Bharat Rakshak

Dilbu wrote:I have been following Marvi Sirmed on Twitter for a while now. She is indeed a rare voice of sanity among TSPian twitterati & RAPE. Hope she remains safe.

The proclamation that Taseer hated India is one of the biggest crimes against the truth. Based on many discussions with the late governor, I can say it with full responsibility that the claim is wrong and must be based on some personal considerations, certainly not factual. Many close friends of late Taseer would bear me out on this. This very paper, owned by him, was inaugurated among many Indian guests, including Arundhati Roy.

By PPI - Published: August 30, 2011
Cheney claims that his new book in time will make "heads explode". PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON DC: Former United States Vice President, Dick Cheney has alleged that ’Al Qaeda sympathisers occupied key slots in former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s government, and Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad suggests the terror group enjoyed significant sympathy,’ in his memoirs releasing on Tuesday.

Cheney, who was deputy to George W Bush between 2001 and 2009, says in the period after 9/11 US-Pak ties were bedevilled by a lot of problems before things started changing around 2004. “Pakistan was on the edge. There were major problems in US-Pakistan relations. President Pervez Musharraf’s hold on power was tenuous and he had al Qaeda sympathisers in key slots in his government,” Cheney further alleges in his memoirs released on Tuesday.

He, however, does not name the government functionaries he refers to as al Qaeda sympathisers in Musharraf’s government.

“Pakistan’s radical Islamic movement was strong and areas of country were hosting al Qaeda operating bases. Pakistan’s stability was a major concern, if radicals managed to take control, they would control the country’s nuclear arsenal,” he writes in his 533-page book, titled “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir”.

Cheney said the equations between Pakistan and the US started changing by 2004 and Pakistanis helped capture or kill hundreds of al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan, including the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.

“In Pakistan President Musharraf had signed up with the United States after 9/11 and was providing significant support for our operations in Afghanistan,” he says. Cheney claims as Musharraf’s hold on power in Pakistan had started to weaken, the US increasingly found his commitments not translating into actions.

“We also had much to do in Pakistan, where Musharraf had provided key support, but had an increasingly weak hold on power over a government whose loyalties were at times divided,” he further claimed.

Cheney also referred to his visit to Pakistan in early 2007 where he was accompanied by CIA deputy director Steve Kappes and during his meetings with Musharraf he strongly raised the question of terrorist safe havens. “We discussed with Musharraf the matter of tribal areas on Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan, which both the Taliban and al Qaeda were using to regroup and rearm before crossing the border to attack again,” he wrote.

“Musharraf had tried to work out a deal whereby he would agree that Pakistani troops would not interfere in Federally Administered Tribal Areas if the tribal leaders would deny safe haven to al Qaeda and the Taliban. The deal did not work. And although Musharraf continued to express support for our efforts in our private meetings, increasingly his commitments were not translating into actions from his government,” Cheney wrote.

Former Vice President alleges within Pakistan government there were also some who continued to support the Taliban, which among other things, hindered efforts to clear out the tribal areas. “Al Qaeda had its sympathisers, too, as Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad for some six years seems to suggest,” he writes.

Cheney acknowledges that Musharraf’s government worked with the US to capture some of most important leaders in the war on terror. He also claims that safe havens continued to exit in Pakistan, and points out that it was Bush Administration which started use of drones to attack terrorists inside Pakistan. “Our efforts in Afghanistan continued to be hindered by safe havens that Taliban and al Qaeda found in Pakistan, we ramped our use of armed drones – unmanned aerial vehicles,” he said.

Published: August 30, 2011
Blames MQM leader Babar Ghauri for 'thousands of containers that went missing from Karachi port'.
HYDERABAD: Former senior Sindh Minister Zulfiqar Mirza alleged that thousands of containers that were meant for NATO forces in Afghanistan have gone missing from the Karachi Port.

Mirza was addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Tuesday when he blamed Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Babar Ghauri for the ‘illegal’ disappearance of the containers.

According to Mirza, the containers were full of arms and ammunition, and they went missing at around the same time when Ghauri became the Minister for Port and Shipping.

He said that Ghauri became the biggest real estate tycoon in Karachi from “being nothing at all during Musharraf’s era”.

Lashing out at the MQM, Mirza said the party’s main objective is to rule Sindh.

Mirza had earlier given fiery statements against the MQM in a press conference on Sunday, accusing the party of consipiring against Pakistan.

The recent press conference by Mirza came at the time when MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari was addressing the media in Karachi in an attempt to clear the allegations put up against his party.

(Read: Analysis: What now after Zulfiqar Mirza’s bombshell?)

During his latest press conference, Mirza re-iterated that he will not take part in active politics.

Carl wrote:Bajwa ji and Ramana ji - Ghalib considered himself primarily a Persian poet, and only secondly an Urdudaan. Although Urdu was his first language, Persian and Turkish were spoken at home. His home tutor in Agra was a newly arrived immigrant from Iran, a Zoroastrian who supposedly converted to Islam. Ghalib was far more proud of his Persian oeuvre than Urdu.

Our Dhoti Madam is very popular among Islamic terrorists, ISI retired generals and Pakistani so-called Liberals... Wonder what she likes in all three of them? anti-Indianism?

RajeshA wrote:

subodh wrote:All these worthies, down to that Marvi Simrud lady, need to stew right there, in that lovely cesspool, as it gets purer and purer, with the most special brand of gazhi Islam - they deserve nothing less.

Let our hate of Pakis, not numb our minds to ensuring Pakistan's doom. One also needs to ask what then, when everything is stewed!

The study, conducted by researchers from prestigious American universities, found no link between poverty and support for militant groups.
The findings undermine a central pillar of the Conservative government's radical new policy on aid, which will deliver almost £1.4bn to Pakistan over the next five years as part of a strategy to protect Britain from terrorist attack.
On Wednesday, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, spelled out the policy to a jeering audience of police officers, who face pay cuts while extra cash is earmarked for Pakistan. "If you get aid right in certain parts of the world, such as Pakistan, it will reduce the possibility of terrorism on the streets of the JewK," she said. Christine Fair, a South Asia expert at Georgetown University and one of the authors of the new paper, said there was no evidence for such sweeping assertions and that her study of 6,000 people suggested that poorer Pakistanis were actually less likely to support extremist groups than more affluent, better educated people

Against the backdrop of this marital dispute, French judges hope to lift the lid on Mr Takieddine’s alleged role in the “Karachi affair” – a political funding scandal involving alleged kickbacks on a 1994 arms sale to Pakistan and the death of French naval engineers in a bomb attack.

Examining magistrates opened an inquiry last year into the submarine sale, and another involving frigates to Saudi Arabia. They are looking into whether some of the large sums officially destined as commissions to officials served as illegal party funding in France.

Seized documents allege that parts of the “commissions” – legal under French law at the time – were siphoned off to help fund the 1994 presidential campaign of Edouard Balladur, then prime minister. Mr Sarkozy was his budget minister and campaign spokesman. Both men have flatly denied allegations of involvement. Mr Sarkozy has previously described suggestions of his involvement in illegal kickbacks as “grotesque, ridiculous and a fable”.

When Jacques Chirac won the election, it is alleged that he punished Mr Balladur by halting the remaining payments to senior Pakistani figures.

Mr Takieddine acknowledges receiving payment from a sale of frigates to Saudi Arabia, a contract authorised in 1994 by Mr Sarkozy. Documents obtained by Mediapart suggest he received €91 million between 1997 and 1998. France also signed a deal that year to sell three submarines to Pakistan. Several witnesses have told the magistrates that Mr Takieddine was imposed by the Balladur camp as an intermediary. He denies any role.

In May 2002, 11 French submarine engineers and four Pakistanis were killed in a bomb attack in Karachi, blamed on al-Qaeda terrorists. But a separate investigation is under way into whether it was a revenge attack by disgruntled officials for the non-payment of sweeteners.

this is becoming a way of life in the Pashtun belt and to do away with it is not going to be that easy whether the Americans or its allied forces leave or otherwise. Fast track economic development, a political process to keep the restless youth busy and progressive education could help stop militancy from becoming a way of life.
My 10-year-old niece told me how children talk of the Taliban and suicide blasts in her school. She told me how it has become a routine thing for students to talk about militancy. The teacher’s role has become very important in cultivating a culture of peace and tolerance. The genuine NGOs working in the field of education should come up with something concrete not only to train the teachers in how to handle this situation but also by introducing creative programmes for children to immunise them from falling into the trap of militancy.

We need to love our children and not let them become part of the ongoing militancy — like one of my very bright students who lost his life as a militant. It is time we realise the seriousness of the issue before it gets too late and we lose a whole generation to militancy because we made them become the children of terrorism.

Carl wrote:
Bajwa ji and Ramana ji - Ghalib considered himself primarily a Persian poet, and only secondly an Urdudaan. Although Urdu was his first language, Persian and Turkish were spoken at home. His home tutor in Agra was a newly arrived immigrant from Iran, a Zoroastrian who supposedly converted to Islam. Ghalib was far more proud of his Persian oeuvre than Urdu.

Suppiah wrote:Question to the maulvis here - how much is the disconnect between the poetic Urdu, Hindi cinema (old ones at least) dialogue Urdu and the Urdu spoken by ordinary people? I am not referring to the Urdu spoken by Tamil Muslims and others purely out for religious reasons which may make the Lucknow puritan puke, but good quality Urdu. Is that the kind of difference between *MK rowdy formal speech style Tamil versus ordinary spoken Tamil or something deeper than that?

That would probably provide some clues about all this Persianisation, Turkisation etc. whether it is purely a literary phenomenon or also extends to social space..If the latter, Urdu will probably remain in its present status unacceptable to all non Muslims other than genuine poetry afficanados..

vijayk wrote: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamD ... cleID=5112
26 Jul 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com
Did Salman Taseer hate India? His son Aatish Taseer’s comments elicit responses from Shashi Tharoor and Marvi Sirmed
By Marvi Sirmed

The proclamation that Taseer hated India is one of the biggest crimes against the truth. Based on many discussions with the late governor, I can say it with full responsibility that the claim is wrong and must be based on some personal considerations, certainly not factual. Many close friends of late Taseer would bear me out on this. This very paper, owned by him, was inaugurated among many Indian guests, including Arundhati Roy.

RajeshA wrote:Published on Aug 31, 2011
By Hamza Ameer
New leader plans attacks on Pakistan: Asia Times

menon s wrote:Voices From The Past.
(This article appeared in the 1938 edition of the Aligarh University Magazine which had a foreword by the Quaid e Azam.)
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDe ... 5328&Cat=9

Airavat wrote:Neither Persian nor Urdu was ever a lingua franca in India. They had a very narrow area of influence. Persian was simply a court language used to draw up treaties and firmans; it was spoken in the courts of Muslim kingdoms in the Gangetic plains and the Deccan. Urdu was spoken primarily in the cities of these kingdoms. In the wider countryside the language was Hindi and the prevailing regional dialect.

In the major Hindu kingdoms the influence of Persian was limited and Urdu was non-existent.

Suppiah wrote:^^ Thanks...that partly answers the question ..that bollywood Urdu closely mirrors spoken Urdu at least in classic movies. How about poetic Urdu? Do people speak with words used by Ghalib or Faiz or use Hindi/Sanskrit words more than Turkish/Persian/Arabic?

The China-Eurasia Expo, the biggest hosted by the regional government, is being held to boost Urumqi's — and Xinjiang's — profile as a commercial hub, particularly to spur fast-rising trade between the region and energy-rich Central Asian neighbours.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will be the chief guest at the fair's opening. He would use the fair “to share his vision about enhanced connectivity between Pakistan and China to shorten trade and travel distances between the Gulf and Western regions of China,” the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Businesses here are, however, particularly targeting the markets of Central Asia. “We are more interested in Central Asia,” said one businessman in Kashgar, who is one of the biggest exporters of fruits and produce. He declined to be identified. “Pakistan is too unstable to do business,” he said.

While organisers say the trade fair covers “Central and South Asia,” India was not formally invited to participate, {in keeping with Pakistani sensitivities} officials said.

The deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi has forced many people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to leave behind their properties, jobs and business and say goodbye to the port city. They have started seeking alternative sources of income in the province to shift their families to their hometowns for their protection.“Millions of Pakhtuns, most of them very poor, are crying for help as they cannot move to workplaces, but no one is there to given them a helping hand in the existing dreadful situation,” said Dr Wilayat, who vacated his residence in Karachi and moved to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Dr Wilayat, who belongs to Dir district and works at a government hospital in Karachi, told Dawn by telephone that two years ago he had shifted to his newly built house at Raja Tanveer Colony in Orangi Town but his family was unsafe there and he again returned to Banaras Colony.A group of unidentified youths thrice tried to kidnap me when I was on way from office to home but they failed to do so. In such a situation earning money has no importance and the only option left for me was to vacate my house,” he said.He said that he was seeking job in Peshawar to shift his family from Karachi permanently.Abdul Wajid, a worker of a private firm of the same area, said that he was living at Banaras Colony but could not go to his workplace and had to purchase everything on debt. “It was not possible for me to live there any longer as my children also could not go to schools,” he added.He said that he decided to say goodbye to Karachi and shift his family to Peshawar for its protection. He added that two youths in his neighbourhood —one belonged to Swat and the other to Buner —were shot dead when they were on way to home for Iftari but police did not arrest the killers.“Those, who wear shalwar qamees are shot dead at sight,” he alleged. He said most of the people wanted to return to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but they had no source of income in their villages.

Pranav wrote:

vijayk wrote: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamD ... cleID=5112
26 Jul 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com
Did Salman Taseer hate India? His son Aatish Taseer’s comments elicit responses from Shashi Tharoor and Marvi Sirmed
By Marvi Sirmed

The proclamation that Taseer hated India is one of the biggest crimes against the truth. Based on many discussions with the late governor, I can say it with full responsibility that the claim is wrong and must be based on some personal considerations, certainly not factual. Many close friends of late Taseer would bear me out on this. This very paper, owned by him, was inaugurated among many Indian guests, including Arundhati Roy.

If Sirmed is a supporter of suzy roy, all I can say is that let the purification continue. We should help out individual poaks only after they come to their senses.

GDSS officials noted Iran's support to Taliban in Pakistan, adding that GDSS believes that India also has supported Pakistani Taliban and Pashtun separatists.

Our state-defined interest remains that of saving our borders from an ‘enemy’ that has never attacked us, a country we have attacked three times in 63 years, an economy that is too big for us to compete with under the present circumstances and a people we have waged proxy wars against.

India matters. India gives the US jobs and a market. India has emerged as a responsible nation that is not causing trouble in the world, not even in Pakistan. At least that is the perception India has created for itself. India has emerged as a stable, viable and trustworthy partner that has no underlying agenda of destroying the US or the west or of its own ideological expansion. Despite having a Muslim population now equalling the entire population of Pakistan, India could never be traced as the source of Islamic terrorism.

India conducted a nuclear test much before us but what makes it more acceptable is its constant efforts to improve its human development indicators, its serious commitment to non-proliferation, its democratic mechanism of checks and balances, accountability of its defence sector that to-date remains subservient to its people’s will through their representatives. Most of all, India stands out because of its commitment to pluralism, its recognition of new opportunities to improve relations with world powers due to economic considerations, its renewed focus on internal development, less prickly attitude to the outside world and responsible nuclear behaviour that comes from its complete refusal to impose its own system on the entire world.

Before the readers dismiss it as a eulogy of India, please consider what havoc we have played with our own people, our own country by not doing what India has been doing. And today, India remains much more respected and trusted than us when not even our closest allies are ready to trust us, including our ‘Muslim brothers’. Even if the central focus of our existence is to tackle India (really?), should we not re-assess our policies urgently?