Muslim Leaders Support Pakistani Girl Rimsha Masih who was Accused of Blasphemy

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Muslim clerics and scholars -- including representatives of radical groups -- have voiced support for a Pakistani Christian girl accused of blasphemy. An official medical review, meanwhile, has revealed she has mental difficulties.

According to media reports, the All Pakistan Ulema Council, an organization of Muslim clerics and scholars, denounced the climate of fear and vigilantism surrounding Rimsha Masih, who was accused of blasphemy for burning religious texts and then arrested when an irate mob demanded action. The facts of the case -- including what the young girl burned while cleaning -- are in doubt, and some media reports say she has Down syndrome.

"The law of the jungle is taking over now and anybody can be accused of anything," Allama Tahir Ashrafi, chair of the council, told the BBC.

He called on the government to impartially investigate the accusations and punish the accusers if they falsely pointed the finger, according to Toronto's Globe and Mail.

"We see Rimsha as a test case for Pakistan's Muslims, Pakistan's minorities and for the government," Ashrafi told a news conference in Islamabad, according to the McClatchy news service. "We don't want to see injustice done with anyone. We will work to end this climate of fear. The accusers should be proceeded against with full force, so that no one would dare make spurious allegations."

Ashrafi's support of Masih is all the more remarkable considering his extremist ties. According to McClatchy, Ashrafi also is part of the leadership of the Defense of Pakistan Council, a coalition of Islamic groups including some thinly-disguised outlawed militant organizations.

The fact that Muslim mullahs -- even radical leaders -- were defending Masih was not lost on Sajid Ishaq, chairman of the Pakistan Interfaith League, which includes Christian, Sikh and other religious minorities.

"This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that Muslim community and scholars have stood up for non-Muslims," Ishaq told McClatchy. "We are together, demanding justice, demanding an unbiased investigation."

It should be noted that while Ashrafi and the All Pakistan Ulema Council are denouncing the false accusation of Masih, they are not criticizing the blasphemy law itself, which mandates life imprisonment for defiling the Quran and life imprisonment or death for disrespecting Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

The unusual show of support for Masih came as a government medical report revealed details of her age and mental state.

According to the BBC, the report, by a medical board of seven doctors, states that Masih is about 14 years old, "appears un-educated and her mental age appears below her chronological age."

This revelation means Masih's case will be shifted to Pakistan's juvenile court, according to the Associated Press. Tahir Naveed Chaudry, an attorney representing Masih and her family, told AP he will move to dismiss the case against his client after her Thursday bail hearing, saying there is "no solid evidence" against her. He also said he visited Masih in Rawalpindi prison, where she is being held, and that she was "weeping and crying."

A number of media outlets have reported on the ordeal faced by Masih, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has asked for a report on her arrest. Masih's parents are in protective custody while Christians have fled her neighborhood for fear of retribution by Muslim extremists. The AP reported that about 300 Christians set up a makeshift camp in a field in an Islamabad neighborhood, even making a church out of branches where they held prayer services. But antagonists burned their church down during the night, and then the group was evicted from the site.

"We are helpless. What can we do? We are just sitting here," Naseem Javed told the AP. "They don't even want us to have a place to pray."

Even if Masih is acquitted of the blasphemy charge, her future remains bleak, as the mere accusation can lead to murder at the hands of vigilantes. The AP reported that in July a man accused of desecrating the Quran was dragged from a police station, beaten to death and set on fire.

Meanwhile, McClatchy reports that many of the Christians who fled Masih's neighborhood are asking for government land to build new homes.

"We'll never go back. We have young children. How can we go back? They won't even let us say our prayers there," Zahid Pervez told McClatchy. "We will sit on the roads, for however long it takes, until we are given somewhere else to live."

blasphemy case - All Pakistan Ulema Council,

T is a measure of the sensitivity of the matter that the voice of a lone Islamic cleric on the latest in the series of blasphemy cases is considered to be a big step forward. The case of a Christian girl accused of blasphemy has received wide publicity and the matter is before court. A hearing is fixed for today and the first points for the court to arbitrate on are: whether she can be allowed bail and whether the girl is a minor and entitled to trial under the law for juveniles. Around the legal proceedings, a much bigger argument continues to be carefully presented.

This view is informed by the principles of tolerance and fairness and to a great extent defined by the fear that is today associated with discussions involving religion. Rights activists have called for the girl`s protection and newspapers have written on it. Most have qualified their take before they press for something as basic as a fair probe, and before expressing their concern over the frequency of blasphemy cases.

Her young age has been mentioned and a common reaction is based on reports that the girl may be suffering from Down`sSyndrome. Still others are asking if the girl accused of desecrating religious texts can actually read.

The voice of the chairman, All Pakistan Ulema Council, is different from others since clerics and religious scholars here have seldom demanded fairness in matters involving blasphemy charges.

Religious parties are cautious not to move beyond routine statements issued on special days when it comes to the minority`s complaints against the majority in Pakistan. By choosing to air his views on the current case, the APUC chairman appears to be trying to lift the debate to a level where it needs to be conducted. He seems to be trying to initiate a discussion among the knowledgeable, in the interest of fairness that is so central to religion and in the interest of law and legal interpretation that leaves little room for misuse and error. The APUC chief said that with some rational, unbiased handling, the case could well turn out to be a watershed in Pakistan`s history, and thataccusersin suchcases must also be open to accountability. These are valid points that need to be followed up on.

Dengue season

THE onset of monsoon rains in many parts of the country has brought back memories of the havoc wreaked last year by the dengue mosquito. While the potentially deadly dengue virus infected a number of people across Pakistan, Lahore was affected particularly badly. In preparation for what this year may bring, federal government organisations, including cantonment boards and Pakistan Railways, were asked on Monday to launch anti-dengue campaigns in their jurisdictions across Rawalpindi Division, buttressing the efforts of the Punjab government in this regard. At a meeting attended by health officials as well as the district coordination officers of the four districts of Rawalpindi Division, it was announced that Sept 2 would be observed as antidengue day in the province and that seminars and walks would be held to create awareness. Meanwhile, the Community Safety, Information and Training Wing of Rescue 1122, Rawalpindi, has also started similar awareness raising seminars.These are laudable steps that need to be replicated in other parts of the country. Efforts in different cities and areas are currently more piecemeal than coordinated, with the odd seminar or fumigation drive being carried out. A concerted push to minimise the risk of another dengue outbreak would involve close collaboration on the provincial and district levels, as well as with city administrations and municipal departments.

This must be done if we are to prevent hospitals from being flooded, as they have been in earlier seasons, with dengue patients. A mass awareness raising campaign through radio and television would be invaluable, putting out information such as that the dengue mosquito breeds in fresh, not stagnant, water. Cleanup of cities and towns should be undertaken in any case, but people also need hard information that could help them avoid providing the disease-carrying mosquito breeding space in their homes, such as in uncovered pails of water.

NAM debates Iran N-plan standoff Khar stresses diplomacy to ease tension

TEHRAN, Aug 28: Dialogue and diplomacy should be the only instruments to resolve the standoff over Iran`s nuclear programme, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said at a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on Tuesday.

Foreign ministers from NAM states began two days of discussions to prepare the ground for the organisation`s summit on Thursday and Friday.

Ms Khar`s statement conformed to the mood at the meeting that saw fiery speeches condemning `unilateral` actions particularly sanctions against Iran and other nations and calling for a greater say for developing countries in decision-making at the United Nations.

Other issues included a call for the creation of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, and an appeal for nuclear disarmament, particularly in the Middle East.

In her speech during an interactive debate on `Lasting peace through joint global governance`, Ms Khar stressed the need to follow founding principles of NAM based on peaceful coexistence, respect for human rights and territorial integrity of all states to ensure an enduring peace and progress in the world.

The foreign minister said a major challenge confronting the world was how to achieve international peace and security on the basis of equality.

`We all know peace anddevelopment are mutually reinforcing and without peace we cannot even think of development and prosperity,` she said.

Ms Khar called for a just solution of the Palestine issue on the basis of Palestinians` right to self-determinationand stressed an immediate end to the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. The foreign minister said Afghanistan would need support of NAM fraternity as it moved towards the transition phase in 2014.

Hina Khar said Pakistan had always stood for human rights and democratic ideals.

`We believe every country and nation is entitled to nurture and promote these values in accordance with their own historical experience,cultural and religious values.

She termed disarmament and non-proliferation an important area for global peace and security. `Equal and undiminished security for all states must be the norm to ensure global peace and security,` the foreign minister added. Ms Khar said economic and social development of nations was the most important area to build and sustain peaceful, prosperous and harmonious societies.

She said the world needed to generate 600 million jobs to accommodate the young people who would enter the job market over the next 10 years. `We need to cooperate and work with our partners from developed countries to meet the needs and aspirations of our youthful populations.

She pointed to several global issues that required a unified effort by NAM rising costs and scarcity of energy, the continued external exploitation of natural resources, especially in Africa; the growing shortage of water; and the problem of migration, including free flow of labour from the developing to the developed countries.

She said restrictions on the flow of technology, especially advanced technology, to developing countries and environmental degradation due to over-consumption by the rich at the cost of the poor in developing countries were additional problems.

Ms Khar said the nonaligned movement could play a role in the enlargement and implementation of the trade and development agenda through measures like reduction of agricultural subsidies in rich countries; elimination of high and escalating tariffs against developing countries; commodity price stabilisation; special and differential treatment, and capacitybuilding.

Ms Khar said that NAM countries could also help each other directly through regional economic integration and specific schemes for South-South cooperation.

The foreign minister said a tendency had been noticed that when various challenges began to assume crisis proportions, the major powers sought to go `small` and `selective` by opting for decision making in self-selected mechanisms. `This is a mistake that must be avoided.

The United Nations might not be most efficient, but it was still the best available.

Small may be easy to manage but the shelf life of decisions taken through these mechanisms did not enjoy the desired legitimacy, she added.

She praised Egypt`s stewardship of NAM over the past three years.-APP AFP adds: Tehran is portraying this week`s summit as a blow to US-led efforts toisolate it internationally.

It is expected to brandish any summit agreements slamming sanctions or affirming a right to nuclear energy as validation of its position in its worsening standoff with Washington over its atomic activities.

The NAM is a 120-member organisation founded in 1961, at the height of the Cold War, by nations considering themselves independent of the US-led Western bloc or the then-Soviet Union. It represents nearly two-thirds of the UN`s 193 member states, accounting for much of the developing world.

It has also generally taken on an anti-US bent, as evidenced by the fact Russian and Chinese delegations but no US ones were invited to observe the Tehran summit, and the language used in documents that often criticise US policies on Iran, Cuba and the Palestinian issue.

Overall, the NAM seeks greater accountability from the UN Security Council and a greater weight for the UN General Assembly where it is strongly represented in making global decisions.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon will be attending the Tehran summit, in a customary observer role, despite criticism from the United States and Israel.

Letter to Swiss, no new twist

FROM high drama to low farce, on and on rumbles the saga of the Swiss letter. Sept 18 is the new deadline, a day that will mark the fifth time a prime minister will appear before the Supreme Court this year. And yet, there is no sign of the letter being written, nor of the court surrendering to the logic of elections and the democratic project. The extraordinary has become the new normal and it has reached the point where even the media and the public cannot really muster much interest. For what is left to be said at this stage? Rewind to former prime minister Gilani`s first appearance before the Supreme Court earlier this year and contrast it with the reaction to Prime Minister Ashraf`s date with the court yesterday the three-ring circus of spectacular proportions has degenerated into an almost pitiful sideshow. Perhaps in this clash of institutions and rhetoric, the present impasse is the least bad of outcomes: the two sides have not budged from their original positions but then neither side has launched a truly destabilising attack on the other.

As luck would have it, another fundamental part of the equation has moved, however: as days and weeks and months have been slowly swal-lowed up by the cut and thrust between the court and the PPP, the deadline for a general election has come closer and closer.

Whereas in January, when the courttook up theissue of the NRO with gusto again, it was a question of how the government could survive 15 months of this tussle, now it is down to a question of a few short months. If, as rumour has it, the government is contemplating a spring election, the country is on the cusp of a pre-election interim set-up. In that may lie the way out for everyone.

Prime Minister Ashraf will almost certainly have to go now that the court has set in motion a repeat of the Gilani affair. But Sept 18 is now the earliest date at which the prime minister can be charged for contempt and, if the court`s recent mood is anything to go by, he will have at least several more weeks before a final order for his disqualification is signed. That would take the country into an interim set-up timeline, so if the court were to oust Mr Ashraf at that point, the government could call an election and be done with this numbing ebb and flow of its tussle with the court.

However, already the next question looms: what will the interim prime minister do about the small matter of a letter to Switzerland?

22-day respite for Raja

ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Dressed in black sherwani on a sultry day, Raja Pervez Ashraf appeared before the Supreme Court on Monday as the second prime minister to answer why he should not be charged with committing contempt like his predecessor, but got a 22-day breathing space.

Prime Minister Ashraf appeared more confident than his predecessor Yousuf Raza Gilani and he quietly walked to the court, along with his visibly tense legal aide, Law Minister Farooq H. Naek, to be seated inside the courtroom No 2.

He was accompanied by his coalition partners like PMLQ`s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Awami National Party`s HajiAdeel, Muttahida Qaumi Movement`s Babar Ghouri and cabinet colleagues.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had issued a show-cause notice to the prime minister for not implementing its orders in the NRO case of writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases worth $60 million against President Asif Zardari.

He was asked to appear before the court in person to answer contempt charges.

The white SUV carrying the prime minister was the same which had brought to the court premises his predecessor Gilani who was convicted and eventually disqualified for committing contempt of the court.

Throughout his presence, the court bristled with blue-clad security officers encircling the prime minister and by media personnel.

But the arrangement was better and the crowd more organised and relaxed thanon previous occasions.

Request for time The prime minister immediately clinched the opportunity when asked to address to the court. He spoke extempore in Urdu and right away asked for four to six weeks saying he had assumed the high office only two months ago and could not find adequate time to concentrate on the issue at hand because of daunting challenges the country was facing both domestically and internationally.

`Besides, I also wanted to submit a reply to the showcause issued by the court and to engage a legal counsel, the prime minister pleaded.

The performance of the prime minister was quite impressive and he got the much-needed space while not budging an inch from the government`s stance on the issue of writing the letter. The court also was more flexible towards him, said a legal observer who did not want to be named. It appeared that some kind of backchannel efforts were at work, he added.

`It is a matter of privilege and honour for me to appear before the highest court of the country,` Prime Minister Ashraf said. He conceded that the NRO implementation case had created quite an upheaval in the country and, therefore, needed to be resolved quickly.

No solid commitment The prime minister avoided giving any clear assurance to the bench despite repeatedly asked to make a positive commitment. He said it was his solemn desire to find a way out commensurate with the dignity and honour of the judiciary.

`I am a law-abiding citizen and have complete respect for the law and the judiciary. I don`t want to give an impression as if my government intends to defy a court order, he said, adding that he wanted to create an example that the PPP government respected the judiciary.

`It is my as well as my coalition partners` strong desire not to be remembered in history as someone who flouted and disregarded the dignity and majesty of the court,` Mr Ashraf emphasised.

He said he would make sincere efforts to end the current uncertainty which was taking a heavy toll on the country and expressed his resolve again to find an amicable solution to the stalemate, keeping in view the dignity of the court.

`But I need time to reach aconsensus with the coalition partners as well as cabinet colleagues,` he said.

No turning back Justice Asif Khosa praised the prime minister for appearing before the court and said that until indicted he should not consider himself to be an accused since the court had great respect and deference for the high office.

But he made it clear that after the judgment in the Gilani conviction case it was difficult for the court to go back from its stance on NRO implementation or for the prime minister to have any discretion in the matter.

`Only implementation of court`s order will reflect respect for the judiciary and not mere appearance before it,` Justice Khosa observed.

`The matter can be solved in three days as all you have to do, as explained in the Gilani case, is to authorise either the law minister or Attorney General Irfan Qadir and the court will sort out the rest of the matter,` the bench assured the prime minister and reiterated its earlier offer to facilitate the government by addressing all concerns it had with the court.

`We will also take care of any anticipated effect,` the court observed.

The prime minister said the media had created a lot of hype which was adversely affecting `our relations with the outside world, especially with the United States and, therefore, it should be solved at all cost` `I assure you that it is not my intention to linger on the matter any further,` he said.

But he ignored repeatedremarks by judges about contemptuous statements being made by certain senators, governors and ministers against the judiciary. All that the prime minister had to say was to mention the drubbing he and the president were getting at the hands of 89 independent TV channels.

The order After a brief consultation with brother judges, Justice Khosa acceded to put off the proceedings till Sept 18, but pointed out that the prime minister had undertaken to appear in person again on that date.

The order said he (prime minister) had stated his earnest and sincere desire to resolve the present issue in a manner which would uphold the dignity of the court and also address the concerns of the federal government.

`With these submissions he has requested for some time to make a genuine and sincere effort to first understand the issue with all its complexities and then take steps to implement the order/direction of this court,` the order said.

After the hearing, the attorney general said the prime minister`s appearance before the court showed his respect for the judiciary. The judiciary also should reciprocate the same, he said.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the prime minister`s presence had proved that all those who were accusing the ruling PPP of not complying with the court`s orders were wrong. He said some positive way out would emerge after consultation with coalition partners.

[TOP]

PTI Economic Plan

THE economic plan unveiled by the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf touches on the right issues, but carries the same weaknesses that the manifestoes of its rival political parties do: it is rich in sentiment but poor in substance, tall on promises but short on credibility. The framers of the vision are quite right to say that `business as usual is not sustainable`. They are right to point out that the governance failures of the present government have resulted in a doubling of per capita public debt, record high fiscal deficits, persistent double-digit inflation, sharply growing power shortfalls, and depleting foreign exchange reserves (although it`s hard to see how much of this depletion could have been avoided given persistently high oil prices).

The programme is strong on the reform of publicsector enterprises. All this is fine and testament to the first-rate talent that has helped the PTI draw up its programme. But what exactly does the party intend to do about the dismal state of affairs that it describes so well? That is where the problems begin. For starters,consider this. They claim they will raise `welfare spending` to Rs4.6tr, compared to present-day disbursements of Rs0.9tr.

They claim they will cut the deficit and free up bank resources for investment by industry. They claim they will resolve the power crisis by diverting fuel to power generation.

They claim they will bring down inflation to seven per cent. Yet they have opposed tax reforms in the past, vilifying the RGST, or reformed general sales tax, as evil. Where will the money come from to pay for the expenditure hikes and deficit cutting? Will industry grow if it is deprived of gas? They promise a muscular effort to recover looted wealth. Remember when the Musharraf government went on a rampage to recoverloans and looted wealth in their early years, causing business confidence to plummet? What lessons have been learned from that experience? At the end of the day, the economic plan almost reads like a wish list drawn up by somebody who thinks complex problems have simple solutions.

Smoking

WHEN Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, the teacher, allowed Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the student, to smoke in his class, it may have been viewed as a progressive gesture aimed at breaking the hold of oppressive etiquette. The fashionable images have changed over time, and they have changed far more quickly than ever in recent decades. People do smoke by choice, but behind their now dismissive, now defensive exteriors, they try to hide the guilt that must today accompany the act. A student may still smoke in college, but far from a taboobreaker he is a health hazard. Quitting smoking is a stern test that distinguishes an individual, and passive smoking leaves the sensitive and the aware unable to breathe and demanding stricter adherence to common sense if not the law.

A Karachi-based study has reconfirmed how anti-smoking laws are flouted here with absolute impunity. The survey done by a group of doctors fromAga Khan University and Dow University lists violations of the laws at campuses, restaurants, banks etc, and notes that in comparison to the old government offices, modern private-sector institutions are more likely to follow the law. Even in privately run places such as restaurants, smokers freely spread toxic clouds. Cigarettes are freely sold to minors and sold routinely without the packs bearing the mandatory warning. Fines as high as Rs100,000 are there on the books but unheard of in real life. A Dawn report cites the survey supervisor as saying that though a Supreme Court order for implementation does exist, little official inclination to curb violations is in evidence.

Actually, inaction in the wake of the 18th Amendment is pointed to. The amendment made the federal anti-tobacco cell redundant without shaking the provinces out of their passive state, leaving the smokescreen of ever-billowing rhetoric intact.

Smoking

WHEN Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, the teacher, allowed Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the student, to smoke in his class, it may have been viewed as a progressive gesture aimed at breaking the hold of oppressive etiquette. The fashionable images have changed over time, and they have changed far more quickly than ever in recent decades. People do smoke by choice, but behind their now dismissive, now defensive exteriors, they try to hide the guilt that must today accompany the act. A student may still smoke in college, but far from a taboobreaker he is a health hazard. Quitting smoking is a stern test that distinguishes an individual, and passive smoking leaves the sensitive and the aware unable to breathe and demanding stricter adherence to common sense if not the law.

A Karachi-based study has reconfirmed how anti-smoking laws are flouted here with absolute impunity. The survey done by a group of doctors fromAga Khan University and Dow University lists violations of the laws at campuses, restaurants, banks etc, and notes that in comparison to the old government offices, modern private-sector institutions are more likely to follow the law. Even in privately run places such as restaurants, smokers freely spread toxic clouds. Cigarettes are freely sold to minors and sold routinely without the packs bearing the mandatory warning. Fines as high as Rs100,000 are there on the books but unheard of in real life. A Dawn report cites the survey supervisor as saying that though a Supreme Court order for implementation does exist, little official inclination to curb violations is in evidence.

Actually, inaction in the wake of the 18th Amendment is pointed to. The amendment made the federal anti-tobacco cell redundant without shaking the provinces out of their passive state, leaving the smokescreen of ever-billowing rhetoric intact.

Fear of military operation forces thousands to flee Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH, Aug 26: Thousands of people have fled a northwestern tribal agency in recent days, fearing a military offensive against militants, locals and officials said.

Panicked residents have hastily left the area of North Waziristan despite officials repeatedly insisting that Pakistan has no immediate plan to launch an offensive in the volatile region, they added.

North Waziristan, one of the seven tribal agencies, is said to be a stronghold of the Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives.

Although Pakistan has fought Taliban militants across much of the region it has so far withstood American pressure to move against the Haqqani network which is allegedly based in North Waziristan.

`Thousands of people have so far left the area, they are fleeing their homes due to the fear and rumours of a military operation,` Saif-ur-Rehman, a government official in the main town ofMiramshah, said.

Tasleem Khan, another government official confirmed the evacuation.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders North Waziristan, said that thousands of people had reached several districts in his area.

Rumours started recently after a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban told local media that they had received `an exclusive intelligence report` about an imminent offensive in North Waziristan.

In an email sent to the media, Tehriki-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the campaign was to be launched on Aug 26 and would last one month.

Government and military officials have taken to local radio, asking people to remain calm.

`This is a peaceful area with a peaceful atmosphere. The government has no plan to launch any military operationhere,` a radio announcement heard by local residents said.

On Saturday, some 2000 tribal elders and religious leaders warned the government not to launch any offensive and threatened to move to Afghanistan `in case of any military operation` `We will migrate to Afghanistan, if Pakistan launches any military operation,` Maulvi Abdur Rehman, a religious leader who attended the Jirga, said.

The Jirga also requested residents to stay at home.

A reporter in the area witnessed people fleeing their homes in vehicles.

Washington has long demanded that Pakistan take action against the Haqqanis, whom the United States accused of attacking the US embassy in Kabul last September.

Pakistan has in turn demanded that Afghan and US forces do more to stop Pakistani Taliban crossing the Afghan border to launch attacks on its forces.AFP

Strike in Balochistan on Nawab Bugti`s anniversary

QUETTA, Aug 26: A strike was observed in Quetta and other cities and towns in the province on Sunday on a call by the Jamboori Watan Party (Talal and Aali groups) and Baloch Republican Party on the sixth death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti.

The Baloch National Voice, BNP-Mengal, National Party, Nuri Nasser Khan Council, PPP, ANP, PML-N, Jamaat-iIslami, Tehrik-i-Insaaf and Anjuman Tajiran Balochistan supported the strike.

All shops and trading centres in the provincial capital remained closed and traffic was thin on the roads.

The strike was observed in Nushki, Chagai, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Awaran, Hub, Gwadar, Panjgur, Turbat, Pasni, Ormara, Kharan, Mushkal, Mach, Dhadar, Sibi, Dera Murad Jamali, Dera Allahyar, Sui and Jhal Magsi.

Buses did not operate on the Quetta-Taftan, QuettaKarachi and Quetta-Jacobabad roads in the morning.

Nawabzada Talal Bugti, chief of his own faction of the JWP, hoisted black flag at the party`s central office in protest against the military action that killed Nawab Bugti on Aug 26, 2006.

Addressing a press conference, Talal Bugti appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry to take notice of the delaying tactics of the government and police in arresting the killers of Nawab Bugti.

He said not a single person involved in the killing had been arrested over the past six years. He said that former president Pervez Musharraf was abroad and others named in the FIR were in the country, but police did not implement the court`s order of arresting the killers.

Talal Bugti said the JWP would continue its struggle to complete the mission ofNawab Bugti and acquire the national rights for the people of Balochistan.

Activists of the JWP (Aali group) held a demonstration outside the press club and raised slogans against the government.

They demanded arrest of the killers of Nawab Bugti, end of military operation and recovery of missing persons.

Addressing the rally, JWP leaders paid rich tribute toNawab Bugti for resisting the state oppression and sacrificing his life for a cause.

They said the late leader was killed six year ago but the oppressors did notsucceed in forcing us to abandon his ideology and ideas.

They said that Nawab Bugti had struggled for protecting resources and coasts of the Baloch and he never compromised on principles and rights of the people.Nawab Bugti for resisting the state oppression and sacrificing his life for a cause.

They said the late leader was killed six year ago but the oppressors did notsucceed in forcing us to abandon his ideology and ideas.

They said that Nawab Bugti had struggled for protecting resources and coasts of the Baloch and he never compromised on principles and rights of the people.

Before disaster strikes

IT is customary in Pakistan to wait for disaster to strike and then look at ways to manage the situation. That is what we seem to be gearing up for in terms of this year`s monsoon too. After rapidly changing weather patterns led to forecasts that varied all the way from warnings of disastrous floods to those of drought, a clearer picture has now started emerging: if the current weather conditions prevail, there is a risk of moderate floods, especially in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Rain-related tragedies have already occurred, with flash floods claiming several lives in Nowshera, Mansehra and Bajaur Agency, and hundreds of acres of agricultural land have been submerged in the Sialkot region. In Azad Kashmir, meanwhile, relentless rain over the week has displaced thousands of people. With memories of the catastrophic floods of 2010 and 2011 still fresh in our memory and many of those affected still not fully rehabilitated we can be forgiven for regarding this year`s monsoon with foreboding.

What, then, is officialdom doing to mitigate dis-aster should it strike? The National Disaster Management Authority has said that district management authorities have been placed on alert and are working round-the-clock.

Such vague assurances, however, will not go very far in terms of easing people`s worry and bolstering their faith in the state`s ability to protect them should the need arise. It would be useful if information could be released about which water courses have been cleared to carry extra load, for example, or whether those living along river and canal banks have been warned or plans made for their evacuation.

Has the administration formulated a plan as to where, should the worst occur, displaced people will be accommodated? Too many fear that as in years past, they might be left to fend for themselves as the state machinery struggles to cope. Interventions are needed not just in the northern parts of the country, which are likely to see heavier rain, but also in the south through which the waters would pass. The government still has time to make adequate preparations for a calamity that cannot be ruled out.

Crisis in the country

THE country is passing through a criticalphaseinits history. In addition to the menace of terrorism, it is also facing myriad social and economic challenges, as well as an energy crisis. These issues have added to the peoples` miseries and the only option they have is to raise their voice in protest. [Yet] unity alone can help solve these chronic problems. ...[Slomepeople, in their individual capacity, are making efforts [towards solutions] but these issues need con-certed and collective efforts.

..Opposition parties have continued their activities against the government .

but the nation is not paying attention.... The nation does not want to create more crises ... by playing into the hands of the opposition.

The nation should also keep in mind that cleanliness has great significance for human life.... On the surface, it is a minor issue but it has a serious impact on the future of the nation. ...Cleanliness was considered important in times when there was no currency or bazaars and people of different castes used to live together like one family.

Now, the importance ofcleanliness is felt more because of the increase in population, industrialisation and people`s movement.

Polluted environments . .

can cause various fatal diseases.

.It is the need of the hour to take effective steps for cleanliness.... If people from a particular area select one day a week [to ensure] cleanliness, they can save them-selves from different diseases. They can also hire the services of some people in their communities. By keep-ing the surroundings clean one can fulfil national and moral responsibilities as well as attract other people`s appreciation. No doubt, these challenges add to the people`s miseries but mere complaints cannot help resolve these issues. The entire nation needs to join hands and make a collective effort to overcome these problems. Being responsible Pakistanis, we have to at least fulfil our own national duties to minimise the difficulties; if we are negligent, future generations will not forgive us

Telecom firms, security officials on same page Concern over plan to block pre-paid SIMs

ISLAMABAD, Aug 23: Telecom operators and even some security officials have expressed grave concern over the government`s plan to block pre-paid SIMs issued on bogus national identity cards.

Experts believe that the $10 billion telecom industry in Pakistan with the highest mobile phone penetration in South Asia will be in trouble if the plan is executed.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said on Tuesday that the government was considering a proposal to block all pre-paid SIMs in phases to prevent their use in terrorist activities. He also said that mobile phones had become the biggest weapon in the hands of terrorists who were using unauthorised SIMs.

An official of a mobile phone company told Dawn on Wednesday that it was unfair to blame telecom operators for the government`s failure to curb terrorist activities.

`It`s not our fault if someone managed to break a prison in Bannu by sneaking mobile phones inside the jail,` he said.

On `chaand raat`, the interior minister ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to direct mobile phone operators to shut down their services in different parts of the country for 15 hours and later claimed that the decision had averted a terrorist disaster.

`A number of our cellphone sites were down even on Eid day because the voice and data services were shut down in Karachi and we are in the process of estimating our losses,` said a risk management officer of a leading telecom operator.

`To bring the telecom tower sites (also called mobile boosters) back on track after the shutdown also involved a great deal of engineering efforts,` he said.

Sharing official figures with Dawn, a senior analyst at the IT & Telecom Ministry said that according to PTA website Mobilink had about 35.7 million subscribers, Telenor 29.3 million and Zong 15.6 million. He said there were 118 million mobile phone users in Pakistan.

Telecom companies are declining to share the break-up of figures of postand pre-paid SIMs with Dawn.

A senior vice president of the marketing division of a telecom operator said: `Pre-paid customers constitute 97 per cent of the mobile phone industry.

Since the number of post-paid customers is quite small, pre-paid customers were a major source of income of telecom operators, he said, adding that the economic condition in the country didnot allow ordinary citizens to have a post-paid service.

Ahmed Umar, owner of a mobile phone franchise, said: `Managing a postpaid connection is difficult for a customer since he has to pay a monthly bill, deposit a reasonable amount with the mobile phone operator and he is not sure how much money he has spent on calls and messages.

He said the post-paid customer pays a guarantee of about Rs10,000 for different packages of Ufone, Mobilink, Zong, Warid and Telenor.

`However, if you are a pre-paid customer you can easily manage your calls and texts as per your budget,` Mr Umar said.

He said that almost all telecom operators in Pakistan treated pre-paid users as their key customers and maintained their complete information and data with verification coming through CNICs.

`We have a security feature like asking the customer a secret question before issuing a pre-paid SIM and we have done several verifications of our mobile phone customers on the orders of PTA,` he added.

Government officials working on theexpansion of IT and telecom sector are also critical of the plan to block SIMs.

Officials in the Prime Minister`s office were not prepared to say that the interior ministry`s initiative was a good move for the telecom industry.

One official at the PM`s office who looks after the affairs of the Ministry of IT & Telecom because Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is also in-charge of the ministry said: `Mr Malik`s statement will create a negative impact on the foreign direct investment since telecom is the only competitive sector giving Rs118 billion in tax to the government.

The foreign investors will be a bit reluctant because investments in the telecom sector will be a matter of concern for them since the sale of 3G licence was due to be announced by the government in coming months.

`We were expecting to generate around $1.5 billion from the auction of 3G licences but the interior minister`s statement will have a negative impact on it,` the official said.

A senior official of the IT & telecom ministry said the employment of about 1.5 million people depended on pre-paid phone business directly or indirectly.

Security: Counter-terrorism experts have also criticised the plan to stop prepaid cellphone service.

According to a counter-insurgency official, mobile phones are a key source of information for the security establishment whose workload has doubled because of increasing insurgency and changing tactics of terrorists.

`These mobile phones are our ears since we have caught a number of terrorists and kidnappers and helped police and other investigations agencies to solve murder cases with the help of Call Detail Record (CDR),` he said.

The official claimed that security agencies and even key security departments, including police, in a number of instances caught terrorists with the help of mobile phone data.

He said curbing the technology would create problems for security agencies and counter-terrorism experts.

`Banning this technology will increase our workload and we will have to hire more sleuths and spend more money on finding moles and this will cause a big problem,` he insisted.

Some experts said that mobile handsets were used by terrorists mainly for communication and the security apparatus was yet to find instances of mobile phone terrorism.

`It was only in October 2002 when the Bali bomb blast was triggered with the help of a mobile phone in Indonesia, said the official.

Top US official summoned by FO over drone attacks

ISLAMABAD, Aug 23: The Foreign Office on Thursday again protested against continuing drone attacks by the US on militant targets in tribal areas and reminded Washington that the drone war was unacceptable because it violated Pakistan`s sovereignty.

An unnamed senior US official was summoned to the Foreign Office to receive the demarche after a series of three strikes since last Saturday. The most recent attack took place on Tuesday in Miramshah (North Waziristan) killing nine suspected militants.

The summoning came against the backdrop of reports that Pakistan was renewing its demand that the US government must stopdrone attacks. During his visit to the US earlier this month, ISI Chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam had urged his CIA counterpart David Petraeus to stop the drone campaign led by his agency. Pakistan offered different options in return for cessation of drone strikes, but failed to convince the Americans.

`The US Embassy was today démarched on recent drone strikes in North Waziristan. A senior US diplomat was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and informed that the drone strikes were unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistan`s sovereignty.

It was emphatically stated that such attacks were unacceptable,` a statement by the Foreign Office on the sum-moning of the embassy official said.

So far there have been close to 30 drone attacks this year in which, it is estimated, about 207 people have been killed, according to statistics collected by the New America Foundation.

Long War Journal`s (LWJ) data, meanwhile, says none of the over 200 killed were civilians. The civilian casualty has mostly been around 30-40 during previous years, but improved targeting is said to have reduced collateral damage.

LWJ statistics say 2370 Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders and operatives were killed since the start of the drone war in 2004. A total of about 138 civilians were reportedly killed in these attacks.

Immobile Communication

THIS year`s chaand raat will be remembered not forrecord sales orcarefree crowds. Instead, it will be looked upon as a social experiment in a country that is both more technological and less secure than it used to be. What happens when a public dependent on mobile communication is confronted with a mobile network shutdown in the country`s biggest cities on one of the busiest and most festive nights of the year? On the upside, smart-phone addicts looked up from their devices and were forced into human interaction and Pakistanis avoided having to deal with mass Eid Mubarak text messages clogging their cellphones. But they probably couldn`t greet their relatives abroad, coordinate with family members in crowded shopping centres or make plans for Eid day. It was a traditional festival upended instead ofenhanced by our dependence on technology.

On a graver note, a cellphone shutdown today cannot be taken lightly. It may well have been a necessary step to take in the face of terrorist threats that rely on these phones for coordination and as bomb triggers. But a move like this on such a busy night needs to come with effective public messaging. With little forewarning, imperfect communication about the shutdown once it had begun and thepublic`s inability to use phones to confirm what was happening, panic was the immediate result.

Even after television offered some information, the vague indication of security threats created ratherthan eased concern.

And there was no public awareness about how to get help in case of a medical or other emergency.

This may not be the last time Pakistani authorities need to take such an extreme step for security reasons (though that shouldn`t become an excuse for misusing this preventive measure, by jamming mobile communication during public protests, for example).

And there is only so much information about threats and steps taken that can be released without defeating the purpose.

But the public also needs to be informed, in advance, about how to communicate with the authorities during a shutdown in case of emergencies and about the importance of maintaining landlines. There also needs to be as much forewarning and explanation as possible without giving away too much. There are now few occasions of such public celebration in Pakistan, and even fewer that unite the whole country. Even as we struggle with terrorism and militancy, somehow we have to find a way to preserve the moments of celebration we have left.

raining down drones on the agency.

COINCIDING with the visit of US Centcom chief Gen James Mattis to Pakistan last week, there has been a marked increase in drone strikes in North Waziristan Agency.

A strike was conducted on Tuesday while two drone attacks were reported on Sunday. Saturday the day Eid was celebrated in the agency also saw a drone strike. There are indications that in one of the strikes missiles were fired at the same compound twice, as people undertook rescue work after an earlier attack.

According to reports, such `double-tap` attacks, in which those arriving at the scene of a drone strike are also targeted, seem to be becoming a routine part of America`s drone policy.

Unfortunately, targeting gatherings in tribal areas under the assumption that all present are militants or their sympathisers is problematic, especially if there is no clear evidence to prove their identity. In the aftermath of the recentbarrage of drone strikes, such evidence has yet to be produced. This, and the sheer insensitivity of timing the attacks to coincide with the Eid season will only alienate an antiAmerican public further.

What also fuels anger is that such unilateral strikes by the US violate the principles of sovereignty. Even if the US can come up with irrefutable evidence that the strikes have taken out dangerous militants, drone operations must involve Pakistani coordination and consensus. Trigger-happy strikes will do no more than aggravate the crisis and sour an already uneasy relationship. Without doubt, North Waziristan is a hub of militants and terrorists of every stripe who threaten the security of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a crackdown in the area by Pakistani forces is imperative. But no military operation will be helped by the US blindly and unilaterally raining down drones on the agency.

blasphemy law

ONCE again Pakistan finds itself highlighted in the international press for the most unsavoury of reasons. The issue, the infamous `blasphemy law` or Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, and the misuse to which it lends itself quite regularly now, is far from new.

Public discourse was stirred even before the case of Aasia Bibi who was convicted of blasphemy in 2010, and there was some hope that a reconsideration of the law would become possible. Unfortunately, the matter has been allowed to die down, not leastbecause ofthefearof a hostile reaction from extremists and other quarters, and especially after the killing of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011. Now, yet another person has been accused of committing `blasphemy`.

The 11-year-old girl, a member of the impoverished Christian community that lives in the rural areas around Islamabad, is said to be mentally challenged.

Following allegations that the child desecrated religious texts, human rights activists have said that a number of Christian families from her area have fled, no doubt in fear of bloody reprisals.

Section 295-C in itscurrent form can mistakenly or wilfully be used to do serious harm. The PPP government, which has been virtually silent on the issue since Mr Taseer`s assassination last year, has been unable to deal with the issue forcefully. True, President Asif Ali Zardari has taken `serious note` of the incident and has sought a report from the interior ministry but this is hardly enough. Far more effort is needed to overcome the resistance to a review of this law. It is unfortunate that much of this resistance comes from ordinary Pakistanis whose emotions are easily stirred to the point of boiling rage at the mere suspicion of blasphemy. The existence of this law only implies tacit support for the actions of enraged rabbles.

In the case of the 11-yearold, the police station where she was kept after being taken into custody was surrounded by a mob comprising hundreds of angry men demanding she be tried for blasphemy.

Such hurdles must be overcome. The call for a review of Section 295-C needs to be renewed and the rightwing lobby which has in the past threatened or resorted to violence in this regard needs reminding that the law is man-made.

Pakistan's Imag: Independence Day blues

WHEN I first went to Turkey as a student some 50 years ago (how time flies!) it was gratifying to see how many Turks had a good opinion of Pakistan.

Over numerous trips to Turkey since then, I have watched these positive feelings decline with great sadness. Heroin dealing, people smuggling and insane levels of extremist violence have all taken their toll on Turkish public opinion about Pakistan.

Now, according to a Pew survey, as many as 43 per cent of Turks disapprove of Pakistan while only 37 per cent have positive feelings about it. But these numbers aren`t as bad as those prevailing in another friend of ours: in China as many as 52 per cent disapprove of Pakistan while only 31 per cent approve.

Understandably, 59 per cent of Indians surveyed had negative views about us, but things aren`t much better in Muslim countries. In Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, the majority thinks poorly of Pakistan. In the United States the majority views Pakistan as an enemy.

The negative opinions cited here are accurate reflections of our standing in the world.

Over the years, contradictions and cancers have bubbled to the surface. We are now widely seen as the epicentre of Islamic terrorism. Worse, we are also viewed as a dysfunctional state that is constantly demanding handouts from the rest of the world.

Many Pakistanis, with some justification, think these perceptions are both unfair and inaccurate. But clearly they are rooted in reality. Countries and people do not acquirepoor reputations without reason. In our case, a succession of events and trends ranging from repeated bouts of military rule to our growing religiosity to our reputation for corruption have all tarnished our image. Neither has our cause been helped by the awful treatment our minorities and women receive.

As Pakistan has just turned 65, it would useful to reflect on why and how it has all gone so horribly wrong. After all, we started off with a groundswell of sympathy and support from the international community in 1947. Although the rest of the world was only vaguely aware of where Pakistan was, there was no initial hostility towards us.

Even Pakistan`s first martial law was not widely condemned: Ayub Khan was regarded as a modernising and secular leader, and we were widely praised as a model for the developing world. It wasn`t until the bloody civil war of 1971 that the mask of military dictatorship slipped. The reality of the military and the mullahs terrorising ordinary people under Zia became the image of Pakistan abroad.

Although we got a respite due to our frontline status during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, our nuclear programme soon led to sanctions.

Since the 1990s, it has been downhill all the way: even 9/11 and Musharraf`s famous Uturn won us few friends. And our reputation as nuclear proliferators has made brand Pakistan a toxic one. So here we are, the bad boys of the international community.

The purpose of diplomacy is to neutralise foes through a network of alliances and close relationships. It is also supposed to project a positive image of the country whiledownplaying negative aspects.

Over the years, politicians and the media have tended to blame our diplomats for failing in these basic tasks.

The real problem, however, is thatabadproductishardto sell. If the country`s a mess, it`s difficult to convince outsiders that all is well. In these days of 24/7 news over satellite TV and the Internet, very little can be kept secret. No amount of spin can conceal reality.

When I was a diplomat in Washington in the late 1980s, my primary function was to deal with the media, and I was constantly questioned about the widespread stories of corruption in the PPP government. I would have had no credibility if I had merely denied these allegations, so I just put them down to the facts of life in a developing country.

But these charges have kept growing over the years. Things have got so bad that even in the aftermath of natural disasters, foreigners who would like to help now hesitate as they don`t trust the government.

Even states now prefer to channel their assistance through NGOs or oversee its utilisation through their own agencies.

Another fallout from our pariah status is our diplomatic isolation. We presently cannot rely on any country to stand with us in our dispute with India over Kashmir. Nor do any of our neighbours see eyeto-eye with us on a resolution of the Afghan conflict. So here we are, a nation with nearly 200 million people, with barely a say in the affairs of the world.

And yet it was not always so: not that long ago, Pakistan punched above its weight and was a respected voice in international forums. But asPakistan is steadily diminished at home, so too has its clout decreased: to project purpose and authority abroad, a state must be in full and effective control over its territory and people.

Alas, the writ of the state has been steadily eroded, largely because of its own policies. In order to preserve a degree of deniability, Pakistan has used armed groups in Afghanistan, Kashmir and elsewhere to further its agenda. Having gained in strength and legitimacy, these extremist militants now challenge the authority of the state in large swathes of the country.

And by continuing the British strategy of allowing tribes in Fata to rule according to their own code and tradition, we have ensured that there will be little development and huge law and order problems there. The combination of these two policies has come to haunt us in the shape of numerous mutating jihadi groups that are now destabilising the whole country.

As we grapple with these demons, there is little consensus on the most basic issues.

But instead of trying to forge unity in the face of this growing existential danger, our leaders are too busy squabbling over non-issues to come to grips with problems that are probably beyond their capabilities.

Perhaps the most telling sign of our enfeebled state is that to mark Independence, thousands of Pakistanis now fire off millions of rounds into the air. Most of the guns used in this mindless celebration are unlicensed. • The writer is the author of F atal Faultlines: Pakistan, Islam and the West.

irfan.husain@gmail.com

Zia's Legacy

PRECIOUS little happens in Pakistan that cannot be traced to the man who ruled over this country for 11 dark years of its existence. On the morning of Aug 17, exactly 24 years after his death, Gen Ziaul Haq`s presence was felt all the more poignantly.

`Terrorists attack Kamra airbase`, `19 pulled out of buses, shot dead in sectarian attack` at Babusar Top, `Zardari seeks Muslim countries` assistance` on Afghanistan. Rulers either side of Zia have contributed to this mad, unending dance of death that Pakistanis have been subjected to. But while the dictator may have found the soil fertile for cultivating his brand of hatred, he was so thorough in his execution of the self-assigned job and so heartlessly committed to his creed that he ensured that generations after him will find it impossible to escape his influence.

Zia`s figure looms large over a Pakistan where, ostensibly, no popular political party stands by his ideals just as none has dared to declare a war against his legacy. The parties which he fathered, and the ones which were bornof circumstances of his making, have all turned their back on their mentor.

Yet, the ghosts of intolerance the general let loose on society with a ferocity previously unseen are not only very much around and kicking, they have spread far and wide and today use various disguises. Zia used Islam, originally, as a tool to secure the moral high ground against the politicians he had thrown out and that tool later became his convenient ideology, a justification for his rule.

Most dangerously in the present context, he played an able facilitator to a process which was destined to superimpose the interests of the people of the country with the perceived interests of the Islamic `millat`. Inevitably, this was a prelude to a long, violent campaign for the hegemony of an interpretation, a sect over others. This cannot be effectively countered unless those who now disown Zia and this includes almost all political parties here gather the courage to actively fight his legacy.

The standard catharsis through Zia-bashing will not be enough.

Shia killings on the rise

THURSDAY`S execution-style killing of Shia citizens in Mansehra district and the killing of Hazaras in Quetta were only the latest incidents in what is now a clear trend: targeting innocent members of the sect not necessarily members of any political or religious organisation and killing them for no reason other than their religious affiliation.

The Mansehra attack had a particularly disturbing aspect to it, with passengers made to show their identity papers and those suspected of being Shia, on the basis of their names or tribal affiliations, being picked out and killed. Like other recent sectarian killings in Balochistan, Kohistan and Orakzai, the approach used resembled ethnic cleansing in its chilling focus on identifying and killing innocent citizens simply because of their membership to a particular community. And while the Hazara community under attack in Balochistan is relatively small and powerless, the same is not true of Shia communities elsewhere in the country. If not arrested, this trend could well spiral out of control, turning the issue into a much larger conflict.

Meanwhile, where is the outrage from the security forces and politicians? We know these groups are willing to launch aggressive messaging campaigns when they wish to. Take, for example, the army`s response to Salala, thePML-N`s reaction to the government`s refusal to write the `Swiss letter`, the ruling party`s defensive posture on threats to democracy or the PTPs campaign against drone strikes. And while it is unclear what judicial activism can achieve in such cases beyond raising their profile, where is the judiciary that otherwise takes suo moto notice of everything from the price of sugar to violence in Karachi? As each of these groups tries to focus on topics they think will boost their populist or nationalist credentials, the campaign to eradicate a minority community continues to receive less official attention than it should.

Beyond the messaging failure, little appears to have been done to confront the physical danger.

Providing security escorts to pilgrims` buses and changing the routes Shia travellers take has not been enough. Whether combating the problem is a matter of improving intelligence-gathering to prevent attacks, preemptively going after the groups that are carrying them out, improving policing in vulnerable areas or other intelligence or security measures, further delays are inexcusable.

The state needs to demonstrate what it is doing to combat this threat. If not, Pakistan may as well give up any pretence of being a state for anyone other than its majority religious community.

Thousands continue to flee Indian cities

The exodus of people from India's north-eastern states living in the southern city of Bangalore continues with more migrant workers fleeing.

There are reports of people from the region fleeing the cities of Chennai (Madras) and Pune as well.
PM Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm and said peace "must be maintained at any cost".
Officials have blamed the exodus on "rumour mongering" linked to clashes in the north-eastern Assam state.
More than 300,000 people fled after fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in Assam.
Fresh violence between the two sides was reported on Thursday when a mob set fire to a bus and a road bridge, reports say. At least nine people were reported to be injured in clashes.
The main railway station in Bangalore was flooded with migrant workers from north-eastern states for a second successive day on Thursday to catch three special trains to the north-east.
A senior Bangalore official told the BBC that nearly 15,000 people from the region had left the city since Wednesday, when the rumours broke out.
'Nothing has happened' There are 250,000 people from the north-east living and working in Bangalore, which is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India.
Many of them are students, security guards and workers in the hospitality sector.
A minister in the local government S Suresh Kumar told the Press Trust of India that the exodus was "not due to a threat factor, but due to the anxiety [of the people leaving] to be with their parents when Assam has been gripped by violence".

The rumours of attacks have spread to neighbouring Chennai in Tamil Nadu state, and Pune in Maharashtra to the north-west, reports say.
Workers and students from the north-east - mostly from Assam - living in Chennai arrived at the railway station to board to special trains to take them home, one report said.
"Nothing has happened till now, but we are very sure something really bad is going to happen. Our Bangalore friends have said we have to leave," Bishnu, a migrant worker from Assam, told The Hindu newspaper.
Reports of a similar exodus are being reported from western Pune city, where many north-east people working in the city are reported to have fled.
The rumours of attacks have been spread through text messages and the social media. There have been a few reports of people being threatened to leave.
"We must work together to ensure that all people from other states do not feel threatened by rumour mongering and text messages," PM Manmohan Singh said.
Many young people from the restive north-east region have migrated to the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in search of better jobs and education.

Indians in two minds over Singh`s visit

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: Uncertainty hangs over the Indian prime minister`s proposed visit to Pakistan as New Delhi appears to be sceptical of any breakthrough because of the political instability here caused by the executivejudiciary tussle.

`Indians have doubts about the Zardari-Raja set-up`s preparedness to take important decisions and they have duly conveyed their feelings to Pakistan,` said a government official in the knowledge of government efforts aimed at persuading Dr Manmohan Singh to visit Islamabad.

Talking to Dawn, foreign office spokesperson Moazzam Ahmad Khan said Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna was due in Islamabad on Sept 8, but no decision had been taken as yet on Dr Singh`s trip.

However, if media reports are to be believed, Mr Krishna`s presence here will act as a prelude to his premier`s visit. And if all goes well, Dr Singh may turn up at the end of next month.

Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi, an analyst, said he wasn`t hopeful that Dr Singh would come to Islamabad in near future.

`Yes, if the two countries agree to make some breakthrough on the issues of Siachen or Sir Creek, Dr Singh may agree to come here. He won`t come here merely for the sake of a photo opportunity,` Dr Rizvi said.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, however, is looking forward to one highprofile encounter before he leaves office early next year.

And nothing can match a one-to-one with his Indian counterpart.

After Mr Ashraf rose to the helm of affairs in June, media in both countries highlighted the fact that both prime ministers had their roots in the Potohar region.

(Dr Singh hails from Gah, Chakwal district).

President Zardari had extended a formal invitation to Dr Singh on July 27.

10 suspects detained Air base attackers trained in Waziristan

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed on Friday that because of an advance warning about a possible attack on PAF installations terrorists` attempt to harm Kamra assets on Thursday was foiled and all the attackers were killed.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Malik said four of the assailants had been identified. They had received training in Waziristan and the raid, he said, could be traced back to North and South Waziristan.

He said the Taliban were harbouring criminals from all over the country and stressed the need for finding out the mastermind who had sent terrorists to Kamra.

Mr Malik praised the Commander of Karma airbase who led the operation to safeguard the facility and was injured while fighting the attackers.

Answering a question, he said no decision had yet been taken about launching an operation in North Waziristan, adding that such a decision would not be taken under foreign pressure.

Rejecting western media reports,he said thedefence of the country and its nuclearassets were in safe hands.

`When we can develop nuclear assets we also know how to protect them.

About the Babusar Top attack, he said the terrorists had killed innocent people.

He appealed to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan to demonstrate patience and foil attempts to destabilise the country.

He said the government would soon announce a compensation package for families whose loved ones were killed in the sectarian attack.

Mr Malik said an amount of Rs100 million had been allocated to ensure safety on Sharah-i-Karakoram.

He said there was no US national on the premises of Police Lines Headquarters in Islamabad, but conceded that some foreign trainers, including from Australia, were there fro training police personnel.

The interior minister said law-enforcement agencies and police department had been directed to maintain security on Eid.

Yaqoob Malik adds from Attock: Ten suspects were picked up during a search in various areas around the Kamra cantonment on Friday and they are being interrogated.

A large number of Afghan refugees have been living in different parts of Kamra district for years and there is no record about them with the authorities concerned.

Meanwhile, a team has been set up to investigate the incident and identify the militants.

The post-mortem on the militants` bodies was conducted late on Thursday night at the mortuary of DHQ hospital under thesupervision of Dr Khalid Mehmood Khan amid tight security.

During the autopsy, lawenforcement personnel also collected fingerprints which would be sent to the National Database and Registration Authority to establish the identities of the attackers.

Meanwhile, a security manwho was injured during the fighting with the attackers died on Friday. PAF spokesman Group Captain Tariq Mahmood said that Mohammad Iqbal`s funeral prayers were held at the PAF base in Minhas.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt visited the base on Friday.

اتحاد اور اجتماعی استغفار

پاکستان تحریک طالبان کا نکتہ نظر

گریٹ گیم

THE attack on the air force base in Kamra

THE attack on the air force base in Kamra has raised disturbing and disturbingly familiar questions. That only one security personnel was killed as opposed to nine dead militants is only a small consolation: the first and foremost question is, how were militants able to yet again infiltrate a highsecurity armed services` base and engage security forces inside for many hours? Given that some kind of military operation in North Waziristan against at least the Pakistancentric militants is in the offing, the possibility of pre-emptive strikes by the militants is high. Had the warning of a blowback only been made at the policy level without it filtering down to the security forces likely to be in the crosshairs of the militants? Already, the very specific threat against PAF bases in Punjab by the TTP in revenge for the killing of a militant leader earlier this month had been picked up by the intelligence apparatus. Surely, then, at this stage of the fight against militancy, the security apparatus should be able to repulse attacks on at least critical sites with more efficiency, particularly with both the circumstantial and direct forewarning appearing to have been available.

As with previous attacks, the possibility of insider help to the militants in the assault on Kamra is also very high. From sympathisers of radical Islamistthought to direct supporters of militant groups, the army appears to have a militancy problem, the severity of which is hidden from the public because investigations and court martials are often carried out in secret. The wider concern going forward ought to have the army`s screening procedures: how robust and effective is the surveillance and vetting of the armed forces` personnel to prevent an incident before it happens? Clearly, as recent history suggests, not robust or effective enough but what will it take for a more serious and sustained effort? Finally, the question that has bedevilled the fight against militancy: when will the state, both the army and the political government, drive home the message to the Pakistani public that the war is real, it is against a radicalised fringe of Pakistan and that unless the war is fought with total commitment and purpose, the state and society itself will spiral towards irreversible disaster? Gen Kayani`s Independence Day message contained the first strands of that message but it has to be sustained and spread to the farthest corners of the country. The ones shouting `this isn`t our war` many on the political right need to be countered, firmly and unequlvocally. Delay that battle any longer and the already manifold complications will grow yet more complicated.

OIC Decison about Syria

BESIDES adding to the Baathist regime`s regional and international isolation, the suspension of Syria`s membership by the Organisation of Islamic Conference on Wednesday is unlikely to have much effect on the situation in the Levant if the aim is peace. The 57-member bloc coupled the suspension with a call for the development of a peaceful mechanism that would build `a new Syrian state based on pluralism` and a `democratic and civilian system` ideals that are in keeping with the spirit of the Arab Spring. However, ignoring the plea by Pakistan, Algeria and Kazakhstan that the insurgents be also blamed for the bloodshed, the 57member body`s final statement said the `principal responsibility` for the fighting lay with the government of President Bashar Al-Assad. The statement coincided with a UN report which said there were `reasonable grounds` to believe that both government forces and the rebels had committed war crimes and `gross violations` of human rights, including `unlawful killing, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, pillaging and destructionof property`.

Unless there is an agreement on a ceasefire, the Syrian conflict, which has led to 20,000 dead, could expand. Lebanon is already in a state of tension and fear, with reports that four Arab countries have asked their nationals to leave the country following a string of abductions of some Sunnis by a Shia group.

The OIC and the Arab League, which suspended Syria`s membership last year, ought to have a uniform policy on dissent in Muslim countries. Their attitudes towards Bahrain, for instance, are in sharp contrast with their Syria policies. While in the former case the Gulf Cooperation Council sent troops to crush the uprising and save the monarchy, in the case of Libya and Syria they have pursued an active regime-change strategy. What happens if tomorrow there is a democratic stir in Arab monarchies, some of which have not given their people even a semblance of constitutional rule? The Syrian situation deserves to be addressed with all sincerity, but as Pakistan`s f oreign minister said at the recent Tehran moot, moves that could lead to foreign intervention need to be avoided.

کریکٹر

Kayani sounded right themes, says US military chief

WASHINGTON, Aug 15: The Pakistani army chief sounded `the right themes` in his Independence Day speech, says the US military chief as the US defence secretary acknowledged that militants in Afghanistan were conducting crossborder attacksinto Pakistan.

In a similar conciliatory note, the US State Department dismissed as `hypotheticals`, media reports claiming that Pakistani troops might enter Afghanistan while pursuing Taliban militants.

The statements at news briefin-gs in Washington follow Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta`s AP interview on Monday, saying that Pakistan was all set to launch a military operation in North Waziristan.

And on Wednesday, reports in the US media claimed that Pakistan might launch this operation sometime next month.

At a Pentagon briefing, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin E. Dempsey highlighted Gen Kayani`s Independence Day speech in Kakul as very significant.

`I`d encourage you to take a look at (this speech),` said the US military chief, `because it sounds theright themes in seeing his understanding of the challenge`.

In his speech Gen Kayani acknowledged that all state institutions in Pakistan, including the army, had made mistakes, recognised militancy as the main threat to the country and sought public support for dealing with the threat.

At the same briefing, Secretary Panetta pointed out that relations between the two countries had improved rapidly since the reopening of Nato supply lines to Afghanistan.

He also acknowledged one of Pakistan`s major complaints that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) mil-itants were using bases in Afghanistan to attack Pakistani military posts and other targets inside Fata.

`There`s no question that there are terrorists that are coming across from Pakistan who wind up in Afghanistan and then cause some cross-border incidents across the way,` he told an Afghan journalist who wanted the US to persuade Pakistan to stop shelling suspected militant hideouts.

In a pre-briefing statement, Secretary Panetta noted that Pakistan had `now taken a more positive, visible step to advance our shared objective of a secure andpeaceful Afghanistan`.

Pakistan`s decision to open up the Nato supply lines, `means a great deal to us in terms of our ability to transit containers and materiel that are now moving across the border into Afghanistan`, he added.

Secretary Panetta also noted that cross-border cooperation with Pakistan was increasing and the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Allen, was meeting Gen Kayani on a regular basis.

`And it`s helping us try to confront the challenge of these insurgent sanctuaries, which exist on both sides of the border,` he said.

Makli Hill

One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8km. Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 local rulers, Sufi saints and others. It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan.^[1] It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981^[2] under the name, Historical Monuments of Thatta.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

History

Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi, Hamad Jamali. The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind.
The impressive imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) period. In total four historical periods are represented architecturally, namely the Sama period, the Arghun, the Tarkhan and the Mughals. The tomb of the Samma King, Jam Nizamuddin II (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions. Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies. In contrast to the synthetic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty. An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d. 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles. Pavilion or canopy tombs are another typical architectural feature, as well as enclosure tombs. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists, but in strong need of conservation and maintenance. The 2010 flooding's added to the deterioration of the site

Makli degradation

OWING in large part to the state`s apathy, Pakistan`s historical treasures are slowly crumbling.

And if a change in attitude does not come about immediately, we may soon be globally recognised as a country that neglects its heritage. A report in this paper on Monday says the Sindh government may get some respite before the World Heritage Committee adds the Makli necropolis in Thatta to the list of world heritage sites in danger. The authorities` optimism is based on recommendations made in a report based on the findings of a Unesco team that visited Makli in May.

Among the report`s recommendations, it has been suggested that the necropolis`s boundaries as well as a buffer zone be identified, while the experts have also called for a conservation and management plan to save Makli not only from the vagaries of nature, but also neglect by man.

Meanwhile, according to earlier reports, a recently deceased Sindhi poet was buried in the Chawkandigraveyard, despite there being a ban on fresh burials on the site.

It has been noticed that ever since devolution, Sindh`s heritage sites have fared worse than when they were under the centre`s watch. The Unesco report appears to reinforce this view. While it says that following devolution the provincial government`s administrative and technical capacity needs to be enhanced, it also adds that hardly anything has been done to address the degradation of Makli. What should serve as a wake-up call is the observation that damage and loss at the vast necropolis due to pilferage has reached `colossal proportions`. While many may rightly ask if we deserve more time before Makli is listed as endangered thanks to our own negligence the state should take this as a final warning. The recommendations of foreign experts are there; it`s just a matter of following procedure and more importantly, having the will and common sense to preserve heritage.

talks with Mullah Baradar,

CAPTURED in Karachi in 2010 and kept in Pakistan despite requests from the Afghan government to hand him over, Mullah Baradar has often been brought up as an example of Pakistan`s real or perceived reluctance to cooperate with Afghanistan and the US in facilitating talks with the Afghan Taliban.

Reports appearing yesterday that Afghan government representatives may have met the jailed Taliban commander in Pakistan add a new twist to this narrative. It is always hard to determine exactly what is going on behind the scenes when it comes to Pakistan`s relations with Afghanistan and the US, particularly in the realm of counterterrorism and Taliban reconciliation, and this report too has been met with denials from Kabul.

And Mullah Baradar still remains in Pakistani custody. But if true, these latest reports, along with the travel of Taliban leaders from Pakistan to Qatar earlier this year for talks with the Americans, suggest that Pakistan is perhaps more willing to cooperate than is normally publicly acknowledged by either Afghanistan or the US.

But the news about Baradar also raises some of the same questions that previous instances of contact with the Taliban have: who speaks for the Taliban, and who will the Taliban talk to? For one, the level of Mullah Baradar`s influenceo r the Taliban at this point is an open question. Ultimately, it is Mullah Omar who calls the shots, and his former deputy has been out of the game for two years now. Second, additional reports indicate that Mullah Baradar did not seem particularly keen to talk to the Afghan government representatives. This is not new; Taliban leaders have said they will not negotiate with the Karzai administration, which they consider a puppet regime controlled by the US. Mullah Baradar`s reported dismissal of his interlocutors would only confirm this.

It is unclear, then, how fruitful this contact was.

But this is in line with previous reports about talks with the Taliban, about which little seems clear or encouraging. The Qatar round of talks aimed at building confidence still appears to be stalled.

There is noise about a potential Pakistani operation in North Waziristan in response to American pressure, and if that takes place it will likely have its own impact on the Taliban`s willingness to cooperate.

And there are real limits to Pakistan`s ability to bring truly influential Taliban leaders to the table. But it is also important for Pakistan to do what it can and send the right signals to the world about its commitment to stabilising the region.

If it did arrange talks with Baradar, it moved in the right direction.

Egyptian transition

UNLESS there is an unexpected backlash from generals addicted to power, Egypt`s President Mohammad Morsi seems to have succeeded in making his electoral power felt when he sacked the three services chiefs and retired the all-powerful Field Marshal Mohammad Hussain Tantawi. Even though the latter and chief of staff of the armed forces, Sami Anan, have been retained in the cabinet as advisers, Mr Morsi`s decision constitutes a blow to the military`s power and an end to Mubarak remnants. Mr Morsi combined this move with the annulment of the perverse decree which the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces issued on the eve of the presidential election. The decree had limited the president`s power barring him from controlling military affairs, and reserved budgetmaking for Scaf which arrogated to itself the right to legislate. This reduced Mr Morsi to the position of a ceremonial head of state.

Sunday`s decision will hopefully reverse the balance of state power and reduce the military to its professional role.

While civilian ascension to supremacy was in the fitness of things, it was the situation in the Sinai thatprecipitated the matter and seemed to have goaded Mr Morsi into action.

The military felt humiliated for the way the militants attacked the Egyptian patrol guards, killing 16 soldiers and then attempting to cross into Israel. This focused world attention on the civilianmilitary equation in Egypt and highlighted the generals` preoccupation with politics instead of their profession. Field Marshal Tantawi and Gen Anan had both appeared invincible and managed to rule for a year after Hosni Mubarak`s overthrow. The Aug 5 incident in the Sinai undermined their position, and Mr Morsi didn`t hesitate to make use of it. In explaining his action to his people, Mr Morsi went out of his way to reassure the army that he was not taking action against any institution, nor targeting any individual. Unless there is an unexpected power struggle and the generals try to sneak back to power through unconstitutional means, Mr Morsi`s action could turn out to be seminal, for it is a logical consequence of the Arab Spring and heralds the establishment of civilian supremacy deriving power from the people`s mandate.

Kayani renews army`s resolve to eradicate militancy

ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: Against the backdrop of swirling rumours of an impending counter-militancy operation, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani used his Independence Day message to renew military`s pledge to eradicate militancy and extremism from the country.

`We realise that the most difficult task for any army is to fight against its own people. But this happens as a last resort. Our real objective is to restore peace in these areas so that people can lead normal lives,` Gen Kayani said while addressing the Azadi Parade at the military academy in Kakul.

`No state can afford a parallel system or a militant force,` Gen Kayani said.

Renewal of military`s commitment to war on terror was coincidentally made at the Kakul academy which is barely a couple of miles away from the place where Osama bin Laden lived for years.

Speculations about a major military operation to clear North Waziristan of terrorist sanctuaries have intensified following improvement in ties with the United States, particularly after ISI chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam`s visit to Washington earlier this month.

Although it was quite obvious from Gen Kayani`s speech that he was building the national mood for probably thetoughest part of the counter-militancy operations in the country, it was unclear if sanctuaries in Teerah Valley or North Waziristan would be the next target.

According to military`s own assessment, it controls 86 per cent of the area in tribal region while nine per cent is contested and five per cent is held by militants mostly loyal to the Taliban.

The figures, however, are contested by local sources.

Reports suggest that last week`s corps commanders` conference also took some important decisions about the future of counter-militancy operations in the tribal belt.

Gen Kayani underscored that the fight against terrorists and extremists was one of the entire nation and not only of the army. `The fight against extremism and terrorism is our own war and we are right in fighting it. Let there be no doubt about it, otherwise we`ll be divided and taken towards civil war. Our minds should be clear on this.

The top commander who had been critical of the performance of civilian law-enforcement agencies in the past said sacrifices in the war on terror could bear fruit only when the civil administration functioned independently without military assistance.

He regretted the absence of effective counter-terrorism legislation in the country, a situation which has quite often worked to the advantage of terroristsand thrown up issues like `missing persons Taking a swipe at the government`s poor performance, Gen Kayani said `critical economic situation, corruption and aggravating situation of the civic amenities` had prevented the countrymen from looking ahead. He listed protection of national integrity and unity as the biggest challenges.

The military which has ruled the country for decades since independence in 1947 is quite often blamed by politicians and civil society for many of the ills currently confronting the nation.

The army chief candidly accepted that `all are to share the blame some more, some less`. But instead of indulging in the blame game, he said, it was time that `we stand up as a nation`.

UNFULFILLED AGENDA: Gen Kayani said the purpose behind creation of Pakistan was not only to carve out a piece of land but also to establish a welfare Islamic state, where foundation for a tolerant and modern society could be laid. He, however, noted that the latter part of the 1947 agenda could not materialise.

Although there was no reference to the controversy about Hindus migrating to India, the army chief in broad terms said Pakistan was to be a country where not only Muslims but where life and property of minorities were safe and they could freely practise their faith.