakistans ex-President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, from 1988 to 1993, Friday died of pneumonia in northern Pakistani city, said his son-in-law.

He was suffering from pneumonia and died of it in Peshawar, 250 kilometers north of Islamabad, Arfan Ullah-Murawat, his son-in-law, told media.

Khan came to power following the death of former Prtesident Zia-ul-Haq in a mysterious plane crash along with a US diplomat.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>A Q Khan's health deteriorates </b>

[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>PAKISTANI RAILWAYMEN DO IT THE OTHER WAY</span></b>[/center]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>A train goes astray</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--> [/center]

MULTAN, Oct 28: Rail traffic on the Khanewal-Lahore section was disrupted after pointmen put the Karachi Express on a wrong route on Saturday. <!--emo&tupid--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pakee.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pakee.gif' /><!--endemo-->

The railways has re-routed some of the express trains via Faisalabad since Oct 15 to facilitate track dualisation between Khanewal and Raiwind.

The Karachi Express which was supposed to take the new route was diverted to the old route. <b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>The wrong was noticed by none else than the driver after 10kms journey at Dera Taj.</span></b> He stopped the train and brought it back after seeking clearance from Khanewal station staff.

The entire process spanning over two hours delayed three trains, sources said, adding the negligence could have resulted in a major crash.

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

<b>Knitwear sector bemoans falling exports</b><!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Tectonic shift in India’s Pak policy </b>
By Satish Chandra, G. Parthasarthy, Ajit Doval & B. Raman

The recent CNN-IBN interview of Mr M.K. Narayanan, the national security adviser (NSA), in defence of the government’s assertions on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, including the setting up of the anti terrorism mechanism, has added to the widespread belief that the government has lost its way on how to handle it.

The interview was quite obviously given in response to serious misgivings aroused by the statements in the wake of the Manmohan Singh-Musharraf Havana meeting. Following this meeting PM echoed the US-Pak argument that Pakistan is a “victim” of terrorism, and the then foreign secretary (designate) asserted, in an attempt to justify Musharraf’s untenable claim that there were “freelance” terrorists operating out of Pakistan, that India should distinguish between the actions of Pakistan based terrorist groups and those of the Pakistan government.

It may, at the outset, be mentioned that there is a contradiction between the NSA’s assertion that the PM sees Pakistani induced terrorism “as India’s biggest problem,” and his contention that he wishes to avoid “finger pointing towards Pakistan.” Surely, finger pointing is the very least we can do in addressing our biggest problem irrespective of whether or not it results in a “slanging match.” Our leadership is guilty of letting the home team down by fighting shy of openly and directly drawing attention to Pakistan’s involvement in terrorist activity directed against India. Such a squeamish approach will have the following adverse consequences:

* Firstly, it will cast a shroud over the magnitude of Pakistan’s involvement in terrorist activities directed against India.
* Secondly, it will weaken India’s capabilities in dealing with Pakistan by confusing our people and undermining the commitment and morale of our security and intelligence agencies.
* Thirdly, it will send a message to the international community that India is not overly concerned about Pakistan’s role in the promotion of terror in the country and that, accordingly, there is no need to pressurise Pakistan in the matter. The NSA would have us believe that the recent Havana initiatives should not be taken to mean that the government is “naïve” or “weak.” This is hard to accept.

<b>The tectonic shift in our traditional policy of openly confronting Pakistan on terrorism, which had led to sensitising the international community about the dangers of Pakistan sponsored terrorism, is standing testimony to government’s pusillanimity. </b>While in part dictated by distaste of getting into a “slanging match,” the recent policy change has evidently been taken to fall in line with US policies of condoning Pakistan sponsored terrorism against Afghanistan and India, in order to provide comfort to Musharraf. Nobody can have any illusions about the fact that the proposed anti terrorism mechanism will be used to dispute, deflect and deny our allegations, thereby delaying and avoiding meaningful action on our assertions about Pakistan sponsored terrorism.

The NSA has gone on to suggest that by terming Pakistan as a “victim of terror” PM was not equating it with India. Since India is also a victim of terror what else is this but not equating the two countries? 

Similarly, his defence of the foreign secretary’s reported assertion that India must distinguish between terrorist elements in Pakistan and the government of Pakistan on the grounds that he “would be called upon to produce the evidence” is untenable. Anyone who knows anything about Pakistan is aware of the extent to which its government controls terrorist activities directed against India. There is, moreover, no dearth of evidence to substantiate this.

The NSA’s justification of the anti terrorism mechanism as an “opportunity” to enable Pakistan to “prove in deeds what they have said in words” makes little sense. If Pakistan were sincere in addressing terror, India would instantly know it through a palpable decline in terrorism in the country. Pakistan’s failure to shut down the infrastructure of terror and refusal to hand over those involved in terrorist activities directed against India, like Masood Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim, Salahuddin etc, are further proof of its mala fides.

Given Pakistan’s inimical attitude towards India, nothing good will come out of the anti terrorism mechanism. In fact, it will be counterproductive. The sharing of intelligence and evidence will enable Pakistan to get a better insight into our intelligence and security related capabilities, which it will use to its advantage.

Such sharing will also help identify the sources of Indian agencies which Pakistan will try to silence, thereby affecting the future flow of intelligence. It is regrettable that the contours of the anti terrorism mechanism have not been fully thought through. So sensitive an arrangement should only have embarked upon with complete clarity about its precise nature and manner of functioning.

In this context, the NSA, while asserting that there would be no intelligence sharing under the proposed mechanism, goes on to state that India would provide evidence to Pakistan on terrorist incidents in India inclusive of “specific locations, specific names, specific telephones.” There is a contradiction in this, because evidence is in itself of immense intelligence value as it reveals not only what we have been able to gather but also the gaps in our intelligence gathering capability.

Worse still, while talking of the anti terrorism mechanism, <b>the NSA has clearly signalled our laidback approach in addressing Pakistan’s involvement in terrorist activities directed against India.</b> He thus declared that India was not prepared to engage in “hot pursuit and that kind of stuff” and went on to suggest that India was giving Pakistan a long rope and would be happy if Pakistan delivered “on some” of the evidence furnished to it. This will only encourage Pakistan to continue with terrorism as usual against India confident that the latter will not take any serious punitive measures against it.

Not only has the government got itself in a bind on the anti terrorism mechanism, but it finds itself unable to even take a clear and consistent line on the quality of evidence that it has collected on the Mumbai train blasts. While the NSA claimed that he would hesitate to say that we have “clinching evidence” about Pakistani involvement in the 7/11 Mumbai blasts, the home secretary proclaimed we have “solid evidence,” and the PM said we have “credible evidence”. Given this confusion, Musharraf must be having a good laugh at the confusion that now prevails in New Delhi. The NSA’s assertion has, moreover, provided Pakistan with an excellent opportunity to rubbish India’s case against it on the Mumbai train blasts.

The Pakistani spokesperson instantly welcomed the NSA’s assertion and declared that it was “a lesson which must be learnt by Indian agencies and security forces that they should not blame Pakistan without evidence.”

Washington must be happy that New Delhi is not only faithfully toeing its line but has also been unable to get its act together in dealing with its favourite military ruler.

It would be fitting to conclude by citing the advice offered in the columns of the Deccan Chronicle of May 14, 1997 by no less a person than Mr M.K. Narayanan, the present NSA, to the effect that, “Diplomatic skills would again be needed to convince the US still further of the danger of turning a Nelson’s eye to Pakistan’s role as a hub of terrorism. There is enough evidence with the US about Pakistan’s efforts to support the militants and ultras in the Kashmir Valley, but this may now have to be brought to fruition by ensuring that sanctions are imposed on Pakistan for exporting terrorism.”

It is hoped that we will not turn a Nelson’s eye to this advice, which has even more validity today, given the increased threat to us from terrorism and our strategic partnership with the US on which such great expectations are placed by our leadership.

<i>Satish Chandra is a former Deputy NSA; G. Parthasarthy is a former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan; Ajit Doval is a former Director, Intelligence Bureau; B. Raman is a former Additional Secretary R&AW</i> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>Pakistan destroys al-Qaeda-linked site </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Khar, Oct 30: Pakistani troops backed by helicopters firing missiles destroyed an al-Qaeda-linked training facility in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border Monday, killing "many" militants, officials said.

The pre-dawn attack targeted a religious school — known as a madrassa — holding 70-80 militants in a village near the town of Khar, the main town in the Bajur tribal district, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.

Sultan said the facility was destroyed but it was not immediately clear how many people had been killed............<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>Pakistan army kills up to 80 at Qaeda-linked school </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani army helicopters killed around 80 suspected militants on Monday in a dawn attack on a religious school run by a pro-Taliban commander wanted for harboring al Qaeda fighters, a military spokesman said.

The army said the religious school or madrasa in Chenagai, 10 km (six miles) north of Khar, the main town in the Bajaur tribal region bordering        Afghanistan, was being used as a militant training camp.

The strike killed almost everyone present in the madrasa, although at least three wounded were taken to hospital in Khar.
.............<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Now they have started attacking "schools" (according to Mushy) <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<b>Prince Charles thanks Pakistan for help in terrorism fight</b>
http://in.news.yahoo.com/061030/137/68x3x.html

<img src='http://webpages.charter.net/kylegdb/smilies/38.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[Guest]

After thanks, now sweet gift <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Prince Charles' visit to Pakistan's Peshawar cancelled  </b>
Islamabad, Oct 31: Britain has cancelled a visit by Prince Charles to Peshawar at the advice of the Pakistani government, a spokesman for the British High Commission in Islamabad told a news agency today.

The cancellation of Tuesday's visit to the conservative northwestern city follows a Pakistani airstrike on a religious school which killed up to 80 suspected militants and sparked anger among Islamists.

"The prince's visit to Peshawar is cancelled on the advice of the Pakistan government. A new programme is to be advised," High Commission Spokesman Aidan Liddle told a news agency without elaborating. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Another deadly blow for Pakistan</span></b><!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->[/center]

KARACHI - Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf wanted to draw a line in the sand in his struggle for the spiritual soul of the country by early next month, ramming through parliament a controversial bill regarding women's rights that is seen as a move to purge Islamic laws from the constitution.

Instead, helicopter gunships raining death on a village in the remote Bajour agency tribal area on Monday morning significantly escalated Musharraf's battle with militant Islamic forces fiercely opposed to any softening of the state's Islamic legislation.

A pre-dawn attack on a madrassa (Islamic seminary) in a village in the Bajour tribal district in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) claimed the lives of scores of people.

Pakistani authorities claimed immediately that the raid was carried out by Pakistani forces. However, Asia Times Online contacts on the spot are convinced that the raid was undertaken by North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces. Recently, Islamabad agreed with NATO that it could conduct operations in Pakistan from across the border in Afghanistan.

Monday's attack came two days after thousands of pro-Taliban tribesmen held an anti-US, anti-NATO rally in Damadola in the Bajour area close to the site of a US missile attack that killed several al-Qaeda members and civilians in January.

Authorities say information that Taliban or al-Qaeda fugitives were in the region prompted Monday's raid. The border village lies opposite the Afghan province of Kunar and is considered a major corridor for militants to enter Afghanistan. In May, Pakistani authorities said a senior al-Qaeda figure, Abu Marwan al-Suri, had been killed in Bajour during a clash with local police.

Just as they are denying NATO involvement in Monday's attack, Pakistani authorities also initially denied the US had carried out the January attack.

<b>Political fallout</b>

Soon after Monday's raid, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the chief of the powerful Islamic political party, the Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan (JI), announced that two leading JI members had resigned their posts - a senior minister in NWFP, Sirajul Haq, and a member of the federal parliament from the Bajour agency, Haroon Rasheed.

The JI is a part of the six-party religious alliance the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which has been at the forefront of agitation against the proposed legislation on women's issues, as well as in opposition in general to Musharraf and his pro-US stance in the "war on terror".

Haq was quoted as saying that protests would be staged throughout the northern tribal region on Tuesday.

Significantly, Pakistan and Taliban authorities struck a peace deal in Bajour only two days ago and were scheduled to sign a document to that effect on Monday. This lends credence to the possibility that it was NATO and not Pakistani forces that made the raid.

Clearly, any peace deal in Bajour is now off the table, and the MMA will seize on the raid to ramp up and expand its campaign against the proposed women's legislation. The MMA has already threatened to resign from the central parliament and all four provincial assemblies, two of which have a controlling MMA presence.

Behind this political activism in the garb of religious issues, though, lies the fear that any demonstrations will turn anti-West - and violent. Under cover of violence and chaos, various smaller underground religious groups as well as militants will mobilize for the fulfillment of their agendas.

Militants already have immense power in the country and have forced the government to step away from the tribal areas, notably North and South Waziristan, where the Pakistani Taliban have a heavy footprint. The same was to happen in Bajour agency.

Bajour is home of the powerful Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammedi, which was the group responsible which gathering more than 10,000 Pakistani youths to go to Afghanistan before the US invasion of 2001.

Bajour is also the strategic back yard of the Hezb-i-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, which is active in the Afghan insurgency. Many prominent al-Qaeda leaders use the area while in transit in the Nooristan-Kunar Valley.

<b>Musharraf in the crosshairs</b>

With the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, pockets of jihadi groups have sprung up in Pakistani cities and villages, and to them the symbol of hatred is Musharraf.

After the attacks on the US of September 11, 2001, Musharraf came up with a guarded approach to handle jihadis. He held many secret meetings with their leaders at which he expressed his resolve in the cause of Islam, as well as in jihad.

He tried to convince the jihadist leadership that Pakistan's decision to ditch the Taliban was made under duress from the US and that as soon as Pakistan could it would resume its support of the Islamic forces in Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, the bridge continued to widen between the jihadis and Musharraf, to a point where Musharraf was repeatedly a target for assassination by jihadist groups allied with disaffected military officers.

Pakistani military operations in Waziristan further alienated the jihadist outfits from Musharraf, even as his dependence on the US grew. Recent Pentagon documents indicate that disbursements to Islamabad amounted to about US$3.6 billion for operations from January 2002 through August 2005, an amount roughly equal to one-quarter of Pakistan's total military expenditure during that period. At the same time, as the Taliban revival in Afghanistan continues, the United States' dependency on Musharraf has grown.

Musharraf appears to forget that Pakistan is still a traditional society in which the majority of the people live in a tribal setup. Traditions are generally the final word, and the true literacy rate (which only means capability to read Urdu-language newspapers) is hardly 25%.

In such an environment there is a blind following in religious issues, as in the case of the Women's Protection Bill, which all traditional clerics from north to south and from east to west are unanimous in rejecting.

Military dictatorships, as is Musharraf's, tend to care more their constituency (the armed forces) than the masses. Yet any development that is perceived as an intervention against religion will have a serious impact, as Islam is specifically the soul of the Pakistani army, thanks to the rule of the late dictator General Zia ul-Haq and his Islamification program.

Monday's bombing in Bajour brings Musharraf's showdown, and the line in the sand, with Islamic forces just that little bit closer.

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->