Terroristan - 4th Jan 2018

[Manish_P]

Thanks for posting this gold

Interview with the Norwegian ambassador, full of begging for this and that, and humiliating put-downs by the gora, who at one point mentions that many Pakis in Norway claim to be Afghans

[Falijee]

US Has Many More Ways Yet To Squeeze Pakistan According To This Report

US-Pakistan Relations Worsen as Both Sides Dig In
New Delhi Times

When the term Af-Pak was introduced into U.S. foreign policy lingo around 2008, presumably by Richard Holbrooke, who would later become the first U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, many Pakistanis resented the phrase.

It was originally coined to reflect the belief that U.S. policy required a unified approach to military and security issues in the region. Winning the war in Afghanistan required a coordinated approach with Pakistan. But in Islamabad, officials felt the United States was looking at its relationship with Pakistan through the lens of Afghanistan

Ten years later, the war in Afghanistan continues and Washington’s relationship with Islamabad has worsened. The U.S. has suspended military aid unless Pakistan does more to crack down on militant groups. Pakistan says Washington is making it a scapegoat for the U.S. failure to secure Afghanistan.

Moeed Yusuf, the associate vice president of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Asia Center says, both sides are signaling to each other that the cost of crossing their red lines, which they have not clearly defined for the other side, will be high. While neither wants the relationship to actually rupture,”the danger of either side miscalculating the red lines of the other are higher than I’ve ever seen before in the last 15 years,” he said.The United States has long accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to the Afghan Taliban, as well as its deadly arm the Haqqani Network.Pakistan has countered that it has paid a heavy price for military offensives that its commanders say have now cleared all safe havens from Pakistani territory. Pakistani officials say the Taliban control enough territory in Afghanistan that they do not need Pakistan. The bottom line for Pakistan: It does not want a pro India Govt in Afghanistan. And this is not going to happen !

According to Yusuf, as the war has dragged on and the Taliban have continued their deadly attacks against NATO and Afghan forces, “the U.S. has lost any empathy or sympathy for the Pakistani concern that taking on the Taliban on this side will create problems for Pakistan,” he said.

Thomas Lynch, a Distinguished Research Fellow for South Asia and the Near East at the National Defense University in Washington said, “There is a complete exhaustion factor with Pakistan in Washington. This is why Pakistan will see an increasing difficulty with U.S. policy responses in coming weeks and months.”Pakistan has not been able to use its influence with the Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table, and the Trump administration’s focus is now on taking them off the battlefield. Lynch says that does not mean talks are off the table, it means the United States would talk after it has considerably weakened the Taliban militarily. Most analysts agree Pakistan’s role is crucial in negotiations and in battle.

But Richard Olsen, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan who also served as the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Obama administration, is skeptical the United States has the leverage to make Pakistan change its behavior, something Washington has not been able to do in almost two decades, partly because of regional anxieties.

Islamabad fears its rival, India, which has good relations with Kabul, will use the opportunity to encircle Pakistan from the west, according to Yusuf and Stephen Hadley, former U.S. Assistant for National Security Affairs. Pakistan’s military “have always feared a scenario in which Afghanistan offers India a second base from which to squeeze Pakistan,” the two wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times.Pakistan also fears India is trying to disrupt a new economic corridor China is helping to develop in Pakistan. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a collection of energy and infrastructure projects the government says will change the country’s flailing economy into a powerhouse. The recent crackdown on the Pashtuns in FATA, coupled with attempts to fence the Durand Line is also going to complicate matters further !

Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Zubair Mahmood Hayat told a seminar in Islamabad the Indian intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing, commonly known as RAW, had “established a new cell with a special allocation of over $500 million in 2015 to sabotage CPEC projects [in Pakistan].”

With the new U.S. South Asia policy encouraging India to play a larger regional role, American intentions in the region also became suspect for Pakistan when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that CPEC passed through a “disputed territory,” a reference to the Kashmir region India and Pakistan each claim.

Lynch says he thinks sanctions against important individuals, rather than the Pakistani state, might prove more forceful than anything else.“I think if certain retired political and military figures were to suddenly have travel bans and frozen finances, there’d be a different perspective in Pakistan. I think we’d start from retired and we’d move on from there,” he said. The Paki civil and military elites still look towards Massaland , as "economic insurance" just in case ...

Pakistan has the option of closing down NATO supply routes through its territory. But senior Pakistani officials have indicated they would not do so without careful deliberations.
“Pakistan’s been told if they even attempt to do that for a short period of time, that extensive U.S. sanctions against significant Pakistani figures would follow quickly,” Lynch added. Pakistan has always been a "rentier state" since its inception . And there is no reason to believe that things are going to change now !

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s biggest regional ally, China, also appears to be making an effort to smooth relations.“I think China would like to see normal relationship between Pakistan and the United States. Pakistan and the United States have been allies for years,” said Lijian Zhao, the Chinese Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad. And then of course, there is the Head Of The Two Holy Mosques , who will also do his bid to act as an intermediary if things go worse

“We have diplomatic consultations with both … The countries should cooperate with each other, instead of working against each other. We should work against the terrorists together,” he added. Although, he said diplomacy works incrementally and no one should expect a breakthrough overnight.

[Falijee]

Bill to end US aid to Pakistan moved in House of Representatives too
Dawn

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives joined the Senate on Tuesday in seeking to end US economic aid to Pakistan while the Trump administration has already suspended military aid.A bill introduced in the House said that non-defence aid to Pakistan should also end and the money set aside for this purpose should be invested in infrastructure projects in the United States.

The movers say they are seeking the ban because Pakistan “provides military aid and intelligence” to terrorists, a charge Islamabad strongly denies. Pakistani officials say that the US administration blames their country to hide their failure in Afghanistan where they have failed to subdue an ever-increasing insurgency. The legislation, introduced by Congressmen Mark Sanford from South Carolina and Thomas Massie from Kentucky, seeks to prohibit the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from sending American taxpayer money to Pakistan. The "powerful Indian Lobby" in DC must have done its bit in this

The move to stop US economic assistance to Pakistan initiated in the Senate where Senator Rand Paul introduced a companion legislation early last month. “We fail to protect the country and steward taxpayers’ hard-earned money when we support countries that chant ‘death to America and burn our flag’,” he argued.

The current debate in Congress on the rationale for continuing US assistance to Pakistan followed a New Year Day tweet from President Donald Trump, who accused the country of receiving more than $33 billion in 15 years but giving “nothing but lies and deceit” in return. Four days after the tweet, he suspended US security aid to Pakistan, hoping that it would force Islamabad to support his strategy for defeating the Taliban. Pakistan believes ( wrongly !) that Chinese assistance will more than make up for this suspension !

[Falijee]

PEMRA Intrudes In Paki Bedrooms !

Don't promote Valentine's Day, Pemra reminds broadcasters

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Wednesday issued an advisory directing local media to "desist from promoting Valentine's Day".The authority directed all "broadcast media and distribution services licensees" to refrain from promoting Valentine's Day as per an order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).The IHC, in a verdict passed on February 13, 2017, had prohibited the celebration of Valentine's Day in public spaces and government offices across the country "with immediate effect".The court had also warned print and electronic media to "stop all Valentine's Day promotions immediately". In these and other "religious matters", Pakistan looks towards Saudia, the fountainhead of hypocrisy, IMO, where there is one law for the "Abduls" and another one for the elites !

The orders were given on a petition submitted by citizen Abdul Waheed, who maintained that promotions on mainstream and social media for Valentine's Day are against Islamic teachings and should be banned immediately. Doubt that this kind of a ban will have any effect on what has been recently going on in Pakistan !

In 2016, President Mamnoon Hussain had urged Pakistanis to forego celebrating Valentine’s Day, saying that it was not a part of Muslim tradition, but of the West. He had said, “Valentine’s Day has no connection with our culture and it should be avoided,” and added that the downsides of western culture had "adversely affected one of our neighbouring countries." Is he alluding to India

[Falijee]

Army Casualities At LOC A Secret !

Army’s refusal to share LoC casualty stats irks Rabbani
Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:
The upper house of parliament has sought details of casualties suffered by the military during frequent cross-border exchanges with India along the Line of Control (LoC).Minister of State for Power Abid Sher Ali, in response to a calling attention notice, gave a brief statement in the Senate on Tuesday about the situation along the LoC.Speaking on behalf of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Ali provided civilian casualties only, saying: “Pakistan Army wants to withhold the information about the losses suffered by its troops due to security reasons’.” Proves once again, that Paki democracy is a sham . The Senate as well as the National Assembly is toothless . The military is not accountable to anyone in Pakiland !

“We have written to the GHQ for the details of our soldiers who have lost their lives serving along the LoC. However, the military authorities refused to share the details citing security concerns,” the state minister said.

This prompted a strong reaction from Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani.

The military’s reluctance to share information led to a strong reaction from the Senate chairman. “Nothing can be withheld from parliament. I am not ready to accept this. Declare us irresponsible people, then [it will be] fair enough,” Rabbani said.

Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz is likely to attend the house tomorrow to give a policy statement on the matter.

[sudhan]

Army Casualities At LOC A Secret !

Army’s refusal to share LoC casualty stats irks Rabbani
Express Tribune

Old article, saar.. not that anything has changed in this aspect..

[Falijee]

A Good Article On Why Pashtuns Are Angry

Why are the Pashtun angry?
Vikram Sood

Rao Anwar Ahmed Khan's police force in Karachi shot dead a 27-year old Mehsud Naseemullah (aka Naqeebullah), originally from South Waziristan, during an encounter. Rao Anwar had organised similar encounters in the past and in the last seven years there had been 200 clashes in the Malir District of Karachi in which 450 people had been killed.Details of these killings are scanty or simply do not exist except that a large number of the dead were Pashtun. For Rao Anwar, the killing of Mehsud along with three others in Shah Latif Town was a routine affair where the dead would be shown as terrorists enabling to drill additional notches on the butt of his gun. These killings were presumably trophies ensuring further rewards. Pashtuns are often portrayed as the "bad boys" of Karachi. There is a tussle with the local Mohajir population as well !

As it turned out, Mehsud was no TTP or any other terrorist. Although he had come from the lawless borderlands of FATA, he had left home with his family during the Pakistan military operation in Waziristan and made their way to Karachi, a city which has the largest number of Pashtun living outside their province. The family did not settle in Tank or Dera Ismail Khan as many others had done.

He was active on the social media and wanted to be in the world of fashion. But he was kidnapped on January 3, killed in an 'encounter' on January 12 and his family was informed on January 16. The Pashtun's of Sohrab Goth and other parts were infuriated with the news and his friends were out on the streets protesting. The protesters marched from the Sohrab Goth graveyard to Peshawar.

No press coverage because of blackout ordered by the authorities !

Several people from Dera Ismail Khan, Multan, Tank and even Waziristan joined them. Eventually, Pashtuns in thousands held for sit-in demonstrations in Islamabad.Addressing the large gathering of protestors outside the Islamabad Press Club was Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan's foremost TV journalists.

Mir has had several brush-in with the Rawalpindi crowd in the past but this did not prevent him from delivering a fiery speech, describing the demonstrations as a fight against the violators of the Constitution and the law of the land. Mir, an Islamist has himself been on the receiving side of Deep State shenanigans !

The crowd also sought punishment for Anwar Ahmed and demanded that extra-judicial killings be stopped, that land mines planted in FATA which resulted in innumerable civilian casualties, including women and children, be removed, end enforced disappearances all over Pakistan, especially in Balochistan" Balochistan, Sindh and Pakhtunkhwa and innocent Pashtun be freed. All these "demands" are likely to fall on deaf ears !

They have also objected to racial profiling of Pashtun, asserting that they have been victims of inhuman torture and that all this amounted to genocide.Despite the venue of the protests, media coverage in Pakistan has been scanty unlike the coverage of the Tehreek-e- Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah sit-in last November where the government seemed to have given in to the demands and the media had covered the events extensively, presumably under instructions. Pakistan has long been a Pakjabi dominated state !

Pakistani desire to control Afghan destiny then led to interminable conflict in Afghanistan as it sought strategic depth in Afghanistan for its forces against India.

The US military involvement in Afghanistan since October 2001, without controlling Pakistan's behaviour has been a horrible, expensive and an unsuccessful adventure. In the process, Afghanistan has suffered, and so have the Pashtun, on both sides of the Durand Line. For decades now, they have faced violence and loss at the hands of the Taliban, the Pakistan Army and the US military drones.

It is true that the Taliban was essentially a Pashtun force but not all Pashtun were members of the Taliban or sympathised with them. Pakistan hoped that a religious force would submerge ethnic aspirations on both sides of the Durand Line. With time, the Pakistani ploy of making use of a religious identity of the Taliban and their extremist ideology to keep control over Afghanistan has backfired.

The attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2016 and now the killing of 11 soldiers, including an officer, and injuring 13 in Swat earlier this month in a suicide attack by the TTP is an example of the war that never really ended.

Besides, it must be well-known to the Pakistan authorities that the Taliban website operates from Karachi, the safe havens and military hardware given to the Taliban with the notorious Haqqani Network as their favourites are well-known and Pakistani policy towards the US has remained duplicitous with very little congruence of interests.Peace in the Pashtun region of Pakistan and Afghanistan is dependent on Pakistan's policies in Afghanistan that in turn impinge on its domestic behaviour.

An estimated half million Pashtun refugees had moved out of FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to safer havens in other parts of Pakistan. Unavoidably, refugees add to demographic and social pressures as well as law and order problems.They become centres of extremism, anger, crime and extortion. It gets more complicated when forces like the Taliban use refugees as camouflage for their own activities. For years, Pakistan followed the principle of conducting two-front jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir by splitting the jihadis to keep control of the jihad. The result is that today we have a situation where competitive jihad has been going on with different groups operating together, or independently or in case of sectarian groups, operating with their own agenda.

Today, the Pashtun complain that their progressive nationalist movement was crushed by eliminating thousands of their cadres and their culture systematically broken. The Afghan and Pakistan position on the issue of Pashtuns is linked to Amir Abdul Rehman's surprising acceptance of Mortimer Durand's proposal to demarcate the boundary known as the Durand Line in November 1893. It was not just a demarcation of a line that Durand sought; but territory from Peshawar to the Indus and from Chitral to northern Balochistan">Balochistan up to Quetta that became part of British India.

Before that date, Afghanistan and British India met on the banks of the Indus. Years later Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan would speak hopefully of a Pakhtoonistan uniting all the Pashtuns. His son, Khan Abdul Wali Khan later in 1975 described his identity as that of a six thousand- year-old Pashtun, a thousand-year- old Muslim and a 27-year- old Pakistani. This catches the essential cultural and ethnic unity of the Pashtun despite their frequent quarrels among themselves. However, Pakistan would want them to be divided and the Durand Line accepted by the Afghans as the boundary. No Afghan Govt, including the Taliban to date has recognized this "artificial Durand"

Meanwhile, Pashtun leaders have raised slogans of azadi and threatened to bring Karachi to a standstill if Rao Anwar Ahmed Khan is not arrested within a week the government in Islamabad agonises over the fate of Kashmiris with the usual promises and threats.Surely, the government will try to break the protest one way or another. The favoured option could be to let the religious militia intervene to give the protests an Islamic hue, discredit the movement as a non-event, anti-national and/or anti-Islamic. Pakistani media has speculated that "powerful interests" are protecting Rao Anwar Ahmed Khan !

[johb]

https://youtu.be/T0gYgk30YKQ
Husain Haqqani in off the cuff

[Falijee]

Hamid Karzai : World Knows Hafiz Saeed Was Responsible For 26/11

World knows Hafiz Saeed was responsible for 26/11 Mumbai attacks: Hamid Karzai to India Today

[Falijee]

Pakistan Railways Wants "CPEC Largesse"

Work on $8.2b CPEC rail line unlikely to begin soon
The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has been raising false hopes of early start of work on the $8.2-billion Mainline-I (ML-I) rail track under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it has not yet finalised the mode of financing because of its huge implications for the country’s external debt. The ways things are heading it seems that the the day is not too far when 100% of the Paki Economic Budget is outsourced to CPEC !

An internal agreement on the exact financing modalities was essential before making a request to China for processing a loan, said sources in the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform.The project had already faced a delay of at least two years and there was still disagreement between the Ministry of Railways and other ministries, they said.

The Ministry of Finance and a financing group, set up to firm up funding modalities for the ML-I project, are in favour of acquiring the loan with sovereign guarantees, show documents.In the case of sovereign guarantees, the $8.2-billion loan will not become part of Pakistan’s ballooning external debt of $85 billion. The responsibility of loan repayment will lie on the Ministry of Railways.Under the May 2017 framework agreement, the project will be solely funded by China.However, Pakistan Railways wants the central government to acquire the loan, which will not only make it part of the external debt, but will also shift the loan-servicing responsibility on to the centre. Lahori logic and Sialkoti statistics

For the past one and a half year, the government officials concerned have been giving false deadlines for signing the financing agreement with China. And all this was before suspension of US economic aid !

China has told Pakistan that it will consider only that loan request which covers the entire rail track from Karachi to Peshawar and not up to Lahore.Chinese game plan : greater and greater debt trap for Pakiland . Then grab Paki real estate on loan default !

[Falijee]

Arab Sheiks Flaunt Paki Hunting And Licensing Laws , Ignore Payment Request And Violate Paki Sover-Virginity

Arab princes ‘have their own hunting rules'

The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:
The wildlife and forest departments of Sindh and Balochistan have told a parliamentary panel that illegal hunting poses a threat to critically endangered houbara bustard, partridges and other migratory birds, resulting in decline in their numbers.Officials from the two provinces have expressed helplessness before the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that the guests from Arab countries “do not bother to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and permit requirements”. Any Paki retaliation may result in tougher visa rules for Pakis looking for work in Gulf

“We have forwarded a summary to the Sindh chief minister for imposing a two-year ban on every type of hunting because this is the only way to stop their [birds] numbers from going down further,” Sindh’s Forest Department secretary Asif Haider told the committee on Wednesday which Senator Nuzhat Sadiq chaired.

“The number of houbara bustard which is their favorite hunt is on the decline and recently some princes came on a week-long hunting trip but returned on the third day due to the absence of these birds,” Dr Umer said. The Pakis need to be reminded that the Shamsi Air Force Base in Chagai Hills , once used by US for drone attacks, was built by the Emirities for hunting trips but now has been "gifted" to the Pakis !

He said nobody could dare ask them about paying the hunting fee prescribed in the SOPs and permit issued at the time of arrival.“We just receive a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for security of these princes, and that too late night, for early morning hunt,” he said, adding the princes also contact directly and come to hunt illegally as their guests. The wealthy Arabs do not follow any rules in Asia, Europe or in US, although many countries are now putting them into their place !

Dr Umer was of the view that those princes never bother to pay the amount of Rs10 million required for the permit, besides violating the term of number of birds that often exceeded.

The secretary from Balochistan added that those royal hunters should also pay specific amount for the development of those areas and conservation of those birds.“They should not directly pay to locals in the form of alms and permits should be issued by the provincial governments,” he told the committee.Senator Tahir Mashhadi said that the suggestions should be implemented as Pakistan is a destination for the rarest of the birds in the world.Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua also said a survey should be carried out to know about the exact number of those birds.

Pakistan is basically surviving on Chini , Amreeki and Arbi largesse . It cannot afford to "annoy" any of them !

[Falijee]

India could be behind attack on Chinese citizens in Karachi, says interior minister

ISLAMABAD – Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said India, which has undue apprehensions over China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, may be involved in the attack on two Chinese nationals in Karachi.“Pakistan has established a strong force of 10,000 personnel for protection of Chinese citizens,” the minister told BBC in an interview. Ahasan said Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is under arrest on charges of espionage, has also admitted that there is an Indian spy network to sabotage the Corridor.

The two Chinese, employees of a shipping company, were riding in their car in an upmarket area on Monday when the attackers in another car opened fire on their vehicle, according to police, describing it as an apparent “targeted attack”.

According to the minister, the US administration has hinted that economic aid to Pakistan will not be stopped. He added that different lobbies are working in the US and want to introduce bills in the US Congress of their own choice.Besides stopping of economic aid, US has other options as well !

Ahsan also rejected Afghanistan claim that the terrorists handed over by Pakistan were not Taliban but ordinary refugees.

[Falijee]

Hussain Haqqani to be brought back to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court has summoned secretaries interior and foreign affairs and Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to tell about possible steps for bringing former ambassador to United States Husain Haqqani to Pakistan.Supreme Court has sought mechanism within one week for bringing back Husain Haqqani back. The Paki Supreme Court follows orders from the "Deep State", as was apparent in Ganja's case !

The bench expressed surprise that why has this case not been listed for the last four years. Haqqani has contended that the case was revived for propaganda purposes and to put hurdles against publishing his forthcoming book on Pakistan !

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has also dismissed Haqqani’s review petitions against the Supreme Court order to form a commission to probe Memogate.The review petitions have been dismissed on non-prosecution.

[Falijee]

US names three Pakistanis as ´terrorist facilitators´

Washington: The United States named three Pakistanis as key "terrorist facilitators", saying they worked closely with a well-known backer of Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Taliban known as Shaykh Aminullah.The US Treasury placed Rahman Zeb Faqir Muhammad, Hizb Ullah Astam Khan, and Dilawar Khan Nadir Khan on its blacklist of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," in an effort to disrupt the group´s ability to obtain and distribute financing.All three were tied to Shaykh Aminullah, who has been on international terror blacklists since 2009.

US officials allege that Shaykh Aminullah turned the Ganj madrassa, a boys school in Peshawar, into a training and recruiting base by Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The three men were involved in providing financial and logistical support, explosives, and technological aid to the three extremist groups, the Treasury said.Rahman Zeb, it said, has been in charge of raising funds and materials for Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Gulf region, and helped Shaykh Aminullah travel to the Gulf in 2014.Hizb Ullah was involved in Shaykh Aminullah´s seminary and helped him on various trips to the Gulf.

"Treasury continues to aggressively pursue and expose radicals who support terrorist organizations and run illicit financial networks across South Asia," said Sigal Mandelker, ( RAA/ Mossad ) Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

The real fun will begin when Massa enforces the threatened financial and travel sanctions on high level civil and military Pakis

[Falijee]

"Paki First Lady" Dares To Come Out Of "Islami Closet"

EXCLUSIVE: ‘He didn’t want to be a politician,’ Pakistan’s First Lady speaks about PM Abbasi for the first time on media
08 Feb 2018

ISLAMABAD (Daily Pakistan Online) – Pakistan’s First Lady, Dr. Samina Shahid Khaqan Abbasi spoke about Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that he didn’t want to be a politician, she further said the Ojhri Camp incident was a huge tragedy for us that changed our lives, First Lady said in an exclusive interview to Daily Pakistan. She was speaking to the media for the first time.

In an exclusive interview, she said that my husband (Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) is leading a very simple life and loves tourism, added that he takes a simple meal, likes pulses but doesn’t like any kind of meat gohst A Paki vegetarian, an oxymoron term ! .

She said the Ojhri Camp tragedy, in which her father-in-law (Khaqan Abbasi) died and her brother-in-law sustained serious injuries which led to his death after 14 years, completely changed their lives.First Lady said that my husband is a cool-tempered person, though he didn’t want to become a politician, the Ojhri Camp tragedy made him a politician.( Rumour has it that his Petroleum Portfolio under the Ganja Govt was very lucrative for his health and wealth )

[Falijee]

Umma Ally Saudia Gets Tough With Pakis !

Four Pakistanis executed for murder, rape in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH – Saudi Arabia on Thursday executed four Pakistani men convicted of raping and murdering a woman and raping her teenage son, the kingdom’s interior ministry said.The men were also convicted of stealing jewellery and cash after entering the woman’s home in Riyadh and raping and strangling her, according to a ministry statement cited by the official SPA news agency.The oil-rich Kingdom has executed 20 people since the start of 2018.

Last year, 141 people were put to death in the kingdom, where executions are carried out by the sword.

[Falijee]

Paki Ayeshas Risk Becoming Object Of Peeping Toms Abduls In Faisalabad Clothing Store !

Customer finds hidden cameras in Levis Faisalabad try-rooms

FAISALABAD: A woman and her family discovered several hidden video cameras placed inside cardboard boxes within the try room of a Levis shop situated on Satiana road, Faisalabad.According to a news report by 24 News, the woman complained about the issue to the shop’s management and said that the cardboard boxes had tiny holes in them for the cameras to peer out and spy on customers as they changed clothes.This is what you may get, when you ban "Valentine Celebration"

On asking the manager to address this issue, the woman was met with anger and her mobile phone was snatched from her so that all photographic evidence could be deleted. The woman wasted no time and immediately called the police onto the shop’s premises so that some action could be taken. The police conducted an investigation and although they found the boxes, the video cameras have not yet been uncovered. Police has since then sealed off the outlet and have taken the manager into custody. Now, it will be a question of whose sifarish is high, the store's owner or the women customer. It will be a miracle if an objective investigation is conducted

The manager states that he has no hand in this and blames his workers who he says were doing this without his knowledge as well. Till now no arrests have been made and no case has been filed by the authorities, who have yet to uncover the cameras and all their video footage.

[Falijee]

Madame Jalebi AKA Tractor Trolley Now Off The Hook In 2014 Isloo Agitation

A PTI leader acquitted in 2014 sit-in violence case

ISLAMABAD – An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari innocent in 2014 sit-in violence cases.

During the hearing, the ATC judge said that the Mazari did not need to file a plea for a bail as she has been declared innocent. The court also ordered to return of surety bond worth Rs100,000 submitted by the PTI leader in the case.PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Shafqat Mahmood, Arif Alvi and Asad Umar, who appeared in the court today, were all granted bails in the cases.

The police in the report said that Mazari was also involved in attacking the public building during the sit-in and asked the court to issue an order for her arrest.

PTI chairman Imran Khan and his companions are facing charges of torturing then Islamabad Operations SSP Asmatullah Junejo and attacking state buildings and damaging public properties in Red Zone during the sit-in staged by PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). The hidden hand of Ganja and his "clever brother" Showbazz Sharif , Premiere of Pakjab in this politically motivated matter cannot be ruled out

[Falijee]

Imran Farooq murder: Pakistan court summons MQM founder through Guardian notice

[ashish raval]

Imran Farooq murder: Pakistan court summons MQM founder through Guardian notice

That post code seems incorrect looks like a typo of HA87EJ. I was just 20 feet in VIP lounge for a wedding reception couple of weeks back. Never knew Altaaf Hussein resides next door to it.

[anupmisra]

Qadrification of baki society...wait till fridin when more qadris will be annointed.

Religious parties assemble in Mardan to demand release of men convicted in Mashal Khan murder case

Multiple religious parties are set to protest on Friday against the conviction of 31 men found to have been involved in the brutal murder of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student Mashal Khan, who was lynched in April 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy.

The JI also held a gathering in Mardan on Wednesday to 'welcome' those acquitted by the ATC.

JI's Emir in Mardan, Dr Attaur Rehman, while speaking to DawnNews said the party is a constitutional and religious party which wants Shariah law imposed in Pakistan.

the 26 who were acquitted in the case by the Haripur Anti-Terrorism Court on Wednesday will address protesters tomorrow.

the men arrested for the murder of Mashal were beaten and forced confessions were extracted from them.

On Wednesday night, a jubilant crowd of religious party workers had gathered at the Mardan Motorway Interchange to "welcome" the 26 "heroes" who had been acquitted by the court, and to protest the ATC's verdict against the 31 men convicted of Mashal's murder.

JUI-F's Mulk said that the court may have sentenced one "lover of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)" to death, "but that there are thousands more Imrans on the streets" ready to act.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388140/relig ... urder-case

One comment had this to ask:

Why these people don't come out for the sexual violence against children?

[anupmisra]

Pulling numbers out of his mussharaf...

98 pc foreign cricketers ready to visit Pakistan for PSL: Salman Iqbal

Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal on Wednesday claimed that upto 98 per cent of foreign cricketers are ready to come to Pakistan for the playoffs and finals of the 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Foreign players, in the past, have shown great reluctance in visiting Pakistan owing to the country’s volatile security conditions.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1387939/98pc- ... lman-iqbal

[anupmisra]

Jo LaWhore mein...woh amrika mein bhi...

Canadian authorities arrest Pakistani man accused of sex offense in US

a 41-year-old Pakistani man who fled Texas where he's charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl is being returned to Houston after he was arrested and unsuccessfully sought asylum in Canada.

Khan was “walking through the woods” in November in Canada when he was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Officials believe he was planning to return to his native Pakistan

He would have been safe and protected in his native land, for sure.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388188/canad ... ense-in-us

[anupmisra]

Another national bird of ba(w)kistan sighted. No one shot it down.

US drone strike kills key Taliban commander in NWA
That's "North Waziristan Agency" in the badlands of al bakistan for you.

A US drone strike killed at least two people including a key Taliban commander in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) close to the Afghanistan border on Thursday

As per details, A US drone strike killed at least two suspected militants near Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan Agency late on Thursday. So, in ba(w)kistan, really

I wonder what excuse the pakis have now? An afghan refugee camp, perhaps?

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/27863 ... der-in-nwa

[arun]

Arab Sheiks Flaunt Paki Hunting And Licensing Laws , Ignore Payment Request And Violate Paki Sover-Virginity

Arab princes ‘have their own hunting rules'

The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:
The wildlife and forest departments of Sindh and Balochistan have told a parliamentary panel that illegal hunting poses a threat to critically endangered houbara bustard, partridges and other migratory birds, resulting in decline in their numbers.Officials from the two provinces have expressed helplessness before the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that the guests from Arab countries “do not bother to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and permit requirements”. Any Paki retaliation may result in tougher visa rules for Pakis looking for work in Gulf

“We have forwarded a summary to the Sindh chief minister for imposing a two-year ban on every type of hunting because this is the only way to stop their [birds] numbers from going down further,” Sindh’s Forest Department secretary Asif Haider told the committee on Wednesday which Senator Nuzhat Sadiq chaired.

“The number of houbara bustard which is their favorite hunt is on the decline and recently some princes came on a week-long hunting trip but returned on the third day due to the absence of these birds,” Dr Umer said. The Pakis need to be reminded that the Shamsi Air Force Base in Chagai Hills , once used by US for drone attacks, was built by the Emirities for hunting trips but now has been "gifted" to the Pakis !

He said nobody could dare ask them about paying the hunting fee prescribed in the SOPs and permit issued at the time of arrival.“We just receive a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for security of these princes, and that too late night, for early morning hunt,” he said, adding the princes also contact directly and come to hunt illegally as their guests. The wealthy Arabs do not follow any rules in Asia, Europe or in US, although many countries are now putting them into their place !

Dr Umer was of the view that those princes never bother to pay the amount of Rs10 million required for the permit, besides violating the term of number of birds that often exceeded.

The secretary from Balochistan added that those royal hunters should also pay specific amount for the development of those areas and conservation of those birds.“They should not directly pay to locals in the form of alms and permits should be issued by the provincial governments,” he told the committee.Senator Tahir Mashhadi said that the suggestions should be implemented as Pakistan is a destination for the rarest of the birds in the world.Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua also said a survey should be carried out to know about the exact number of those birds.

Pakistan is basically surviving on Chini , Amreeki and Arbi largesse . It cannot afford to "annoy" any of them !

Tsk … Tsk …The Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan has forgotten its ranking in the Ummah Totem Pole as lowly Ajlaf Miskeen's vis a vis the ranking of the high caste fellow Mohammadden Ashraf Arab’s who are pursuing their shariah compliant hobby of exterminating the Houbara Bustard .


Anyway if the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan is indeed Un-Mohammaddenly serious about protecting the Houbara Bustard from the depredations of high caste Ashraf Arab Momin’s it might be best to declare the Houbara Bustard as a General Atomics MQ 1 Predator or any other United States Drone that enjoys the status of Pakistan’s ”National Bird” and the immunity from any interference or harm while flying around in Pakistani territory that status grants as pointed out by Anup Misra .

Another national bird of ba(w)kistan sighted. No one shot it down.

US drone strike kills key Taliban commander in NWA
That's "North Waziristan Agency" in the badlands of al bakistan for you.

A US drone strike killed at least two people including a key Taliban commander in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) close to the Afghanistan border on Thursday

As per details, A US drone strike killed at least two suspected militants near Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan Agency late on Thursday. So, in ba(w)kistan, really

I wonder what excuse the pakis have now? An afghan refugee camp, perhaps?

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/27863 ... der-in-nwa

[arun]

Pulling numbers out of his mussharaf...

98 pc foreign cricketers ready to visit Pakistan for PSL: Salman Iqbal

Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal on Wednesday claimed that upto 98 per cent of foreign cricketers are ready to come to Pakistan for the playoffs and finals of the 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Foreign players, in the past, have shown great reluctance in visiting Pakistan owing to the country’s volatile security conditions.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1387939/98pc- ... lman-iqbal

Citizens of the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan should note that consent of 98% of second rung foreign players who have restricted earning capacity, to risk life in limb in the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan, means nothing.

From what I can make out not a single one of Karachi Kings 2018 team foreign players have been selected for the well-paying IPL 2018 and also barring Eoin Morgan, who has wisely decided not to risk life and limb in the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan, none of the Karachi Kings 2018 team foreign players were confident enough of selection and put themselves up for the IPL 2018 draft:

Retained players: Imad Wasim (captain), Usman Khan, Usama Mir, Khurram Manzoor, Ravi Bopara, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi
Players picked in the draft: Colin Ingram, Joe Denly (replaced Luke Wright), David Wiese, Tabish Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Hasan Mohsin, Tymal Mills (replaced Mitchell Johnson)

Supplementary players: Lendl Simmons (replaced Colin Munro), Eoin Morgan, Saifullah Bangash

Emerging category players: Mohammad Taha, Mushtaq Ahmed Kalhoro

From here:

Clicky

[anupmisra]

Qadrification of baki society...wait till fridin when more qadris will be annointed.

Religious parties assemble in Mardan to demand release of men convicted in Mashal Khan murder case

Update on the qadrification process:

Religious parties in Mardan protest conviction of men involved in Mashal Khan's murder

Thousands of members of the Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat Organisation, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) joined by locals participated in a protest that began at Pakistan Chowk after Friday prayers. The Fridin Effect

Arrangements have also been made to give a "Ghazi welcome" [Muslim fighters' welcome] to the men who were acquitted by the court.

The charged crowd chanted slogans against the murdered student and vowed to "move the Supreme Court against the verdict".

Aizaz, who was showered with petals and carried on the shoulders of supporters, addressed the crowd in Pashto, vowing that anyone who committed blasphemy or spoke against Khatm-i-Nabuwwat would "meet the same end as Mashal".And, this low life was acquitted?!!

Target rich environment (where's the national bird when you need one?):



https://www.dawn.com/news/1388351/relig ... ans-murder

[anupmisra]

IHC orders 12-year-old Christian girl abducted for marriage returned to her parents
Another forced conversion in play.

According to a court order issued on Friday, the 12-year-old girl failed to convince the court that she had willingly converted to Islam in order to marry the man.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388342/ihc-o ... er-parents

[anupmisra]

Activists’ disappearances in Pakistan raised at US House panel

At this special hearing of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, lawmakers also accused Pakistan of continuing to allow Afghan extremists to destabilise the government in Kabul

US lawmakers, think-tanks and media too have started taking a keen interest in Pakistan’s domestic politics, highlighting the grievances of smaller political, religious and ethnic groups.

Such groups have also become active in the US capital and other cities, holding protest meetings and marches. Although such meetings are always tiny, the dissidents are often invited to air their views at larger congressional meetings and media platforms.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388280/activ ... ouse-panel

[Falijee]

US should pay for fencing of Pak-Afghan border, says Khawaja Asif

A month after the United States (US) suspended military aid to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said Washington must pay for the fencing of Pak-Afghan border. In an interview with Bloomberg published on Thursday, Asif said the fencing of Pak-Afghan border "won't cost [the US] much". "The war [in Afganistan] is costing them much more," he was quoted as saying.Pakistan Army undertook the arduous task of fencing the Pak-Afghan border — considered as the most porous borders — last year. The government argues that border fencing is necessary to stop the illegal influx of visitors from the other country that might also include militants. Afghanistan does not recognize the artificial Durand . Pakistan should approach China and include this project in the "gamechanging" CPEC !

Explaining the importance of securing the porous border shared by Pakistan and Afghanistan, Asif told Bloomberg that the fencing will put a stop on the entry of militants that come under the guise of refugees. He also defended the repatriation of two million Afghan refugees saying it was crucial for establishing peace in the region because refugee camps were breeding grounds for militants. Why is he not talking about the Pashtuns of FATA who are becoming refugees in their own home ground !

He claimed that as many as 700,000 people were crossing the border unchecked each day which posed a risk to both countries.
"These issues are facilitating terrorism," he said.Despite Afghanistan's allegations that Pakistan shelters militant organisations, the latter's decision to build a fence across the Pak-Afghan border have met with criticism. The border line between Pakistan and Afghanistan is an artificial colonial line which Afghanistan does not recognize !

[anupmisra]

Qadrification of baki society...wait till fridin when more qadris will be annointed.

Religious parties assemble in Mardan to demand release of men convicted in Mashal Khan murder case

Update on the qadrification process:

Religious parties in Mardan protest conviction of men involved in Mashal Khan's murder

This is getting interesting. But I suspect, just like all other thousands of existential threats issued by the bakis to their goberments daily, this too will be settled "out of court or devoid any street battles". The average baki abdul will search for another cause.

'Stop us if you can': Religious parties in Mardan protest conviction of 31 men in Mashal's murder

Holding banners that read "Mashalyon [Mashal supporters], stop us if you can!", the protesters chanted slogans against Mashal and the government.

The rally was scheduled to march from Pakistan Chowk to College Chowk, but concluded earlier at Katlang Chowk after a dua (grand prayer) for those acquitted.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388351/stop- ... als-murder

[anupmisra]

156 women attempted suicide by consuming 'Kala Pathar' in DG Khan last year

Easily available poison in the shape of Kala Pathar, a chemical used in hair dye, and wheat pill, an insecticide, has contributed to an alarming rise in suicide cases in Punjab's Dera Ghazi Khan district, especially among underprivileged women.

Dr Ibrar Khosa, in charge of the intensive care unit at the teaching hospital of Ghazi Khan Medical College, said 52 women died in 2017 after they either consumed or were fed Kala Pathar.

SeePack will solve everything. Once SeePack is built (!) better quality chini hair dyes will be available at cheaper rates.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1388360/156-w ... -last-year

[anupmisra]

Baki mard is Sari Sorry.

'You should be a role model for women': JUI-F senator objects to Nasreen Jalil's sari

A Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) senator on Friday targeted MQM Senator Nasreen Jalil with a sexist remark about her sartorial choices, choosing a session of the Senate's Functional Committee on Human Rights which she was about to chair to sermonise about what her appearance "as a Muslim woman" should be.

an "able and intellectual" woman like her should have an "appearance like Muslims"

"It is mandatory in Islam for women to cover all parts of their body except the face, hands and feet," preached Sattar

"God has raised you to this status, you should become a role model for other women"

At this, Jalil, a seasoned politician, reminded the senator that she was a 74-year-old lady who recently "dodged death".

Quipping that she could "drop dead at any moment", Jalil asked Sattar what he felt the dressing requirements for a women of such circumstances should be.

The piss-poor pious preacher Seventy:



https://www.dawn.com/news/1388398/you-s ... alils-sari

[anupmisra]

[anupmisra]

And,...just like that..

GDP can be tripled by strengthening maritime economy: Naval Chief

Naval Chief emphasized the need to kick start economic activities in maritime sector which is one of the pillars of his vision

the maritime economy of the country can be boosted and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth can be tripled

Yes, after all, since time immemorial, bakis have been a sea-faring and maritime nation.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/27250 ... aval-chief

[Vips]

How India can win the border war.

'Pakistan has no strategic depth and is vulnerable to Indian military power without even crossing the border,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

Some analysts describe the India-Pakistan conflict as a 'communal riot with tanks'.

Every time India suffers casualties, there is a cry for revenge. At times, the firing on the Jammu and Kashmir border begins to resemble a family blood feud. Yet there is a strategic dimension to it from the Indian side. India wants to raise the costs of Pakistani support to insurgency in the Kashmir valley (NOT the whole of J&K, but the Kashmir valley).

Thus, after the Uri attack in September 2016, the ceasefire agreed in 2003 lies shattered. India carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan held Kashmir on September 28-29, 2016, 11 days after the Uri attack.

If the aim of the surgical strikes and firing on the border was to dissuade Pakistan from supporting insurgents in the Kashmir valley, then it has certainly failed in that objective. The reasons for this are not difficult to analyse. The reality is that there is a near parity in conventional arms along the border between India and Pakistan.

Thanks to generous American military aid over the years, in some respects like gunfire detecting radars and even night devices, Pakistan actually enjoys technological superiority over India.

The national aim of Pakistan (not just its army) is to engage India in asymmetrical warfare in Kashmir where while Pakistan supports the insurgents, Indian conventional power is neutralised by the threat of escalation to nuclear war.

The examples of Israel firing into the Gaza Strip in retaliation are often invoked to justify Indian actions. But that is a fallacy as Israel enjoys huge superiority over the Palestinians, something not available to us.

Does that mean India has no option but to suffer in silence? Far from it. We have several options to raise the costs of the Pakistani misadventure in Kashmir.

For a start, instead of firing on the border being episodic and only in retaliation, India could well make it a permanent feature of the Jammu and Kashmir border. With a large industrial base and indigenous production, India can sustain this indefinitely.

The second option for India is to saturate the area with fire power. We have the numbers on our side and for each Pakistani gun, we can deploy three. In addition, we have the option to use our defunct anti aircraft guns like L-60 in direct firing role for accurate targeting of Pakistani bunkers.

Students of military history know how German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel successfully used the 88 mm anti-aircraft guns in a ground role against the Allied tanks.

India also has the option to increase the 'depth' of our shelling. Instead of confining ourselves to areas along the border, we can target the depth areas of Pakistan. Here we have a distinct advantage in that our strategic targets are deep inside our territory while those of Pakistan are close to the border and within 30 km range. These can be neutralised by long range guns and rocket batteries.

But even more tellingly, we can use laboratory-level weapons, still under development, (beam weapons or fuel air explosives) on the battlefield to test their efficacy. We have dedicated military satellites to give us real time information on targets. These can be used to neutralise Pakistan's retaliatory capability.

In short, the options we have include increasing intensity, spread, depth of our retaliatory firing.

India's forte -- Jugaad -- must be given free rein. The Indian Army is quite capable of surprising the enemy with its innovations.

But before any of these measures can be undertaken, there is need to build a national consensus on the measures to be taken. The political parties have to be on the same page and we have to be ready to accept some amount of damage to our own side as well.

Our shelling along the border south of Jammu, hits Pakistan's Punjabi heartland. It also gives a timely reminder to Pakistan that it has inherited a lousy geography whereby its strategic targets are within 30 kms of its eastern border with India. Pakistan has no strategic depth and is vulnerable to Indian conventional military power without even crossing the border.

As Pakistani soldiers (mainly from Punjab) see the destruction of their own homes, the rank and file may well put pressure on the army leadership to change course.

To be effective, this bitter medicine needs to administered for longer periods of time. In short, we have to begin to be pro-active rather than reactive on the border.

This is a war that will be won by the side that shows greater resolve.

[Falijee]

" Indian Express" Newspaper Pleads For A "Permanent LOC Ceasefire" In This Opinion Piece .

The unquiet front

On January 15 this year, the Indian Army killed seven Pakistani soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), avenging the death of Indian soldiers killed in Pakistani firing a few days earlier. The year 2017 has been the bloodiest on the LoC and the international border in the Jammu sector since the ceasefire agreement (CFA) was agreed to in 2003. According to a recent report, the Indian Army killed 138 Pakistani soldiers in 2017, and lost around 28 of its own.

While the death and destruction in and of themselves are disconcerting, an even more important consideration is whether Ceasefire Violations (CFVs) have the potential to contribute to an India-Pakistan conflict escalation. In other words, could the violence on the LoC graduate to higher levels of political and military standoff? Data on CFVs and escalation from the past 15 years show that such escalation is a real possibility. A Cease Fire Agreement will not automatically lead to stoppage of Paki infiltrators / terrorists into Kashmir, therefore this factor has to be taken into account in any decision likely to be made !

The National Security Advisors (NSAs) of India and Pakistan, Ajit Doval and Nasir Khan Janjua, are engaged in a dialogue to get India-Pakistan relations back on track. Their meeting in Bangkok on December 25 last year did not lead to anything concrete. However, reports indicate that the two sides had discussed the possibility of scheduling a meeting between the two DGMOs to control border violations. The two DGMOs have not met since their last meeting in 2013. Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported on January 16 that the Pakistani side was indeed considering such a proposal. It is likely that such a proposal was put forward by Janjua at the Bangkok meeting. However, the fact that the Pakistani defence ministry later denied any such proposal from Pakistan strongly points to the conclusion that the Indian side did not warm up to it.

It is unlikely that Pakistan would take permanent measures to stop infiltration from their side of the border. The "Kashmir bogey" is a good excuse to divert attention from their own domestic problems ! .

What this then means is that the Narendra Modi government is not enthusiastic about “half-measures” with Pakistan. Put differently, New Delhi thinks a meeting between the DGMOs is not useful for several reasons. One, this is unlikely to put an end to CFVs. After all, ceasefire violations resumed not too long after the last meeting between the two DGMOs in December 2013. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, taking “half measures” with Pakistan would have domestic political costs for the Modi government, especially if they fail. Prime Minister Modi is unlikely to have forgotten the brickbats he received from his support base when his impromptu visit to Lahore in 2015 achieved little. Modi would be keen to achieve “spectacular outcomes” from a rapprochement with Pakistan, not minor ones. The Modi government has neither the patience nor the time to go through the rigmarole of making peace with Pakistan. In other words, for the Modi government, ongoing CFVs despite their deadly consequences are far more preferable to a dialogue process with Pakistan that may not lead anywhere.

The government is reportedly planning to construct shell-proof underground bunkers along the border to ensure the safety of the border population. While it may be a justifiable tactical response, there is no way such bunkers can safeguard the population, their livestock and habitats in the long run. After all, unlike air raids by enemy bombers, bullets and shells aren’t preceded by civil defence siren, nor can the villagers afford to live in the bunkers forever. IMO, Increased defense spending, coupled with pro-active international diplomacy bringing world attention to human rights violations of Balochis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Mohajirs, naming and shaming Pakistan in international fora, increase economic pressure by cutting trade ties ( happening to some extent ) may to some extent hasten the downfall of the Pakjabi dominated entity in the future and relieve pressure at the LOC !

[Falijee]

"Pashtun Long March" Leads To Hollow Promises From Paki PM Office

Pashtun Grievances Echo In Islamabad Protest

Millions of ethnic Pashtuns have endured years of terrorist violence, military operations, and displacement in northwestern Pakistan, and yet their protests rarely reverberate in the country’s capital, Islamabad.But the murder of a young shopkeeper in an allegedly staged gunbattle with the police last month appears to have stirred up grievances that were long suppressed. The killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in the southern city of Karachi ( in a fake encounter !) prompted thousands of activists to converge on Islamabad to press for their demands in seeking justice and an end to their oppression.Participants and speakers from all walks of life thronged the protest site in front of a busy Islamabad market on February 5. In a series of emotional speeches, speaker after speaker ran through their grievances and called on the government to act.

“Naqeebullah Mehsud was not the first Pashtun killed unlawfully in this country. A lot of our blood has been spilled,” protest organizer Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen thundered from the top of a metal shipping container used as a makeshift stage. “However, our patience has now run out after this killing.”Pashteen, an activist who has spent years lobbying to draw attention to the plight of his Mehsud tribe, is among the campaigners determined not to leave Islamabad until their demands are met.The protesters listed five demands, shaped by years of neglect and suffering. Swift justice for Mehsud tops the demands; they are asking authorities to arrest Rao Anwar, a fugitive police officer ( who if Paki media reports are to be believed is being protected by a powerful politician !) blamed for the murder according to a government probe.

Last month, Pashteen, now in his 30s, mobilized a Mehsud jirga, or tribal council, to warn Islamabad to clear landmines and unexploded ordinance from their homeland in the South Waziristan tribal district or brace for unprecedented protests.It’s no surprise that clearing the deadly landmines is one of the protesters’ demands. An estimated half a million Mehsuds left their homes before the onset of a major Pakistani military offensive in 2008, and nearly 80 adults and children have reportedly been killed in landmine explosions since most Mehsuds returned to their homes by the end of last year.

In a telling revelation about life in a conflict zone, the protesters are demanding an end to curfew and other coercive measures used after attacks against security forces. “Across FATA and Waziristan in particular, authorities should avoid imposing curfews and beating civilians,” the pamphlet said, referring to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas by its acronym.Waziristan, divided into North and South Waziristan districts, are two of the seven FATA districts. The region turned into a front line of the global war on terrorism after 9/11 when Al-Qaeda and allied extremism sought shelter in the region after the demise of the hard-line Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan in late 2001. The Pashtuns of FATA are divided from their Afghan brothers by the artificial Durand Line, which Pakistan is attempting to fence in the so call name of "fighting terrorism" from Afghanistan !

Former Pakistani lawmaker Afrasiab Khattak says the protest is a manifestation of the oppression endured by more than 5 million FATA residents.“Pashtuns in FATA in general and Waziristan in particular have been devastated by the armed conflict, but their sufferings and agonies remain unnoticed,” he said. “Rapid urbanization, education, remittances, and the rise of professionals and the middle class have led to greater awareness, but the process of political empowerment lags far behind.”
Khattak says Islamabad’s failure in implementing reforms in FATA contributes to resentment as the region still languishes under a draconian colonial-era legal regime known as the Frontier Crimes Regulations.He says youth activism has taken seasoned politicians by surprise and the masses appear to be now mobilizing for their rights. This, he says, is also changing perceptions about Pashtuns as a collection of warlike tribes.“Such stereotypes are being shattered by the most peaceful and disciplined political agitation in Islamabad’s recent history,” he noted.

[CRamS]

Falijee, please read my analysis of TSP's latest slavo from the J&K thread

viewtopic.php?p=2250701#p2250701

viewtopic.php?p=2250726#p2250726

viewtopic.php?p=2250727#p2250727

[Falijee]

Reham To Wash Imran's Dirty Linen In Public

Reham rubbishes Imran Khan’s claim she was being used by PML-N

Reham Khan, a former TV anchor and ex-wife of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, said that she had ideological differences with her former poltiician husband. In an exclusive interview with SAMAA’s senior anchorperson Shehzab Iqbal on Wednesday, Reham Khan said that her only purpose to write a book was to bring forth the truth. “My book is with the publisher who will make a call about the timing of its publishing. The book may be out next week if the publisher finds it fitting.”To a question, she said that she had never given any specific time for publishing her book. “Nobody has seen the draft or content of my book yet,” she clarified. “Why are they so scared? I am yet to say anything about this,” she said.The former TV anchor said that she was receiving open threats.

It is precisely for this reason, that many prominent Pakis ( like Ch. Nisar of Ganja PML, RAPE author Mohsin Hamid , former PPP Minister Rehman Malik and many others like Reham ) have "purchased" insurance in the form of a British Passport !

Responding to Imran Khan’s recent interview in which he claimed that her former wife was being used by Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif, Reham Khan said that there was no truth in allegations.“I am surprised who is making such allegations. It is unfortunate that instead of telling the truth or accepting his mistakes, Imran Khan was trying to target a woman,” she said. Imran Khan himself is "above such targeting ". He uses many minions who do this kind of dirty work for him. !

Reham Khan said that she would return to the country after a book she has been working on was published. “I have moved to UK for the security of my kids as it was impossible for me to get the book published while sitting in Pakistan.” Londonistan is a favourite "temporary parking spot" for many Paki politicos like Ganja, Altaf Bhai, Dus Percenti and others

The former TV presenter said the editing and writing of her book have been completed and she is only waiting for it to be published.Ms Khan said that she was forced to break her silence due to allegations leveled against her using some TV channels.

Responding to a question, she said that Imran Khan was a politician who was taking position which was politically correct. – SAMAA. The Kaptaan is of course on the top of fauji list as the next PM in waiting !