Bharat Rakshak

SSridhar wrote:In the light of the 'competitive bidding' for the head of the film maker, I am waiting with bated breadth for utterances of extreme piety from Shri Rehman Malik. Last time around, when Gov. Taseer was killed for blaspheming, he bravely said that he would himself shoot any blasphemer to death. I am not sure if he would now travel to LA to carry out his earlier threat and promise. He is sure to get a grand reception at the destination.

Talking to the media on Saturday after inquiring about health of injured police officials at Polyclinic hospital, he also alleged that Punjab police officials entered Islamabad from Rawalpindi and took part in Friday’s violent protests. He also said that the protestors were given a free passage from Faizabad to Islamabad. ....................

“We strongly condemn those who were involved in creating chaos and disorder for minting a few pennies. We have summoned footage of demonstrations to ascertain the details about the elements who indulged in looting and ransacking the properties.“ These people would be arrested from their homes and brought to justice, he declared. He claimed that an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of ICT Police had arrested six policemen from Punjab Police during the violent demonstrations and “I have come to know that police released them for their being ‘police fellows’. We are conducting inquiry against those policemen who freed them.” He said that a judicial inquiry had been ordered as to why and under which circumstances they were released, adding that action will be initiated against the responsible. ................

Hina Rabbani Khar was upfront, but her military countryman was not: Reuters

The two faces of Pakistan were on stark display last week, one with a good make over showing signs of a somewhat healthy diet and the other darkened with twisted logic spouting old falsehoods.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar went through Washington trying to convince audiences that her government was sincere about peace in Afghanistan and ready to cooperate with the Americans. The only price was “respect” not strategic depth. She was public and up front.

Retd Gen Ehsan ul-Haq, former chief of the ISI and former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, on the other hand, meandered around Washington, quietly raising old ghosts and undermining faith that the military mindset had changed either towards India or the US. He hinted that it was too late to draw the Taliban into meaningful talks.

Hina Rabbani Khar was upfront, but her military countryman was not: Reuters

The civilians vs. the military-ISI wrestling match in Washington was clearly a ploy to win the referee’s sympathy before the national elections.

But the problem is that Pakistan’s two faces often morph into one another, raising doubts about its seriousness of charting a different course. As Khar was projecting a progressive and changing Pakistan in Washington, mobs were torching cinema halls in Karachi and Peshawar in rage against an anti-Islam film produced in the US. The protesters were enabled by a public holiday granted by her government, specifically to appease the mullahs.

Khar’s pleas to shed “misperceptions” about Pakistan seemed surreal as a fellow minister offered a bounty for the death of the producer of the video.

But I give her marks for trying to make her case against overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Khar declared loudly that it is “not ambition but anxiety” that drives her government’s approach towards Afghanistan. She then went on to claim that the ISI only maintains “contact” with the Taliban and the Haqqani Network just as the CIA does. It does not translate into “control.” Again, evidence to the contrary – Taliban leaders not being allowed to leave Pakistan for meetings – didn’t seem to come in the way of a good speech.

She then made a slip. She called the Haqqani Network a “veritable arm of the United States” — a slip that she laughed was “not Freudian.” Those few words contained the long history of the CIA –ISI patrimony of the various jihadi groups and their murky past. Her aim was to pay the Americans back for Admiral Mike Mullen’s statement that the Haqqani Network was “a veritable arm of the ISI”. And she did, collecting her Rs. 200 as she tried to game the audience of heavy weights at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Except that no one in Washington is buying the old wares anymore. Despite former secretary of state Madeleine Albright’s attempt to protect her ward, Khar had to answer a lot of tough questions in the little time left after the two were through talking. However she either ducked or ignored them, and stayed on message.

Gen Eshan ul-Haq’s mission was rather more crude. Speaking at the Center for the National Interest, formerly known as the Nixon Center, Haq summoned the ghosts and djinns used by the military and even civilian governments in the past, but which no longer frighten Washington. He proved that the anti-India mindset within the ISI and the army is alive and well. The general didn’t come here as a loose cannon. He was well prepared and was giving a specific message.

Haq opened grandly with India’s “unrelenting hegemonic ambitions” in the region, and went on to stress how Pakistan was “unfairly maligned” and blamed for terrorism. He claimed that India was the only country comfortable about a continued US presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, because it fits into New Delhi’s regional agenda. All other neighbours would see the US as “destabilizing”, he said.

He reminisced about the good times when the US provided fighter jets and anti-tank missiles to Pakistan, but no more. Only ‘counter terrorism’ help was coming these days. Since the Pakistan military wasn’t getting conventional weapons to face India, it was building nuclear weapons.

He then claimed Pakistan had no ties with the Taliban and went on to blame the civilian government for creating the Taliban. It went all downhill from there, and many in the audience simply stopped listening. Some tables emptied entirely, as soon as he finished his speech. “I thought I was among friends,” he said plaintively when faced with honest, direct questions.

In the end even the moderator, Retd. Gen. Charles Boyd, a four star general of the US Air Force, had had enough. He said Pakistan and the US didn’t have the same view on most things.

US officials are struggling to shape the relationship towards a positive trajectory but so far there is no clear indication on the ground that the establishment mindset is changing. If the military still thinks of the murderous Haqqanis as “true fighters,” what room is there for optimism?

arun wrote:Malik claims Punjab police took part in Friday’s protest
JI leader blames agencies for violence during protests

chetak wrote:These are the people to whom we want to give visas on arrival. Jai ho

sudarshan wrote:
Can you think of anything better to illustrate the difference between the two countries? I humbly request that this fact be included in the first page of the TSP dhaagas.

Pakistan’s government on Saturday disassociated itself from the statement issued by its Federal Minister of Railways, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour over the bounty offered for the anti-Islam filmmaker, DawnNews reported.

The official spokesperson for the office of Prime Minister, Shafqat Jalil, while giving an interview to BBC said that the government “absolutely disassociated” itself from the comments made by Bilour.

BBC quoted Jalil as saying “He is not a member of the (ruling) PPP (Pakistan People’s Party), he is an Awami National Party (ANP) politician and therefore the prime minister will speak to the head of the ANP to decide the next step. They are not ruling out action against him but say he will stay in his post for now.”

Meanwhile Bilour’s party, the ANP, clarified that the comments made by the federal minister were within his personal capacity and not party policy.

I HAVE been running a small IT business in the UAE since 2003. I have flown more than 200 times since then. As a Pakistani passport-holder, I do have challenges in getting visas and travelling around the world for business purpose. It is very rare that I was treated with respect at immigration counters around the world.

In my experience, the UAE, Qatar, the UK and Germany are the friendliest and respecting countries.

But I never faced a situation where a consulate tells me that Pakistanis are not allowed to enter the country. I was extremely surprised and embarrassed when I was told this by the Kuwaiti consulate. I wanted to travel to Kuwait for three days to train some IT engineers. But the consulate told me that visas had been closed for Pakistanis and that I should come after a month.

I am wondering what wrong we Pakistanis did to Kuwait and why there is a visa ban on Pakistanis. I hope things get better soon for Pakistanis. Or maybe I was just unlucky.

SSridhar wrote: Suppiah, then, there is always the question of which is the dog and who is the guy.

SSridhar wrote: BBC quoted Jalil as saying “He is not a member of the (ruling) PPP (Pakistan People’s Party), he is an Awami National Party (ANP) politician and therefore the prime minister will speak to the head of the ANP to decide the next step. They are not ruling out action against him but say he will stay in his post for now.”

Meanwhile Bilour’s party, the ANP, clarified that the comments made by the federal minister were within his personal capacity and not party policy.

Suppiah wrote:Isn't ANP supposed to be the 'moderate/secular/representing 90% of the Pakbaric animal community sort of party?

Again goes to prove when it comes to barbaric animalism, there are no moderates in TSP, or for that matter in so-called moderate RoP states.

No prices for guessing what the stand of the purer green would be..

nakul wrote:They sent SMSes to India. Time for revenge! We should send movies based on Mohammad's life.

“We don’t need your money, we don’t need your aid.” Rather, he said, the Pakistani government needs preferential trade, as the US has given Jordan and Egypt.”

“They would ask: Why am I poor? Because the Americans don’t treat me right. Why don’t I have medicine for a dying child? Because the Americans have squeezed the money out of us. It is not the truth, necessarily, but it was the perception. And, nobody tried to reach out. You had some great institutions that used to reach out at one time in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but they are not there today,” Haroon said.

sudhan wrote:Lay off our Prophet!

ISLAMABAD: A cleric's daughter was allegedly paraded nude in a village of Pakistan's Punjab province by young men seeking revenge for her brother's actions, according to a media report on Saturday.

The incident occurred when three daughters of clericAllah Ditta were returning home late on Wednesday after shopping. Two of them were scheduled to be married on Thursday, The Express Tribune reported.

The three girls were attacked by five youths in Nawan Lahore area of Faisalabad district. Two of the girls escaped and hid in nearby houses while their sister, Rahila, was caught by the assailants. The young men tore off her clothes and attempted to sexually assault her. They then allegedly paraded her before the village and announced that anyone who opposed them would face similar consequences.

"They attempted to kidnap and rape her but she offered resistance," said Allah Ditta.

One of the five men had recently accused the cleric's son of teasing his sister. Elders of the village then asked the cleric's son to leave the village for two years. Later, the elders decided the accusation against the cleric's son was baseless and asked him not to leave.

This infuriated the five young men. Acting on orders from Punjab police chief Habib-ur-Rehman, other police officers visited the village and conducted investigations. On Thursday, police arrested all the five young men.

Pakistani police have registered a case against over 6,000 unidentified people on charges of terrorism, ransacking and attempted murder during a protest against an anti-Islam film in Lahore, officials said on Sunday.

"We have arrested 36 people so far and we will use footage from TV news channels and CCTV cameras to identify the other culprits," Lahore Police spokesman Niyab Haider said.

During yesterday's hearing in the anti-terrorism court, the counsel for the 36 arrested people had argued that police had failed to arrest those who had damaged public property and attacked policemen.

He said those who were arrested were innocent as they had been peacefully protesting against the anti-Islam film.

The counsel asked the judge not to remand them to police custody and to send them on judicial remand so that they could file bail petitions.

Satya_anveshi wrote:It is amazing how a film that is made for alternative media (not even mainstream film to be screened in theaters) or a cartoon that is published in a remote corner of the world can enrage people in Islamic world and bring the masses on streets to commit arson to their own property even resulting in several deaths.
Nice capability some countries have to provoke such a response on such a wide scale and some numbnuts have to screw themselves.

I was thinking of this as the Swine Flu fiasco we saw a couple years ago - not to dilute the seriousness of a potential epidemic but the similar set of things are set in motion in target countries while the lead country remains relatively unaffected.

I think I heard a passing mention last week (on the Daily Show?) that faux news was discussing a new archeological finding that refers to Jesus being married or Jesus referring to "my wife." This perhaps equally blasphemous fiasco didn't even get noticed in major news channels (other than faux ofcourse).

shiv wrote:

sudarshan wrote:
Can you think of anything better to illustrate the difference between the two countries? I humbly request that this fact be included in the first page of the TSP dhaagas.

The purpose of that first page is to inform about Pakistan and not to try and say how India is different.

shiv wrote:

sudhan wrote:Lay off our Prophet!

This Paki is a charmer. He begs with such dignity and poise. We don't want your money he says defiantly, even as he begs for help and mercy. His commanding presence, his diction and erudition make beggary look like it is a royal pastime and penury a day at the royal races.

sudarshan wrote:
You know, I was unaware of this fact myself. Just to make sure it wasn't a rumour or urban legend, I went to the net and searched for the forms for TSP passport application. These words are right there in the middle of the form:

I ________________________ S/o, W/o, D/o ___________________________ aged ______ years, adult Muslim
resident of __________________________________________________ declare that:-
(i) I am a Muslim and believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the prophethood of Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) as the last of the Prophets.
(ii) I do not recognize any person who claims to be a prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever after Muhammad (peace be upon him) or recognize such a claimant as a prophet or a religious
reformer as or a Muslim. (iii) I consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Quadiani to be an imposter Nabi and also consider his followers whether belonging to the Lahori or Quadiani group to be non-muslim

I was like WOW!

September 22,

The Pakistan police on Saturday said they had found no evidence that young Christian girl Rimsha Masih had committed blasphemy by desecrating pages of a religious text.

In a revised chargesheet submitted to the court of District and Sessions Judge Jawad Abbas, police said they had found no evidence against Rimsha, who was recently freed on bail.

No witness had come forward to testify against her, the police said. The chargesheet however said that Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque in Rimsha's neighbourhood, was guilty of tampering with materials that were used to accuse her of blasphemy.

The chargesheet said Chishti had added burnt pages from a religious text to a shopping bag that Rimsha had been carrying. The imam was arrested earlier this month after three men testified they had seen him planting the evidence that was used to implicate Rimsha.

However, there was no hearing of the case today as the civil judge handling the matter was on leave. The police only submitted the charge-sheet to Judge Abbas. The police have also accused Malik Ammad, the man who filed the complaint against Rimsha, of hiding facts from investigators.

Lalmohan wrote:pak high commissioner in londonistan has been defending the pak railway minister's bounty setting ways on national tv... that in itself is making the news

nakul wrote:They sent SMSes to India. Time for revenge! We should send movies based on Mohammad's life.

Rony wrote: Here is the video. Wajid Shamsul Hasan's Pakiness in full display
http://in.news.yahoo.com/video/skyworld ... 77149.html

Lilo wrote:

shiv wrote:
This Paki is a charmer. He begs with such dignity and poise. We don't want your money he says defiantly, even as he begs for help and mercy. His commanding presence, his diction and erudition make beggary look like it is a royal pastime and penury a day at the royal races.

He also wields a gilt edged staff, fit for a beggar of his class.

The Pakistani diplomat, outraged at the souring relationship between Pakistan and the US, said there was a great deal of hostility by the Pakistani people to American policy because of the drone attacks against civilians; the removal of Osama bin Laden without Pakistani consent; and the belief that the US has supported governments in the world that did not distribute wealth to its people

kmkraoind wrote:Sovereignty comes with great responsibility: Clinton to Pak

“We support Pakistan’s sovereignty, but we are clear that all sovereign nations carry certain obligations: to protect the human rights of their citizens, to control their territory, to prevent threats to their neighbours and the international community,” Clinton told reporters in a joint press availability with her Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar.

claimed that agencies, extortionists and other vested interests engineered violence that claimed many lives besides loss to property.

He said the violence was meant to tarnish the image of religious and political parties, protesting against the anti-Islam movie.

He said his party would stage a ‘million march’ in Karachi on Sunday .. totally peaceful

members of the association are ready to sacrifice their parents, children and properties for Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

SSridhar wrote:Rental Raja condemns bounty announcement by his Railways Minister

Pakistan’s government on Saturday disassociated itself from the statement issued by its Federal Minister of Railways, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour over the bounty offered for the anti-Islam filmmaker, DawnNews reported.

The official spokesperson for the office of Prime Minister, Shafqat Jalil, while giving an interview to BBC said that the government “absolutely disassociated” itself from the comments made by Bilour.

BBC quoted Jalil as saying “He is not a member of the (ruling) PPP (Pakistan People’s Party), he is an Awami National Party (ANP) politician and therefore the prime minister will speak to the head of the ANP to decide the next step. They are not ruling out action against him but say he will stay in his post for now.”

Meanwhile Bilour’s party, the ANP, clarified that the comments made by the federal minister were within his personal capacity and not party policy.

60-year-old Malik Ata, a builder and former lawmaker, was gunned down by two motorcycle-borne men outside his house in Mehmoodabad area of Karachi on Saturday, police were quoted by local media as saying.

Ata was overseeing some construction work outside his house when the assailants sprayed him with bullets, pumping three into his chest and one in his head.

He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police suspected it was a sectarian attack as the victim belonged to the Ahmedi sect, but were also investigating the angle of personal enmity to ascertain the real motive behind the killing.

Separately, two bullet-riddled bodies were found from Salar Compound. The victims were identified as Nazeer Mengal and Mohammad Jamil Khaskheli, who were kidnapped by unidentified men and later tortured to death, police said, adding the double murder seemed to be a target killing. Eight more people were gunned down at various places in Karachi.