ইতিহাস, উপমহাদেশ, এই সময়, জঙ্গিবাদ, দুর্নীতি, ধর্ম, পাকিস্তান, প্রতিবেদন, রাজনীতি

ডেটলাইন: পাকিস্তান

মুক্তাঙ্গন

পাকিস্তানের সাম্প্রতিক রাজনৈতিক সংকট এবং পাকিস্তান-আফগানিস্তানে তালেবান উত্থানের সম্ভাবনা নিয়ে প্রথম আলোতে প্রকাশিত ফারুক চৌধুরীর এ লেখাটি আলোচনার জন্য নির্বাচন করা হল। প্রশ্ন হল, পাকিস্তানে সোয়াত উপত্যকার ঘটনাবলী বাংলাদেশ তথা উপমহাদেশের রাজনৈতিক আকাশে মেঘ জমার কোন আগাম ইঙ্গিত দিচ্ছে কি?
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ঝুঁকির মুখে পাকিস্তান: আতঙ্ক-হতাশার নগর ইসলামাবাদ

লাহোর থেকে ফারুক চৌধুরী
ইসলামাবাদে এখন বসন্ত যাই যাই করছে। তবে ভোরের হাওয়ায় শীতের ছোঁয়া এখনো মিলিয়ে যায়নি। সূর্য এখনো হালকা কুয়াশায় ঢাকা মারগালা পাহাড়ের ওপার থেকে সন্তর্পণে উঁকি দেয়−তারপর বেরিয়ে এসে দিনভর আলো ছড়ায়। দুই হাজার ৩০০ বছর আগে সোয়াত উপত্যকাবিজয়ী আলেকজান্ডারের মুখে, বিংশ শতাব্দীর নাট্যকারের বর্ণনায়, ‘দিনে প্রচণ্ড সূর্যের গাঢ় নীল আলো’ এখনো ইসলামাবাদের ‘আকাশ গুঁড়িয়ে দিয়ে’ যায় না। কল্পনা করতে কষ্ট হয় না মোটেও, যে ইসলামাবাদ থেকে মাত্র ৬০ মাইল দূরে, সোয়াত উপত্যকার নিচ, প্লমি আর এপ্লিকটের উদ্যানরাজিতেও ভোরের মিষ্টি রোদ এখনই ছড়িয়ে পড়ছে। ভাবতে কষ্ট হয় না এই কারণে যে মাত্র ১০ বছর আগে ১৯৯৯ সালের এপ্রিলে সোয়াতের মিয়াদাম, পাকিস্তান টুরিজম করপোরেশনের অতিথিশালায় ভোরে জেগে অবলোকন করেছিলাম এমনি এক সুন্দর সকাল। তার পুনরাবৃত্তি, এখন কেন, অদূর ভবিষ্যতেও সম্ভব হবে না। সোয়াত, শুধু সোয়াত কেন, মালাখন্দ এজেন্সির প্রায় সব রাস্তাই এখন বন্ধ।
তালেবানরা স্থানে স্থানে মাইন পেতে দিয়েছে, এলাকার বাসিন্দাদের মালাখন্দের বিভিন্ন অঞ্চল থেকে বেরিয়ে আসতে বাধা দিচ্ছে−রণকৌশলেরই অংশ হিসেবে। নিরস্ত্র জনসাধারণকে বর্ম হিসেবে ব্যবহার করা, তাদের ভাবনায়, ধর্মের পরিপন্থী নয় মোটেও। তবু প্রাণভয়ে পালিয়ে আসছে হাজার হাজার বাস্তুহারা। তাদের সংখ্যা এখনই পাঁচ লাখ ছাড়িয়ে গেছে। সরকার ও আন্তর্জাতিক সংস্থাগুলো দেরিতে হলেও সক্রিয় হচ্ছে। ইসলামাবাদ শহরের উপকণ্ঠে তো বটেই, শহরের অভ্যন্তরে অভিজাত এফ-৭ এলাকায়ও স্থাপিত হয়েছে একটি বাস্তুহারা ক্যাম্প।
গত ষাটের দশকের কথা মনে পড়ে। তদানীন্তন পূর্ব পাকিস্তান ও আরও অনেকের প্রতিবাদ উপেক্ষা করে, কোটি কোটি টাকা ব্যয়ে গিরিরাজির নিরালায়, আইয়ুব খান স্থাপন করেছিলেন কৃত্রিম, নয়নাভিরাম এই জনপদ। এই যুক্তিতে যে করাচির মতো ব্যস্ত শহরের কোলাহল নতুন রাজধানীর হোমরাচোমরাদের দায়িত্ব পালনে ব্যাঘাত ঘটাবে না−মিছিল, ঘেরাও, জনসভার মতো ‘অসহ্য’ সব কর্মকাণ্ডের জ্বালা সহ্য করতে হবে না পাকিস্তানের রাজধানীবাসীর। তারপর ছিল আরও একটি অকাট্য যুক্তি। এটা হলো, প্রতিরক্ষার দৃষ্টিকোণ থেকে করাচির মতো প্রান্তিক বন্দরনগর নিরাপদ নয় মোটেও। এদিকে ইসলামাবাদের রয়েছে ‘নিরাপত্তা গভীরতা’ (Depth of Defence)। সোজা কথায়, ইসলামাবাদ করাচির তুলনায় ভারত থেকে দূরে!
সেই ইসলামাবাদ আজ এক আতঙ্ক আর হতাশার নগর। গত তিন দিনে সর্বস্তরের অনেক মানুষের সঙ্গেই কথা হয়েছে। অনিশ্চয়তায় ভরা সবারই মন। হঠাৎ যদি কিছু ঘটে! এক রাতে কজন পাকিস্তানি বন্ধুর সঙ্গে নৈশভোজে বসে মনে হয়েছিল, যদি বিকট শব্দে অদূরের কোনো বৈদ্যুতিক ট্রান্সফরমার ফাটে, আর কেউ বলে ওঠে যে তালেবানরা এল বলে, দুর্বলচিত্তের সবাই দিগ্বিদিক ছিটকে পড়বে।
আইয়ুব খানের সে কালের শত্রু-ভাবনা বর্তমান ঘটনাবলির রূঢ় বাস্তবতার আলোকে হাস্যকর মনে হয়। ঘরের শত্রু অনেক অবস্থাতেই বাইরের শত্রুর চেয়েও ভয়াবহ হয় এবং ভ্রান্ত নীতি এবং যথাসময়ে যথাযথ পদক্ষেপ নেওয়ার অনীহা একটি রাষ্ট্রের সংহতি এবং নিরাপত্তা বিপন্ন করে, যেমন করেছে পাকিস্তানের।
ধারাবাহিক সামরিক ও সেনাবাহিনী প্রভাবিত শাসন পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রের অবকাঠামোকে যে ক্রমে ক্রমে দুর্বল করে তুলেছে, এ নিয়ে দ্বিমত এখন পাকিস্তানে প্রায় নেই। কিন্তু পাকিস্তানের দুর্ভাগ্য এই যে বহু প্রতীক্ষার পর এ দেশে সাধারণ নির্বাচন বেনজির ভুট্টোর মৃত্যুসৃষ্ট একটি অসাধারণ বিয়োগান্ত পরিবেশে অনুষ্ঠিত হলো। এবং প্রধানত আবেগসৃষ্ট কারণেই জারদারি আজ পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রপতি। না হলে রাষ্ট্রপতি হওয়ার তাঁর যোগ্যতা মোটেই ছিল না। সুনামও তাঁর নেই। তাঁর সততা ও চারিত্রিক স্বচ্ছতা প্রশ্নবিদ্ধ। অতএব বেনজির ভুট্টোর মৃত্যুর আবেগ জাতি যতই কাটিয়ে উঠছে, জারদারি ততোই তাঁর জনপ্রিয়তা হারাচ্ছেন। রাষ্ট্রকর্মে তাঁর আন্তরিকতা সম্পর্কেও মানুষ সন্দেহগ্রস্ত। পাকিস্তানের এই ক্রান্তিকালে তিনি একনাগাড়ে ১৭ দিন পাকিস্তান থেকে অনুপস্থিত, যদিও প্রেসিডেন্ট ওবামার সঙ্গে তাঁর সাক্ষাৎকারপর্বে পাঁচ দিনের বেশি সময় লাগার কথা নয়। সম্রাট নিরোর রোম পোড়া আর বাঁশি বাজানোর গল্পটি ইসলামাবাদে আজ অনেকেরই মুখে। আজ যদি আবার এ দেশে নির্বাচন অনুষ্ঠিত হয়, তাহলে মিয়া নওয়াজ শরিফই যে বিজয়ী হবেন, তা এখন অনেকেই মনে করেন। কিন্তু তা তাৎক্ষণিক কোনো সুফল বয়ে আনবে না। এ কারণে যে পারভেজ মোশাররফ-প্রণীত সংবিধান আজও বহাল আছে। অতএব ক্ষমতাধর রাষ্ট্রপতি পদে, সেই অবস্থায়ও জারদারি সমাসীন রইবেন। গণতান্ত্রিক উপায়ে জারদারিকে অপসারণ, একমাত্র অভিশংসনের মাধ্যমেই সম্ভব। কিন্তু পাকিস্তানের সংসদ সেই অবস্থানে এখন নেই। মধ্যমেয়াদি নির্বাচনই সেই অবস্থান সৃষ্টি করতে পারে−কিন্তু অদূর ভবিষ্যতে নির্বাচন দৃশ্যমান নয়। তবুও প্রশাসনের কাছাকাছি নওয়াজ শরিফকে নিয়ে আসার আন্তর্জাতিক প্রচেষ্টা চলছে বলে অনেকেই ভাবেন। ‘জাতীয় সরকারের’ আলোচনা শোনা যায়। কিন্তু ক্ষমতা যখন প্রেসিডেন্টের হাতে, আগামী দিনের কোনো জাতীয় সরকারে নওয়াজ শরিফ স্বয়ং কি সম্পৃক্ত হতে চাইবেন? অথচ তাঁর জনপ্রিয়তা এখন যে তুঙ্গে, তা যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের অজানা নেই।
এদিকে সামরিক শাসন এ দেশের বেসামরিক প্রশাসনকে ক্রমে ক্রমে দুর্বল করছে এবং তার দক্ষতা ও মান এখন আশানুরূপ নয় মোটেও। এ দেশের আতঙ্কিত জনগণের রাজনৈতিক চেতনার মূলেও আঘাত হেনে গেছে আইয়ুব, ইয়াহিয়া, জিয়াউল হক আর পারভেজ মোশারফের সামরিক মদদপুষ্ট শাসন। তাই দেশের এই ক্রান্তিকালেও জনসাধারণের রাজনৈতিক তৎপরতা নজরে আসে না। ভীতি যেন তাদের গ্রাস করে ফেলেছে। নির্বাচিত হয়েও যেন জারদারি আর তাঁর সরকার সত্যিকার অর্থে প্রতিনিধিত্বমূলক নয়। এই সংকটে তাই পাকিস্তানের জনগণ আজ বিহ্বল।
পাশ্চাত্যের ক্ষমতাধর একজন জ্যেষ্ঠ কূটনীতিকের (তাঁর পরিচয় প্রকাশে আমি অপারগ) কথায় আগামী দিনেও সোয়াত, তথা মালাখন্দ অঞ্চলে সংঘাত তীব্রতর হয়ে উঠবে। তাঁর মতে, প্রথাগত রণকৌশলে প্রশিক্ষণপ্রাপ্ত পাকিস্তান সামরিক বাহিনীকে তালেবান গেরিলাদের সঙ্গে সংঘাতে যথেষ্ট বেগ পেতে হবে। সেই অঞ্চলে সংঘাতের কোনো চূড়ান্ত ফলাফল সময়সাপেক্ষ।
যেকোনো যুদ্ধেই প্রথম শিকার হয় সত্য ভাষণ। অতএব রেডিও আর টেলিভিশনে যুদ্ধের যে সামগ্রিক চিত্র আমরা পাই এবং পাব, তা এফএম রেডিও নেটওয়ার্ক মারফত তালেবান যোদ্ধাদের পাওয়া খবরের চেয়ে ভিন্নতরই হবে। তা ছাড়া উত্তর-পশ্চিম পাকিস্তানজুড়ে তালেবানদের নিরাপত্তা-গভীরতা ব্যাপক। এই সংঘাত তাই স্বল্পস্থায়ী হওয়ার নয়।
যুদ্ধে পাকিস্তান বিমানবাহিনীকে আকাশ থেকে হেলিকপ্টার গানশিপ ব্যবহার করতে হচ্ছে, করতে হচ্ছে বোমাবর্ষণ। তাতে সাধারণ মানুষও আক্রান্ত হচ্ছে। এ অবস্থাটি রহস্যজনক ড্রোন বিমান আক্রমণ এবং আফগানিস্তানে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের বোমাবর্ষণের মতো সাধারণ মানুষের মনে পাকিস্তান সামরিক বাহিনীর প্রতি বিরূপ প্রতিক্রিয়ার সৃষ্টি করবে। তা ছাড়া লাখ লাখ অভ্যন্তরীণ বাস্তুহারার মধ্যে সময়ের সঙ্গে সঙ্গে অসন্তোষ সৃষ্টি হবে এবং তা সরকারের ওপর প্রচণ্ড চাপ সৃষ্টি করবেই।
সোয়াতের ওয়ালি অর্থাৎ শাসনকর্তা মিয়াগুল আওরংজেবের সঙ্গে আমার পরিচয় বহু বছরের। তিনি প্রেসিডেন্ট আইয়ুব খানের জামাতা। ১৯৬৯ সাল থেকে সোয়াত পাকিস্তানের ওতপ্রোত অংশ হিসেবে পরিগণিত হচ্ছিল। সোয়াতের ওয়ালি তাঁর সিংহাসন হারিয়ে পাকিস্তান সরকারের অধীনে বিভিন্ন সময় দায়িত্ব পালন করেন। ১৯৯৯ সালে তিনি ছিলেন বেলুচিস্তানের গভর্নর। তখন নওয়াজ শরিফ ছিলেন পাকিস্তানের প্রধানমন্ত্রী। এই দায়িত্ব তিনি বছর দুয়েক পালন করেন। তারপর উত্তর-পশ্চিম সীমান্ত প্রদেশের গভর্নরের দায়িত্ব তিনি পালন করেন মাত্র মাস দুয়েকের জন্য। প্রেসিডেন্ট পারভেজ মোশাররফের ক্ষমতায় আসার পর তিনি চাকরিচ্যুত হন। তবে সোয়াতে তাঁর যথেষ্ট জায়গাজমি রয়েছে, রয়েছে বসতবাড়ি। ইসলামাবাদে তাঁর আবাস হলেও সোয়াতে তিনি প্রায়ই ফিরে যেতেন। মাত্র দুই সপ্তাহ আগেও তিনি সোয়াত সফর করেছেন। সত্তরের দশকে লন্ডনে তাঁর সঙ্গে পরিচয় ক্রমে বন্ধুত্বে পরিণত হয়। আইয়ুব খানের জামাতা হওয়া সত্ত্বেও তিনি ১৯৭১-এ বাংলাদেশে পাকিস্তানি সেনাদের বর্বরোচিত আচরণের তীব্র নিন্দা করতেন এবং জুলফিকার আলী ভুট্টোকে দায়ী করতেন ইয়াহিয়া খানকে বিপথে চালিত করার জন্য। বঙ্গবন্ধুর প্রতি তাঁর শ্রদ্ধাবোধ ছিল এবং আগস্ট ১৯৭৫-এ বঙ্গবন্ধুর মৃত্যুর পর তিনি এবং তাঁর প্রয়াত স্ত্রী নাসিম আওরংজেব (আইয়ুব খানের কন্যা) আমাদের কাছে লন্ডনে তাঁদের আন্তরিক সমবেদনা জ্ঞাপন করেন। তাঁর সঙ্গে আমার শেষ দেখা হয় ১৯৯৯ সালে আমার সোয়াত ভ্রমণের সময়টিতে। সে অন্য কথা।
ঘনিষ্ঠ পরিচয়ের সুযোগ নিয়ে, ইসলামাবাদের এফ-৬/৪-এর তাঁর বাড়িতে তাঁর সঙ্গে দেখা করলাম গত ৭ এপ্রিলের ভোরে।
বর্তমান অবস্থার ওপর তাঁর কথা হলো যে ১৯৬৯ সালে পাকিস্তানে যোগদানের পর থেকেই সোয়াতের জনগণ পাকিস্তানের অদক্ষ, দুর্নীতিগ্রস্ত এবং ব্যয়বহুল বিচারব্যবস্থা নিয়ে অসন্তুষ্ট ছিল। তারা ফিরে যেতে চাইছিল পুরোনো দিনের পাহাড়ি বিচারব্যবস্থায়, যা ছিল স্থানীয় প্রথা এবং ইসলামিক আইনের একটি গ্রহণযোগ্য সংমিশ্রণ। যার ফলে সোয়াতের জনগণ দ্রুত বিচার পেত এবং তারা বেশ কিছুদিন আগে থেকেই সেই বিচারব্যবস্থায় ফিরে যাওয়ার দাবি তোলে। এই দাবিতে মালাখন্দ অঞ্চলের সাধারণ মানুষও যোগ দেয়। তারা তাদের দাবিকে ‘শরিয়াহ আইন’ হিসেবে আখ্যায়িত করে। কিন্তু তাদের দাবির কোনো রাজনৈতিক লক্ষ্য ছিল না। মিয়াগুল আওরংজেবের মতে, তাদের দাবির প্রতি সরকারের চরম নির্লিপ্ততার কারণেই এ অবস্থার সৃষ্টি হয়েছে। এ অসন্তোষের সুযোগ নিয়ে স্থানীয় মোল্লারা কঠোর ইসলামিক অনুশাসনের দাবি তোলে এবং তাদের দাবিকে সহিংস রূপ দিয়েছে তালেবানরা, তাদের রাজনৈতিক উদ্দেশ্য হাসিলের ইচ্ছায়।
আওরংজেব আমার প্রশ্নের উত্তরে বললেন, সপ্তাহ, মাস কেন, এমনকি তাঁর জীবদ্দশায়ও তালেবানদের সেই সব অঞ্চল থেকে নিমর্ূল করা যাবে না (তিনি অবশ্য আমার সমবয়সী−অতএব তাঁর জন্য দীর্ঘ অপেক্ষার প্রয়োজন না-ও হতে পারে!)। শুধু তাই নয়, এখন উত্তর-পশ্চিম সীমান্ত প্রদেশের ভূতপূর্ব ব্রিটিশশাসিত জেলাগুলো, যথা ডেরা ইসমাইল খান, কোহাট, বান্নু ও হাংগু জেলায় তালেবানরা ছড়িয়ে পড়েছে। তিনি মনে করেন, তালেবানরা আফগানিস্তানে আবার ক্ষমতায় ফিরবে−যতই সময় লাগুক না কেন তাতে, এবং তাদের সঙ্গে পাকিস্তানি তালেবানদের রয়েছে নাড়ির সম্পর্ক। সাধারণ মানুষের দৃষ্টিতে, যেখানে পাকিস্তানের দুর্নীতিপরায়ণ শাসকেরা সরকারের অর্থ আত্মসাৎ করছেন, সেখানে তালেবানরা সাধারণ মানুষকে অর্থদানে বাধ্য করছে। তালেবানরা মানুষ হত্যা করছে, সরকারও তো নিরীহ মানুষের প্রাণ নিতে কুণ্ঠিত নয়। অতএব তালেবানদের আমরা যে দৃষ্টিতে দেখি, পার্বত্য অঞ্চলের সাধারণ মানুষ তাদের ঠিক সেই দৃষ্টিতে দেখে না, যদিও তালেবানদের সামাজিক কড়াকড়ি তারা পছন্দ করে না।
মিয়াগুল আওরংজেব মনে করেন, এই যুদ্ধে, ভূখণ্ডের হাতবদল প্রায়ই ঘটবে এবং কোনো একটি অঞ্চল থেকে তালেবানদের উৎখাত করলে তারা আবার সুযোগমতো সেই স্থানে ফিরে আসবে। সেই অঞ্চলে স্থায়ী শান্তি স্থাপন সময়সাপেক্ষ হবে, বললেন আওরংজেব। সোয়াতে তাঁর বিষয়সম্পত্তি এখন তাঁর কর্মচারীরাই দেখাশোনা করছে, তবে তালেবানরা চাইলে নিমেষেই এ অবস্থা বদলে যাবে−হতাশায় দুই হাত তুলে কথাগুলো বললেন মিয়াগুল আওরংজেব। পাকিস্তান সম্পর্কে তাঁর উক্তি হলো, যে সরকারের দুর্নীতি এবং ব্যয়বহুলতা ব্যাপক, তাকে নিরাপত্তার জন্য বিদেশি প্রভাব মেনে নিতেই হবে। ‘এ কোন ধরনের স্বাধীনতা?’ বললেন মিয়াগুল আওরংজেব।
ইসলামাবদ থেকে মোটরপথে লাহোরের সাড়ে তিন শ কিলোমিটার অনায়াসেই পাঁচ ঘণ্টায় অতিক্রম করা যায়। লাহোরের পথে ঝিলাম আর রাবি নদী পেরোতে পেরোতে মনে হলো, ‘পঞ্চনদীর তীরে’ তালেবানদের মন্ত্রে ‘নির্মম নির্ভীক’ পাঞ্জাবিরা আবার জেগে উঠবে না তো? শ্রীলঙ্কার ক্রিকেটারদের ওপর আক্রমণ আর তারপর লাহোরের শিক্ষক প্রশিক্ষণকেন্দ্রের ওপর তালেবান আঘাত কি তার অশনিসংকেত নয়? সেই সম্পর্কে ধারণা নিতেই লাহোর আসা।

৭৯ comments

  1. Dablu - ১০ মে ২০০৯ (৫:৩১ অপরাহ্ণ)

    জনাব চৌধুরী চিরকাল আমার অত্যনত্ প্রিয় লেখক। তালেবানরা পাকিসতানের নিজস‌‍ব্ সৃষট Frankestein । সুতরাং ভোগানতি্ তাদের হবেই, আমাদের করার কিছুই নেই কেবল সহানুভূতি প্রকাশ ছাড়া। তবে আমাদের অবশ্যই সাবধান হতে হবে বাংলাদেশ যাতে তালেবান মুকত্ থাকে। যেকোন ধরণের শৈথিল্য সমূহ বিপদের কারন হতে পারে।

  2. মাসুদ করিম - ১০ মে ২০০৯ (৬:৩০ অপরাহ্ণ)

    dailytimes.com.pk-র এডিটরিয়াল পাতা থেকে নেয়া ফারিহা জাফরের লেখাটিও পড়া যেতে পারে।

    Opinion: Beyond belief —Dr Fareeha Zafar

    A clear and consistent policy is required from the key decision makers, one that is not held hostage by personal agendas. How quickly we are able to move beyond our beliefs and recognise the danger to ourselves, the community and the state will determine our future

    The area that is now Pakistan has repeatedly been invaded, mostly through its northern and western passes. Since 1800 BC, when the Aryans came to this part of the subcontinent, Persians, Greeks, Sakas, Parthians, Kushans, Huns, Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Mongols and the Mughals have followed suit.

    Marauding, killing and imposition of the invaders’ culture and value systems has been part and parcel of these incursions. However, with the exception of a few, the invaders did not aim to decimate the local population, which to a large extent continued to follow its own customs and traditions, in addition to assimilating what they saw as beneficial.

    Thus the more positive aspects of these invasions remain with us today in the form of monuments and artifacts, together with language, literature, music and dance.

    Though from the same direction, the current wave of Talibanisation is in no way as benign as what had occurred in the past. For one, it is using religion to win hearts and minds; and second, it seeks to destroy what exists and to enforce a primitive mandate as determined by them.

    In that, the Taliban are somewhat akin to the Huns and the Mongols, who devastated communities, burnt and pillaged settlements and fields, and ransacked libraries and sites of education. Furthermore, the Taliban have, over the years, sunk their roots in this region and have access to better, more sophisticated weapons than the civilian security institutions.

    Notwithstanding the games being played by different national and international actors, the clear and present danger is from the Taliban, who are a threat to all sections of society. For the better off, the Taliban are threatening their way of life, but for the poor and marginalised, they are an even greater danger as they target potential earning hands and send them to their death.

    Having come of age in an inhuman environment, it is irrational to expect the Taliban to sit around a table and resolve contentious issues through discussion and dialogue. Anarchy, not order, suits them; treachery, not honesty, feeds them; and violence, not peace, is what they understand.

    This is epitomised by the virulent propaganda launched against the West by the Taliban while they increasingly rely on the products of western science and technology, from AK-47s, grenades and rocket launchers to mobile phones, computers, automobiles and even medicines. None of these were invented by them or the Muslims whose cause they claim to espouse. The Taliban’s only innovation has been to transform poor, young and illiterate boys into human bombs, making a mockery of the golden age of Islam.

    It is difficult to comprehend how anyone can justify such acts in the name of religion. Can anyone use the term sharia to justify beheading and flogging people, taking away all freedoms, especially from women, and burning schools? What happened to the free will so oft quoted as the sine qua non of Islam? That in no district of the NWFP has the local population welcomed the Taliban is prima facie evidence that rather than capitulating, the government should not have legitimised the illegal actions and demands of the Taliban.

    The impact of decades of poor quality education coupled with daily sermons from bigoted mullahs whose only focus has been to terrorise and divide communities using different versions of the same religion is evident from the irrational reaction of many believers to the mention of ‘sharia’. Fear has replaced the spiritual comfort generally sought from religion. And for some, this fear is greater than the guns of the Taliban.

    The inability to question or think, arising from ignorance and a herd mentality that has overtaken many god-fearing people, is what the Taliban are taking advantage of. That they are able to use a pre-Islamic version of religion to paralyse the people, the economy and the state points to the confusion that exists at all levels. Meanwhile, leaders of the main political parties are unable to settle their differences to jointly meet this threat, and elected representatives continue to vie for petty positions and perks.

    Clearly, in a country that is 98 percent Muslim, the issue is not one of religion but of power. If a group of bandits wants power, should it just be handed over as has been done in Swat?

    The expansionist designs of the Taliban have been exposed as has been the rationale behind it, which is to spread an ideology based on violence, intolerance, ignorance, and the reduction of women and girls to sex objects by barring them from the outside world. In short, they select the worst the West has to offer while rejecting the best. In the language of the Taliban, jihad, shahadat, and izzat have acquired a different meaning with the gun replacing the book as the symbol of Islam.

    It is now common knowledge that the American and Pakistani establishments created the Taliban, but their willingness to contain them has been less evident. Even though the intelligence services knew how many Taliban had entered an area, they were at times reluctant to apprehend them. And a military trained in conventional warfare did not change its direction, strategy and approach despite this growing threat, though there seems to be a shift given the recent developments in Swat. Nor have they recognised the fact that the real threat to the state is from the western border. Despite being porous, the Durand Line is, nonetheless, shifting eastwards. ‘Strategic depth’ has not gone according to plan.

    A clear and consistent policy is required from the key decision makers, one that is not held hostage by personal agendas. How quickly we are able to move beyond our beliefs and recognise the danger to ourselves, the community and the state will determine our future.

    Dr Fareeha Zafar is director of the Society for the Advancement of Education

  3. মাসুদ করিম - ১১ মে ২০০৯ (৪:০১ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    রিফিউজি ক্যাম্প ব্যবস্থাপনা ঠিক মতো না হলে তালিবানের বিরুদ্ধে যুদ্ধে হেরে যেতে হবে। আজকরে এডিটরিয়াল পাকিস্তানের ডেইলি টাইমসে:
    Editorial: We may be defeated by refugee camps
    Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani says the Swat operation is a fight for the “survival of Pakistan”. True. But we could be defeated in this fight by the developing crisis of the refugee camps in Mardan and elsewhere in the NWFP unless we do some emergency reorganisation. When the provincial government asked the people of the Malakand region to leave their homes to give the Pakistan Army a chance to take on the Taliban without too much collateral damage, the local population readily agreed. But their reception at the camps is turning out to be a trauma they did not anticipate.

    The camps have been hurriedly put together in Mardan, Swabi and other places in the NWFP, and first reports are not very heartening. Around 200,000 have moved out of the target areas; an additional 300,000 are on the move and are expected to reach the camps by the beginning of the week. They will have joined the earlier 500,000 that fled the conflict zone and have been absorbed in various parts of the province, including the old deserted refugee camps used by the Afghan refugees in the past. That makes a total of one million refugees. The NWFP government projects a figure of 1.5 million as the war in Swat goes into attrition.

    The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) disagrees with the numbers on the basis of registration because registration is the only way you can officially compute the size of displacement. It is true that many Swatis and people from other areas have moved in with their relatives outside the region but the coming flood of refugees is mostly going to be looked after by the state of Pakistan. The prime minister has already given Rs 1 billion to the NWFP government but it is organisation and expert handling that is missing. The first images appearing on the TV channels tell us that both are in short supply.

    If this is the case, we may be defeated by the Taliban because of the refugee camps. We had a much better record of handling the displaced persons after the 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and parts of the NWFP. Have we forgotten the lessons? The 2005 earthquake was a sudden natural calamity and we could not have organised rescue and settlement beforehand. Adverse publicity of government performance went on for weeks before organisation caught up with the homeless. Beyond 2005, we had decades of experience of handling the Afghan refugees most of whom were lodged in the NWFP. Where has that expertise gone?

    The plight of the first arrivals in the camps in Swabi and Mardan is quite pathetic. Coming from a cold area they are specially affected by the hot weather. The camps are pitched in open fields with only tent canvas to fend against the summer sun. Despite claims by officers, there is no clean drinking water, which is what the refugees need in the scorching heat to which they are not used. Children are specially affected by the new conditions but medical facilities are absent at the camps. Registration itself is problematic. Because each family has to be issued a special permit before facilities can be made available, hundreds are lining up in front of a single man registering them and issuing permits. This in itself is suffering.

    All this could have been avoided. The plan to take military action should have included detailed plans of looking after the displaced population. And that could have been prepared in light of the experiences of the Afghan refuge camps and the 2005 earthquake. More significantly, the NWFP government could have studied the flaws in the policy of looking after the displaced people of Bajaur after the recent operations there. There were positive and negative lessons to be learned there. Unfortunately, Pakistan has once again been found standing dazed with its pants down before a population of refugees.

    The so-called “national consensus” against the Taliban is not total, but it is quite broad and inclusive. The plight of the refugee camps will not only strengthen the Taliban, it will erode the national consensus too. No major politician has visited the refugee camps as they painfully come into existence.
    Editorial: We may be defeated by refugee camps
    Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani says the Swat operation is a fight for the “survival of Pakistan”. True. But we could be defeated in this fight by the developing crisis of the refugee camps in Mardan and elsewhere in the NWFP unless we do some emergency reorganisation. When the provincial government asked the people of the Malakand region to leave their homes to give the Pakistan Army a chance to take on the Taliban without too much collateral damage, the local population readily agreed. But their reception at the camps is turning out to be a trauma they did not anticipate.

    The camps have been hurriedly put together in Mardan, Swabi and other places in the NWFP, and first reports are not very heartening. Around 200,000 have moved out of the target areas; an additional 300,000 are on the move and are expected to reach the camps by the beginning of the week. They will have joined the earlier 500,000 that fled the conflict zone and have been absorbed in various parts of the province, including the old deserted refugee camps used by the Afghan refugees in the past. That makes a total of one million refugees. The NWFP government projects a figure of 1.5 million as the war in Swat goes into attrition.

    The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) disagrees with the numbers on the basis of registration because registration is the only way you can officially compute the size of displacement. It is true that many Swatis and people from other areas have moved in with their relatives outside the region but the coming flood of refugees is mostly going to be looked after by the state of Pakistan. The prime minister has already given Rs 1 billion to the NWFP government but it is organisation and expert handling that is missing. The first images appearing on the TV channels tell us that both are in short supply.

    If this is the case, we may be defeated by the Taliban because of the refugee camps. We had a much better record of handling the displaced persons after the 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and parts of the NWFP. Have we forgotten the lessons? The 2005 earthquake was a sudden natural calamity and we could not have organised rescue and settlement beforehand. Adverse publicity of government performance went on for weeks before organisation caught up with the homeless. Beyond 2005, we had decades of experience of handling the Afghan refugees most of whom were lodged in the NWFP. Where has that expertise gone?

    The plight of the first arrivals in the camps in Swabi and Mardan is quite pathetic. Coming from a cold area they are specially affected by the hot weather. The camps are pitched in open fields with only tent canvas to fend against the summer sun. Despite claims by officers, there is no clean drinking water, which is what the refugees need in the scorching heat to which they are not used. Children are specially affected by the new conditions but medical facilities are absent at the camps. Registration itself is problematic. Because each family has to be issued a special permit before facilities can be made available, hundreds are lining up in front of a single man registering them and issuing permits. This in itself is suffering.

    All this could have been avoided. The plan to take military action should have included detailed plans of looking after the displaced population. And that could have been prepared in light of the experiences of the Afghan refuge camps and the 2005 earthquake. More significantly, the NWFP government could have studied the flaws in the policy of looking after the displaced people of Bajaur after the recent operations there. There were positive and negative lessons to be learned there. Unfortunately, Pakistan has once again been found standing dazed with its pants down before a population of refugees.

    The so-called “national consensus” against the Taliban is not total, but it is quite broad and inclusive. The plight of the refugee camps will not only strengthen the Taliban, it will erode the national consensus too. No major politician has visited the refugee camps as they painfully come into existence.

  4. নীড় সন্ধানী - ১১ মে ২০০৯ (৯:৪৩ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তান সম্পর্কে আজ দুটি কথা বেশী বলতে ইচ্ছে হয়ঃ
    ১. পাকিস্তানের আকাশে এখন আফগান আবহাওয়ার আশংকা বিরাজ করছে।
    ২. পাকিস্তান এখন ভুতের পায়ে হাঁটছে।

    জন্মলগ্ন থেকেই পাকিস্তান একটা অভিশপ্ত অবাস্তব রাষ্ট্র। ধর্মের লেবাসে শকুনের দল বারবার ক্ষমতায় এসেছে। পঞ্চাশ বছর ধরে পাকিস্তান সেই অভিশাপ থেকে মুক্ত হয়নি। আগামী পঞ্চাশ বছরেও হবে কিনা সন্দেহ আছে।

    আজকের আফগানিস্তানের সৃষ্টি পাকিস্তানের মতলববাজ শাসকদের হাতেই। তালিবান পাকিস্তানেরই সৃষ্ট ফ্রাংকেনষ্টাইন। মেরী শেলী বেঁচে থাকলে তার কাল্পনিক সৃষ্টির রাষ্ট্রীয় রূপ দেখে শিউরে উঠতেন নিঃসন্দেহে।

    পাকিস্তানের আকাশে যখন মার্কিন বিমান উড়াউড়ি শুরু করেছে, ৬ মাসের মধ্যে পাকিস্তান ইরাক পরিনতির দিকে এগিয়ে গেলে বিস্মিত হবার কিছু নেই। ইরাক অভিযানে পরমানু বোমার অস্তিত্ব একটা অজুহাত ছিল, এখানে সত্যি পরমানু বোমা নিয়ে বসে আছে পাকিস্তান। মার্কিন হাত তাই অনেক গভীরে ঢুকে যাবে। পাকিস্তানকে স্বাধীন(!) করার জন্য মেরিন সেনারা অবতরন করা হয়তো সময়ের ব্যাপার।

    সে যাকগে।

    পাকিস্তান নিয়ে আমার বিন্দুমাত্র মাথাব্যাথা নেই। কিন্তু পাকিস্তানের এদেশীয় প্রেমিকদের নিয়ে খুব দুশ্চিন্তা হয়। এদেশের নিরক্ষর ভন্ড উগ্র ইসলামী শক্তি বাংলাদেশকে জেগে ঘুমিয়ে তালেবানী রাষ্ট্র বানাবার স্বপ্নে বিভোর। তারা ইসলামের কোন উপকার করতে না পারলেও বাংলাদেশের বারোটা বাজিয়ে দিতে ওস্তাদ।

    আমাদের এখন ঘর সামলাতে হবে। ঘর গুছিয়ে রাখতে হবে। মন্দার তাড়নায় অস্থির আমরা আর জঙ্গী উৎপাত সহ্য করতে পারবো না। ঘরের শত্রুদের চিহ্নিত করে রাখতে হবে। যদি না ওদের কেউ কেউ ইতিমধ্যে পোষাক পাল্টে মুজিবকোটের ভেতর ঢুকে না যায়।

  5. মাসুদ করিম - ১৪ মে ২০০৯ (৯:৫৬ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    ফারুক চৌধুরীর লেখাটির আজ শেষ কিস্তি প্রকাশিত হয়েছে প্রথম আলোয়।

    কিছুদিন আগে কোথায় যেন ভারতীয় লেখক রামচন্দ্র গুহের ‘লাহোর ডায়েরি’ পড়েছিলাম, এতই ভালো লেগেছিল আমার কম্পিউটারে এই ছোট্ট অংশটুকু সেইভ করে রেখেছিলাম।

    The hotel staffer who had befriended Sikhs was in his late twenties; as, indeed, was my guide on a day trip through Lahore. This was Ali Sethi, whose novel The Wish Maker is due for release in very many countries this summer. I cannot think of where, when, or if I have met a more impressive young man. His Urdu and Punjabi are as fluent as his English. He knows most streets and many of the stones in his native city. He has an equal interest in art as in literature, and a deeper one in music (he sings beautifully, and is learning classical vocal with a Karachi-based ustad.) If the book is anything like the man, it shall be very good indeed.
    Pakistan may or may not be a failed state; but it is unquestionably a society in deep crisis. And like other such, it has produced great literature. The brutalities of Tsarist Russia gave us Tolstoy and Dostoevsky; the corruptions of Latin America gave us Marquez and Paz; the terror of Stalin and Stalinism gave us Kundera, Havel, and Solzhenitsyn. The generals and bigots of Pakistan have already given us Mohsin Hamid and Mohammed Hanif; now we have Daniyal Mueenuddin and Ali Sethi. There will be more to come.

  6. নিজামউদ্দিন - ১৭ মে ২০০৯ (১২:৪৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    রামচন্দ্র গুহ-র লেখায় অদ্ভুত এক প্রাণশক্তি আছে। ব্যর্থ রাষ্ট্র হলো পশ্চিমা প্রোপাগান্ডা। আমরা প্রতিবেশী রাষ্ট্রের ব্যাপারে সবসময় উদ্বিগ্ন হতে চাই। রাজু নামে এক পাক মেরিন এঞ্জিনিয়ার আমাদের সমুদ্র উপকূলে বহির্নোঙর করেছে। তার সাথে যখন কথা বলি, আমি তার মধ্যে আমার মতোই কাউকে খুঁজে পাই।
    মোহাজের, পাঞ্জাবি, বালুচ — সবার জীবনধারা আর ধর্মচর্চা এক না। আমাদের দেখতে হবে মানুষ আর মানবতা। ধর্ম কখনোই বিচারের মাপকাঠি হতে পারে না। শিগগিরই রাজু চট্টগ্রামে আসছে। অপেক্ষা করছি কবে তার কাছ থেকে তার দেশের গল্প শুনব। সে যখন কথা বলে, আমার প্রাণে উষ্ণতাই অনুভব করি।

  7. মাসুদ করিম - ২১ মে ২০০৯ (১:৩৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের ডেইলি টাইমসে পাকিস্তানের অন্যতম প্রভাবশালী রাজনৈতিক বিশ্লেষক নাজম শেঠির আজকের সম্পাদকীয়।আলোচনা করেছেন কেন ফ্রান্স পাকিস্তানের সাথে পারমাণবিক প্রযুক্তির কৌশলগত অংশীদারিত্ব চাইছে, যেমন আমিরিকা ভারতের পারমাণবিক প্রযুক্তির কৌশলগত অংশীদার হয়ে উঠেছে।আমার প্রশ্ন অবশ্য Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)-কে এড়িয়ে আমেরিকা, ফ্রান্স ও ব্রিটেন কেন ইদানিং অনবরত পছন্দের দেশের কৌশলগত অংশীদার হওয়ার ঝুঁকছে? এটা কি NPT-র পাঁচ সদস্য আমেরিকা, ফ্রান্স, ব্রিটেন, চীন ও রাশিয়া–এদের মধ্যে আভ্যন্তরীন কোন্দলের ফলাফল?
    দ্বিতীয় সম্পাদকীয় ভারত-পাকিস্তান সম্পর্ক নিয়ে। তবে আমার মনে হয় না মনমোহন সিং-কে যত শক্তিশালী ভাবা হচ্ছে তিনি তত শক্তির পরিচয় দিতে পারবেন। তাকে আজ্ঞাবহ চরিত্রেই দেখা যাবে। তিনি আজীবন তাই ছিলেন। তার চরিত্রের অসাধারণত্ব হচ্ছে তিনি সততার অবতাররূপী চিরন্তন আজ্ঞবাহী। তিনি সেই মনমোহন যিনি বুশকে বলেছিলেন”ভারতবাসী আপনাকে ভালোবাসে। সিং গান্ধী ডাইনেষ্টির প্রায়শ্চিত্তের পুতুল, শিখ নির্যাতনকারীরা তাকে শ্রেষ্ঠতা দিয়ে প্রায়শ্চিত্ত করছেন। কাজেই সিং-এর ওপর ভরসা করে ভারত-পাকিস্তান সম্পর্কের কোনো আঞ্চলিক সমাধান হবে না, আর্ন্তজাতিক সমাধান অবশ্য প্রতি মিনিট প্রতি সেকেন্ডেই হবে।

    Editorial: France as strategic partner?

    Meeting Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, in Paris on Tuesday, French President Nicholas Sarkozy expressed his country’s desire for a “strategic partnership” with Pakistan. This remark supplemented the earlier verbal commitment given to President Asif Zardari that France would provide civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan “the same way the United States had to India”. Pakistani officers and their French counterparts discussed plans to provide training for Pakistani officers at NATO training centres, and reviewed the status of NATO’s main supply route to landlocked Afghanistan.
    Is this some kind of fallout from the “distancing” of the United States from France and possibly Germany in the European Union, signalling a differentiation of global perspectives within the Atlantic alliance? Is this a continuation of the bad blood created in Europe by the Bush administration when it attacked Iraq in the face of some of the most lucid and determined opposition from France inside the UN Security Council? Or is this a “sharing of the burden” between two NATO allies? (Note reference to NATO’s supply route to Afghanistan.) What President Bush achieved with India with the nuclear deal was not universally acclaimed inside the US. Has it been decided to let France bear the burden of “balancing” the US-India strategic partnership with a Pak-French strategic partnership?
    In Pakistan, many commentators would be inclined to read transatlantic “rivalry” into the development. This will go very well with the grooves of practice developed by Pakistan’s management of foreign policy during the Cold War: build military muscle by siding with one of the two global rivals and keep the relationship going by always appearing to reserve the option of “switching” the relationship through the doctrine of “bilateralism”. Needless to say, this Cold War opportunism was in tune with the doctrine of “realism” in the United States and its European partners. Would this be a correct either/or approach, based on the various theories of “ditching” and “switching”?
    France, no doubt, is one of the many American partners who criticised the 2006 Indo-US nuclear deal, more or less on the lines that former President Jimmy Carter laid out: “[The deal will send] uncertain signals to other countries, including North Korea and Iran, and may encourage technologically capable nations to choose the nuclear option. The only substantive commitment among nuclear-weapon states and others is the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), accepted by the five original nuclear powers and 182 other nations. Its key objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology…and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament”.
    Pakistan will recall that in the 1970s, France had to bow out, under American pressure, of a contract to build a nuclear enrichment plant in Pakistan. But in 2009, things have changed. President Sarkozy has ridden to victory on the promise of reducing French antagonism towards America and to prune down France’s state-dominated socialist economy. At the same time, however, he wants to assert the “difference” between how the Europeans (especially France and Germany) think about the laissez-faire capitalism of the “Washington consensus”. On the other hand, on the question of “Western values”, there is no difference, and France’s relations with Pakistan will not therefore be on any either/or basis. Linking up with France will not mean causing the US to ditch Pakistan or to punish it, as often happened during the Cold War.
    The US Secretary of State, Ms Hilary Clinton, after clinching $110 million for Pakistani refugees this week, has repeated her charge against earlier American administrations that it “ditched” Pakistan after using it in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. A big Kerry-Lugar “package” of economic assistance is in the pipeline in the US, apart from the US-mediated $5 billion from the Friends of Pakistan group of countries. As for France, its ambassador has voiced the strongest objection in Islamabad to Nizam-e Adl in Swat while President Sarkozy has pledged more French troops for the NATO forces in Afghanistan.
    It is too early to say what next steps will be taken. Pakistan is a “non-NATO” ally of the US. Some may think that this will bring Pakistan close to the status of the European states and Turkey who count as allies. Others may think India has moved closer to the US by becoming its “strategic partner”. Will there be a Pak-French nuclear treaty and will it “separate” Pakistan’s military and civilian nuclear assets? Will the nuclear suppliers’ club “exempt” Pakistan the way it did India? All these are questions waiting to be answered. *

    Second Editorial: A stronger Manmohan Singh and Pakistan

    With the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) winning the 2008 general election in India by a better margin, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being seen as a “strong” leader in the coming five years. He is expected to be no longer the weak man who could not get his policies followed and at times also tried to resign to express his dissatisfaction with the party’s unwillingness to oppose sections of the establishment determined to defy change. Partisans of the “strong PM” theory assume that deep down he is not a weakling but a man who doesn’t let go of his convictions and is a pretty hard nut to crack in the domain of economics.
    The “optimists” about Indo-Pak relations think that while Mr Singh may not restart the stalled Indo-Pak talks straightaway he will nevertheless move first by “dropping a travel advisory and reviving people-to-people contacts”. He will no longer be too scared of the BJP because it is now weak in Lok Sabha and its most influential leader, Mr LK Advani, is preparing to retire. Dr Singh will retain the loyalty of the “offended Indians” by insisting on Pakistan punishing the militants who attacked Mumbai last November, but will probably relent and open up the bilateral talks channel if Pakistan overcomes its legal imbroglio vis-à-vis the arrested terrorists and their “charity” institutions in the country.
    The Indo-Pak bilateral talks have become a kind of conversation-stopper in Pakistan. Pakistanis assume that there is substance in them and that they will be decisive. But that is easier said than done even though Mr Singh has made it plain by saying anything reasonable short of changing maps would be acceptable. As for hoping that Pakistan will get away by not punishing the terrorists based on the developing clash between the national judiciary and the UN Security Council, Pakistan is sure to hurt itself either way: letting the terrorist go free will rebound on state and civil society as we have seen; and “winning” a case against the UN Security Council in a Pakistani court will lead to a backlash against the country at the global level. *

  8. altafhosen - ২৬ মে ২০০৯ (১১:৪৬ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    `আমাদের দেখতে হবে মানুষ আর মানবতা। ধর্ম কখনোই বিচারের মাপকাঠি হতে পারে না।’
    জনাব নিজামউদ্দিনের এ কথা খুব খাঁটি। কিন্তু উপমহাদেশটি দুর্বল থেকে দুর্বলতর হয়ে উঠেছে ধর্ম নিয়ে বাড়াবাড়িরই কারণে। এখনো দেখুন না মেয়েদের দোররা মারার ঘটনা ঘটছে এদেশে, যদিও তা বেআইনী, পরোয়া করছে না ধর্মান্ধরা। ভারতে আজ, ২৬ মে. শিখরা কেমন ধ্বংসাত্মক কাণ্ড ঘটাল ভিয়েনার একটি ঘটনার প্রতিবাদে – ধর্মই ছিল মূলে। সুতরাং মানুষকে অন্ধকার থেকে কীভাবে উদার ও সহিষ্ণু করে আলোতে নিয়ে আসা যায় তার চেষ্টা করে যাওয়াই সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ মনে হয় আজ।
    মানবের জয়গানে মুখরিত হোক সকল ব্লগ, সকল প্রকাশনা—এমন কামনা করি।

  9. মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ মে ২০০৯ (৭:২৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তান সীমান্তে ভারতীয় সৈন্যের ভারী সমাবেশ, এ নিয়ে লিখেছেন পাকিস্তানি সাংবাদিক ইজাজ হায়দার।আমি এ সূত্রে কোনো ভারতীয় সাংবাদিকের লেখা খুঁজছি,পেলে তাও এখানে তুলে দেব।

    There is much talk in the Western media and also by visiting foreign dignitaries about the Pakistan Army’s east-oriented deployment and threat perception from India at a time when presumably Pakistan faces no threat from India but is grappling with an internal, existential crisis.

    The question posed is: why doesn’t Pakistan thin its defences in the east and induct more troops in the west to fight the Taliban? While the question may be genuine, and I am being entirely charitable on this count, is it based on a sound understanding of military strategy?

    Short answer: no.

    There are two broad issues here. The first relates to Pakistan’s threat perception from India; the second to Pakistan’s ongoing counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism operations. Let’s analyse them in the same order.

    The most important factor in threat perception is not the issue of “intention” but of “capability”. The military calculus, therefore, is never based on whether State X wants to attack or harm State Y but whether it has the capability to that end should it choose to do so.

    Intentions can undergo a change. Hence the focus on capability. X is a good friend but X has a loaded pistol; I like X but I would keep my loaded pistol on me. It helps me like X even more. And if X is not a friend and has a pistol, I am not about to go to dinner with X without mine.

    Here’s a reality check.

    The Indian Army, standing at over 1.1 million active-service personnel and 1.8 million reserves, is configured under six area commands (operational) and one Army Training Command (ARTRAC). Three of these area commands — Western, Northern and South-western — are totally Pakistan-specific. The fourth, Central Command, with one corps (1 Corps) is also primarily Pakistan-specific. The Indian Army has thirteen corps, out of which eight, including one from the Central Command, are specific to Pakistan.

    But more than the number of corps, it is the number of divisions — infantry, mountain, armoured — as well as independent armoured and artillery brigades that manifest the deployment pattern or order of battle (ORBAT) of the Indian Army. The Pakistan-specific area commands and corps have a much-higher number of lower formations, the actual fighting elements, than the Eastern and Southern Commands.

    This is perfectly legitimate if the Indian Army’s threat perception comes from Pakistan.

    After the Kargil mini-war, the Indian Army, under General VP Malik, began studying the possibility and feasibility of limited war. Then came the 10-month-long standoff (Dec 2001-Oct 2002) between Pakistan and India. The Indian Army realised that because of shorter internal lines, the Pakistan Army had completed its counter-mobilisation even before the Indian Army could complete its.

    That fact, coupled with the need for integrated, quick operations against multiple targets without actually holding ground — a combination of limited, surgical strikes, hot pursuit, salami slicing — forced the Indian Army into rethinking its offensive options. The result of that was the “Cold Start” (CS) doctrine in early 2004, incidentally around the same time that Pakistan and India embarked on a normalisation process!

    CS envisages the formation of eight Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) deployed close to the international border. As Brig Naeem Salik (retd) wrote, the doctrine “aims at reducing the mobilisation time by disaggregating the cumbersome strike corps into more handy Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs), positioning these forces closer to the international border and gaining a head start by enhancing the ability of the defensive formations now termed as the ‘Pivot Corps’ to undertake limited offensive operations.

    “The initial gains made by the pivot corps are supposed to be exploited by the rapidly moving IBGs. The operations by the IBGs are envisaged to be closely supported by the Indian Air Force and, where possible, the Indian Navy. The objectives assigned to the IBGs would be deliberately kept shallow to avoid crossing Pakistan’s nuclear red lines.” (“Cold Start: hot implications for South Asian security”; The Friday Times, Dec 19-25, 2008)

    There can be a number of CBMs, like removing and de-commissioning the Pakistan-specific Prithvi SRBMs, CS or no CS. Interestingly, India may say that it needs this state of preparedness to counter terrorism on its soil. But that very argument, envisaging inter-state escalation, vindicates Pakistan Army’s stance on eastern deployment and war readiness!

    This is not a place to either go into details of the Indian Army’s ORBAT or its operational plans — or even what all can be done to improve trust. Those issues need to be treated separately. The point I have tried to make is this: if Pakistan does not face the prospect of a hot war imposed on it by India, neither does India face that prospect any more.

    If Pakistan is asked by the US and other western capitals on the basis of this argument to pull out troops from the eastern border and deploy them to the west, then perhaps India should also be called upon to thin its much-heavier Pakistan-specific deployment along the international border, the Line of Control, the working boundary and the actual ground position line.

    Comfort levels must be raised on both sides. In any case, Pakistan’s deployment along the eastern border is much thinner, given half the numerical strength of its army compared to India’s. In Kashmir, for instance, Pakistan’s one corps and elements grouped under Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA) face India’s three corps! Would India reduce its strength there by, let’s say, two corps? It won’t.

    The second issue is the number of troops currently engaged in COIN operations in the northwest, mostly in the tribal agencies but also in Swat and its adjoining areas. The troop strength is currently around 110,000. The kind of war that is going on there does not entirely depend on inducting more troops but making the application of force, where required, effective.

    The normal arithmetic for COIN operations is 7 to 10 soldiers to one insurgent. Taking the higher figure of 10 soldiers, that would make the estimated strength of insurgents to stand at 11000. No one knows really. But it could be higher. One guesstimate puts it between 30,000 to 35,000 insurgents.

    Whatever the figure, and it’s important to try and get it as close to reality as possible, the main issue, as I have noted, is the correct application of force, not use of force per se, or troop surge just to put more boots on the ground. No doubt, holding ground and effective long-term COIN operations require correct space-to-deployment ratio. But if the intelligence is credible and actionable, a combination of air-to-ground targeting and smaller, rapid action forces can be far more effective against scattered as well as entrenched targets than larger, slow-moving forces.

    Finally, the issue is not whether Pakistan should or should not reconfigure its deployment pattern but whether it can. Unilaterally, it can’t.

    Also, if the country has to induct more troops in the NWFP and station military elements in the area for a longer deployment, it needs to build infrastructure for doing that. That decision has to be taken at the political level (keeping in mind regional security requirements) and money found for it.

    Therefore, before Pakistan is asked to do this or that, its threat perception has to be taken into consideration and money provided it for longer deployment on the west. The first involves pulling in India; the second, opening the purse strings.

    • মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ মে ২০০৯ (১২:৩৫ অপরাহ্ণ)

      ভারতীয় সাংবাদিক অশোক কে মেহতার একটি লেখা পাওয়া গেল।দুদেশের সাংবাদিকদের চাওয়া পাওয়া দেখি একেবারে সাপে-নেউলে।

      Pushed Pakistan swats Taliban

      Ashok K Mehta

      All the badlands have their Khooni Chowk (bloody intersection). In the Kashmir Valley there were at least two: One in Sopore and the other in Srinagar. The North-East had its bloodstained version too. This is where traitors are hung from lampposts or trees or their mutilated bodies dumped for high visibility by militants.

      Last Sunday the Pakistani Army captured Khooni Chowk near Mingora during the ongoing Swat offensive, the third since 2003. The surrender of Swat to the Taliban occurred despite the overwhelming vote in favour of the secular Awami National Party in the February 2008 elections. Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province has become utterly dangerous compared to 1996 when the Pearl Intercontinental Hotel ran a civilised notice, asking visitors to leave their guns outside.

      Operation Rah-e-Haq 4 was launched earlier this month in Buner, Dir and Swat with more than 14,000 troops — three brigades under a divisional headquarter. This time the Army is really serious, says Ahmad Rashid, the Pakistani author of Descent into Chaos, adding “it has got the Government and people’s support”.

      The last serious military venture was in Bajaur after the Marriott bombing against the Taliban led by Faqir Mohammad. The six-month campaign ended in a ‘flattened landscape’ and claims of victory by the Area Commander, Maj Gen Tariq Khan. But three months later, in February this year, the Taliban regained control.

      Military operations by the Pakistani Army on the western frontier are a copy of American tactics: Softening up with air strikes, helicopter gunships and artillery before sending ground troops led by tanks — and in Swat, commandos airdropped to surround the leaders — to engage the Taliban.

      Conceptually, the doctrine it follows is use of maximum not minimum force as historically practiced by the Indian Army in its counter-insurgency operations. Why should anyone be taken in that the Pakistani Army is serious this time around?

      Last year, the debate about the ownership of the internal war was perfunctory with many skeptics calling it the US’s war. Speaking to his corps commanders earlier this month, Army Chief Gen Parvez Kayani said for the first time: “We will not allow militants to dictate terms to the Government or impose their way of life on the civil society of Pakistan. We are fully aware of the gravity of the internal threat and will employ requisite resources to ensure decisive military ascendancy”.

      One thing is certain. The US cracked the whip when the Taliban captured Swat and expanded its sway to the other parts of Malakand Division “just 70 miles from Islamabad”. According to one report, the US had threatened to launch strikes in Swat and withhold aid if the Government did not act.

      The Army crackdown was timed to precede President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to the US and on the heels of a meeting of the ‘Friends of Pakistan’ considering an economic bailout package like the Marshal Plan of $ 15 billion to $ 40 billion. What they got from the US was an immediate $ 1 billion — $ 600 million as non-military aid and $ 400 million for counter-insurgency operations. Another $ 7.5 billion has been promised over the next five years.

      The US went berserk goading Pakistan’s Government and Army into battle stations. The existential threat to Pakistan and its nuclear arsenal was drummed up round-the-clock. It was the 2001 equivalent of the US ultimatum: You are either with us or against us.

      If the Kerry-Lugar Act authorised civil and military assistance for the ‘fragile civil Government’ there was also the Nunn-Lugar Act of 1991 which was cited for possible intervention to roll back Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Putting the Pakistan on two weeks’ notice, the US literally ordered the Government to move troops to the west.

      The original US ‘AfPak’ strategy was to get Afghanistan and Pakistan to contain the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the Pushtoon areas on their side of the border so that the Afghan Taliban could be contained and Al Qaeda weakened till they no longer posed a threat to Afghanistan and the US.

      But getting Pakistan to act against sanctuaries has proved more difficult than imagined. The US focus has changed to ensuring that Pakistan is stable. So ‘AfPak’ has turned to ‘PakAf’.

      Hosting the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan trilateral summit earlier this month, US President Barack Obama urged Mr Zardari to focus on threats within rather than considering India as an ‘existential threat’. Whether the battering ram strategy has worked only time will tell.

      US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has said that the US will help normalise and improve relations between Pakistan and India and that it is in America’s interest to secure India’s help to end the crisis in South Asia. In other words, India is vital to the success of the ‘AfPak’ strategy.

      How serious is Pakistan about fighting the war within? Experience has shown that combat operations can only be decisive with the Army and not the local paramilitaries who have been known to surrender to the Taliban. Pakistan has 16 brigades deployed in the west, which include the 6,000 soldiers moved recently from east.

      Five of the 16 Brigades are committed in Swat and Bajaur and others along the Durand Line. Pakistan requires at least another 10 to 15 Brigades to hold Malakand and Bajaur and take the war to FATA. This can only be done by thinning out troops from the east where 90 per cent of the Army is deployed.

      Can Pakistan afford to continue this war without risking a backlash from Islamic zealots in the Army and the ISI, and America-haters? As long as India is labelled threat number one, this war will be prosecuted half-heartedly in sporadic bursts of fighting. Nearly two million people displaced since the Swat offensive are indicators both of seriousness and hope that there will be cries for halting the operation on humanitarian grounds, as in Sri Lanka.

      India will show the green light for Pakistan switching forces to the west only when jihadi terrorist bases in Pakistan are dismantled, which was previously a condition for US aid but had to be dropped. Reluctant to engage even on one front, Islamabad cannot open both fronts. New Delhi could come under American pressure to be satisfied with Islamabad’s admission that the Mumbai attack was sourced in Pakistan, an incremental improvement on four previous pledges that it will not allow the use of its soil for terrorist attacks.

  10. মাসুদ করিম - ৩১ মে ২০০৯ (৪:১০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    ইসলমাবাদ, ৩০ মে–তালিবান দখল থেকে সোয়াত উপত্যকার প্রধান শহরকে মুক্ত করেছে পাকিস্তান সেনাবাহিনী। তুমুল সংঘর্ষের পর শনিবার মিঙ্গোরার দখল নেয় পাকিস্তানি ফৌজ। শহরের নিরাপত্তা নিশ্চিত করা হয়েছে। উল্লেখ্য, এর আগে বৃহ্ষপতিবার সোয়াত উপত্যকার বেহরেন এবং পিওচারও মুক্ত করেছিল জওয়ানরা। সেনাবাহিনীর তরফে জানানো হয়েছে, বর্তমানে উগ্রপন্থীদের দখল থেকে মুক্ত এলাকাগুলোর সুরক্ষা ব্যবস্থার দিকে নজর দেওয়া হচ্ছে। পাশাপাশি চলছে তল্লাশির কাজও। ইতিমধ্যেই পাকিস্তানের উত্তর-পশ্চিম সীমান্ত প্রদেশে জারি সামরিক অভিযানে ১হাজার ২০০জন তালিবান উগ্রপন্থী ও ৮০জন জওয়ানের মুত্যু হয়েছে।প্রসঙ্গত,গত ২৬ এপ্রিল ডির, ২৮ এপ্রিল বুনের এবং ৮ মে সোয়াতে সামরিক অভিযান শুরু করেছিল সেনাবাহিনী। শনিবার মেজর জেনারেল আতাহার আব্বাস জানিয়েছেন, সোয়াত উপত্যকার কিছু এলাকায় উগ্রপন্থীদের সঙ্গে সেনাবাহিনীর সংঘর্ষ এখনো জারি রয়েছে।–পিটিআই

  11. মাসুদ করিম - ১৩ জুন ২০০৯ (৯:৪১ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানে রাজনৈতিক ইসলামের বুদ্ধিবৃত্তিক চর্চা কী করে বিশ্বাসনির্ভর ফ্যাসিজমের দিকে চলে গেছে, এ নিয়ে ডন.কম ব্লগে নাদিম এফ. পরচা লিখেছেন মওদুদীর সন্তানেরা– Maududi’s Children. আমাদের দেশের মওদুদীর সন্তানেরাও তো আছে দুধে-ভাতে। তারা যে আমাদের কোথায় নিয়ে এসেছেন আর কোথায় যে নিয়ে যাবেন, আঁচ করা যাবে এ ব্লগ থেকে।

  12. মাসুদ করিম - ৯ আগস্ট ২০০৯ (৬:১৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তান নিয়ে ভারতীয় তিন সাংবাদিকের অতিসাম্প্রতিক ৩টি পোস্ট : এম জে আকবর, শেখর গুপ্ত, ভির সাঙ্ঘভি। অথবা একসাথে আউটলুক ইন্ডিয়ায় সুনদীপ দুগালের ব্লগে : পাকিস্তান। পাকিস্তান। পাকিস্তান।

    • মাসুদ করিম - ১২ আগস্ট ২০০৯ (৮:৩৪ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

      শেখর গুপ্তের লেখার প্রত্যুত্তর দিয়েছেন পাকিস্তানের সাংবাদিক ইজাজ হায়দার। পড়ুন এখানে।

  13. মাসুদ করিম - ১১ আগস্ট ২০০৯ (১০:০১ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের বিখ্যাত ঔপন্যাসিক মোহাম্মদ হানিফ লিখেছেন গার্ডিয়ানে Mohammad Hanif on His Homecoming to Pakistan.

  14. মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ আগস্ট ২০০৯ (২:০০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের উর্দু পত্রিকার কলামিস্টদের নিয়ে লিখেছেন সি.এম.নাইম আউটলুক ইন্ডিয়ায়।

  15. মাসুদ করিম - ১ নভেম্বর ২০০৯ (৮:৫৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    সম্প্রতি পেশোয়ারের এক ব্যাস্ত বাজারে সংঘটিত কারবোমা বিস্ফোরণটি ছিল নতুন ধরনের তালিবানি হামলা, এভাবে জনাকীর্ণ বাজারে আগে তারা বোমা বিস্ফোরণ ঘটায়নি। এতে প্রায় ১০০ জনের মতো নিহত হয়েছে এবং দুশতাধিক আহত, আর নিহত ও আহতদের বেশিরভাগই নারী ও শিশু। ‘দি হিন্দু’র স্লাইডশো।

  16. মাসুদ করিম - ২৮ নভেম্বর ২০০৯ (১:৩১ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    প্রখ্যাত পদার্থবিজ্ঞানী ও শান্তিকর্মী আর পাকিস্তানের ধর্মনিরপেক্ষ রাজনীতির সমর্থক প্রফেসর এ. এইচ. নাইয়ার তালিবান, গণতন্ত্র ও পাকিস্তানের রাজনীতি নিয়ে কথা বলছেন প্রবীর পুরকায়স্থের সাথে। ইউটিউব থেকে, ক্লিপটি দুটি অংশে বিভক্ত, এখানে প্রথম অংশ আর এখানে দ্বিতীয় অংশ।

  17. মাসুদ করিম - ২১ মে ২০১০ (১২:৪৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের বিখ্যাত টিভি সংবাদ উপস্থাপক এবং বিশিষ্ট সাংবাদিক হামিদ মিরের সাথে এক অজ্ঞাতপরিচয় তালিবানের কথিত কথোপকথনের অডিওটেপ প্রকাশ হওয়ার পর এখন পাকিস্তানের সংবাদ মাধ্যম তালিবান, সাংবাদিক, আইএসআই, সিআইএ, মিডিয়া কর্পোরেশন, কাদিয়ানি, ভারত, ইসরাইল, আমেরিকা এসব ব্যক্তি, প্রতিষ্ঠান ও রাষ্ট্র এবং এদের ভুমিকা নিয়ে সবাই বিতর্কে মশগুল। এখানে পড়ুন Hamid Mir’s terrifying indiscretions।

    Transcript of Hamid Mir’s conversation

    Hamid Mir: Many bombings are being carried out.

    Unidentified man: Let’s see. There will be more of them. There are some in the pipeline. What do they (government) say about the operation in Orakzai? Will they stop it or not?

    HM: No, they say it would not be stopped, rather they say they will also start an operation in North Waziristan and 40,000 troops will leave in a couple of days.

    UM: In North Waziristan?

    HM: Yes.

    UM: Do you have any report on Khalid Khawaja etc.

    HM: They say Khalid Khawaja Saab is in custody of one Azam Afridi in Darrakhel.

    UM: Yes, yes Tariq Afridi (correcting HM).

    HM: They are in Tariq Afridi’s custody.

    UM: OK.

    HM: Yes.

    UM: So, are they men of the government or ISI?

    HM: Who?

    UM: These, Khalid Khawaja and Colonel Imam.

    HM: Khalid Khawaja, according to my opinion, is not an ISI man, rather he is a CIA agent, an American CIA agent and he has links with the Taliban leadership.

    UM: Yes, he met with Hakimullah and others when he came here last time.

    HM: I personally know that Khalid Khawaja has links not only with CIA but he is also a front man of Mansoor Ijaz who belongs to a very big international network of Qadiyanis. Once he came to me along with Mansoor, who had a briefcase with him, and Khalid Saab told me that Mansoor is a key representative of the US government, so arrange his meeting with Syed Salahuddin, who is a mujahideen leader, and he along with him would resolve the Kashmir issue.

    UM: All right.

    HM: But I asked him what charm or magic lamp does he posses for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. He said he had links with the Indian government and (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee Jee, which surprised me. I didn’t arrange the meeting, but I asked Mr Salahuddin who said Khalid Khawaja is sending messages that you should directly talk to India and the US on the issue and exclude Pakistan from it.

    UM: All right, all right.

    HM: After that, Mansoor Ijaz also asked me: Are you with us or not? I said, “I am not with you.” Then he conspired against me and got me sacked from the Daily Ausaf when I was its editor. So, I think Khalid Khawaja not only has links with the CIA but he is also an agent of the Qadiyanis, and I am very sad that he used to go to the Tribal Areas and meet leaders there.

    UM: But now, I think, the Taliban have caught him and have demanded $10 million for the journalist.

    HM: Do you know what part his (Khalid Khawaja’s) wife played in Lal Masjid?

    UM: No, but it was something negative.

    HM: It was that Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi Saab – may Allah bless him with a place in heavens. What he told me in his last days was, do you know that he did not completely agree with Maulana Aziz.

    UM: Yes, yes.

    HM: Mr Abdul Rashid Ghazi wanted to save the students inside the mosque and for that he showed flexibility and said, “I am ready to surrender on the condition that those who are with me will not be arrested and will be released.” But Khalid Khawaja’s wife was pressurised so much by Ume Hassaan that Maulana Abdul Aziz, without asking his brother, came out in a burqa, and Khalid Khawaja was involved in it (call disconnected).

    UM: Assalam-o-Alaikum!

    HM: Yes,

    UM: The call got disconnected.

    HM: Ok.

    UM: So, what were you saying about his wife?

    HM: Yes, I was telling you that his wife pressurised him so much that Ghazi Saab said, “She says we have to fight, just fight for martyrdom.” After that Mr Khalid Khawaja came out of the mosque and his wife also fled, Khalid Khawaja’s wife.

    UM: Yes, we heard that she had fled after that.

    HM: Yes, she ran away and then Maulana Abdul Aziz also came out in the burqa.

    UM: I think, he insisted for that.

    HM: Yes, he had done all this. After that Maulana Abdul Aziz was arrested and Mr Abdul Rashid Ghazi telephoned me and said, “Now, I don’t have any option. Now, my family and ulema have been defamed as my brother was arrested in a burqa and presented on Pakistan Television. This is a large stain which can only be removed with my blood.” So, he lived up to his words and sacrificed. So, Khalid Khawaja and his wife, anyone may know or not, they will have to answer before Allah Almighty.

    UM: He, recently, came here and met my companions. He was saying, “You can work in Pakistan as we say, if you want to. I can arrange your ‘setting’ with an admiral in Mianwali. So, you should not burn US containers in Pakistan, you can rob them and sell them to a person recommended by us.” He was saying, “We would provide you everything for carrying out activities in Pakistan.”

    HM: Do whatever you want to with the containers, burn them or rob them, I have nothing to do with it. But ask him what relationship he has with Mansoor Ijaz and William Casey? William Casey was the chief of CIA.

    UM: Right, right.

    HM: He (Khawaja) himself has confessed in front me that he had links with William Casey. Ok! Leave William, ask him about the Qadiyanis, because I personally believe that Qadiyanis are worse than infidels, what kind of links does he have with Qadiyanis? What relationship does he have with Mansoor Ijaz? Why does he use his money? Why does he go everywhere with him when he comes to Pakistan? Why does he bring him to the mujahideen?

    UM: Yes, he has a son in al Qaeda.

    HM: Yes, his son would also be a spy like him.

    UM: Yes, I talked to the shaikhs about him. They said they were keeping him on the sidelines.

    HM: His biggest betrayal to me was that there was a mujahid, Abdul Rehman Al Canady.

    UM: Yes, there was one Canady.

    HM: He was martyred in North Waziristan. He came to me with Canady’s wife and a daughter, saying Canady’s son, Karim, is at Rawalpindi’s CMH and is injured and the army had arrested him. He asked me to arrange a meeting between the injured and his mother. I said this is very difficult for me and I can’t do this because already they are all against me. But, he said all that you need to do is to arrange a meeting between a mother and her son. So, I arranged it with a lot of difficulties and sent the woman to Rawalpindi CMH, but when she reached there she took a camera out of her burqa and asked her son to record a message that he is innocent, has no links with anyone and has been kept here illegally. She was arrested there because a nurse saw her and seized the camera from her. But I was held responsible for all of it as they told me that I had sent this woman. It was revealed after her arrest that the woman had a Canadian passport and had visited Canada two months ago. After that I faced a lot of difficulties. The Canadian government released the woman and her daughter and then she went back to Canada. In Toronto, she held a press conference and admitted that she worked for the CIA. Now Khalid Khawaja has a long beard and his wife wears a full veil so people like us, who are involved in worldly affairs and have committed sins, believe that if we will help them, we might be forgotten for our sins. When these kinds of people betray us, we lose confidence on the religion itself.

    UM: Absolutely, neither we are wrong nor is the army, but people like him have created the difficulties.

    HM: However, if he is somewhere, ask him at least that you used the name of Abdul Rehman Canady, you worked with Mansoor Ijaz, you have worked William Casey. And there is one Javaid Ibrahim Piracha, who has a very big seminary in Kohat.

    UM: Yes, yes.

    HM: You all know the services of Piracha Saab. So, he fraudulently invited Piracha Saab in Islamabad and told him he wanted to arrange his meeting with a prominent personality. He took him to the US deputy foreign minister at Serena Hotel and said, “He is Mr Piracha and he can arrange your talks with the al Qaeda and Taliban.” Piracha Saab is a well-educated person. I observed that he was betrayed and came out of the room and escaped from there. Then he called me and said, “You were right about him (Khalid Khawaja).”

    UM: Right, right. He went to him last time.

    HM: Yes, Piracha Saab told me about that. He said, “He came to me and Col Imam was also here and told Col Imam that don’t go anywhere with this guy.” He (Piracha) said, “What can I do if he comes here and I can’t force him out of my house, but you don’t go anywhere with him.” Mr Piracha said Col Imam didn’t want to go with Khalid Khawaja, but he forced him to go with him.

    UM: Right, maybe to use as human shield. But Shah Abdul Aziz, that MNA of Kirk, is supporting him a lot. He was meeting everyone here and asking for his release.

    HM: He would have fooled Shah Abdul Aziz.

    UM: Yes, he was asking people to release him and said you may keep the journalist, whose ransom will be paid to you by him.

    HM: Ok! His release depends on them who have kept him, but convey them these three questions that what is your link with Mansoor Ijaz, whose father fled with the atomic secrets of Pakistan. Mansoor Ijaz’s father was an atomic scientist and he fled to the US with the atomic secrets of Pakistan. Once he (Ijaz) offered Benazir Bhutto a quid pro quo deal in 1995 that all the debts of the country will be forgiven, if she recognised Israel. That means he was also an agent of Israel.

    UM: Yes, he used to ask my companions to work in Pakistan “as we say”. Actually, the killings of brigadiers in Rawalpindi might have been arranged by him, I think.

    HM: It might be possible, but I have been watching this guy for the last 13 or 14 years and he is a suspected man.

    UM: OK. Inshallah, I will meet Hakimullah in two or three days and talk to him about all this.

    HM: All right

    UM: Thank you so much.

    HM: Assalam-o-Alaikum!

    UM: Assalam-o-Alaikum!

    এনিয়ে ডেইলি টাইমসের সম্পাদকীয়

    An audiotape doing the rounds in the cyber world has taken the country by storm. One of the country’s top anchors and a prominent journalist, Hamid Mir, while talking to an alleged Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) member, made shocking comments about various things. A transcript of the conversation was published in this newspaper yesterday. The conversation took place a few days before Khalid Khawaja, a former ISI official, was killed last month by a militant group going by the name of the ‘Asian Tigers’. Some are speculating if Mir’s indiscretions played a role in Khawaja’s murder.

    There should be a thorough investigation into the matter by the security agencies. It should first be ascertained whether it was actually Hamid Mir or an impersonator on the audiotape. If it is indeed a genuine transcript, Mir’s credentials should come under the scanner. Considering the fact that Mir is a very influential TV anchor, it comes as a surprise that he seems to be involved in murky areas where most journalists fear to tread. Being an investigative journalist does make one come in contact with militant groups so as to get exclusive scoops, but it does not give a journalist the right to incite violence and hatred. If these charges are proved against Mr Mir, he could attract the mischief of the Army Act and Pakistan Penal Code for aiding and abetting terrorists who have declared war on the state of Pakistan and against whom our forces are fighting and dying. These are serious charges and should be dealt with accordingly.

    When asked by the unidentified man who Khawaja was working for, Mir opined that he was working for the CIA and not the ISI. He then went on to strengthen his allegation by citing incidents from the past and how close Khawaja was to former CIA chief William Casey and a character called Mansoor Ejaz. Mir alleges that Ejaz could have been an Israeli agent since he tried to persuade Benazir Bhutto to recognise Israel when she was in power. Mir is already on record as having written that Khawaja led a “highly complex underworld life, as a mediator, sometimes on behalf of the Americans, a power-broker, a mover and shaker”. In the audiotape, Mir discloses that Khawaja wanted him to arrange a meeting with Kashmiri mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, but he did not because of Khawaja’s links with the Indian government. Mir also implicates Khawaja in the Laal Masjid case and hints that the reason Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi opted for death was to wipe out the humiliation of his brother fleeing the mosque wearing a burqa. Mir talks about his friendship with PML-N member Javed Ibrahim Paracha, who is alleged to have spread sectarian terrorism in Kohat and has links to al Qaeda and other terrorist outfits.

    Apart from Mir’s conspiracy theories about Khawaja being an agent of the CIA, India and Israel, the most horrifying aspect was to hear Mir spewing venom against the Ahmedis in the audiotape. He alleged that Khawaja was a “Qadiyani agent” and said, “I personally believe that Qadiyanis are worse than the kuffar (infidels)”. The Ahmedis are already a persecuted community in Pakistan and such views by a prominent journalist would put them in further danger. There is already a lot of intolerance because of the extremist mindset that prevails in our society. When such a prominent television commentator and anchor makes such comments, his journalistic ethics must be questioned. These days many anchors and journalists are challenging the credibility of the government, but one must now interrogate their own credibility. It is hoped that the media group Hamid Mir works for would, in its wisdom, distance itself from Mir. Not only has Mir acted in a criminal manner, he has violated all professional ethics as well. Mir must be taken to task so that the people of Pakistan are not misled by his ilk in the future.

    হামিদ মিরকে নিয়ে ‘সাবির’-এর কার্টুন।

    দি নিউজ পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত হামিদ মিরের উকিল নোটিস।

  18. মাসুদ করিম - ১৪ জুলাই ২০১০ (৬:২৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    From its base in the frontier area near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani is suspected of running much of the insurgency around Kabul, the Afghan capital, and across eastern Afghanistan, carrying out car bombings and kidnappings, including spectacular attacks on American military installations. It is allied with Al Qaeda and with leaders of the Afghan Taliban branch under Mullah Muhammad Omar, now based near Quetta, Pakistan.

    But the group’s real power may lie in its deep connections to Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, which analysts say sees the Haqqani network as a way to exercise its own leverage in Afghanistan. Pakistani leaders have recently offered to broker talks between Mr. Karzai and the network, officials said, arguing that it could be a viable future partner.

    পাকিস্তানে যুদ্ধরত ‘হাক্কানি নেটওয়ার্ক’কে আমেরিকা সন্ত্রাসী তালিকায় অর্ন্তভুক্ত করতে পারে। বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : U.S. May Label Pakistan Militants as Terrorists।

  19. মাসুদ করিম - ২১ জুলাই ২০১০ (১২:৩৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    একদিন সকালে ঘুম থেকে উঠে কায়ানির যদি মনে হয়ে পাকিস্তানের তালিবানায়ন বন্ধ করতে হবে, তিনি কি পারবেন সেই ডাক দিতে… পড়ুন এখানে… সে মনে হয় অনেক দেরি হয়ে গেছে।

    • মাসুদ করিম - ২৪ জুলাই ২০১০ (১২:২৬ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

      এই নভেম্বরেই মেয়াদ শেষ হওয়ার কথা ছিল, কিন্তু পাকিস্তানের ‘প্রো-ডেমোক্রেটিক্যাল’ সেনাপ্রধান কায়ানি থেকেই যাচ্ছেন, পাকিস্তানের প্রধানমন্ত্রী গিলানি এক নাটকীয় ‘শো-অফ’-এর মাধ্যমে জাতির উদ্দেশ্য টিভি ভাষণ দিয়ে কায়ানির মেয়াদ ২০১৩ পর্যন্ত বাড়ালেন। পড়ুন আরিফ রফিকের The Kayani era continues।

  20. মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ জুলাই ২০১০ (১০:৫২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাঁচটি কারণ যেজন্য পাকিস্তানের মিলিটারি সিভিলিয়ানদের ওপর জেঁকে বসে আছে, এবং যেপ্রক্রিয়া শুরু হয়েছিল পাকিস্তানের স্বাধীনতার পর থেকেই, সেই জিন্নার সময় থেকেই।

    What that incident indicates is that some army officers had developed extra-constitutional ambitions within less than a year of the creation of Pakistan, and even while the father of the nation was alive. How and why did that happen? In retrospect it appears that there were peculiar reasons why civil-military relations in Pakistan could not develop in a normal way, apart from the fact that a feeling of disdain in the military for the civilians, especially the politicians, is quite common and almost universal.

    In the first place, there was no interaction between the political leadership and the future leaders of the Pakistan Army before independence. The imperial culture of the British Indian Army had kept even the Indian officers aloof from other natives, and interaction with the civilians was discouraged. Hence the two sides, civilian and military, began with some hostility and suspicion that strangers tend to have towards each other.

    Second, an unwise administrative decision kept the civil and military leadership separated by a long distance from each other. Till 1960 the political capital (Karachi) and the army headquarters (Rawalpindi) were separated by a distance of about 900km. Even the nearest provincial capital (Peshawar) was about 200km away. The farthest provincial capital (Dhaka) was, of course, light years away.

    This perhaps explains why the people of East Pakistan hardly ever figured in the calculations of the army, except as an irksome nuisance. This geographical factor only perpetuated and enhanced the feeling of being strangers that was inherited at the time of independence in 1947.

    Third, in the 1950s and later, the Pakistan Army became an important ally of the US in the Cold War rivalry between the superpowers. With US aid and assistance the army grew in size and acquired more clout in the affairs of the state. It was, and still is, more important to the US than the political leadership, separately or collectively. This devalues the importance of the political leadership.

    Fourth, the army had, and still has, a well-organised modern structure and a culture of discipline, but politics in Pakistan has been rather chaotic, and the structure of the political parties has remained more feudalistic than modern, and marked by indiscipline and opportunism. With the exception of the MQM and the Jamaat-i-Islami, no other political party has a proper organisational structure or a disciplined body of workers.

    For this reason politics in Pakistan cannot but be chaotic and uncertain in its ways and objectives. It is a matter of some significance that since 1947 there have been 14 army chiefs but no less than 23 prime ministers. In India the numbers are about the opposite.

    Fifth, the army has many training and research institutions, and some of them (such as Staff College, Quetta, and National Defence University) are as good as any in the world. In contrast, not even the two largest political parties, the PPP and the PML-N, have a properly staffed and equipped secretariat or a research wing to help formulate well thought-out views on various issues. Even the headquarters of these two parties in Islamabad are a pathetic sight of a kind that would embarrass even a regimental centre.

    এখানে পড়ুন বিস্তারিত। আর আমাদের দেশের প্রেক্ষাপটে শুধু তৃতীয় কারণটাই আংশিক, আমাদের স্বাধীনতা আমাদেরকে ‘ঠান্ডা যুদ্ধ’-এর আমেরিকার মিত্রের অবস্থান থেকে সরিয়ে দিয়েছিল। কিন্তু আর সব কারণ আমাদের ক্ষেত্রে বর্তমান, কাজেই এই পাঁচটি কারণকে মুখ্য ধরে আমরাও আর্মি-সিভিল সম্পর্ক উন্নয়নের কথা ভাবতে পারি।

  21. মাসুদ করিম - ৩ আগস্ট ২০১০ (১০:০৪ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    ‘দি হিন্দু’তে প্রবীণ সোয়ামির কলাম : কায়ানির নীরব ক্যু।

    Late in April, Ashfaq Pervez Kayani stood before a solemn audience that had gathered to mark Martyrs Day.

    “There is no greater honour than martyrdom”, Pakistan’s army chief said, “nor any aspiration greater than it. When people are determined to achieve great objectives, they develop the faith needed to trust their lives to the care of Allah. We are well aware of the historical reality that nations must be willing to make great sacrifices for their freedom”. “I am proud”, he went on, “that the nation has never forgotten the sacrifices of its martyrs and holy warriors”.

    If it hadn’t been for General Kayani’s impeccably-ironed military uniform, his audience might have been forgiven for believing that the speech was being made by the Islamist clerics who have exhorted insurgents to claim the lives of over 2,700 Pakistani troops in combat.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন এখানে।

  22. মাসুদ করিম - ১০ আগস্ট ২০১০ (২:০২ অপরাহ্ণ)

    হু জিনতাও, ওয়েন জিয়াবাও-এর ঘনিষ্ঠ জারদারি, দেশের দুর্যোগে কিভাবে ঝাঁপিয়ে পড়তে হয়, তার চীনা বন্ধুদের কাছ থেকে তার কিছুই শেখেননি। ডন এর সম্পাদকীয় ও আরো আরো সমালোচনা আজ তাকে ইউরোপ সফর থেকে দেশে ফিরিয়ে এনেছে। ডন-এর সম্পাদকীয়তে পশ্চিমের বিশেষ করে ওয়াশিংটন ও লন্ডনের ত্রাণ চাওয়া হয়েছে। কিন্তু নিকট প্রতিবেশীদের কারো কাছে ত্রাণ চাওয়া হয়নি। চীন ও সৌদিআরবের কাছে চাইতে হবে না, তারা দেবেই। কিন্তু প্রতিবেশীদেরও উল্লেখ থাকা উচিত ছিল।

    আর প্রতিবেশীদের উচিত কে চাইল না চাইল ভেবে এথনই পাকিস্তানে ত্রাণ পাঠানো। আমরা বাংলাদেশ সরকারের কাছে অনুরোধ করব, পাকিস্তানের এই ভয়াবহ বন্যায় প্রতিবেশীর সাহায্যে এগিয়ে আসার দৃষ্টান্ত স্থাপন করে, বেসরকারী অনুদান গ্রহণ ও প্রেরণে সুযোগ করে দিয়ে অচিরেই একটা ত্রাণ সেল গঠন করে ও উপদ্রুত অঞ্চলে চিকিৎসা সেবা দিয়ে পাকিস্তানের বন্যাপীড়িত মানুষের পাশে দাঁড়াতে। আর এক্ষেত্রে ভারতও বড় অবদান রাখতে পারে, কারণ আমরা জানি এ অঞ্চলে অর্থনৈতিকভাবে তারাই সবচেয়ে সমৃদ্ধ।

    • মাসুদ করিম - ১১ আগস্ট ২০১০ (২:৩০ অপরাহ্ণ)

      চাইলেও তো মনে হচ্ছে ত্রাণ পাঠানো যাবে না। পাকিস্তান তালিবান সাহায্য গ্রহণ করবে না।

      SUKKUR: Pakistan’s Taliban have denounced all foreign aid for victims of the country’s catastrophic flooding, and said they can match the latest US pledge of 20 million dollars.

      “We condemn American and other foreign aid and believe that it will lead to subjugation. Our jihad against America will continue,” a spokesman for the group, Azam Tariq, told AFP by telephone.

      “The government should not accept American aid and if it happens, we can give 20 million dollars to them as aid for the flood victims,” he said.

      “We will ourselves distribute relief under leadership of our chief Hakimullah Mehsud among the people, if the government assures us that none of our members will be arrested.”

      বিস্তারিত পড়ুন এখানে।

  23. মাসুদ করিম - ১১ আগস্ট ২০১০ (২:৩৩ অপরাহ্ণ)

    তবে যাই হোক, এখানে দেখুন কিছু লিন্ক, এখানে আপনি পাকিস্তানের বন্যা দুগর্তদের জন্য টাকা পাঠাতে পারেন।

    In Pakistan:

    * Edhi Foundation: Donate here

    * Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation
    Title of Account: Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation
    Account #: 0030445261000455
    Name of Bank: MCB Bank (1028), Super Market, Islamabad-Pakistan
    Swift Code: MUCBPKKAMCC
    Tax Exemption: 6043/ATD/2008-09

    * SUNGI: Donate here

    * Pakistan Red Crescent Society (offices in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Muzaffarabad.

    * Pakistani Youth (facebook group)

    * Rescue & Relief Work ( Flood Survival)An independent group of students (facebook group)

    * The Volunteers/ Voice of the Civil Society: VOTCS – a registered (No. DSW 3369-K) welfare organization in Pakistan, operating as a Non-Profit, Public Charity in the North America, Inc. – 501(C)(3) Organization(Tax Exempted). Sending provisions to affectees with the help of Pakistan Army. For more info call: Hadia khan @ +92-3018245999 Sadia Haroon @ +92-3218251122 Irum Farooque @ +92-3002332142. (For donations: HABIB BANK LIMITED ACCOUNT NO: 1549-79001393-03)

    * RONAQ-E-QAINAAT – Young doctors are in the process of arranging a series of free medical camps in the flood affected areas. First Camp is at Nowshera. Please Contact Ms. Alina Akhyar at alinaakhyar@yahoo.com, to email you the Trust’s past activities, bank account details and other queries. They have reportedly done some pretty impressive work. (Account number: 00400101065364, account title: Khadija Nadeem; Askari Bank Chaklala Scheme 3 branch Rawalpindi). Khadija is the founding member, handling all donations.

    International Charity Organizations:

    * UNHCR: Donate here. You can also mail your donations to UNHCR:
    * UNHCR – UNHCR Canada
    * UNICEF USA- Donate here
    * United Nation’s World Food Programme: Donations are tax deductible for number of countries. Donate here
    * Plan International ( Pakistan specific) donate here
    * International Medical Corps
    * IRC (The International Rescue Committee): donate here: http://www.theirc.org/news/irc-team-responds-devastating-floods-pakistan
    * Save the Children

  24. মাসুদ করিম - ১৪ আগস্ট ২০১০ (২:৪৫ অপরাহ্ণ)

    বন্যার পর, জার্মান পত্রিকা ‘স্পিগেল’-এ পাকিস্তানের বন্যা নিয়ে ফটোগ্যালারি দেখুন এখানে।

  25. মাসুদ করিম - ২৫ আগস্ট ২০১০ (৯:৪৫ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    আলিফ-এ আল্লাহ (আগে ছিল আনার), বে-তে বন্দুক (আগে ছিল বকরি), জিম-এ জিহাদ ( আগে ছিল জাহাজ) এভাবে উর্দু অক্ষর ও শব্দের প্রথম পাঠ দেয়া হচ্ছে পাকিস্তানে। পাবলিক স্কুলের র‌্যাডিকেল পরিবর্তনের কথা লিখছেন আলি কে চিশতি। তার মতে এসবের মূল

    I was on a television programme discussing radicalisation when one of the panellists boasted how one mard-e-mujahid is equal to 10 infidels. This compelled me to ponder how and when did the radicalisation of Pakistanis really start. The popular myth is that Ziaul Haq sowed the seeds of radicalisation but, in reality, institutionalised radicalisation of Pakistanis started in the late 1950s when the Iqbalian concepts of mard-e-momin and shaheen were promoted, much like the Nazis originally promoted the concept of the superman of Nietzsche. Interestingly, the security establishment promoted Iqbal’s idea post the 1958 coup to undermine civilian rule and tried to revise the status of Allama Iqbal as one of the original founders (note that Iqbal was not the national poet until 1958) because the army had traditionally been uneasy with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a staunch secularist, as head of the state. Ayub obviously had a bone or two to pick with Jinnah due to Jinnah’s tough stance on the role of the armed forces.

    And we transformed ourselves to Nietzsche’s idea when Pakistan, a newly born ill-equipped nation 1/5th the size of India, confidently initiated Operation Gibraltar and later Kargil, intoxicated by the one Muslim equals 10 Hindus syndrome. We all know what happened next. The expulsion of the USSR from Afghanistan and the failure to produce adequate secessionists in our immediate neighbouring countries to further our lofty and godly foreign policy designs led to a total breakdown of the strategy of using non-state actors as instruments of foreign policy execution, but we never learnt lessons from history. In fact, the ideology of religious radicalism mixed with political secessionism which we used to promote ‘strategic depth’ and manufacture the Frankenstein’s monster of the Taliban post-9/11 came back to haunt our country. Today, only because of this radicalisation of over half a century, Pakistan is forced to use its armed forces and wage a war on its own population in order to reintegrate them into the mainstream. The situation now is such that the ideological spillover of fundamentalism has led to a radicalisation of the polity within Pakistan. The earlier political phenomenon of having opposition parties supporting fundamentalism now has an armed dimension too, making things even more dangerous.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন এখানে।

  26. মাসুদ করিম - ৬ জানুয়ারি ২০১১ (৫:৩৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    সালমান তাসির হত্যাকাণ্ডের পর পাকিস্তানের নাগরিকদের লজ্জাজনক প্রতিক্রিয়া নিয়ে মোহাম্মদ হানিফ লিখছেন

    Taseer’s body was still in the morgue when I started to find out more about the sensitivities of our people. Whereas most people rushed home and sat glued to their TVs, probably agreeing or disagreeing with those TV presenters, many of those interviewed at random seemed to approve. “Well, murder is wrong, but he did say bad things about our Prophet,” one man said. Another claimed that if he had got a chance he would do the same thing. When asked how they knew that Taseer had committed blasphemy, they just shrugged as if saying they just knew. As if they had decided that he just seemed like the kind of guy who would do something like this.

    Even before Taseer was given a burial, his killer had become a hero of sorts. Constable Mumtaz Qadri belonged to Punjab’s Elite Force, a police force usually deployed to provide security to VIPs. And although he had acted alone, at least some of his colleagues knew that he was planning to assassinate the governor. He had made them promise that they wouldn’t shoot him in the act. Hence, after pumping 27 bullets into the governor’s body, he calmly handed himself over to his colleagues who had apparently kept their promise. They tied his hands and legs with a nylon rope and took him away. By the evening, Qadri’s picture had replaced a thousand profile pictures on Facebook. He was a mujahid, a lion, a true hero of Islam. We wish there were more of him.

    ব্লাসফেমি বা ইসলাম ধর্মের অবমাননার বা মুহম্মদকে অবমাননার একটা সাম্প্রতিক ঘটনা সম্বন্ধে জানাচ্ছেন মোহাম্মদ হানিফ

    Only last month I had followed another blasphemy case. A pharmaceutical salesman walked into a well respected paediatrician’s clinic in the city of Hyderabad and tried to sell him his company’s medicines. The good doctor was in a bad mood. He tossed the salesman’s visiting card in the bin. The very next day the salesman got together some local religious party activists and got a blasphemy case registered against the doctor.

    How did the wily salesman manage to achieve that?

    You see, Mohammed was part of salesman’s name, as it is with half the male population of this country, including this scribe. So if you toss away a piece of paper with the word Mohammed written on it, you are obviously committing a blasphemy against our beloved Prophet. And there is a law against that in this country, introduced by Pakistan’s military dictator and part-architect of the global jihad industry, General Ziaul Haq. The law is popularly known as the Namoos-e-Risalat Act; the law to protect the honour of the Prophet, and there is only one punishment: death by hanging. A number of non-Muslims as well as Muslims have been awarded this punishment, but nobody has actually been hanged yet. Higher courts usually overturn the punishment. In many cases a mob, or motivated gunmen, have carried out the punishment themselves.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : How Pakistan responded to Salmaan Taseer’s assassination।

  27. মাসুদ করিম - ৯ জানুয়ারি ২০১১ (৯:১৮ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানি কার্টুনিস্ট খালিদ হোসাইনের এই কার্টুনটির বাংলা ক্যাপশন করতে গিয়ে একটি শব্দই তৈরি করতে হল : তালিবানুড়ে। পশ্চিমাশক্তির পাকিস্তান ও আফগানিস্তানে এখন প্রধান পরিচয় ওরা তালিবানুড়ে, তাদের সাথে আছে পাকিস্তান ও আফগানিস্তানের অনেক স্থানীয় তালিবানুড়ে, তার সাথে বিশ্বজুড়ে ইসলামি সম্প্রদায়ের মধ্যেও আছে অনেক তালিবানুড়ে, আছে উপমহাদেশের সবচেয়ে প্রভাবশালী দেশ ভারত জুড়ে অনেক তালিবানুড়ে। তালিবান তৈরির যুগ হয়ত শেষ হয়ে গেছে আসছে তালিবান বশীকরণের যুগ। সবাই মিলে পোষ মানাতে পারবে তো? তালিবানরা তালিবানুড়ের বাঁশি শুনে সাপের মত পোষ মানবে তো? সাপের মতোই তালিবানুড়েরা সাপের বিষদাঁত আগে ভেঙ্গে নিতে পারবে তো?

  28. মাসুদ করিম - ৪ মে ২০১১ (১২:৩৫ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    আমেরিকার অন্য দেশের ভূখণ্ডে বিচার বর্হিভূত লাদেন সংহার এবং এই হত্যাকাণ্ড বিষয়ে সেদেশের সর্বোচ্চ প্রশাসনের বিবৃতির মাধ্যমে একথা বলা যে, ওই অপারেশন সম্পূর্ণ আমেরিকার — তাহলে পাকিস্তান রাষ্ট্রটির অবস্থান কী দাঁড়াল? পাকিস্তান এবার সত্যিই রাষ্ট্রের পরিচয় হারাল। এই সংকট পাকিস্তানকে কোথায় নিয়ে যাবে? ওবামা লাদেনকে মারলেন না পাকিস্তান রাষ্ট্রকে?

  29. মাসুদ করিম - ৭ মে ২০১১ (৪:৩৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    দেখে শুনে মনে হচ্ছে লাদেনকাণ্ডে আমেরিকা পাকিস্তান আর্মিতে নতুন কোনো মেরুকরণ করতে সমর্থ হয়েছে। কায়ানি-পাশা জুটি মনে হয় এখন অনেক দূরের মানুষ। আগামী জুলাইয়ে আমেরিকা আফগানিস্তান ছেড়ে আসবে। সেই সোভিয়েতের বিরুদ্ধে আফগান যুদ্ধে পাকিস্তান আর্মি যেমন ছিল আমেরিকার এক নম্বর শক্তি, এই জুলাইয়ের পরে যখন আফগানিস্তানকে সত্যিকার অর্থে জাতিরাষ্ট্র হিসাবে গড়ে তুলতে হবে — তখনও পাকিস্তান আর্মিকেই তার সবচেয়ে বড় শক্তি হিসাবে চাইছে আমেরিকা। এই পাকিস্তান আর্মিকে (সামান্য ভাগ সিভিল প্রশাসনকে) এপর্যন্ত সন্ত্রাস বিরোধী যুদ্ধের নামে ১৮ বিলিয়ন ডলার দিয়েছে আমেরিকা, আর লাদেনকে মারার আগ পর্যন্ত সন্ত্রাস বিরোধী যুদ্ধের নামে ইরাকে আফগানিস্তানে আমেরিকার মোট খরচ হয়ে গেছে ২০০০ বিলিয়ন ডলার। এখন ওই আফগানিস্তানে জাতিগঠনের লক্ষ্যে নেমে পড়া ছাড়া আমেরিকার আর কিছুই করার নেই, আর এই কাজে ওর চাই একটা নতুন মেরুর পাকিস্তান আর্মি — লাদেনকাণ্ডের মাধ্যমে এই আর্মির ভেতরে সেরকম লোকজন পেয়ে গেছেই বলে মনে হচ্ছে আমেরিকা।

    • মাসুদ করিম - ২০ নভেম্বর ২০১১ (৯:০২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

      এই যে মন্তব্যটি করেছিলাম ৭ মে সম্পূর্ণ নিজের পর্যবেক্ষণে, এখন ‘মেমোগেট’ নামে যেখবর চাউর হয়েছে তাতে তো অন্য অর্থে আমার ওই পর্যবেক্ষণকে ঠিকই মনে হচ্ছে। পাকিস্তান আর্মিকে পরিবর্তনের প্রচেষ্টা তাহলে হয়েছিল, তাহলে সেই পরিবর্তন হয়নি কেন? হয়ত, ইসলামাবাদ ও ওয়াশিংটনের উচ্চক্ষমতাশালীরা রাওয়ালপিন্ডির মৌচাকে ঢিল ছোঁড়ার সাহস ও সদিচ্ছা আজো অর্জন করতে পারেনি।

      The US raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad on May 1 was too big an event not to impact Pakistan’s internal politics. Six months later we are now getting some sense of how Pakistan’s civil military relations played out in the immediate aftermath of bin Laden’s execution.
      In return for US support for the elected leadership in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari was apparently ready to overhaul Pakistan’s security policy, disband the notorious ‘S’ section that runs the insurgent groups like the Taliban and Haqqani network and the Lashkar e Toiba and hand over the plotters of 26/11 to India.

      In an op-ed published in the ‘Financial Times’ of London in October, Mansoor Izaj, an American citizen and occasional conduit between Washington and Islamabad, claimed that Zardari wanted to send a desperate message to Washington outside the normal diplomatic channels in the first week of May.

      The message was simple enough: Please stop the army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani from a coup against the civilian government.

      Ijaz claims that Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani was the author of the memo and had asked him on behalf of Zardari to deliver it to Adm Mike Mullen, the Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the principal American interlocutor to Kayani.

      Adm Mullen initially said he could not recollect meeting Ijaz or receiving any memo. Earlier this week, Mullen confirmed that a memo had indeed reached him through another senior U.S. official who was approached by Ijaz.

      As clamour mounts in Pakistan for the head of Amb Haqqani, who has apparently offered to resign, the full text of the memo has been put out on the internet today and makes fascinating reading.

      The memo offered six very important steps from the civilian leadership in return for US backing against Kayani’s coup plans.

      One, to order an independent inquiry into the allegations that the Army or ISI had sheltered bin Laden. Two, to punish those in the security establishment who protected bin Laden.

      Three, to set up a new national security team that will either hand over the top leaders of the international terror networks based in Pakistan or let the U.S. forces conduct operations against them.

      Four, to bring the management of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons arsenal under greater transparency. Five, to eliminate the notorious section ‘S’ of the ISI.

      Finally, to bring all those in Pakistan responsible for the Mumbai attack on 26/11 to book and hand them over to India.

      All these are steps that Washington, Delhi and much of the world would have welcomed. The fact, however, is the coup never happened. We don’t know if the United States worked actively to prevent it. Nor has the civilian leadership wrested control of national security policy from the Army.

      পড়ুন : Pakistan’s memo-gate: the coup that wasn’t।

      মেমোরেন্ডামটি পড়ুন, এখানে।

      আরো পড়ুন : Secret Pakistani-U.S. memo offering overthrow of military leadership revealed।

      • মাসুদ করিম - ৭ ডিসেম্বর ২০১১ (১২:০৯ অপরাহ্ণ)

        মেমোগেট-এর পথ ধরেই কি অসুস্থ জারদারি দুবাই-তে, বলা হচ্ছে হৃদযন্ত্রের সমস্যা, তিনি ইস্তফাও দিতে পারেন। অবশ্য গত সেপ্টেম্বরে লন্ডনে তার হৃদযন্ত্রের অবস্থা চমৎকার বলা হয়েছিল। সবই হাস্যকর! দেখা যাক শেষ পর্যন্ত কী হয়।

        Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who abruptly left the Pakistan capital for Dubai, has suffered a minor heart attack and some in the US government believe he may even resign on account of “ill-health”, a media report said.

        Zardari Tuesday evening left for Dubai to visit his children and also to undergo some medical tests, Pakistan’s official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan had reported.

        Though the president’s personal physician Col Salman said the proposed medical tests are of routine nature and are linked to a previously diagnosed cardiovascular condition, the Foreign Policy magazine quoted a former US official as saying that parts of the US government were informed that Zardari had a “minor heart attack” Monday night. He had flown to Dubai via an air ambulance.

        Zardari may have to undergo an angioplasty procedure Wednesday and may also resign on account of “ill health”, the media report said.

        পড়ুন : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari suffers heart attack, may quit: Report।

        • মাসুদ করিম - ১২ জানুয়ারি ২০১২ (১০:৫০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

          হ্যাঁ, এর মধ্যে অনেক কিছুই তো হল ওই ‘মেমোগেট’ নিয়ে কিন্তু এখনও তো তেমন কিছু হল না, যাকে হওয়া বলা যায়। এই ‘মেমোগেট’ যুদ্ধে আর সব ইসলামাবাদ-রাওয়ালপিন্ডি যুদ্ধের মতো রাওয়ালপিন্ডিই জিতবে? আগামী এক সপ্তাহের মধ্যে আমরা এর উত্তর পেয়ে যাব আশা করা যায়। উত্তরটার জন্য আমার অন্ধবাজি এবার ইসলামাবাদ জিতবে।

  30. মাসুদ করিম - ১৮ মে ২০১১ (২:৫৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    যেরাষ্ট্রের বন্ধুত্বে পাকিস্তানের সবচেয়ে বেশি আস্থা, সেই চীন, সন্ত্রাসের বিরুদ্ধে যুদ্ধে পাকিস্তানকে সর্বাত্মক সহযোগিতা দিতে চায়। আর পাকিস্তান দেখাতে চায় তার আমেরিকা ছাড়াও অন্য সুযোগ আছে।

    Andrew Small, a researcher at the German Marshall Fund think tank in Brussels told Reuters that Gilani’s visit to China will tell the US, the Pakistani public and the wider world that “Pakistan has other options.”

    However, Sun Shihai, vice director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that China and Pakistan have long maintained close cooperation with each other at all times.

    “I don’t think Gilani’s visit to China has any special implications for Pakistan-US relations because all parties have their own to play for the regional stability,” Sun said.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : China most-trusted friend of Pakistan: PM।

  31. মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ মে ২০১১ (৬:১৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    কোথাও কেউ জানত ওসামা কোথায় লুকিয়েছিল, কিন্তু সেটা অবশ্যই জারদারি গিলানি কায়ানি বা পাশা নয়, অন্য কেউ — লাদেন হত্যকাণ্ডের পর আজ তার পাকিস্তান সফরে এমন কথাই বললেন মার্কিন পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী ক্লিনটন। এভাবেই তিনি পাকিস্তানের শীর্ষ কর্মকর্তাদের clean chit দিলেন। কিন্তু সেসাথে জঙ্গিবাদের বিরুদ্ধে আরো কঠিন সংগ্রামে পাকিস্তানের প্রয়োজনীয় সহযোগিতা চাইলেন। সবচেয়ে ভয়ঙ্কর যা চাইলেন — তা হল পাকিস্তানকে ‘anti-americanism’ ত্যাগ করতে হবে। একেবারে ‘কাঁঠালের আমসত্ত’ই চাইলেন।

    Islamabad’s alliance with Washington is deeply unpopular in Pakistan, where the bin Laden operation and a CIA drone war against militant commanders in the tribal belt fuels widespread anti-American sentiment.

    “America cannot and should not solve Pakistan’s problems. That’s up to Pakistan,” she said.

    “Pakistan should understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not make the problem disappear,” she added.

    The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who accompanied Clinton in her meetings went on to plead for greater co-operation between the two wary allies in the war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

    Clinton denied that the meetings, held under blanket security, were tense and said she had heard Pakistan commit to “some very specific action”, saying the country deserved more credit for its efforts in the war on militants.

    “We both recognise there is still much more work required and it’s urgent.”

    খবরের লিন্ক এখানে।

  32. মাসুদ করিম - ৩১ মে ২০১১ (২:৪৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের পারমাণবিক বোমার গর্বকে পাকিস্তানি কলামিস্ট Saroop Ijaz বলছেন Atomic Bomb Complex ঠিক যেন ফ্রয়েড বিধৃত Phallic Complex । পাকিস্তানকে এই কমপ্লেক্স থেকে সরে আসার আহবান জানিয়েছেন কলামিস্ট। বোমা ও জেনারেলদের মধ্যে অনিবার্য মিলও খুঁজে পেয়েছেন তিনি।

    The bomb is like the generals in Pakistan in many ways, i.e. they are expensive to make, even more expensive to maintain and once made, not easy to get rid of. Hence, even if we need to make our ‘peace’ with the bomb’s existence for now, we at least have to subjugate it to democratic control.

    A question conspicuous by its absence on this discreditable anniversary, immediately following the Abbottabad and Mehran base incidents, is why shouldn’t parliament control our nuclear weapons. One is compelled to refer to Georges Clemenceau’s statement, almost a cliche now, that “war is too important to be left to the generals”, especially to those with records of irresponsibility. The reluctance and inability to have that debate is as significant and telling as whatever the substantive conclusions may be. The military establishment cannot and should not be allowed to play God and decide the timing of the Armageddon.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : Our atomic bomb complex।

  33. মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ জুন ২০১১ (২:১৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    The Obama administration has recently confirmed that it had established contacts with the Afghan Taliban though it insisted the negotiations were at a preliminary stage. It is widely believed that the US has deliberately kept Pakistan at bay about its efforts to seek a peace deal with the Taliban ahead of the phased withdrawal from Afghanistan.

    মার্কিন – তালেবান আলোচনায় পাকিস্তান বাদ। আমেরিকায় পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রদূত হোসাইন হাক্কানি এতে অসন্তুষ্ট।

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : Pakistan upset at being left out of US-Taliban talks।

  34. মাসুদ করিম - ৩ আগস্ট ২০১১ (৯:৫২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    চীনের জিনজিয়াং প্রদেশে গত শনি ও রোববারের জঙ্গি হামলার মাস্টারমাইন্ড পাকিস্তান, একথা বলছে পাকিস্তানের বন্ধু চীন। পাকিস্তান-অধিকৃত কাশ্মীরের সীমান্ত ঘেঁষা পশ্চিম চীনের জিনজিয়াং প্রদেশে উইঘুর সম্প্রদায়ের মুসলিমদের মধ্যে বিচ্ছিন্নতাবাদী তৎপরতার সাম্প্রতিক ইতিহাস আছে – ২০০৮-এর বেইজিং অলিম্পকের আগে আগে প্রথম বড় ধরনের বিচ্ছিন্নতাবাদী তৎপরতার জন্য আন্তর্জাতিক শিরোনাম হয় ‘বিশেষ স্বায়ত্তশাসিত অঞ্চল’ জিনজিয়াং। এই অঞ্চলে সক্রিয় সন্ত্রাসবাদী সংগঠনের নাম ‘পূর্ব তুর্কিস্তান ইসলামি আন্দোলন'(ই টি আই এম) এবং চীন সরকার বলছে এই নিষিদ্ধ ঘোষিত সংগঠনটির প্রশিক্ষণ চলে পাকিস্তানের জঙ্গিদের তত্ত্বাবধানে। জিনজিয়াং ও অধিকৃত-কাশ্মীর সীমান্তে চীন-পাকিস্তান বাণিজ্যপথ আছে, তাই এই অঞ্চলে চীনের নিরাপত্তা বাহিনীর অবস্থান আগের চেয়ে আরো সংহত করা হয়েছে।

    A group of religious extremists led by militants trained in overseas terrorist camps was behind the weekend attack on civilians in China’s far-western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that left 6 dead and 15 others wounded, the local government said Monday.

    The initial probe found that the group’s leaders had learned how to make explosives and firearms in overseas camps of the terrorist group “East Turkistan Islamic Movement” (ETIM) in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang to organize terrorist activities, the government of Kashgar City said in an online statement.

    Six civilians were killed, 15 others — including three policemen — were injured after attackers set fire to a restaurant and started randomly killing civilians in Kashgar on Sunday. Five suspects were shot dead by police.

    The government on Monday also issued arrest warrants for two suspects who fled the scene. The two have been identified as 29-year-old Memtieli Tiliwaldi and 34-year-old Turson Hasan. Both are local ethnic Uygurs, according to the warrants.

    The police have offered 100,000 yuan (15,384 U.S. dollars) for information which could lead to their arrests.

    Pan Zhiping, a researcher with the Central Asia Studies Institute under the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, called the ETIM “the most violent and dangerous” among the “East Turkistan” separatist forces. He said the organization is based somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

    The ETIM traditionally trains its members for suicide bombings and car bombings before sending them to Xinjiang. But today more are using the Internet to penetrate the border to spread bomb-making techniques, Pan and other long-time Xinjiang observers said.

    The United Nations and the Chinese government have labeled the ETIM an international terrorist organization.

    The Sunday attack was the second violent case in Kashgar over the weekend. On Saturday night, two people hijacked a truck after killing the driver and drove it into crowded street. The suspects then jumped out of the truck and hacked bystanders randomly.

    Eight civilians were killed while 27 others were injured. One of the suspects was killed in the clash while the other was apprehended.

    The local government did not specifically label Saturday’s attack as an act of terrorism.

    Zhang Chunxian, secretary of Xinjiang regional committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has ordered a crackdown on terrorist attacks, religious extremist forces, and illegal religious activities at an emergency meeting held in the regional capital Urumqi following the attacks.

    Zhang also ordered strengthened management of explosives.

    He said the violent attacks would greatly damage the region’s stability.

    “People in Xinjiang should stay vigilant and recognize that terrorist attackers are the ‘common enemies of all ethnic groups,'” Zhang said.

    Xinjiang — with 41.5 percent of its population Uygurs, a largely Muslim Chinese ethnic group — is China’s frontline against terrorism. The region borders eight central and western Asian countries, many of which have been attacked by terrorist and extremist militant groups.

    খবরের লিন্ক এখানে।

  35. মাসুদ করিম - ৫ আগস্ট ২০১১ (২:০২ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের পাঞ্জাব প্রদেশের দক্ষিণাংশকে নিয়ে একটি নতুন প্রদেশ সৃষ্টির চিন্তা-ভাবনা চলছে। অনেকে বলছেন এমাসের মাঝামাঝি এই ঘোষণা আসতে পারে জারদারি সরকারের কাছ থেকে।

    There is mounting speculation in Pakistan that President Asif Ali Zardari might soon announce the formation of a new province from the southern parts of the Punjab province. Some say the announcement could come as early as the middle of this month, when Pakistan celebrates its independence day on August 14.
    …
    As in undivided India, so in Pakistan, Punjab was the main source of recruitment into armed services. Punjab’s double hegemony—as the largest province and the dominant ethnic group in the Pak army—evoked much resentment from the three other provinces, the Sindh, Balochistan and the Northwest Frontier Province.
    …
    Like every other part of the Subcontinent, the Punjab is a patchwork of multiple identities. In recent decades, the Seraikis, from the southern Punjab have begun to reassert their identity and demand a separate province for themselves centred on Multan.

    Zardari’s decision on dividing the Punjab, his opponents have argued, is about playing politics against Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League, whose clout vests in its dominance over the Punjab. Yet, members of the PML-N, from southern Punjab have supported the formation of a Seraiki province. Meanwhile the political leaders from the Bahawalpur region in the Punjab oppose their inclusion in the proposed Seraiki province.

    It is to the credit of Zardari and the PPP that they have sought to address the grievances of various minority ethnic groups in Pakistan. It has agreed to rename the NWFP as Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa and has engaged the Baloch leaders and promised to end the state repression there.

    The Zardari government has also responded to the demands of the people in the so-called Northern Areas, a part of the original state of Jammu and Kashmir, by naming it Gilgit-Baltistan. While this does not end the anomalous status of the region within the Pakistani federation, it is indeed a step forward.

    If the military rulers in Pakistan tended to centralise the nation and ride roughshod over minority sentiments, the democratically elected governments have responded to the aspirations for political devolution.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন এখানে।

  36. মাসুদ করিম - ১১ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১১ (১২:৫৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    সেপ্টেম্বর ইলেভেনের এক দশক পূর্ণ হল। এ উপলক্ষে পাকিস্তানের তিনটি ইংরেজি পত্রিকার আজকের সম্পাদকীয় উদ্ধৃত করছি এখানে।
    ডন লিখেছে

    STUCK with a pre-9/11 mindset in a post-9/11 world, Pakistan has suffered greatly over the past decade. Here`s what the Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2010 released last April has to say in a special section: the `war on terror` has “cost the country more than 35,000 citizens, 3,500 security personnel, destruction of infrastructure, internal migration of millions of people from parts of north-western Pakistan, erosion of investment climate, nose-diving of production and growing unemployment and above all brought economic activity to a virtual standstill in many parts of the country”. All of this is all too well known for anyone who has lived in Pakistan over the last decade. What is less clear for the average Pakistani is why this country has suffered so much. Driven by paranoia and fear, the blame for all that ails Pakistan is often laid on external powers. Meanwhile, the outside world has increasingly become suspicious and fearful of Pakistan. How can those two opposites be reconciled?

    The answer lies in a reckoning with our own past. From the glorification and sponsorship of jihad in the 1980s to the present breakdown of internal security and external credibility, a bloody but fairly straight line can be drawn. Enamoured of the `non-state actors` that were once cultivated and nurtured to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, the `low-cost` option for pursuing an India-centric security policy has proved almost impossible to resist. But until that link is severed, completely, totally and with zero tolerance, Pakistan is unlikely to ever emerge from the nightmare it has been plunged into. And to sever that link, Pakistan will have to go back to the beginning, to publicly re-examine whether the policy of jihad ever made any sense. While powerful sections of the state apparatus and swaths of public opinion, cynically manipulated by the state over the years, continue to believe that the war of the 1980s was a good idea, it will be impossible to come to terms with who the enemy today is. The cognitive dissonance of venerating one era of militant Islamists while believing the present era of militant Islamists needs to be demobilised or eradicated is too much — the former is always likely to trump the latter.

    Even now there is time to change direction and begin the root-and-branch eradication of the infrastructure of jihad. Unhappily, there are few signs that is what the security establishment and the political elite are willing or able to do. Can Pakistan afford, or even survive, another decade like the last? The answer should be obvious, but are the powers that be willing to acknowledge it?

    লিন্ক : Pakistan after 9/11।

    এক্সপ্রেস ট্রিবিউন লিখেছে

    When al Qaeda struck New York on September 11, 2001, the founder of the organisation, Osama bin Laden, was reported to have watched it all happen on television. The event was recorded on a videocassette and became known as the Jalalabad Tape — evidence that al Qaeda had done the job. It was a moment of triumph for bin Laden and he wanted it publicised. The Islamic world, not keen on being associated with the deed, went into denial — a lot of Muslims, many of them educated and otherwise sensible, still think that the “Jews had done it”. Ten years later, it can be said that the Americans have taken revenge for 9/11, as they found Osama bin Laden and killed him. However, has al Qaeda died with him, or has the threat to the US from it and its allied groups diminished in any way? The answer to that is a circumspect ‘no’.
    In fact, not even the Americans in their triumphalism under President Obama say that the death of bin Laden has put an end to terrorism. At the time of writing, America is preparing for another assault by al Qaeda to avenge the death of its leader and to mark the fateful day when America was humbled on 9/11. Pakistanis say none of the 19 hijackers who took part in the 9/11 act were Pakistani, but the truth which they ignore is the fact that all them had met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan before the incident and had passed through Pakistan. The planner of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, was living in Karachi and several top-tier al Qaeda leaders who have been arrested or killed have all been found in Pakistan.
    How successful has the West been in tackling the menace of al Qaeda? One can say that the highly organised states of the West have prevented a repeat after being struck once. The ‘sleeper cells’ of France, Spain and the UK are being relentlessly hunted and caught before they can inflict more destruction. In this, it must be said, these countries were greatly assisted by Pakistan which has caught or helped catch hundreds of al Qaeda terrorists — some of them extremely important. Then, the western blunders overtook the train of events. The US attacked Iraq without the permission of the UN Security Council. It divided a world that had earlier united to help the US attack al Qaeda in Afghanistan and had given Pakistan the moral grounds on which to help the international community. Many of the Muslims living in the West became alienated. The Americans passed laws like the Patriot Act to tackle their own rage. Europe also enacted tough laws to curtail its multiculturalism; and western politicians silently began to build a sinister anti-Islamic consensus. Indirectly, al Qaeda had succeeded in creating the civilisational rift it wanted.
    Pakistan had its own blunders. It had fought a decade of deniable jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir with the help of non-state actors. These were trained in Afghanistan in camps set up by al Qaeda with Arab money with the ‘warriors’ coming from communities influenced by the mosque and madrassa networks of Pakistan. The Arab donors who funded this state-sponsored terrorism took no notice of the fact that Pakistan had joined the war against terrorism. The jihadi loyalty swung to the side of al Qaeda, followed by a gradual curtailment of the writ of the state. The territory from where Pakistan culled its non-state actors now became the ‘ungoverned spaces’ where al Qaeda and its international brigades and Pakistani loyalists became dominant. The state could not — or did not want to — stand up to the challenge. The national discourse swung against America and the West, gathering muscle by linking America with arch-enemy India and Israel. Many in society and state institutions swung behind this discourse and began to identify with al Qaeda’s ideology. The decade has brought Pakistan to its knees. Al Qaeda is very much around while many institutions of the Pakistani state are struggling to fight it. Some are not even sure if they should fight it at all! Depressing as it may sound, the fact is that if al Qaeda envisaged victory in this way, it has succeeded. It has killed more Pakistanis than it hopes ever to kill Americans. And there are those among us who believe that if the Americans leave the region, the threat to Pakistan from extremism and militancy will go away as well.

    লিন্ক : Life 10 years after 9/11।

    ডেইলি টাইমস লিখেছে

    On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 today, much introspection is taking place on the meaning and impact of that seminal event. Despite successes against al Qaeda, in particular the degrading of its terrorist capabilities by taking out Osama bin Laden (OBL) and many of the top leaders of the organisation, cautionary voices can be heard arguing that the struggle against terrorism is far from over and there is little room for complacency. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed to a credible, new, but still unconfirmed threat to the US on the eve of the anniversary. Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair too chimed in with the statement that the post-9/11 battle was not over. Some context needs to be recalled.
    The decade 1991-2011 could be looked back at with the benefit of hindsight as arguably providing the momentum that led to 9/11 in the midst of historic changes and developments. The first Iraq war of 1990-91 saw foreign, particularly US forces, deployed for the first time on Saudi soil. This event is widely believed to have alienated OBL from his home country and its monarchy, and impelled him to seek ways and means to combat American worldwide hegemony. This project led him from Sudan back to his original battlefield against the Soviets, i.e. Afghanistan, now ruled by the Taliban. From his base there, OBL stands accused of planning 9/11. The American response in the shape of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq crippled the neo-con American century project, in the process eroding due process and civil liberties at home and abroad, the latter witnessing the recourse to rendition and torture of suspects. However, whatever success or lack of it attended the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, they had the unintended consequence of spreading the al Qaeda franchise further abroad, increasing the threat of the terror network beyond its original support base. Western interventionism found a new lease of life (which continues), while the checks and balance provided in world affairs by the USSR-led communist camp during the cold war ended with a whimper when the Soviet Union imploded in 1991. The assassination of redoubtable Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud in Afghanistan just two days before 9/11 has been considered by many as the prelude to and preliminary strike by al Qaeda in preparation for the 9/11 attacks. The purpose perhaps was to ensure the strengthening of al Qaeda’s hosts, the Taliban’s grip on Afghanistan.
    While there is little quarrel with the assertion that 9/11 changed the world almost beyond recognition, it is perhaps too early to grasp all the ramifications of that change. After all, if the cautionary voices mentioned above are correct, and there is weighty evidence that they are, the struggle against the ideology that al Qaeda represents is continuing, even while it spawns affiliates and draws to its banner a diverse array of religious extremists worldwide. Of all the countries most affected by 9/11 and its aftermath, in order of destruction, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan probably enjoy pride of place. We in particular have been hoist by our own petard, our support to the export of jihadi extremism having returned to haunt us with a vengeance. While the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are seeing an incremental drawdown and withdrawal of foreign troops, the problems they leave behind will not so easily go away. In particular, Afghanistan’s endgame is poised delicately at the cusp of a possible return to the corridors of power, albeit partial, in Kabul of the Taliban. This spells risks not only for the Afghan people, but also for Pakistan’s security if the nexus of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban strengthens the latter’s ability to operate from Afghan soil against Pakistan’s security. Ironically, our military establishment’s quest for that will-o-the-wisp, ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan, may end up in the strategic pit of increased threats to Pakistan’s own security.

    লিন্ক : 9/11 and all that।

  37. মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১১ (৬:০৩ অপরাহ্ণ)

    চীনের উপপ্রধানমন্ত্রী মেং জিয়ানঝু বলেছেন, পাকিস্তানের সন্ত্রাসের বিরুদ্ধে যুদ্ধে সামিল হবে চীন। আর পাকিস্তানের স্বরাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রী রেহমান মালিক বলেছেন, চীনের শত্রু পাকিস্তানেরও শত্রু।

    Chinese Vice Premier Meng Jianzhu Tuesday told Pakistan that Beijing will keep on supporting Islamabad and the cooperation to eliminate terrorism will continue. The assurance comes amidst deteriorating ties between Pakistan and the US.
    US officials have accused Pakistan and its spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, of supporting Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network. Pakistan has denied the accusations.
    Meng Jianzhu Tuesday met Interior Minister Rehman Malik, discussing a host of bilateral issues, including war against terror.
    Both leaders discussed matters pertaining to mutual interests and the emerging geo-strategic situation of the region, reported Online news agency.
    The Chinese vice premier arrived here Monday on a two-day official visit to hold talks with the Pakistani leadership.
    The visit by the Chinese leader, who holds the public security portfolio, comes at a time of intense strain between Islamabad and Washington with the US pressurising Pakistan to launch an offensive against suspected militant elements in North Waziristan tribal agency.
    Meng told journalists that China stands firm with Pakistan in bad and good times.
    He reaffirmed China’s continuing support to Pakistan in its fight against militancy and promotion of regional peace and stability.
    Rehman Malik thanked China for its support to Pakistan on all issues of major concern to the country and its people.
    Malik said that China’s enemy is Pakistan’s enemy.

    লিন্ক : China vows to stand by Pakistan।

  38. মাসুদ করিম - ১ অক্টোবর ২০১১ (৯:৩৯ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানব্লগজিনএর ব্লগপ্রশাসক আন্তর্জাতিক সম্প্রদায়ের কাছে পাকিস্তানের সিনিয়ির সামরিক কর্মকর্তাদের বিদেশ ভ্রমনের উপর নিষেধাজ্ঞা আরোপের আর্জি জানিয়েছে। আর সেসাথে নিষেধাজ্ঞা আরোপ করা যেতে পারে এরকম পাকিস্তানের সিনিয়র সামরিক কর্মকর্তাদের একটি তালিকা দেয়া হয়েছে যেখানে পাকিস্তানের বর্তমান সামরিক প্রশাসনে কর্মরত ২ জেনারেল, ২৯ লেফটেনেন্ট জেনারেল ও ১৭০ মেজর জেনারেলের মধ্যে শুধু কয়েকজন মেজর জেনারেল ছাড়া আর সবার নামই নথিভুক্ত করা হয়েছে।

    Given the ongoing patronage of jihadi and sectarian networks by Pakistan army and its various agencies (ISI, MI etc), particularly in view of the discovery of Osama bin Laden right in the heart of Pakistan army complex in Abbottabad and the recent evidence reconfirming ISI’s involvement in attacks on Afghan and NATO officials in Afghanistan, also in the light of the ongoing massacres of the Baloch, Pashtun and Shia Muslims by Pakistan army and its various proxy groups, we the people of Pakistan, Afghanistan and diaspora living in the US, Canada, Europe and other countries appeal to the United Nations, USA and European governments to take a step further and impose stringent restrictions not on the people of Pakistan or the civilian government but on senior officers of Pakistan army (Major Generals and above).

    To that end, we appeal to the United States, Canada, Australia, UK and other European countries to have imposed visa restrictions on officials of Pakistan army and other individuals who are a part of the Jihadi-Sectarian Complex in Pakistan. The Pakistan army and allies subject to this visa ban may include uniformed officers as well as non-uniformed proxies and affiliates of the terror network, including leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, JUI, PTI, judicial officials and those authors who endorse and recycle the Deep State’s narratives.

    It may be noted that Pakistan army is involved in serious human rights abuses in Balochistan, Swat and also in Kurram Agency.

    Such travel restrictions must also apply to a broader class of individuals who have played a role in the ongoing persecution and murders of religious and ethnic minorities.

    Such action would demonstrate a commitment to express solidarity with victims of torture, persecution and arbitrary detention; urge respect for the rule of law, UN resolutions and universal rights in Pakistan and entire region, and hold officials accountable for terrorism and human rights abuses committed against their own people.

    We recommend that a Terror Black List is announced comprising all senior officers of Pakistan army, rank Major General and above, and heads and directors of its various institutions and agencies.

    In the next stage, all assets, bank accounts, properties etc of senior officers of Pakistan army and its various agencies may be frozen in USA, Canada, Europe and other parts of the world.

    We believe it is time for action. Mere rhetoric has failed to save the people of Pakistan and the entire region from the brutal clutches of Pakistan army and its Jihad Enterprise. It is time to hold the mentors of terrorism and human rights abusers accountable for their crimes.

    This is the list of serving generals of the Pakistan Army. At present, the army has 2 full generals, 29 lieutenant generals and around 170 major generals. Barring exceptions for some major generals, all others have been listed here. The list is arranged according to the officers’ respective seniority.

    Current Army Senior Command

    General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, NI(M), HI, Baloch — Chief of Army Staff (COAS), GHQ. (Colonel-in-Chief of the Baloch Regiment). Due to retire on November 28, 2013.
    General Khalid Shameem Wynne, NI(M), Punjab — Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), JSHQ, Chaklala. (Colonel-in-Chief of the Punjab Regiment). Due to retire on October 6, 2013.
    Lt Gen Javed Zia, HI(M), Punjab — Commander, Southern Command, Quetta. Due to retire on September 21, 2011.
    Lt Gen Shujaat Zamir Dar, HI(M), SBt, Punjab — Chairman, Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), Wah Cantonment. Due to retire on September 21, 2011.
    Lt Gen Mohsin Kamal, HI(M), Punjab — Military Secretary (MS), GHQ. (Colonel Commandant of the Northern Light Infantry Regiment). Due to retire on September 21, 2011.
    Lt Gen Jamil Haider, HI(M), Arty — Commander, Army Strategic Forces Command (Comd ASFC), Rawalpindi. (Colonel Commandant of the Regiment of Artillery). Due to retire on September 21, 2011.
    Lt Gen Muhammad Rehan Burney, HI(M), AMC — Surgeon General/DG Medical Services (Inter-Services), GHQ. (Colonel Commandant of the Army Medical Corps). Due to retire on November 5, 2011.
    Lt Gen Tanvir Tahir, HI(M), EME — Inspector General Communications and IT (IGC&IT), GHQ. On extension, due to retire on March 16, 2012.
    Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, HI(M), FF — DG Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI), ISI Dte, Islamabad. (Colonel Commandant of the Frontier Force Regiment). On extension, due to retire on March 18, 2012.
    Lt Gen Ayyaz Salim Rana, HI(M), AC — Chairman, Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), Taxila. (Colonel Commandant of the Armoured Corps). Due to retire on September 29, 2012.
    Lt Gen Syed Muhammad Owais, HI(M), AD — Commander, Army Air Defence Command (Comd AAD Comd), Rawalpindi. (Colonel Commandant of the Army Air Defence). Due to retire on March 31, 2014.
    Lt Gen Khalid Nawaz Khan, HI(M), Baloch[9] — Commander, X Corps, Rawalpindi. (Colonel Commandant of the Baloch Regiment). Due to retire on October 4, 2013.
    Lt Gen Sardar Mahmood Ali Khan, HI(M), Punjab — Deputy Chairman, Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), Islamabad. (Colonel Commandant of the Punjab Regiment). Due to retire on October 4, 2013.
    Lt Gen Muhammad Alam Khattak, HI(M), TBt, FF— Chief of Logistics Staff (CLS), GHQ. Due to retire on October 4, 2013.
    Lt Gen Shafqaat Ahmed, HI(M), Punjab[12] — Commander, II Corps, Multan. Due to retire on October 4, 2013.
    Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik, HI(M), Punjab[8] — Commander, XI Corps, Peshawar. Due to retire on March 31, 2014.
    Lt Gen Muhammad Haroon Aslam, HI(M), SBt, AK — Commander, XXXI Corps, Bahawalpur. (Colonel Commandant of the Azad Kashmir Regiment). Due to retire on April 9, 2014.
    Lt Gen Waheed Arshad, HI(M), TBt, AC — Chief of General Staff (CGS), GHQ. Due to retire on April 9, 2014.
    Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood, HI(M), Baloch — Commander, IV Corps, Lahore. Due to retire on April 9, 2014.
    Lt Gen Raheel Sharif, HI(M), FF — Commander, XXX Corps, Gujranwala. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Tariq Khan, HI(M), AC — Commander, I Corps, Mangla. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Agha Muhammad Umer Farooq, HI(M), Baloch — President, National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Mohammad Zahirul Islam, HI(M), Punjab — Commander, V Corps, Karachi. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Salim Nawaz, HI(M), SBt, Baloch — Inspector General Armaments (IGA), GHQ. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani, HI(M), Inf — Commandant, Command and Staff College (Comdt C&SC), Quetta. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain, HI(M), Baloch — Inspector General Training and Evaluation (IGT&E), GHQ. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani, HI(M), Engrs — Quarter-Master General (QMG), GHQ. Due to retire on October 1, 2014.
    Lt Gen Mohammad Ahsan Mahmood, HI(M), Engrs — Engineer-in-Chief (E-in-C), GHQ. (Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Engineers). Due to retire on April 15, 2015.
    Lt Gen Muhammad Asif, HI(M), Sind — DG Joint Staff (DG JS), JSHQ, Chaklala. (Colonel Commandant of the Sind Regiment). Due to retire on April 15, 2015.
    Lt Gen Abid Pervaiz, HI(M), AC — DG Logistics (DG Log) at CLS Branch, GHQ. Due to retire on April 15, 2015.
    Lt Gen Javed Iqbal, HI(M), FF — Adjutant General (AG), GHQ. Due to retire on April 15, 2015.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Javed Khan, HI(M), AMC (superseded) — DG Medical Services (Navy) at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Jamshed Riaz, HI(M), EME (superseded) — DG Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (DG EME) at C&IT Branch, GHQ. (Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering)
    Maj Gen Waqar Ahmad Kingravi, HI(M), Avn (superseded) — DG Defence Purchase (DG DP), Rawalpindi. (Colonel Commandant of the Army Aviation Corps)
    Maj Gen Syed Taqi Naseer Rizvi, HI(M), Avn (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Mian Nadeem Ijaz Ahmad, HI(M), AC (superseded) — Commander, Logistics Area (Comd Log Area), Gujranwala.
    Maj Gen Shahida Badsha, HI(M), AMC (superseded) — Principal, Army Medical College (AMC), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Najeeb Tariq, HI(M), EME (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Taufiq Rafiq, HI(M), Engrs (superseded) — DG Engineers (DG Engrs) at IGA Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Tahir Ali, HI(M), AD (superseded) — DG Army Air Defence (DG AD) at IGA Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Azhar Rashid, HI(M), AMC (superseded) — DG Surgery at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Ovais Mustafa, HI(M), EME (superseded) — DG Military Vehicles, Research and Development Establishment (DG MVRDE), Wah Cantonment.
    Maj Gen Raja Muhammad Arif Nazir, HI(M), Avn (superseded) — Additional Secretary-I at Ministry of Defence, Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Nasir Mahmood, HI(M), Avn (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Yaqub Khan, HI(M), AK (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Hamid Mahmud, HI(M), Sigs (superseded) — DG Special Communication Organization (DG SCO), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Syed Ithar Hussain Shah, HI(M), Arty (superseded) — DG Military Lands and Cantonments (DG ML&C), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Farooq Ahmed Khan, HI(M), AMC (superseded) — Commandant, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Comdt AFIP), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Ulfat Hussain, HI(M), ASC (superseded) — Vice Chief of Logistics Staff (VCLS) at CLS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Syed Shakeel Hussain, HI(M), Baloch (superseded) — DG Anti-Narcotics Force (DG ANF), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Ghulam Mustafa Kausar, HI(M), AK (superseded) — DG Munitions Production (DG MP), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Noor Hussain, HI(M), SBt, Baloch (superseded) — DG Quartering and Lands (DG Q&L) at QMG Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Tariq Mahmood, HI(M), Engrs (superseded) — DG Welfare and Rehabilitaion (DG W&R) at AG Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Athar Abbas, HI(M), AC (superseded) — DG Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Wajahat Ali Muftee, HI(M), Arty (superseded) — DG Human Resources Development (DG HRD) at IGT&E Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Waqar Ahmed, HI(M), AMC (superseded) — DG Medicine at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Sefvan Majed Janjua, HI(M), AMC[16] (superseded) — Commandant, Armed Forces Post-Graduate Medical Institute (Comdt AFPGMI), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Sohail Shafkat, HI(M), ASC[32] (superseded) — Managing Director, Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Service Corp. (MD PASSCO), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Azhar Ali Shah, HI(M), Punjab (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Munawar Ahmad Solehria, HI(M), Engrs[33] (superseded) — Surveyor General, Survey of Pakistan (SoP), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Rashad Javeed, HI(M), Arty[34] (superseded) — Commandant, School of Artillery (Comdt SoA), Nowshera.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Ashraf Tabassum, HI(M), Arty (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Farooq Iqbal, HI(M), Ord (superseded) — DG Purchase (Army) at DG DP, Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Shahid Maqbool, HI(M), Sigs[35] (superseded) — Commandant, Military College of Signals (Comdt MCS), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Jahangir Anwar Khan, HI(M), AMC[16] (superseded) — IG Hospital at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Abdul Quadir Khan Shahid, HI(M), AD (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Abdul Aziz Tariq, HI(M), Inf (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Ijaz Hussain Awan, HI(M), AK[36] (superseded) — DG Defence Export Promotion Organization (DG DEPO), Islamabad.
    Maj Gen Ausaf Ali, HI(M), Engrs[37] (superseded) — DG Operations and Plans at Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Chaklala.
    Maj Gen Tariq Rashid Khan, HI(M), Arty[38] (superseded) — Additional Secretary at Ministry of Defence Production, Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Tahir Ashraf Khan, HI(M), Inf (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Mohammad Shahid, HI(M), EME[39] (superseded) — Commandant, College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (Comdt CEME), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Obaid Bin Zakria, HI(M), EME (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Niaz Kausar Sheikh, HI(M), ASC (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Zahir Shah, HI(M), Engrs[40] (superseded) — GOC 45th Engineers Division, Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Khalid Rao, HI(M), Sigs (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Khalid, HI(M), Baloch[41] (superseded) — Force Commander, United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Monrovia, Liberia.
    Maj Gen Kaleem Saber Taseer, HI(M), Arty (superseded) — DG Artillery (DG Arty) at IGA Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Mansha, HI(M), Baloch (superseded) — Commander, Logistics Area (Comd Log Area), Peshawar.
    Maj Gen Ghulam Dastagir, HI(M), Punjab (superseded) — .
    Maj Gen Mohammad Saeed Aleem, HI(M), FF — .
    Maj Gen Azhar Mahmud Kayani, HI(M), AMC[42] — Director, Cardiology Department at AFIC/NIHD, Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Rehan Bashir, HI(M), SI, EME[43] — DG Project Management Organization (DG PMO), Khanpur.
    Maj Gen Junaid Rehmat, HI(M), Engrs[44] — DG National Logistics Cell (DG NLC), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Waqar Ahmed, HI(M), Sigs[45] — Signal Officer-in-Chief (SO-in-C) at C&IT Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Ziauddin Najam, HI(M), Arty — .
    Maj Gen Shahid Ahmed Hashmat, HI(M), Punjab — .
    Maj Gen Mohammad Tahir, HI(M), Avn — DG (Security) at SPD, Chaklala.
    Maj Gen Nasser Khan Janjua, HI(M), Punjab[46] — Deputy Chief of General Staff (DCGS) at CGS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Tahir Habib Siddiqui, HI(M), AC — .
    Maj Gen Akhtar Iqbal, HI(M), Arty[47] — DG Organization and Methods (DG O&M) at IGT&E Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Azeem Asif, HI(M), Engrs[48] — GOC 11th Infantry Division, Lahore.
    Maj Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani, HI(M), Arty[49] — GOC 22nd Division, Sargodha.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Rafiq Sabir, HI(M), Engrs[49] — GOC 8th Infantry Division, Sialkot.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Hamid Akram, HI(M), AMC[50] — Adviser in Radiology at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Mohammad Ijaz Chaudhry, HI(M), Arty[51] — DG Rangers (Sindh), Karachi. (Sindh Rangers conducted the 1992 Operation Clean-up in Sindh)
    Maj Gen Wasim Sadiq, HI(M), Baloch[52] — GOC 17th Infantry Division, Kharian. (One of the two divisions that conducted Operation Rah-e-Haq in Swat District from November 2007 to December 2008, but reverted back to original location in December 2008 after 2008 Mumbai attacks)[53]
    Maj Gen Javaid Iqbal Nasar, HI(M), Arty — .
    Maj Gen Naweed Zaman, HI(M), Punjab[54] — Chief Instructor, B-Division (CI B-Div) at NDU, Islamabad.
    Maj Gen Raza Muhammad, HI(M), Sind[49] — DG (B) at ISI Dte, Islamabad.
    Maj Gen Khawar Hanif, HI(M), Punjab — .
    Maj Gen Maqsood Ahmad, HI(M), FF — .
    Maj Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, HI(M), Arty[55] — GOC 15th Infantry Division, Sialkot.
    Maj Gen Farrukh Bashir, HI(M), Punjab[47] — GOC Special Service Group (GOC SSG), Cherat.
    Maj Gen Syed Wajid Hussain, HI(M), AC — .
    Maj Gen Najib Ullah Khan, HI(M), Engrs[56] — DG Frontier Works Organisation (DG FWO), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Zafarul Islam, HI(M), AMC — .
    Maj Gen Tariq Jawaid, HI(M), SI, EME — DG Defence Science and Technology Organization (DG DESTO), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Syed Jamal Shahid, HI(M), EME — DG Inspectorate of Technical Development (DG ITD) at C&IT Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Sajid Iqbal, HI(M), ASC — DG Supply and Transport (DG S&T) at CLS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Farrukh Rashid, HI(M), Punjab[57] — DG Military Training (DG MT) at IGT&E Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad, HI(M), AK[10] — DG Military Operations (DG MO) at CGS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Noel Israel Khokhar, HI(M), Arty[54] — Chief Instructor, A-Division (CI A-Div) at NDU, Islamabad.
    Maj Gen Tahir Masood, HI(M), AD[58] — GOC 3rd Air Defence Division, Sargodha.
    Maj Gen Changez Dil Khan, HI(M), AC — .
    Maj Gen Zamir Ul Hassan Shah, HI(M), TBt, AD[58] — GOC 4th Air Defence Division, Malir.
    Maj Gen Javed Iqbal, HI(M), Sind[59] — GOC 19th Infantry Division, Mangla. (one of the two divisions that conducted Operation Rah-e-Rast in upper Swat and Shangla districts in 2009. Currently based in Shangla District)[47]
    Maj Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, HI(M), Baloch[58] — Commandant, School of Infantry and Tactics (Comdt SI&T), Quetta.
    Maj Gen Sahibzada Isfandiyar Ali Khan Pataudi, HI(M), AC — .
    Maj Gen Hamid Shafique, HI(M), AMC — .
    Maj Gen Zia Ullah Khan, AMC — Commandant, Combined Military Hospital (Comdt CMH), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Asif Ali Khan, AMC[60] — Commandant, Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (Comdt AFIC)/Executive Director, National Institute of Heart Diseases (NIHD), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Suhaib Ahmad, AMC[61] — Deputy Commandant, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Dy Comdt AFIP), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Shaukat Iqbal, Arty — .
    Maj Gen Mazhar Jamil, Arty[62] — Commandant, Pakistan Military Academy (Comdt PMA), Kakul.
    Maj Gen Khalid Asghar, Engrs — DG C4I at C&IT Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Mohammad Saad Khattak, AK — Deputy Inspector General Armaments (DIG Arms) at IGA Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Sajjad Ali Khan, Inf — .
    Maj Gen Khalid Mahmood, AK[63] — DG Infantry (DG Inf) at IGA Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Waqar Ahmad Khan, AMC[16] — Deputy Surgeon General/Deputy DG Medical Services (Inter-Services) at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Waqas Ahmed, AMC[50] — Adviser in Anesthesia at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Nadir Zeb, AC[64] — IG Frontier Corps (IGFC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Peshawar. (Frontier Corps participated in Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan from October 2009 to March 2010. It also conducted Operation Sherdil in Bajaur Agency from August 2008 to February 2009)
    Maj Gen Allah Ditta Khan, Arty[59] — DG (Counter-Terrorism) at ISI Dte, Islamabad.
    Maj Gen Obaid Ullah Khan, Arty[64] — IG Frontier Corps (IGFC Balochistan), Quetta.
    Maj Gen Naveed Ahmed, Arty[65] — GOC 21st Division, Pano Aqil.[66]
    Maj Gen Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain, Arty[67] — DG Rangers (Punjab), Lahore.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Zahid Latif Mirza, AD[68] — GOC 41st Infantry Division, Quetta.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Imran Zafar, Engrs[65] — DG Housing at AG Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Shahzad Sikander, Engrs — DG Works and Chief Engineer (DG W&CE) at E-in-C Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Asghar Nawaz, Engrs[69] — GOC 16th Infantry Division, Pano Aqil.
    Maj Gen Sohail Abbas Zaidi, Sigs[65] — DG (Technical) at ISI Dte, Islamabad.
    Maj Gen Abid Hasan, Inf[59] — GOC 14th Infantry Division, Okara. (One of the three divisions that conducted Operation Rah-e-Nijat in 2009-2010 and the earlier Operation Zalzala in 2008. Moved back to original location after conducting Rah-e-Nijat)[47]
    Maj Gen Ikram Ul Haq, AK[70] — Commander, Force Command Gilgit-Baltistan (Comd FCGB), Gilgit. (Division conducted the 1999 Kargil War)
    Maj Gen Nasrullah Tahir Dogar, Inf — DG Operations and Plans (DG O&P) at JSHQ, Chaklala.
    Maj Gen Agha Masood Akram, FF[65] — GOC 25th Mechanised Division, Malir.
    Maj Gen Inam Ul Haque, FF[71] — DG Foreign Military Cooperation (DG FMC) at JSHQ, Chaklala.
    Maj Gen Sohail Ahmad Khan, Inf[72] — GOC 12th Infantry Division, Murree. (deployed near LoC)
    Maj Gen Naushad Ahmed Kayani, Punjab[73] — DG Military Intelligence (DG MI) at CGS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Rizwan Akhtar, Inf[59] — GOC 9th Infantry Division, Kohat. (One of the three divisions that conducted Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan in 2009-2010. Before that conducted Operation Zalzala in South Waziristan in 2008 and Battle of Wana in 2004. Currently based in Wana, South Waziristan)[47]
    Maj Gen Tariq Javed, AK[74] — GOC 33rd Infantry Division, Quetta.
    Maj Gen Ghayur Mahmood, TBt, FF[59] — GOC 7th Infantry Division, Peshawar. (One of the three divisions that conducted Operation Rah-e-Nijat in 2009-2010 and the earlier Operation Zalzala in 2008 in South Waziristan. Currently based in Miranshah, North Waziristan)[47]
    Maj Gen Imtiaz Hussain Sherazi, ASC[75] — DG Remount, Veterinary and Farms Corps (DG RV&FC) at AG Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Faiz Muhammad Khan Bangash, Ord — DG Ordnance Services (DG OS) at QMG Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Adil Khan, AMC — Commandant, Combined Military Hospital (Comdt CMH), Lahore.
    Maj Gen Amjad Fahim, AMC[76] — Commandant, Military Hospital (MH), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Abdul Khaliq Naveed, AMC[50] — Adviser in Biochemistry at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Iftikhar Ahmad Wyne, AC[77] — GOC 6th Armoured Division, Gujranwala.
    Maj Gen Naveed Mukhtar, AC — .
    Maj Gen Sadiq Ali, AC[78] — GOC 1st Armoured Division, Multan.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Ejaz Shahid, Arty — .
    Maj Gen Maqsood Ahmad Abbasi, Arty — .
    Maj Gen Farhan Akhtar, Arty — .
    Maj Gen Javed Mahmood Bukhari, Engrs[79] — Commandant, Military College of Engineering (Comdt MCE), Risalpur.
    Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa, Sigs — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Iqbal Asi, Inf — .
    Maj Gen Tariq Ghafoor, Inf[67] — GOC 35th Infantry Division, Bahawalpur.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Abid Nazir, Inf — .
    Maj Gen Hidayat Ur Rehman, Inf — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Arif Warraich, Inf — .
    Maj Gen Malik Zafar Iqbal, Inf[80] — GOC 10th Infantry Division, Lahore.
    Maj Gen Anwar Ali Hyder, Inf[81] — GOC 18th Infantry Division, Hyderabad.
    Maj Gen Sajjad Rasul, SBt, Inf[82] — GOC 23rd Infantry Division, Jhelum. (One of the two divisions that conducted Operation Rah-e-Haq in upper Swat and Shangla districts from November 2007 to December 2008, but reverted back to original location in December 2008 after 2008 Mumbai attacks)[53]
    Maj Gen Shahid Baig Mirza, Inf[31] — DG Staff Duties (DG SD) at COAS Secretariat, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, TBt, Inf[83] — GOC 40th Infantry Division, Okara. (Relieved 14th Infantry Division after Operation Rah-e-Nijat. Currently operating in South Waziristan and Dera Ismail Khan vicinity)
    Maj Gen Muhammad Tauqir Ahmad — .
    Maj Gen Waqar Ahmed — .
    Maj Gen Akhtar Waheed, AMC[84] — Commandant, Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (Comdt AFIRM), Rawalpindi.
    Maj Gen Salman Ali, AMC[50] — Adviser in Pediatrics at DMS Branch, GHQ.
    Maj Gen Muhammad Ahmed, AMC — .
    Maj Gen Umar Farooq Durrani, AC — .
    Maj Gen Ahmad Mahmood Hayat, AC — .
    Maj Gen Tariq Masood Malik, Arty — .
    Maj Gen Khan Tahir Javed Khan, SBt, Arty — .
    Maj Gen Mohammad Saleem Raza, AD — .
    Maj Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt, FF — .
    Maj Gen Mazhar Saleem Khan, Punjab — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Jaffar, FF — .
    Maj Gen Najam ul Hasan, Sind — .
    Maj Gen Ghulam Qamar, FF — .
    Maj Gen Ali Abbas Hyder, SBt, Baloch — .
    Maj Gen Aamer Riaz, FF — .
    Maj Gen Abid Rafique, Punjab — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Asif Khattak, CMI — .
    Maj Gen Jamil Rehmat Vance, ASC — .
    Maj Gen Muhammad Junaid, TI(M), EME — .
    Maj Gen Malik Muhammad Abbas, AMC — .
    Maj Gen Syed Badshah Hussain Zaidi, AMC — .
    Maj Gen Shahab Naqvi, AMC[42] — Director, Anesthesia Department at AFIC/NIHD, Rawalpindi.

    লিন্ক এখানে।

  39. মাসুদ করিম - ৫ অক্টোবর ২০১১ (২:৪৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের বামদের নিয়ে নাইর খান লিখছেন

    I do not expect a balanced outlook from a common man in Pakistan who lives behind a smoke screen created by Urdu press and brain washed through 60 years of antagonistic indoctrination against the non-Muslim world, except China. However, the views of old friends from left Wing (now liberals mostly associated with NGOs or civil society) and laissez-faire intelligentsia astonish me. The old cult is still deep seated in their minds, in which America takes the position of the devil. They go so far in their prejudice against America that they lose their ability to pick the lesser of the two evils.

    I fully agree to the universal rule that my enemy’s enemy is my friend, yet the issue is to identify who the current enemy is. It is a well established fact that a smaller but irrational enemy is much more dangerous than a bigger yet rational enemy. Hence the later becomes a friend when an irrational enemy is the immediate threat.

    International relations revolve around two fundamental rules viz;

    a. There are no common friends but common interests.
    b. There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.

    Keeping these in mind, the leftists of Pakistan may learn from the following two examples from not so distant history:

    During World War II Communist Party of India felt that Fascist forces were the real menace for the entire mankind.

    Consequently against its normal policy, it supported imperialist and colonialist Britain. Volunteers from Communist Party joined British army to fight Nazi Germany. Faiz Ahmad Faiz had the rank of an honorary Captain in Royal Indian Army and time proved that it was the right decision on part of Communist Party of India.

    In the 70’s Tudeh (communist) Party of Iran decided to join hands with Islamic fundamentalist in their common struggle against a pro-American ruler. Such was its contribution that the Iranian revolution of 1979 was simply not possible without Tuden Party. That was the fatal blunder for which Tudeh Party signed its own death warrants after the revolution.

    The atrocities, with which the Islamist Government crushed the communists, surpassed those committed by the Shah against his people.

    The Tudeh Party did have a presence in Iran during the era of the pro-American Shah. However I do not think it has even a trace of it left anymore in the holy land. It is because Tudeh Party made a deadly blunder in choosing the smaller evil. It was like jumping into a pond full of piranha to escape scorching heat.

    By the way, as far as extremism and barbarianism is concerned, even the Islamic revolutionaries of Iran were angles in comparison with today’s Taliban. The Taliban cannot even tolerate a moderate molvi, what to talk of liberals and progressives.

    By opposing US and the West, our leftist comrades are indirectly supporting Talibanization. Do they expect any better treatment from Taliban, in a Talibanized Pakistan, than what was extended to the communists of Iran by the Islamic Revolutionaries? Do they think that the regional powers can defeat Talibanization without the help of international coalition forces? There are clearly two sides and no middles. Which side are we on?

    It is I presume high time, my leftist and liberal friends should rethink their present stance before it is too late for everybody.

    লিন্ক এখানে।

  40. মাসুদ করিম - ১৭ নভেম্বর ২০১১ (১:২০ অপরাহ্ণ)

    অর্থনৈতিক সংকট মুক্ত থাকার টীকা আবিষ্কৃত হয়নি, কাজেই কোনো দেশই সংকট মুক্ত থাকবে না। আর বিশেষ করে পাকিস্তানের জ্বালানি খাতের যে দুরাবস্থা তাদের সামনে কঠিন সময়ই আসছে।

    Not many countries get to reflect on how, in spite of it all, they’re still standing. Pakistan’s economy has weathered some very severe storms, yet it still stands and delivers. Might there be a story there?

    Dr Zaidi’s hint is towards the informal sector, or how the country’s “wide social and economic networks allow families and individuals to live in worlds which are often not on the economists’ map.” He believes that remittances form a large input into this ‘informal sector’, making it resilient and keeping it going even during times of severe economic distress.

    But there are two things he fails to mention. One is that besides remittances, another crucial input for the ‘informal sector’ is energy, whether electricity or natural gas, and for this vital input, the ‘informal sector’ is totally dependent on the vagaries of its elder sibling: the formal economy.

    Shortages of power and natural gas have hit small and medium enterprises much harder than the formal economy, where the large manufacturing concerns have adapted by investing in captive power and leveraging private channels to arrange privileged access to dwindling gas resources. And through this vital input, the supposedly ‘resilient’ informal economy ends up sharing the fate of the formal sector, living and breathing with every pulse of the circular debt, the winter gas load management plans and the oil price fluctuations. Far from resilience, the informal sector is in fact brittle, unable to adapt to the new shortages that are becoming a permanent feature of Pakistan’s economy, and tied into the formal economy’s weaknesses and shortages.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : Is Pakistan’s economy immune to crises?

  41. মাসুদ করিম - ২৪ ডিসেম্বর ২০১১ (৫:৪৫ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের প্রাক্তন এক সেনাবাহিনী প্রধান বলেছেন, সাবেক প্রেসিডেন্ট জেনারেল মুশাররফের অত্যন্ত ঘনিষ্ঠ এক গোয়েন্দা কর্মকর্তা ব্রিগেডিয়ার(অবঃ) ইজাজ শাহ লাদেনকে অ্যাবোটাবাদে লুকিয়ে রেখেছিলেন।

    An article on the Jamestown Foundation website, which cited Butt, said that despite denials, evidence is emerging that “elements within the Pakistani military harboured Osama with the knowledge of Musharraf and Kayani”. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is the current army cheif.

    Ziauddin Butt, a former army chief, told a conference on Pakistani-US ties in October 2011 that according to his knowledge then director general of Intelligence Bureau, Brigadier (retd.) Ijaz Shah, had “kept Osama bin Laden in an Intelligence Bureau safe house in Abbottabad”.

    Osama bin Laden was gunned down May 2 by US commandos who mounted a daring operation using stealth helicopters. The retired general said in the same address that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had helped the CIA to track Osama down and kill him. The report said that stunning revelation was unreported for some time as some intelligence officers had asked journalists not to publish Butt’s remarks.

    The report said Butt told the daily Dawn Dec 11 that he fully believed that “(Brigadier) Ijaz Shah had kept this man (bin Laden in the Abbottabad compound) with the full knowledge of General Pervez Musharraf…” Butt added, “Ijaz Shah was an all-powerful official in the government of General Musharraf”.

    খবরের লিন্ক এখানে।

  42. মাসুদ করিম - ২২ জানুয়ারি ২০১২ (২:২৭ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের ইংরেজি দৈনিক ডন একটা টাইমলাইন প্রকাশ করছে, এনআরও(National Reconciliation Ordinance) থেকে মেমোগেট।

    16 December 2009: The Supreme Court of Pakistan issues a petition to consider NRO 2007 to be null and void which provided immunity to the offenders of law, including money launderers and embezzlers. The ordinance of 2007 was drafted and approved by President Pervez Musharraf.

    The court asks the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to reopen the cases against President Zardari entailing the Swiss scam; allegations which the premier out rightly denies.

    October 10, 2011: Mansoor Ijaz writes an article in Financial Times where he reveals that he delivered a memorandum written by a Pakistani official posted in the US to Admiral Mike Mullen. The revelation creates a frenzy of activity in Pakistan bringing the role of then ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani, into question.

    The memo is speculated to have been written just after Osama bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan and allegedly seeks help from the US to rein in the country’s military and intelligence agencies.

    November 22, 2011: Haqqani resigns from his position amidst chaos and allegations pertaining to him having drafted the controversial memo.

    November 23, 2011: Chief of the main opposition party Nawaz Sharif files a petition in the Supreme Court to investigate the memo scandal, now dubbed as ‘memogate’.

    Meanwhile, the army starts its own investigation into the events surrounding the subject.

    December 22, 2011: Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani publicly announces that he and his party members will not accept ‘a state within a state’; a remark which instigated a sense of disagreement between the civil and military command within the country.

    However, General Kayani reiterates that the army does not aim to ‘stage a coup’ and this is another tactic deployed by the government to digress from memo scandal.

    বিস্তারিত পড়ুন : Timeline: From NRO to Memogate।

  43. মাসুদ করিম - ২৫ জানুয়ারি ২০১২ (১০:২৯ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    আইএসআই প্রধান সুজা পাশা ও প্রাক্তন প্রেসিডেন্ট মুশাররফের গোপন সাক্ষাৎ দুবাইয়ে।

    Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the chief of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), held a secret meeting with former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf in Dubai advising him not to visit Pakistan, sources told DawnNews on Monday.

    “General Pasha, who has remained very close to the former president, held a meeting with him (Musharraf) in Dubai and advised him not to return to the country as the situation is not conducive for his return,” said an insider while requesting anonymity from this correspondent.

    The Senate on Monday also passed a resolution demanding the arrest of the former military ruler on his return. Interior Minister Rehman Malik also announced that Musharraf would be arrested the day he landed in Pakistan.

    The sources claim that Pasha strictly advised Musharraf to not to return.

    It is yet not clear whether the meeting was held on the directions of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party government or if it was a private meeting. However the sources insist that it was a private meeting between the two.

    The sources also claim that Pasha enjoys a long history of relations with the former dictator.

    In 2008, during the last year of Musharraf as president, Pasha was appointed to the key posting of Director General (DG) of Military Operations Directorate. Later General Kayani, after becoming the chief of Army Staff, promoted him as Lt Gen and appointed him the chief of the ISI.

    Currently two important cases against Pervez Musharraf have been registered in Pakistan. An Anti Terrorists Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi has already declared Musharraf a proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. Musharraf was also nominated in Akbar Bugti’s murder case in Balochistan.

    The sources also claim that Musharraf, after meeting with the ISI Chief, called a meeting of his party on January 25th for revisiting his decision to return to Pakistan.

    লিন্ক : ISI chief secretly meets Musharraf in Dubai: sources।

  44. মাসুদ করিম - ১২ ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০১২ (৬:০৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    আজ করাচি সাহিত্য উৎসবের শেষ দিন, দুদিনব্যাপী এই উৎসব গতকাল শুরু হয়েছিল।

    Launched in 2010, the annual two-day Karachi Literature Festival is open to all and free. The first of its kind in Pakistan, it brings together and celebrates Pakistani and international authors writing in languages such as Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, English, German and French. It features creative writing workshops, debates/discussions, lectures, Mushairah (Urdu poetry jam), a book fair, book launches, readings, signings, interactive story-telling for children, music/theatre performances, and more.

    Founded by Ameena Saiyid OBE and Asif Farrukhi, and organized by the British Council and Oxford University Press, the Festival has grown rapidly. Attendance rose from roughly 5,000 in 2010 to 10,000 in 2011. While the 2010 Festival had at most two simultaneous sessions, with a total of 35 programmed participants, the 2011 Festival had up to four with 97: in 2012 we are expecting about 145 programmed participants. Each year the participants have been outstanding. Keynote addresses were given by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi in 2010, Karen Armstrong in 2011 and William Dalrymple will deliver the keynote address in 2012.

    In 2011, the Karachi Literature Festival Prize of Rs 100,000 was given to a Pakistani/Pakistani-origin author for the best non-fiction book in English, published in 2010. The jury consisted of Zubeida Mustafa, Ghazi Salahuddin and Dr. Jaffer Ahmad. The winner was Ilhan Niaz for The Culture of Power and Governance of Pakistan (1947-2008).

    The Karachi Literature Festival also celebrates music, dance and theater arts, which are often connected to literature. The 2010 Festival featured performances by Tehrik-e-Niswan of “A Song of Mohenjodaro” (dance drama) and an Urdu play, “Insha Ka Intezaar,” based on Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.” The 2011 Festival began with a homage to Amir Khusro by Sheema Kermani’s group, featured Ajoka Theatre’s performances of sections of Shahid Nadeem’s Bulha (Punjabi play) and Dara, (Urdu play) and culminated with a tribute to Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the year of his 100th birth anniversary. The Faiz tribute featured literary and music favourites like Zehra Nigah, Tina Sani, Laal (band), Raza Rumi and Ali Sethi.

    In 2012 to celebrate the birth bicentennial of Charles Dickens, Owen Calvert-Lyons of the Arcola Theatre and Peter Higgin of Punchdrunk Enrichment from the UK, will present a theatrical session inspired by “The Uncommercial Traveller,” Dickens’ “account of (among other things) his wanderings around London.” This year we’re also featuring puppet and muppet shows for children by the Rafi Peer group (all day, every day), a satire/comedy session with Ali Aftab Saeed (Beygairat Brigade), Saad Haroon, and the Banana News Network, and performances by Nritaal and Salman Ahmed of Junoon.

    উৎসবের ওয়েবসাইট এখানে। উৎসব উপলক্ষে ইংরেজি দৈনিক ডনের লাইভ ব্লগ এখানে।

  45. মাসুদ করিম - ৩ মার্চ ২০১২ (২:৩১ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের ১০৪ আসনের সিনেট নির্বাচনে ক্ষমতাসীন পিপিপি ও জোট ৭০ আসন নিশ্চিত করে তার অবস্থান আরো সংহত করেছে।

    The ruling coalition, led by the Pakistan People’s Party, consolidated its position in the Senate on Friday, taking its strength to 70 in a house of 104. And the prospect of many independents supporting it beckoned.

    The PPP previously had 27 seats in the upper house of parliament, with five of them due to retire on March 11. With the success of 19 of its candidates, the PPP has become the single largest party in the Senate. Its total strength has now risen to 41, according to unofficial results.

    The Pakistan Muslim League-N had seven members in the Senate and one of them is to retire. Eight of the party’s candidates won the elections, taking the number of its senators to 14.

    The Awami National Party doubled its strength to 12 with the victory of seven candidates. It previously had six members in the Senate, one of whom will retire on March 11.

    The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F’s strength in the upper house was down to seven as seven of its senators are due to retire while the party could get only four seats on Friday.

    The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which had six senators hitherto, clinched four seats to improve its position to seven. Three of its existing senators will retire next week.

    The BNP (Awami) will have four members and the PML-Functional and the National Party one each in the new Senate. Five independent candidates also won the Senate elections, taking the number of independents to 12.

    The combined strength of the opposition in the house now stands at 22.

    An understanding reached between the PPP, MQM and PML-F in Sindh worked as all candidates fielded by them emerged victorious.

    Mian Raza Rabbani, Mukhtar Ahmad Dhamra, Dr Karim Ahmad Khawaja and Saeed Ghani of PPP, Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi and Syed Mustafa Kamal of MQM, and Syed Muzaffar Shah of PML-F won the elections on general seats.

    Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi was the only loser out of the eight candidates in the run for seven seats. Muttahida’s Nasreen Jalil and PPP’s Mudassir Sehar Kamran won the seats reserved for women. One seat reserved for minorities was clinched by Hari Ram of PPP.

    Things were, however, different in Punjab where eight candidates were left in the run for seven general seats.

    The electoral battle saw Mohsin Leghari of the Unification Bloc, a splinter group of the PML-Q, making his way to the Senate. It surprised many who believed that the understanding reached between the PPP and the PML-Q would work as planned.

    লিন্ক : Ruling coalition gains a foothold in Senate।

  46. মাসুদ করিম - ১০ মার্চ ২০১২ (১০:৩৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    বর্তমান আইএসআই প্রধান সুজা পাশা যখন প্রথম আইএসআই প্রধান নিয়োগ পেয়েছিলেন ২০০৮এ সেসময়ের তার সহকারী জহির উল ইসলাম হলেন নতুন আইএসআই প্রধান, মার্চের ১৮ তারিখ তিনি দায়িত্ব বুঝে নেবেন সুজা পাশার কাছ থেকে। পাকিস্তানের নামীদামি জেনারেলদের কেউ নন এই নতুন আইএসআই প্রধান, তাই অনেকে তাকে ‘লো প্রোফাইল’ বলছেন।

    “Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has appointed Lt General Zahir ul Islam as new Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI),” a brief statement issued on Friday by the prime minister’s office said without giving further details.

    His appointment was made on the recommendation of Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

    Gen Islam, who is currently the Commander of V Corps, Karachi, will take charge of his new assignment on March 18 when Gen Pasha will retire after heading the ISI for over three years.

    Gen Pasha’s strong loyalty to the army chief earlier won him two one-year extensions in 2010 and 2011.

    The position of the Commander of Karachi V Corps will be filled by Lt Gen Ejaz Chaudhry, currently the Director General of Rangers, Sindh.

    Meanwhile, it is learnt that Maj Gen Rizwan Akhter, the Commander of South Waziristan, is likely to move to Karachi to take over Gen Chaudhry’s position at the Sindh Rangers.

    The appointment of Gen Islam, who previously headed the ISI’s internal wing under Gen Pasha for almost two years, signals continuity at the ISI as Afghan peace and reconciliation efforts are picking momentum and coalition forces are scheduled to complete their withdrawal by 2014.

    The change of guard at the ISI takes place almost at the same time as the parliamentary review of ties with the US in the aftermath of last year’s Salala attack, is tentatively planned to be completed marking the start of a new phase of ties with Washington.

    Technically, ISI has little to do with conduct of relations with the US, but because of the ongoing intelligence cooperation between Pakistan and the US, both CIA and ISI play a determining role in the bilateral relationship.

    Gen Pasha had taken command of the ISI on a high note and was seen by the US as someone who had strong anti-Taliban views and could reorient the spy agency accused of maintaining close contacts with Taliban. But, as the CIA-ISI cooperation ran into problems, the Americans appeared to be less enthusiastic about him.

    Gen Pasha came under intense criticism at home after Osama bin Laden’s denouement last year for his agency’s failure to detect Al Qaeda chief living close to the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and more significantly for not being able to know that the Americans planned to carry out an operation deep inside Pakistan to take out the fugitive terror outfit leader.

    Addressing an in-camera session of parliament, Gen Pasha had then offered to step down.

    The outgoing ISI chief’s role in the memo-gate made him more controversial.

    Following Mansoor Ijaz’s disclosure in an article in the Financial Times, Gen Pasha travelled to London to see him (Mansoor Ijaz) without the approval of the prime minister, who is technically his boss.

    Later, Gen Pasha pressed for probe into the memogate by a Supreme Court appointed commission against wishes of the government which wanted the investigation to be carried out by the bi-partisan parliamentary committee of national security.

    Mr Ijaz, who is now a star witness in the memogate, had also alleged that Gen Pasha had visited Arab countries to seek support for a coup in the aftermath of the US raid on the OBL residence in Abbotabad.

    Another extension for Gen Pasha was opposed by the main opposition PML-N.

    The new ISI chief, who has a little over two years in active military service (till Oct 2014) is said to be a typical infantry soldier.

    He is from the Punjab regiment and has held several high-profile positions. He was the Chief of Staff at the Army Strategic Forces Command from 2004-2006.

    For the next two years (2006-2008) he commanded the 12th Infantry Division based in Murree. Moving to ISI in 2008 he was assigned the internal wing, where he was responsible for internal security, law and order, coordination with law-enforcement agencies and supporting counter-terrorism operations. As the Commander of V Corps he oversaw an operation launched in Karachi after last year’s ethnic violence.

    লিন্ক : Gen Zahir to replace Pasha in ISI।

  47. মাসুদ করিম - ২৮ মার্চ ২০১২ (১০:৩০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    ইসলামের সবচেয়ে কালো হাত পাকিস্তানে কাজ করে, পাকিস্তানের সংখ্যলঘুদের মতো এত ভাগ্যাহত আর কেউ নেই, সেখানে হিন্দু খ্রিস্টানরা নতুন যে আতঙ্কে প্রতিনিয়ত পর্যুদস্ত হচ্ছেন — তার নাম বলপূর্বক ধর্মান্তরকরণ, বিশেষত কিশোরী ও যুবতীদের এভাবে মুসলমান করে চলছে মুসলমানের সাথে বিয়ের উৎপাত, আর এটাই পাকিস্তানের কঠোর ইসলামবাদীদের নতুন সন্ত্রাস — সংখ্যালঘুদের ইসলামের মাটি থেকে সম্পূর্ণ নিশ্চিহ্ন করে দেয়ার কর্মসুচি।

    It was barely 4am when 19-year-old Rinkal Kumari disappeared from her home in a small village of Sindh province. When her parents awoke they found only her slippers and a scarf outside the door.

    A few hours later her father got a call telling him his daughter, a Hindu, had converted to Islam to marry a Muslim boy. Only days later, Seema Bibi, a Christian woman in the province of Punjab, was kidnapped along with her four children after her husband couldn’t repay a loan to a large landlord. Within hours, her husband was told his wife had converted to Islam and wouldn’t be coming home. Seema Bibi escaped, fled the village and has gone underground with her husband and children. Hindu and Christian representatives say forced conversions to Islam had become the latest weapon of extremists in what they called a growing campaign against religious minorities. The groups are increasingly wondering if they still have a place in Pakistan. “It is a conspiracy that Hindus and Christians and other minorities should leave Pakistan,” says Amar Lal, the lawyer representing Kumari in the Supreme Court. “As a minority, we feel more and more insecure. It is getting worse day by day.”

    In the last four months, Lal said, 51 Hindu girls had been forcibly converted to Islam in Sindh, where most of Pakistan’s minority Hindu population lived. After Kumari disappeared from her home on February 24, Azra Fazal Pachuho, a lawmaker and the sister of President Asif Ali Zardari, told parliament that Hindus in Sindh were under attack by extremists.

    Kumari’s family has gone to the Supreme Court to get their daughter back. But the case is hotly contested by the Muslim family, who say Kumari’s conversion was voluntary. They say the couple had known each other and exchanged Facebook messages and phone calls before she converted and they married. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered Kumari kept in a women’s shelter in Karachi until it resumed hearing the case on April 18.

    “Christian and Hindu girls are targeted more and more,” says Father Emmanuel Yousaf, who heads the National Commission for Justice and Peace, an organisation born out of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference.

    Yousaf said his group was helping Seema Bibi and a number of other Christians who had to leave their villages because of threats from extremists. Some of them were girls who were forcibly converted and others, he said, were falsely accused of acting against Islam or abusing the holy Quran.

    There are dozens of cases of minorities being accused of insulting Islam under the country’s blasphemy laws. Often the cases are rooted in disputes with Muslim neighbours or as coercion to convert, and judges often feel intimidated by extremists into convicting accused blasphemers, said Yousaf. “They know where you live and where your children go to school,” he said.

    Roughly five percent of Pakistan’s 180 million people belong to minority religions, which include Hindu, Christian and Ahmadis, according to the CIA World Factbook. Over recent years, violence against the minorities has increased, as Islamic hard-liners’ influence over the country has strengthened. In May 2010, gunmen rampaged through an Ahmadi place of worship in Lahore, killing 93. In February this year, gunmen stopped four buses, picked out those with Shia-sounding names and killed 18. Last year, Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, who criticised the blasphemy laws, was killed by his own bodyguard, and the government’s only Christian cabinet minister — also an opponent of the laws — was gunned down by militants.

    “In Pakistan, one’s religious faith, or lack of one, has become sufficient to warrant execution and murder,” Pervez Hoodbhoy, a physicist and peace activist wrote in a column earlier this month. Yet they rarely complained. “They sense security in being silent as disclosing it might bring shame on themselves and their family,” the report said.

    Mohyuddin Ahmad, the information secretary for the Punjab government, says politicians and police are afraid. “If you are killed by a terrorist, no one will come for condolences,” he said.

    Even incremental steps have to be taken slowly and silently so as not to ignite a firestorm by extremists, said Ahmad. The provincial government has quietly sought to increase women’s participation in the work force, he said. It requires that a third of the members on government corporations and boards be women; all government offices must have daycare centres; 15 percent of all government jobs have to go to women; free land given to the poor is shared 50/50 by husband and wife; and acid throwing on a woman is now a terrorist act. But incessant bickering among political parties, the judiciary, federal government and army has worked in favour of extremists, Ahmad said.

    খবরের লিন্ক : Forced conversions hike Pakistani minorities’ fears।

  48. মাসুদ করিম - ১ এপ্রিল ২০১২ (৬:৩৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

    দৈনিক ডনের আরেকটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ টাইমলাইন, Industry of manufactured violence – 2012।

    Karachi, one of the largest cities of the world, has many faces. It can be a home to countless refugees, a shopper’s delight, paradise for tourists or, referring to the current violent attacks, gallows for innocent lives.

    It is not unwise to say that Karachi, being a home to millions of multiethnic people, is a ticking time bomb which is ready to explode on the pettiest of issues.

    A spark of violence is all it takes to engulf the entire city into insurmountable piles of bullet riddled and tortured bodies.

    This time line provides factual insights over the recent spate of violence that continues to resurface time after time.

    …

    March 28, 2012: An activist of the Awami National Party (ANP) was shot dead with Karachi flaring up violence in the city once again.

    ANP activist Zain-ul-Abideen was killed in a targeted attack on his vehicle near the Matric Board Office in the Nazimabad area of the city. A companion of the deceased activist sustained injuries as a result of the attack.

    The killing was followed by reports of firing, forced shutdown of business and vehicle-torching incidents in various parts of the city.

    The total death toll from violence in the city reached six, where as 13 vehicles were torched.

    Moreover, MQM chief Altaf Hussain urged the president, prime minister and army chief to stop the so-called nationalist elements of Sindh from using “threatening language” against Mohajirs.

    Otherwise, he warned, “people may take matters into their own hands”.

    March 30, 2012: Sporadic firing killed seven people including an activist from ANP and a police officer.

    Unidentified motorcycle riders, near Baitul Mamur Mosque in Peerabad neigbourhood, sprayed bullets and fled away from the scene. Hidayatullah Mehsood, a member of ANP Sindh Council was killed as a result of the firing.

    During the firing incidents in different areas of Karachi 13 people, including policemen were killed on late Friday night.

    March 31, 2012: Karachi came to a standstill once again when MQM Rabita Committee announced a day of mourning on Saturday and requested traders, industrialists, businessmen and shopkeepers to shut their businesses.

    All means of public transportation and educational institutes remained closed on the day of mourning.

    লিন্ক : Industry of manufactured violence – 2012।

  49. মাসুদ করিম - ৯ এপ্রিল ২০১২ (১:১৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    ভারত-পাকিস্তানের তো সমস্যার শেষ নেই, কিন্তু এই সিয়াচেন সমস্যাটা অদ্ভূত এবং এর দায় বেশি ভারতেরই। পৃথিবীর সবচেয়ে উঁচু সেনাক্যাম্পে এসপ্তাহে প্রাণ হারাল ১৩০ পাকিস্তানি সৈন্য। এই বৈরী পরিবেশে কেন সেনাদের ও সেসাথে কিছু সিভিলিয়ানদের অমানবিক জীবনযাপনে বাধ্য করা? ‘ডন’এর সম্পাদকীয়।

    THE tragedy of over 130 Pakistani soldiers trapped under an avalanche has seen a massive search-and-rescue operation launched in the most difficult of terrains. Grim as the situation is, hope must not be given up. The round-the-clock effort could yield welcome results. Beyond the immediate tragedy, what the latest news from Siachen has done is to once again bring into focus the mindlessness of the Siachen conflict. Forty years ago, it was so improbable that the two countries could militarily face off in that inhospitable region that the Simla Agreement did not envisage demarcating the territory beyond the now infamous map coordinate known as NJ9842 when drawing the Line of Control. But after the Indian armed forces crept into Siachen in 1984 and moved on to the Saltoro Range to the west, Pakistan, alarmed that India had come so close to Skardu, sent its own troops up to the Saltoro Range. It is impossible to guess how many people have died in the conflict. Both sides closely guard the figures and independent estimates are impossible in an otherwise uninhabited area. But it is believed that the overwhelming number of casualties are caused by the altitude, cold and terrain.

    What is obvious is that the conflict continues because of the obstinacy of the Indian Army. More than 20 years ago, Pakistani officials proposed a solution: the undemarcated areas under the Simla Agreement become zones of disengagement with both sides withdrawing their troops without prejudice to their pre-Siachen-conflict positions. However, because the Indian Army has captured territory that Pakistan claimed as its own and because all armies are loath to give up a military victory or advantage, however infinitesimal, the Indian Army insists that Pakistan accept its present positions as official, essentially demanding that Pakistan give up its claim to the territory.

    Given the predominance of the Pakistan Army in national security and foreign policy here and the ill-advised choices it has made (Kargil is often cited by the Indian military as an example of why Pakistan cannot be trusted) it may seem that the Siachen conflict cannot be solved outside a broader settlement on Kashmir. However, a push by the Indian political side could see the objections of its armed forces overridden. After all, until recently it seemed like the Pakistan Army would never allow large-scale trade with India to be opened in the absence of a settlement on ‘core issues’.

    লিন্ক : Pointless conflict।

  50. মাসুদ করিম - ৯ এপ্রিল ২০১২ (২:৩১ অপরাহ্ণ)

    জারদারির আজমির সফর। সফরের শুরুতেই হবে ভারতের প্রধানমন্ত্রীর সাথে মধ্যাহ্নভোজ। এই সফরকে নিয়ে এনডিটিভির লাইভব্লগ।
    এসফরে দৃশ্যত সবচেয়ে বড় ঘটনা হচ্ছে জারদারি আজমির দরগায় ১০লাখ ডলার চাঁদা দিয়েছেন। এত টাকা দরগাকে, ব্যক্তিগতভাবে!

    17:28 (IST) Zardari has makes a donation of one million dollars to the dargah

  51. মাসুদ করিম - ২৭ এপ্রিল ২০১২ (১২:০৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের প্রধানমন্ত্রী ইউসুফ রাজা গিলানির বিরুদ্ধে সুপ্রিম কোর্টের রায়ের দিন ডন পত্রিকার অনলাইন সংস্করণে প্রকাশিত হয়েছে আরেকটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ টাইমলাইন : Judiciary vs executive।

    Supreme Court of Pakistan, on April 26, found PM Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president, but gave him only a symbolic sentence of 30 seconds detention in the court room.

    বিস্তারিত : Timeline: Judiciary vs executive।

  52. মাসুদ করিম - ২০ জুন ২০১২ (৯:৫২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    গিলানিকে নিয়ে জুডিসিয়ারি ও এক্সিকিউটিভের দ্বন্দ্বের অবসান হল গতকাল, ১৯ জুন ২০১২, সুপ্রিম কোর্ট গিলানিকে প্রধানমন্ত্রী হিসাবে অবৈধ ঘোষণা করে রায় দিল। পড়ুন টাইমলাইন : Judiciary vs executive। দেখুন ও পড়ুন মাল্টিমিডিয়া : Gilani’s journey: From conviction to disqualification।

    • মাসুদ করিম - ২১ জুন ২০১২ (৩:০৩ অপরাহ্ণ)

      এখন এটা সত্যিই টেনিস কোর্ট! পাকিস্তানের ক্ষমতাসীন দল পিপিপি সরকারের প্রধানমন্ত্রী পদের জন্য মনোনীত সংসদ সদস্য মখদুম শাহাবুদ্দীনের বিরুদ্ধে গ্রেপ্তারি পরোয়ানা জারি করেছে পাকিস্তানের সুপ্রিম কোর্ট।

      President Zardari had nominated Shahabuddin as a candidate for the new prime minister.

      Warrants were issued against Shahabuddin, Musa Gilani and one other person.

      Earlier on June 7, Regional Director of the Anti-Narcotics Force Brig Fahim Ahmed Khan had told the Supreme Court that the ANF had widened its inquiry against Shahabuddin who he said had ordered the local conversion of ephedrine after Berlex Lab International and Danas Pharma (Pvt) Ltd failed to export asthma drugs to Afghanistan.

      The ephedrine scam had come to light in April when the ANF informed a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, that the ephedrine quota worth Rs7 billion was given to two Multan-based companies on the pressure of an influential person.

      The case was registered on October 10 last year after two pharmaceutical companies – Danas Pharmaceutical and Berlex Lab International – were held responsible for obtaining export quotas for the drug in collusion with the health ministry officials that exceeded the limits fixed by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

      The INCB had fixed a quota of 22,000kg of ephedrine for Pakistan for 2010-11, but the ministry of health allocated a quota of around 31,000kg after devolution.

      লিন্ক : Arrest warrant issued against Makhdoom Shahabuddin।

  53. মাসুদ করিম - ৪ জুলাই ২০১২ (১:৩২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    No. 560-12
    July 03, 2012

    Secretary Panetta’s Statement Regarding the Opening of the Ground Lines of Communication

    “I welcome Pakistan’s decision to open the ground lines of communication. As I have made clear, we remain committed to improving our partnership with Pakistan and to working closely together as our two nations confront common security challenges in the region.”

    • মাসুদ করিম - ৪ জুলাই ২০১২ (১:০৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

      US to free up $1.1 billion for Pakistan military

      WASHINGTON: The United States will release about $1.1 billion to Pakistan’s military as part of a deal that will see Islamabad lift a blockade on NATO supply convoys into Afghanistan, a US official said on Tuesday.
      The money, from a US Coalition Support Fund designed to reimburse Pakistan for the cost of counter-insurgency operations, had been withheld due to tensions between the two countries and Islamabad’s closure of the supply routes after an attack on Pakistani border posts by NATO forces in November last year which led to the killing of 24 Pakistani troops. Pakistan and the United States announced earlier that the border would be opened once again to NATO convoys. The Coalition Support Fund is often the subject of wrangling between the US and Pakistani officials, with Islamabad’s claims often rejected and smaller sums approved by Washington for reimbursement.
      The $1.1 billion that will be freed up under the border deal does not include large sums that Pakistan says it is owed, said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This is the amount that has been approved and already gone through the process,” the US official told AFP. The Coalition Support Fund is reimbursement to Pakistan for expenses incurred and compensation for facilities made available to the coalition forces in Afghanistan. afp

      • মাসুদ করিম - ৪ জুলাই ২০১২ (১:১২ অপরাহ্ণ)

        2012:
        Since the beginning of 2012, various political parties along with the military command of the country, met and held discussions on restoring Nato supplies. Diplomats from United States also tried to reduce the friction.

        Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the supplies were blocked without any pressure and will be restored with consensus.

        Moreover, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Pakistan to reopen Nato ground supply routes to Afghanistan. However, Rasmussen also said that Pakistan had not been invited to the crucial 25th Nato summit to be held in May in Chicago.

        Simultaneously, US Senator John Kerry, a leading proponent of US aid for Pakistan, said that Pakistan needs to be more cooperative, in order to eliminate Taliban sanctuaries from the country.

        However, top Pakistani leaders decided to meet on May 15, in order to discuss ending a blockade of foreign military supply routes into Afghanistan and repairing US relations, signaling a rapprochement ahead of a Nato summit.

        Simultaneously, in a sudden shift in events, Nato, on May 15, said that it will invite President Zardari to the alliance’s summit in Chicago, after the country’s foreign minister proposed reopening its Afghan border to Nato military supplies. President Zardari accepted the invitation and decided to attend the summit.

        However, on May 18, US lawmakers in the House of Representatives debating the National Defence Authorisation Act voted 412-1 for an amendment that could block up to $650 million in proposed payments to Pakistan unless Islamabad lets coalition forces resume shipment of war supplies across its territory.

        However, on the same day, four containers laden with supplies for the US Embassy in Kabul crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan via Torkham border post.

        A local official while confirming supplies to the US Embassy via Torkham said he could not say when the cargo had been transported.

        “Pakistan government has never put restriction on the transportation of supplies for the diplomatic missions, including the American Embassy in Kabul,” a senior official, who was dealing with the matter, said.

        “Ban on the transportation of Nato supplies is still intact.”

        Simultaneously President Zardari arrived in Washington on May 19 to attend the Nato summit in Chicago. However, both the countries were unable to strike a conclusive deal on the restoration of Nato supplies as the summit ended.

        In a fresh warning to Pakistan, a Senate panel on May 23 approved a foreign aid budget for next year that slashes US assistance to Islamabad by more than half and threatens further reductions if it fails to open supply routes to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

        Sen Patrick Leahy, a Democrat and the chairman of the subcommittee, and the panel’s top Republican, Sen Lindsey Graham, said money for Pakistan was cut 58 per cent as lawmakers questioned Islamabad’s commitment to the fight against terrorism.

        Moreover, the Senate Appropriations Committee, on May 24, voted to cut aid to Pakistan by a symbolic $33 million – $1 million for each year of jail time handed to Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who allegedly assisted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in finding Osama bin Laden.

        However, the United States agreed to reimburse $1.18 billion or almost 75 per cent of the claims Pakistan has submitted for the expenses incurred in the fight against militants along the Afghan border.

        The approval showed that despite increased tensions, the US financial assistance to Pakistan has continued although it is becoming increasingly difficult to get congressional support for helping Pakistan.

        Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, on June 7, said that the United States was running out of patience with Pakistan over safe havens of insurgents who attack US troops across the border in Afghanistan.

        Panetta spoke after talks with Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak on the latest leg of an Asian tour that has taken him to India, but not Islamabad in a sign of how dire US-Pakistan relations are.

        On June 8, US Assistant Defence Secretary Peter Lavoy arrived in Islamabad, in a fresh attempt to bring an end to a six-month blockade on Nato supplies, crossing into Afghanistan.

        However, on June 11, the United States withdrew negotiators from Pakistan after talks failed to produce a deal on reopening vital Nato supply routes into Afghanistan. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, still sounded optimistic and said that the return of an American negotiating team from Islamabad, where it worked with Pakistani counterparts on revival of the Nato supply routes, does not represent an institutional US pullout.

        Moreover, Panetta ruled out an apology over an air strike last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and badly set back efforts to improve US-Pakistani ties, saying it was “time to move on.”

        Gen John Allen, the top commander of American and Nato forces in Afghanistan, visited Pakistan on Wednesday, amidst heightened tensions between the two countries.

        The agenda of the talks remained to restore Nato supply routes and cross-border attacks launched on Pakistani soil from Afghanistan.

        Pakistan, on July 3, agreed to reopen key supply routes into Afghanistan ending a bitter stand-off after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was sorry for the loss of life in a botched air raid.

        A US official said that as part of the deal Washington will release about $1.1 billion to the Pakistani military from a US “coalition support fund” designed to reimburse Pakistan for the cost of counter-insurgency operations.

        Timeline: History of US-Pakistan relations

  54. মাসুদ করিম - ৫ জুলাই ২০১২ (২:৫০ অপরাহ্ণ)

    হায় পাকিস্তান, হায় ইসলাম তোমার এই উগ্রতার শেষ কোনোদিনই কি হবে না?

    পাকিস্তানে ধর্ম অবমাননাকারী আখ্যা দিয়ে এক ব্যক্তিকে থানা থেকে তুলে নিয়ে পুড়িয়ে হত্যা করেছে উন্মত্ত জনতা।

    পাঞ্জাব প্রদেশের ভাওয়ালপুলে এই ঘটনা ঘটে বলে বিবিসি জানায়।

    মুসলিমদের পবিত্র গ্রন্থ কোরান পোড়ানোর কথিত অভিযোগে ওই ব্যক্তিকে আটক করে পুলিশ। কিন্তু উন্মত্ত জনতা তাকে পুলিশের কাছ থেকে ছিনিয়ে নিয়ে হত্যা করে।

    প্রত্যক্ষদর্শীরা জানিয়েছে, উন্মত্ত জনতা লোকটিকে পোড়ানোর সময় শত শত মানুষ তা দেখেছে। সাহায্যের জন্য ওই ব্যক্তি কাতর মিনতি জানালেও তাকে রক্ষায় কেউ এগিয়ে যায় নি।

    পাকিস্তানের বিতর্কিত ধর্ম অবমাননা আইনে ইসলামকে ব্যঙ্গ করলে তার শাস্তি মৃত্যুদণ্ড বলে নির্ধারিত রয়েছে। দেশটিতে প্রায়ই এই আইনের সুযোগে অন্য ধর্মাবলম্বী ও ব্যক্তি শত্র“তার জেরে লোকজনকে ফাঁসানো হয়ে থাকে।

    যে অঞ্চলে ওই ঘটনাটি ঘটেছে, সেখানে সা¤প্রদায়িক গোষ্ঠী পরিচালিত শত শত মাদ্রাসা রয়েছে।

    পুলিশ জানিয়েছে, ওই ব্যক্তি কোরান অবমাননা করেছে বলে স্থানীয়রা অভিযোগ জানালে তারা তাকে গ্রেপ্তার করে। কিন্তু ওই অভিযোগ তদন্তের আগেই হাজারো উন্মত্ত মানুষ থানা ঘেরাও করে বলে পুলিশ জানায়।

    পুলিশ ইন্সপেক্টর গুলাম মহিউদ্দিন বিবিসিকে বলেন, “তারা ওই ব্যক্তিকে তাদের সামনে আমাদের হত্যা করতে বলে, তা না করলে তারা তাকে নিয়ে গিয়ে হত্যা করবে বলে শাসায়।”

    কিন্তু থানার কর্মকর্তারা নানাভাবে জনতাকে নিয়ন্ত্রণ করতে চেষ্টা চালায়। এমন কী তাদের ছত্রভঙ্গ করতে টিয়ার গ্যাসও ব্যবহার করে। উন্মত্ত জনতার সঙ্গে সহিংসতায় বেশ কয়েকজন পুলিশ সদস্য আহতও হয়েছে।

    পুলিশ যেন কোথাও যেতে না পারে সেজন্য তারা রাস্তায় ব্যরিকেড সৃষ্টি করে। মহিউদ্দিন বলেন, উন্মত্ত জনতা হিস্টিরিয়াগ্রস্তের মতো আচরণ শুরু করে। শেষপর্যন্ত তারা ওই ব্যক্তিকে থানা থেকে তুলে নিয়ে যেতে সক্ষম হয়।

    কোরান অবমাননার কথা স্বীকার করার পর ব্যক্তিকে যথেচ্ছ পেটানো হয়, ছুরিকাঘাত করা হয়। এরপর উন্মত্ত মানুষেরা তার গায়ে পেট্রল ঢেলে আগুন ধরিয়ে দেয়।

    পুলিশ জানিয়েছে, তারা ওই ব্যক্তির পরিচয় জানার চেষ্টা করেছে। তবে লোকমুখে যতটুকু জানা গেছে, নিহত ব্যক্তি মানসিকভাবে অসুস্থ ছিলেন।

    এক কর্মকর্তা বলেন, “কী ঘটতে যাচ্ছে সে ব্যাপারে ওই ব্যক্তির কোনো ধারণাই ছিল না।” তিনি আরো বলেন, “যখন তাকে কারাগারে নিয়ে আসা হয় তখন সে হাসছিল আর গান গাইছিল।”

    এই মামলায় বিষয়টি ‘অজ্ঞাত ব্যক্তিদের হামলা’ বলে উল্লেখ করা হয়েছে। এ ব্যাপারে এখনো পর্যন্ত কাউকে গ্রেপ্তার করা হয় নি।

    লিন্ক : ধর্ম অবমাননা: পাকিস্তানে এক ব্যক্তিকে পুড়িয়ে হত্যা।

  55. মাসুদ করিম - ১৩ জুলাই ২০১২ (২:১৩ অপরাহ্ণ)

    PPP not to go for caretaker set-up if PM remove

    President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law on Thursday the Contempt of Court Bill, 2012, adopted by both houses of parliament.

    Meanwhile, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided against going for a caretaker set-up even if Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is also removed, like his predecessor Yousuf Raza Gilani, by the Supreme Court under contempt charges.

    Sources in the PPP said President Zardari discussed the situation with the heads of allied parties on telephone after the Supreme Court decision which gave the deadline of July 25 to Prime Minister Ashraf for writing a letter to Swiss authorities for reopening money laundering case against the president.

    “The government will not go for announcing a caretaker set-up for the next general elections even if Prime Minister Ashraf is removed by the apex court,” a senior PPP leader said.

    Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told Dawn that the situation was vague at the moment and it was not easy to comment on ‘ifs and buts’.

    But he ruled out the possibility of early elections and a caretaker set-up. “We have so far not even thought about a caretaker set-up,”
    he said.

    Responding to a question, he agreed that the PPP was holding consultations with heads of allied parties to chalk out a line of action in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.

    The prime minister’s spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said the government would go for an appeal against Thursday’s judgment of the Supreme Court.

    The sources said the ruling coalition had decided that the government would not write a letter to the Swiss authorities even if Prime Minister Ashraf was also removed like Mr Gilani.

    A source quoted President Zardari as saying: “I have three more candidates for prime minister’s office if Raja Pervez Ashraf is removed.”

    It is learnt that the coalition is hopeful that Prime Minister Ashraf will continue to serve as head of the government for another three or four months even if the contempt of court law which has been challenged in the Supreme Court is revoked.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Q spokesman Kamil Ali Agha said his party believed that both the judiciary and the government should exercise restraint.

    Otherwise, the whole system will be derailed.

    He said the government did not intend to go for a caretaker set-up even if the prime minister had to leave his office.

    The new contempt law which came into effect with the assent of the president exempts the prime minister and parliamentarians from proceedings on charges of contempt of court.

    Although legal experts have differing opinions about the law, they believe it cannot be revoked before July 25 when the apex court can take action against the prime minister for not obeying its order.

    “I think it will not be so easy for the court to revoke the new law in 13 days,” Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood said.

    He said the law was likely to continue to exist till July 25 and in that case it would be difficult for the apex court to remove Prime Minister Ashraf.

    Justice Tariq said the court had powers to strike down the law as had happened in the Hasba Bill case.

    “But in this case the PPP will make a hue and cry and may come to the streets to protest against this move of the court,” he said.

    Senior lawyer Hamid Khan said the court would take some time to ascertain whether the new law was in line with the Constitution.

    • মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ জুলাই ২০১২ (৮:৫৪ অপরাহ্ণ)

      Asma Jahangir or Hussain Haroon as caretaker PM?
      Don’t be taken in by the negative sound-bites. On the face of it, political forces seem to be struggling to succeed in the litmus test of managing the first transition from one popularly elected dispensation to another in the country’s history, and are fighting it out bitterly over all things major and minor.

      However, there is more to it than meets the eye.

      Amid feverish speculation on what will happen by the end of the month in the high-stakes confrontation between the government and the judiciary, which may see a second prime minister elected by parliament losing his job, the two largest political parties of the country are quietly but rapidly finalising an agreement.

      The Express Tribune has it from credible sources that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are close to working out a political deal that would result both in naming a consensus caretaker prime minister and finalisation of a date for election to be held before the end of the year.

      There are two candidates being discussed for the all-important post of caretaker prime minister, on which both sides have been holding discussions over the past 10 days. There is the soft, back-up option in Abdullah Hussain Haroon, currently Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations. Then there is the second, more sensational candidate under serious consideration: none other than Asma Jahangir, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

      While no one from either the PPP or the PML-N is willing to officially come on record with this, unofficially key sources in the hierarchy of both parties confirm that talks on caretaker prime ministerial candidates and a date for elections are in advanced stages.

      While refusing to either deny or confirm the names of Jahangir and Haroon as candidates, a member of the close circle of Sharif said, on the condition of anonymity advised patience for the short term. “Wait for two weeks and a lot will be clear, as well as some good news for all,” he said.

      When approached, a source close to the presidency was equally assuring. “We have been talking [to PML-N] not for some days but for close to two months now and have whittled down some names that are generally agreeable to both [our parties],” he said. Again refusing to confirm or deny Jahangir and Haroon, the only additional information he offered was: “[The caretaker prime minister] will neither be from the PPP or PML-N, nor one who has been a member or leader of any other political party.”

      The sources claim that Asma Jahangir is the current frontrunner not only because she is known for her vociferous stand for parliamentary supremacy and rule of law but, even more importantly, for her unambiguous stand against interference of the ‘establishment’ in the democratic process.

      “In fact, the consensus [between PML-N and PPP] on Fakhruddin G Ebrahim [as the chief election commissioner] is closely linked to her (Asma Jahangir’s) candidacy under consideration by both parties,” a source in the PML-N said. “Both (Fakhruddin and Asma) have links to the legal fraternity, which respects them both, and which should come handy in dealing with any legal challenges that may be thrown by [Imran Khan’s] Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf during the tenure of the caretaker government to seek support of the judiciary in queering up the electoral pitch,” he added.

      Sources in the PPP, while careful in not confirming or denying Jahangir’s candidacy, indirectly revealed why she would be a good choice for them. “We don’t want an interim prime minister who can be amenable to pressure from the [Supreme Court] judges to write a letter to the Swiss authorities during the caretaker period seeking investigations against the president,” he said. “We want a caretaker prime minister who has no agenda of their own and one who can work well with the chief election commissioner in focusing on the one-point agenda of holding a free, fair and impartial election,” he added.

      Sources in both parties agreed that the litmus test of the maturity of political forces is at hand. “We may have our differences, and some really strong ones at that, but all we want are the freest, fairest and most credible elections in Pakistan’s history and these can only be if, for the first time in our history, we, the political forces, and not the establishment, decide and implement the rules of the game,” a source in the PPP said. “We’ve made a solid start with the joint nomination of the CEC. However, pressure [from the establishment] is mounting and we can’t waste much time now. The elections will be held before the end of the year for which we need caretakers who can restore faith in democracy and politics and be the best advertisement for an election with a high turnout,” he added.

      Sources also confirmed that Jahangir recently met Sharif and a close aide of the president while Haroon is scheduled to meet both Sharif and President Zardari over the next few days. Both are likely to be agreed upon as joint candidates with Jahangir as the first choice and Haroon as the covering candidate.

      Sources also said that PPP allies have already agreed to leave it to President Zardari to make the decision on the nomination of a caretaker prime minister on behalf of the coalition. They also said that neither the PPP nor the PML-N want to drag out the nomination like in the case of the CEC and both the Leader of the House Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali would be meeting to put the official seal on “the political deal of the new millennium” in Pakistan “in two to three weeks’ time”.

      “It’s going to be a win-win for all: the ruling parties, the opposition parties – both inside and outside parliament, and most of all for the people of Pakistan. The only loser will be the establishment, which usually steals the elections somewhere starting with the nomination of the caretaker prime minister and a malleable Election Commission. Not this time round,” added the source.

  56. মাসুদ করিম - ১০ অক্টোবর ২০১২ (১:১০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    Pakistan child rights activist shot in head: Doctor

    A teenage Pakistani children’s rights activist was shot in the head on Tuesday in an assassination attempt as she boarded a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat, officials said.

    Malala Yousafzai, 14, won international prominence for highlighting Taliban atrocities in Swat by blogging for the BBC.

    She received the first ever national peace award from the Pakistani government last year and was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by advocacy group KidsRights Foundation in 2011.

    The shocking incident in broad daylight in Mingora, the main town of the once much-loved northwestern valley, raised serious questions about security more than three years after the army claimed to have crushed a Taliban insurgency.

    Doctors at the Saidu Sharif Medical Complex in Mingora said that Malala was out of danger after the bullet penetrated her skull but missed her brain.

    “A bullet struck her head, but the brain is safe,” said Doctor Taj Mohammed. “She is out of danger,” he added. Doctor Lal Noor, from the same hospital, confirmed that the bullet broke her skull but missed her brain.

    “The bullet struck her skull and came out on the other side and hit her shoulder,” he told AFP. Police said one of Malala’s friends, another schoolgirl, was also hurt.

    “Malala was getting into her school bus after school when two gunmen opened fire on her, injuring her and one of her friends,” police official Rasool Shah said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting.

    Provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the attack on terrorists and said Malala would be flown by helicopter to the northwestern city of Peshawar for further treatment.

    The Pakistan army in 2009 effectively crushed a two-year Taliban insurgency in Swat where cleric Maulana Fazlullah presided over a brutal campaign of beheadings, violence and multiple attacks on girls’ schools.

    After fierce fighting displaced around two million people, the army declared the region back under control in July 2009.

    Despite sporadic outbreaks of violence, the government has since tried to encourage tourism in Swat. It had been popular with Pakistani and Western holidaymakers for its stunning mountains, balmy summer weather and winter skiing.

    • মাসুদ করিম - ১৪ অক্টোবর ২০১২ (১০:০৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

      Malala still on ventilator, condition satisfactory: ISPR

      The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday said that the condition of Malala Yousufzai, the child activist who was shot by the Taliban in Mingora on Tuesday, was satisfactory, DawnNews reported.

      The ISPR said Malala was still on a ventilator at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) and her vital organs were intact and functioning normally. Although, according to the report of the second CT scan, there was slight swelling on her brain’s membrane.

      “(The) health condition of Malala continues to remain satisfactory. Her vitals are okay and she is still on ventilator,” the ISPR said in an update.

      “A board of doctors is continuously monitoring her condition,” it added.

      A panel of doctors was monitoring the girl’s condition.

      Earlier on Friday, Director General ISPR, Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, had said that “the next 36 to 48 hours” were critical.

      General Bajwa had at the time said that a panel of doctors taking care of the injured Malala had described her condition as satisfactory.

      “The neurosurgical and intensive care specialists are satisfied with the current condition of Malala Yousufzai, but still the next 36 to 48 hours are critical,” the chief of ISPR had said.

      Also on Friday, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf visited Malala, paying tribute to her and her two friends who were also wounded when a gunman boarded their school bus on Tuesday and opened fire.

      “It was not a crime against an individual but a crime against humanity and an attack on our national and social values,” he told reporters, pledging renewed vigour in Pakistan’s struggle with militancy.

      The attack has sickened Pakistan, where Malala won international prominence with a blog for the BBC that highlighted atrocities under the Taliban who terrorised the Swat valley from 2007 until a 2009 army offensive.

      Activists say the shooting should be a wake-up call to whose who advocate appeasement with the Taliban.

      IN13_APTOPIX_PAKIS_1236643f
      Girls in an Islamabad school display a poster to show their support to Malala Yousufzai, who was shot on Tuesday by a Taliban gunman for her role in promoting girls’ education in the Swat Valley, Pakistan.

      Hundreds rally in capital to slam attack on Malala

      Hundreds of women, men and children from different walks of life on Saturday joined a peaceful rally to protest against the brutal armed attack on the education activist from Mingora.
      The rally, under the banner of Aurat Foundation, was taken out from College Road and it ended at Ralwalpindi Press Club. The participants paid their tribute to Malala Yousufzai.
      The protesters, mostly local citizens, were carrying placards and shouting slogans against the wave of terrorism in the country. They strongly condemned the cowardly acts of terrorism, especially attack on Malala. Addressing the crowd at one point during the rally’s march, Aurat Foundation Chief Operating Officer Naeem Mirza described Mala Yousafzai as a symbol of girl education and peace in Pakistan.
      He said that attack on Malala had shaken the conscience of Pakistani nation. “Now, they will not rest until they uproot and defeat all monsters of ignorance, extremism and poverty.” The Citizens Action Committee (CAC) coordinator Chaudhry Ilyas said that the heinous crime against an innocent girl who only wanted to be educated has exposed nefarious designs of the terrorists.
      The participants of the rally prayed for the health, early recovery and long life of Malala Yousufzai. They said that such incident was a conspiracy against peace in Pakistan. The protester also led candles. The rally demanded that the government urgently investigate the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. They also demanded that the government should take serious notice of such attacks on peace activists in the areas already bleeding from terrorism and extremism, as such attack discourage all efforts for peace and stability in the region.
      Meanwhile, the District Bar Association (DBA), Islamabad, observed strike on the call of Pakistan and Punjab Bar Council against the brutal attack on International award winner Malala Yousufzai. District Bar Association President Syed Javed Iqbal Shah while talking to APP said, “The lawyer community strongly condemns the attack on peace activist Malala Yousufzai. Islam disseminates message of love, affection and peace and this brutal and coward act could not be associated with our sacred religion.”
      DBA spokesman Chaudhry Khalid Hussain told APP that earlier Punjab Bar Council announced strike against the attitude of Punjab police for not registering an FIR and arresting the culprits involved in the murder of Safdar advocate. But later, he added, the Pakistan Bar Council announced a countrywide strike to condemn the attack on young and brave activist Mala Yousufzai and the fellow students.
      Activities in lower court remained suspended and Judges were sitting at their chambers due to the strike.

  57. মাসুদ করিম - ৯ ডিসেম্বর ২০১২ (৬:৪১ অপরাহ্ণ)

    আইএসআই কত কিছু যে করে! পাকিস্তানের চলচ্চিত্র শিল্পের উজ্জীবনের বিতর্কেও আইএসআই! তাদের উদ্দেশ্য, not even a single scene or dialogue against the national interest could be allowed to be shown to the public.

    Debate on revival of Pakistani film industry ends with promises

    An intense debate held at the Central Board of Film Censors in a meeting among the government officials, filmmakers and importers and representatives of Inter-Services Intelligence and ISPR to revive the dead film industry of Pakistan and again ended with promises and assurances.

    Federal Minister for National Regulations and Services Firdous Ashiq Awan chairing the meeting said: “We do not need rented culture therefore we have to revive our film industry”. ISI’s Brigadier Shuja Hassan and ISPR’s Brigadier Mujtaba Termizi told the filmmakers and film importers that not even a single scene or dialogue against the national interest could be allowed to be shown to the public.

    A dialogue was held between CBFC and importers of foreign films as well as local film producers on the way forward for revival of Pakistani film industry in Islamabad this week after a period of more than four years.

    Federal Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told the participants that she would fight the case of film industry and will take the issue to the president and prime minister. She said that tens of thousands of people, linked with film making business, have been unemployed mainly because this sector could not get the attention of the governments. “We need to promote our culture through revival of Pakistan film industry by improving the plot of films”, said Firdous Ashiq Awan.

    She heard the problems and issues from all the stakeholders and assured the participants of her full cooperation for revival of the local film industry. Pakistan Film Producers Association Chairman Syed Noor was also present on the occasion and shared his views with the participants. He said that the cinemas should not be closed in Pakistan therefore the import of Indian films shall not stop, however he suggested that there shall be a quota for Indian films.

    The chairman Higher Education Commission was also present in the meeting who told the participants that HEC through the support of various universities and colleges was playing its role in the revival of the film industry.

    The CBFC also unanimously approved to recommend a new and more vibrant rating system for films and their prominent display in all publicity of motion picture/advertisements as proposed by the Chairman CBFC, Dr Raja Mustafa Hyder once the film stands approved by the CBFC.

  58. মাসুদ করিম - ১৮ ডিসেম্বর ২০১২ (৬:২৫ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের জঙ্গিরা তাদের পোলিও টীকাকর্মীদেরও গুলি করে মেরে ফেলছে।

    Karachi polio killings: Vaccination workers shot

    The fifth woman was killed in Peshawar, while a male health worker was killed in Karachi on Monday.

    The victims were reportedly working with a UN-backed programme to eradicate polio, which is endemic in Pakistan.

    No group has said it carried out the shootings, but the Taliban have issued threats against the polio drive.

    Pakistani health officials said the latest three-day nationwide anti-polio drive – during which an estimated 5.2 million polio drops were to be administered – had been suspended in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city with a population of 18m.

    “These were pre-planned and coordinated attacks in various localities which took place within a span of 20 minutes,” Imran Javed, a police spokesman told the BBC of Tuesday’s attacks in Karachi.

    Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has condemned the attacks and praised the work of the polio vaccination teams, calling on regional authorities to guarantee their safety, Pakistan’s APP news agency reported.

    Key polio battleground

    There has been opposition to such immunisation drives in parts of Pakistan, particularly after a fake CIA hepatitis vaccination campaign helped to locate Osama Bin Laden in 2011.

    Militants have kidnapped and killed foreign NGO workers in the past in an attempt to halt the immunisation drives which they say are part of efforts to spy on them.

    Along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is still endemic.

    Pakistan is considered the key battleground in the global fight against the disease, which attacks the nervous system and can cause permanent paralysis within hours of infection.

    Earlier this year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative warned that tackling the disease had entered “emergency mode” after “explosive” outbreaks in countries previously free of polio.

    The World Health Organization said polio was at a tipping point, with experts fearing it could “come back with a vengeance” after large outbreaks in Africa and Tajikistan and China’s first recorded cases for more than a decade.

    Declaring polio a national emergency, the Pakistani government is targeting 33m children for vaccination with some 88,000 health workers delivering vaccination drops.

  59. মাসুদ করিম - ২৩ ডিসেম্বর ২০১২ (১০:৫৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    আবারো রাজনৈতিক সমাবেশে বোমা হামলা, এবার পেশোয়ারে, আওয়ামী ন্যাশনাল পার্টির সমাবেশে, এই হামলায় রাজ্যের এক মন্ত্রী ও তার সচিবসহ নয় জন নিহত ও ১৭ জন আহত হয়েছেন।

    Bashir Bilour assassinated: Secretary, 7 others die in blast

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour and at least eight other people were killed and 17 injured in a suicide bomb explosion in Qissa Khwani Bazaar on Saturday evening.

    The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack on the Awami National Party leader whose outspokenness had made him a lot of enemies among the militants.

    The victims included the minister’s personal secretary, Noor Mohammad Khan, and Abdul Sattar Khan, an SHO who had escorted him from the venue of a corner meeting held in the Dhaki Nalbandi street.

    Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf announced one-day state mourning. The national flag will fly at half mast.

    Federal Railway Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, elder brother of the assassinated minister, made a statement about the death at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

    Peshawar SSP Imran Shahid told Dawn that although stringent security arrangements had been made, the suicide bomber managed to sneak in from an adjacent street.

    Bomb disposal unit officials said there were about six kilograms of explosives in the suicide vest and the attacker’s head and a foot had been found.

    Doctors at the LRH said condition of five of the injured was critical because of head injuries.

    The minister suffered pellet injuries on his chest and abdomen.

    Dr Arshad Javed, the hospital’s chief executive officer, told reporters that Mr Bilour was in extreme shock when he was brought in and his blood pressure was very low.
    “We immediately put him on ventilator and tried for over an hour to save his life. However, the injuries on his abdomen, chest and lower parts of the body turned out to fatal.”

    An ANP worker, Imran Khan, recalled his horror: “As the corner meeting ended, the provincial minister came out of the venue, while his elder brother Ghulam Ahmed Bilour remained busy meeting party activists. All of a sudden the massive blast took place.”

    He said the attack had taken place in a commercial-cum-residential area where the meeting had been arranged to welcome some elders who had joined the ANP. The ministers had assured them that their problems would be solved.

    A daily wager, Ikram, who was desperately searching for his missing son, Fayaz Khan, at the scene of the tragedy said he was busy in his routine work when a loud bang shook the place

    Another witness, Jafar Khan, said he too had attended the ANP meeting, but was standing at the corner of the street when the attack took place. He said the injured included some shopkeepers and workers of a nearby tea stall.

    Mian Pervez, Abdul Mateen, Mohammadul Haq, Bakhtawar and an unknown elderly man were among the dead.

    The explosion destroyed dozens of shops, houses, cars and motorcycles of belonging to shopkeepers and shoppers.

    TTP CLAIM: The banned TTP’s spokesman for Dara Adamkhel and Khyber Agency, Mohammad Afridi, told Dawn by phone a suicide bomber belonging to his group had attacked the minister, our correspondent in Ladha adds.

    He said the TTP had set up a new ‘revenge wing’ that had carried out the attack. Afridi warned that leaders of the ANP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were the prime targets of his group.

    AFP adds: Another TTP spokesman said that the attack had been carried out to avenge the killing of an `elder’ of militants, Sheikh Naseeb Khan.

    Police said around 100 people had gathered at the place when the bomber detonated his suicide vest.

    “The bomber reached very close to the senior minister,” Asif Iqbal, a police official, said.

    He said there were several ANP workers among the victims and four policemen were injured.

    According to the authorities, about 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks in the United States and the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

  60. মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ জানুয়ারি ২০১৩ (৬:৪৮ অপরাহ্ণ)

    SC orders arrest of PM Ashraf in RPP case

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the authorities to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, television reports said.

    The apex court ordered the prime minister’s arrest during a hearing of the rental power projects case.

    The bench ordered the arrest of 16 persons, including the premier, and directed the authorities to present Prime Minister Ashraf in court tomorrow.

    “The chief justice ordered that all concerned, regardless of their rank, who have been booked in the case be arrested and if someone leaves the country, then chairman of National Accountability Bureau will be held responsible along with his investigating team,” lawyer Aamir Abbas told AFP.

    “The sixteen include Raja Ashraf,” said Abbas, referring to the prime minister.

    The prime minister’s adviser, Fawad Chaudhry, condemned the court’s order, calling it unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported.

    The bench directed the authorities to arrest the 16 accused and present a report on the matter on Wednesday.

    The hearing was later adjourned to Jan 17.

    The prime minister has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in the RPPs case as minister for water and power.

    In the case, nine RPPs firms were accused of receiving more than Rs22 billion as a mobilisation advance from the government to commission the projects but most of them did not set up their plants and a few of them installed them but with inordinate delay.

    In March 2012, the Supreme Court had held the RPP contracts non-transparent and ordered that these be rescinded.

    The court had also ordered National Accountability Bureau chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari to proceed with corruption references against those who were at the helm of affairs when the contracts were signed between 2006 and 2008 to overcome the energy shortfall through RPPs as a stopgap arrangement.

    The unlucky ones who were expected to face criminal charges at the time of the apex court’s ruling included Liaquat Jatoi, Raja Pervez Ashraf as well as Naveed Qamar and Waqar Masood. During their tenures, down payment to different RPPs was increased from seven to 14 per cent.

    • মাসুদ করিম - ২৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (১:১২ অপরাহ্ণ)

      মুশাররফ ফিরছেন আজ পাকিস্তানে।

      musharraf-ap-670

      Musharraf to reach Pakistan today

      He had earlier reached Dubai airport accompanied by his wife Mrs Sehba Musharraf, who had arrived at the airport to see off the former president.

      Talking to media persons before embarking on his flight Musharraf said that the was aware of the fact that the NOC, granted for his rally scheduled to be held in Karachi today, was cancelled and added that cancellation of the NOC was acceptable only in case of security reasons.

      He further said that he was aware of the latest threat issued by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a video released a day earlier.

      At the press conference held earlier on Saturday, flanked by office-bearers of his party, the APML chief disclosed that he had been advised by the Saudi authorities not to return to Pakistan due to security concerns.

      An entire Emirates flight was booked for Karachi, which will leave Dubai at 10.40am (PST) and reach Karachi at 12.40pm.

      The foreign media at large has disregarded the even of Musharraf’s return to Pakistann. A number of Pakistani journalists will be accompanying the former president on his homecoming wheras the foreign media will be represented only by the BBC.

      In contrast, many foreign journalists had accompanied former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on her journey from Dubai to Karachi that ended her exile.

      Pervez Musharraf came into power in a bloodless coup as army chief of staff in 1999.

      Following the elections in Feb 2008, he left the country after stepping down in August 2008, when Asif Ali Zardari was elected president after the murder of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

  61. মাসুদ করিম - ২৪ মার্চ ২০১৩ (৬:০২ অপরাহ্ণ)

    ECP selects Mir Hazar Khan Khoso as caretaker PM

    The name for justice (retd) Khoso was finalised after four memeber of the ECP voted in favour of him whereas only one member had voted against him, Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim told media personnel.

    The ECP came to the decision on the second day of deliberations between its members after the parliamentary committee formed over the issue failed to reach a consensus.

    Sources had said that after the ECP’s first day of meeting , Justice Ebrahim and Justice Rahman found the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s second nominee, retired Justice Mir Hazar Khoso, as the most suitable candidate, whereas Justice Kiani and Justice Khan wanted the office to go to the PML-N’s first nominee, retired Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid.

    The PPP had forwarded the names of Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and former State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat Hussain whereas the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) had put forward the names of Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Rasool Baksh Palijo., after consultations with the government and opposition parties respectively.

    Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso was born on 30th September, 1929 in Village Azam Khan , District Jaffarabad , Balochistan and graduated from University of Sindh in 1954 and passed LLB in 1956 from University of Karachi.

    He joined the legal profession in 1957 and enrolled as Advocate of High Court of West Pakistan Karachi Bench in 1959 and Advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1980.

    He was elevated as Additional Judge of Balochistan High Court on 20th June 1977 to June 1979 and again elevated as Additional Judge on 31st March 1985.

    He was appointed as Permanent Judge of the Balochistan High Court on 31st March 1987 and appointed as Chief Justice of Balcohistan High Court on 13th December 1989.

    He also remained Acting Governor Balochistan from 25th June 1990 to 12th July 1990 and from 13th March, 1991 to 13th July, 1991.

    Justice Mir Hazar Khan Khoso retired as Chief Justice High Court of Balochistan on 29th September, 1991.

    He was appointed Judge of Federal Shariat Court on October 18 1991 and elevated as Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court on 17th November, 1992 and held his office upto July 8, 1994.

  62. মাসুদ করিম - ১০ এপ্রিল ২০১৩ (৫:০২ অপরাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানি জঙ্গিদের মধ্যে সেই সমৃদ্ধিশালী পাঞ্জাবিরাই বেশি, সাধারণত মনে করা হত হতদরিদ্র প্রদেশগুলোর নিঃগৃহীত জনজাতিরাই তালেবানের সহজ রিক্রুট — ভুল, শহরের মধ্যবিত্ত উচ্চবিত্তের শিক্ষিত ছেলেদের দ্বারাই পাকিস্তানের ‘পবিত্র’ প্রক্সি সেনাবাহিনী অধ্যূষিত। কাজেই শুধুই দরিদ্র জনজাতি মাদ্রাসা এতিম সমীকরণে আবদ্ধ হয়ে থাকলে ভুল হবে। আয়েশা সিদ্দিকা তো এটাকে “social pop culture” বলে অভিহিত করেছেন। কাজেই ভাবনার পরিসর আরো বাড়াতে হবে, দারিদ্র দূরীকরণের কার্যক্রমের পাশাপাশি ‘বিশ্বাস’ নিয়ে আমাদের মধ্যবিত্তের উচ্চবিত্তের বাড়াবাড়িকেও নিয়ন্ত্রণ করতে হবে। ১৯৮৯ থেকে ২০০৮ পর্যন্ত নিহত ৯০০ লস্কর-ই-তৈবার কর্মীদের জীবনী বিশ্লেষণ করে পরিচালিত অনুসন্ধানের ফলাফল এমনই সিদ্ধান্ত দিচ্ছে যে, পাকিস্তানের শিক্ষিত তরুণেরাই বিপদজনক জঙ্গিত্বে আকর্ষিত হয়েছে সবচেয়ে বেশি।

  63. মাসুদ করিম - ৮ মে ২০১৩ (৪:০২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    আর দুদিন পরে ১১ মে পাকিস্তানের সাধারণ নির্বাচন। এই নির্বাচনকে ঘিরে প্রায় চার মাস ধরে চলছে ভয়ানক প্রাক-নির্বাচনী সন্ত্রাসী হানা। টাইমলাইন সর্বশেষ সর্বনিম্নে এভাবে সন্নিবেশিত।

    A timeline of pre-poll violence

    December 10, 2012: A bomb explodes at a gathering of the secular Awami National Party (ANP) in Charsadda, injuring seven people. The bomb contained 500 grams of explosives detonated by a remote controlled device.

    Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) assumes responsibility for the blast and threatens to launch attacks directed at the secular parties of Pakistan, namely, ANP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and later, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

    December 22, 2012: Twelve days later, a suicide attack on a meeting of the ANP killed Bashir Bilour, a senior ANP leader and former provincial minister and eight others in Peshawar. TTP assumed responsibility for the attack, adding that the attack on Bilour was a revenge for the previous “martyrdom” of TTP’s senior leader Sheikh Naseeb Khan.

    January 1, 2013: On the first day of the new year, an explosion ripped through a bus that was carrying participants to a MQM rally in Karachi’s Ayesha Manzil area. Four people were killed and at least 40 others injured in the bomb blast.

    TTP claimed responsibility for the blast and its spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the blast was meant to target MQM, adding that more attacks would follow. He also warned the public from attending any MQM rallies, according to the Express Tribune.

    January 12, 2013: ANP leader Bashir Khan Umarzai was targeted in a blast that took place in his hometown of Charsadda in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and was injured amongst the 15 injured.

    However, the motive for the attack was considered to be apolitical by the police as they said that Taliban’s affiliates in the neighbouring Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) were also involved in taking money for attacking people’s rivals.

    Therefore, the KP police concluded that the attack’s motive was linked to a blood feud between the influential families of Charsadda.

    The police came to this conclusion despite the similarities between the attack on Umarzai and other attacks that killed senior ANP leaders like Bashir Bilour and other party workers.

    February 3, 2013: Speaking to media in a video from an undisclosed location, the TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan cited TTP’s reasons for targeting the MQM, who were being targeted in order “to bring [the party] to justice and support the innocent people” because the MQM engaged in “open acts of terrorism [by] killing […] innocent people and religious scholars”, as well as the atrocious acts of extorting money from traders and killing them too.

    The TTP spokesperson further said that MQM were targeted previously and similar attacks shall continue to be launched against them.

    February 15, 2013: Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and ANP leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti escaped unhurt in a suicide attack targeted at his convoy as it passed outside the Abdul Wali KhanUniversity in Mardan.

    March 12, 2013: A gas explosion occurred outside the home of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister and ANP senior leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain in the town of Pabbi in the KP province. Six people, including three children were injured in the blast. However, the possibility that it may be a terrorist attack was ruled out.

    March 14, 2013: Election candidates in KP began expressing worries about their safety due to the threat of attacks that would disrupt the electioneering in the province.

    March 23, 2013: TTP threatened to assassinate former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf when he returned to Pakistan to contest in the elections. A month after the TTP threatened to assassinate Musharraf, an explosives-laden car was found outside his Chak Shehzad home.

    March 25, 2013: Election candidates in Bara call for the May 11 polls to be postponed in the NA-46 constituency because of the threats received from a militant group and the lack of a foolproof security plan for the candidates to carry out their campaigning.

    March 31, 2013: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for a blast in the Jani Khel area of KP’s Bannu district. Two people were killed and eight others injured. The blast was directed at the convoy of Malik Adnan Wazir, a former provincial assembly member and belonged to ANP.

    April 2, 2013: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) called off a large-scale public rally meant to launch its election campaign for the 2013 elections amid security threats and instead held small-scale events.

    April 4, 2013: District office of Election Commission of Pakistan was attacked in the Kharan district of Balochistan by unknown militants. One policeman was injured in the attack.

    April 9, 2013: Federal caretaker interior minister Malik Mohammad Habib Khan reassures that the caretaker governments at the centre and in provinces were going to cooperate with the ECP in making detailed security arrangements for ensuring free and fair election on May 11.

    April 10, 2013: Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim appealed to the chiefs of different political parties to help the ECP keep order in the run-up to the May 11 elections and prevent any attempts to sabotage the electoral process in any manner whatsoever.

    April 11, 2013: TTP assassinates a MQM candidate for the Sindh assembly’s PS-47 seat in Hyderabad, Sindh. Fakhrul Islam, 46, was sprayed with bullets and sustained fatal injuries to his head and abdomen and died on spot.

    On the same day, the former agriculture minister of KP province, Arbab Ayub Jan escaped a remote-controlled bomb attack in Peshawar. He was returning from an election rally when his car was targeted near the Tarnab farms, injuring his driver in the process.

    April 14, 2013: A local ANP leader, Mukaram Shah, was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack that occurred in Swat’s Manglawar area, while another ANP candidate Syed Masoom Shah was injured in a bomb blast that occurred near the venue of a party rally in Charsadda.

    April 15, 2013: ANP leader Senator Zahid Khan warned that his party would register an FIR against the ECP if any of its leaders were hurt due to the lack of security. The party has complained of deficient security many times since the election campaigns began, as well as criticised other political parties and the media for not criticising the attacks on the political parties of the previous coalition government.

    On the same day, the interior ministry announced stricter security measures for protecting the lives of members and candidates of political parties, especially ANP, MQM and PPP.

    April 16, 2013: PPP candidate for NA-1, Zulfiqar Afghani’s house was attacked by unidentified militants who threw a hand grenade at the premises. Everybody in his house remained safe as the grenade exploded on the roof of the house. No damage to life or property was reported.

    Separately, a bomb blast occurred at ANP’s rally in Peshawar’s Yakatoot area where 16 people, including two children, a journalist and six police officials were killed while dozens others, also including children and women were injured. The blast was reported to have occurred just after senior ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour arrived.

    In a separate incident, a bomb blast targeted the convoy of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) provincial chief of Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri in the Khuzdar district. At least four people were killed in the blast, including Zehri’s son, brother, nephew and a guard. At least 25 other people were injured in the blast.

    April 18, 2013: A bomb was discovered near the Mardan Press Club in KP’s Mardan town. An office of the ANP was also situated in the vicinity and possible target for the bomb attack.

    PTI chief Imran Khan’s house in Islamabad was attacked by “miscreants” who mistreated his brother-in-law and other family members. Islamabad police was criticised for not responding to repeated calls by the family. PTI official Shireen Mazari demanded that the interior minister to tender his resignation immediately as he had failed to provide adequate security to Khan.

    On the same day in Peshawar, at least two explosions and gunfire was heard in the vicinity of the office of a political agent on Bara Road. At least five people were killed and seven others were injured in the incident.

    April 21, 2013: A hand grenade was thrown at the residence of Muhammad Hashim Baloch, an election commission officer in Kharan, Balochistan. The attack injured his daughter and damaged the windows of his residence.

    On the same day, the election camps of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in Karachiwere set on fire.

    April 22, 2013: In Turbat, Balochistan, the house of National Party (NP) chief Dr Malik Baloch was attacked, whereas two ANP activists were killed when unknown gunmen fired upon the party’s election rally in the Pishin district. The attacks were claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army.

    April 23, 2013: At least six people were killed and another 45 injured in an explosion in Quetta’s Nichari road area. The election office of a PML-N candidate was also situated in the same area. The banned militant outfit, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the blast.

    On the same day, MQM chief Altaf Hussain ordered a temporary shutdown of MQM’s election offices following the attacks on the party workers and supporters.

    April 24, 2013: Eight separate bomb blasts rocked Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan. The cities of Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan respectively claimed at least 11 lives and left up to 75 people injured.

    April 25, 2013: TTP was reported to be distributing pamphlets in Buner, Peshawar and different areas of Karachi as a warning to the citizens to not participate in the upcoming May 11 polls. The pamphlets warned the voters that they would be entirely responsible for their lives should they choose to participate in the election.

    April 26, 2013: Protestors staged a sit-in protest on the ICI bridge and Mauripur Road in order to protest against the killings of “innocent” PPP workers in a shootout that took place in Lyari on Tuesday night.

    On the same day, MQM chief Altaf Hussain alleged that the recent wave of attacks on ANP, MQM and PPP were a part of a plot to bring the right-wing parties into power in the May 11 polls.

    A bomb blast occurred at a corner meeting of the ANP near the Mominabad Police Station in Karachi’s SITE area. The attack killed at least 10 people, including a child and more than 40 people sustained injuries. The attack was claimed by the TTP.

    The Rangers arrested four activists of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) in Hyderabad’s Qasimabad area, as well as fired upon a crowd that had gathered there in order to disperse it.

    April 27, 2013: A bomb-and-rocket attack hit the rally of Muhammad Hashim Shahwani, a candidate of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) held in Machh. Six people were injured in the attack and two vehicles were damaged.

    Separately, grenade attacks were launched on the election office of the National Party (NP) and the house of Azim Buledi in Kech, a provincial assembly candidate of the same party.

    In Karachi, two separate blasts occurred near an election office of the MQM in OrangiTown’s Qasba Colony. The blasts killed at least two people and injured 25 others, including two children.

    The blasts at MQM’s election office were followed by another bomb blast targeting an election meeting of ANP’s candidate Bashir Jan in OrangiTown, killing at least 11 and injuring over 50 people. TTP claimed responsibility for this attack.

    ANP’s former Balochistan MPA Sultan Tareen was kidnapped on March 5 in the Pishin district. He was released a month later after ransom was paid.

    April 28, 2013: A corner meeting of the PPP candidate for PS-111, Adnan Baloch was attacked, killing at least three people, including a woman and injuring about 20 others in Karachi’s Lyari area. Adnan Baloch was also injured in the attack.

    On the same day, TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that TTP was only targeting those secular parties who were a part of the previous government and thus, responsible for the military operations against the Taliban and other militant outfits in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

    Early in the morning on April 28, a group of paramilitary Rangers raided a PPP election office in Karachi’s Lyari area, as well as encircled and searched the houses of Uzair Jan Baloch, head of the Karachi City Alliance (KCA).

    A bomb blast took place in Swabi, killing a child and injuring 13 others, when people attending a corner meeting of the ANP provincial assembly candidate Amir Rehman were returning from the meeting.

    April 29, 2013: Election offices of three candidates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohat, and Peshawar were attacked with bombs, killing at least nine and leaving 56 injured. According to a foreign news agency, TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the attacks on behalf of the TTP.

    In a separate incident, a convoy of an election candidate of the ANP was also targeted in Swabi with a remote-controlled bomb, killing a teenager and injuring 13 other people. This attack was also attributed to the Taliban.

    Another bomb blast occurred outside the office of an independent candidate, Nasir Khan Afridi in Maqsoodabad near Charsadda. The explosion killed three people and injured 20 people, including children.

    A motorcycle laden with explosives was recovered from Karachi’s Landhi area by the local police, as well as a Suzuki Hi-roof vehicle packed with explosives and other weapons in Karachi’s Islamia Colony. It was suspected that the former was to be used to target an election rally in the city.

    In a rare show of support, ANP, MQM and PPP came together and vowed to remain “fight terror” and remain brave in the face of attacks on their election candidates and offices by the TTP in the run-up to the May 11 polls.

    April 30, 2013: An independent election candidate, Abdul Fateh Magsi and three other were killed in Balochistan’s Jhal Magsi area by unknown attackers, leading to the postponement of general election in the PB-32 constituency by ECP.

    In a separate incident, two MQM workers were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Hyderabad’s Latifabad area.

    May 1, 2013: A convoy of National People’s Party (NPP) candidate Dr Ibrahim Jatoi was hit by a bomb blast near the Shikarpur toll plaza in Sindh. The attack injured at least two people while Jatoi escaped unhurt.

    Three people were reportedly injured in a separate explosion in Balochistan’s Dera Murad Jamali area.

    In Peshawar, the bomb disposal squad thwarted two bids to sabotage the election campaigns of candidates of the ANP and the PML-N, contesting for the provincial assembly seats. The first explosive device was defused in Mathra where it was meant to target PK-8 candidate for ANP’s Arbab Nazir. The second one was defused near the house of the PML-N candidate for PK-7, Syed Abbas Ali Shah alias Mouzam Bacha in the Bacha Ghari area of Pir Bala on Warsak Road.

    The ECP also finalised a security plan for the polling day next week in the wake of the targeted attacks on political parties and their candidates and workers. According to the plan, squads of 20 to 30 army personnel would be utilised as units of quick response forces on May 11.

    A hand-held bomb was hurled at an election office of the PML-N candidate Haji Lashkari Raisani situated in Quetta’s Arbab Ghulam Ali road area by unknown armed men. Four party activists were injured in the incident.

    May 2, 2013: Unknown bombers blew up two schools designated as polling stations in the upcoming May 11 polls in the Chattar village in Balochistan’s Naseerabad district. A boys’ primary school and a middle school were targeted in the blast. The incident has been confirmed by the police but no one had claimed responsibility for the attack.

    May 3. 2013: TTP gunned down the ANP candidate for NA-254, Sadiq Zaman Khattak and his four-year-old son in Korangi’s Bilal Colony area in Karachi. Khattak was the general secretary of the party in District East of Karachi.

    May 4, 2013: A time bomb exploded outside the election office of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) near Peshawar’s Panchgai road. PTI’s election office and nearby shops were damaged in the blast.

    In a separate incident, a bomb blast occurred near the convoy of a Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) candidate Raj Mohammad for the NA-39 constituency in the Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He survived the blast uninjured.

    May 5, 2013: Violence broke out between rival political parties in Karachi’s Landhi area just before the May 11 polls. The violence claimed one life and left four other people injured, according to both police and party sources.

    Three people were killed and at least 40 were injured in a bomb blast targeting an MQM election office in Karachi’s Azizabad area on Saturday night. That election office was situated near MQM’s headquarters, Nine-Zero.

    May 6, 2013: A bomb blast occurs in Charsadda’s Shabqadar Mirzai area targeting a PPP election office, completely destroying the office premises and wounding a man, according to sources.

    Separately, a worker of the Pakistan Muslim League – Functional (PML-F) was gunned down and three others injured in an armed attack on an office of the party in Karachi’s Ayub Goth area, according to the party and police sources.

    May 7, 2013: ECP announces an increase in security arrangements at polling stations for the May 11 polls. According to the revised plan, most sensitive polling stations shall have ten personnel instead of nine, while nine of them would be deployed at less sensitive polling stations instead of the original eight.

    Furthermore, non-sensitive polling stations would have five security personnel stationed there instead of four as previously specified. He added that the army would remain on stand-by as a quick response force.

    An explosion targeting the rally of a JUI-F candidate, Mufti Syed Janan in KP province’s Hangu district killed ten people and wounded 22 other people. Janan and his two bodyguards were also injured but he was reported to be out of danger. After the attack, a curfew was imposed in the Hangu district, where the bomb blast took place in Doaba town.

    In a separate incident, another bomb blast targeted a PPP rally in the Baba Gam village of Lower Dir. The explosion killed three people and wounded five. It was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), which exploded near the vehicle of the brother of Muhammad Zamin Khan, a PPP candidate from the PK-96 candidate from Lower Dir.

  64. মাসুদ করিম - ৮ মে ২০১৩ (১১:৫৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    তেমন গুরুত্বপূর্ণ কিছু নেই, তারপরও নোয়াম চমস্কির সাক্ষাৎকার বলে কথা, তাও আবার পাকিস্তানের আসন্ন নির্বাচন নিয়ে। আমি ছাড়া ছাড়া পড়ে গেছি, আপনি কিভাবে পড়বেন — আপনার ব্যাপার। আরো পড়ুন।

  65. মাসুদ করিম - ৮ মে ২০১৩ (১১:৫৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    পাকিস্তানের নির্বাচনী প্রচারকে জঙ্গি হানার লক্ষ্য করে রক্তবন্যা বইয়ে দিচ্ছে তেহরিক-ই-তালেবান ও অন্যান্য চরমপন্থী ইসলামবাদী সন্ত্রাসীরা। মূলত হামলা হচ্ছে পাকিস্তান পিপলস পার্টি, আওয়ামী ন্যাশনাল পার্টি ও মুত্তাহিদা কওমি মুভমেন্ট এই তিন দলের নির্বাচনী সমাবেশে। কিন্তু এতকিছুর পরও এই রাজনৈতিক দলগুলো একদিনের জন্যও তাদের নির্বাচনী প্রচারণা বন্ধ করছে না। পাকিস্তানের গণতান্ত্রিক এই দলগুলোর সাহসী অগ্রযাত্রা তাদেরকে কী ফল এনে দেবে ১১ মে’র নির্বাচনে? অনেকে যদিও আশা করছেন তালেবানদের সহযোগিতা পেয়ে নওয়াজ শরিফের মুসলিম লীগ ও ইমরান খানের তেহরিক-ই-ইনসাফ ভাল ফল করবে — কিন্তু অনেকে মনে করছে নানা প্রতিকূলতার মধ্যে প্রচার চালিয়ে যাওয়া পাকিস্তান পিপলস পার্টি, আওয়ামী ন্যাশনাল পার্টি ও মুত্তাহিদা কওমি মুভমেন্টই ভাল ফল করবে। ব্যক্তিগতভাবে আমারও মনে হচ্ছে ওই তিনটি দলই ভাল ফল করবে। আরো পড়ুন।

    • মাসুদ করিম - ১৩ মে ২০১৩ (১০:২৩ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

      না, তেহরিক-ই-তালেবানের বাধায় কাজ হয়েছে এবং তার চেয়েও বড় কথা পাঞ্জাবের ভোটাররা নওয়াজ শরিফের বিদ্যুৎ উৎপাদনের প্রতিশ্রুতিতে বিশ্বাস করেছে এবং অকাতরে ভোট দিয়েছে। পাকিস্তানের সরাসরি ভোটের ২৭২ সংসদীয় আসনের ১৪৮ আসনই পাঞ্জাবে, আর এখানেই এখনো পর্যন্ত ১১০ আসনে জয়ী হয়েছে নওয়াজ শরিফের দল, আর এর উপর ভর করেই একক ভাবে সরকার গঠনের প্রয়োজনীয় ১৩৭ আসনের খুব কাছাকাছি পৌঁছে যাবে পাকিস্তান মুসলিম লীগ(নেওয়াজ)। কাজেই বিশেষজ্ঞদের নির্বাচনের ফলে ঝুলন্ত সংসদ হবে এবার পাকিস্তানে এই বিশ্লেষণ সম্পূর্ণই মার খেয়েছে। আরো পড়ুন।

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