Bol Ke Lab Azad Hain Tere – 2011
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Bol ke lab azad hain tere, share news and your views about anything and all things.
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HuffPo: Paid News, Treaties and the Indian Media: The Cause Is the Corporation
BY: Marie-Lou Fernandes
Former Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mumbai City
BTW Geo is partnered with TOI for aman ki aasha
I honestly can’t understand this Amanda ki ash thing! Btw I hear geo is one of the main targets of US advertorials ( second hand info.)
There is some truth to PPP accusation against Geo specialy on tax issues. Beside professional jelousy the other news media i.e kashif and talat beeen avoiding Hamid Mir n Geo for a long time now.
PM Visits 90.
I can tell the future now!
lemme take a stab
1 – Zppp, mqm ANp JUI-F alliance with PML – factions
2 – PML – N (plus 2/3 of q league) JI, nationalistic parties and may be loose seat to seat alliance with PTI.
No! MQM gives another deadline. It will happen soon enough.
Naseer Baber passed away. He was the main architect of benazir bhuttos policy of supporting Taliban’s meteoric rise to power in Afghanistan.
and don’t 4get Operation Cleanup
AAJ TV: Justice Wajih announces to join PTI
Former Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed on Monday announced to join Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
Talking to media Former Justice said that he has several proposals but he decided to join PTI because it has an inspiring manifesto.
He said that he is not willing to hold any position in the party but to serve for the country.
Chairman of PAT Imran Khan said that the time will prove that Justice Wajih’s decision was correct.
Aaj Tv: Khosa appointed as Governor Punjab
President Asif Zardari on Tuesday signed the summary for appointment of Sardar Latif Khosa as Governor Punjab.
According to Presidential spokes-man Farahat-ullah Babar that President Zardari appointed Sardar Latif Khosa as Governor Punjab on the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Latif Khosa belongs to Derra Ghazi Khan. He is considered to be very close to President Zardari and has served as Attorney General for Pakistan and Prime Minster’s advisor on IT during the current PPP government.
Geo: Justice Javed’s parents killed in Lahore
LAHORE: Parents of Justice Javed Iqbal of Supreme Court (SC) have been murdered as they seemed to have resisted a robbery attempt here, Geo News reported Tuesday.
According to police sources, some armed people tried a dacoity at the residence of Justice Javed Iqbal in Cavalry Ground, when his parents resisted their attempt and were killed by the robbers.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) said Justice Javed’s father, Former DIG Abdul Hameed, was killed while he resisted robbers’ attempt to burgle the house.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani voiced grief over the sad incident and directed to submit an inquiry report in this regard within two days.
Police in large number cordoned the site.
Meanwhile, Justice Javed Iqbal left for his residence. Pak Air Force has provided Justice Javed with a plane to fly him to Lahore.
Talking to media, Designate Punjab Governor said Justice Javed’s parents were muffled to death with pillow forced on their faces.
Police also said that Justice Iqbal’s parents were suffocated to death.
Earlier, Punjab’s designate Governor Sardar Latif Khosa, Federal Law Minister Babar Awan and Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry along with all the judges arrived at Justice Javed’s residence. (Last updated at 2320)
European mercenaries fighting in Tunisia against security forces
What happened with Nabeel Gabool. According to an “Angel” in summary this is what happened.
and another topi drama ended with mutual satisfaction :p
http://www.dailypak.com/index.php?pag=detail&id=19885
21 جنوری 2011 43 : 22
اسلام آباد (مانیٹرنگ ڈیسک)پیپلز پارٹی کے رہنماءنبیل گبول نے وزیر اعظم یوسف رضا گیلانی سے طویل ملاقات کے بعد اپنا استعفیٰ واپس لے لیا ہے۔وزیر اعظم ہاﺅس اسلام آباد میں دونوں رہنماﺅں کے درمیان ہونے والے طویل ملاقات میں وزیر اعظم گیلانی نے نبیل گبول کو یقین دلایا کہ ان کے تحفظات دور کئے جائیں گے جس کے بعد نبیل گبول نے اپنا استعفیٰ واپس لے لیا۔ملاقات کے دوران وزیر اعطم نے اے این پی کے سربراہ اسفند یار ولی خان کو بھی فون کیا اور نبیل گبول اور اے این پی کے درمیان مفاہمت کرائی۔ نبیل گبول نے اسفند یار ولی خان سے فون پر اپنے بیان پر معذرت کرلی
yeh Karachi ki hawa mayn khuch haiy about resignations!!!
Voh dekho ullo bola — LOL MQM such sore losers now they are zardari’s bitch stay there thats wat u deserve.
Geo: MQM for military control on Punjab
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Sunday urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motto notice of what it called increasing number of serious crimes in Punjab and also proposed Army’s control on the province.
According to a statement issued by MQM Coordination Committee here, the Punjab has witnessed 109 percent rise in crime rate compared to the last year.
“The incidents of terrorism, killings and kidnapping for ransom are at their peak in Punjab where life and property of the people is no longer secure,” the statement said, proposing handing over of the province to the Army ‘to control the situation made worse by lawlessness, bad governance and rampant crimes’.
OR JUST ASK MQM TO TAKE OVER! People will welcome them, I am sure!!! Especially the one and only Revolutionary Altaf Bahiya!
Alternative people might charter a plane and land at Edgware Road for peer sahib key darshan!
Geo: SC orders to arrest DG FIA
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered to arrest the Director General Federal Investigation Agency, Geo News reported. The order to arrest DG FIA Wasim Ahmed came during hearing into NICL scam.
A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, was hearing a suo motu case against the alleged corruption of over Rs5 billion in the NICL affairs.
The order was issued on the statement of an FIA official that the DG FIA was protecting an accused, Amin Qaim Dada. The official told the court that they could not arrest Amin Dada because when they raided, Wasim Ahmed was with him.
The apex court was informed on Monday that an arrested accused of Rs5 billion corruption scam in the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) had told the investigators that he had given Rs220 million to Moonis Elahi, the son of former Punjab chief minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi, from the plundered money.
Appearing on notice, Deputy Director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Zafar Qureshi, told the court that Muhammad Malick, an arrested accused of the NICL scam, had admitted that he had given Rs220 million from the plundered amount to Moonis Elahi. He said the accused was the Manager of Al-Tahoor International, a company owned by Moonis Elahi.
Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman told the court that Zafar Iqbal Qureshi has been assigned to investigate the scam. The chief justice had expressed annoyance over the transfer of Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, who has been supervising the NICL scam since the last year, but has now been posted at the Police Foundation, Islamabad.
Geo: American kills three in Lahore
LAHORE: Three people were killed when a foreigner, David, reportedly a US Consulate employee, opened firing and hit a motorcycle while escaping from the scene at Mazang Chock, Geo News reported.
According to details, accused David opened fire at people ridding on motorcycle. Resulting, both were critically injured and succumbed to injuries in Services Hospital.
Another motorcyclist was also injured when David while escaping hit him with his car. The injured has succumbed to his wounds in the said hospital.
Meanwhile, police have apprehended the accused and shifted him to Old Anarkali police station. Police have also recovered arms from his possession.
The accused has confessed of the crime, saying he opened fire in self-defense.
ORGANIZE AGAINST BLACKWATER KILLING IN LAHORE
There we go:
Geo: US calls for immediate release of Davis
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Saturday called for the immediate release of a US citizen Raymond Davis, allegedly involved in killing of two local citizens in Lahore, it said was unlawfully detained by authorities, US embassy in Islamabad said.
“When detained, the US diplomat identified himself to police as a diplomat and repeatedly requested immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” it said in a statement.
It added, “Local police and senior authorities failed to observe their legal obligation to verify his status with either the US consulate general in Lahore or the US embassy in Islamabad”.
Guardian: Simon Tisdall: Egyptian regime begins to reveal its strategy
After a week spent caught in the headlights, the Egyptian regime is showing signs of regaining its nerve and assembling a strategy to extricate itself from its perilous predicament. Whether the strategy can work is another matter entirely.
The survival plan centres on Omar Suleiman, who is head of intelligence, President Hosni Mubarak’s close confidant, and the newly installed vice-president. Right now Suleiman is the most powerful man in Egypt, backed by the military (from which he hails), the security apparatus and a frightened ruling elite hoping to salvage something from the wreckage.
Suleiman is, in effect, heading a junta of former or acting military officers. Mubarak has been reduced to the role of figurehead, sheltering behind this clique. But they will not sacrifice him if they can avoid it, analysts suggest.
There will be no ignominious flight to Saudi Arabia, like that of Tunisia’s deposed president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Mubarak’s pride won’t allow it; the military’s pride won’t allow it.
They probably now accept that the old man has to go, sooner rather than later. But they seem determined that when his departure comes, it will be dignified, and at a time of their collective choosing. As they see it, the honour of the nation demands no less.
The army’s pledge not to use violence against peaceful protesters was a canny political move with Suleiman’s fingerprints all over it. If the armed forces stick to that vow, it could help avoid the escalating confrontations with demonstrators that, in other countries, have turned unrest into fully fledged revolution. The renunciation of force will also play well in the White House and the US media. It meets one of the key concerns voiced by Barack Obama.
What the army spokesman meant when he said the military recognised the “legitimacy” of the protesters’ demands is open to interpretation, no doubt deliberately. It cannot be assumed this meant Suleiman and the army agree that Mubarak must resign. More probably, it was their way of appearing reasonable and open to negotiation.
Part of Suleiman’s plan is immediate talks with the opposition, however defined. Again, this posture will reduce western pressure on the regime.
The opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei threw a spanner in the works today, insisting Mubarak must leave Egypt before any talks could start. “There can be dialogue but it has to come after the demands of the people are met and the first of those is that President Mubarak leaves,” he said. The Muslim Brotherhood took a similar position.
Mubarak’s fate aside, the regime may also be hoping that recent lawlessness and looting will convince people, particularly middle-class Cairenes, that revolution is too risky. Likewise, rising food and fuel prices, shortages, lost earnings, closed businesses, falling exports and reduced tourism caused by the unrest will have a growing impact on working people.
The regime’s strategy appears to be to wait them out, to wear them out, to hope that, in time, the fervour and size of the protests will abate – that they will run out of steam.
On the political front, the regime can count on continuing support from conservative Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia, from Libya, Algeria and others. None has an interest in encouraging revolution. Although Turkey urged Mubarak to “satisfy the people’s desire for change”, its suggestion that the crisis be resolved through the ballot box offered some comfort to the regime. Israel is also pressing European countries to support Mubarak, its main Arab ally.
US support is more problematic as Obama performs an awkward balancing act. But, so far at least, he has not backed calls for Mubarak to go. Instead he has sent a veteran envoy, Frank Wisner, to Cairo to see what can be rescued.
A timetable for fresh parliamentary and presidential elections, possibly this autumn, coinciding with the end of Mubarak’s term in September, under some form of international or independent supervision, may soon be forthcoming – another way for the regime to escape the morass. Mubarak could then hand over power in the normal way (though it would be abnormal for Egypt). His son, Gamal Mubarak, presumably, would play no future part.
Just how honest and open new elections might be, once pressure on the streets has reduced, is questionable. Whether they would usher in a truly new era for Egypt is highly doubtful. At this moment, there remains all to play for. But through history, the fate of revolutions is to be hijacked. Egyptians will hope they don’t get fooled again.
Another NY propaganda piece showing how “messiah” is pro-democracy. The hypocrisy of USA knows no bounds. Why it reminds me the hijacking of judiciary movement and the exit of Mushy.
NYT: Obama Urges Mubarak Not to Run Again
so basically dude we tried lets just now make sure we install another pupper al-baredi and u gtg. Some decomacry a puppet replace another puppet and junta bole wah wah LOL
That is the whole plan behind all those appearances! The f**er is so f***ed up and pathetic SOB
Pakistan cricketers face prosecution
http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan…ry/499519.html
The three Pakistan players at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations that rocked the Lord’s Test against England last August have been charged by the UK Crown Prosecution Service with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat.
Salman Butt, the former Test captain, and seamers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been accused of conspiring in the bowling of deliberate no-balls on last year’s tour of England – claims they all deny. Mazhar Majeed, the players’ agent, has also been charged, with a first hearing scheduled for City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 17.
“We have authorised charges of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and also conspiracy to cheat against Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and Mazhar Majeed,” Simon Clements, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said.
“We have decided that Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and their agent, Mazhar Majeed, should be charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and also conspiracy to cheat. These charges relate to allegations that Mr Majeed accepted money from a third party to arrange for the players to bowl ‘no balls’ on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan’s Fourth Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.”
The CPS confirmed its findings in an announcement shortly after 11 a.m. GMT on Friday, and the trio could be banned for life when an International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal announces the conclusions of its own investigation in Doha on Saturday. A CPS spokesperson said there was no connection between the two timings.
In August 2010, Britain’s News of the World tabloid conducted a newspaper ‘sting operation’ which it said proved the Pakistan trio’s willingness were involved in the deliberate bowling of no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England.
This, the paper said, was evidence of a spot-betting scam where money can be gambled on specific incidents in a match without the need to ‘fix’ the result.
All the Pakistan trio were interviewed by police. So too was Majeed, whom the newspaper alleged accepted £50,000 to set up the deal. Majeed was arrested, and a third fast bowler, Wahab Riaz, was also interviewed under caution.
While the ICC, which heard evidence from Butt, Asif and Amir during a hearing in Doha last month, has to consider whether its rules were broken and what, if any, punishment should follow if they were, the CPS must decide whether the players have a case to answer under English law.
Butt, Asif and Amir are all currently provisionally suspended by the ICC.
Pure bullshit, fuck UK and ICC and ECB
Aaj Tv: Ministers tender resignations; pave way for a new Cabinet
The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday tendered resignations to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to enable him announce a new one, in light of decisions taken by the Central Executive Committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
The resignations came at the last meeting of the Cabinet here at the Prime Minister Secretariat.
Prime Minister Gilani paid rich tributes to the Cabinet members for achieving several successes in different fields. He expressed gratitude to them for their assistance and improving governance in all areas.
Aaj Tv: BB murder case: ATC issues arrest warrant of Musharraf
The Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi issued bailable warrant of former president Pervez Musharraf on Saturday in connection with Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
The special ATC of Rawalpindi heard the case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
During the course of hearing, the court, acting on the statements of Brig (R) Javed Iqbal Cheema and former Intelligence Bureau chief Aijaz Shah, issued the arrest warrant for former president and order him to appear before the court on February 19.
The investigation team has nominated Pervez Musharraf as accused in the BB murder case.
A must read
Guardian: Curveball: How US was duped by Iraqi fantasist looking to topple Saddam
Najam Sethi is a freaking retard. Seriously this guy has lost its mind I will once again stop posting his stupid show. Ppl believe in his analysis LOL. So NS controlling FIA, and Military and foreign ministry while sitting in opposition wow NS is genius LOL
Geo: Minorities’ affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated by unknown gunmen in Islamabad, Geo News reported. Hospital spokesman Dr Azmat ullah Qureshi confirmed that the minister succumbed to the injuries.
He was rushed to the hospital. Unknown assailants shot the minister when he was leaving from his house in Sector I-8.
In broad daylight, unknown assailants sprayed bullets on the car of the minister after he came out of his mother’s home in a residential area of Islamabad, police said.
“Three or four armed men riding in a white car intercepted his official vehicle GV-444,” city police chief Wajid Durrani told reporters.
“The attackers were clad in shawls and fired bursts on him, and he died,” Durrani said. The minister’s driver was wounded.
The police chief insisted that Bhatti had been provided with proper security, but said the minister was not accompanied by his security detail when the attack happened.
“The squad officer told me that the minister had directed him to wait for him at his office. We are investigating the matter from different angles,” Durrani said.
Bhatti was dead on arrival at Islamabad’s Shifa hospital, doctor Azmatullah Qureshi confirmed.
It is a very sad day. I feel ashamed.
World Cheers as the CIA Plunges Libya Into Chaos
By David Rothscum
March 01, 2011 “Information Clearing House” — February 23, 2011 — How was Libya doing under the rule of Gadaffi? How bad did the people have it? Were they oppressed as we now commonly accept as fact? Let us look at the facts for a moment.
Before the chaos erupted, Libya had a lower incarceration rate than the Czech republic . It ranked 61st. Libya had the lowest infant mortality rate of all of Africa. Libya had the highest life expectancy of all of Africa. Less than 5% of the population was undernourished. In response to the rising food prices around the world, the government of Libya abolished ALL taxes on food.
People in Libya were rich. Libya had the highest gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita of all of Africa. The government took care to ensure that everyone in the country shared in the wealth. Libya had the highest Human Development Index of any country on the continent. The wealth was distributed equally. In Libya, a lower percentage of people lived below the poverty line than in the Netherlands.
How does Libya get so rich? The answer is oil. The country has a lot of oil, and does not allow foreign corporations to steal the resources while the population starves, unlike countries like Nigeria , a country that is basically run by Shell.
Like any country, Libya suffers from a government with corrupt bureaucrats that try to gain a bigger portion of the pie at the cost of everyone else. In response to this, Kadaffi called for the oil revenue to be distributed directly to the people, because in his opinion, the government was failing the people. However, unlike the article claims, Kadaffi is not the president of Libya . In fact he holds no official position in the government. This is the big mistake that people make. They claim that Kadaffi rules over Libya when in fact he doesn’t, his position is more or less ceremonial. He should be compared to a founding father.
The true leader of Libya is an indirectly elected prime-minister. The current prime-minister is
Baghdadi Mahmudi. Calling Khadaffi the leader of Libya is comparable to calling Akihito the leader of Japan . Contrary to what your media is sketching, opinions in Libya vary. Some people support Gadaffi but want Mahmudi out. Others want both out. Many just want to live their life in peace. However, effort is taken to sketch the appearance of a popular revolt against the supposed leader of Libya , Gadaffi, when in fact he is just the architect of Libya ‘s current political system, a mixture of pan-Arabism, socialism, and Islamic government.
Videos of Pro-Gaddafi protests are disappearing from Youtube as we speak. “Pro Gaddafi Anti Baghdadi Mahmudi demonstrations in” youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5fLGNg0sk is gone. “Pro Gaddafi protests in front of Libyan embassy London ” youtube.com/watch?v=pRwv0Ac8qbc Is gone. Youtube deletes any video containing gore normally, except when it’s from Libya . Apparently more traumatizing to it’s viewers than chopped up bodies are Libyans who do not jump on the bandwagon and enter the streets to force Gadaffi out.
Are the protesters in Libya comparable to the protesters in Egypt and Tunisia ? Not at all. The governments reaction is more violent, and obviously excessive violence is being used. However let us look for a moment at the actions of the protesters. The building of the the general people’s congress, the parliament of Libya, was put on fire by angry protestors. This is comparable to protesters putting the United States Capitol on fire. Do you think that for even a moment the US government would sit idly by as protesters put the US capitol on fire?
The riots erupting now are not secular youth desiring change, or anything like we saw in Egypt and Tunisia . A group calling itself “Islamic Emirate of Barka”, the former name of the North-Western part of Libya, has taken numerous hostages, and killed two policemen. This is not a recent development. On Friday, the 18th of February, the group stole 70 military vehicles after attacking a port and killing four soldiers. Unfortunately, a military colonel has joined the group and provided them with further weapons. The uprising started in the eastern city of Benghazi . The Italian foreign minister has raised his fears of an Islamic Emirate of Benghazi declaring itself independent.
So where does this sudden uprising come from? The answer is that the same groups the US has been funding for decades are now taking their chance to gain control over the nation. A group recently arrested in Libya consisted of dozens of foreign nationals that were involved in numerous acts of looting and sabotage. The Libyan government could not rule out links to Israel .
Great Britain funded an Al Qaeda cell in Libya, in an attempt to assassinate Gadaffi. The main opposition group in Libya now is the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. This opposition group is being funded by Saudi Arabia, the CIA, and French Intelligence. This group unified itself with other opposition groups, to become the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition. It was this organization that called for the “Day of Rage” that plunged Libya into chaos on February 17 of this year.
It did this in Benghazi , a conservative city that has always been opposed to Gadaffi’s rule. It should be noted that the National Front for the Salvation of Libya is well armed. In 1996 the group tried to unleash a revolution in the eastern part of Libya before. It used the Libyan National Army, the armed division of the NFSL to begin this failed uprising.
Why is the United States so opposed to Gadaffi? He is the main threat to US hegemony in Africa, because he attempts to unite the continent against the United States . This concept is called the United States of Africa. In fact, Gadaffi holds all sorts of ideas that are contrary to US interests. The man blames the United States government for the creation of HIV. He claims that Israel is behind the assasination of Martin Luther King and president John. F. Kennedy. He says that the 9/11 hijackers were trained in the US. He also urged Libyans to donate blood to Americans after 9/11. Khadaffi is also the last of a generation of moderate socialist pan-Arab revolutionaries that is still in power, after Nasser and Hussein have been eliminated, and Syria has aligned itself with Iran .
The United States and Israel however have no interest in a strong Arab world. In fact it seems that elementary to the plan is bringing Libya to its knees through chaos and anarchy. In late 2010, the United Kingdom was still propping up the Libyan government through lucrative arms sales. Nothing is a better guarantee to destroy Libya than a bloody civil war. The tribal system that is still strong in Libya is useful to exploit to generate such a war since Libya has historically been divided into various tribal groups.
This is also why the Libyan government responds by importing mercenaries. Tribal allegiances go before allegiance to the government, especially in Benghazi , and thus the central government has no control over the eastern part of the country anymore. The alternative to mercenaries is a conflict between the various ethnic groups. Gadaffi has tried for 41 years to make the country more homogeneous, but opposition groups funded by outside forced will take little more than a few days to put the country back into the 19th century, before the region was conquered and unified by Europeans. The violence is indeed excessive, but everyone seems to forget that the situation is not the same as in Tunis and Egypt . Tribal ties play a far greater role, and thus the conflict will unfortunately be bloodier.
Please remember at all times that the violent Libyan civil war unfolding now is not comparable to the revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt . Both of these revolutions involved peaceful protesters suffering from poverty, in opposition to their corrupt governments. The chaos in Libyan consists of a mixture of tribal conflicts, conflict over oil revenue (since most oil is in the east of the country), radical islamists opposed to Gadaffi’s system of government, and outside destabilization by Western funded exile groups.
Gadaffi took control in a bloodless coup from a sick monarch away for medical treatment 41 years ago. His ideology is based on unification and he attempted to peacefully merge his country with Egypt and Syria . It would take a miracle for the violence unfolding now to lead to a single stable democratic government in Libya , with full control over the entire country. The country is more than twice the size of Pakistan , but with 6 million inhabitants. Endless deserts divide many of the cities in the nation. If anything we should ask ourselves how many more nations will be shattered into pieces in the coming months, as the world cheers.
Please visit David Rothscum Reports.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27596.htm
Dawn: Justice Dogar apologises for PCO oath
ISLAMABAD: Former chief justice Abdul threw himself at the mercy of the Supreme Court on Thursday by saying sorry and showing repentance for having taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain, one of the nine judges facing contempt of court charges for taking oath under the PCO in defiance of a Supreme Court restraining order on Nov 3, 2007, said he had decided to resign his nominal office.
The hearing of intra-court appeals, by a seven-member bench, filed by seven sitting judges and two retired judges took an abrupt turn when Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain, a sitting but non-functional judge, resigned his office and Justice (retd) Hameed Dogar said he had come to repent his decision of taking oath under the PCO.
Justice (retd) Dogar, Justice Zahid Hussain of the Supreme Court, former LHC chief justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry and justices Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Syed Hamid Ali Shah and Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah of the Lahore High Court, Ms Yasmeen Abbasey of the Sindh High Court and Jehanzeb Rahim of the Peshawar High Court are to be tried under contempt by another four-judge bench of the apex court.
At the last hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had questioned the legal status of PCO judges. He asked could these judges be called a judge when parliament had not legalised the Nov 3, 2007, emergency and the actions taken under it while passing the 18th Amendment.
On Thursday, Advocate Raza Kazim, counsel for other non-functional judges, sought time to consult his clients and apprise them of the latest development.
At the outset, Advocate S.M. Zafar, the counsel for Justice Zahid Hussain, informed the court that his client had submitted his resignation to President Asif Ali Zardari on March 1 by forgoing the remaining four years of his service as a judge of the apex court. The judge also requested the court to discharge the contempt notice issued against him.
Justice Hameed Dogar also pleaded for withdrawal of the contempt notice. He was relegated to the post of a judge of the apex court under the July 31, 2009, landmark judgment of the Supreme Court holding the Nov 3 emergency illegal.
“With all humility and humbleness at my command, it is submitted that under abrupt, unexpected changes, confusion, misconception and misunderstanding the Nov 3, 2007, restraining order could not be complied with which is highly regretted with repentance and sorrow,”
Justice Dogar said in a statement submitted to the Supreme Court.
“I stood retired on March 21, 2009, and not enjoying good health,” he said. He requested the court to accept his regrets and withdraw the notice of contempt.
In its order the court recalled the July 31 verdict by stating that it had declared Justice (retd) Dogar as someone who had never been the chief justice and, therefore, all his actions of appointing judges were unconstitutional.
The court, however, made it clear that Justice (retd) Dogar would not claim any exception to what had already been declared in the July 31 verdict.
About Justice Zahid, the court said it had considered the repentance and the opinion expressed by him that the dignity of this court was the foremost duty of its members, particularly when the restraining order for the first time in the history of Pakistan was passed by the court that eventually blocked future imposition of martial law and subsequent unconstitutional steps.
“A person has realised this after much water has flown under the bridge and realising that he had placed himself at the mercy of the court and is not likely to adore benches of this court, we accept his appeal.”
Before adjourning the hearing for March 21, the court asked Advocate Raza Kazim to submit a joint application to its registrar with a request to further extend the framing of contempt charges by another four-judge SC bench. The bench is scheduled to meet on March 7.
DECISION HAILED: Lawyers lauded the two judges’ decision and described the event as a breath of fresh air. They said it was for the first time that a judge of the Supreme Court had apologised for taking oath under the PCO.
Tariq Mehmood, a former judge of the Balochistan High Court, was of the opinion that the move would help cool tempers and remove mistrust between major parties.
“This will add another chapter to the annals of our judicial history that will establish that dignity and respect for institutions should be honoured at all cost,” he said, adding that contempt matters were something which always remained between the court and the person found guilty of contempt.
Dawn: SC directs govt to appoint six judges rejected by PC
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday outlawed the Parliamentary Committee’s rejection of extension to six high court judges and directed the government to issue appointment notifications to the rejected judges in accordance with the Judicial Commission’s recommendations, DawnNews reported.
The apex court issued the ruling after hearing petitions assailing the Parliamentary Committee’s decision of declining JC’s recommendations to extend the service tenure of the six judges.
Earlier, Dawn had learnt that the six judges who were denied extension by the Parliamentary Committee lost out because of their professional as well as personal shortcomings, as viewed by their respective chief justices.
A one-year extension was denied to four additional judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) as well as two Sindh High Court (SHC) judges by the eight-member bipartisan committee. The committee based its decision on the assessments provided by the respective chief justices, which in turn were based on the judges’ conduct and character.
The LHC judges who were not granted extension were: Syed Mazhar Ali, Mohammad Yawar Ali, Mamun Rasheed and Muhammad Farrukh Irfan.
Moreover, the parliamentary committee had also refused to extend the service of SHC’s Justice Mohammad Tasneem and Justice Salman Hamid.
Guardian: ‘SAS unit’ captured in Libya
Guardian: SAS and MI6 officers released by Libya’s rebel commanders
The funny thing is that UK still insisting SAS agents n MI6 were diplomatic mission i.e diplomatic immunity, Raymond Davis anyone? LOL
This is perfect now we know beyond doubt that west is fanning and is behind all the so called uprising against Iran and libya
I am sure they will say lybian rebels don’t have documents about the diplomatic status!
Punjab Assembly PPP and PML – Q Loota Drama.
Zulfiqar Mirza claims Jang Group’s shakeel-ur-rehman was sexually abused and Zardari and him has photographic evidence.
http://www.express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1101192986&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20110316
Zulfiqar Mirz speech. He showed why he is such a kutta
I think this guy has gone mad and should be shot like a mad dog. Won’t be surprised if it happens in not so distant future.
Gen. Kutta Kiyani, why dun u take this “strong condemnation” and shove it up ur ass. U have shown u r nothing but an american puppet, dun fucking want ur tears, I surely hope someone hang his ass one day. I wish his whole family dies the most horrible way possible. Under musshy n now u, Pak army is nothing but karae ke fauji, only able to conquer thier own country. Fuck pak army generals and fuck the establishment./
Geo: General Kayani strongly condemns predator strike
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani strongly condemned the predator strike carried out on Thursday in North Waziristan Agency resulting in loss of innocent lives.
He said it is highly regrettable that a jirga of peaceful citizens including elders of the area was carelessly and callously targeted with complete disregard to human life, said a ISPR press release issued here.
“In complete violation of human rights, such acts of violence take us away from our objective of elimination of terrorism. It is imperative to understand that this critical objective cannot be sacrificed for temporary tactical gains. Security of people of Pakistan, in any case, stands above all,” he added.
COAS said “Pakistan Army condoles with the families whose dear and near ones have been martyred in this senseless attack. Pakistan Army shares the grief of people of Waziristan. Troops on ground have been ordered to render all possible assistance to bereaved families.”
“Pakistan Army wishes to assure brave people of Waziristan that we shall do our best and utmost to protect their life, honour and dignity at all costs. Pakistan Army is fighting the terrorists and not its brethren in tribal areas.” Gen Kayani added
Imran Khan and Altaf Hussain in brotherly love
http://express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1101195993&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20110320
Geo: Govt got Geo telecasts disrupted
ISLAMABAD: A top Pemra executive has blown the whistle and unveiled the government’s game plan to misuse its executive authority and defy the Supreme Court, by inflicting heavy damage on the Jang Group by illegally interrupting the cricket World Cup matches telecast by Geo Super TV channel.
None other than the Regional General Manager (RGM) of Pemra in Balochistan, Gul Muhammad Kakar, who was ordered by Pemra bosses in Islamabad to defy the Supreme Court orders, has provided the hard documentary evidence that Geo was being penalised and persecuted unlawfully by Pemra.
When the conscientious officer resisted and refused to commit such a crime, he was removed from his position, the documents reveal. In a related development, RGM Kakar has moved an application in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, requesting Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of his wrongful removal from Pemra, Balochistan, merely for attempting to implement the apex court’s orders and for not complying with unlawful orders of its acting chairman. (Detailed report on page 4)
Evidence shows that the RGM Balochistan wrote to Pemra Chairman Dr Abdul Jabbar on March 3, 2011 that he saw no reason for his abrupt removal other than his urge to respect the Supreme Court’s decision with regard to the telecast of the World Cup matches by Geo Super.
Kakar, also referred to the verbal orders of Dr Jabbar, who, according to the letter, expected from him to let the cable operators interrupt Geo Super’s World Cup telecast by freezing the Geo Super signals and shuffling the channel number on cable networks in the province.
The communication clearly indicates that Dr Jabbar gave verbal orders to interrupt Geo Super’s World Cup telecast, a clear violation of Supreme Court’s order. Kakar claimed in his letter that he refused to obey the verbal orders, as these were not in line with the Supreme Court’s directives.
When contacted by The News, Kakar confirmed that he is a victim of Pemra chairman’s wrath after he refused to follow the unlawful orders to facilitate the cable operators to disrupt Geo Super signals during the World Cup matches on cable networks.
Ever since Geo Super got the exclusive rights for the telecast of World Cup 2011 matches through cable and satellite, the federal government is using all possible means to create problems.
When contacted, Acting Chairman Pemra Dr Jabbar told The News that if there was any evidence to substantiate the allegations levelled against him, it should be brought before him. In response to all the allegations, he had a one-line response: Show me the proof. Dr Jabbar, it may be added, was appointed Acting Chairman of Pemra when its Chairman, Mushtaq Malik suddenly proceeded on a three-month leave, 10 days before the start of the World Cup.
Sources in Pemra confirmed that the Presidency is directly involved in this foul play, which continues despite the Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court orders in favour of Geo Super and its exclusive rights on cable and satellite.
The government used Pemra to connive with cable operators and defy the courts, disturb Geo Super signals and broadcast the ICC World Cup 2011 matches only on PTV Home so that the Jang and Geo Group could be slammed with financial losses in terms of lost advertisement revenues.
According to credible sources, Acting Chairman Pemra Dr Jabbar by giving certain favours to cable operators, all during the ICC World Cup 2011 and by using Pemra’s regional offices, persuaded and at times coerced cable operators across the country to disturb the Geo Super signals and shuffle its channel number repeatedly so the Jang and Geo Group suffered huge losses.
This was in blatant violation of assurances Pemra had given before the Supreme Court that Geo Super’s legal rights would be fully protected. In practice, however, it was secretly involved in the dirty game which has now been publicly exposed by its own Balochsitan chief.
Documents show that Kakar issued notices and warnings to some leading cable operators for violating the apex court’s orders in the case of Geo Super. Instead of getting praise from the Pemra headquarter, Kakar was reprimanded by the Acting Chairman Pemra and ultimately sent back to his parent department in an indecent haste.
The official Pemra letters available with The News show that the general public registered complaints with Pemra offices that Geo Super signal were being repeatedly shuffled and there were problems with its signals.
According to these documents, Gul Muhammad Kakar, in his capacity as RGM Balochistan, issued notice (RGM/QTA/(273)/2011/167) to one major cable network of Balochistan namely Combined Broadband Cable Network on February 21, 2011 (3rd day after starting of World Cup).
This notice reads in its second paragraph: “It has been regretfully observed by the Authority through several public complaints that you are not complying with the instructions issued in above-mentioned circulars and found airing Indian Channel i.e. Star Cricket for ICC World Cup 2011 and scrambled the frequency of Geo Super which is clear violation of Pemra Ordinance 2002 and is contempt of the Honourable Court for not implementing the Honourbale Court’s orders in letter and spirit pertaining to the distribution of ICC World Cup 2011 only on Geo Super. Therefore, you are hereby directed through this notice to stop airing any satellite TV channel/channels other than Geo Super for broadcasting of ICC World Cup 2011 (Live). Non compliance on the matter will lead your firm to strict legal action which may lead to seizure of the equipment, fine or revocation of your cable TV licence as per Pemra rules.”
According to the documents, the cable operators continued to disturb Geo Super signal and shuffled channel number despite the issuance of this notice. After public complaints, RGM Kakar issued a ‘warning’ to the same major cable network of Quetta. The letter reads: “With reference to this office circular No. RGM/QTA/(44)/2011/99 dated January 25, 2011, RGM/QTA/(44)/2011/168 dated February 21, 2011 and Notice No.
RGM/QTA/(273)/2011/167 dated February 21, 2011 on subject (Broadcast of ‘ICC World Cup 2011’ on Geo Super) matter. It is regretfully observed by the Authority that you paid no heed to the instruction issued to you pertaining to the distribution of ICC World Cup 2011 on Geo Super only. You are hereby once again directed through this warning to bring Geo Super on its old position i.e. 19 No slot, set the frequency correctly and stop airing any other satellite TV channel that is involved in broadcasting ICC World Cup 2011 illegally with immediate effect. Non compliance with the instructions through warning will lead your firm liable to strict legal action which may lead to seizure of the equipments, fine or revocation of your cable TV license as per Pemra laws.”
Gul Muhammad Kakar on being approached by The News confirmed writing these letters to cable operators and revealed that even after issuing warnings, the cable operator continued to disturb the Geo Super signals. When he tried to take some action through his staff, the cable operators threatened that they would get the staff members removed. On this, he ordered a raid on cable operators as per Pemra laws. However, Kakar said, Dr Jabbar removed him from Pemra and repatriated him.
Kakar confirmed to The News that he wrote a letter to present chairman Pemra Dr Jabbar on March 3rd and gave complete details of his services for Pemra and reason of his removal. In this March 3rd letter, Kakar wrote that the only reason of neglecting him was his refusal to act on Dr Jabbar’s verbal orders to interrupt Geo Super signals during the ICC World Cup 2011 matches and broadcasting the matches on PTV Home through cable TV through cable operators in Balochistan.
At one point, the letter reads: “Sir, I am sorry because I was not in a position to obey your orders due to Supreme Court orders passed in favour of Geo Super.”
The sources said that Dr Jabbar had been directly interacting with the leading Quetta cable operators to encourage them to violate the Supreme Court’s order. However, when asked, Dr Jabbar again demanded evidence in this regard.
Kakar told The News that when he met Dr Jabbar in his office to ask him to take his illegal orders back, he (Dr Jabbar) replied that the reason of his removal was that in fact Pemra was removing officers working on deputation. Kakar said he gave Dr Jabbar names of many officials who were working on deputation and also named officials from the province of Punjab who were even given extensions in their deputation period as they were dancing to his tunes.
Afridi Pre- Match Press Conference
HuffPo: Mahatma Gandhi Reportedly Depicted As Bisexual, Racist In New Biography
He is known as a kindly father figure in India, but Mahatma Gandhi was also a racist bisexual who left his wife for a male Jewish bodybuilder, according to a controversial new biography.
In Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi And His Struggle With India, former New York Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld paints a different picture of the Indian independence leader and activist. As the Wall Street Journal is reporting, the book “obligingly gives readers more than enough information to discern that [Gandhi] was a sexual weirdo, a political incompetent and a fanatical faddist — one who was often downright cruel to those around him.”
Among the various charges disclosed in the book: Gandhi not only slept in beds with young women under the age of 18, but also engaged in a long-term, gay affair with German-Jewish architect and bodybuilder Hermann Kallenbach, for whom India’s peace icon eventually left his wife in 1908. As the Wall Street Journal reports:
Prior to his affair with Kallenbach, which ended in 1914, Gandhi is said to have encouraged his 17-year-old great-niece, Manu, to be naked during her “nightly cuddles” with him, and began sleeping with her and other young women. He reportedly told a woman on one occasion: “Despite my best efforts, the organ remained aroused. It was an altogether strange and shameful experience.”
As the Telegraph reports, the book also tackles both Gandhi’s vanity and racist attitude, particularly toward South Africans. When he was arrested in South Africa, he is quoted as saying, “We were marched off to a prison intended for Kaffirs… We could understand not being classed with whites, but to be placed on the same level as the Natives seemed too much to put up with. Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized.”
we been saying it in pak Gandhi was sexual pervert among many things no one listens to us
Gandhi’s Gay Lover
WSJ: Among the Hagiographers
By ANDREW ROBERTS
Joseph Lelyveld has written a generally admiring book about Mohandas Gandhi, the man credited with leading India to independence from Britain in 1947. Yet “Great Soul” also obligingly gives readers more than enough information to discern that he was a sexual weirdo, a political incompetent and a fanatical faddist—one who was often downright cruel to those around him. Gandhi was therefore the archetypal 20th-century progressive intellectual, professing his love for mankind as a concept while actually despising people as individuals.
For all his lifelong campaign for Swaraj (“self-rule”), India could have achieved it many years earlier if Gandhi had not continually abandoned his civil-disobedience campaigns just as they were beginning to be successful. With 300 million Indians ruled over by 0.1% of that number of Britons, the subcontinent could have ended the Raj with barely a shrug if it had been politically united. Yet Gandhi’s uncanny ability to irritate and frustrate the leader of India’s 90 million Muslims, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (whom he called “a maniac”), wrecked any hope of early independence. He equally alienated B.R. Ambedkar, who spoke for the country’s 55 million Untouchables (the lowest caste of Hindus, whose very touch was thought to defile the four higher classes). Ambedkar pronounced Gandhi “devious and untrustworthy.” Between 1900 and 1922, Gandhi suspended his efforts no fewer than three times, leaving in the lurch more than 15,000 supporters who had gone to jail for the cause.
A ceaseless self-promoter, Gandhi bought up the entire first edition of his first, hagiographical biography to send to people and ensure a reprint. Yet we cannot be certain that he really made all the pronouncements attributed to him, since, according to Mr. Lelyveld, Gandhi insisted that journalists file “not the words that had actually come from his mouth but a version he authorized after his sometimes heavy editing of the transcripts.”
We do know for certain that he advised the Czechs and Jews to adopt nonviolence toward the Nazis, saying that “a single Jew standing up and refusing to bow to Hitler’s decrees” might be enough “to melt Hitler’s heart.” (Nonviolence, in Gandhi’s view, would apparently have also worked for the Chinese against the Japanese invaders.) Starting a letter to Adolf Hitler with the words “My friend,” Gandhi egotistically asked: “Will you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war not without considerable success?” He advised the Jews of Palestine to “rely on the goodwill of the Arabs” and wait for a Jewish state “till Arab opinion is ripe for it.”
In August 1942, with the Japanese at the gates of India, having captured most of Burma, Gandhi initiated a campaign designed to hinder the war effort and force the British to “Quit India.” Had the genocidal Tokyo regime captured northeastern India, as it almost certainly would have succeeded in doing without British troops to halt it, the results for the Indian population would have been catastrophic. No fewer than 17% of Filipinos perished under Japanese occupation, and there is no reason to suppose that Indians would have fared any better. Fortunately, the British viceroy, Lord Wavell, simply imprisoned Gandhi and 60,000 of his followers and got on with the business of fighting the Japanese.
Gandhi claimed that there was “an exact parallel” between the British Empire and the Third Reich, yet while the British imprisoned him in luxury in the Aga Khan’s palace for 21 months until the Japanese tide had receded in 1944, Hitler stated that he would simply have had Gandhi and his supporters shot. (Gandhi and Mussolini got on well when they met in December 1931, with the Great Soul praising the Duce’s “service to the poor, his opposition to super-urbanization, his efforts to bring about a coordination between Capital and Labour, his passionate love for his people.”) During his 21 years in South Africa (1893-1914), Gandhi had not opposed the Boer War or the Zulu War of 1906—he raised a battalion of stretcher-bearers in both cases—and after his return to India during World War I he offered to be Britain’s “recruiting agent-in-chief.” Yet he was comfortable opposing the war against fascism.
Although Gandhi’s nonviolence made him an icon to the American civil-rights movement, Mr. Lelyveld shows how implacably racist he was toward the blacks of South Africa. “We were then marched off to a prison intended for Kaffirs,” Gandhi complained during one of his campaigns for the rights of Indians settled there. “We could understand not being classed with whites, but to be placed on the same level as the Natives seemed too much to put up with. Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized—the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live like animals.”
In an open letter to the legislature of South Africa’s Natal province, Gandhi wrote of how “the Indian is being dragged down to the position of the raw Kaffir,” someone, he later stated, “whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a number of cattle to buy a wife, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.” Of white Afrikaaners and Indians, he wrote: “We believe as much in the purity of races as we think they do.” That was possibly why he refused to allow his son Manilal to marry Fatima Gool, a Muslim, despite publicly promoting Muslim-Hindu unity.
Gandhi’s pejorative reference to nakedness is ironic considering that, as Mr. Lelyveld details, when he was in his 70s and close to leading India to independence, he encouraged his 17-year-old great-niece, Manu, to be naked during her “nightly cuddles” with him. After sacking several long-standing and loyal members of his 100-strong personal entourage who might disapprove of this part of his spiritual quest, Gandhi began sleeping naked with Manu and other young women. He told a woman on one occasion: “Despite my best efforts, the organ remained aroused. It was an altogether strange and shameful experience.”
Yet he could also be vicious to Manu, whom he on one occasion forced to walk through a thick jungle where sexual assaults had occurred in order for her to retrieve a pumice stone that he liked to use on his feet. When she returned in tears, Gandhi “cackled” with laughter at her and said: “If some ruffian had carried you off and you had met your death courageously, my heart would have danced with joy.”
Yet as Mr. Lelyveld makes abundantly clear, Gandhi’s organ probably only rarely became aroused with his naked young ladies, because the love of his life was a German-Jewish architect and bodybuilder, Hermann Kallenbach, for whom Gandhi left his wife in 1908. “Your portrait (the only one) stands on my mantelpiece in my bedroom,” he wrote to Kallenbach. “The mantelpiece is opposite to the bed.” For some reason, cotton wool and Vaseline were “a constant reminder” of Kallenbach, which Mr. Lelyveld believes might relate to the enemas Gandhi gave himself, although there could be other, less generous, explanations.
Gandhi wrote to Kallenbach about “how completely you have taken possession of my body. This is slavery with a vengeance.” Gandhi nicknamed himself “Upper House” and Kallenbach “Lower House,” and he made Lower House promise not to “look lustfully upon any woman.” The two then pledged “more love, and yet more love . . . such love as they hope the world has not yet seen.”
They were parted when Gandhi returned to India in 1914, since the German national could not get permission to travel to India during wartime—though Gandhi never gave up the dream of having him back, writing him in 1933 that “you are always before my mind’s eye.” Later, on his ashram, where even married “inmates” had to swear celibacy, Gandhi said: “I cannot imagine a thing as ugly as the intercourse of men and women.” You could even be thrown off the ashram for “excessive tickling.” (Salt was also forbidden, because it “arouses the senses.”)
In his tract “Hind Swaraj” (“India’s Freedom”), Gandhi denounced lawyers, railways and parliamentary politics, even though he was a professional lawyer who constantly used railways to get to meetings to argue that India deserved its own parliament. After taking a vow against milk for its supposed aphrodisiac properties, he contracted hemorrhoids, so he said that it was only cow’s milk that he had forsworn, not goat’s. His absolute opposition to any birth control except sexual abstinence, in a country that today has more people living on less than $1.25 a day than there were Indians in his lifetime, was more dangerous.
Telling the Muslims who had been responsible for the massacres of thousands of Hindus in East Bengal in 1946 that Islam “was a religion of peace,” Gandhi nonetheless said to three of his workers who preceded him into its villages: “There will be no tears but only joy if tomorrow I get the news that all three of you were killed.” To a Hindu who asked how his co-religionists could ever return to villages from which they had been ethnically cleansed, Gandhi blithely replied: “I do not mind if each and every one of the 500 families in your area is done to death.” What mattered for him was the principle of nonviolence, and anyhow, as he told an orthodox Brahmin, he believed in reincarnation.
Gandhi’s support for the Muslim caliphate in the 1920s—for which he said he was “ready today to sacrifice my sons, my wife and my friends”—Mr. Lelyveld shows to have been merely a cynical maneuver to keep the Muslim League in his coalition for as long as possible. When his campaign for unity failed, he blamed a higher power, saying in 1927: “I toiled for it here, I did penance for it, but God was not satisfied. God did not want me to take any credit for the work.”
Gandhi was willing to stand up for the Untouchables, just not at the crucial moment when they were demanding the right to pray in temples in 1924-25. He was worried about alienating high-caste Hindus. “Would you teach the Gospel to a cow?” he asked a visiting missionary in 1936. “Well, some of the Untouchables are worse than cows in their understanding.”
Gandhi’s first Great Fast—undertaken despite his belief that hunger strikes were “the worst form of coercion, which militates against the fundamental principles of non-violence”—was launched in 1932 to prevent Untouchables from having their own reserved seats in any future Indian parliament. Because he said that it was “a religious, not a political question,” he accepted no debate on the matter. He elsewhere stated that “the abolition of Untouchability would not entail caste Hindus having to dine with former Untouchables.” At his monster rallies against Untouchability in the 1930s, which tens of thousands of people attended, the Untouchables themselves were kept in holding pens well away from the caste Hindus.
Of course, any coalition movement involves a certain degree of compromise and occasional hypocrisy. But Gandhi’s saintly image, his martyrdom at the hands of a Hindu fanatic in 1948 and Martin Luther King Jr.’s adoption of him as a role model for the American civil-rights movement have largely protected him from critical scrutiny. The French man of letters Romain Rolland called Gandhi “a mortal demi-god” in a 1924 hagiography, catching the tone of most writing about him. People used to take away the sand that had touched his feet as relics—one relation kept Gandhi’s fingernail clippings—and modern biographers seem to treat him with much the same reverence today. Mr. Lelyveld is not immune, making labored excuses for him at every turn of this nonetheless well-researched and well-written book.
Yet of the four great campaigns of Gandhi’s life—for Hindu-Muslim unity, against importing British textiles, for ending Untouchability and for getting the British off the subcontinent—only the last succeeded, and that simply because the near-bankrupt British led by the anti-imperialist Clement Attlee desperately wanted to leave India anyhow after a debilitating world war.
It was not much of a record for someone who had been invested with “sole executive authority” over the Indian National Congress as early as in December 1921. But then, unlike any other politician, Gandhi cannot be judged by actual results, because he was the “Great Soul.”
—Mr. Roberts’s “Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War” will be published in May.
Dawn: On the debris of defeat
A fake legend of heroism is being pushed out of our team’s pathetic performance.
By: Syed Talat Hussain
The ICC World Cup semi-final in Mohali offers us two important insights. The first is a wide-spectrum sample of public opinion trends in India about Pakistan. The second relates to our national attitude of complacency in the aftermath of defeat.
The run-up to the match showed the reality of the much-hyped Indian desire for peace with Pakistan. Here was a great opportunity for the Indian media to win the hearts and minds of friends from Pakistan by showing grace and courtesy. But what was served was nothing less than national-level sledging, lasting for days.
The host nation took special care of the Pakistani squad. Large sections of the media tore into the Pakistani team and its captain as if this was an invading army from another world. In the name of debate, targeted frenzy was worked up against the greenshirts.
Matters became particularly uncivilised as the semi-final approached. The campaign was nothing short of a psychological warfare zeroing in on Pakistan. With the use of selective data and controversial instances, derision was freely heaped on the team. Kapil Dev talked about ‘how little Pakistanis have to cheer about’. Ravi Shastri, who loses his reason when the Indian team gets even a slight drubbing, compared the visitors with a rickety rickshaw, while the Indian squad, in his opinion, was a BMW.
On local channels the attack was particularly poisonous. In several shows, where Indian film stars and music divas rooted for their team before large audiences, ridiculing Pakistan was the norm.
We know media nationalism can hijack objectivity. It can lead to distortions. It can generate propaganda. This happens in Pakistan all the time. In that context, some of the content that was broadcast or written by the Indians about Pakistan could perhaps pass off as tolerable. But the scope of this campaign, which continued well after the match, was too large and the focus too specific to be ignored as a momentary loss of balance caused by the raging passion to win against arch rivals.
More worryingly, even some among the seemingly most liberal segments of society, who generally scoff at anti-Pakistan hysteria in their own country, had nothing but barely hidden contempt when it came to discussing issues related to their neighbour. No other country, or team, was subjected to this torment — a point made by Shahid Afridi, the Pakistani captain, before the match.
It was almost as if the Mohali match had given the whole of India a season ticket to trash Pakistan. Cricket appeared to be an instrument to unleash collective contempt. This Mohali experience contrasts sharply with the popular narrative about the growing peace constituency in India that wants to treat Pakistan with respect and believes in the principle of parity of nations. At a critical time when convincing messages of brotherhood could have been packaged with courtesy and sent across the borders to Pakistan with love, the mail received from India contained little other than hate.
The second insight that the Mohali event offers is just as important as it calls for a serious revision of the way we have chosen to respond to our defeat. A fake legend of heroism is being pushed out of our pathetic performance. The central message of this campaign is that we should ‘ask no question, hear no criticism, and make no complaint’ against our team because ‘we love them’.
The mantra that is spamming inboxes is primarily led by commercial organisations that have big contracts with some of the players. After the match these organisations have a problem: the posterboys who rope in customers have suddenly developed feet of clay. This is disastrous for marketing. Continued hero worship is therefore vital for the image of the brands the cricketers represent. And this can only happen if the nation is told that somehow the mess in Mohali is marvellous for Pakistan’s cricket.
But apart from this there is a disturbing national tendency to sweep failures under the carpet. So when Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif — in whose province thousands of doctors have been on strike for weeks demanding higher wages — offered cash to the players he was as much playing politics as he was endorsing this sorry trend.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too wanted to fete the team for having reached the semi-final. Suddenly failure to make it to the finals has become a point of great pride, a matter of honour rather than cause for reflection and course correction.
But this is not surprising.
We have consistently rewarded incompetence. We have a culture of complacency that simply lowers the bar of achievement instead of raising the game to the level where the best compete and win.
It is this criminal compromise with slackness and rank stupidity that has produced fake degree holders who flaunt their credentials with impunity and a band of corrupt-to-the-bone individuals who hold high offices. Mohali offers us a dozen points to ponder, about cricket, about the odds we face and the character we exhibit under pressure. But we will only face more Mohalis in every field of life if we, as a nation, stay proud as a peacock and prance around the debris of our defeat. We will be fooling no one except ourselves.
Aaj Tv: MQM was behind my removal from post: Mirza
Former Sindh home minister, Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza Friday said Altaf Hussain and Dr. Farooq Sattar had repeatedly demanded my removal, The objective of target killings in Karachi had been achieved and that the issue of extortion was used only as a pretext to set him aside.
Talking to media here at Chief Minister House, Dr. Mirza said “Altaf Hussain had urged the President six times to have me removed and Farooq Sattar also demanded the same on a number of occasions,” he said.
He said everybody knows all too well as to who those people are who operate on Chanda (donation/extortion). “I was set aside through a conspiracy in the name of extortion,” he maintained, adding ‘we neither collect Chanda nor trample on others rights’.
Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza said he had always led law abiding people and would continue to do so.
Dr. Mirza said he would call the people of Karachi to come together and wake them up for the future of their children.
Geo: LM Babar resigns to plead ZAB case retrial
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that a larger bench would be constituted for hearing of the presidential reference relating presidential reference for revisiting the death sentence passed against the former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979.
During the hearing, Federal Law Minister, Babar Awan prayed for arguing the case on behalf of the federation and presented his resignation from the ministerial post to the Supreme Court to fully qualify himself for pleading the retrial case.
The Apex court three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry comprising of Jusrice Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani started hearing the presidential reference Wednesday.
Several federal ministers and leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party were also present on this occasion.
Chief Justice in his opening remarks said that Bhutto was held in high esteem not only in the country, but also abroad. “He has read those books, which Bhutto wrote in the jail cell”, CJ recalled.
As the hearing set off, Law Minister Babar Awan prayed for arguing on behalf of the federation and said that he was resigning from his ministerial post for this purpose.
The court appreciated his gesture.
“We are taking the issue very seriously and will give it due importance, larger bench will be constituted” CJ added as he adjourned the hearing till Thursday.
Chief Justice said that Babar Awan’s counsel licence if restored today, then the matter of his arguing the case would be taken up tomorrow. He said that judicial aides would be taken from all the four provinces in this case and there could be nine or ten such aides.
Chief Justice said that in this courtroom the history of the military dictator would not be repeated.
Dawn: SC allows counsel change in NRO review case
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Thursday finally approved a change of counsel for the federation in NRO review case amid threats received by the senior Counsel Kamal Azfar, Additional Attorney General K.K Agha would plead the case on government’s behalf, DawnNews reported.
Mr Azfar wrote a letter to the Chief Justice Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry, claiming Advocate Abu Bakar Zardari had threatened and forbade him to appear in court for the hearing of the NRO review case.
Although Advocate Zardari rejected the allegation, the apex court took notice of the letter and asked IG police to provide security to Mr Azfar.
In the letter Azfar claimed that the advocate threatened his wife.
Earlier a 17-judge bench headed by the chief justice, resumed hearing of the review petition filed by the government against the Supreme Court’s verdict of declaring the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) illegitimate.
On Tuesday the bench refused the repeated appeal by the Additional Attorney General K.K Agha of allowing Dr Khalid Ranjha to plead the case for the federation in place of Kamal Azfar, and adjourned the hearing till today.
The hearing was adjourned till April 18.
DAWN: Mullen launches diatribe against ISI
ISLAMABAD: The US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Admiral Michael Mullen, was in a mood to name and shame on Wednesday.
Without mincing his words, he made it clear that ISI’s continued links with the Haqqani network were at the core of Pakistan’s problematic relations with the United States.
He said ISI’s relationship with the network was unacceptable to the American leadership.“The ISI has a rich history of how they operated in this part of the world, to protect their own country; I understand that some of the aspects of that we strongly disagree with and that is something that we continue to address.”
The Haqqani network had fuelled the Afghan insurgency by supporting, training and funding fighters who were killing American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, said the admiral, who views himself as a soldier-statesman.
Though the Haqqani network’s presence in the tribal areas and the army’s reluctance to go after them has been a sore point in Islamabad-Washington relations for some time now, Admiral Mullen’s words indicate a hardening of the American stance.
Rarely in the past have American officials been this open and categorical about links between the ISI and the network.
It is also noteworthy that Michael Mullen did not just press for military action against the militants in North Waziristan, but also said that ISI’s links with the Haqqanis were unacceptable.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Pakistan Army and the ISI have repeatedly denied these allegations and have asked for evidence in support of such charges.
“It is fairly well known that ISI had a relationship with the Haqqani network and addressing the Haqqani network from my perspective is critical to the solution set in Afghanistan. … that’s at the core — it’s not the only thing — but that’s at the core that I think is the most difficult part of the relationship,” Admiral Mullen, who is quite often criticised for being soft on the Pakistan military, said in an interview with Dawn.
Though President Obama’s top military officer was in Pakistan for discussions with the military leadership on tensions between the two countries that are said to have virtually put the entire relationship on hold, it was unclear what prompted him to reproach the ISI this openly.
His talks with Pakistani army commanders, which were to be held on Wednesday night, are to be followed by crucial talks between Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and American officials in Washington on Thursday.
However, the American admiral’s blunt talk about the ISI and the Haqqanis made it clear that the rounds of talks in Pakistan and in Washington would hardly be a smooth affair.
He also made it clear that the Americans were not willing to yield on other issues either, which media reports have indicated that the Pakistan military is concerned about.
He indicated that there would be probably no reduction in CIA’s footprint in Pakistan or in the drone attacks, which are mostly aimed at North Waziristan, the base of the Haqqanis, until the ISI dissociated itself from the Haqqanis.
Admiral Mullen said: “I have a sacred obligation to do all I can to make sure that” the network is no longer able to support insurgents in Afghanistan.
The Americans consider the Haqqani network and its role in the insurgency in Afghanistan as the most difficult challenge in the fight against the militants there. That they are ratcheting up the pressure on Pakistan is not surprising.
Ties between the Haqqanis and the ISI date back to the Afghan jihad; the former is seen as the latter’s safest bet for retaining influence in Afghanistan after a US withdrawal.
This perception was strengthened after reports last year that Pakistan tried to orchestrate a dialogue between Kabul and the Haqqanis.
The top US military official’s interview indicated that in his meetings with Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne and Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, he would discuss US concerns about the Haqqani network as well as the growing outreach of terror networks allegedly operating from Pakistan, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaatud Dawah and Tehrik-i-Taliban.
He depicted a destabilising scenario in which terror groups such as LeT, JuD, Al Qaeda and the Haqqani network would become increasingly interlinked.
“What I worry about all these organisations, whether it is Haqqani network, Al Qaeda, JuD, LeT… there is a syndication which has occurred in the region here over the course of last three years, which is more and more worrisome and increasingly so TTP, under [Hakimullah] Mehsud, has espoused aspirations outside the region,” he maintained.
The situation, Mullen said, led to the conclusion “that this area… the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the epicenter of terrorism in the world”.
But more damning were his comments that “it [the terrorism in the region] breeds and breeds more and more in terms of capability over time”.
On more than one occasion during the interview, he suggested a close collaboration between India, Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal with the terror threat emanating from the tribal areas.
Admiral Mullen, who was at times sceptical about Pakistani counter-terrorism efforts and on other occasions grandfatherly, did of course try to offer soothing diplomatic words too — in appreciation of the army’s fight against terrorism.
“Example of the challenge that has re-emerged in a place like Mohmand is an important one to address and does indicate that this (problem of terrorism) does not go away easily and I admire the fact that the engagement there continues on part of Pakmil,” he said.
The latest phase of the Mohmand operation took place in March and the semi-annual White House Af-Pak report cited it as an example of Pakistan’s inability to hold and build areas cleared of militants.
He stressed that despite the challenges in bilateral ties, the military-to-military relations between the US and Pakistan had remained strong.
He also very keenly spoke about the resilience of Pakistan-US bilateral ties, saying they withstood a very difficult phase over the past few months.
Geo: Mukhtaran Mai case: SC upholds LHC verdict
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Thursday upholding the verdict of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in Mukhtaran Mai gang-rape case acquitted five of six accused and dismissed the petitions, Geo News reported.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Shakirullah Jan announced the verdict. Other members of the bench included Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Saqib Nisar.
Meanwhile, Mukhtaran Mai talking to Geo News expressed deep sorrow over the SC verdict and said that she would consult her counsel about filing the review appeal.
On 22 June, 2002 Mukhtaran Mai (30), resident of Meerwala village was gang raped on the orders of a village council in the name of honour in Tehsil Jatoi of Muzafargarh district.
It was reported that the influential local Mastoi tribe had convened the jirga to seek punishment for Mai’s 12-year-old brother.
Initially, fourteen accused were nominated in the case, out of which eight were acquitted while remaining six were given death sentences by the trail court.
Later, the LHC had acquitted five of them and converted the death sentence of one accused with life term after which the SC took suo moto notice while victim Mukhtaran Mai and accused Abdul Khaliq also filed petitions in the apex court.
Hai Moin Akhtar. ALLAH apko jannat bakhshe, ALLAH apko jannat-ul-firdous main jaga de aameen sum ameen.
Guardian: Guantánamo Bay files: Al-Qaida assassin ‘worked for MI6′
NYT: Blast Kills at Least 70 Military Cadets in Pakistan
PIA MARKETING DIRECTOR HIGHLY OFFICIALS IN DANCING MOOD AFTER DRINKING
DAWN: ANP leaders said military protected Haqqanis, other militants
KARACHI: In a meeting with an American diplomat in July 2009, ANP leader Senator Afrasiab Khattak claimed that the Haqqani network, a militant group the US holds responsible for multiple attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan, was being protected by the Pakistan military.
The report is one of a number of American diplomatic cables obtained by Dawn that reveal a deep mistrust among the leadership of the ANP, the party responsible for governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about the military’s intentions regarding various militant groups in KP and FATA.
“Khattak described the Pakistani military as treating the Haqqanis ‘separately’ … from other militants,” reported Lynne Tracy, the Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Peshawar. “The Haqqani family, [Khattak] observed, has already moved out of North Waziristan.
“Part of the family, he said, is living in a rented house on the Kohat Road on the southern side of Peshawar. The other half is living in a house owned by the Haqqani family in the Rawalpindi cantonment.”
America has unsuccessfully been pressuring Pakistan to pursue the Haqqani network, which it considers one of its deadliest opponents in Afghanistan. This month the US State Department added one of Jalaluddin Haqqani’s sons to America’s list of global terrorists, on which the leader and two other sons are already listed.
In the July 2009 meeting Mr Khattak also criticised “a purported ISI plan to release Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) leader Sufi Mohammad” as the second Swat operation was winding down.
“Khattak told PO July 3 that ISI is intensifying pressure on NWFP Chief Minister Haider Hoti to place TNSM leader Sufi Mohammad in ‘provincial protective custody’ as part of an ISI plan to engineer the surrender of senior Tehrik-i-Taliban Swat leadership, including Mullah Fazlullah and spokesman Muslim Khan,” Ms Tracy reported.
“ISI-proposed terms … of ‘provincial custody,’ Khattak said, envisioned allowing the TNSM leader greater freedom of movement. In return, Sufi Mohammad would declare implementation of the Nizam-i-Adl regulation in Swat acceptable.” If he did so, according to Khattak’s description of the alleged ISI plan, TTP-Swat senior leadership would surrender.
In an indication of the civilian-military disconnect in the province, “Khattak declared flatly that the provincial government wanted nothing to do with this plan. Operations in Swat, he said, should come to a ‘logical conclusion’ – killing or capturing militant leadership.
“ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan … was also suspicious, Khattak commented, because ISI Director General Pasha had said nothing during a recent meeting about taking custody of Sufi Mohammad.”
In its comment on the meeting the Peshawar Consulate took note of the mistrust between the military and the provincial leadership and offered its own analysis about the military’s intentions: “While Khattak and other ANP leaders continue to voice respect for senior military leaders in Islamabad and Peshawar, there is tremendous suspicion of ISI and the role it is playing in the NWFP and FATA.
“Khattak commented at one point that ‘ISI’s strategy is to save the Taliban from defeat.’ ISI’s motives and activities are more complicated than that statement suggests. However, the ISI-brokered deal now being described would likely undermine any progress the military has made in reversing the public perception that the military and local Taliban are essentially the same entity.”
Suspicions about the military’s alliances can be seen at least as far back as cables written in 2006. In a meeting with the Peshawar Principal Officer in March that year, ANP chief and then Senator Asfandyar Wali Khan spoke about his plan for political reform in FATA.
One item involved “controlling ISI and the Afghan desk of the Pakistan Army in the FATA. … Operatives oftentimes support long-standing relationships with Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders that undermine the policy initiatives of senior GOP leaders.”
Later that month, Mr Khan “recommended the immediate transfer of all ISI agents from FATA that had previously worked with the Taliban and mujahideen.”
It is once the ANP is in power in KP that the relationship appears to become more interdependent. “Khan said that Kayani had so far played a ‘positive role’ when he took over ISI,” said an April 2008 cable, “closing six militant training camps identified by his party and removing ISI officers who had remained in the FATA too long.”
At the same time, however, Khan was extremely wary of the peace agreement with South Waziristan’s tribal elders being devised in April 2008. He “made clear that the agreement was drafted by Pakistan’s military, not its ruling political parties … going so far as to turn on a television to mask our conversation, perhaps reflecting ANP reservations over a deal that appears to have been largely brokered by the military rather than political forces.”
Once a traitor always a traitor
Dawn: Pakistani judge will head Rwanda tribunal
ARUSHA: Judges on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have chosen the Pakistani Khalida Rashid Khan as the court’s next president, the tribunal said in a statement Wednesday.
Khan, 61, will assume her new duties Friday, replacing Dennis Byron, who will finish his second two-year term as president of the Tanzania-based tribunal on Thursdaqy.
The ICTR was established by a UN Security Council resolution in November 1994 to investigate and try the individuals suspected of being the main architects of the 1994 genocide against ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Khan, who joined the court in August 2003 and has served as vice president since May 2007, is the second woman appointed to the president’s chair.
South African Navi Pillay, now the UN high commissioner for human rights, was the first.
Khan worked as a judge on the High Court in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, before joining the ICTR.
In another statement the court said it would deliver a verdict on June 24 in its longest running case involving six people accused of inciting the rape of Tutsi women during the genocide.
The case, opened in April 2001, is considered one of the toughest for prosecutors to prove guilt.
Congratz to Kashif Abbasi and Mehar Bukhari on engagement. Really happy for both of them.
Ajaml Qasab Muslim and Pakistani LOL? Yeah Right LOL
Afridi announced Retirement from Intl Cricket
Dawn: Journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead near Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani journalist has been found dead near the capital Islamabad after writing about links between the Pakistani military and al Qaeda, officials said Tuesday.
Syed Saleem Shahzad, 40, worked for an Italian news agency and an online news site registered in Hong Kong. He went missing on Sunday after he left his home in the capital to take part in a television talk show, but never arrived.
Officials said his body was identified by relatives after being found near his car in Sarai Alamgir, 150 kilometres (93 miles) southeast of Islamabad.
“Relatives visited the police station and now they have identified the dead body. They said it is the body of journalist Saleem Shahzad,” police official Zulfiqar Ali told AFP by telephone.
He disappeared two days after writing an investigative report in Asia Times Online that al Qaeda carried out last week’s attack on a naval air base to avenge the arrest of naval officials arrested on suspicion of al Qaeda links.
Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Shahzad had complained about being threatened by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
“The other day he visited our office and informed us that ISI had threatened him. He told us that if anything happened to him, we should inform the media about the situation and threats,” Hasan told AFP.
“We can form an opinion after the investigation and a court verdict, but… in the past the ISI has been involved in similar incidents.”
The naval base attack on May 22 took 17 hours to repel. Officials said six militants destroyed two US-made surveillance aircraft and killed 10 security personnel in the standoff.
The country’s umbrella Taliban faction claimed responsibility, saying the attack was carried out to avenge the US killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, which reopened questions about complicity with Al-Qaeda within the military.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered an inquiry into the kidnapping and murder, pledging that the culprits would be “brought to book”.
Shahzad’s Italian employer Adnkronos (AKI) confirmed the death and earlier said it feared he had been kidnapped. He was also Pakistan bureau chief for Asia Times Online.
In 2006, he was kidnapped by the Taliban in Helmand in southern Afghanistan. Then, his kidnappers accused him of being a spy but set him free after seven days.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had earlier Monday expressed alarm about Shahzad’s disappearance and described as “exceedingly disturbing” reports that he might have been abducted by a state agency.
Hamza Ameer, a brother-in-law of Shahzad, told AFP that his car and identification papers had also been found. Shahzad is survived by his wife and three children.
Guardian: Syrian lesbian blogger is revealed conclusively to be a married man
Geo: Pakistan arrests CIA informants in bin Laden raid: NY Times
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials.
Pakistan’s detention of five CIA informants, including a Pakistani Army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the weeks before the raid, is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan. It comes at a time when the Obama administration is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
At a closed briefing last week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Michael J. Morell, the deputy C.I.A. director, to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism operations, on a scale of 1 to 10.
“Three,” Mr. Morell replied, according to officials familiar with the exchange.
The fate of the C.I.A. informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, but American officials said that the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, raised the issue when he travelled to Islamabad last week to meet with Pakistani military and intelligence officers.
Some in Washington see the arrests as illustrative of the disconnect between Pakistani and American priorities at a time when they are supposed to be allies in the fight against Al Qaeda — instead of hunting down the support network that allowed Bin Laden to live comfortably for years, the Pakistani authorities are arresting those who assisted in the raid that killed the world’s most wanted man.
The Bin Laden raid and more recent attacks by militants in Pakistan have been blows to the country’s military, a revered institution in the country. Some officials and outside experts said the military is mired in its worst crisis of confidence in decades.
American officials cautioned that Mr. Morell’s comments about Pakistani support was a snapshot of the current relationship, and did not represent the administration’s overall assessment.
“We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise,” said Marie E. Harf, a C.I.A. spokeswoman. “Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It’s a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs.”
In a sign of the growing anger on Capitol Hill, Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who leads the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that he believed elements of the ISI and the military had helped protect bin Laden.
so basically these fuckers are not traitors cuz they work for US and we shouldn’t worry abt them, oh American hypocrisy.
Dawn: Brigadier serving at GHQ detained for suspected links to banned group
ISLAMABAD: Authorities detained a serving brigadier suspected for ties with a banned organisation, BBCUrdu said in a report on Tuesday.
The report of the brigadier’s detention was confirmed by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), DawnNews quoted BBCUrdu as saying.
The senior army officer Brigadier Ali Khan was posted at the GHQ, the BBCUrdu report said.
Khan, who had been posted at the GHQ for the past two years, was detained on May 6.
ISPR confirms
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed that the officer had been arrested, but released no further details on which groups he was alleged to have been in contact with.
“One of the brigadiers who we found having contacts with one of the defunct organisations is under detention,” Abbas told AFP.
“The investigation is on and we follow a zero tolerance policy of any such activity within the army,” he added.
He was a fine officer. His mistake was that he questioned American puppets about their proamerican position.
Oh man come on this is the line been giving now. Lets say he did and still had contacts with Harkat, dun absolve him.
How about arresting Kana Kiyani for having links with CIA and being on it’s payroll. A couple of days in ISI cell would yield actionable intelligence!
Geo: Marvi Memon resigns from NA, PML-Q
ISLAMABAD: Marvi Memon has resigned from her seat in the National Assembly and from the PML-Q, Geo News reported.
Speaking to the media, Memon said that she took the decision in protest of the PML-Q joining the government and in opposition of the budget which was against the aspirations of the people.
She added that current government was working against the people of Pakistan and the PML-Q leaders did not live up to the voters by leaving the opposition and joining the government.
“The PML-Q did not correct the disastrous course of the government” she said. The statement read out by Marvi Memon listed the government as being inadequate, not serving the people, not responding to natural disasters, not protecting the country’s sovereignty and depriving people of basic human rights.
Memon added that under these circumstances she could no longer be a member of the National Assembly and that she would not take back her resignations under any circumstance. She however did say that her struggle for justice would continue on the streets and in courts.
shabash yeh hai cheeti, sheikh waqas should be ashamed
Well done Marvi. I always expected her to do something right! I hope she gives up on Mush as well and apologizes to the people for her support of him.
Why should she apologize 4 Mush? She didn’t bring him in and wasn’t part of LFO. She came in assembly under PML – Q and served her constituency always been straight arrow. Had high hopes for Sheikh Waqas but he really disappointed me. On the other hand PML – N did incredibly stupid actions against him, arresting his bro making it impossible for him to even go to his constituency. So i guess he had to do what he did
She was in love with him! Believe me she was!!!
Guardian: UK’s secret policy on torture revealed
Now why would PML – N wants this moron? This guy is spent kartoos
Dawn: Enver Baig resigns from PPP basic membership
Current political situation. Why I changed my mind about joining PTI
Ali Baba Chales choor and the army want to keep the status quo for then next 5years. They want to divide the rightist vote because that is the only way they could succeed in their plan. Enter our naive Imran Khan. They have patted his back so that he will have candidates contesting every seat with absolutely no hope of winning them but causing enough haemorrhage of PMLN support so that Ali Baba and group wins by default. Kashmir election were a rehearsal of this plan. I have analysed the figures and Ali Baba party won at least 6 seats due to this strategy.
The army is happy with the present arrangement because Ali Baba and group are flexible and don’t interfere with the army and are happy with whatever they have. On the other hand army will not be able to have it’s way if NS is the PM.
well Kashmir prob was Nawaz making too, why in God name he decided to contest under his party right b4 election, dividing the right of centre votes.
Nawaz has been increasingly showing lack of political understanding, even chaudhry’s beating the crap out of him.
Nawaz need to built a coalition he can’t win alone.
I think he is on the right track. There are morons like ishaq dar and others around him who wield too much influence. But I think he is realising that he needs to build bridges with other parties. Our problem is that we don’t have any other viable option. IK has just gone bonkers!
Guardian: Eight Afghan soldiers and 30 US forces from unit that killed Bin Laden die after insurgents shoot down Chinook
Is it a coincidence that the “navy seal unit” were hit or did they piss someone off so much that they suffered a “seek and destroy” operation!
Pakistani Spy being Held by India since last 11 years, Name Musharraf – LOL
God! How so f***ing stupid!!! Have these morons no ambition in life?!
I figured users might enjoy it LOL
Indian Express: 2156 unidentified bodies in 38 graves in Kashmir: state human rights panel inquiry
Dawn: Lashkar-i-Taiba says its man killed Kashmir separatist
SRINAGAR: A powerful militant group has admitted that one of its own members killed a veteran separatist in Indian-administered Kashmir, a report released Friday said.
Moulana Shoukat Ahmad Shah, a respected cleric and staunch pro-independence supporter, was assassinated on April 8 in a bomb blast in Srinagar, as he entered a mosque.
Militant groups had earlier blamed the daylight murder on Indian security agencies who they accused of seeking to “sabotage the freedom struggle of Kashmiris”.
But an “internal probe” by the anti-India militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba (LT) said that one of its own members, Javed Munshi, was responsible for the killing.
“At first instance, we thought Indian agencies and troops had martyred him (Shah) to weaken the (separatist) movement,” said the LT report, handed to senior Kashmir separatists by the group on Thursday.
“One thing we never thought was that our own (man) killed Moulana,” it said.
Munshi and his alleged accomplices have already been arrested by Indian police on charges of murdering Shah.
Separatist leaders from various Kashmiri groups, who had formed a panel to probe Shah’s death, gave the LT report to the media on Friday.
It marked the first time since the start of the insurgency in 1989 that any militant group has released a report into the killing of a high-profile Kashmiri.
The report said Munshi believed that all Kashmir separatist leaders were working closely with Indian authorities and did not merit LT’s support.
It also said Munshi was a “double agent” and suggested he had helped the Indian army in its separatist fight.
The report noted that Munshi had been freed from jail twice by the Indian police despite recovering deadly RDX explosives from him.
The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed in its entirety by both nations.
The dispute triggered two of the three wars fought by the neighbours since independence from colonial rule in 1947.
Mcclatchydc.com: WikiLeaks: Iraqi children in U.S. raid shot in head, U.N. says
Altaf Hussain’s mujra special
Dawn: Ready to negotiate with Haqqani Group if govt permits: Imran Khan
LAHORE: The Chairman of Tahreek-e-Insaaf, Imran Khan said that he is ready to talk with the Haqqani Group if the government allowed him.
Speaking to media persons after meeting with dengue patients in Services Hospital, Imran Khan said that US is negotiating with the Taliban and ordered us to attack on them.
He said that he can influence the Haqqani Group for the restoration of peace and stability.
Khan said the time has come to find a political solution for the issue because the US is engaged in dialogue for an end to the war in Afghanistan.
Speaking about All Parties Conference, he said that finding a political solution is the only way forward.
Talking about Dengue outbreak, Khan said that the resources should be allocated for dengue control rather than on personal publicity.
will remain a retard never will learn *bangs his head*
That is the most idiotic statement to make. ” Bewakuf dost sae Dana dushman behtar hota hai”
NS showed he has completly lost it in APC saying Kuch to hai otherwise why would world blame Pakistan. There is time and place to lash at army n ISI. NS should go fuck himself
agreed. Told one of them. I think the media managers realised that it was an idiotic statement. They argue that it was reported out of context! the usual cop-out.
Najam Sethi exposed by Mubahsir Luqman
Am I surprised? NO. Pakistanis are evil people! We are our own worst enemies all we need is a few green backs and we would sell our mothers! Reminds me someone already said that!? did they? We say it everyday. I am sure Najam Sethi’s daughter or her ilk let the Americans into the secret.
Altaf Kutta hai hai as per MQM worker
Lol! Altar Kutta Hai Hai! I hope he is still living.
Hi afzaal khan
I am trying to search archives “Bol ke lab azad hein tere”
But theres no serach parameter.
I am looking for your post on “gay Gandhi”
Can you repost it here again.
thanks alot
http://www.sohnidhurti.com/2011/01/02/bol-ke-lab-azad-hain-tere-2011/comment-page-1/#comment-7547
Thanks afzaal khan
very much appreciated
U welcome if u need to search comments again just do CTRL+F to look 4 relevant word u can get url by clicking on posted date of comment and either opening on new tab or looking at address bar.
TOI: 1984 riots: ‘Why nobody noticed Amitabh Bachchan spewing venom in India’
AMRITSAR: A prime witness in 1984 anti-Sikh riots said that everyone who had been watching Doordarshan saw how superstar Amitabh Bachchan provoked the rioters.
“I wonder why no one in India lodged case against Amitabh Bachchan for provoking killing of Sikhs,” said Jagdish Kaur, prime witness in 1984 anti- Sikh riots while talking to TOI on Thursday.
Following Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, India erupted in riots against Sikhs in 1984. Reminiscing the sad memories of hate crime against Sikhs she said, “I watched live relay on Doordarshan and saw Amitabh Bachchan raising his arm and shouting the slogan, ‘khun ka badla khun sae laengae’ (Blood for blood) two times. ”
Jagdish Kaur said that everyone who had been watching Doordarshan was witness to how the bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan provoked the anti- Sikh riots. “I am not concerned that a case has been registered against him in Australia but all I want to know why nobody noticed Amitabh’s provoking statement in India,” Kaur asked. She said that ever since she saw Amitabh spewing venom in full public glare she never watched any of his movies or programmes on TV. “Any mention of him or his work reminds me of his role in the 1984 riots,” she said.
Recently a US-based Sikh human rights group lodged a criminal complaint against Bachchan in Australia for instigating and abetting 1984 anti Sikh riots. Australia’s ‘Criminal Code Act 1995′ states that Australian courts can have jurisdiction over cases involving crimes against humanity irrespective of whether the offense was committed in Australia or not.
Jagdish Kaur, then 42, had seen her husband and son being murdered in cold blood by a frenzied mob inside her house in Palam Colony (West Delhi) on November 1st 1984. She also saw her three brothers Narinder Pal Singh, 35, Raghwinder Singh, 28 and Kuldeep Singh ,21, all contractors with MES, burning to death by the mob while they were trying to save themselves.
This is Aman Ki Aasha by TOI. Don’t know if to laugh on journalistic standards or be sad at stupid indian journalism. TOI ran with this headline am posting whole article from their own website to show how dumb and hateful they are. Oh do read the comments so everyone can know how indians aman ki asha works, meanwhile our stupid Tribune and Dawn allow the same crappy indians to post their hateful mssgs on pakistani newspapers.
TOI: Monkey ‘arrested’ in Pak for crossing India border
ISLAMABAD: Believe it or not but authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province have “arrested” a monkey after it crossed the border with India, according to a media report today.
The monkey was captured by wildlife officials in Bahawalpur, Express News channel reported.
Local residents initially tried to capture the monkey after it entered Cholistan area of Bahawalpur district.
After the monkey evaded them, the people informed wildlife officials, who captured the animal after a struggle. The monkey was taken to Bahawalpur Zoo, where officials named him Bobby.
In May last year, Indian police detained a pigeon and kept it under armed guard after it was caught on an alleged spying mission for Pakistan.
The bird was found by a resident of India’s Punjab state, which borders Pakistan, and taken to a police station 40 km from Amritsar.
On the 17th Death Aniversary of the greatest urdu potess Parveen Shakir, lets take a moment to remember her and may God bless her soul.
A gem of her ghazal sang by Tina sani. Enjoy