Terroristan - April 24, 2018

[g.sarkar]

https://www.firstpost.com/india/to-solv ... 94221.html
To solve Kashmir conundrum, India needs political will to carry 'irregular war' into enemy territory
Prakash Katoch Jun 04, 2018
The euphoria over Pakistani DGMO asking for a ceasefire and both India-Pakistan agreeing to abide by the 2003 agreement has been shattered with two BSF jawans were killed and 12 civilians injured on Sunday after Pakistan pounded 10 posts and 35 villages in the Jammu region.
Soon afterward, Indian television news channels labelled Pakistan “coward”, ISI-henchman Masood Azhar publicly declared firing will not cease, and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the DGMOs from the two countries must talk. It is the same cycle that follows every such incident because India consistently fails to acknowledge the strategic asymmetry that Pakistan enjoys over India in terms of irregular warfare.
Take a look at the ‘conditional’ ceasefire that was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir during Ramzan on the advice of Mehbooba Mufti. Many write-ups appeared hailing it under the euphuism of Non-Initiation of Combat Operations (NICO). The Americans are leaders in coining terms like NICO — remember the terms “violent terrorism”, “good terrorists”, “bad terrorists”? From the American perspective, “good terrorists” can continue with their radicalisation programmes till they don’t indulge in “violent terrorism”. But in citing NICO, India forgets that the Americans are not engaged in counter-insurgency on US soil. They can afford a lull in supporting an administration in foreign territory. Instability may be beneficial for continued presence, apart from many other reasons. During NICO, US troops can go into their ‘green’ zones under layers of security.
All this, however, is hardly relevant to Jammu and Kashmir where NICO implies opportunity for terrorists to regroup in the absence of cordon and search operations, and search and destroy missions. Not that any action is taken against armed terrorists who even fire weapons during funerals of those killed! One major reason cited for NICO in Jammu and Kashmir is that Kashmiri youth were joining militancy in increasing numbers. Militants killed in the Valley rose from 12 in 2014 to 23 in 2015, 33 in 2016 and 80 in 2017. Correspondingly, the number of youth joining militancy rose from 53 in 2014 to 66 in 2015, 88 in 2016 and 131 in 2017. They arrived at the conclusion that conditional ceasefire would deter the youth from joining militancy. Was any analysis done why the youth are joining militancy and what is likely to happen during NICO? What about after Ramzan is over?
.....
Gautam

[anupmisra]

Is MQM leader Haidar Abbas Rizvi driving Uber in Canada?

The former deputy parliamentary leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Haidar Abbas Rizvi has become the talk of town after images of his alleged Uber profile went viral online.

The ex-parliamentarian had kept himself under the radar ever since he moved to Canada but was under the limelight again after he was reportedly spotted driving a cab for ride-hailing service Uber.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/32513 ... -in-canada

[Falijee]

Herr Kobler, The "Good Friend Of Pakistan" Speaks Out Against Scammers And Fake Consultants Of Pakiland !

...the process of getting a visa appointment from the German embassy in Islamabad is quite cumbersome....The German Ambassador to Pakistan highlighted this pathetic and irresponsible behavior by consultants

Meanwhile, the "germane" ambassador, who has gone native, washed his car with only a bucket of water, displaying his team spirit in helping pakiland save water for other important purposes. Bhai wah!

German Ambassador Washes Car With Bucket, Saves Water For Pakistan

German Ambassador to pakistan Martin Kobler seems more concerned about water insecurity in Pakistan than many of our authorities as he recently posted a picture on Twitter while washing his car using a bucket.

In a bid to save water for Pakistan and spread awareness regarding the issue, Kobler said, “Using a bucket to save water while washing my car. Pakistan ranks third amongst countries facing water shortage. One major reason is excessive use. 100 liters wasted washing a car with running tap water.

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/g ... 60576.html

Anupmisra -ji :
Here is a "capital" suggestion ( should be sent to Herr Kobbler via Teeter ) . The German Amb should get in touch with Jahil- Ham-Eid ( again via twitter !) and both of them - since they are "obsessed" with water scarcity in Pakiland - should jointly prepare a Water Policy Paper under the auspices of the Famous Brasstack "Think Tank" and jointly present it to the ( Deep State ) GOP. As a "bonus" the German Govt should invite "Herr Ham- Eid" on an "all expense paid" tour of Germany, to lecture of Ghazwa-e- Hind and other "relevant" Islamic matters

[Falijee]

Is MQM leader Haidar Abbas Rizvi driving Uber in Canada?

Rest snipped....

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/32513 ... -in-canada

Anupmisra-ji :

Did he jumped ship from the BIG APPLE and "escape" - across the NY / Ontario and /or Quebec Line and on to Toronto to flee POTUS crackdown on illegals. Just wondering. Or maybe, just maybe the Canadian Govt just obliged him with a Kannadian Vijja

[Falijee]

Chief Justice takes notice of acute water shortage in country

Water shortage ( short term as well as long term !) seems to be a "hot topic" of discussion these days in the Paki Press . ( Suo Moto ) Saquib should "get in touch" with Herr Kobbler, the German Amb ( who is also extremely concerned about water shortage in Pakiland ). They have "good company" in Herr Ham-Eid the "crazy guy" from the Isloo Think Tank ( Brasstack) who is having "sleepless nites" thinking about this "Made In India" problem !!!

[Falijee]

"PAKI "INTELLECTUALS AND HEAVY THINKING ". AN OXYMORON TERM . EXAMPLE DOWN BELOW

Tarek Fatah ਤਾਰੇਕ ਫਤਹ
‏Verified account @TarekFatah
11h11 hours ago

When three Pakistani intellectuals do some heavy thinking about the #Russia2018WorldCup


The "Bro" thing is important, if you are communicating with a "certified momeen"

[Falijee]

Pinned Tweet
Colin Cookman
‏ @colincookman
5h5 hours ago

Pakistan appears ready to hold nation-wide parliamentary elections later this summer. Today I am releasing a new paper that aims to provide a comprehensive guide to the elections, as well as a new open-source dataset on elections.

Previewing Pakistan’s 2018 Elections

Summary

Pakistani voters are set to go the polls later this summer to take part in the eleventh nationwide general elections in the country’s history. The elections will be only the second transition from a full-term civilian-elected government to a successor in the country’s history. Uncertainty over the outcome remains high; to date, no national government has been elected to a second consecutive term.
After starting its tenure in 2013 with a ruling majority, the outgoing government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) left office with its eponymous chief, Nawaz Sharif, embroiled in multiple legal battles and disqualified by the courts from holding elected or party office. His brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, must now lead the party into elections while countering defections, managing succession strains, and balancing intra-party disputes over how forcefully to confront the judiciary and military establishment in response to Nawaz’s disqualification.
While the PML-N’s tenure saw comparatively higher levels of macroeconomic growth, conditions in its final years in office — including decelerating remittances, rising international oil prices, weakening exports and diminishing currency reserves, among other factors — may undercut the party’s efforts to portray itself as an effective steward of Pakistan’s economic development during the upcoming campaign period.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by former cricket star Imran Khan, has sought to bounce back from 2013 electoral losses through persistent challenges to the PML-N government, including mass street protests, legal petitions, and allegations of corruption. The PTI has also sought to supplant the former head of government, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), in order to consolidate the opposition vote and oust the PML-N. Since former President Pervez Musharraf’s departure from office in 2009, the Pakistani military has increasingly shifted to less visible forms of influence and background pressure, but remains a dominant force. Other actors outside the formal electoral system, including the judiciary, media, and both armed and unarmed organizations and social movements, also play major roles in shaping the pre-election environment. As Pakistani politics polarized along regional lines in the 2013 elections, the PML-N government has slow-rolled or walked back some decentralization measures initiated by its predecessor. Political dynamics at the provincial level have also experienced major shifts, including the fracturing of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), previously a dominant force in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi, into at least four different factions; the collapse of a PML-N coalition government in Balochistan and formation of a new breakaway party; and the approval during the outgoing government’s final week in office of the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Paktunkhwa province, scheduled to take place after the elections are concluded. A new national census in 2017, the first in nearly twenty years, and the redrawing of constituencies by the Election Commission in early 2018 has also restructured the boundaries of the electoral competition. These and other changes related to the administration and adjudication the polls may be a significant source of future legal and political disputes, and have the potential to shift election outcomes, especially in a fragmented or narrowly-divided contest.

The report itself is quite detailed and long !

[Falijee]

Ghafoor Bhai's Example # 1

Taha Siddiqui
‏ @TahaSSiddiqui
2h2 hours ago

Ghafoor bhaii yeh relevant authorities matlab Aabpaara ka abduction unit?

[Falijee]

Ghafoor Bhai's Example # 2


Taha Siddiqui
‏ @TahaSSiddiqui
2h2 hours ago

In 2017 at #ISPR HQ General Asif Ghafoor showed me a file (which he said was confidential) with similar diagram abt my tweets. I laughed with journo colleagues abt it saying how childish was their approach at propaganda. Never thot they'd go with same at national/int'l level


Introduction of the Chini Censorship System

[anupmisra]

Sheikh Rashid asks for elections to be delayed, cites '50 degree summer heat'

Talking to reporters in his hometown of Rawalpindi, he also complained that: "We're going into elections but still do not have voting lists or a final decision on delimitation."

Rashid, a key political ally of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, used the rising mercury to make his case, saying: "For the first time in my life, I want to request [sic] the chief justice ... My mothers, daughters and sisters would not want to stand in cues for two to three hours in this 50 degree heat.

people cannot climb up three floors in this weather

It's 50 degrees in Pindi, [imagine] what the temperature would be in Nawabshah, Rohri."

We'd have to make arrangements for water too at the 1,180 polling stations.

"Of course, PTI is the bigger party and it has to take these decisions, but my understanding with Imran Khan was that I would also be consulted regarding the PTI's candidates," he said. "But so far my consultation has not been sought."

Someone is not happy!

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412190/sheik ... ummer-heat

[anupmisra]

Man killed in celebratory firing in Bajaur

Firing in the air during a ceremony to celebrate award of party ticket for the National Assembly seat to a PTI leader claimed a life and left another three injured here on Sunday night, officials and locals said.

Quoting the Levies personnel, the officials said the fireworks were underway, when some jubilant party workers started firing in the air with Kalashnikovs

AK phyr!! Now this is how mard-e-momeens celebrate. Not like the cowering Yindoos who distribute ladoos.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412156/man-k ... -in-bajaur

[anupmisra]

This is how the working class in bakistan is taught a lesson on punctuality.

Housemaid killed, sister injured in Lakki Marwat

The house owner opened fire on the victim, her sister and father, Rafiullah for coming late, a police official said, adding the housemaid died instantly while her sister was seriously wounded and shifted to a hospital in Naurang city.

Rafiullah told police that he miraculously escaped the attack and was so frightened that he left the scene in a hurry.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412158/house ... kki-marwat

[anupmisra]

Protest in Swat against attack on PTM leader
Are the pashtoons carrying Indian flags?



https://www.dawn.com/news/1412149/prote ... ptm-leader

[anupmisra]

Cotton sowing target unlikely to be achieved

The textile industry may face a crisis as the country is in danger of missing the cotton sowing target in the wake of an alarming water shortage.

So far only 70 per cent of the sowing target has been achieved

no chance of attaining the cotton crop production target of 14.37 million bales for the 2018-19 season as the water scarcity issue is not going to be resolved soon

Reports from Punjab’s cotton belt reveal that Panjnad, Abbasia, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and all other canals in the region are running at less than 50 per cent of their designed capacities.

The cotton belt region comprising Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions are facing 13 to 14 hours of loadshedding

half of the irrigation-purpose tubewells are presently lying idle for want of power badly affecting the cotton sowing

rising temperatures in Punjab plains have burnt 20 per cent of the sown seed due to want of first watering required for germination of seed within four days of its sowing

more losses if the crop failed to get second watering

Karma is a she dog.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412112/cotto ... e-achieved

[Peregrine]

Cotton sowing target unlikely to be achieved

The textile industry may face a crisis as the country is in danger of missing the cotton sowing target in the wake of an alarming water shortage.

So far only 70 per cent of the sowing target has been achieved

no chance of attaining the cotton crop production target of 14.37 million bales for the 2018-19 season as the water scarcity issue is not going to be resolved soon

Reports from Punjab’s cotton belt reveal that Panjnad, Abbasia, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and all other canals in the region are running at less than 50 per cent of their designed capacities.

The cotton belt region comprising Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions are facing 13 to 14 hours of loadshedding

half of the irrigation-purpose tubewells are presently lying idle for want of power badly affecting the cotton sowing

rising temperatures in Punjab plains have burnt 20 per cent of the sown seed due to want of first watering required for germination of seed within four days of its sowing

more losses if the crop failed to get second watering

Karma is a she dog.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412112/cotto ... e-achieved

anupmisra Ji :

This gives the Chinawalas the chance to increase the Cotton Production in Xingjing, make more and more Cotton Fabrics & Textiles Products and Export it via CPEC and Gwadi Wadi Yaar - but labelled as made in Terroristan - and Export it to the World in General as well as India in Particular.

Karma may be a She Dog for Terroristan but it is a Golden Opportunity for Chinawala!

Cheers

[Falijee]

Paki "Justice" !

Man sentenced for stabbing law student Khadija Siddiqui acquitted by Lahore High Court

Say hello to the Lahore High Court Judge, Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem who acquitted Shah Hussain today... in 15 minutes.

[Peregrine]

Terroristan gets its First Army Chief - Gen Buj Bahadur - who truly ensured his support for democracy and has been firmly standing with the Constitution of the country.

Parties to find solution to weak entities after polls, says Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in his interview to a British news channel said that the political parties would find a solution to weak institutions after elections.

He said that General Qamar Javed Bajwa is the first army chief who truly ensured his support for democracy and has been firmly standing with the Constitution of the country. First & most probably - the Last!

While hitting out at his political opponent, Khan snapped that Bilawal Bhutto landed into the politics of Pakistan through a parachute; he does not know anything about the Pakistani politics and its dynamics. “With heavy majority, PTI is going to win upcoming general elections,” Khan claimed. Posiibly "I'm the Dim" has the assurance from Gen Buj Bahadur!

Imran Khan regretfully said that existing governance in Pakistan is a failure; institutions are weak and the previous governments of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) further damaged the state institutions. “Even Chief Justice of Pakistan has declared in the court that institutions have been destroyed,” he added.

PTI chief pointed out that the surveys related to the popularity of political parties are misguiding and based on propaganda. “The policies of PPP and PML-N helped rich becoming richer. In past 30 years, the class difference between the poor and the rich only widened and the policies of PPP and PML-N are responsible for making rich richer and poor poorer,” Imran Khan remarked. If elected the PTI assure the Terroristans that ONLY I'M THE DIM WILL GET RICH!

PTI chairman asserted in his interview that only his party can build institutions. “In Pakistan, the most difficult department to reform is police, and PTI accepted this challenge in Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa and successfully depoliticised the entire police department,” Khan claimed in the interview.

Cheers

[Vips]

Sheikh Rashid asks for elections to be delayed, cites '50 degree summer heat'

Talking to reporters in his hometown of Rawalpindi, he also complained that: "We're going into elections but still do not have voting lists or a final decision on delimitation."

Rashid, a key political ally of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, used the rising mercury to make his case, saying: "For the first time in my life, I want to request [sic] the chief justice ... My mothers, daughters and sisters would not want to stand in cues for two to three hours in this 50 degree heat.

people cannot climb up three floors in this weather

It's 50 degrees in Pindi, [imagine] what the temperature would be in Nawabshah, Rohri."

We'd have to make arrangements for water too at the 1,180 polling stations.

"Of course, PTI is the bigger party and it has to take these decisions, but my understanding with Imran Khan was that I would also be consulted regarding the PTI's candidates," he said. "But so far my consultation has not been sought."

Someone is not happy!

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412190/sheik ... ummer-heat

For Shiekh Rashid to ask for postponement of election means Immy the Dimmy is out of favor of Army/ISI and someone else has been 'selected' to become PM.

[Peregrine]

X Posted on the Analyzing CPEC Thread

CPEC 2018 Summit: Business? Yes. As usual? No!

CONCLUSION

To sum up, the above analysis shows that CPEC projects are most likely to bring positive net economic and social benefits to Pakistan, provided we strengthen our response and absorptive capacity in terms of business model, institutions and policies.

Those who think that CPEC would be a game-changer should wait to make such bold claims until we are able to design and implement export led investment in the manufacturing sector in the nine industrial zones to be built under CPEC. At present, the average annual investment of $3-4 billion under the CPEC amounts to only 6-8pc of our annual investment spending of $45-50 billion.

Similarly, those who are propagating unnecessary fear and despair by arguing that Pakistan would become so entrapped in debt burden that it would lose its economic sovereignty and forced to cede its territory i.e., Gwadar port to China are sadly mistaken.

The analysis above clearly shows that Pakistan can easily absorb even the peak payments from its own foreign exchange earnings but it would require concerted efforts to keep the export growth rate above 10pc annually. This is not such a difficult goal to achieve as we have done so in the past and under the new energy supply scenario, which pushed our exports down the curve, it is possible to get back on that path.



Cheers

[anupmisra]

Banana republic. Only in toiletistan.

Pakistan's WTO ambassador offers resignation after SC scrutiny of appointment

Pakistan's Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dr Tauqir Shah on Tuesday offered his resignation after the chief justice questioned the grounds of his appointment and his closeness to Shahbaz Sharif.

Shah will, however, represent the country at a WTO conference and then stay on for a month's time in order to wind things up.

Justice Nisar noted that Shah's appointment had not been made on merit but due to his closeness to Sharif.

When the attorney general (AG) argued that Shah's appointment was "for the benefit of Pakistan", the chief justice asked him "which Pakistan" he was talking about. (the one in the toilet and about to be flushed down the sewers of history)

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412198/pakis ... ppointment

[Peregrine]

Election to test Pakistan democracy amid allegations of military meddling

ISLAMABAD: Intensifying allegations of military interference threaten to cast a shadow over Pakistan's general election on July 25, a historic event that will mark only the country's second ever democratic transition of power.

On Friday the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party handed over power to a technocratic caretaker administration after completing a full five-year term, another democratic milestone.

But as campaigning begins, tensions between the civilian politicians and the powerful military, which has ruled for about half of Pakistan's history since independence in 1947, are running high.

Four PML-N lawmakers told Reuters they had received threats and pressure to switch allegiance to rival parties, while newspapers are awash with accusations of military "engineering" and journalists and media houses complain of growing censorship.

"It is a chipping away. It's behind the scenes, under the covers, below the radar," PML-N's outgoing privatisation minister Daniyal Aziz told Reuters, using typically coded language to hint at meddling by the generals without naming them.

The military, which strongly denies interfering in politics, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The political tensions come at a time of growing economic instability in the nuclear-armed nation of 208 million people. Islamabad's rapidly depleting currency reserves and a widening current account deficit have prompted many analysts to predict the next government will need to seek the country's second International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout since 2013.

PML-N founder Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court as prime minister in July and now faces corruption charges, events he has described as "pre-poll rigging" aimed at denying his party another term. He has cast the campaign as a battle to protect the "sanctity of the vote".

Anti-corruption platform

PML-N's main challenge is expected to come from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who is betting his anti-corruption message will propel him to power.

Khan has denied the generals have thrown their weight behind PTI, and accuses Sharif of hiding behind such allegations to avoid accountability.

In a statement, the PTI this week said: "Any deliberate or unconscious effort to compromise the sanctity of ballot could cause irreparable damage to national interests".

But analysts and Western diplomats who spoke to Reuters said the military was squeezing PML-N ahead of polls.

"This kind of interference has always been there, but this time it is so naked that everyone is seeing it and everyone is talking about it," said Ijaz Khan, a retired international relations professor at Peshawar University.

A "Pre-Election Assessment Report" published this week by an independent think-tank, Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), deemed the pre-poll process to have been "unfair overall" in the 12 months before the election was called last week.

PILDAT said "surreptitious muzzling" of the media, a rise in bias from the military establishment and a "perceived partisanship in judicial and political accountability have nearly eroded the prospects of a free and fair election in 2018".
Pakistan's biggest TV channel, Geo, went off air for several weeks in April and only returned after its executives struck a deal with the military over their coverage of Sharif, two executives told Reuters.

Distribution of Dawn, the biggest English-language newspaper in the country, has been suspended from some military cantonment areas in several cities, a senior Dawn executive told Reuters. Many prominent columnists have put out statements about their work being censored, often by their own editors.

Menacing phone calls

A frequent complaint by Sharif, whose second term as prime minister was ended by a bloodless army coup in 1999, is that PML-N lawmakers are being intimidated.

Four PML-N lawmakers from the Punjab province described to Reuters a similar pattern of strange calls and visits from unknown men who would pretend to be well-wishers, but then make clear to them it would be in their interest to ditch Sharif.

None of the lawmakers wished to be identified. One recounted a recent, seemingly random, encounter with a man claiming to be a supporter that ended with the well-wisher telling him: "Your boss is a traitor. Traitors have no future in this country".

Three of the lawmakers are sticking with PML-N but one has defected to PTI. All four said they believed the calls were from intelligence agents, though they did not have any proof. Reuters could not independently corroborate the events they described.]

In the last few months at least 15 National Assembly PML-N lawmakers have left the party, mostly to join PTI. PML-N officials say most were politicians who won their seats as independents in 2013 and joined PML-N afterwards.

Khan has dismissed PML-N accusations the lawmakers were pressured into switching sides, but predicted in a recent meeting with foreign media that many more would follow. He believes such defections will be vital to gaining a foothold in Punjab, long a PML-N stronghold that returns 141 of the 272 directly contested seats in the National Assembly.

In the dock

Several senior PML-N figures are currently facing court cases after a flurry of charges against them.

Among them, Sharif could be jailed for 14 years before the polls in a corruption trial he calls a "witch hunt", while Aziz, the former privatisation minister, is facing contempt of court charges that could bar him from standing in the election.

The judiciary has denied targeting, or favouring, any political party, and rejects allegations from PML-N of collusion with the military to weaken the party.

The Election Commision of Pakistan's code of conduct for the pre-poll campaign period is shaping up to be the next battleground.

Proposed new rules would prohibit anyone from criticising the military and the judiciary, while also banning politicians from talking about what they have achieved in government.

With PML-N's electoral campaign built around touting mega infrastructure projects and defending civilian rule, the party is in no doubt who this would hurt the most.

Cheers

[venug]

https://www.firstpost.com/india/to-solv ... 94221.html
To solve Kashmir conundrum, India needs political will to carry 'irregular war' into enemy territory
Gautam

No Idea why we don't. With their economy sinking, with multiple fissures appearing. Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhis crying for help, CPEC built through PoK like nobody's business, How can they not feel thousandth of degree of pain they inflict on us? we not doing anything seems ridiculous. A strike here and strike there at the right place they would unravel and sounds like right strategy.

[Falijee]

Paki Ex Fauji sends money- Rs 5000 to Supreme Court to pay off Pakistan’s loan Of US$ 91, 761 million

ISLAMABAD – In a profound act of patriotism, a former Army official on Tuesday sent five thousand rupees to Pakistan’s top court to help the country rid of massive debts. In a letter addressed to Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, Naek Muhammad Aslam of Mandi Bahauddin sent the money with the request that the amount may be deposited in Government Treasury as his contribution to help the country repay its huge debts.

So, the Naek ( Muhammad Aslam ) trusts the ( Suo Moto Fame ) CJP of Pakiland and no else else . IMO, he should ensure that he gets a proper receipt and the money does not go into the CJP's own pocket

This reflects the confidence of nation on the institution of judiciary and the CJP, according to the apex court’s spokesman.

One more "feather in the cap" of the publicity hungry CJP !

Finding it not to be within the mandate of the institution, the amount was returned to Mr. Naek with thanks, while appreciating the gesture.

The money was returned back . Shocking

External Debt in Pakistan averaged US$53532.35 million from 2002 until 2018, reaching an all time high of US$ 91761m in the first quarter of 2018 and a record low of US$33172million in the third quarter of 2004. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan’s net international reserves stand at negative $724 million.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, which completed its five-year term last month, obtained total foreign loans of Rs1.2 trillion, exceeding its original target of Rs810 billion for the outgoing fiscal year by around 48 per cent to finance its expenditure.
The foreign loans obtained by the government in the current fiscal year are around 24 per cent higher than Rs971.60bn obtained in 2016-17.
For the next fiscal year, the government plans to raise Rs1.08tr loans.According to budget documents, the government estimated to receive Rs27.08b as foreign grants at the start of the current fiscal year, but it expects to get Rs26b.

[chetak]

https://www.firstpost.com/india/to-solv ... 94221.html
To solve Kashmir conundrum, India needs political will to carry 'irregular war' into enemy territory
Gautam

No Idea why we don't. With their economy sinking, with multiple fissures appearing. Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhis crying for help, CPEC built through PoK like nobody's business, How can they not feel thousandth of degree of pain they inflict on us? we not doing anything seems ridiculous. A strike here and strike there at the right place they would unravel and sounds like right strategy.

They are stuck in the same place since independence.

They shamelessly demand parity with India in all respects but in all talks they beg for concessions from India on the pretext that India is the " big brother" and so must concede more and ask the pakis for very little in return.

This constant harping on cashmere and water will be the death of these buggers. They are not going to get a damn thing, no matter how many aman ki asha hosannas they sing and how many mani shankar aiyers go to bat for them.

[Falijee]

Imran's Secrets Stay Secret For Now At Least !

Civil court stays publication of Reham Khan’s ‘damaging’ book

MULTAN – A civil court issued a stay order on the publication of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s ex-wife Reham Khan’s book.
Mustafa Chohan, President of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) lawyers wing filed a petition, requesting the court to ban Reham’s book and stop its publishing.

Chohan contended that Reham was on the payroll of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and that she was carrying out this “conspiracy” with the help of Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani.

The court after a brief hearing also summoned Reham, Husain Haqqani as well as PEMRA officials.

PTI members have slammed the journalist’s upcoming book and accused her of secretly meeting PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Ahsan Iqbal to cook up conspiracies against Imran Khan.

[Falijee]

Imran Khan Asks His Minion To Defame His Ex !

Imran Khan’s political secretary makes new allegations against Reham Khan

ISLAMABAD: As war of words intensified between PTI and Reham Khan over her unpublished book, Imran Khan’s political secretary Awn Chaudry launched a scathing attack on the former spouse of PTI chairman, accusing of her of being greedy for money and power. In a series of tweets on Tuesday morning, Chaudhry said that time has come to make public Reham Khan’s “shenanigans” which he had personally witnessed during her 10-month marriage to Imran Khan.

“Her greed for money & power were insatiable and she was in a hurry to get both. I witnessed her demanding Rs 1 crore from Aleem Khan for her movie,” he alleged. Proof please

He further said that Ms Khan had approach one of PTI’s parliamentarians for the loan of furniture worth lakhs for her film and that the furniture was never returned. “I had to accompany her to Karachi only to discover she contacted a SKMT donor, a big businessman, demanding money,” he said. Proof should be provided !

Chaudhry alleged that she had demanded $2 million in kickback in a deal for Safe City Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Proof available

“She also sought to interfere in KP matters & right before my eyes she sought to make a deal for Safe City Project with a foreign company demanding $ 2m in kickback!,” he said. Allegation repeated !

“That is when I felt compelled to inform Khan Sahab about what she was upto. He immediately put a stop to all her schemes - sending her into a hysterical rage,” she added. Before And After Rage Photus Please

Reham Khan, on the other hand, said that she won’t be bullied by the PTI.
“I am being bullied but [they] have [chosen] the wrong woman to go after. I will not tolerate baseless allegations by PTI. I challenge PTI to prove a single allegation against me," she told Geo on June 4.

If she can "stand up to the Kaptaan" she can tackle anyone , at least IMO !

Reham questioned the joint-legal action by her former husband Ijaz Rehman, former cricketer Wasim Akram, British Pakistani businessman Zulfi Bukhari and British Pakistani female activist Anila Khawaja."I can't understand how can PTI serve a legal notice on behalf of Dr Ijaz Rehman. Is he a spokesperson, or hold a position” What you are saying is not a legal notice as far as I understand. It worth is nothing," she said.

Has her ex hubby joined PTI

[Falijee]

Disgraced Paki Airline ( AKA PIA ) Sends Legal Notice To TV Channel In An Attempt To "Save Its Good Name "

PIA Sends Legal Notice to 3 TV Channels Over Fake News About Its CEO

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)has decided to take action against news outlets running a defamatory campaign ( This suggests that the TV outlets are "relying on PIA " to boost their sagging ratings ) against the management of the airline. The airline has sent a legal notice to three channels which ran a story about the CEO of PIA.

Sources in PIA legal department told that a legal notice was issued to Jaag, Channel 24 and Capital TV. These news channels reported that PIA CEO Musharraf Rasool Cyan was stopped from flying abroad at Islamabad International Airport.

The sources added that Cyan had plans to travel to the IATA Annual General Meeting Summit in Sydney. But due to certain engagements in Pakistan, he was not able to travel. Visa obtained ? CEO on ECL by any chance ?

PIA Spokesperson confirmed that the airline has issued a legal notice to three TV Channels under Section 8 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002, and Pakistan Penal Code 1860 in response to the false, libelous and defamatory statements telecasted through news programs and consequently, news publications. The notice was issued on June 1, 2018.

Something "smells fishy" for sure . They should come up with the real reason why he decided to not fly to Sydney

“The news program shared false and unverified news about the credentials of the CEO PIACL and restrictions on his travel abroad, with malafide and ulterior motives of attacking, inter alia, his integrity and character with the knowledge and purpose that if made the same would cause irreparable harm and damage to his reputation,” the notice stated.

PIA claims that certain elements were spreading baseless, false and frivolous propaganda to secure their personal interests by feeding fake news and unfortunately various media channels were being used as an instrument to spread a preposterous vilification campaign against the CEO PIA and consequently the national airline. Ditto !

A lifetime of honesty, integrity and dedication has been tarnished through irresponsible and malicious reporting causing irreparable damage to the reputation of the CEO, said the notice.

The spokesperson also told that PIA has already instructed their legal counsels to invoke remedies available under PEMRA Ordinance 2002 against the news channels acting against the law and terms of their licenses.

Is the "airline" asking for money or is the "airline" asking for an "on air apology" . Not clear here !!!

Contrary to the fabricated news released by the channel, there is no restriction by Supreme Court on the travel of Dr. Cyan abroad, and the travel plan to Australia was to attend the IATA Annual General Meeting Summit in Sydney. The meeting is attended by all airline CEOs and PIA is one of its oldest members.The tickets issued to him and his family are strictly in accordance with the travel entitlement available to the CEO PIA under the applicable Interline Tickets as per IATA Resolution 788. PIA does not fly to Australia, therefore, the ticket was issued on an Interline Partner Airline.

So, what was the real reason that he did not fly out . If he did have previous engagements in Pakiland, he should not have booked the tickets in the first place . Something "smells" fishy !

In a separate statement, PIA spokesperson denied a news item regarding an expensive Rolex wristwatch being figted to former Advisor to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan. The spokesperson said that PIA is already under serious financial constraints and cannot even think of giving gifts like expensive watches to anyone.

At one time, there were reports that Ganja Sharif had requisitioned a PIA plane from New York City to Saudi Arabia, so he and his extended family can fly there "free" on state expense !!!

PIA held the farewell function at the Gun Club, a respectable location and not a five-star hotel as the reports allege, inviting only a select few. He added, The two items presented as gifts to the Advisor were a plane tail model (made out of plastic) and a souvenir crafted by PIA the Engineering team, which was part of a blade of a scrapped 737 engine.

So, it is from one extreme ( Rolex watch) to another ( plastic model Made in China !)

In addition, a tribute video was produced in-house. The rest is fiction and lies with malicious intent, confirmed the spokesperson.

The truth, hopefully will come out in a Paki Court !!!

[Falijee]

Maulana Diesel ( AKA Fazl ) Say That MMA To Push For "Nizam- e- Mustafa In The Forthcoming Election

MMA announced 12-point election manifesto

ISLAMABAD: June 5, 2018: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has announced 12-point manifesto of the religious parties alliance for general elections 2018.Addressing a press conference along with other MMA leaders including Sajid Naqvi and Sirajul Haq, Sajid Nqvi. Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the MMA government would ensure protections of the rights and worship lace of the to minorities.

He said that the investment by overseas Pakistani would be encouraged. He said that interest based business would be abolished completely in Pakistan.He further added that Nizam-e-Mustafa would be implemented in the Country, all Islamic articles in the constitution would be protected. (01)

So, Khadim Rizvi, Hafiz Suar, Masood Azhar and Maulana Ghazi and other Mullahs are not joining this "Islamic Club"

[Falijee]

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement Comes Under Militant Attack
By Daud Khattak
June 05, 2018

On June 3, the “good Taliban” — “peace committee” members — pulled their triggers, killing at least four and injuring nearly 30 members and sympathizers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz (Protection) Movement (PTM) in Wana, at the center of Pakistan’s South Waziristan region.This was the first time in five months that the unarmed PTM supporters were confronted with gun-wielding Taliban, believed to be the proxies of Pakistani security forces in the area.Since its emergence in January, the PTM leadership, mostly comprising youth from the (then) tribal areas, has staged peaceful protest demonstrations across Pakistan.

Addressing a news conference on June 4, Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Asif Ghafoor said the PTM members were inciting anti-state sentiments. He said they were confronted by members of the “peace committee,” a term used to conceal the severity of the word “Taliban.”

Pakistan had to conduct numerous military operations to reclaim these areas, but locals say they feel insecure. The presence of both armed groups and security forces is curtailing their freedom of movement and freedom of expression in their native towns and villages.

The locals sarcastically use the term “good Taliban” for the long-haired armed men whom the army euphemistically calls members of a “peace committee.” The roots of the term “good Taliban” can be traced to what many believe is Pakistan’s so-called double game, which refers to the policy of fighting the Taliban groups attacking installations inside Pakistan and sparing the ones involved in fighting across the border in Afghanistan.

These also include the dreaded Haqqani Network, a group once described by then-U.S. CENTCOM Chief Admiral Mike Mullen as the “veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).”

After living under fear of the Taliban and the security forces for more than a decade, the PTM leadership has emboldened the tribesmen to challenge both sides by raising a voice against what they call injustices and gross violations of human rights. Locals say the June 3 confrontation in Wana was the first public reaction to the presence of “good Taliban.”While the Waziristanis are now finding the courage to speak out, the apparently powerful media and the ruling elites are gradually losing their tongues.

While social media – mainly Twitter and Facebook – are bubbling with comments and posts supporting and sympathizing with the PTM agenda for peace and respect for human rights, the mainstream Pakistani media mostly downplayed the June 3 incident in Wana.

The Wana killings happened at a time when leaders of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement were preparing to hold talks with the army-sponsored committees to resolve all the disputes. Since the youth of FATA were already suffering from a deepening sense of alienation, this fresh incident and the widespread silence will add insult to their injuries and it will further increase their frustration with the state, long accused of discrimination against the tribal people.

[Falijee]

PTM Members Arrested In Isloo !

Islamabad Police arrests 28 PTM activists over anti Army, anti Pakistan slogans
5 Jun, 2018

*ISLAMABAD - Islamabad police arrested 28 activists of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement over slogans critical of the army and Pakistan.* The Kohsar police registered an FIR against PTM workers for shouting slogans against the army and Pakistan.

n March, Qila Saifullah police in Quetta booked PTM representatives Manzoor Pashteen, Moshin Dawar and Ali Wazir in a hate speech case. The FIR said Pashteen criticised the army and intelligence agencies.On Saturday, at least 10 people were injured in a fight that broke out in Wana after a PTM gathering, leading to escalated tensions in the area.

The Paki Fauj should know that the PTM Movement is here to stay ! Labeling them proxies will not help ! Better to talk with them and solve the problems of the FATA people, rather than to suppress them !

[anupmisra]

Journalist missing.

Maryam Nawaz expresses concern over 'abduction' of female journalist in Lahore

Journalist and activist Gul Bukhari has reportedly been abducted by unknown persons in Lahore, it emerged early Wednesday morning.

Bukhari was on her way to the studio to appear in a show when unknown persons stopped her vehicle and asked her to come out.

A vocal critic of the military, Bukhari is a journalist and activist who has worked in broadcast and print for several media groups in Pakistan.

Concerns about freedom of expression and press censorship grow in the country in the run-up to election.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1412220/marya ... -in-lahore

[Falijee]

Editorial In Paki Paper Slams Deep State Action In Wana !

PTM Under Attack

The operation will deal with all militants indiscriminately and there exists no binary of good and bad Taliban” statement was received by some with raised eyebrows. Their suspicions proved correct only yesterday when militants from Mullah Nazir group tried to disrupt the gathering of Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) to welcome one of its leaders in Wana. According to the reports, the group or the self-proclaimed ‘Wana Peace Committee’ opened indiscriminate fire at PTM’s rally and resulted in the killing of at least four and injuring dozens of the movement supporters.

The fact that the group roams freely in South Waziristan’s headquarters of Wana speaks volumes about military’s successful operation there. Despite multiple assurances that terrorism has been rooted out, new groups keep springing up to cause havoc in the country.

The Good Vs Bad Terrorist distinction !

he question worth asking is that how can the militants have had their offices in the area where the army has a presence under the sole objective that it will discourage any militants to carry on their activities?

Another important question is of motive; why were the militants so keen on stopping the protest rally of PTM supporters who wanted to raise their voice against the growing corruption in the region? Do the militants –or as they are known nowadays, the peace committee – have any interest or any stake in the matter? As reported - the conflict sprung up simply for conflict’s sake.

What is more depressing is the media blackout. The blackout is perilous for Pakistan and its accountability process. The prerequisite for accountability is access to information. That access is denied to citizens in the present case. The irony is that the peace committee that is supposed to ensure peace of the area is comprised of members of Mullah Nazir group that was involved in attacking US forces and its vehicles till the time Mullah Nazir was killed in a drone strike in 2013.

Some retrospection is what the state needs right now. The Wana Peace Committee’s murderous actions need to be condemned and checked. A violent confrontation with the PTM through violent means is a recipe for disaster and needs to be averted. It is high time that the state gives a hearing ear to the PTM’s demands that are legitimate and constitutional.

The "Deep State " of Pakistan should "listen" to this Editorial , before it is too late !!!

[Falijee]

JAHIL HAM-EID DOES NOT THINK THAT "DEEP STATE" IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GUL BHUKHARI'S ABDUCTION


Zaid Hamid
‏Verified account @ZaidZamanHamid
43m43 minutes ago

And why would these ******** ( rozadar ) assume that military or ISI has done this? Don't we have Terror gangs swarming in the country going overboard to blame army/ISI for their own crimes? To make a headline to embarrass Army? How do they know army has done it?
I smell a stinking rat...

[Vips]

No Idea why we don't. With their economy sinking, with multiple fissures appearing. Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhis crying for help, CPEC built through PoK like nobody's business, How can they not feel thousandth of degree of pain they inflict on us? we not doing anything seems ridiculous. A strike here and strike there at the right place they would unravel and sounds like right strategy.

They are stuck in the same place since independence.

They shamelessly demand parity with India in all respects but in all talks they beg for concessions from India on the pretext that India is the " big brother" and so must concede more and ask the pakis for very little in return.

This constant harping on cashmere and water will be the death of these buggers. They are not going to get a damn thing, no matter how many aman ki asha hosannas they sing and how many mani shankar aiyers go to bat for them.

Sirji you are seriously underestimating the Congressi/Dhimmi types capacity and capability to wreak havoc on India's strategic interests. They will do anything to gain prominence.

[Falijee]

Abducted Paki Journo Returns Home Safe And Sound After So-Called Abduction . "Open Season" On Journos Begins In Pakiland

Pakistani journalist Asad Kharal beaten up near Lahore airport

LAHORE – Two Pakistani journalists came under attack late on Tuesday by unidentified men in the capital city of Punjab. Columnist Gul Bukhari was on her way to appear in a Waqt News TV show when some unidentified persons intercepted her vehicle near Sherpao Bridge in Cantonment area. She was reported by fellow colleagues to have gone missing. However, she returned home safely early Wednesday morning, according to anchorperson Gharidah Farooqi

Bukhari is an contributing writer at The Nation newspaper.In another similar incident, Asad Kharal, an investigative journalist and chief news analyst of BOLNETWORK, was badly beaten up near Lahore airport by armed men. He was shifted to Lahore’s Services Hospital with multiple injuries.

Kharal is known for digging the corruption stories and challenging the corrupt mafia. The alleged aduction triggered hashtag #BringBackGulBukhari on Twitter.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Aseefa Bhutto Zardari hoped for Bukhari’s safe and sound recovery.

ISPR Ghafoor, mouthpiece of the Paki Fauj, has sort of given a warning to the media in his inter-exchange with them yesterday . "Deep State" modus operandi is to give a "warning" a first time. IMO, this was what has happened to these two journos picked up / beaten up

[g.sarkar]

http://www.sify.com/news/spy-chronicles ... jcgbe.html
Spy Chronicles: How to turn warmongers into peaceniks
SIFY By : Satyen K Bordoloi Last Updated: Tue, Jun 05, 2018 13:53 hrs
Take a big cauldron, put two sworn enemies – one an ex Indian RAW chief and the other a ISI chief - add some shimmering spices of Kashmir, Afghanistan, Punjab and Baluchistan conflicts and crank up the heat. What do you think you'll get after a while? A volcanic eruption? If you read The Spy Chronicles – RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace a compendium of conversations between India's ex-RAW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat and Pakistan's ex-ISI chief General Asad Durrani moderated and later edited by journalist Aditya Sinha, you'll find disbelief in that pot. In this book, the deadly recipe seems to have created Walk in the Woods moments – two arch enemies not only talk peace while honestly admitting mistakes their countries made, but also find workable solutions for cooperation and prosperity in the region. The big mystery in the 'spy thriller' is this: how did venom turned nectar, what made two warmongering spooks spook up and turn peaceniks or as Dulat himself writes in his preface: "....there will be people who will say how did these swines get so chummy...After all we have each been a part of licensed skullduggery on either side." To unravel this enigma, we need to, as Aditya Sinha writes, go, "to the heart of the India-Pakistan relationship; a deep dive into the Deep State if you will". A veteran soldier of the 1965 and 1971 war, General Durrani, who later headed Inter Service Intelligence – ISI, has been a known hawk against India during his working days. And though Dulat may sound like a dove in this and his previous book on Kashmir, one shouldn't forget he's a career spy, spending his life first in the Intelligence Bureau and then in Research and Analysis Wing, RAW. A hint of the hawk and dove parroting lines of peace is found in the very first line of the preface by Asad Durrani: "I was born an Indian – There was no Pakistan then." Dulat seems to philosophise their motivation when he says, "There are normally more than two sides to most stories. Truth is a kaleidoscope." And the many moving mosaics provided by this kaleidoscope are sights to behold. A background for this unusual camaraderie was lent by providence. In May 2015, Dulat – through long retired – used some of his old contacts to rescue Durrani's son who was detained at Mumbai airport for a silly mistake. But if you thought this would take the edge off from the interaction between two old enemies, you're wrong. When Durrani says, “India is not just status quo but a strictly status quo power. It will do everything to preserve that and not even move in a direction from which it may benefit…", Dulat counters by saying: "If the status quo helps anyone, it helps Pakistan." But Durrani has reasons for his observation, "...(for India) improving relations with Pakistan, even if not limited to Kashmir, meant peace but also meant compromises on certain policies, because it’s a give and take. Therefore, the saying: the price for peace is at times higher than the price of conflict. Conflict is manageable, there will be occasional firing across the border, and people may die. But the price of peace may entail accepting old division of Kashmir or arrangement with Pakistan, changing the former Indus Water Treaty, etc. That might trigger other dynamics." Asked by Sinha about the future of this status quo, Durrani replied, "Twenty years from now, chances are we'll have a different type of stability...On the other hand, if I look back, 20 years ago we had these same problems: Kashmir, India-Pakistan friction, Afghanistan...Status quo means a stability of a particular kind. The more we change, the more we remain the same." Sums up perfectly the India Pakistan relationship of the last 71 years, doesn't it?
......
Gautam

[Falijee]

TIL $18 million allocated for 4 desalination plants in 2007 were lost to corruption after being given to the Baluchistan government. One of these plants was opened in Jan 2018. Three of them still remain incomplete

Fund mismanagement in Gwadar desalination plant surfaces

ISLAMABAD: A classic example of mismanagement of development funds has been surfaced even for strategically and economically important location of Gwadar Port City as its first desalination plant of 2 million gallon per day (MGD) water was approved with estimated cost of Rs378 million in 2006 but it never got implemented in last 12 years.

This is "only on the surface" . If one "scratches underneath", the whole "Islamic fruit" received as a "gift - from the British - in 1947", has turned "rotten" .

The Gwadar Port City, which is becoming a hub of the economic activities with help of Chinese investment, has been facing acute water shortages so all those should be held responsible who had committed negligence for ensuring basic facilities at Gwadar.

This "remedy" has been suggested before. But who is going to "bell the corrupt cat"

Official sources confirmed to The News on Monday that the Gwadar was facing acute water shortages and at a time when there was no China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on horizon, the federal government had approved development scheme for desalination of water of 2MGD for Gwadar with estimated cost of Rs378 million on the basis of 50:50 percent cost sharing formula by the Center and Balochistan’s provincial government respectively.

Plans on paper are fine . Implementation is another thing !. If wishes were horses .....fill in the blanks!

The federal government released its funding of Rs138 million but this desalination plant could not be installed. Then the provincial government asked the Center to revise the project cost and provided the whole amount as the provincial government could not undertake this project on cost sharing basis. The cost of this project was revised upward and it climbed to Rs978 million for installing this water plant in order to provide clean drinking water for Gwadar inhabitants. The federal government released remaining Rs840 million out of total Rs978 million because it had already provided Rs138 million for execution of this project.

The GDA with the help of federal government and provincial government of Balochistan is laying a pipeline from two dams.The total capacity of these dams will be 5MGD and it is hoped that the supply will be started by March 2018, they hoped but all will depend upon completion of one water pipe scheme and pouring of rains in the area in next couple of months.

Hope is of course eternal .If past history is any indication, the corruption cycle l hopefully would ensure that the "Islamic fruit" becomes more rotten and one day may have to be "thrown away"

[Peregrine]

Charanjeet Singh and the bigoted mentality that took his life

I came across slain Sikh community leader Charanjeet Singh’s Facebook profile after having read stories about him being shared all over social media after his demise. I clicked on his profile picture and kept staring at him. It was peculiarly devastating for me to come to the realization that the man I stared at was no more. That he had been gunned down mercilessly.

A humanist, peace activist, advocate of coexistence, optimist amidst hopelessness and father figure had been snatched away from a society that needed people like him the most. From arranging Iftaris to participating in events promoting pluralism in the society, Charanjeet Singh was a prominent member of the Pakistani Sikh community and a dedicated representative of religious minorities. From what I noticed, besides the glowing humbleness on his face in his pictures, were his Facebook posts reflecting his keen interest in social and political issues and his determination to make Pakistan a better place for minorities, for everyone. As is the norm, I have come to truly admire him for the character he was, after he’s no more.

But why does the news of his death upset me so much? Having spent a considerable part of my life in Quetta, Balochistan – having seen dead bodies torn apart lying in front of me after blasts, losing friends to the incorrigible forces of intolerance; I had made peace with how apathetic I had become. For a chronic pessimist like me, men like Charanjeet Singh were the source of “hope”. And to have your hope taken away from you so inhumanely, shakes even the most apathetic of men.

Charanjeet Singh will continue to inspire even after he no longer remains amongst us, walking the streets of Peshawar donning his colourful turban, spreading laughter, sharing love indiscriminately because he knew how it felt to be discriminated against, patting children on their backs and inspiring pessimists like myself and reminding them that there is always hope and it is better to act than to give up and complain. It surprises me how much I seem to miss him despite barely knowing him, and how I imagine him smiling at me reminding me that upon hearing the news of his death, I must not succumb my energies to hopelessness or else I would be going against what he stood for.

Although there’s a part of me that compels me to take refuge in the cynicism I have become so familiar with – to label him a fool for believing he could get away with promoting peace and love and religious harmony in a society like ours, where most of us would be hesitant to call him a “shaheed” because he didn’t follow the same religion as ours, let alone the same sub sect of the same sect.

There are many of us who don’t hesitate sharing the same glass with non-Muslims. Congratulations to them for being human. I have friends who bring food for their non-Muslim friends when it isn’t easy to find something to eat in the month of Ramazan because the people crafting the ‘Ehtaram e Ramazan’ ordinance were clueless about the existence of non-Muslims in the “Intolerant” Republic of Pakistan. Notice how I have replaced “Islamic” with “intolerant” because that’s clearly more fitting. One of the reasons why Islam appeals to so many people is its teachings of pluralism. We have taken a religion whose messenger (PBUH) informed that hurting somebody from a religious minority would be tantamount to hurting him, a religion that promotes secularism (Islam outlines its message of secularism in Surah Al Kafirun) – and handed the responsibility of explaining it to people whose minds are polluted with hate, misogyny, ignorance and everything that Islam restrains.

But at the same time, there are even more of us who hardly know what secularism really means but are quick to oppose it. There are so many of us who choose to endorse discrimination against religious minorities by their brazen silence. Even more, who are reluctant to understand Islam’s message of coexistence.

Unsurprisingly, the larger the number of such people, the harder to teach they are. They are blind to reason. They recite verses in Arabic without understanding any and find solace in such recitations. They’re okay with not wanting to know and settle for answers provided by men on pulpits who are more concerned about their right to marry underage girls than they are about the message of forgiveness and acceptance that Islam brings. They are dangerous too. Because where there’s no reason, there’s violence. They don’t have convincing arguments, but louder chants. They curse and they yell and they claim to be advocates of the religion of peace. They defame the conventional image of Islam, while paradoxically going after alleged blasphemers such as the 6 year old Rimshah Masih, the full bright scholar Junaid Hafeez, the freethinker Mashal Khan, the Shamas and Shahzads that we have forgotten, the baby who died in his mother’s womb because their house was attacked by a mob hunting Ahmadis, the mentally challenged man who was butchered by an allegedly sane police officer.

Charanjeet Singh is gone. But the mentality that took him away lives on.

Cheers

[Peregrine]

X Posted on the I W T Thread

Pakistan’s numerous ‘water experts’

Invest in training human resources in water and stop listening to the jingo brigade

For the past week or so, I have been somewhat bemused by a flurry of Whatsapp messages and Twitter posts on Pakistan’s impending water doomsday. I have queried many people as to what this is. What did India do that has precipitated such hysteria? And hysteria is the word. There are cartoons making the rounds, with Narendra Modi squeezing the river waters away from Pakistan.

Yet another almost racist image shows African children drinking from a puddle, and promises that to be the fate of Lahore if the Kalabagh dam is not built. But no one would tell me what happened that is causing all of this excitement. To add to the mystery some friends have just responded that I should “wake up and smell the coffee”. Again, it doesn’t look like any major coffee making operation is underway on the Indus. So what is going on?

After some detective work, I have been able to surmise that this is about the Kishenganga project, which has been under construction for almost two decades. But then that again begs the question as to why people are freaking out about something that has been ongoing for 30 years. There is no way that that project affects the volumetric flows of water into Pakistan, being that the project simply transfers water for electricity generation from Neelum to Jehlum, which ends up in Pakistan anyway.

The project could have had an adverse effect on our own Neelum-Jehlum hydel project, which is under construction. But the Court of Arbitration in the Hague has already ruled in our favour. Indians have to modify their intake of water from Kishengana (called Neelum in Pakistan) so that it doesn’t negatively affect us. The Indians have modified their project in accordance with the ruling, to the best of my knowledge. So it’s not volumetric flows and it is not the fate of the Neelum-Jehlum. Then why the fuss?

As I was sitting with my mentor Jim Wescoat from the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT) who taught me a thing or two I know about water, asked me: “If Pakistanis are so worried about water, why don’t they give resources to their Indus Commission (that negotiates with India) and Indus River System Authority (IRSA) (that regulates interprovincial water accord) to have world class researchers and human resources?” After all he argued, Pakistan needs to make the case for its water not just to the world but also to its feuding federating units.

Why not invest in knowledge? As is usual in my sittings with him, I came upon a revelation thinking about that question. Pakistan probably has the highest concentration of water experts, per capita in the world. Why invest in science and knowledge if you can crowd source it? Who needs armies of scientists, social scientists, geomorphologists and hydrologists if you can get water experts off the streets and TV screens for free? Besides, don’t we have civil engineers who by luck and fate found themselves in the irrigation departments or WAPDA and are now water experts by experience?

It is precisely because we have started crowd sourcing our water policy that we get into embarrassing imbroglios like the recent attempt at making a representation to the World Bank about Kishenganga. We have made representations in the past and our concerns have been addressed. Saying that India can’t do anything on the three western rivers is nonsense, especially when the Indus Waters Treaty is taken into account.

The treaty — which I remind we signed on — explicitly gives permission to India to undertake regional and local scope water and hydel development projects, subject to certain design qualifications. India has often suspended, and modified projects based on our objections as long as, they were in line with the IWT. The Kishenganga project after all of its whetting and modifications based upon Pakistan’s objections is consistent with the IWT. The only thing we do by sending attorney generals to represent cases, with no technical merit to World Bank is to embarrass ourselves, and lose credibility in the eyes of the world.

There is a way to avoid such embarrassments and false failures. Invest in training human resources in water and stop listening to the jingo brigade. Pakistani engineers and water professionals are as patriotic as any military or a media person.

There are laudable initiatives underway in Pakistan from the Centre for Water Informatics at LUMS to Centre for Advanced Studies at Mehran University to Hissar Foundation’s Think Tank on Rational Use of Water to its University Network for Water. These initiatives should be supported and encouraged. If we are going to have a reasoned debate on water and be responsible water citizens of the world, we can’t indulge in the practice of cutting the nose to spite the face..

Cheers

[Falijee]

Jemima Comes Out In "Full Swing" In Favour Of The Kaptaan

Will sue Reham if her book is published in UK, says Jemima Goldsmith

LONDON – Former wife of Imran Khan Jemima Goldsmith on Wednesday vowed to sue Reham Khan if her book was published in the United Kingdom.
Jemima wrote on Twitter that she had been assured that Reham’s book was “too libellous to be published in the UK”.

Hope the "legal lawyers" that Jemima is depending on "are experts in UK libel laws" and she is not relying on "Paki based or Paki origin experts"

“I will be suing for defamation & breach of privacy on behalf of my (then) 16-year-old son and in relation to the moronic, re-hashed Zionist conspiracy theories,” she said in her tweet. Maulana Fazl - AKA Diesel - is a "big fan" of the Zionist conspiracy theory -that Jemima is alluding to here ! According to Fazl, Imran's campaign is being generously financed by "Zionist and Jewish interests". He is driving this point home to his fellow Pashtuns in order to dissuade them from casting vote in favour of PTI party !

The book, titled ‘Reham Khan’, is under process and said to revolve around Reham’s marriage with PTI chief Imran Khan, which ended in a divorce mere 15 months later. Some parts of the book were leaked online which irked several PTI leaders who took to Twitter to accuse her of being part of an “agenda” ahead of the upcoming general election.

On this issue, Reham Khan has been served a legal notice by her first husband, a cricket legend, ( So, Wasim Akram, Imran's buddy has initiated legal proceedings in Bartania or in Pakiland ) a British businessman, and a PTI official over the contents of her upcoming book.

The BBC girl tell-all autobiography reportedly includes details of her interactions with various celebrities and her marriage with Imran. Some of those details apparently crossed a line for businessman Zulfikar Bukhari, Reham’s first husband Ijaz Rehman, cricketer Wasim Akram, and PTI International Media Coordinator Anila Khawaja.

The Kaptaan, true to his so-called "acquired British character " has remained above the fray and has "ordered" his minions to fight the battle and do the "dirty dealings" for him in the court of public opinion and in the court of law as well