Pakistan News And Discussion-10

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Nuggets from the Urdu press
<b>Romance to convert Sikhnis and Hindnis</b>
According to daily Nawa-i-Waqt, British Hindu and Sikh leaders have alleged that Muslims in British universities start love affairs with Hindu and Sikh girls and blackmail them into changing their faith. The head of the British Sikh students, Ranjit Singh, said that some fundamentalist individuals are doing this and the whole community is not involved. The General Secretary of a forum for British Hindus said that it is a recent problem and families are shy of speaking out on this issue.

<b>Who is Haji Bashar?</b>
As reported in daily Express magazine, Haji Bashar, who was living in Quetta, was contacted by Wali Karzai. He told Karzai that the Americans had wanted to meet him in Dubai. He was contacted by his friend Major (Retd) Saifullah Khan Babar in this regard. He was questioned about his relationship with Al Qaeda and whether he gave them any funds. He denied knowing any Arabs and was not involved in drug smuggling. He was enticed to meet the American officials in America who would consider him a valuable friend. He went to America with his friend Major (Retd) Babar and was arrested at the airport when leaving for Pakistan.


<b>Drugs and jihad</b>
As reported in daily Express magazine, Haji Bashar, who is considered a drug king in Afghanistan, was trapped by Americans and arrested in America. According to Jamil Karzai he was one of the four drug smugglers exempted during Mullah Omar’s drive against poppy cultivation during Taliban rule. After 9/11 he contacted the Americans and helped them catch his childhood friend Mullah Mutawaqal.

<b>Divide Pakistan to eliminate terrorism</b>
As reported in Daily Pakistan, a book, Divide Pakistan to Eliminate Terrorism, by an unknown publisher is being advertised on CNN. The book is written by a little known Pakistani-British author who escaped from Pakistan after the 1999 coup. He alleged that the Pakistan intelligence agencies and madrassas are producing terrorists. According to an American think tank this book is the work of an unstable pessimist who wants to discredit Pakistan in America and Europe.

<b>Extortion from jail</b>
As reported in daily Express, a hired killer and Top Ten criminal, Aslam Basa, has started using a mobile phone with the connivance of jail authorities. He called traders and industrialists from jail and tried to extort money with death threats. A large number of citizens have complained to the police authorities and SSP Ghulam Muhammad Dogar has initiated an inquiry and asked the jail authorities to search Aslam Basa daily and report on him.

<b>Din-e-Ilahi to malign Akbar</b>
In an interview in daily Express, historian Dr Mubarak Ali said that Emperor Akbar was a great ruler. Some untruths about him were popularised and the myth of Din-e-Ilahi was spread to malign him. He was against literalism and challenged everything. He didn’t proclaim himself as a god but wanted to be accepted as a guru (teacher) in the Hindu tradition. In his early life he swept in mosques but later became fed up with the character of mullahs. He told his courtier Sheikh Mubarak to save him from these mullahs.

<b>Americans love haji juice</b>
As reported in Daily Pakistan, the American army in Iraq is addicted to the local Iraqi wine, haji juice, because of fear and pressure from the fidayeen attacks. According to The New York Times, 665 cases have been registered against American soldiers. Twelve cases of sexual assault, murder, dacoity and attack on fellow soldiers were reported under the influence of haji juice. <!--emo&:eager--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lmaosmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='lmaosmiley.gif' /><!--endemo-->  Local Iraqi smugglers are selling this drink at very cheap prices to protect their interests. A study showed a 30% increase in alcohol consumption in American soldiers.

<b>Pakistanis for ransom in Afghanistan</b>
As reported in daily Express, there are still 648 Pakistani prisoners in Afghan jails, and the Northern Alliance has demanded 2 lac rupees for each Pakistani prisoner. According to the Hangu Union of Journalists, Pakistani jihadis who went to Afghanistan during the American invasion are still languishing in Bamiyan and in other jails. Their relatives consider them dead. The Pakistani prisoners in Bamiyan wept profusely and told them that only 2 lac rupees is being demanded for their release.

<b>Bob Woolmer rubbished Pakistani press</b>
According to daily Jang, Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer, who drew lacs of rupees from Pakistan, had a very low opinion of Pakistanis. Bob told Pakistani reporters that Pakistani newspapers print rubbish and said he didn’t want to reduce his knowledge by reading them. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->  He said it took ten minutes daily to write in his diary. It is wrong that he was more interested in writing his diary than in the Pakistan team.

<b>No birth control for Muslims</b>
As reported in daily Jang, the central Ameer of the international Khatim-i-nabuwat, Maulana Abdul Hafeez Makki, arrived in Lahore from Saudi Arabia. He said that Muslims shall increase their population and produce a maximum number of children. Muslim countries that have birth control policies shall abandon their policies as non-Muslims are increasing in population, especially in non-Muslim African countries.

<b>Rapist maulvi nabbed in Kot Adu</b>
According to daily Khabrain, a boy complained to the SHO Kot Adu and told him about the madrassa in Kot Adu where 10 children were kept in chains. Qari Ghulam Rasool sexually assaulted the children after he took injections. The police raided this non-registered madrassa and released the 10 children from chains. The police also recovered aphrodisiac medicines and injections from the madrassa.

<b>Rakhi corrupts Pakistan</b>
<span style='color:red'>As reported in daily Express, Indian rituals are spreading in educational institutions in Pakistan. Already these traditions are seen in marriage ceremonies on Indian channels. At a fun fair at Nishtar Medical College, girls tied rakhis on boys’ arms to make them their brothers according to Hindu traditions. </span>
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Punjab: beneficiary or casualty of the Partition? </b>
<i> Denuded of its intellectual elites at the Partition, the Punjab, Indian and Pakistani, is ill at ease in modern states, says
Dr Manzur Ejaz</i>
   
Traveling to Jalandhar from Wagah for an international Punjabi conference was no different than going from Sahiwal to Lahore. <b>Thanks to the East Punjab government’s free supply of electricity to farmers there were unending swathes of greenery along the Grand Trunk Road.</b> But I had spoken too soon; road conditions, traffic jams, disregard of traffic rules, and heaps of dirt and refuse along the highway were even worse than in Pakistan. Jalandhar, the major cultural city of East Punjab, fares no better than a middle-sized town of Pakistani Punjab.

Inside the conference hall the situation was no different than one would have experienced in any such gathering in Pakistan. Like all believers in “Pakistan ideology,” <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>a Sikh scholar was arguing in all seriousness that nations should be defined along religious lines. For him, there was no Punjabi nation but a Sikh nation. If he had been Arabic speaking, he might have used the term “Sikh Ummah.” </span>

In the gossip sessions during lunch and dinner intervals the topic of discussion was the Punjab assembly election that had concluded a few days earlier and for which the results were being awaited. <b>Most political observers – and there were plenty of them – agreed that, on average, candidates paid about Rs 2 crore to get a party ticket for the Provincial Assembly. Mind you, we are talking about East Punjab, part of the Indian Union, where elections have taken place regularly and not West Punjab, in Pakistan, where electoral rigging and political corruption are seen to be the order of the day. </b>

Despite thorough land reforms, the vestiges of feudal culture in East Punjab have not given way to a modern-secular society that is so loudly touted in India. The mindset that comes with small land holdings owned by petty farmers has inhibited meaningful social change. The influence of religion, particularly among the Sikh peasantry, is so pervasive that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), counterpart of the Jamaat Islami or Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, is still the dominant party.<b> Had the Indian Union not intervened to establish the writ of the state, SAD may have implemented the Sikh religious code in East Punjab</b>.

So, despite differing political systems and levels of economic development, Indian and Pakistani Punjab have much in common. These commonalities have their roots not only in the remote past but most crucially in the history of the Partition of India in 1947. The Punjab entire had a common agrarian economy with its snail paced traditional dynamics. But the one fatal element in the socio-cultural stagnation of the Punjab owes to an outcome of the Partition when the entire urban Punjabi elite was forced out of the state and subsequently settled in Delhi or other cities of Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Prior to the Partition, most of the urban elites in Punjab were either Hindu or Sikh. Cultural and business elites from other parts of India were also attracted to the Punjab, particularly Lahore. For example, there were many Bengalis in the legal profession in Lahore or investors in the film industry from Bombay or Calcutta.

<b>Whether good or bad, most urban sectors of the Punjab were run by Hindus and Sikhs. Muslims in Punjab were peasants, workers, feudal landowners or employees in government departments like the police and military. Muslim owned shops in Lahore’s Anarkali and the Mall could have been counted on one hand before the Partition. The urban Muslim middle class was almost non-existent. At the political level Lahore, the Punjab’s largest city, had only two influential political families, the Qizalbash and the Mians of Baghbanpura</b>. Of course Allama Mohammad Iqbal and Chauhdry Barkat Ali were also active in Lahore politics but Hindu politicians overshadowed them, so much so that on the occasion of Gandhi’s Satiagrah and Khilafat movements, Hindu leaders delivered speeches in the Badshahi Mosque after Friday prayers.

The world of literature and art presented a similar scene. Contrary to contemporary belief in Pakistan, there were more Hindu and Sikh Urdu writers in Punjab than Muslims. Against a dozen Hindu-Sikh fiction writers including Krishan Chandar, Ranjidar Singh Bedi and Ram Lal, there were a few Muslim writers like Manto. Playwrights like Balwant Gargi, painters like the legendary Amrita Sher Gill and also the architects were all either urban Hindus or Sikhs. Even modern Punjabi literature, dominated by Muslims until the beginning of the 20th century, was represented solely by exceptional Sikh writers including Amrita Pritam, Mohan Singh and Kartar Singh Duggal.

After the Partition of the Punjab, the entire non-Muslim urban elite headed for Delhi and other UP cities. Ironically, none of them settled in East Punjab because of rampant violence. At the end of the day, East and West Punjab swapped their peasantry.<b> All of Punjab was cleansed of mature elites, which provide the basis of good governance and economic growth. Gone were the intellectuals, traders, the entrepreneurs, bankers and the dreamers.</b>

Punjab, East and West, left with peasants or the new rich who had grabbed abandoned properties by paying nothing, had to start rebuilding society. Most of the urban population in both Punjabs is just two or three generations old and it carries its rustic rural values with it. It is no wonder that both Punjabs are stuck with a traditional religious-cultural ethos, which does not match the requirements of a modern state. It takes centuries for elites to mature and Punjab is waiting for that day.

Dr Manzur Ejaz is an academic living in Washington, DC
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Did Pak nationals snoop for records at LNJP hospital?</b>
Durgesh Nandan Jha | New Delhi
Pioneer.com
Ran away when challenged
The paramedical staff of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, who are on strike since Wednesday against lack of security arrangements in the hospital, have alleged that four Pakistani nationals entered the hospital premises on Tuesday and forcefully tried to look into the patient record diary. According to staff members, <b>one of them claimed to be a Deputy Director in the Pakistan Government in Karachi. </b>

<b>"In this hospital, many Pakistani nationals come for treatment. But on Tuesday at around 10 pm, four to five persons of Pakistani origin came to the surgery ward and tried to look into the patient record diary. When we tried to stop them, one of them even shouted at us and tried to manhandle a staff member. One of them showed us his identity card and said that he was a Deputy Director in Karachi," </b>said Tangama Joy, president of the Nurses' Union at LNJP hospital.

Joy also claimed that these well-built men had apparently come with a motive but on being asked what could that be, she drew a blank. After commotion, one of the nurses on duty called senior doctors. Sensing trouble, the men are said to have escaped from the hospital. 
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Why Indian tax money is wasted on Pakis? They should not be entitled for subsidized treatment in India.

[Guest]

<b>Bill Clinton offered $5 billion to stop Pak nuke tests, claims Nawaz Sharif </b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"President Clinton telephoned me five times and offered USD five billion for not testing the nuclear weapons. I refused the offer for the integrity and security of Pakistan," he said in an interview with ARY television.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Very cheap deal, Pakis are smart. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Now think how current Indian government would have done?
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nuggets from the Urdu press</b>
<b>Bob Woolmer was not responsible</b>
As reported in daily Jang, the ex captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Imran Khan, said that the poor performance of the Pakistan team was responsible for the death of Bob Woolmer. He said Bob was not responsible for the defeat of Pakistan in the World Cup. The responsibility of a coach is to work on the technique of cricketers and it is the team players who are responsible for their performance in the field. Bob was the greatest coach and a great human being. He always accepted criticism with openness. He united the team into one unit but unfortunately our players spoiled all his efforts. He died because he couldn’t absorb the defeat against Ireland.

<b>Sami ul Haq was denied British visa</b>
According to daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the British high commission slapped a ban on the entry of the head of the Jamiat Ulema Islam (S) Maulana Sami ul Haq and denied him a visa to participate in All Parties’ Conference in Britian. The British government alleged that the statements of Sami ul Haq support terrorism and are against the interest of British people.

<b>Heroes were product of communal war</b>
In an interview in daily Express, the famous historian Dr Mubarak Ali said that nobody knew about early Muslim rulers during the Mughal period. In 1920 after communal riots started between Muslims and Hindus we elevated Mehmud Ghaznavi, Muhammad bin Qasim and others to heroes. Shah Waliullah was a lesser known personality but modern politics brought him on as a hero.

<b>Punjabi Taliban in Waziristan</b>
Daily Pakistan wrote in an editorial that warriors from Punjab and other parts of Pakistan have started converging on Sheen Warsak, Waziristan. The other group consists of Uzbeks under the command of Tahir Yeldeshev who has the support of local tribes. After the beheading of two Arab warriors the two groups are entrenched in their positions on the hills. After the killing of Arab commander Sheikh Asad Ullah the two groups are at war with each other.

<b>PPP is like a zoo</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, when a central leader of Pakistan People’s Party came on stage to deliver a speech, one youth wing leader, Shabbir Babar, objected that the ISI agents wouldn’t be allowed to address the People’s Party workers. Jehangir Babar said that the People’s Party is like a zoo where scorpions, snakes, elephants, lions and sparrows have gathered.

<b>Conspiracy against Afghan jihad</b>
In daily Pakistan, the ex prime minister of Afghanistan and warlord Gulbadin Hikmatyar wrote that the history of Afghanistan’s last three decades is unforgettable resistance, freedom and Islamic jihad. Our enemies call it internal fighting and fasad. Afghans are proud that the renaissance of Islamic jihad long forgotten by Muslims started from Afghanistan. The mujahideen of Chechnya, Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq and other countries got training and learned their lessons from Afghanistan.

<b>Commitment to America</b>
In daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the famous columnist Atta ur Rehman wrote that on March 21st in Washington a Senator stated that General Musharraf committed to taking off his uniform at the end of this year. The question is that the military ruler kept his nation in the dark but gave a commitment to take off his uniform to the Americans.

<b>In a brinjal</b>
According to daily Khabrain, a brinjal was cut and the name of Allah could be seen very clearly in the house of Zafar Iqbal Bhatti in Shahzada Shaheed Colony, Gujranwala. They were impressed with the miracle and sent the photograph to all the newspapers. 

<b>Durrani Sahib’s bhagwan</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, a journalist told the federal minister for information Mohammad Ali Durrani, ‘ap ke bhagwan a gaye hain’ (your bhagwan has arrived). The journalist said this when the minister arrived in the PID center for a press briefing. All the journalists and the minister were in fits for quite some time.  <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Conspiracy in Wana killings</b>
As reported in daily Express, the leader of the clerical alliance, MMA, and Naib Amir of Jamaat Islami, Liaqat Baloch said that the killings in Wana, North Waziristan are a deep conspiracy against the unity of autonomy of Pakistan. He said America wants unstability in tribal areas to destroy the unity of Pakistan. He said the problems shall be solved according to the peace deal in Waziristan.

<b>Hamid Gul in commando uniform</b>
As reported in daily Khabrian, the ex head of the ISI Hamid Gul warned the government that he would bring 22 lac retired army men on the streets. He was wearing commando uniform when he addressed the mob who gathered in front of the Supreme Court.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Taliban’ attack video shop in Islamabad</b>

ISLAMABAD: Students of Jamia Freedia, a sister madrassa of Jamia Hafsa, allegedly attacked a video shop at Bara Khou on Saturday and burnt CDs. The shop that was attacked is in the main market and near the area police station. Eyewitnesses told Daily Times that no one dared to stop the bearded students. Eight students broke into Al-Awan Video Shop and told owner Muhammad Arif that they were from Jamia Fareedia. They told Arif that they had received several ‘complaints’ against him for keeping ‘objectionable’ material. Jamia Hafsa Vice Principal Ghazi Abdul Rasheed denied the attackers were Jamia Freedia students. Police have arrested three attackers under sections of ATA and picked up Arif for questioning. shahzad malik
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[Guest]

<b>Two planes damaged in accident</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISLAMABAD, April 14: Two Boeing 777 aircraft of the PIA were damaged in the early hours of Saturday after a wing of one of them clipped the other’s tail before its departure for Islamabad from Karachi airport.

.........
Both the aircraft, AP-BHW and AP-BHV, were Boeing 777-300-ERs.
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[Guest]

<b>Musharraf, Bhutto clinch deal: report</b>
It is from HT so amy be <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>India decides to slow down peace process</span></b>[/center]

ISLAMABAD - With keen eye on evolving political situation in Pakistan and the ongoing judicial crisis, India has decided to slow down the pace of Indo-Pak peace process and the diplomatic circles here see no chances of breakthrough on any bilateral issue before formation of the new Pakistani government.

India has opted for a ‘go slow’ policy as for the composite dialogue with Pakistan owing to the current judicial crisis in Pakistan and it has decided to wait for the emergence of clear situation.

Moreover, going by the Constitution it is going to be the year of elections in Pakistan and New Delhi prefers to talk in a conclusive way with the next Pakistani government, said the diplomatic sources here on Sunday.

A source said that the recently held inconclusive talks on Siachen in Islamabad was the clear evidence of new Indian policy as otherwise, Pakistan was looking forward to the positive outcome of parleys on the world’s highest battlefield.

He said that not only the upcoming talks between the arch rival nuclear nations would be marred by sluggishness in the days and months to come but also the chances of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Islamabad have diminished greatly.

The Indian prime minister would visit Pakistan only if he was in a position to make an announcement on the resolution of Siachen or Sir Creek dispute, he added.

Islamabad and New Delhi have been engaged in the process of negotiations since January 2004 to resolve Kashmir and other bilateral disputes and it was in March this year that they commenced the fourth of composite dialogue.

According to the sources, the current year of 2007 would not yield anything positive as far as the settlement of contentious disputes like Kashmir, Siachen and other important matters is concerned.

They said as per the agreed schedule, the two sides would hold talks on Sir Creek in May this year but keeping in view the new Indian policy, it could be safely said that no breakthrough was likely contrary to Pakistan’s expectations.

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-->ISLAMABAD - With keen eye on evolving political situation in Pakistan and the ongoing judicial crisis, India has decided to slow down the pace of Indo-Pak peace process and the diplomatic circles here see no chances of breakthrough on any bilateral issue before formation of the new Pakistani government.
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They should have taken this action after Mumbai and Samjhota blast. Now India is waiting for a coup.

[Guest]

<b>Talibanisation of Islamabad</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Reflecting on developments in Islamabad, the Editor of the Lahore-based Friday Times, Najm Sethi notes: "More mullahs (across Pakistan) are likely to follow suit, if the issue is not 'closed' swiftly. Brothels, billboards, veils, music, film, haircuts, dress, and schools - there will be no end to 'concessions' demanded in the name of jihad and Islam." The process of Talibanisation moving eastwards from the NWFP appears to have commenced. In Lahore, the student wing of the Jamat-e-Islami, the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, has beaten up "un-Islamic" students and proclaimed "Islamisation" of the campus. Can this process of creeping Talibanisation of Pakistan be halted?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nuggets from the Urdu press</b> 
<b>British usurp Indian jobs</b>
According to Sarerahe in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, a British hermaphrodite has started living in a temple (mandir) in Hyderabad. If a gay man enters an Indian temple, people throng to get his blessings but if a gay man enters a mosque people start refreshing their ablutions. Islamic fiqah allows a separate row for gays in a mosque. People have sympathy with the local gays of Hyderabad because a white gay has usurped their livelihood. American gays have been teaching them the secrets of gays (passivity).

<b>Akhand Bharat ka Khannas</b>
According to Daily Pakistan, the chief coordinator of Nazria Pakistan Foundation, Main Aziz ul Haq Qureshi, said that Pakistan is not the daughter of the same mother as India is. India is also not our jigar ka tukra. He was responding to a statement by Indian parliament delegation leader Hazari Lal Raghonshi. He warned the Hindus that they would not be dodged by their sweet talk. The friendly ties between Pakistan and India would not be established unless the Indian leadership got rid of the khannas (devil) of Akhand Bharat from their minds. .

<b>April Fools’ Day is against Islam</b> <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the famous ulema karam of the country said that April Fools’ Day is against the sharia and since April 1 is the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),   <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> therefore the whole nation shall abstain from celebrating April Fools’ Day and shall focus on prayers and religious rituals. Islam strictly forbids spreading false news and rumours.

<b>Currency notes from a helicopter</b> <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
As reported in daily Khabrain, in Wazirabad the brother of a pir, Syed Sibte Hassan (Double Shah) who doubled people’s money, spread a rumour that currency notes would be dropped from helicopters on Pakistan Day. Thousands gathered at his place (astana) near the railway lines. A few were injured when some youngsters threw pieces of paper in the air and the mob started running towards the papers. The villagers waited a full day without food or water on the railway lines. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

<b>Ajoka play is against Islam</b>
As reported in Daily Pakistan, Islami Jamiat Talibat said that the Ajoka play, Burqavaganza, ridiculed Islamic teachings. Hijab (veil) is the identity of a Muslim woman that provides her complete security and Islam doesn’t teach obscurantism. The play ridiculed the burqa and veil and is part of an anti-Islam campaign. They demanded that the government take action against the theatre and its management. The government should ban such dramas.

<b>1,800 khatib trained for family planning</b>
According to daily Express, the Provincial Minister for Population Welfare, Nasim Lodhi, has said that according to the social welfare programme 1,800 imams and khatibs have been trained to promote family planning. The minister said that 105 ulema karam have received four days of a master trainer program. These master trainers will conduct workshops to train a further 1,795 ulema karam for two days.

<b>Ali Gilani denied American visa</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the American government has refused a visa for treatment in America to Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gilani. Gilani had applied for an American visa for cancer treatment of his only kidney. The spokesman for the American embassay in New Delhi said that Ali Gilani didn’t condemn the violent means to achieve political goals in Kashmir
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Mullah-Military triangle </b>
FT.com 
Farrukh Saleem
The real indoctrinators of the doctrine of jihad have now convinced themselves that they are on a divine mission and can thus intrude into the state's monopoly on violence 
 
<b>First vertex:</b> Our political maulanas use Islam as a tool to achieve political objectives. Second vertex:<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'> Our uniformed decision-makers use Islam to achieve strategic objectives across the borders and political objectives within Pakistan.</span> Third vertex: Apolitical maulanas are the real indoctrinators of the doctrine of jihad at the grassroots level.

It’s the three vertices that complete and define the basic operating model in operation for the past three decades. The inverted triangle in effect donates the instable nature of the whole operating model (and the relationships within the model). In essence, there have been three interlocked Principal-Agent relationships; one between our uniformed decision-makers and political maulanas, the second between political maulanas and apolitical maulanas and the third between uniformed decision-makers and apolitical maulanas.

The Principal has been managing the relationships rather well whereby the Principal motivated the Agent to act on behalf of the Principal, the Agent undertook acts that were beneficial to the Principal, the Agent was compensated by the Principal and the Principal maintained the interests of the Principal well-aligned with the interests of the Agent. The Principal determined the nature and scope of work, set performance standards, incurred ‘transaction costs’ and the Agent undertook acts as per the wishes of the Principal (it was thus in the interest of the Principal to strengthen both political as well as apolitical maulanas).

The model had built-in rationality and a socio-cultural context; it worked well and produced results.

Victor Frankenstein’s triangular model was meant to produce a low-cost companion-creature to fight low-intensity battles across the borders and to act as political proxies within. Then came September 11, and that added a whole lot of ‘noise’ into the Principal-Agent relationship. The noise has been getting noisier ever since and some of the Agents have been undertaking acts not specifically authorised or motivated by the Principal. Consequently, some of these acts have been against the interests of the Principal.

The Agency, which the Principal-Agent relationship represents, is falling apart. Some of the Agents have developed incentives to shirk; some have developed ‘goal incongruity’ with the Principal while still other Agents feel capable enough to undertake acts on their own. The Principal is faced with a ‘control’ issue; controlling the Agent both before and after the fact. The Principal is in a state of dilemma.

Political maulanas have a rational strategy to achieve political objectives and always incorporate ‘pay and effort’ into their operating ideology. Political maulanas, while acting as Agents, also take into account the ‘fear of firing’ as well as ‘incentives and sanctions’ to act as per the wishes of the Principal. Apolitical maulanas, on the other hand, are irrational and do not incorporate ‘pay and effort’ into their operating ideology. Neither do they have any ‘fear of firing’ or pay much heed to ‘incentives and sanctions’. The real indoctrinators of the doctrine of jihad have now convinced themselves that they are on a divine mission and can thus intrude into the state’s monopoly on violence. <b>Negotiations with them involving ‘incentives and sanctions’ will never bear fruit.</b>
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Terror camps exist in Pak, says China </b>
Pioneer.com
Anil K Joseph | Beijing
For the first time, Communist nation points finger at its 'all-weather' ally
In a major blow to Pakistan's counter-terrorism credentials, China has for the first time publicly acknowledged the existence of terrorist camps within the territory of its "all-weather" ally.

<b>It said that some East Turkistan separatists, who have been fighting for decades to make oil-rich northwest China's Xinjiang province an independent state, received training at the terrorist camps in Pakistan.</b>

The damning confirmation came in a court document in the trial of 37-year-old Huseyin Celil, a <b>China-born Uygur-Canadian, who was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, for "taking part in terrorist activities and plotting to split the country".</b>

According to the court documents, Celil joined the East Turkistan Liberation Organisation (ETLO), a listed terrorist group active in central Asia, in November 1997 and was appointed as a senior instructor in Kyrgyzstan.

While there, Celil allegedly recruited several people to the ETLO and sent them to terrorist training camps on the Pamir Plateau in Pakistan, the court documents said.

Interestingly, the report came hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left Beijing following talks with top Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao, during which he discussed counter-terrorism among other things.

During the talks between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Aziz on Tuesday, the <b>two sides had agreed to cement cooperation in campaigns against "East Turkistan" separatists in Xinjiang and combat cross-border crime.</b>

Uygur militants, whom Beijing calls terrorists or separatists, have been struggling for decades to make oil-rich Xinjiang an independent state called East Turkistan.

Since the 9/11 terrorist strike against the United States, China has conducted counter-terrorism campaign in Xinjiang, arresting top leaders of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the main separatist group.

Celil was also active in ETIM, for which he helped raise funds, recruit members and organise training, Xinhua news agency said.

<b>Citing court documents, it said that in 1997, Celil met ETIM's former head Hasan Mahsum, who was shot dead by the Pakistan Army in 2003, and worked directly under Mahsum's command.</b>

In January, Chinese police busted a terrorist training camp in the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang, killing 18 "terrorists" and arresting 17 others. In the raid, one Chinese police officer was killed and another wounded. PTI
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[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Pakistani authorities tried to hoodwink EU team</span></b>[/center]

KARACHI: The European Union has cited serious disinformation from the Pakistani fishery authorities during a visit of its team to check seafood quality, which it marked as one of the major reasons behind de-listing of local processing factories.

An official document admitted dishonesty on the government behalf and disclosed that during the EU team visit information provided by the competent authority (CA) that is the federally-administered Marine Fisheries Department and Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority (KFHA) proved absolutely wrong, which was also placed in the final report received here by the authorities concerned.

“The mission team was informed by the CA and KFHA officials that auctions for shrimps in K1 are performed in the afternoon and for fish in the evening,” said a MFD letter to the institutions concerned based on detailed report of the EU and its findings.

“According to instructions set by the CA, all FP (fish products) intended for export to the EU market are to be compulsory auctioned at the K1 auction site. However, the mission team found several records in establishments that demonstrate receipt of shrimps at different times during the morning.”

It said that during the course of the mission, information was gathered, in particular from different establishments, indicating that other landing sites were used to supply the EU-approved establishments.

“The mission team observed FP being auctioned and supplied to and processed by EU approved establishments unfit for human consumption according to Council Regulation (EC) N 2406/96,” added the MFD letter.

The government last month finally received a verdict from the EU, which informed Pakistani fishery authorities about de-listing of all the processing factories on quality grounds, putting ban on more than $80 million exports of the country. The EU decision came after more than a month of its vigilance team visit to Karachi fish harbour and other fisheries installations in January 2007 to check quality of seafood being exported to its member countries.

In February 2005 the EU team wrapped up its visit on warnings that Pakistani authorities should maintain seafood quality as per the set standards otherwise they would lose their largest seafood export market.

However, sources say this time the EU has offered a month time for an action plan to remove deficiencies observed during the team’s visit.

“In fact the MFD has received an EU communiquÈ,” said a source close to the fisheries circle. “It clearly asked the action plan by April 16, 2007 and would then give certain deadline to accomplish such plan. After that the EU said it could consider the listing of Pakistan seafood exporters.”

He said the MFD had also received the EU report and sent its copies to the de-listed exporters so the deficiencies found in the factories visited by the experts’ team could assess their quality standards.

“The EU team has indicated serious faults in production chain, which affect the seafood quality and the consignments exported ultimately infected consumers health,” added the source.

The State Bank suggested seafood exports at $160 million by June 2006 up from $138.94 million exported during 2004-05, as the EU countries remained the largest buyers of the Pakistani products with more than 50 per cent share in total shipments.

The EU contributes more than 60 per cent of total seafood export from the country, as the 27-nation block has been the largest single buyer of Pakistani seafood for more than two decades.

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

[Guest]

FT
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>More equal than others</b>
Our mole reports that all rules have been set aside for one of the real PM’s favourite khakis. Given a half-way honest health test for promotion, he’d fail it. The larger than life khaki is diabetic but that doesn’t seem to get in his way. He’s also hypertensive but that isn’t a disqualification either. All khakis are equal, but some are more equal than others.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nuggets from the Urdu press</b>

<b>I am still the President of Pakistan</b>
As reported in daily Express, ex–president of Pakistan Mohammad Rafiq Tarrar said that he is still the president of Pakistan because President Musharraf is not elected according to the constitution. Speaking to journalists in front of the Supreme Court he said that the united front of the political parties would dislodge the president, General Musharraf.

<b>Sex pills in Pakistan</b>
According to daily Khabrain, after the ban on the American sex drug Viagra in Pakistan, the local non registered drug companies, fake doctors and fake hakims are importing the chemical used in Viagra, ‘SLIDNIFIL’ from China. The chemical is filled in capsules that are sold with names like Niagra, Vagra, Vinagra, Godagra. According to the Drug Act of 1974, the manufacturing of English medicine needs a license from the Ministry of Health but the manufacturing of<span style='color:red'> <b>Aryuvedic</b>,</span> Homeopathic and Tib-e-unani medicine have no legal control.

<b>Girl killed for shaking hands with a cousin</b>
As reported in daily Express, in Ghakhar Mandi a man killed his young daughter who shook hands with her cousin in a marriage ceremony. His second wife instigated him and he beat her savagely with a hammer and broke her hands and legs and smashed her head. She was buried secretly in the night.

<b>Preach team for the World Cup</b>
As reported in daily Jang, the media manager of the Pakistani cricket team, PJ Mir, said that the Pakistani cricket team players were more focused on preaching Islam than playing the World Cup in the West Indies. The other teams were also present in the West Indies but Pakistanis players were more enthusiastic about converting non-Muslims. He said the foreign journalists wanted to know why the Pakistani players were saying the azaan in the airplane.

<b>No Indian films in Pakistani cinemas</b>
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the chairperson of the zonal standing committee for sports and culture of Chambers of Commerce, Sangeeta Begum, said that cinemas showing Indian films would be burnt down. She said cinema owners earned money from Pakistani films and now that the Pakistan film industry is facing hard times, the cinema owners are looking towards India.

<b>Inspector caught red-handed</b>
As reported in Daily Pakistan, DSP Dunyapur raided a police station and caught a police inspector red-handed without his clothes with a 16 year old girl and an empty bottle of liquor. The mother of the girl was sitting in the SHO’s office. According to legal experts the raid of the DSP is against the Women’s Protection Bill and the Police Order 2000. The SHO said that he was being victimized because he stopped the monthly of the DSP by raiding gambling dens. He said the girl was the daughter of his adopted sister.

<b>Pregnant man in Narang Mandi</b> <!--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-->
Sarerahe wrote in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, that in Narang Mandi a man became unconscious when a doctor told him that he is five months pregnant. It became clear afterwards that his X-ray was changed with the X-ray of his wife. The police officers and bureaucrats must have their X-rays and ultrasounds to find out if there are bad names being raised in their bellies. It must also be investigated whether the X-rays of India and Pakistan were changed during partition.

<b>Aunty Shamim and Jamia Hafsa</b>
As reported in daily Jang, the victim of the violence and abduction at the hands of Jamia Hafsa students, Aunty Shamim, said that the madarassa is full of automatic weapons and the students are planning to take over Parliament. The maulvi of the Jamia is spreading terrorism under the guise of Islam. She said that if the situation remained the same she would have to migrate from Pakistan.

<b>Sharia Courts by ulema are un-Islamic</b>
As reported in daily Jang, the well known religious scholar and intellectual Javed Ghamidi said that creating sharia courts and punishing culprits is not the job of ulema (religious scholars). He said that establishing courts is the responsibility of government. God Almighty has restricted muslims to live in social discipline and the responsibility of the ulema is to preach the message of Islam. The ulema can only suggest or point out the problems in a society.
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[Guest]

<b>Bomb rocks international airport in north west Pakistan</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A bomb exploded at an international airport in northwest Pakistan on Saturday causing slight damage to the building, officials said.

It was a low intensity timed device planted outside a cafe near the entrance to the departure lounge at<b> Peshawar International Airport</b>, area police officer Iftikhar Khan said.

Peshawar is the capital of North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.

"There were two international flights taking off for the Middle East and the bomb explosion caused slight damage and panic among the visitors," Khan said, adding that an inquiry has been ordered how the explosive was smuggled into the airport.

<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>Pak interior minister hurt, 30 killed in NWFP blast</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao was injured while 30 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a public meeting in North West Frontier Province on Saturday.

Officials confirmed the death of only 15 people in the blast that took place at Charsadda area as soon as Sherpao completed his address.

Geo TV reported quoting eyewitnesses that about 30 people were killed in the blast and several injured, including Sherpao. His son Sikender Sherpao was also believed to have been injured in the attack.

Sherpao was rushed to hospital along with several others. An interior ministry official said that Sherpao and his son are safe.

An eyewitness said the blast took place when a number of Sherpao's supporters rushed towards him at the stage.

He said the suicide bomber came from behind the stage and blew himself up.

Some other politicians were also present at the meeting, but there was no immediate information about them.
..............<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sangeeta Begum, said that cinemas showing Indian films would be burnt down. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
what's up with the kaffir name, she should set herself on fire first and do us all a big favour.

[Naresh]

<b>The Truth is out. Ardeshir Cawasjee – the Doyen of Pakistani Columnists-Commentators Aptly and Succinctly describes the 170 Million Terroristanis!</b>

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Of hats and shawls and dubious deals</span></b>[/center]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Ardeshir Cowasjee</span></b>[/center]

THE expatriate community is all at sea. Its members cannot comprehend or work out exactly what is happening in their homeland. They are puzzled, they are confused – as are most of us right here sitting in the homeland. They are also disgusted. One e-mailer writes : “Having spent almost all my life as a second class expatriate, I have no home to come back to. The Pakistan that my forefathers created has no room for me as now I am a complete misfit. I cannot lie, cheat, bully or kill – the supreme criteria for being a true Pakistani. I just want to know how long are we going to survive like this as a nation? I just want to know what it is that keeps us going? Each time I visit the country I find my fellow Pakistanis in increased misery.”

<b>What can I tell the man? How long? At the rate we are going, it should not be too long. What keeps us going? <span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Well, who wants us 170 million belligerent, illiterate ‘nanga-bhookas’?</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

A correspondent from Down Under asks me “frank questions about the Chief Justice issue.” “Is the clamour of the legal brigade against the suspension of the CJ based on the premise that the CJ is above the law? Is it a politically convenient excuse for them to demonstrate against Musharraf? Is the honeymoon over? Is the suspension justified or is it just a political ploy on the general’s part?”

Well, the honeymoon may not yet be over. The legal brigade is parading the streets, exercising its members’ right to violence, to foolish behaviour and to childish pranks – wielding staves and beating up suspected masqueraders, bashing up the car of a senior lawyer appearing for the government, tearing down the signboard outside another lawyer’s office, and removing the Jadoogar of Jeddah’s photograph from the Karachi Bar Association’s room.

As to whether the suspension is justified, that is for the Supreme Judicial Council to decide. Another thing that is for sure is that the treatment meted out to the Chief Justice of Pakistan on March 9 is, in all ways, unjustifiable. It was disgraceful – and shamed this nation, as was the manner in which he was treated on March 13. It was all wrong, very wrong – and above all, foolish in the extreme. But this does not justify the behaviour of the legal fraternity and their total irresponsibility towards the rights of their clients.

One rather amusing – “galgenhumor” as the Germans have it, gallows-humour – message had attached to it a photograph which appeared in the national press earlier this month when President General Pervez Musharraf visited the Petaro Cadet College. It depicts him, in his military uniform, with a Sindhi embroidered hat on his head and a knee-length colourful Sindhi shawl draped around his shoulders, receiving some sort of plaque from two gentlemen in naval uniform.

“What Edward VII of Britain wore,” wrote my correspondent, “is no match for our Mr Uniform. Do you note the disgrace to the uniform? And this is not the first time he has deviated. I have seen him in Punjabi and Pakhtoon turbans while in uniform. This can only happen in the God-gifted state of Pakistan. As far as street politics is concerned and the actions of the legal community, I agree with you. But these are pent up grievances and not love for the Chief Justice. He also needs to act like a Lordship and not a politician.”

Sadly, while Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is being conducted around the country to speak in various Bar Rooms. We have also been regaled with a photograph of him wearing a funny hat and draped in a multi-coloured shawl. This he should not allow. He should indeed distance himself from the political antics as practised in Pakistan (and the general would do well to do the same).

There has also been much mailing about what has come to be known as the ‘deal’ – whatever that may denote. What a sad situation it is that in troublesome times Musharraf has no other choice but to fall back on Benazir Bhutto (if that is what he is doing). It is distressing that Pakistan can offer no other options.

Musharraf is desperate to hang on to power, however it has to be done, and Benazir is as desperate to get her flat foot back in, whatever that may take, even at the risk of undermining her “political credibility,” as she told an audience at the London School of Economics on April 24. The point here is that all things being equal, her political credibility is zero minus, after her two stints as prime minister of this country when she ran it into the ground.

A column in The Times (London) asked earlier this month whether Benazir is the answer to Pakistan’s problems. The writer made a rather pithy understatement : “Her record as prime minister does not give cause for great confidence. In her first stint, from 1988 to 1990, she was penned in by the army and intelligence services and can legitimately claim that her hands were tied. But in the second, from 1993 to 1996, she had fewer excuses. Her government did push through some of the liberal reforms that she intended but was also plagued by a cloud of accusations of financial mismanagement (from which Musharraf’s government has been comparatively free).”

<b>Now that Musharraf reportedly is about to allow Benazir off the hook in the courts of Pakistan and in courts of other land does not speak well for his commitment to justice and the rule of law. If she has committed crimes, she must be held answerable for them in courts of law. <span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>The dropping of cases against her merely to satisfy Musharraf’s expediency is another disgrace and a shame for this nation.</span></b>

According to a member of the audience at the LSE, Benazir spent most of the evening lecturing, not on the “current political situation in Pakistan,’ as her lecture was titled, but on the past glories and achievements of her life from1977 to 1996. She apparently made no mention of a deal and sidestepped questions put to her on the subject. She did state her intention to return to Pakistan, in the national interest of course, and as it would benefit the country’s “democratic, constitutional and development interests.”

Avoiding mention of the deal, she touched upon her future cooperation with the military-led government purely in the interest of the “restoration of democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law ....”.

Two days later, in Ukraine, lecturing before an audience at a conference on Peace and Tolerance, she again expressed her intent to return home after her ten years of self-exile “as part of her search for a representative and accountable society, and to support my country’s movement for the restoration of democracy through the holding of fair, free and impartial elections.”

What she, or for that matter anyone else, means when they talk about the ‘restoration’ of democracy is not clear at all. When has this country ever had democracy? It has not, so there is nothing to restore. We have to start. Musharraf claims he has given us the “essence of democracy”, whatever that may denote. But there is no democracy now and there has never been. As for free and fair elections, Benazir should know all about that. She has been through four of them and all were stage-managed. What makes her think anything in this troubled and difficult year can be different?

<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>It should be lonely at the top. But the problem with Musharraf is that he seems to be surrounded by imbeciles whom he heeds. His and our bad luck.</span></b>

arfc@cyber.net.pk

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