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Nandu Ji :Nandu wrote:Wow. While the RATS GUBO to Unkil, Immy GUBOs to the terrorists.
Wonderful.
Anujan wrote:http://tribune.com.pk/story/619860/defl ... p-not-ttp/
Anti-peace elements behind blasts in K-P not TTP: Imran Khan
Aditya_V wrote:Despite all the love shown by WKK, as AL-war as shown, these people are seen as Raw agents and eligible for Wajib ul Cattle. Something if it happens will make the Lutyens crowd to see the light and realise self monetary interests should not be above Interests of the nation
Nothing of that sort works with the TTP. He may be given a long rope so that by his actions and words, he would allow the TTP more and more operational freedom. But, a day will eventually come.pgbhat wrote:Well looks like Immy will not stop at anything to ingratiate himself with the Talibs. He knows they are the future of Pacquistan.
By Kamal Siddiqi
Published: October 20, 2013
You have to give it to these Pakis for making use of liberal visa rules to serve their interests. I wonder whether an Indian is allowed to visit Pakistani universities and pose them questions on secularism, oppression of minorities, Baloch insurgency etc.There are high expectations from Modi and the BJP, the party many say will come into power in the first half of 2014, when general elections are most likely to be held.
The reaction to the possibility is telling. In some circles I visited during my stay in Delhi, heated debates ensued at the mention of the man. But at other places like Jamia-Millia, I was met with stony silence when I brought up this possibility.
So democratically elected leader in India = dictator. Desperate attempt to do ==.There are some who seem to be in love with dictators, and India is no exception
Haha! invoke Mahatma Gandhi's name when it suits you.But are Indians ready to have Modi as their PM? The Gujarat riots were ably portrayed in the movie “Parzania”, which readers would do well to see to better understand the extent of what happened in that state in 2002. Till then, we knew Gujarat as the home of Mahatma Gandhi.
Hinting at Yindoo-Joo conspiracy?The Gujarat CM, who employs the same PR firm that is retained by the state of Israel for its image building, is credited with helping Gujarat’s economy achieve average yearly growth in the double digits over the past decade. He is popular among many wealthy businessmen.
Appreciate your concerns for India. Maybe you should spend your time and efforts in fighting talibanization of Pakistan.One fears that after achieving so much, India will once again spiral into communal violence as this would be beneficial to some ahead of the 2014 elections. Should that happen, the gains made by the country in the past years may be lost. Perhaps forever.
Since its inception, the DBD project has been afflicted by controversies. There are fundamental complications regarding the location of the dam in a disputed region. Moreover, there are other problems too — of unresolved boundary issues between the disputed Gilgit Baltistan and the Pakistani province of KP, which have led to contesting claims over their share in the royalty from the dam. The ecological impact of the project site being situated in a high seismic zone, which is prone to landslides and floods are added concerns. The region has witnessed colossal calamities in the past including the earthquake in 2005, the Attabad landslide in 2010 that created an artificial lake wiping out an entire village, and more recently the Gyari avalanche tragedy in April 2012.
The World Bank and the ADB have been approached by Pakistan for funds for the project. Other financial institutions include the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). The massive project cost can be administered only through a consortium as a single source/donor will not suffice.
Back in 2008, China was reported to be the lead financer of the project. While China is engaged in several infrastructural activities across the PoK, it is unlikely to invest a huge sum in a single project. After initial hesitation, the US has agreed to provide partial funding. The US ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, expressed his country’s support for the project in July 2013, and approximately $20 million has been approved for conducting a feasibility study. Russia and Japan have also reportedly shown considerable interest in the project. However, financial arrangements with both countries have not yet materialized.
The World Bank put forward the condition that Pakistan needed to obtain and furnish a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from India, as the proposed dam site falls in a region claimed by India. Similarly, the ADB in 2011 expressed reservations about the feasibility and overall implementation of the project based on three assessments — a fair and transparent land acquisition process, a comprehensive, amicable resettlement plan and due attention to ecological concerns.{The ADB simply cannot fund the DBD. It had backed out of an infrastructure project in Arunachal Pradesh after China objected to that stating that the area was under 'dispute'. The ADB claimed afterwards that thenceforth, it wouldn't fund any projects falling in 'areas of dispute'. What happened to that now ?}
The project is worrisome for India. It is a political setback if a mega dam is constructed with foreign assistance in a region claimed by India. At the same time, the ecological fallout of the project is of considerable concern to adjacent areas in India. Therefore, it is natural for India to raise its objections and convince donor agencies and countries like the US, Japan and Russia to stay away from the project.
In 2006, India, had in passing, objected to the construction of DBD (incorporated in a statement issued to appreciate Pakistan’s humanitarian assistance towards an Indian ship). In March 2013, news reports in Pakistan suggested that MEA had through a “verbal demarche” (from Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi) sought details of ongoing projects and the donor countries and agencies involved in PoK.3 Reports further suggested that Pakistan was asked to seek NOC from India for any project in the PoK.
While the Pakistan government may not have abandoned the DBD but the prospects are challenging and possibly insurmountable.
The above claim has been parroted many times in our media, so it has got a life of its own. I do not remember exactly where and by whom, but the PR firm oft-quoted is a firm given contract by Government of Gujarat for Vibrant Gujarat PR work. And it was stated on record, that Modi had not taken services of any PR firm in his personal capacity or as a CM.The Gujarat CM, who employs the same PR firm that is retained by the state of Israel for its image building, is credited with helping Gujarat’s economy achieve average yearly growth in the double digits over the past decade. He is popular among many wealthy businessmen.
That year, 2008, is corroborated from other sources.A recently released UN report suggests there is “strong evidence” that top Pakistani military and intelligence officials approved US drone strikes on Pakistani soil during 2004 and 2008.
With Independence, the metamorphosis of Khanewal started. Gurudwara Bazar was named Akbar Bazar and Nanak Bazar was renamed Liaqat Bazar. The wells were converted into water pumps which gave way to mosques, and subsequently the madressahs along with their residential quarters. The primary school Sardar Pur said its farewell to Master Lala Kishan Ram and welcomed Maulvi Ghulam Rasool. The orchard of Jodh Singh near Marzi Pura and the adjacent arena were soon isolated. Colonies of Jodhpur and Sham Kot were so quick to disappear that within a decade no one knew if they ever even existed. The same was the case of men like Jeevan Das and families like Ram Singh’s. When so much had happened, Gol Bagh too had little reason to exist. Within a few years, its floral beds were leveled and it was made the seat of DCO.At the junction of Baans Bazar and Liaqat Bazar, there stood an old well guarded by heavy chains. Eventually the well was turned into a mosque. With the increase in population, the rifts between cycle riders and car drivers also grew. In 1958, the mosque was demolished to construct a crossroad and regulate traffic. Because of the chains, the crossroad was called Sangla wala chowk. As Deobandi influence grew, the chowk was renamed Ya Rasool Allah Chowk. Soon the Ahl-e-Hadees school also gained prominence, registering their objection on the name. Shortly, new signboards of the names of all four Sahaba also appeared at the chowk. Despite all this, the locals still refer to it as Sangla wala chowk, with a naive smile.
A road joins Kabirwala with Raipur, where a Patwari named Khurana maintains the revenue records. When he was blessed with the son, he named him Har Gobind Khurana. Little did he know about the records his son was going to set. Graduating from the Punjab University and ending up at MIT, this Nobel Laureate, was a genius in genetics.
In other words the government has indulged in Shanghai Statistics and not achieved the budget-deficit target.Peregrine wrote: He said unlike the balance of payments position, public finances were largely on track and the government achieved the first-quarter budget deficit target.
He claimed that the government had placed Rs158 billion worth of deficit outside the books that would have to be taken into account at the end of the year.
WASHINGTON: A day before his much awaited meeting with US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced his government’s soft foreign policy stance vis-a-vis its eastern neighbour, India, promising that he would go the “extra mile” to make peace with India.In the same vein, the premier described Pakistan’s relations with the United States ‘vital’, but called CIA’s drone campaign in tribal regions a ‘major irritant’ in the bilateral ties.Relations between Pakistan and India have soured since the killing of five Indian troops in a deadly ambush in August that triggered skirmishes between their militaries along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir.However, Premier Nawaz said the archrivals can resolve all issues, including Kashmir, through dialogue. “I wish to assure this august audience that Pakistan desires to live in peace with its neighbour,” he said at the US Institute of Peace, a think tank. “If we sit down together, if we seriously address these issues, I don’t think we will face any problem.”“Kashmir, of course, is a very difficult issue and very difficult to resolve but I think, by sitting and talking, we will be able to find some way of resolving that, too,” he added. “Because that is a flashpoint not only in the region, but the whole world,” he said of Kashmir.Potential of Pakistan-India friendship and cordial relations between the estranged neighbours has been a favourite topic during the premier’s meetings with US authorities in Washington.“Had our countries not wasted their precious resources in a never-ending arms race, we would not only have avoided the futile conflicts, but also emerged as stable and prosperous nations,” he said.
Drones ‘detrimental’ to CT efforts
Prime Minister Nawaz said drone strikes were detrimental to Islamabad’s efforts at eliminating terrorism. “This issue has become a major irritant in our bilateral relationship – I would, therefore, stress the need for an end to drone attacks.”
But the premier positively added that contrary to perceptions, Pakistan-US relations had stood the test of time. Despite occasional hiccups, the solid foundation of this vital relationship has always weathered storms and turbulence, he added.“As democracy takes root in Pakistan, there is scope for building a strong and stable partnership between the two countries. They should be based on mutual respect and mutual interests as clearly articulated by President Obama in his Cairo speech.”Despite the planned US drawdown in Afghanistan, there would be a continuing need for close cooperation, he said.The prime minister also renewed his call for greater trade access for Pakistan to the United States and invited American entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan’s energy and other sectors.The United States, meanwhile, reciprocated the call for warmer ties. The White House described Pakistan-US relationship as ‘enormously valuable’, saying that despite differences, Washington wants the ties to proceed on a positive trajectory. “The president looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Sharif to the White House on Wednesday,” said Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney in a statement on Tuesday..”
Matters of defence
The US defence leadership, including Dr Ashton Carter, the deputy secretary of defence, and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, called on the prime minister. Matters related to bilateral defence cooperation and regional security were discussed during the meeting, according to the Pakistan Embassy.
He informed the US defence leadership that Pakistan looked forward to an enduring and broad-based defence cooperation with the United States in the future.Dr Ashton Carter expressed satisfaction that Ground Lines of Communication, GLOC, were facilitating movement of the US/ISAF retrograde and sustenance cargo through Pakistan.The two sides noted that substantial progress had been achieved in the areas of counter-IEDs, counter-terrorism and border coordination mechanism with Afghanistan and ISAF
QUETTA: Gunmen stormed a hunting camp set up for a Qatari minister in the Zamuran area of Buleda, in Kech district, on Tuesday. One Levies force official was killed in the attack on the camp of Qatari Petroleum Minister Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah.According to Kech Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hameed Abro, gunmen attacked the camp in the early hours of Tuesday and killed a Balochistan Levies officer. “The minister hasn’t arrived from Qatar yet,” Abro told The Express Tribune.According to a constable of the Balochistan Levies, the gunmen also took away weapons, including two Kalashnikov assault rifles, and two vehicles. “They also torched the camp and a private vehicle,” he said.The local administration has launched a search in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. In February last year, Ali bin Abdullah was robbed in the same area.
nachiket Ji :nachiket wrote:In other words the government has indulged in Shanghai Statistics and not achieved the budget-deficit target.Peregrine wrote: He said unlike the balance of payments position, public finances were largely on track and the government achieved the first-quarter budget deficit target.
He claimed that the government had placed Rs158 billion worth of deficit outside the books that would have to be taken into account at the end of the year.
The Taliban are now using more toxic chemicals in their explosive devices to inflict lethal injuries on the survivors of their bomb and suicide attacks, according to officials
Survivors of the Taliban’s bombs suffer from chronic wounds that leave scars on skin and don’t respond to antibiotics with proven efficacy in other surgical infections
Taliban have now mastered the science of manufacturing bombs that cause more than the intended casualties as they are imparted training regarding use of potassium, nitrogen, sugar, urea and glycerine etc in the bombs
Officials said that the Taliban manufactured bombs locally
These bombs and explosives weren’t as deadly eight years ago when all this began
Close on the heels of amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, the President has promulgated a new Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, 2013, with enhanced powers for security forces, stringent punishments, special federal courts and a provision to detain suspects for three months.
A government background note said about 40,000 lives had been lost to terrorism, which inflicted a monetary damage of over $100 billion on the country. Borrowing from similar laws around the world, including the Homeland Security Act of the United States and the repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act in India, the new also Ordinance provides for high-security prisons and separate police stations for specific crimes with federal prosecutors to argue cases.
Under it, trials can be conducted out of the jurisdiction where the crimes were committed and the minimum punishment is 10 years imprisonment.
The Ordinance also targets “millions of non-Pakistanis” living in the country “for any reason including distressful conditions in their parent country, especially those since 1979” and they “shall not be allowed to abuse the temporary liberty to commit depredation”.
It gives police and armed forces power to act without warrant while arresting a suspect, searching any premises or taking someone into preventive custody. The crimes covered by the Ordinance include waging war or threatening the security of Pakistan and crimes against ethnic, religious and political groups or minorities including offences based on discrimination and hatred.
Faced with such terrible conditions the aforementioned communities are looking at India. Reports indicate that Pakistan is covertly facilitating the same. There are reports to suggest that certain out posts in the Pakistani side of the India-Pakistan border, especially in the Rajasthan sector, have deliberately been kept vacant to facilitate the movement of the Pakistani Hindus, Sikhs and Christians into India.
It seems that Pakistan is determined to exist as an Islamic state, comprising only of Sunni Muslims. The unwritten policy to attain this objective is based on five prongs. First, subject the minorities to terror attacks and pogroms. Second, allow terror to sink in enough to cause a general exodus, mainly towards India. Third, convert and marry the female population of the minorities into the Muslim fold. Fourth, impose stringent laws that force the weak minded to convert voluntarily. Fifth, make sure that the government and other institutions make the right noises about protection of minority rights so as to keep international scrutiny at bay.
With these prongs in place, Pakistan has been carrying out the most insidious ethnic cleansing over the last six decades right under the eyes of the world.
At the time of partition, Pakistan had 11 to 12 percent Hindu/Sikh population. When considered in terms of the existing population levels of the country, the present strength of the Hindu/Sikh community should be around one crore fifty lakhs; on ground it is a miniscule thirty lakhs which is barely 1.5 percent of the population.
One crore thirty lakh people have vanished in thin air. According to the Pakistan Hindu Council, about 20 cases of kidnapping of Hindu girls above 15 years of age are reported every month in Karachi alone.
If the families of such girls approach the courts, hundreds of people gather outside and shout "Allah-o-Akbar" in an attempt to intimidate the judges.
It is being said that millions of Hindus/Sikhs were killed by the Pakistan army in the early 1970's when tension between India and Pakistan was at a peak. The Enemy Property Act of Pakistan 1965, legitimised confiscation of the property of Hindus and Sikhs including their homes and temples.
The Islamic law implemented by Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 sealed the fate of the minorities by tacitly excluding them from constitutional and legal systems of the country. Hindus cannot get jobs, Hindu women cannot wear their "Bindi or Mangal Sutra" and dress according to Hindu tradition; the list of insults and persecution is endless.
Anindya, could be true. Cleansing of religious minorities need not always be through a genocide.Anindya wrote:Much of the content in the article is standard material for people here at BRF, except the quoted lines - anybody know if this is true...
Persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan
Never heard of the following...Faced with such terrible conditions the aforementioned communities are looking at India. Reports indicate that Pakistan is covertly facilitating the same. There are reports to suggest that certain out posts in the Pakistani side of the India-Pakistan border, especially in the Rajasthan sector, have deliberately been kept vacant to facilitate the movement of the Pakistani Hindus, Sikhs and Christians into India.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, on Tuesday, expressed concern over the “continuing inaction” of the federal government in starting “structured talks” with the Taliban as mandated by all the political parties of the country in the all-parties conference (APC).
In a statement issued from his office, the chief minister said the Taliban “continue to point out that there has been no formal offer of talks from the government side and we are also aware of this delay”. He went on to add: “Unfortunately, this inaction on the part of the federal government to operationalise the APC resolution and move forward in instituting dialogue is allowing those who wish to sabotage dialogue and peace to indulge in increasing acts of terrorism.” {But, the TTP itself has claimed responsibility for almost all of these acts of terrorism, Mr. Chief Minister. It is also very defiant about that.}
The chief minister stressed the importance of putting in place a structured dialogue so that talks were not conducted through the media, which allowed those opposed to dialogue and peace to spread disinformation. Khattak reminded that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with the provincial government were taking the brunt of the federal government’s “vacillation, with increasing acts of terrorism”, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.
The call for immediate talks with the Taliban comes after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Law Minister Israrullah Gandapur was assassinated in a suicide attack on October 16, the Eid’s first day, in Dera Ismail Khan District. “To expose the opponents of peace the APC-mandated dialogue must begin without delay,” the chief minister demanded, adding that the prime minister should move immediately on emergency basis to commence structured talks to give peace a chance.
………………… The principal obstacle to peace has been Pakistan’s sponsorship of militancy and terrorism within India, culminating in the horrific attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, in which terrorist commandos killed almost 200 people.
In the late 1980’s, Pakistan backed an insurrection by some Kashmiri Muslims and supplied arms, training, and funds to militants who infiltrated across the LoC. ………………
……………… Pakistan’s strategy of “bleeding India to death by a thousand cuts” through insurgency and terrorism has accomplished little, while making its military an enormously powerful domestic player and spawning terror outfits (some of which have turned against their sponsors). ………………..
Web Link below:But it has always been India, a status quo power, that wishes to live in peace, while Pakistan, craving Kashmir, uses every means at its disposal to alter the status quo. ……………………..
It would help if Pakistan’s government—facing home-grown terrorists even as it exports terror to its neighbors—showed a little more willingness to join the quest for peace. The moment the Pakistani establishment genuinely disavows terrorism as an instrument of state policy, the prospect of peace will dawn on the subcontinent. Alas, that prospect is not yet even a glimmer on the horizon.
Dont worry. we will respond in a time of our choosing.krishnan wrote:one more soldier killed in cross border firing by paki
When I travelled to the LoC in early September with Barkha Dutt and met officers and soldiers deployed right on the LoC fence in Krishna Ghati, BhimberGali, Hamirpur in Poonch sector, the josh and morale was exemplary. A befitting reply to Pakistani mischief was being given every day--and night.
Why are you ignoring imports.Vipul wrote:Only after the Govt PSU stops supplying paper for making dossiers.
anupmisra wrote:The pakis are now complaining that apparently the (bad) tellibunnies, the ISI protégés, have upped the ante by using chemical-based suicide bombs. Use of toxic chemicals in suicide bombs new worry.
FOUR MONTHS after Nawaz Sharif launched a new government in Pakistan, little has changed in the security matters most important to the United States. Authorities continue to allow a Taliban-affiliated group to use Pakistan as a base to carry out attacks against U.S. targets in Afghanistan. Terrorists who target India also continue to operate openly. Rather than fight the Pakistan-based branch of the Taliban, Mr. Sharif has proposed peace talks with the group, and he continues to denounce U.S. drone strikes aimed at senior Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders.The Obama administration is nevertheless offering Mr. Sharif some carrots, including an Oval Office meeting this week; more than $1 billion in frozen aid will be released. The hope is that the new Pakistani leader will prove better able than his civilian predecessors at gaining control over the armed forces and intelligence services and that this will eventually lead to greater Pakistani cooperation in brokering peace in Afghanistan, as well as in combating extremism in Pakistan.
This is a reasonable strategy, even if it is, like all U.S. bets on Pakistan, a long shot. Mr. Sharif, who served as prime minister in the 1990s before being ousted in a military coup, has emphasized consensus-building and caution since returning to office. He sought support from a dozen political parties on talks with the Taliban, opened a dialogue with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is gently asserting some control over the military. Rightly focused on mending a stricken economy, he struck a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund and is taking steps to address a national power shortage.
This display of relative competence offers reason for hope that Mr. Sharif may eventually join with the military in adopting a more rational policy toward the Taliban and other Islamist militants. The proposed negotiations appear to be going nowhere: The Taliban has set extreme preconditions and recently carried out a series of provocative attacks. Mr. Sharif promised Mr. Singh a more vigorous investigation of Pakistani suspects in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. In response to a request from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, he presided over the release of a number of Taliban prisoners, though Afghan peace talks appear to be going nowhere.The gap between Pakistan and American ambitions for the country may be narrowing. Pakistan appears more ready to be solicitous of the Afghan government’s position on the Taliban and more aware of the danger the movement poses to its own political order. But Mr. Sharif must cope with powerful public hostility toward the United States as well as with military factions that continue to encourage Afghan and Kashmiri jihadists. Like much of the civilian political elite, Mr. Sharif would like to see the United States demonstrate that it wishes to have a partnership with Pakistan that extends beyond counterterrorism and Afghanistan to trade, economic development and broader security issues. The Obama administration is right to take steps in that direction. But in the end Mr. Sharif must be judged on whether he is willing to decisively side against Islamist extremism.
What is a fitting response in context of India-Pak firing match at the border. Is it a Envelope that can fit all the papers typed by Sh. Shinde ji ?Peregrine wrote:Aman Ki Asha Circus Grounded and becomes Aman Ki Nirasha :
1. Nawaz Sharif parrots same old li(n)es in US — seeks parity with India
2. Angry Shinde tells troops to give fitting reply to Pakistan
Cheers
CheersISLAMABAD : The Pakistani government on Wednesday decided to ban three international extremist organisations allegedly involved in insurgent activities in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, BBC Urdu reported.
The website quoted sources in the Ministry of Interior Affairs as saying that Chinese authorities and security agencies believed the three organisations were involved in extremist and insurgent activities in the Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang.
The outfits banned include the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and Islamic Jihad Union (IJU).