Bharat Rakshak

Lilo wrote:

Peregrine wrote: To my knowledge Pakistan cannot sell this Gold Reserve as it is already Hypthecated - Swapped as per the following report from State Bank of Pakistan :

partha wrote:Marshallah! What a pic! A symbol of 90% of Pakistani society which is secular and tolerant.

“India must assist other countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan in their fight against this disease in improving their health systems and infrastructure,” said Mr. Mukherjee while inaugurating the Polio Free Conclave 2014 organised by the Rotary International in New Delhi.

SSridhar wrote:Fantastic. The Pak Fauj Officer must have had a torrid and shameful time and will carry this for the rest of his life.

LeT & JeM's position is also clear vis-a-vis TTP.

Thanks to Agnimitra & Baikul.

Paul wrote:^^^Funny thing is the Paki army official threatened to come back with his own scholar in the next debate to rebut the maulana. Good luck with him finding a volunteer.

On Friday night, when I had planned to visit Data Darbar after my television show, my car was attacked by “unknown” (a euphemism for lethal terror outfits) assailants. The minute I heard the first bullet, the Darwinian instinct made me duck under and I chose to lie on the back of the car.

I am now at a safe location, unable to move out and have been told that my case is exceptional with six men — most armed — had attempted to eliminate me and they failed. And that the security agencies can only protect me if I remain locked up in a “safe” location.

I am truly encouraged by several Indian followers who tried to understand my tweets on humanising Ajmal Kasab, opposing death penalty etc.

Please provide schools, training, employment to ppl of #Pakistan. Kasab is not an individual. He represents the landless, marginalised poor

But then, false equivalence is a popular thing indeed. Take for example, the usual line about there being extremists on both sides of the ideological divide. This gem is trotted out every now and then whenever some right-winger says something particularly egregious and his minions feel the need to distract from it.

“Liberal extremists are as intolerant as right-wing extremists” you’ll hear them say. Maybe so, but last I checked there wasn’t a Lashkar-e-Seculari out to kill you if you happened to support the CII.

Soon, politicians on both sides of the fence had their own viewpoints. "This being the election year, the government of Karnataka made an attempt to make a Tipu Sultan tableau. This is highly condemnable," G Madhusudhan, a BJP leader, told NDTV.

The ruling Congress defended the decision, saying Tipu's contribution to the state made him an ideal choice for the float at the Republic Day parade in Delhi.

"He was an icon. We feel proud that he was a secular leader. He fought for the country, for social change. He uplifted the farmers," state minister DK Shivakumar said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka's celebrated playwright Girish Karnad, who wrote 'The Dreams of Tipu Sultan', called him "the greatest son Karnataka has produced in 500 years."

"Let me say that if Tipu Sultan was a Hindu, he would have been worshipped like Shivaji. Just because he is a Muslim, he is being hounded by the right-wing, and there are right-wing historians too trying to invent facts," Mr Karnad said.

Mr Karnad also called for the renaming of the Bangalore airport to Tipu Sultan International Airport.

QUETTA : Armed men disguised in security forces’ uniforms attacked the Pasni radar-post in Mekran Belt near Gwadar on Saturday, killing a Balochistan Constabulary official and injuring another, according to a senior official. An official in the province’s home and tribal affairs department, who requested anonymity owing to sensitivity of the matter, told a private television channel that eight armed militants stormed inside the Pasni radar post and killed personnel deployed there. “The militants took eight security personnel hostage,” he said, adding that the insurgents killed one of them for offering resistance.

Pakistan announced last week that it received a $1.5 billion grant from Saudi Arabia, which it termed a “friendly gift” and an “unconditional grant.”

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long had warm ties, but the no-strings-attached gift sparked immediate concern from Pakistani journalists, security experts, and opposition politicians, who question whether the grant is part of a behind-the-scenes deal for Pakistan to provide weapons for Syrian rebels.

“There are no free lunches in foreign diplomacy,” says Baqir Sajjad, a journalist at Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, which has published articles questioning the deal.

The grant was confirmed at a briefing by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s advisor on national security and foreign affairs, who also said that Saudi Arabia had agreed to purchase weapons from Pakistan.

The Pakistan government declined to specify what kind of weapons the Kingdom was looking for and denied that any arms purchased by Saudi Arabia will be sent to Syria. Pakistan, which has the sixth-largest army in the world, is known as a major arms importer, but it also sells fighter jets, anti-tank missiles, armored personal carriers, and small arms to Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Malaysia.

Ayesha Siddiqa, a defense expert based in Islamabad, says that Saudi Arabia – who is desperate to counter arch-rival Iran’s support for the Syrian regime and has publicly called for arming Syrian rebels – may want to buy weapons from Pakistan rather than other countries because Pakistan cannot enforce an agreement about where the arms end up.

“If the arms bought from the West were supplied to Syrian rebels and the sellers like the United States or other such countries found out, they would be able impose sanctions on the Saudis,” she says. “But Pakistan has no such leverage over the Saudis if they violate the agreement” because the government is cash-strapped and worried that US foreign aid will diminish once American troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

The disclosure of the grant and weapons agreement follows a series of high-level talks between Pakistan and Saudi Arabian officials over the past three months and Pakistan's break last month from its neutral stance on the Syrian civil war. It said for the first time that the Assad regime should step down.

There is no proof that Pakistan’s decisions are the direct result of Saudi Arabia’s actions – or that its arms will reach Syria. Even if they did, “there are so many arms coming from so many different places,” says Michael Kugelman, a Pakistan scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington in an e-mail. “Unless the level of Pakistani arms shipments reaches some sort of critical mass, I don’t see them being any kind of game-changer for the conflict.”

The consequences of Pakistani arms sent to Syria “could be destabilizing for sure,” Mr. Kugelman says, though more so for Pakistan than for the Middle East. The risk is that “Pakistan's already-raging sectarian violence would worsen. And its battlefield role in the ongoing Iran-Saudi Arabia sectarian proxy war would grow ever more strong,” he says.

At home, Pakistan is struggling with its Sunni-Shiite violence and ongoing strife from the Pakistan Taliban’s insurgency. There were 687 sectarian killings in Pakistan last year, an increase of 22 percent from 2012, according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. Violence between Sunni Muslims (about 75 percent of the population) and Shiites (15 to 20 percent) has never reached massive levels, but there’s concern that it’s on the rise.

SSridhar wrote:Fantastic. The Pak Fauj Officer must have had a torrid and shameful time and will carry this for the rest of his life.

LeT & JeM's position is also clear vis-a-vis TTP.

Thanks to Agnimitra & Baikul.

Peregrine wrote:Posting in full for attention of the DDM who have extolled Tipu Sultan's "Secular Love" for the Hindus!

Hatred for Hindus - Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid traces the roots of the recent torching of a temple in Larkana

Khuldune's farticle wrote:It is very important to realise here that it’s not being implied that Hindus do not – or have never – reciprocated these sentiments. The stereotypical Hindu of ‘secular’ India manifests similar communal antagonism. And the nation might very well be on the verge of electing a communalist as their next prime minister in the shape of Narendra Modi. However, what needs to be understood and underscored here is that an Indian Hindu manifesting communal bigotry contradicts the ‘idea’ of India, while a Pakistani Muslim by doing so conforms to the ‘idea’ of Pakistan. Opposition to Hindus, and antagonism between Hindus and Muslims, form the founding principle of Pakistan. - See more at: http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/hatre ... mment-5320

Pakistan, the strange country that no westerner can really understand. So many contradictions and so many half-truths — what is Pakistan really and how can a westerner comprehend this? How can a westerner, especially a woman, understand Pakistan? Is it possible without the language? Yes, one can read about the culture, religion and moral values. So what are the moral values of the young generation in Pakistani? Where is the truth and were are the lies? I would venture to say: somewhere in between the two. They evoke God but they do not follow true Islam; it is almost as if religion is the last resort and turning to God can alleviate all sins. They do not pray five times a day. I have seen this again and again and I do question their relationship to God, a relationship they use all the time. It seems almost ironic that one can praise God and lie at the same time at a minute’s notice. It is a phenomenon that I have observed during my four visits to Pakistan. First of all, every foreigner is a CIA agent. They do not have any concept of an academic who wants to learn and see how real Islam works and what it truly means. As a western, white woman one can be a novelty, a toy to play with and almost a showcase for some.
It is hard to compare this young generation, which wants so desperately to be western, to anything I have ever seen. They critique the west, especially the US, since its drones kill their people but, at the same time, they love western clothing, western music and slang, which they have learned from western movies. They do not have an understanding of slang, I will venture to say. “Nigger” seems to be in style and, on numerous occasions, I have tried to tell these youngsters that if they used this word they would offend not only black people but also most Americans. My words of caution usually fell on deaf ears. Then again, one has to be tolerant since many young people in Pakistan have never been to the west, and the west of the movies is so totally different from western culture.
Men are frustrated that they cannot have intimate relations any time they want. Sex is a taboo and, of course, it is done behind closed doors. At times, I wonder what their knowledge of sex is — it is so different from the way we view sex here. It seems to me that men here do not understand what a woman needs; how could they? They have never had sex education in school and they are taught that sex is the biggest sin in Islam. Many young women will pretend that they are virgins when it comes time for them to get married. The contrast with the way men treat their sisters and the women they sleep with is a paradox. One does not marry without a parent’s permission.

Young men who in the west are considered to be grown up, act like teenagers here with the mentality to match. It is hard to believe that any one society could produce so many mentally crippled men. They are so afraid of their parents that the truth becomes a lie in the name of respect. For young people in Pakistan, the future is bleak: no promising jobs and no opportunities. Many young man do emigrate to seek them and a few of them are lucky enough to go. At times, I felt ashamed to be so privileged and have so much: the education, the trust of friends and no fear of the truth and the whole wide world open to me. However, here in Pakistan, I had to take a deep breath, look around and realise that this was not the Islam I was prepared to see. There are lies, which produce more lies and it becomes like a maze. At times I feel as if nobody knows anymore what the truth is and what the lie is — they merge all into one . Of course, I am being a bit overly general here but on the whole it is the norm.

As India turns inwards to its next election, the world watches with a mixture of anxiety and hope. Hope, because India has the capacity to lead South Asia into a less polarised 21st century. And worry in case it takes a turn towards ultra-nationalism and regional drift. With the BJP’s Narendra Modi’s sharp new addition to the election’s chest-thump, anti-Pakistan belligerence has been staked out as a test of his opponent’s nationalist credentials – in this case, Arvind Kejriwal. Whether the ‘Vajpayee route’ of seeking eventual normalisation with Pakistan is taken or not, the drumbeat of chauvinism is back in play.No one can predict an election outcome in South Asia. Yet, in what is seen as a pendulum swing to the BJP after ten years of Congress rule, whatever the outcome, a second and possibly more profound sanitisation of the politics of Hindutva is underway. Pollsters suggest that swathes of governance-deprived Indians, driven either by the commerce or can-do profile of Narendra Modi, are ready to put their faith in a resurgent BJP.The question central to the Pakistani mind in the short run, though, is not whether 4G India can accommodate its disaffected, but how it deals with Islamabad. Pakistan has changed. Its parliamentary mainstream no longer thinks about India in cardboard cut-outs. No one bothers to mention India in an election call-out of rivals. Democrats in Pakistan see regional cooperation as the future, albeit on mutual terms, whereas in India, even outside an election cycle the Lok Sabha can rock with a nationalism that often roadblocks dialogue with Pakistan.
What is worrying is that whatever the numbers, given the high-octane right-wing discourse fuelling rhetoric on a corporatised Indian media, all bets on a Singh-like restraint amid a possible crisis with Pakistan may well be off.At the same time, a new Indian PM’s behaviour towards Pakistan will likely be shaped by the strength of the government coalition. The conventional wisdom is that a majority will certainly help prospects of moving forward. A fragile plurality will likely prolong stalemate. The sense is that official Delhi’s studied ‘peace fatigue’ over a revival of the composite dialogue over the last two years will continue unless Islamabad changes the game on penalties for Mumbai.Given that crisis-management structures between India and Pakistan remain embedded in a history of conflict and mistrust, both countries would profit from a break in the strategic drift that New Delhi has preferred to keep broader dialogue trapped in.While breakthroughs such as trade are very welcome, the new leadership needs to know that trade alone will not shift the shape of things between the two nations. Coercive diplomacy will fare even worse.With a major security transition on way in Afghanistan, including an impending election there which will spawn new coalitions by the summer, uncertainty is the catchword for 2014. The only certainty, in fact, is that the next Indian leadership will take its time in rebooting the relationship.

Patni wrote:^^ wrong link. the correct link as posted in previous page by Paul with audio in urdu with english subtitle is

Debate Between Taliban Scholar & Pakistan Army Official

Link will open on youtube.

shiv wrote:

Patni wrote: The first time I saw this - a few months ago I was convinced. But this time I somehow get the feeling that this is a fake debate. The so called Pak army fellow is on the defensive from the outset and offers easy statements for the Talib to rip open.I suspect that both Paki mullahs and Talib mullahs have strong arguments about each other. In this case one is a cop out.

Jhujar wrote:http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9 ... th-destiny
India’s new tryst with destiny?

As India turns inwards to its next election, the world watches with a mixture of anxiety and hope. Hope, because India has the capacity to lead South Asia into a less polarised 21st century. And worry in case it takes a turn towards ultra-nationalism and regional drift. With the BJP’s Narendra Modi’s sharp new addition to the election’s chest-thump, anti-Pakistan belligerence has been staked out as a test of his opponent’s nationalist credentials – in this case, Arvind Kejriwal. Whether the ‘Vajpayee route’ of seeking eventual normalisation with Pakistan is taken or not, the drumbeat of chauvinism is back in play.No one can predict an election outcome in South Asia. Yet, in what is seen as a pendulum swing to the BJP after ten years of Congress rule, whatever the outcome, a second and possibly more profound sanitisation of the politics of Hindutva is underway. Pollsters suggest that swathes of governance-deprived Indians, driven either by the commerce or can-do profile of Narendra Modi, are ready to put their faith in a resurgent BJP.The question central to the Pakistani mind in the short run, though, is not whether 4G India can accommodate its disaffected, but how it deals with Islamabad. Pakistan has changed. Its parliamentary mainstream no longer thinks about India in cardboard cut-outs. No one bothers to mention India in an election call-out of rivals. Democrats in Pakistan see regional cooperation as the future, albeit on mutual terms, whereas in India, even outside an election cycle the Lok Sabha can rock with a nationalism that often roadblocks dialogue with Pakistan.
What is worrying is that whatever the numbers, given the high-octane right-wing discourse fuelling rhetoric on a corporatised Indian media, all bets on a Singh-like restraint amid a possible crisis with Pakistan may well be off.At the same time, a new Indian PM’s behaviour towards Pakistan will likely be shaped by the strength of the government coalition. The conventional wisdom is that a majority will certainly help prospects of moving forward. A fragile plurality will likely prolong stalemate. The sense is that official Delhi’s studied ‘peace fatigue’ over a revival of the composite dialogue over the last two years will continue unless Islamabad changes the game on penalties for Mumbai.Given that crisis-management structures between India and Pakistan remain embedded in a history of conflict and mistrust, both countries would profit from a break in the strategic drift that New Delhi has preferred to keep broader dialogue trapped in.While breakthroughs such as trade are very welcome, the new leadership needs to know that trade alone will not shift the shape of things between the two nations. Coercive diplomacy will fare even worse.With a major security transition on way in Afghanistan, including an impending election there which will spawn new coalitions by the summer, uncertainty is the catchword for 2014. The only certainty, in fact, is that the next Indian leadership will take its time in rebooting the relationship.

Anujan wrote:Read this towel:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/688869/esca ... -the-pure/

On Friday night, when I had planned to visit Data Darbar after my television show, my car was attacked by “unknown” (a euphemism for lethal terror outfits) assailants. The minute I heard the first bullet, the Darwinian instinct made me duck under and I chose to lie on the back of the car.

I am now at a safe location, unable to move out and have been told that my case is exceptional with six men — most armed — had attempted to eliminate me and they failed. And that the security agencies can only protect me if I remain locked up in a “safe” location.

A crowd had gathered and I was seeking their assistance almost like someone in a hysterical sub-continental film

So, I wish to ask my well-wishers the following questions: is raising the issue of minority rights unacceptable? Is demanding the inclusion of Jinnah’s August 11 speech in our Constitution and state behaviour unacceptable?

Security has been deployed at historical sites of Pakistan, including the Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi and tomb of Allama Iqbal in Lahore, due to a terror threat in the country today.
Security was alerted and heavy contingents of law enforcing agencies deployed around the tomb of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Initially entry of visitors was banned at Mazar-e-Quaid for three days but later people were allowed to visit the Mazar-e-Quaid after checking.

partha wrote:

So, I wish to ask my well-wishers the following questions: is raising the issue of minority rights unacceptable? Is demanding the inclusion of Jinnah’s August 11 speech in our Constitution and state behaviour unacceptable?

shiv wrote:
I suspect that both Paki mullahs and Talib mullahs have strong arguments about each other. In this case one is a cop out.

shiv wrote:

Patni wrote:^^ wrong link. the correct link as posted in previous page by Paul with audio in urdu with english subtitle is

Debate Between Taliban Scholar & Pakistan Army Official

Link will open on youtube.

The first time I saw this - a few months ago I was convinced. But this time I somehow get the feeling that this is a fake debate. The so called Pak army fellow is on the defensive from the outset and offers easy statements for the Talib to rip open.

I suspect that both Paki mullahs and Talib mullahs have strong arguments about each other. In this case one is a cop out.

Anujan wrote:Read this towel:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/688869/esca ... -the-pure/

On Friday night, when I had planned to visit Data Darbar after my television show, my car was attacked by “unknown” (a euphemism for lethal terror outfits) assailants. The minute I heard the first bullet, the Darwinian instinct made me duck under and I chose to lie on the back of the car.

I am now at a safe location, unable to move out and have been told that my case is exceptional with six men — most armed — had attempted to eliminate me and they failed. And that the security agencies can only protect me if I remain locked up in a “safe” location.

abhijitm wrote: The way he describes the event it seems like an ISI job. They scared the sh!t out of him.

VikasRaina wrote:Raza Rumi - Why on earth you would take a Persian name in a country where Shia's are considered wajib-ul-Qatal ?

Reversing course
CYRIL ALMEIDA


2014-03-30 06:49:41
THEY don’t want trade. And Nawaz has given them what they want.

They’re all trying to play it down. You’ll see; we’ll get this done. Just wait a bit. What’s a few months in the larger scheme of things?

But keep probing and the shoulders begin to sag. They don’t want trade. They don’t want normalisation. And the civilians don’t know what to do about it.

The non-event of a trade deal with India that was to be signed with much pomp and ceremony falling through has received little attention.

That makes sense. The game-changer was still some way off. Other stuff was happening in Pakistan.

What doesn’t make sense is why Nawaz backed down.

Nawaz was the guy who was supposed to have got it. Turn east, not west. The boys’ obsession with the eastern border had led to fears on the western border that led to choices that had engulfed Pakistan itself in flames.

The way out was obvious: turn east, not west. Normalise ties with India, tamp down militancy domestically, then wait for the peace and security dividend.

Instead, Nawaz has turned his back on the east and focused his attention on the west — just to keep Fata from spilling over into Punjab.

What the hell happened? This isn’t small-bore stuff, this isn’t tactics — this is the whole bloody game itself.

You don’t make that switch and pretend that nothing’s changed. The whole edifice of hope in Nawaz v3.0 was built on that dual assumption: he’d open up to India and slap down militants.

So, what happened?

The boys scuttled the deal. As simple as that.

That nonsense about Foreign Office reservations, issues over timing and special interests objections is just that — nonsense.

Special interests in trade and industry had been won over and appeased for a while. Everyone — everyone — knew about the Indian election and had an eye on the clock. And the idea that Tariq Fatemi or Sartaj Aziz would scuttle their boss’ signature policy initiative is risible.

No, Foreign Office is code because there are two foreign offices: one that the boys control, the other that the civilians nominally head. And consensus is also code: it’s not intra-civilian where the consensus was missing, it’s civ-mil.

If we know who Nawaz yielded to, more difficult is to fully figure out why.

The first step is easy enough to guess. It’s a tale of two deals: one with the TTP, the other with India. Both deals need the boys’ assent and both deals the boys are opposed to in the shape and form Nawaz wants.

So Nawaz chose: dialogue over trade; west over east; more-of-the-same v game-changer.

You can see why he did it: the dialogue option is his idea, he’s staked his political reputation on it and he’ll be judged by the outcome.

But then trade was his idée fixe — it was the thing that had defined him, the conviction that had given birth to a thousand hopes.

Nawaz probably thinks nothing has changed. That politics is about moments — now is the moment for peace, so get the dialogue done and then return to trade in a few months’ time.

Except, it doesn’t work that way. Concede so early and the next time becomes harder still. The enemy has seen weakness and the enemy’s been playing this game for longer than Nawaz has been around. Six months is the new 90 days.

Still, in his mind, he may believe it isn’t capitulation, just smart play, a tactical retreat.

It’s what came next that tore away the fig leaf and ripped everything to shreds.

March 23 Pakistan — but Punjab in particular — became jihad central. There they were, the anti-India lot, running around the country, telling everyone what the meaning of Pakistan is.

You know why they did it. The TTP has been dominating everything. They are everywhere and all that anyone can talk about.

So the other lot had to remind everyone that they’re still around, that they aren’t about to be pushed to the margins and that the TTP isn’t the be-all and end-all of all things Islamist.

But why did Nawaz let them do it, on that scale, on his own turf?

He, or one of his eager minions, could have hit speed dial and said: Hafiz bhai, you are like a brother to us and a true patriot. All of Pakistan will always be grateful for the services you have rendered to the nation. Can we humbly ask for a small favour: please, keep your activities low key on Sunday? We will be truly grateful, Hafiz bhai.

Hell, they could have even come up with a ruse. Every other day, the Punjab government is rounding up kids and getting them to set some silly world record or the other.

It’s March 23. Take a few thousand of them to Minar-i-Pakistan and have them sing the national anthem while draped around the minar or bake the world’s largest cake shaped like the national flag or build a human pyramid in green and white.

And before that ring up Hafiz bhai and request him, humbly, to not steal the Punjab government’s thunder and to not compete on that day with essential politics.

But nothing of the sort happened. What did happen was that the man running Pakistan allowed the men who would like to run Pakistan to run around his province spewing hate and venom.

Paralysis? Drift? Looks more like capitulation, really.

The writer is a member of staff.

[email protected]

Twitter: @cyalm