Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): May 21, 2010

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 22 May 2010 04:54

The following links are background articles on Pakistan.

UNDERSTANDING PAKISTAN:

Jinnah's Pakistan: An Interview with MA Jinnah, and how the Pakistan of Yesterday is the Pakistan of Today
http://iref.homestead.com/Messiah.html

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/012809Tellis.pdf

The above is the testimony of Ashley Tellis on Jan 28th 2009, to the US Senate Homeland Security Committee on LeT's global role. It is a good articulation of LeT's past and future trends.

Know Your Pakistan
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/I ... /Shiv.html

The Monkey Trap: A synopsis of Indo-Pak relations
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/I ... ayyam.html

PAKISTAN-FAILED STATE: an ebook that owes its origin and existence to BRF.
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/EBOOKS/pfs.pdf

A landmark article that demolishes myths built up about Pakistan
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers8/paper710.html

Pakistani Role in Terrorism Against the U.S.A
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/I ... yanan.html

Pakistani Education, or how Pakistan became what it is: Curricula and textbooks in Pakistan
http://www.sdpi.org/archive/nayyar_report.htm

Making Enemies, Creating Conflict: Pakistan's Crises of State and Society. A book written by Pakistanis on Pakistan.
http://members.tripod.com/~no_nukes_sa/Contents.html

Should Pakistan Be Broken Up? by Gul Agha
http://pakistan70.tripod.com/gul.html

Alden Pyle in Pakistan, Part I
http://pundita.blogspot.com/2009/12/ald ... art-1.html

PAKISTAN & TERRORISM:

The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups (Laskar-e-Taiba)
By Hussein Haqqani (journalist and Pak ambassador to US)
http://www.futureofmuslimworld.com/rese ... detail.asp

Pakistani sponsoring of Terrorism
http://www.geocities.com/charcha_2000/
http://pak-terror.freeservers.com/Terro ... y_Tool.htm

Terror Map: The Pakistani Hand
http://sify.com/news/specials/terrormap/?vsv=TopHP1

Ethnic cleansing in Pakistan - a statistical analysis
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/I ... idhar.html

A chronicle of genocide by the Pakistan army
http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html

Documentary video evidence of Pakistani genocide in Bangladesh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-94U1bVUQ
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EBKlIUbpc ... re=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sMg9Ly9nK0g
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwPbkyZV ... re=related

Inside Jihad - How Pakistan sponsors terrorists in India
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/ ... r_sb1.html

Pakistan's Role in the Kashmir Insurgency - Op-ed by Rand's Peter Chalk
http://www.rand.org/hot/op-eds/090101JIR.html

Alden Pyle in Pakistan, Part II
http://pundita.blogspot.com/2009/12/ald ... -upon.html

BEYOND MADRASAS: ASSESSING THE LINKS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND MILITANCY IN PAKISTAN
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/ ... nthrop.pdf

PAKISTAN TODAY:

On the Frontier of Apocalypse: Christopher Hitchens seminal article on Pakistan today
http://newsstuff.0catch.com/article5.htm

http://meaindia.nic.in/bestoftheweb/2002/10/14bow2.htm

A Slender Reed in Pakistan - Editorial in the Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1229/p08s03-comv.html

Seymour Hersh Interview
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_hersh.html

Pakistan's Nuclear Crimes (Wash. Post editorial)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dy ... 2-2004Feb4

http://www.indiadefence.com/LOA07Aug04.htm

The Battle for Pakistan: Militancy and Conflict in Pakistan's Tribal Regions
http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/ ... r_pakistan

BOOK REVIEW Fulcrum of Evil: ISI-CIA-Al Qaeda Nexus
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpap ... r1844.html

Article from Vinni Capelli - Foreign Policy Research Institute:
Containing Pakistan: Engaging the Raja-Mandala in South-Central Asia
http://www.fpri.org/orbis/5101/cappelli ... kistan.pdf

The videos are from this documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/

A bomb at all cost By Ahmad Faruqui - a candid admission of the wars that Pakistan started against India.

Popular support for suicide bombings in pakistan.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 008_pg12_1
Survey by university students in karachi say 50% of respondents support suicide bombings in kashmir.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OWsmJIwe9Q4
"Descent into Chaos"
UC Berkeley Conversations with History, host Harry Kreisler talking with Pakistani Journalist Ahmed Rashid. 59 minutes 120 MB. It sums up Pakistan and lays bare all Pakistan's terrorist support and proliferation activities. **Note - he wants the US to solve Pakistan's Kashmir problem.

Pakistan on the brink: Video Link (must download)

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto telling Bangladeshis to "Go to Hell": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dsxfyxa ... re=related

IDSA's weekly summary of Pak Urdu Press:

http://www.idsa.in/pup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five installment series by Kapil Komireddi published in Frum Forum

Part I. Nov 16, 2009. “Pakistan In Crisis”.

Part II. Nov 18. 2009. “Pakistan: Origins of A Failed State”.

Part III. Nov 18, 2009. “Pakistan: It Could Not Succeed Unless India Failed”.

Part IV. Dec 06, 2009. “Pakistan: A Mecca for Radical Islam”.

Part V. Dec. 07, 2009. “Pakistan’s Army: Building a Nation for Jihad”

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 22 May 2010 04:55

link to last page of previous thread

r_subramanian · Post by **r_subramanian** » 22 May 2010 04:59

Will Chidambaram and Krishna go ahead with their scheduled visits to Pakistan?
A lot of fireworks are expected in the confrontation between the Judiciary and PPP very soon. Given the political uncertainties, would Chidambaram and Krishna go ahead with their scheduled visits? Is it possible that Krishna was aware of the possibility (i.e 'there would be no one to talk to') when he scheduled the visit for mid July? GOI could claim they tried talking!

Rahul Shukla · Post by **Rahul Shukla** » 22 May 2010 05:34

On the pious 72nd page of the recently halaled Paki thread, A_Gupta wrote:ISLAMABAD: Pakistan acknowledged the ''suffering'' caused by its bans on Facebook and YouTube, but said it would only consider restoring the websites if they take down pages considered offensive to Islam, the information technology ministry said Friday.

Pakistan Maintains Facebook Ban (Wall Street Journal)

LAHORE, Pakistan—The Pakistani government lifted a ban on video-sharing website YouTube after the company took down "blasphemous" footage but retained a temporary ban on social-networking site Facebook imposed earlier this week, the country's telecommunications regulator said Thursday.

Rahul Shukla · Post by **Rahul Shukla** » 22 May 2010 05:54

Pakistan to the Internets: Shut Up! (Newsweek)

... one can very validly argue against a legal system that punishes by death or life imprisonment any statement or action it considers "blasphemous." Or one can point out the hypocrisy of a government that allows the Tehrik-i-Taliban to maintain its own YouTube channel but refuses to tolerate discussion of an embarrassing political gaffe or a juvenile cartoon.

But on some level, that imbues Pakistan's most recent foray into Internet censorship with seriousness, when in fact it deserves to be recognized more for its sheer absurdity. The Pakistani government's logic is that the medium is the problem, as well as the message. So upon hearing that a single idiot decided to form an offensive Facebook group that even the original cartoonist doesn't support, their response is to ban the modern world's main instruments of information dissemination. A single tidbit of offensive content is somehow grounds to shut down the whole damn party, as if a single bite of rotten fruit should be enough to drive a person away from eating altogether.

By that standard, perhaps the Pakistan Telecommunications Agency (PTA) should also consider banning the Internet altogether, since a quick Google search will reveal that those nonsense Danish cartoons from 2006 are still online. The PTA should certainly not allow books in Pakistan, as some guy named Rushdie once penned his thoughts on the satanic verses. Nor should it permit newspapers or magazines, since the National Review has surely written all sorts of insulting things about the prophet over the years. And couldn't people just e-mail each other about the offending cartoons? The PTA should definitely ban e-mail, in that case. Or just get rid of computers altogether, since some wily programmers are probably already busy building new versions of everything previously banned.

... the ban will surely add insult to injury once Pakistanis realize they've lost precious ground against their competitors in Farmville, Facebook's mind-numbingly addictive farm game. Indian Twitter user @fakebalthakre was already plotting sabotage on Wednesday, advising his followers, "Pakisthanis can’t use FB until May 31. Excellent opportunity for Hindusthan to block water to all Pak farms on Farmville." Battle on, Internet-freedom warriors.

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 22 May 2010 06:09

Good article for the left-leaning anti-Afghan war types.

Fifteen Ways ISI Twists the Afghanistan Story

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 22 May 2010 06:17

For pakis, life imitates art
Times Square bombing suspect's story parallels Pakistani novels

Mirroring reports about the real-life case of Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad , the Times Square suspect, Mohsin Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" and H.M. Naqvi's "Home Boy" are set in New York and feature Pakistanis who work in the financial industry and are psychologically damaged by the aftermath of 9-11. The fictional characters rediscover their Islamic identities.

"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" was a finalist for the 2007 Man Booker Prize, Britain's top literary award.

Naqvi's fictional protagonist is called Shehzad, though it's his first name, and he, too, spends time in Connecticut and New York . Like the real-life Shahzad, he loses his job in the finance industry and has money troubles.

U.S. investigators and the public are still trying to understand the story of the real Faisal Shahzad : a young man from a privileged background in Pakistan who arrived in the U.S. at 19, got a college degree and a good job, got married, had children, took a mortgage on a house in the suburbs and became an American citizen.

Hey! He's a paki. Paki is as paki does. That ought to be enough. Lets leave it at that.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 May 2010 06:29

Pakistani Army Major Among 2 New Arrests in Bombing

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/world ... pstan.html

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 22 May 2010 06:37

The article by Komireddy quoted in first post is more than 5 pieces...

http://www.frumforum.com/pakistan-anato ... iled-state

Please add the other ones or better still link to the page above so that we can all understand Fanatic barbarian terrorist animal state of Pakistan better...

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 22 May 2010 06:56

Rangudu wrote:Good article for the left-leaning anti-Afghan war types.

Fifteen Ways ISI Twists the Afghanistan Story

a frothing at the mouth paki...frothes..

Dr Idris Shah Ebrahimi says:
May 21, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Melissa Roddy is an Anti-Pakistanist vampire that is happy to continue the American occupation of Afghanistan to fill her own pockets with bribes from her masters in occupied Jerusalem.
Melissa Roddy was sexually abused by her father and has no credibility, nor qualifications to pass judgement or comment on matters of international importantance.
Regards.

A "Dr"...

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 22 May 2010 07:09

^^ Prompt rebuttal appears...

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 22 May 2010 07:13

One should advise Paki courts to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Zardari before taking up any case

At least they will save much time and could help solve cases that will benefit common man.

Otherwise, seriously, why are Paki courts hell bent to screw Zardari....if they are playing politics too, why not just form a political party and play fair...PML-Lawyers? or Jamaat-e-Islami Lawyers party? are some suggestions.

Zardari grants pardon to Rehman Malik’s crony

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has granted another pardon, his second in two days and this time to the right hand man and crony of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who was pardoned on Monday night in a hush-hush cover up of his crimes.

Sajjad Haider, who was sentenced along with his patron and whose conviction was also upheld by the Lahore High Court (LHC) with him on May 17, has too been pardoned by President Asif Ali Zardari under Article 45 of the Constitution.

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 22 May 2010 07:30

It is a good question - why is the paki judiciary taking on PPP, which is, by Pakbarian standards, a modern, secular party? And setting free Hafiz Saeed and others of that sort? By getting rid of this party or its key leaders, the judiciary is simply enabling the empowerment of jihadis, radicals, talibans and mullas who will destroy judiciary itself. Therein lies the core (inner Pakistaniyat) of Pakistan - the self-destruct instinct.

An independent judiciary with a mandate from Allah to rid Pakistan of democracy

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 22 May 2010 07:35

Target-killing hits target of 39 - this seems to be a better way of sending animals to 72 as compared to IED, because no loss of pure due to suicide bombings....yet run-rate is quite decent..

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 22 May 2010 07:37

More begging, paki style
Mukhtar urges world community to solve Pakistan’s economic woes
Let me count the the ways how the west can/must bail out the porkis:

The Minister briefed the UN envoy about the economic and human losses suffered by Pakistan as a result of anti-terror operations.

He urged the International community to realize and understand Pakistan's difficulties as the war on terror had inflicted billions of dollar losses on its economy, apart from devastating educational and health infrastructure particularly in the terror-affected areas.

Ahmed Mukhtar said industrial zones needed to be set up in tribal areas with the help of international community to provide employment opportunities to residents of the area

.

Pakistan's economic conditions can be improved by granting it trade concessions by the Western World as well as entering into free agreement with it on the Turkish Model.

Otherwise, if the west doesn't help, the porkis will blow themselves up.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 22 May 2010 07:40

No space for terrorists in Pakistan: FO

no space will be given to terrorists, nor could the soil of Pakistan be allowed for acts of terrorism anywhere in the world

The Spokesman said the people of Pakistan had suffered enormously by this pernicious phenomenon, which had multiple dimensions. It was global, regional and local, he added

Which means, hey, if it is here, its because it is there too. It's everywhere. Get it?

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 22 May 2010 07:56

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/world ... ?ref=world

KARACHI, Pakistan — In this violent city of 18 million people, where the country’s wealthiest live just miles from thousands of extremist religious schools and their Taliban supporters, lies the urban front line of Pakistan’s struggle with Islamic militancy.

A thousand miles to the north, the Pakistani Army is fighting the Taliban in barren tribal lands, and the Central Intelligence Agency has unleashed an air war with drones.

But the infrastructure that propels the insurgency — recruits, money, hiding places, and ideological underpinning — is embedded across this grubby city on the Arabian Sea, according to politicians and militants alike.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 May 2010 08:10

An interesting letter in TFT

Banning truth

Sir,

We are a country that needs development in art, culture, media and entertainment. However, at times we take steps which will only hinder growth in these sectors. Banning the play ‘Burqavaganza’ is one of them.

The restrictive Saudi version of Islam has destroyed our society. Figures show that extremists have killed over five hundred people since the beginning of this year. There have been over 150 terrorist attacks in the country, leaving many injured as a burden on the society.

The majority of citizens believe that the authorities should rather have focused on banning the extremist literature available in markets, rather than banning a theatre show that portrays truth. The extremist literature pollutes the young minds, whereas the play depicts reality under Taliban regime where women are subjugated.

Ethsam Waheed,
Islamabad.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 22 May 2010 08:27

abhishek_sharma wrote:Pakistani Army Major Among 2 New Arrests in Bombing

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/world ... pstan.html

The article has some gems...

Pakistani Army Major Among 2 New Arrests in Bombing

An army officer and a businessman have been detained as part of a widening inquiry into a circle of Pakistanis who had some knowledge of the activities of the man charged with trying to set off a crude car bomb in Times Square, according to a Western official and an American intelligence official. The army officer was arrested in Rawalpindi...did not signal the involvement of the Pakistani Army in the attack, the intelligence official said.

The spokesman for the Pakistani Army denied earlier this week that an officer had been detained in the Times Square case. He said that an officer had been arrested because he had declined to fight, for religious reasons.

r_subramanian · Post by **r_subramanian** » 22 May 2010 08:28

Yet another warning from IMF

Pakistan warned against ignoring VAT
The International Monitory Fund (IMF) has warned Pakistan against non-implementation of the Value Added Tax with effect from July 1.
They have conveyed that both installments of $3.7 billion would not be disbursed in case VAT system is not implemented. In addition the government would be liable to return $7.6 billion that had already been received from the IMF.
...

link
Pakistan has repeatedly ignored such warnings in the past and got away with such behaviour. I do not think it would be any different this time. Greek government could learn a lesson or two from Pakistan on how to handle IMF!

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 22 May 2010 08:30

Even if Kiyanahi himself dons soosai vest unkil will react in the same manner, looks like.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 22 May 2010 08:59

This

Ajoka theatre based in Lahore has been attempting to challenge the status quo. Its plays rooted in the folk and street traditions of the subcontinent have raised political themes and placed political mobilisation at the centre of any discussion for social change. Recently, its play Dara Shikoh was staged in Lahore, and this marked a watershed in our cultural and political landscape. Dara Shikoh, the elder son of Emperor Shahjehan, despite his brutal murder at the hands of his Mullahesque brother Aurangzeb, continues to represent a fault line that runs through the past and the present of South Asia, especially in Pakistan.

To present a play on a prince who argued – with reason and reference – that there was little difference between the Upanishads and the tenets of mystical Islam, is not an ordinary feat in a country where powerful forces within the state and society are hell-bent on turning the Land of the Pure into a haven for cultural fascism. Above all, Dara’s stiff resistance to a militant version of Islam and its exclusionary theological constructs is perhaps most relevant in these times.

But of course, this was tantamount to demeaning Islam.

And this followed:

When Ajoka’s executive director Madeeha Gauhar called the other day to share the recent phase of her ‘struggle’ in the democratic era, she was obviously disturbed. And given her penchant for speaking the truth she was also not too charitable about the Mullah brigade. While she was talking on the phone, her voice faded and a recording of a Hamd (a eulogy for the Almighty) emerged from nowhere. This was amusing, yet quite unnerving. Our Constitution and laws prohibit anyone to monitor citizens’ expression and speech in the public and private spheres. And, to experience this intrusion was not pleasant at all.

....

More importantly, the bugged phone line sent a clear message: that la-deen (irreligious as secularism is understood by the clerics) Madeeha Gauhar had to be ‘censored’ even in a private conversation, and reminded that there is a God. And, the chosen, self-appointed representatives were managing the show in His name.

One more thing with at least 2 interesting points:

The propagation of Islam in the subcontinent was the handiwork of Sufis and sages who showed the path to a large number of people through the message of tolerance, harmony and reconciliation. Violence simply did not deliver in this part of the Islamic world.

This is why recognising the roots of our indigenous cultures is important. It is now the only weapon that Pakistan’s intelligentsia possesses.

1. Whatever you think if the history section, "violence simply did not deliver in this part" implies "violence delivered everywhere else".

2. The Pakistani intelligentsia, such as it is, by definition "demeans Islam". They had better pack up and move to Mumbai.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 22 May 2010 09:10

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/daw ... tile-jd-01
"Please save Pakistan's sinking textile"

Manufacturers fear large-scale redundancies are on the horizon and some senior government officials agree with them.
“Export of Pakistani yarn -- lifeline of our value-added textiles -- makes our own country uncompetitive and benefits our rivals,” said Khurram Mukhtar, chairman of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association.If our industry collapses, millions of workers and their families would be deprived of their bread and it would be a huge catastrophe. “It is true that uncertainty in our most rewarding export sector could force job cuts,” said Mirza Ikhtiar Beg, an adviser on textiles to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.Beg said at least 38 per cent of the country’s workforce was involved in textiles.In response to last week’s protests, Beg said the government had imposed a 15 percent regulatory duty on yarn exports for two months. But cotton producers, furious at an intervention they say will cost them money, retaliated with their own strike.“We shut 450 spinning mills across the country to protest against the regulatory duty, which is one-sided and just to appease those in value-added textiles,” Yasin Siddique, a spokesman for Pakistani yarn merchants, told AFP.He said spinners will strike at least once a week until the government withdraws the new tariff.The government’s intervention has also sparked independent criticism. “It will discourage free market strategy and deprive the yarn exporters of the profits they deserve,” warned an economist Ashfaq Hasan Khan.

( These thankless ,BC Paki live on Indian land , get water from India and also rely on Indian cotton to expand their export yet not aday go by they dont indulge in terrorism egged on by their idelogical obligations . Economic warfare is the pill to cure Paki disease )

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 22 May 2010 10:02

Not sure if posted before. 30 mins of video..showing LeT's operations.

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/wa ... rror-Trail

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 22 May 2010 10:52

IED mubarak in la-whore

Five low-intensity bomb blasts in City

P.S.: sorry I should not abuse the name of our own historic city which is now on the other side of the fence. But in this case of IED the name fits

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 May 2010 11:09

Gaurav_S wrote:Not sure if posted before. 30 mins of video..showing LeT's operations.

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/wa ... rror-Trail

In this video, Hamid Gul says that once the Western countries leave Afghanistan, the jihadis will turn their attention to Kashmir.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 22 May 2010 12:47

SSridhar wrote:Pak Taliban trying to overthrow government in Islamabad: US

All those sweet promises! Allah, Karim, when will you give us this day!

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 22 May 2010 12:59

Welcome back Rajesh Ji. Nice to see you back

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 May 2010 14:47

Welcome back Rajesh. All fine ?

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 22 May 2010 14:49

RajeshA, welcome back.

You were really missed here. Hope everything's alright.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 May 2010 14:52

Gaurav_S wrote:Not sure if posted before. 30 mins of video..showing LeT's operations.

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/wa ... rror-Trail

A good production. LeT == JuD. I have already posted my comments there. Towards the end, there is an incorrect reference though, to India not-implementing the UN resolution in Kashmir.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 22 May 2010 15:03

RajeshA wrote:
SSridhar wrote:Pak Taliban trying to overthrow government in Islamabad: US
All those sweet promises! Allah, Karim, when will you give us this day!

AoA!!, Missed your posts sir. Welcome back.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 22 May 2010 15:19

Gaurav_S wrote:Not sure if posted before. 30 mins of video..showing LeT's operations.

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/wa ... rror-Trail

This is not loading on my comp. Do I use a proxy server?

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 22 May 2010 15:28

^^
You could download the podcast.

http://media.sbs.com.au/podcasting/vide ... _Trail.mp4

Would be nice if someone could upload it to YouTube. Could do it but not before two more weeks though.

James B · Post by **James B** » 22 May 2010 16:27

Hiten wrote:^^
You could download the podcast.

http://media.sbs.com.au/podcasting/vide ... _Trail.mp4

Would be nice if someone could upload it to YouTube. Could do it but not before two more weeks though.

Uploaded on the megavideo site as they allow longer videos. Here is the link

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=OAT08VEF

Bhima · Post by **Bhima** » 22 May 2010 16:47

BBC Radio 4 Programme: The Pakistani Taliban

The Pakistani army has quashed the Taliban in tribal areas such as Swat by the use of military force. But has the problem of militancy been resolved? And how serious is the threat from Islamist insurgents in the heartlands of Pakistan, particularly the Punjab?

Owen Bennett-Jones investigates the appeal of these movements to young Pakistanis. How much are they about fundamentalist Islam? And how much are they a reaction to grievances about land, jobs and poverty?
Owen travels across the country, meeting both feudal landowners and the young Punjabis who are attracted by the lure of militancy.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 22 May 2010 17:16

Do you know why I love following the daily do-dos in and from the land of the pure? They lighten up my busy, overworked day. For example, here's a gem:

A drunkard on PIA flight from London

PIA flight PK 788 on April 15... A passenger on board misbehaved throughout the almost eight-hour flight to Pakistan. Halfway through the flight, the concerned man got into a physical altercation with another passenger, in which they ended up tussling right in the middle of the plane aisle. Whereas two fellow passengers intervened to control the situation, PIA’s cabin crew stood by as mute spectators, seemingly terrified. During this tussle, it later emerged that the man had allegedly physically molested an air hostess ; was drinking his own alcohol, which he had brought to the plane; was, as a result absolutely drunk and wielding a lighter in one hand and his alcohol in the other, he threatened to blow up the plane. The other gentleman claims that this man repeatedly made this grave threat.

Pakistan International Airlines crew members ....failed to restrain him or to remove either the alcohol or the lighter from his possession, leaving the British and Pakistani citizens on the flight in serious danger. Following this incident, the drunk man continued to get drunk and exhibit obnoxious behaviour. He was stumbling around the plane refusing to sit down and even going as far as smoking a cigarette on board. Again, his behaviour met with no resistance from PIA personnel, who really should have been trained to deal with such situations. What was truly shocking was that a threat had been made by the drunk man, who was capable of doing anything in his drunken stupor, and the pilot was nowhere to be seen, taking charge of the situation. Furthermore, upon arrival in Karachi, PIA had made no arrangements to hand over this man to the authorities. His name and his whereabouts were concealed Must have had some connections with Grade 14 government officers. The contentious individual kept changing his seat.

Now, honestly, tell me if this does not clearly reflect the true character of a twice-born paki? Little mercies in daily life.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 May 2010 17:19

TSP arrests a US Embassy caterer and 5 others for NY bomb attempt

Pakistani authorities have nabbed at least six collaborators of New York bombing suspect, including the co—owner of a catering company that organized some of the events for the US embassy, intelligence officials said.

The arrests made during the last couple of weeks show that Faisal Shehzad, the Pakistani—American man held for botched Time Square bombing, had interacted with the Pakistani extremists.

Those detained include a former army major, an employee of a cell phone company, and a computer expert, Shoaib Mughal, running a business in computer accessories in the capital, Islamabad.

The arrest of Salman Ashraf, who co—owned the upscale Hanif Rajput Catering Service, was of vital importance as he was specially recruited to attack foreign diplomats for whom the company provided services. A senior intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity that Ashraf had access to various embassies and could easily carry out terrorist attacks.

The US embassy also posted a statement on an official website warning US diplomats to avoid using servicing of the company for its links with the militants.

Ashraf, 35, studied in Houston till 2001, when he returned Pakistan to join the family business. As his father, Rana Ashraf, said he disappeared on May 10, when he was picked by the security agencies.

Officials said those arrested belong to well—to—do families and had no reason to join extremists group except “hatred” for the US, which is widespread in the country of 180 million.

The six were part of a ring that facilitated Shehzad’s travel to Pakistan’s tribal areas along Afghanistan border for training and also arranged money for the failed bombing.

Officials said some of the arrests were made after US passed vital tip—offs to Islamabad.

This is a new ex-Major, one more to the growing list Army officers (serving and/or retired) involved with terrorism. Didn't the LA Times report on 19th about a serving Army Major ?

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 22 May 2010 17:25

Botlegging; Paki style
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Venkarl · Post by **Venkarl** » 22 May 2010 17:48

anupmisra wrote:Do you know why I love following the daily do-dos in and from the land of the pure? They lighten up my busy, overworked day. For example, here's a gem:

A drunkard on PIA flight from London

PIA flight PK 788 on April 15... A passenger on board misbehaved throughout the almost eight-hour flight to Pakistan. Halfway through the flight, the concerned man got into a physical altercation with another passenger, in which they ended up tussling right in the middle of the plane aisle. Whereas two fellow passengers intervened to control the situation, PIA’s cabin crew stood by as mute spectators, seemingly terrified. During this tussle, it later emerged that the man had allegedly physically molested an air hostess ; was drinking his own alcohol, which he had brought to the plane; was, as a result absolutely drunk and wielding a lighter in one hand and his alcohol in the other, he threatened to blow up the plane. The other gentleman claims that this man repeatedly made this grave threat.

Pakistan International Airlines crew members ....failed to restrain him or to remove either the alcohol or the lighter from his possession, leaving the British and Pakistani citizens on the flight in serious danger. Following this incident, the drunk man continued to get drunk and exhibit obnoxious behaviour. He was stumbling around the plane refusing to sit down and even going as far as smoking a cigarette on board. Again, his behaviour met with no resistance from PIA personnel, who really should have been trained to deal with such situations. What was truly shocking was that a threat had been made by the drunk man, who was capable of doing anything in his drunken stupor, and the pilot was nowhere to be seen, taking charge of the situation. Furthermore, upon arrival in Karachi, PIA had made no arrangements to hand over this man to the authorities. His name and his whereabouts were concealed Must have had some connections with Grade 14 government officers. The contentious individual kept changing his seat.

Now, honestly, tell me if this does not clearly reflect the true character of a twice-born paki? Little mercies in daily life.

looks like no air marshals aboard PIA flights.....nice target for anti-Pak Taliban