An Islamabad High Court (IHC) bench Tuesday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to provide travel details of 6,001 persons who changed their religious status from Muslim to Qadiani.
Previously, Nadra on the orders of the IHC had told the court that 10,205 persons changed their religious status from Muslim to Qadiani.
The bench then directed Nadra to provide details that how many of them applied and got passports after change of their religion. Nadra told the court that 6,001 such persons applied and got passports.
The court observed that there are several youths who changed their religious status to get foreign citizenship.
Bakistan ka matlab qya? Karma is a she-dog!Professor Dr Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman, Member Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), as amicus curiae, submitted before the court that an Islamic state could introduce legislation to differentiate between Muslim and non-Muslim on the basis of collective wisdom.
Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, the second Head of the Ahmadiyya community propelled the formation of an all-Ahmadi volunteer militant force called Furqan Battalion that fought on the Kashmir front in 1948 as a non-State proxy of Pakistan army.
Formed in June 1948[2] at the direction of Ahmadiyya leader Mirza Mahmood, at the request of Pakistan government, the Furqan Force, along with the Pashtun Lashkar of Waziristan, was amongst the first non-State actors used by Pakistani State for Jihadist activities.
Alert: this is a paki link. https://lubpak.com/archives/317821In addition to its troops being drawn from the Ahmadiyya population, the expenses of maintaining the unit were also paid by that community.
Does the paki chief salute paki PM, have not seen him saluting NS, all pictures with NS were with short danda.anupmisra wrote:Baki TSPA boot licking continues.
Laws in many countries permit a lien on company assets for non payment of wages. While in some places it is determined by the principle 'first-in' against a primary lien holder in India wage claims rank in priority to other creditors.Falijee wrote:German Chief Executive Of PIA "Stole" Plane And Flew It To Germany In Revenge For Unpaid Salary
PIA plane taken to Germany caused heavy liabilities
Pakistan Observer
Karachi
A PIA A-130 aircraft, stolen from airline headquarters office in Karachi, now parked at a German airport has incurred heavy liabilities which authorities here find difficult to settle.It was flown to Germany by the then airline chief executive complaining his salaries had remained unpaid, and therefore he flew the aircraft to his country as compensation and initially sold to a museum for 5,000 US dollars. Does he have "clear title" on the plane
The question is how could civil aviation authorities whose control tower takes care of Pakistani air space, allowed it to take off, and on what grounds.Anything is possible in PakistanThe principle poser here is can a chief executive fly an aircraft. He must have pilot license, but even then he needed permission from authorities, particularly from airport control tower to take off or even taxi to runway. If that permission was given has enquiry been ordered against CAA officials or PIA customer service and maintenance officials. Nothing official is being given by airline management or its pubic relations department about the sordid episode. Newspaper "thinking out loud "Now the aircraft bearing Pakistani registration number is reportedly parked at one of the German airports. Its parking fee for such a long period has ballooned to beyond payment capacity of PIA which itself is suffering from lack of resources. The so-called demurrage charges
The question is how long this could be tolerated, and when will PIA aircraft, a national asset, will be able to be brought back. Stayed tuned . Chapter 2 of this "sordid episode" coming soon
He is obviously a pilot.nandakumar wrote:Laws in many countries permit a lien on company assets for non payment of wages. While in some places it is determined by the principle 'first-in' against a primary lien holder in India wage claims rank in priority to other creditors.Falijee wrote:German Chief Executive Of PIA "Stole" Plane And Flew It To Germany In Revenge For Unpaid Salary
PIA plane taken to Germany caused heavy liabilities
Pakistan Observer
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anupmisra Ji :anupmisra wrote:Peregrine wrote:X Posted on the P E S W Thread
Government eyes $61 billion export revenue in next five years
If the country achieves only 10 percent annual growth in exports the revenue could go up to $36.21 billion over the next five years. If exports grow 15 percent a year the foreign revenue could increase to $47.28 billion. But, with 20 percent annual growth, Pakistan’s exports could touch $61.03 billion over the next five years.anupmisra wrote:If wishes were horses....bakistan could be the next doobai.
CheersISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) was informed on Wednesday that the No Objection Certificate (NOC) submitted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan regarding his Banigala residence construction was fake and had never been issued by the authority concerned.
SLAMABAD: Maulana Mohammad Abdul Aziz is considered one of the most dangerous, yet influential, men in Pakistan.And while his movements in the country are restricted by the government, the 57-year-old former head cleric of Islamabad’s oldest mosque – Lal Masjid, better known as the Red Mosque – is still allowed to inspire new generations with his radical rhetoric.
We don’t see Pakistan anymore our destination, we will come out as a force to establish Islamic rule over the entire world,” Aziz told Fox News last week in a telephone interview, from his Islamabad compound known as Jamia Hafsa, a seminary school that boasts around 1,500 girls and 2,000 boys. “You will see the change within 10 years – if you stay alive.” IMO, he has solid Saudi funding and /or benefactors for his views. And "Deep State" dare not touch him . His "masjid" is in the same area as Deep State HQ !
In the government’s endeavour to root out terrorism, Aziz is banned from the mosque – which technically belongs to the state. But he and his wife continue to oversee teachings just a few miles away. “We want Sharia within our country and I, along with my pupils, will go to any extent to implement Sharia – even at the cost of waging a war against the country coerced government,” he declared. As compared to Hafiz Suar, he keeps a low profile
Aziz has long been known for his inflammatory sermons, anti-American ideology, for sparking global jihadist movements and supporting designated terrorist groups. In 2014, he even named his school’s library the “Martyr Usama Bin Laden Library” in honour of the former al Qaeda leader and 911 financier. “Usama had good relations with my late father, thus we don’t support the American narrative, declaring him a terrorist,” Aziz said. “He did jihad, to implement Sharia around the world. So, for us, he is an Islamist warrior. We title our library after his name with audacity.”
Soon after the 2015 San Bernardino massacre, in which female assailant and ISIS supporter Tashfeen Malik and her American husband, Syed Rizwan Farouk, slaughtered 14 of his co-workers, reports emerged that the Pakistani-born, Saudi Arabia-raised woman had been a Red Mosque student under Aziz.
Arabia-raised woman had been a Red Mosque student under Aziz.“I never met with her,” Aziz claimed, before eventually acknowledging that they may have had an encounter as he has “many female followers”. But if so, she would have been fully veiled, he said. “The United States is failing attempts to establish my link with that shooting.”
Under Aziz’s guidance at the Red Mosque in July 2007, scores of his baton-brandishing male and female students took to the streets outside. Video stores considered immoral were shuttered. Chinese women were abducted from a massage parlour they deemed to be a “brothel”, threats were made to throw acid in the face of female university students nearby, and a government ministry building was torched.
Tensions escalated between the militant mosque devotees and Pakistani Army into a bloody 10-day standoff that left over 100 people dead, including Aziz’s brother, mother and son. Aziz attempted to evade arrest by fleeing the chaotic scene disguised in a burka.“I taught my students to stand against the corrupt system immobilising the country.Pakistan has inherited the British system, solely non-believers,” Aziz said of the incident. “I attempted to escape in a long veil with the consent of my martyred brother Abdul during the operation, and secondly, Islam supports this act to conceal oneself in a state of emergency.”
The Pakistani government has – particularly in the wake of the 2014 Peshawar school slaughter – purported to squash terror-inspiring voices like Aziz. And many Pakistanis have expressed their staunch opposition to the extremist preacher. Those actions against him come at a cost.
And according to Smith, Aziz still has significant influence.“It is helpful to separate the ‘bad guys’ into two categories. There are those like the Haqqani Network that are actively and operationally involved in conducting terrorist targeting Afghanistan and US personnel and interests there; and then there are those espousing violent extremist ideologies, sowing the seeds of hatred and religious fundamentalism across Pakistani society,” Smith added.
“Aziz very much falls into the latter camp and within the spectrum of radical Pakistani preachers remains a very prominent figure. While the first group poses the most immediate threat to the US and Afghanistan, it’s arguably the latter group that’s doing the most long-term damage in the all-important war of ideas.” Aziz is ideologically more dangerous in the long term !
Brandishing Paki Identity Cards and asking for World Mercy What were these (most likely illegal ) Pakis doing in Syria in the first place . The "Gujrat District Of Pakjab" is a hotbed of illegal emigration. Most of those dead in the recently Libyan boat tragedy "hailed" from that region.The couple hails from Gujrat district of Punjab and was living in Syria from 1973
I guess the reporter meant A310.. This guy flew a wide body aircraft out of Pak, and just to spite his employers sold it for 5000 dollars??Falijee wrote:German Chief Executive Of PIA "Stole" Plane And Flew It To Germany In Revenge For Unpaid Salary
PIA plane taken to Germany caused heavy liabilities
Pakistan Observer
Karachi
A PIA A-130 aircraft, stolen from airline headquarters office in Karachi, now parked at a German airport has incurred heavy liabilities which authorities here find difficult to settle.
Confirming that the plane had gone missing, the minister said: “We have also formed a committee to probe the matter but it has not found any clue so far.”
When contacted, PIA spokesman Mashhood Tajwar told Dawn it was not a Boeing plane rather Airbus-A-310. “It’s not missing. It’s in Germany,” he remarked.
Sardar Mehtab further revealed that PIA had to pay as much as $200,000 in parking fee for the aircraft in Germany.
If they have been living in Syria since 1973, how did they get those brand new spanking paki IDs? Hain?Falijee wrote:Pakistani couple besieged in Syria rescued after 7 years
The couple hails from Gujrat district of Punjab and was living in Syria from 1973
So, the pakis have to pay a one time landing and daily parking fee on top of the dry lease rent which they are still liable for. There is a god.sudhan wrote:Sardar Mehtab further revealed that PIA had to pay as much as $200,000 in parking fee for the aircraft in Germany.
Pakistan is ready for one-on-one talks with the Afghan Taliban
Pakistan will not make the same mistakes now and keep American interests above its own
Pakistan is currently going through an period of uncertainty
So, it is true. Bakis are at best tactical. Strategic thinking is non-existent. BTW...what about mediating with the tellibunnies in their own territory?"The US can have an interest in Pak India discussions, but before that it should create some balance in its South Asia policy."
The brand has joined forces with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for the SOS – Save Our Species program. Instead of the crocodile, we'll be seeing 10 endangered species in the same style.
I wonder if even their (in)famous tactical brilliance is deserting them nowadays as they get squeezed from all sides.anupmisra wrote:Bakis are at best tactical. Strategic thinking is non-existent.
SLAMABAD – Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on Thursday selected 87,813 lucky applicants in balloting on 50 percent quota of Haj 2018 under government scheme by holding a computerized draw.
This year record-breaking Haj applications were received as 374,829 people submitted applications for the Government Haj scheme 2018. The ministry received the highest number of applications from Karachi, totaling 81,985. It was followed by Lahore with 72,483, while Islamabad stood third with 67,896. Some obviously fall in the category of " Billi chuhah kha kar Hajj ko chali" . This year much was made of Paki Transgenders "looking forward" to their chance for hajj. Hope there is no objection from the Mullah Brigade to this concession to the officially approved third sex
Saudi authorities have allocated provisional quota of 179,210 pilgrims to Pakistan for this year. Under the policy, the government is to select 120,000 pilgrims, while remaining will be allocated to private tour operators. The Saudis are leery of Paki pilgrims coming for hajj, overstaying their visit and indulging in all sorts of Anti Malsic behaviour
Paki liars are double counting the 6067 millions held by private people. Actual Paki government reserves are 12345-6067= 6278 Millions.Peregrine wrote:X Posted on the PESW Thread
Foreign exchange: SBP's reserves plunge $358 Million, stand at $12.35 Billion
On February 23, foreign currency reserves held by the central bank were recorded at $12,345.6 million, down $358 million or 2.82% compared to $12,703.7 million in the previous week.
Overall, liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $18,413.3 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,067.7 million.[u
Cheers
Prem Ji :Prem wrote:Peregrine wrote:X Posted on the PESW Thread
Foreign exchange: SBP's reserves plunge $358 Million, stand at $12.35 Billion
On February 23, foreign currency reserves held by the central bank were recorded at $12,345.6 million, down $358 million or 2.82% compared to $12,703.7 million in the previous week.
Overall, liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $18,413.3 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,067.7 million.
CheersPrem wrote:Paki liars are double counting the 6067 millions held by private people. Actual Paki government reserves are 12345-6067= 6278 Millions.
BEIJING: Seafood from Pakistan is gaining in popularity in China, not only because of its low prices but also because of support from government policies. A report from the UK-based undercurrentnews.com in December 2016 said that China had overtaken the EU and Japan at that point to become the largest seafood export market for Pakistan. The Chinese "love" their seafood. Under CPEC ( Colonizing Pakistan To Enrich China!) Pakistan has now "invited" the Chinese to come and invest in Pakistan. China has accepted the offer and in return has send thousands of Chinese to work in Paki cities. In due course of time, the Chinese will become the largest domestic users of Paki Sea Food . The locals will see no sea food
“Currently, domestic demand exceeds supply in terms of Pakistani seafood imports,” Chen Hai’ou, president of Kashgar Mufeng and Hezhengyuan Biotechnology Co, told the Global Times.Several seafood distributors said that Pakistani seafood , compared with seafood imported from other sources, is more cost-effective .Other types of Paki food will also be "cost effective" and will be readily imported from Pakiland through the CPEC Highway !
In recent years, the Chinese government has rolled out measures that have encouraged and facilitated imports of seafood from Pakistan and India. = =
One example is the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the one Belt and one Road initiative, which has enriched
According to Chen, in the past, Pakistani seafood could enter China only via sea or air transport. But, after the corridor was set up, his company started importing Pakistani seafood by land transportation via Pakistan’s Gwadar Port as well as via Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.“Pakistani seafood needs to travel only for three days via land transportation to China, compared with 40 days by the sea, so the cash conversion cycle can be much shorter,” Chen said, adding that the seafood will be sold in northwestern and southwestern regions in China. Pakis should beware ! Thin edge of a wide wedge
Chen also said that with the large demand for seafood in those regions, as well as the lower transportation costs, more companies will engage in seafood trade with Pakistan. “The business has a promising future,” he said.Apart from transportation, the government has also lowered import tariffs on many types of seafood such as frozen crabs and shrimps, starting from December 2017. Sea food lovers of Pakiland should say "goodbye" to shrimps, lobsters, crabs and other assorted items now on their menu list
They agree that seafood and fruit (So, the Pakis are going to be "fruitless" as well.
It is now feasible to meet Xinjiang consumers’ demand for seafood with Pakistan’s high-quality products, and this will certainly expand China’s imports from the South Asian country. Instead of "gloating" over this development, the newspaper should be thinking of the long term consequences of this dangerous trend !
Islamabad: The Government of Japan will provide a grant of 393 million JPY (approximately USD 3.5 million) to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for supporting its initiative to provide quality alternative education to out-of-school children and adolescents in Pakistan .$ 3.5 Million for Japan is "chicken feed" in their overall budget !
Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged here today between H.E. Mr Takashi Kurai, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan and Ms.Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan andMr. Yasuhiro Tojo, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The grant will be used by UNICEF during its new country programme (2018-2022), to establish 400 centres under the Alternative Learning Programme (ALP), led by the Government of Pakistan . Another social function of Govt ( education) palmed off and outsourced to a "foreign friend" for lack of funds
Nearly 15,000 adolescents between ages 9 to 16 as well as younger children would get a second chance to quality primary education at these centres to be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Hope that stringent controls are in place to ensure that 100% of the earmarked funds will be used for the intended purpose and the money does not go to enrich politicians, bureaucrats or Fauji officers !
Hope the Japan Govt asks for a report and then audit the financial reportAs one of the largest donors for UNICEF in Pakistan , the Government of Japan’s continued support to our country programme is invaluable.”Under the guidance of the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training and in collaboration with the provincial education departments, of the total 400 ALP centres, 90 will be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 160 in Balochistan and 150 in Sindh.
A total of 13 priority districts have been selected across the three provinces for establishing these centres with a special focus on the enrolment of girls. The ALP centres will have trained facilitators, learning materials and curriculum. Communities will be mobilized for enrolment and retention of children and adolescents.
Raman wrote:As usual, one of their 3.5 will come over and ensure the IMF provides a bail out. (Or else a failed state with nuclear weapons onleee!)
Depending on who it is, the Pakis will do one of, or a combination of:
- gubo
- goubough
- geaubeaux
- qu bo
The pakis will happily take the money and build more nukes.
Lather, rinse and repeat.
Lol. Nice one. My vote is on the last one, given Mandarin shall soon be one of Pak's official languages. (Added later) I would suggest adding another one: смазать сгибом, (pronounced smazat' sgibom) given the Right H'ble Khawaja Asif's recent visit to, and prematurely triumphalistic tweeting from, Moskva.After much debate and speculation following the February Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary, the dust has finally settled: Pakistan will be placed on the FATF grey-list in June. It is now worth exploring what this means for Pakistan, particularly its economy, and the potential of this event to cause a shift in the country’s security and strategic calculus.
Some analysts have argued that the grey-listing will squeeze Pakistan’s economy and make it harder for the country to meet its mounting foreign financing needs, including potential future borrowings from the International Monetary Fund. They have also argued that the grey-listing could lead to a downgrade in Pakistan’s debt ratings, making it more difficult to tap into the international bond markets.
The factual evidence, both historic and current, suggests that these assertions are simply incorrect. Pakistan was on the FATF grey-list from 2012 to 2015, a period during which it successfully completed an IMF program and raised over $5 billion from the international bond markets. During this period Pakistan’s imports and exports remained stable, evidence that the grey-listing did not raise any significant barriers to trade.
The reaction of the bond markets to the FATF’s decision has also been muted. Ten-year bonds issued by the country in 2017, for example, have had a decline in their yield from a high of almost 7.4 percent on February 14, 2018 to below 7.1 percent on February 26, 2018. This evidence supports the claim made by Miftah Ismail, adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister, that the economic impact of the grey-listing will be minimal.
It is, however, important to view the FATF’s decision as one of several recent events that should concern Pakistan. Since coming to power, the Trump administration has made a concerted effort to coerce Pakistan into ending its support of nonstate armed groups such as the Haqqani Network. Initially, Pakistan reacted nonchalantly to this shift in policy and released Hafiz Saeed, leader of the Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the man India holds responsible for the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, from house arrest in November of 2017.
President Donald Trump responded via Twitter and said that Pakistan has given the United States “nothing but lies & deceit.” The United States then showcased a willingness to squeeze Pakistan’s finances: the administration suspended assistance of over $1 billion, which included military assistance and the release of Coalition Support Funds (CSF), money which the United States owes to Pakistan for military operations, according to Pakistani officials.
Sensing that the United States would use the FATF’s February meeting to up the ante, Islamabad began to set its house in order. Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain issued an ordinance that amended the country’s 1997 Anti-Terrorism Act and placed Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) on the country’s banned organizations list. The government followed up by taking over both organizations’ assets, which includes thousands of staff and volunteers and dozens of schools and clinics. It is worth noting here that it took Pakistan almost 10 years – JuD had been declared a terrorist front group by the United Nations Security Council in 2008 – to act against these organizations.
Pakistan also mounted a last-ditch attempt to cement support from its traditional allies, including Saudi Arabia, China, and Turkey. To garner Saudi support, Pakistan agreed to send an additional 1,000 troops to Saudi Arabia, something it had refused to do in 2015. All of this proved to be too little too late as only Turkey supported Pakistan at the FATF plenary.
Pakistan has survived previous rounds of international pressure and there is scant evidence that the strategic calculus of Pakistan’s security establishment is shifting this time around. The strategy to mainstream the LeT has not been abandoned: the Milli Muslim League (MML), a political party associated with Hafiz Saeed, was launched last year. United States officials have also said that they have not seen any visible action by the Pakistanis against the Haqqani Network and its facilitators. Civil society continues to be targeted, with Pashtun youth organizing against extrajudicial killings by security forces bearing the brunt in recent days.
Pakistan is a classic case of moral hazard: its security establishment is used to taking outsized risks and not suffering the consequences because of protection offered by one or more international patrons, including the United States. What is different this time around is that China and Saudi Arabia, strategic partners that have historically supported Pakistan, have signaled that they will not unconditionally stand by their ally. There is also an ongoing debate in Pakistan around the country’s security and foreign policy and a growing recognition that policies rooted in the pre-9/11 mindset are leading to greater international isolation. The optimists may cautiously hope that a nudge by the Chinese coupled with a growing domestic debate may finally lead to a shift in Pakistan’s strategic posture. However, those that have closely followed Pakistan would argue that even a cautiously optimistic assessment is too optimistic.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’ energy sector’s circular debt is estimated to have gone beyond a record Rs 922 billion mark by end of November 2017.
According to a report submitted to the parliament this week, the Ministry of Finance has put the amount of circular debt at Rs 472.678bn as of November 30, 2017.
CheersThe report, however, did not explain that another Rs 450bn debt was separately parked with Power Holding Private Limited (PHPL) — a subsidiary of the power division — created to raise funds from commercial banks and is financed through surcharges built into the consumer tariff.
CheersWASHINGTON: The United States has urged India and Pakistan to sit down and talk about the issues that increase tensions between South Asia’s two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Three volatile ingredients are now in the explosive pot of Pakistani politics. No one quite knows what the broth will taste like when it is finally cooked and served up to the hapless people of Pakistan.
The first is the stunning victory of the PMLN in Lodhran over the PTI’s opening batsman Jehangir Tareen. The second is Imran Khan’s shocking third marriage to a hastily divorced Pirni from Pakpattan with five children. A third is the extraordinary judgment of the Supreme Court disqualifying Nawaz Sharif from being President of the PMLN and nullifying his decisions in that capacity retrospectively.
The Lodhran victory by a nondescript PMLN worker over a scion of the Tareen family has encouraged Nawaz Sharif to flog this victory as a reaffirmation of his “anti-iqama disqualification” narrative plus “development agenda” in the Punjab, even though local sentiment against the Tareens because of “sugar policy politics” may have been no less significant. This victory has emboldened Mr Sharif to become more aggressive in his anti-judiciary campaign,... Nawaz has been "badmouthing" the judiciary in his current tour of Pakiland
Imran Khan’s third marriage at “election time” has added to the PTI’s woes. It is no less frowned upon than the second one was during his “dharna politics” period. In a deeply conservative society, and one to which Khan panders with his reiteration of “traditional values” etc., it just isn’t done to go off with a “friend’s wife”, mother of five, and his “pirni” to boot.... From the looks of it, it seemed liked the PTI party got married and not Immy
However, it is the SC’s judgement against Mr Sharif that has the potential to change the political landscape of Pakistan. By also retrospectively nullifying Mr Sharif’s decisions in his capacity as President of the PMLN, it has cast a deep shadow over the fate of the Senate elections due next week because the PMLN candidates were formally approved by Mr Sharif. Either the Election Commission will have to postpone the elections until a new PMLN President is elected and formally approves the candidates or it will have to go ahead without the PMLN candidates and accord victory to the opponents by default. The Deep State make Ganja irrelevant to Paki politics, by hook or by crook - not sure it can be done, IMO !
Far more significant is the consequential negative impact of this judgment on the credibility and fate of the judiciary. Essentially this judgment has struck a blow against the fundamental constitutional rights of citizens to assemble a political party and its leadership on the unprecedented yardstick of “morality” rather than “integrity or sovereignty of Pakistan or public order”. This flies against the accepted jurisprudence of the land – Articles 62 and 63 apply specifically and only to members of parliament and may not be applied outside parliament to members of political parties – and is so overarching as to restrict many freedoms under the new rubric. It also lends weight to Mr Sharif’s accusation that the law and Constitution are being bent and broken simply to get rid of him personally and forever. If media reports are to be believed, Hajam Sethi is an ardent supporter of Nawaz !
We are in Danger Zone. The old notion of “The Establishment” obliquely referred to the civil-military bureaucratic oligarchy. Now, with the judiciary leading the charge, the meaning of the “Miltablishment” is becoming clear to the layman. We should be deeply worried if a perception gains currency that this conflict has become highly personalised, that the judges are fronting for the military, that some of them have a Messiah complex, and Nawaz Sharif is on a populist path that has the potential under these circumstances to plunge state and society into chaos.
Posh accents, fashionable attire, celebrity writers that are whisked off as soon as they are done speaking — the literary festival thrives off an air of cool impenetrability. The bigger the festival the more security and detachment it necessitates, feeding off its own carefully cultivated mystique of inapproachability.
Literary festivals in Pakistan — particularly their pioneering and most enduring iterations, the KLF and the LLF — have been criticised for their elitist foundations since the time of their inception. As a response to this criticism a couple of sessions in local languages have been added in recent years.
Even then it’s hard to escape the feeling that non English-speaking panels are a token addition and that the literary festival is really the property of a business-savvy, well-connected crowd that knows how to package literature for a well-to-do audience. Its aim is not an engagement with local audiences, but to be the arbiter of taste for the select few.
Perhaps this is what explains the notable absence of major Pakistani writers in English like Mohammed Hanif, Bilal Tanweer and Musharraf Ali Farooqi (the latter two also residents of the city where the festival is being held).
Interestingly, the biggest draw of the LLF this year is the international movie star and rapper, Riz Ahmed, who played the protagonist in the movie version of Mohsin Hamid’s novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He has also written a moving long-form piece about his experience as a brown actor in Hollywood. His literary credentials beyond that are unconfirmed but bringing one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2017 to Lahore is a marketing coup for the LLF, a piece of marketing genius it is consistently adept at pulling.
But the fact still remains that there are sharp divisions in the country’s literature on linguistic and class lines, and those with money and influence get the lion’s share of media coverage and hype. Thank God, that this festival finished without any untoward accident !
Sharing some thoughts on this. Nothing which isn't already known over here, just compiled some of that in a layman's language.Peregrine wrote:FO deplores India's ban on Pakistani artistes
With the Pakistani State apparatus actively fomenting / sponsoring terror inside India, each and every Pakistani citizen paying tax to his Govt in whichever form, is actually enabling it kill Indian soldiers and civilians.
The State support for terror is blatant. At times it is apparent for all to see as in Punjab Govt budget catering money for Hafiz Saeed’s JuD. (Pakistan’s Punjab Government allocates funds for JuD centre)
Other times too it is quite apparent, esp when a retired Terroristani Army Chief boasts about it. This specimen refers to use of terrorists as ‘the asymmetric war led by men with high motivation’. Very clever, I’d say! (DEVISING A ROBUST DEFENCE POLICY: Mirza Aslam Beg)
Since terror is a State policy of the Islamic Republic of The Land of the Pure, I’d rather constrict the resources available to them to do so, or at the very least, try not to add to the funds available for them to do so. A Ghulam Ali, talented as he might be, making money off you and me will pump most of it in Pakistani economy, ultimately putting it to use to kill my countrymen.
And then someone like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan would go a step further, choosing to smuggle it out in cash without even paying the mandatory Indian taxes! (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan stopped at IGI airport with cash in baggage)
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At the end of the day, ‘Art has no Boundaries’ is a universal truth which I too endorse, but to say that you make money off me and use it to try and kill me, is something I’d be an idiot to endorse. Simply for this reason, I am all for chucking out terror sponsoring Pakistani artists / sportsmen.
On January 16, 2018, the government of Pakistan unveiled a fatwa ("Islamic decree"), which was described as the Pakistani "nation's unanimous declaration to counter extremism and end terrorism."[1] Media reports said that the fatwa was seconded by more than 1,800 Islamic scholars.[2] The fatwa is published as a book called Paigham-e-Pakistan ("The Message Of Pakistan"), written by the researchers of the Islamic Research Institute at the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI). The revision and endorsement of the 121-page book, as noted in it, was carried out by "eminent scholars of all schools of thought, muftis [jurists] and professors of national universities."The draft of "The Message Of Pakistan" was presented at a seminar on May 26, 2017. At the seminar, a joint declaration and a fatwa were also released. Later, religious scholars from divergent schools of Islam discussed and approved "The Message Of Pakistan," which will be referred to in this article as the Fatwa. "The Message identifies the problems faced by the State of Pakistan and provides basis to devise a strategy to achieve the goals of Objectives Resolution," the preface says and adds: "This document is now published with the approval of the State of Pakistan to implement it as a bisic [sic] national code of conduct." The Objectives Resolution refers to a code which, in short, led to the Islamization of the Pakistani state and unleashed religious extremism in Pakistani society.
The Fatwa was released at a function in Islamabad presided over by Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and attended by Islamic scholars, academics, and government ministers.
Despite this noble goal, a running deception behind this Fatwa, as discussed below, is its total silence about how Islam treats religious minorities. Pakistan pays "lip service" to minorities . Policies ( on paper ) and practice are entirely two different things.!
The Fatwa – Or "The Message Of Pakistan"
Chapter 1 – Islamic Code Of Conduct
Chapter 2 – Islamic Republic Of Pakistan
Chapter 3 – The State Of Pakistan And Challenges Faced By Pakistani Society
Chapter 4 – Joint Declaration
9. "All public and private educational institutions must not impart any hostile military education or training, hatred, extremism and violence." In principle, this point is just. In practice, all provincial governments have published school textbooks that teach hate against Pakistani Hindus, Christians, and other religious minorities.
Chapter 5 – Unanimous Fatwa (May 26, 2017)
In response to the fourth question, the 2017 fatwa declares that anyone fighting against the government "in the name of implementation of Shari'ah" is "committing High Treason" against an Islamic state. " My" Islam is better than "your" Islam syndrome
Basically a propaganda doc . !A 9-point summary of Chapter 5 also endorses the Pakistani military line. The peoples of India and Afghanistan, who are on the receiving end of the Pakistani military-sponsored jihadi war, will find absolutely nothing in this 121-page Message of Pakistan. If the state of Pakistan is sincere in offering equality and peace to non-Muslims within Pakistan itself, here is what it must do as a first step: abolish Article 41 (2) which states: "A person shall not be qualified for election as President unless he is a Muslim." This will allow a non-Muslim Pakistani citizen to become the president of Pakistan and revolutionize the principle of equality that Islamic clerics say Islam teaches.
