Pakistan News And Discussion-14

[Guest]

<b>She resorted to anti-Indianism to please voters</b>

[Guest]

Musharraf and Pakistan can’t go together: Nawaz

Both should go, <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Pakistan poll put off by a month</b>
pioneer.com
Rezaul H Laskar | Islamabad
Pakistan's Election Commission on Monday decided <b>in principle to delay the general election set for January 8 till February</b> in view of poll preparations being adversely affected by the violent protests against the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto. 

The poll panel made the decision during an informal meeting on Monday evening after receiving reports from poll officials and caretaker Governments in the four provinces - Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and North West Frontier Province - about the impact of the protests on election arrangements and the law and order situation.

<b>The Election Commission decided that the polls should be put off till the third week of February</b> so that ballot boxes and electoral rolls destroyed in the protests can be replaced and the printing of ballot papers can be completed, Dawn News channel quoted sources in the panel as saying.

The Election Commission is expected to make a formal announcement about the postponement of the polls till February when it meets again tomorrow morning.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->PTI | Attari (India)
<b>A mob on Monday stoned Samjhauta Express train heading for India at Wagah </b>village in Pakistan when it neared the Indian territory as the rail service resumed after temporary suspension following violent protests in that country after Benazir's killing.

Indian passengers said the mob pelted stones when it was moving at a slow pace. But fortunately no one was hurt. A few windowpanes were broken, an Indian passenger Nasrina said.

She added that at the time of attack Pakistani security guards were in the train but they were helpless as the train was in motion.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Modi condemns Bhutto's killing, criticises Centre </b>
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Mo...-Centre/256004/
Express India
Bhuj, December 30 Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in his first public speech on Sunday after assuming office, condemned the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at Rawalpindi.
He said, at the same time, the Centre, under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, did not initiate any pro-active measure to unite the world against the looming threat of terrorism.

“I raise this issue here because any untoward incident taking place across the border would have its repercussion in our country through the contiguous border district of Kutch and Sindh,” said Modi at a function outside Gandhinagar.

<b>He said Bhutto's killing was not “an ordinary event”, and now all the humanist forces of the world should fight the menace of extremism. He said India should have taken the lead in organising such world forces, but surprisingly found no pro-active action from the Centre even three days after the Pakistani leader's assassination.

He said Sindh has been suffocating under the military rule for the past five decades, adding that while Islamabad brutally crushed the Jia Sindh movement (agitation for a separate Sindhi nation), its seeds still remain there. “The recent bloody incident there would revive the Jia Sindh movement. The oppressed people of Sindh, especially the Kolis and Dalits, who were bonded labourers there now require the help of the humanist forces,” said Modi. </b>

While Modi did not openly espouse supporting the movement now, he nevertheless, said that the Centre should keep an eye on the incidents happening across the border. <b>“If the leadership in Delhi misses the opportunity this time, it would go out of our hands for ever,” he said. </b>

Earlier in the day, Modi also inaugurated a pharmacy college, run by Veerayatan, at Jakhaia village near Mandvi. He said the share of the state in the country's pharmaceutical industry was a staggering 45 per cent and this could be possible only because of the far-sightedness of Gujarati businessmen.

Modi also expressed his love for Kutch at the occasion, saying that God had destined his first visit here after his swearing-in, adding that he would come here again in February. “The government has decided to organise a three-day Kutch Festival in the last week of February with a focus on Karo Dungar (black hills) overlooking the Rann of Kutch. A Kutch carnival at Bhuj on the lines of one in Goa would be organised, said Modi. 
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Militants kidnap four soldiers in Waziristan:</b> military PESHAWAR, Jan 1 (AFP): Militants abducted four paramilitary soldiers in South Waziristan Tuesday in the first such incident since the death of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, officials said. Militants seized the soldiers as they descended from their observation post on a hill near Makeen in South Waziristan. The military said five rebels were killed and 20 others detained amid fighting following the abduction. Several militants were injured, but evacuated by their comrades, the official added. ”The rebels launched rocket and mortar attacks on a military base near Ladda town from rugged terrain bordering Afghanistan, a security official said. <b>A local official said the attackers were loyal to Mehsud</b>, who is alleged to be an Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan. (First Posted @ 16:30 PST Updated @ 18:58 PST)
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[Guest]

<b>Pak government flip-flops on cause of Bhutto's death</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Pakistan's caretaker government on Tuesday clarified that it still stood by the 'factual position' that ex-Premier Benzair Bhutto died of a skull fracture and not from a bullet wound, a contention challenged by the party of the slain leader.

The clarification came from Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan, who was earlier quoted by the media as urging people to 'forgive and ignore' comments made by his ministry's spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema that Bhutto had struck her head on a metal lever on the sun-roof of her armoured Toyota Land Cruiser, resulting in a fatal skull fracture.

But Khan on Tuesday said his apology was only for some 'crude words' that the spokesman had used and it had 'no effect on the factual position' taken by the government
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Whole world is laughing on them, and they are still lying .

[Naresh]

<img src='http://pkpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/shark.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Shah Nawaz : The Legacy of the Bhuttos</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->[/center]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Shahnawaz took a lowly Hindu dancing girl named Lakhi Bai to wife. Lakhi was forcibly converted to Islam, renamed Khursheed Begum and gave Shahnawaz two children, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and a daughter, Mumtaz.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Zulfiqar : Sir Shahnawaz’s son by the little Hindu dancing girl</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

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

[Guest]

5000 Pakistanis attend Ahmadiyyas' global meet in Punjab, India

1 Jan 2008

Qadian (Punjab), Jan 1 (ANI): Nearly 5000 Pakistanis were among the thousands of devotees belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, who participated in a recently concluded 116th annual congregation in Qadian in Punjab.

"The most important thing about this year's convention is that a huge number of devotees have come from Pakistan to attend this event," said Mohammad Wasim Khan, an Ahmadiyya Jamaat official.

"All the visas have been given to them to come through the Wagah border by road," Khan added.

He requested that the Government of India provide visas to more than 5000 people from Pakistan to attend this gathering.

Manuver Ahmad Khadim, the community's spokesperson, said the special slogan 'Love for all, hatred for none' is being spread in the entire world.

"This slogan is very special for the annual convention and is adding splendour to the event," he added.

The main objective of the convention is to promote peace in the world and to project the pristine teachings of Islam.

Nearly 20,000 Ahmadiyyas from around the world reached here on December 29 to take part in the three-day event.

Initiated in 1891 by the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Jalsa (annual convention) is being regularly held in this small town of Punjab.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is one of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908).

The original movement split into two factions soon after the Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's death. (ANI)

[Shambhu]

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Family Jewels Khatre Mein! AoA!</span>
Expressindia » Story
<b>US readying for takeover of Pakistani nukes?</b>
Posted online: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 at 12:00:00
Updated: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 at 03:17:54 Print Email To Editor Post Comments

Islamabad, January 2: Pakistan government dismissed as ‘baseless and ridiculous’ reports that a US Special Forces squad is on standby to ‘seize or disable’ this country's nuclear weapons in the event of the collapse onuclear weapons in the event of the collapse of the administration after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

"We know how to defend our nuclear assets," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq was quoted as saying by the state-run APP news agency.

He was reacting to a report in British newspaper The Herald, which quoted military sources as saying that a US Special Forces squad and volunteer scientists from the Nuclear Emergency Search Team had orders to take control of Pakistan's estimated 60 nuclear warheads dispersed around six to 10 high-security military bases to prevent them falling into the hands of ‘Islamic extremists’.

The report also said some of the US forces were already in neighbouring Afghanistan to ‘seize or disable’ Pakistan's nuclear weapons in the event of the collapse of the administration following the killing of Bhutto.

Sadiq rejected the report as ‘baseless and ridiculous’, saying Pakistan has an effective command and control system.

"People circulating such sinister stories are aiming at further upsetting the people of Pakistan, who are still in a state of shock after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in a dastardly attack on December 27."

A US Embassy official, requesting not to be named, too said, "any such action would be contrary to our long standing military and diplomatic cooperation with Pakistan".

Over the past few weeks, Pakistan has persistently rejected concerns expressed by Western nations about the safety of its nuclear arsenal, saying it has an established command and control system.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/US...i-nukes/256826/

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Benazir killed with laser gun, claims PPP </b>
PTI | Islamabad
The controversy over former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination has taken another turn with a section of her<b> Pakistan People's Party (PPP) claiming she was targeted with sophisticated "laser beam technology". Bhutto's wounds were caused not by bullets but by some sort of laser weapon</b>, The Nation newspaper said quoting sources in the PPP.

When Bhutto was admitted to Rawalpindi General Hospital shortly after the fatal attack on her on December 27, <b>doctor Musaddiq Khan, who treated her, told a PPP leader that he had seen "such a case for the first time in his life",</b> sources said.

Meanwhile, after flip-flops on what and who killed Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday night said Britain's elite Scotland Yard will assist in the investigations into her assassination.
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Looks like Paki Army hand.

[Guest]

<b>Scotland Yard to send counter terrorism team to Rawalpindi</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] on Wednesday night announced that he has sought help from the Scotland Yard for the investigations into the assassination of Bhutto.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mushy agreed, now it means fauji will force him out.

[Shambhu]

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Pakistan is burning</span>

Is Pakistan going to implode? Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the events thereafter lend to this question an alarming sense of immediacy. Optimists argue that the coming election will provide a cathartic release to the sorrow and anger of a traumatised country teetering on the brink of disaster and yield a Government that will re-establish the democratic process and the rule of law. Optimism, however, can be an unreliable guide as it tends to ignore reality's dark underbelly. The fact is that even if the election is held without much violence, is free and fair, and lead to the formation of a Government with a stable majority, the forces that have brought Pakistan to its present pass will remain.


The very fact of Bhutto's assassination points to several of the destabilising forces at work. Pakistan's Government has blamed it on Al Qaeda and produced a taped intercept of a telephone conversation in support. Many, however, have alleged that the Government itself was behind her assassination. Whatever the truth, the fact remains that Islamist fanatics and terrorist organisations like Al Qaeda and its affiliates, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Sipah-e-Sahaba and so on, have proliferated and spread their tentacles far and deep into Pakistan's society and Government.



There has been heated argument over President Pervez Musharraf's role. It has been alleged that he has not gone full throttle against the terrorist outfits, particularly Al Qaeda and Taliban, because he wants to keep them alive to ensure a continuous flow of arms and aid from the US. On the other hand, one has heard that even his best efforts have not fully succeeded because of the odds he has to battle. The most important of these is the question mark against the country's armed forces, sections of which have been unable or disinclined to act.



Mr Musharraf could persist with military operations because of his position as its Chief of Army Staff. Gen Ashfaq Kayani, who has succeeded him, is supposed to be very close to him and a good professional soldier. If Mr Musharraf continues in office, much would depend on how his ties with Gen Kayani continue to be. Pertinently, Gen Zia-ul Haq was handpicked by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Gen Musharraf by Mr Nawaz Sharif, then Pakistan's Prime Minister. The former hanged his benefactor and the latter exiled his! In any case, a civilian Government that takes over after the election will not have Mr Musharraf's equation with Gen Kayani. If past experience is any guide, it will be a matter of time before the civilian Government, rendered unpopular by corruption and malgovernance, is overthrown by the military establishment.



The argument that the US and other global players will prevent the Army from doing this, will not wash. There is a limit to what the world's sole superpower can do. It has failed to goad the Musharraf regime to act more vigorously against Al Qaeda and Taliban and leaders entrenched in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Besides, there is no guarantee that a civilian Government will do the job better. Neither Benazir Bhutto nor Mr Sharif did much to counter Al Qaeda, Taliban and other jihadi groups during their tenure in office. Rather, it was during Bhutto's second innings that the ISI crafted the Taliban in 1994 with the CIA's blessings.



Even if the new Government wants to strike hard at Al Qaeda, Taliban and other jihadi groups, the ultimate outcome will depend on the Army's ability to crush them and, hence, the importance of the question mark mentioned earlier. Fanatical and Islamist outfits have deeply and extensively penetrated Pakistan's society, Government and the armed forces ever since Zia-ul Haq began his Islamisation drive in the early-1980s. An indicator is the proliferation of madarsas churning out jihadis. According to Air Commodore Prashant Dikshit (Retd) in 'Threats to Security' (Pakistan After 9/11, edited by Sreedhar, Manas), their number increased from 563 in Pakistan in 1979 to 2,500 -- with 200,000 students -- in Punjab Province alone in 1996. He further said in his 2003 paper that the number was "currently" estimated at 2,715, with 250,000 students.



Religious fanaticism has to a large extent coalesced with tribal identities and grievances and made for an explosive mix. <span style='color:green'>Pashtun tribals dominate FATA. According to Hassan Abbas in Terrorism Focus (Volume 3 (42) 2006), they constitute between 20 and 25 per cent of Pakistan's armed forces and 15 and 22 per cent of its officers' corps. The Frontier Corps, the para-military formation which is mainly involved in operations in FATA, is overwhelmingly Pashtun. Understandably, there have been many desertions, besides disaffection at the level of Colonels. A Major-General has reportedly chosen to retire prematurely rather than fight his own tribesmen.</span>



Worse, a section of the ISI continues to have close links with the leaders of Al Qaeda, Taliban and other jihadi groups. It is unlikely to stop supporting them and likely to do everything in its power to prevent their being crushed. Theoretically, such a situation can lead either to the eventual establishment of a Taliban-Al Qaeda Government in Pakistan or the terrorist outfits being crushed. The second, as we have seen, will not happen easily. Nor will the first, given the strong interest that several countries, including the US and India, have in preventing it. The result will be prolonged civil war, which might even lead to Pakistan's fragmentation. For, the country's ethnic faultlines are not confined to the armed forces alone. The conflict between Pathans and Mohajirs, that devastated Karachi for nearly a decade, is over but tensions simmer. Properties of Pathans, Punjabis and Mohajirs were attacked in Sindh during the rioting that followed Bhutto's assassination.

Much would, of course, depend on whether those who assume power after the election and those in the Opposition are able to work together, wisely and effectively, for a democratic, modern and moderately Islamic Pakistan. Here, Mr Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's anointment as the chairman of Pakistan People's Party is a cause for despair. The country remains tied to dynastic politics. Is it an indication that the other retrogressive features of its politics also survive?

http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp...writer=karlekar

[Guest]

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video...t.aspx?id=21525


Enjoy this. Question is whether Mushy and Pakistan will survive ?<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Old general getting senile with each passing day.
Musharraf Suggest Bhutto Partly Responsible For Her Own Death
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Who is to be blamed for her coming out (of) her vehicle?" he asked, adding that others in the vehicle had not been hurt in the attack.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

Next he will say, she was dear to "Allah", to Allah called her back in hurry to give whole heaven with dates 72 hores. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<img src='http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00413/reward_120x170_413244a.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Gruesome appeal to solve murder

[Shambhu]

Heard on NPR: (about the BB assasination and Mush not providing security)

Brit/US lady journo: Sir, how do you think democracy can be restored in Pakistan when many people believe u have blood on ur hands?

Mush: I was not raised in a uncivilized family. I come from a family that has values, and does not kill people. And I pray to Allah that idiot mem is satisfied with this answer.

(The last sentence was spoken in the anahat language, heard only by those tuned to the anahat frequencies, like yours truly). <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Now they are saying Zardari is involved.