Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP) : 24 July 2012

[SSridhar]

'US, Pak plan joint operations against Haqqani network'

The Pakistanis have named the planned offensive, in North Waziristan, Operation Tight Screw.

This joint operation is hogwash. Pakistan wanted to restore some semblance of normality in Pak-US relations and used the first visit to Washington of the new ISI Chief to offer something that the US has demanded for long. When it comes to implementing this offer, TSP would have diluted it enough to make it absolutely worthless. I can only laugh when reports claim that Pakistan has suddenly and mysteriously found that the TTP and the Haqqanis are 'colluding' and therefore the Haqqanis need to be eliminated. Give me a break. By the time Op. Tight Screw sees the light of day, TSP would have turned it to Op. Screw Americans, by eliciting more concessions from them even as they protected the Haqqanis. A good entertainment for us even as we wait for confirmation of Pakistani duplicity yet again.

[habal]

pakistaniyat in greece ..
police arrest Pakistani illegal immigrant for brutal assault & rape of a greek girl

Greek police announced the arrest of a man of Pakistani origin as the assaulter of the teenager girl that was brutally beaten almost two weeks ago in Nea Chrysi Akti beach. The culprit was identified through a double DNA test on a sample found on the body and the clothes of the unlucky girl and the man’s saliva.

The Pakistani confessed his heinous act on Saturday afternoon.

According to police, the man confessed that he originally wanted to steal the girl’s mobile but as she resisted he beat her with a rock. The girl fainted, he sexually abused her and beat her again against the rocks.

..

The man, an illegal immigrant, was working at a tourist facility. He returned to his work and continued his life as if nothing had happened. (trained well in his home country obviously)However as police increased its presence on the island and even called on locals and tourists to assist, the man apparently felt he could be caught. Six days later, he left the island and fled to Greece’s capital Athens.

Police located the culprit among thousands of illegal immigrants in Athens with the aid of technology (located his mobile) and the active cooperation by other immigrants. He was arrested in the early morning hours of Saturday in Nea Chalkidona suburb of Athens, together with two other compatriots, also illegal immigrants.

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2012/0 ... the-crime/

[rajanb]

SS, We have to admire the Khans ability for letting the Pakis get a better grip on the Khans short hairs.

One can only hope that the Khans are actually and finally indulging in back stabbing duplicity. For a change.

[SSridhar]

SS, We have to admire the Khans ability for letting the Pakis get a better grip on the Khans short hairs.

One can only hope that the Khans are actually and finally indulging in back stabbing duplicity. For a change.

rajanb, one can only hope. Past history is not inspiring; only, depressing.

[rajanb]

SS, Yes, hope is the only option.

However, if the Pakis squeeze we can sit back and enjoy it. After all, tis the Khans who have always tried to tilt the balance against us vis-a-vis the Pakis

And if the Khans back stab the Pakis, we can also enjoy it.

And if nothing happens either way, it is status quo.

[SSridhar]

After three years of South Waziristan operation, PA has cleared only Sararogha
A status check from GoP.

Three years after launching Rah-i-Nijat military operation in Mehsud area of South Waziristan Agency, the government has de-notified only one out of six subdivisions as conflict zone in the volatile region since October 2009.

“Only Sararogha subdivision has been declared as ‘cleared’ and the internally displaced persons from the area are allowed to go back to their homes,” said an official. . . remaining five tehsils including Shawal, Sarwakai, Tairza, Makeen and Laddha had not been cleared so far.

The army had launched operation Rah-i-Nijat (path of salvation) in 2009 to destroy strongholds of banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Mehsud area and re-establish government’s writ there.

The return process of IDPs to Sararogha is underway with a slow pace as over 8,000 families have returned to their homes during the last one and half year, while 40,000 registered Mehsud families are waiting with host families in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts for their turn.

Of seven tribal agencies in Fata, Bajaur and Mohmand have been completely de-notified as conflict zones.

Officials said that FDMA had recently de-notified 44 villages in central subdivision of Kurram Agency while Masozai area had not been cleared. The upper and lower subdivisions of Kurram have already been cleared.

Situation in Orakzai Agency is sketchy and security forces have restored government’s writ only in lower subdivision while situation in remaining two sub-divisions (upper and central) is very volatile. Militants still have hold over a large area of the agency, according to sources.

Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency was notified as conflict zone in 2009 and government writ has not been restored there since then.

Sources said that security forces had fully secured lines of communication and dismantled TTP’s infrastructure in the Mehsud territory, but militants still had presence and carried out attacks there.

“Army has control over the main roads and strategic hilltops while TTP’s supporters have safe havens in the valleys. They (militants) are using hit and run tactics and targeting security forces with improvised explosive devices,” said a resident of Laddha subdivision.

He said that before launching operation Rah-i-Nijat in October 2009, political administration and military commanders had made commitments with the elders of Mehsud tribe that dislocated population would be brought back to their homes within two months.

The tribesman said that Taliban were still present in Laddha, Makeen, Kanigoram, Karama and other areas.

“In fact local people have no faith in the administration that is why most of the IDPs are reluctant to go back to their homes,” he said, adding that many of those families shifted to Tank and Dera Ismail Khan because of fear and uncertainty.

[SSridhar]

The reference to the sketchy situation in Orakzai in the status check report above is understandable. When Op Rah-e-Nijat was launched, all the jihadis went to Orakzai. I give below how the operation went.

On May 13, 2009, the Pakistani Army also announced a major operation in Waziristan, code-named Rah-e-Nijat (the Path of Salvation), planned for in June 2009, as usual, giving enough advance notice. As Daily Times explained editorially on Oct 22, 2009, the term ‘Rah-e-Rast’ (codename for the operation in Swat) and ‘Rah-e-Nijat’ had been chosen with care because in Swat, “Fazlullah had to be brought back to the straight path — hence Rah-e-Rast — but in South Waziristan it is the foreigners who have to be gotten rid of — Nijat.”

The Rah-e-Nijat operation was finally launched only on October 17, 2009, a full five months after it was announced, and that too only after there was an attack on the GHQ at Rawalpindi on Oct 10, 2009 followed by simultaneous attacks on three police institutions in Lahore a few days later on Oct. 15. An all-party meeting was convened and the Army was given the green signal to proceed with the South Waziristan operations. However, Nawaz Sharif , Jamaat-e-Islami, Imran Khan and JUI-F leader Fazl-ur-Rehman decided not to attend the meeting because they did not want to be seen as parties to the decision.

The Army claimed later that its forces were moving in from Jandola in the east, Shakai in the west and Razmak in the north. As the operation started on Oct. 17, 2009, the Pakistani Army Chief openly requested the support of the tribes for the Army operation listing out three objectives: to eliminate Uzbek terrorists; to eliminate “foreign” terrorists, possibly a reference to Arab fighters; and to eliminate local terrorists. The military claimed that just six to eight weeks would be enough to successfully conclude the operation and reclaim TTP strongholds of Sarwakai, Makeen, Kaniguram (the second largest town in South Waziristan), Shakai, Jandola, Raghzai, Sherwangi (an Uzbek stronghold), Kotkai and Sararogha. Both Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazir, the two other prominent AQAM jihadi leaders in South Wazirisan apart from Baitullah Mehsud, decided to be neutral and not attack the Pakistani Army during the operation. On the sixth day of the operation, the US military sources said (quoted by Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2009) that “Pakistani Army has met with significant resistance from insurgents, who have retaken one large town, targeted military vehicles with roadside bombs and held off the army's attack helicopters with antiaircraft fire”. The Pakistani force comprising of about 30,000 soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division and 9th Infantry Division of the army's XI Corps, based in Peshawar, and 10,000 members of the Frontier Corps, which operates in western tribal areas, as well as 500 Special Services Group commandos and two army aviation squadrons, had been slowed down by heavy fighting. After two weeks, Pakistani Army claimed on October 31, 2009 that the key town of Sararogha had been surrounded and Kaniguram was being cleared of terrorists after Kotkai had been captured a few days earlier. Sararogha is considered an Uzbek terrorist stronghold. The Army also claimed to have reached the outskirts of Makeen. The Army also accepted that the Uzbeks were giving it a tough fight and there were 10000 fighters with about 1000 foreigners in South Waziristan alone. On Nov. 4, 2009, after three weeks of Op. Rah-e-Nijat, the Pakistani Army announced that the first phase of operations were to be concluded shortly when they will march into the Mehsud regional headquarters of Laddah. They put the militants’ casualty figures at 500 dead and about 800 wounded. In the second phase, they planned to march into valleys and hamlets. If the latest government report says that only Sararogha is cleared and the PA has been unable to enter the valleys, that means the operation so far has been a total failure. Yjere is probably a 1:10 ratio in favour of the Purer Breed who also sport longer beards and shorter shalwars.

“We have broken the myth of the invincibility of the Taliban” claimed the Army in November, 2009.

[AbhiJ]

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/letters/06-Aug-2012/trade-with-india

There appears to be great excitement in Pakistan, particularly within the business community and financial institutions, following India’s decision to allow direct investment from Pakistan. In keeping with India’s growth rate and the dismal economic conditions at home, the various chambers of commerce and businessmen are extolling the opportunities which investment in India will offer. Before Partition, for those who lived in the part of India which is now Pakistan, the Bombay Stock Exchange was the only institution which offered an opportunity of investing in the private sector. And so they did.
But after Partition, the bank accounts and shares in Indian companies of the people who chose to stay in Pakistan were sequestrated by the government of India. These were treated as “enemy property.” Attempts to claim these assets by their rightful owners or their successors were met with the reply that this was not possible. So, after almost 65 long years, the beneficiaries of these assets have not received the benefits of investment in India which their elders had hoped for. Now that the government of India has decided to permit direct investment from Pakistan, wouldn’t it be proper to enquire what it intends to do with the assets of Pakistanis held by the custodian of enemy property in Mumbai?
Albert J Godin,
Rawalpindi, August 5.

Who will remind the Bacha Baazigars of the 55 Crores and Interest?

[Lisa]

If the above is OK then all Indians who lost assests/property can also lodge claims for assests/property lost in partition, correct? I am sure I can trust MMS will make it so.

[Philip]

I cannot but shake my head in disgust at the planned sop to Pak by our marionette with rubber stamp feet ,whose great idea is to allow Paki banks to operate freely in India despite Ppak's complete stonewalling at bringing to justice the perpetrators that were responsible for 26/11.Add to that the open secret that the ISI is dumping billions of rupees worth in fake currency unabatedly,gravely damaging our economy an if Paki banks are opened here need not in future smuggle them into India but simply use the Paki banks to flood our land with counterfeit notes! Paki banks will also be used to fund terrorists.Along wiht the other recent acts oif rewarding the incompetent .
Theatre of the absurd inded!

[SSridhar]

It looks to me that only here in BRf that we are deeply concerned about the disastrous handling of Pakistan by the incumbent ruling clique. The newspaper wallahs in India are all rooting for more and more concessions to Pakistan as are most analysts. The rest of the country is quite oblivious to what is happening around them and are quite happy with cinema and cricket.

[Lilo]

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/letters/06-Aug-2012/trade-with-india
There appears to be great excitement in Pakistan, particularly within the business community and financial institutions, following India’s decision to allow direct investment from Pakistan. In keeping with India’s growth rate and the dismal economic conditions at home, the various chambers of commerce and businessmen are extolling the opportunities which investment in India will offer.
...............
Albert J Godin,
Rawalpindi, August 5.

FWIW , a glimpse of Albert J Godin's background.

From: Albert Godin <ajgodin29@...>
Subject: RE: [PakNatureConservancy] Bird Migration Pakistan
To: scn_pk@..., paknatureconservancy@yahoogroups.com
Cc: inam.ullah@..., iucnp.sarhad@..., info@..., molines@..., "Ejaz Ahmad" <eahmad@...>, "Ashiq Ahmad" <ashiqahmad@...>, himayat53@..., alijan98@...
Date: Thursday, 23 October, 2008, 4:54 AM

Dear All,

While the migration of birds over Pakistan is not a subject which has been of special interest to me, yet I would like to place on record some experiences I have had in the past:

1. About 1955-58, during the winter months, my late brother, Hubert, who loved duck shooting would go to a place named Dheri Zardad, near Taru Jabba, on the banks of the Kabul River. Flights of ducks would generally arrive November onwards.

2. In the early 60s, I would venture duck shooting in the Islamabad Area in the location where the Pakistan Agricultural Research Institute is located... these were wet lands, apparently drained now with a diminished water table.

3. In 1971-72 there were some British mining engineers located in Abbotabad who were establishing the Phosphate Mines just outside the P.M.A., Kakul. I happened to be friendly with their Chief, who during the course of conversation asked if the 'boys' could be taken to a place of recreation. I arranged for a wild boar shoot at Rasul Headworks located on the Jhelum River. Havng provided them (about 6 or so) guns and cartridges, we embarked on our mission. .........

More here

[SSridhar]

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/letters/06-Aug-2012/trade-with-india

Now that the government of India has decided to permit direct investment from Pakistan, wouldn’t it be proper to enquire what it intends to do with the assets of Pakistanis held by the custodian of enemy property in Mumbai?
Albert J Godin,Rawalpindi, August 5.

Some may think that the Pakis are demanding more and more now that we have conceded some space, like a camel getting into a tent. But, the fact is that they feel 'entitled' to demand all these from us. I am not sure if the author of the above letter is a foreigner residing in Pakistan, or somebody who has come for terror training, or one of the last couple of Anglo-Indians still left there. Even they have been brainwashed into demanding like this. If the name was fake, used by an Abdul, then we know why he/she behaves so.

[SSridhar]

FWIW , a glimpse of Albert J Godin's background.

So, the guy is a naturalized Paki who is on a mission to decimate the fauna of Pakistan.

[Altair]

The rest of the country is quite oblivious to what is happening around them and are quite happy with cinema and cricket.

It is one of the main deliverable in breaking a country. Lull the nation with drugs or something similar. Indians fell for Twenty20 and TV serials/bollywood hungama. If only I had a team of 20-25 dedicated people with about 4-5 Crore rupees, I can send the Congress and Ford Foundation to oblivion.

[SSridhar]

Shashi Tharoor on India's approach to Pakistan

In the book, Tharoor discusses India’s relations with Pakistan and China in great detail. “We began the process of talks on a regular basis with Pakistan in the 80s, though it has been punctuated by many disruptions, mainly owing to Pakistan’s covert support to secessionist movements in Punjab and Kashmir. In 1999, barely months after a historic summit and the creation of a bus service from New Delhi to Lahore, the Kargil war broke out. Similarly, in 2008, in midst of a long thaw, the 26/11 attacks occurred, derailing a composite dialogue process initiated in 2005. In its attempt to gain a strategic depth in Afghanistan, Pakistan via its proxies is attacking Indian interests in that country, creating more ruptures in ties between the two countries.”

He adds, “Relations between the two countries have been improving now. The Pakistani government has reciprocated our offer of MFN (Most Favoured Nation) trade status, though the bill is yet to be passed in the Pakistani Parliament. {Ya Allah} I am cautiously optimistic that free trade between the two countries will ensure that economic interests become intertwined. This would, in the long run, ensure that the Pakistani businessman would lobby and make attempts to ensure that Pakistan and its intelligence agencies will abandon the anti-India stance and would work in the better interests of peace in the region.”

[AbhiJ]

This would, in the long run, ensure that the Pakistani businessman would lobby and make attempts to ensure that Pakistan and its intelligence agencies will abandon the anti-India stance and would work in the better interests of peace in the region.”

The Semi-WKKs with this School of Thought fail to realize that Any One who is Sucked up in the Mohammedian Ideology is not worth the Jazakallah!

[Anujan]

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012 ... ups-33.asp

Residents of Neelum valley in Pakistan administered Kashmir on Sunday observed a shutdown against activities of outlawed militant groups in the area. Witnesses said a complete strike was observed with residents announcing to launch a ‘forceful agitation’ against alleged activities of some outlawed militant groups as talks between locals and an official team failed to arrive at any decision. {So you know whose the terrorists are backed by}

“The activities of the banned outfits have caused serious concern from one end of the Neelum valley to the other and we will not allow anyone to use our territory for ‘terrorist activities’ against anyone,” the official team was told by the residents, according to witnesses. The residents recalled that they had already suffered worst physical and material losses in the days of escalation along the LoC and could not afford its recurrence in the aftermath of any misadventure.

The official team assured them that their demands would be presented to the high-ups and in the meanwhile they should end their protest.

[SSridhar]

^ For a few years now, the residents of Neelum Valley have been forcefully agitating against the jihadis because they fear that IA would restart the shelling that has knocked the living daylights out of these folks. They do not want the jihadis to provoke the IA.

[Rajdeep]

Has anyone read the book Confront and Conceal by David E. Sanger ?
Seems to have the paki undies tied in a bunch.

[anupmisra]

It looks to me that only here in BRf that we are deeply concerned about the disastrous handling of Pakistan by the incumbent ruling clique.

At BRF we dissect all paki intentions until conclusion. We see through the paki motives on al its actions (or lack of it). The rest of the country (including many Indians overseas) are spoon fed on the misguided belief that the pakis are our long lost and misled brothers and sisters, cruelly separated by the brits, and that one day fate alone will make them see reason and bring us together as a one big happy family. This sounds corny and straight out of a Bollywood thriller complete with a chaotic mela with song and drama. No one (present company excepted) sees the long term disaster in this self-destructive exercise that looms ahead.

India and pa'astan are unlike East and West Germany. The German reunification was based on common culture, religion and history. As Djinnah once said, we are two nations. Amen to that. India, with its ancient history, dharma and culture, has nothing in common with the polluted pakis and their arabic leanings.

[abhijitm]

Shashi Tharoor on India's approach to Pakistan

I am cautiously optimistic that free trade between the two countries will ensure that economic interests become intertwined. This would, in the long run, ensure that the Pakistani businessman would lobby and make attempts to ensure that Pakistan and its intelligence agencies will abandon the anti-India stance and would work in the better interests of peace in the region.

He meant the businesses run by TSPA will lobby TSPA to abandon it's anti-india policy. Wah kya logic hai

[RajeshA]

It looks to me that only here in BRf that we are deeply concerned about the disastrous handling of Pakistan by the incumbent ruling clique.

At BRF we dissect all paki intentions until conclusion. We see through the paki motives on al its actions (or lack of it). The rest of the country (including many Indians overseas) are spoon fed on the misguided belief that the pakis are our long lost and misled brothers and sisters, cruelly separated by the brits, and that one day fate alone will make them see reason and bring us together as a one big happy family. This sounds corny and straight out of a Bollywood thriller complete with a chaotic mela with song and drama. No one (present company excepted) sees the long term disaster in this self-destructive exercise that looms ahead.

India and pa'astan are unlike East and West Germany. The German reunification was based on common culture, religion and history. As Djinnah once said, we are two nations. Amen to that. India, with its ancient history, dharma and culture, has nothing in common with the polluted pakis and their arabic leanings.

But but but that is exactly what I believe in!

I too think that a bhoot preyt has taken hold of my beloved brother, and that I would have to use lathi at full force to get this bhoot preyt out! Or it could be a Horcrux of Mo! I don't know!

I can virtually see the "HELP ME" sign on tummy of Paki bhaiya! Paki bhaiya needs an exorcist!

[abhijitm]

I too think that a bhoot preyt has taken hold of my beloved brother, and that I would have to use lathi at full force to get this bhoot preyt out! Or it could be a Horcrux of Mo! I don't know!

I can virtually see the "HELP ME" sign on tummy of Paki bhaiya! Paki bhaiya needs an exorcist!

And then you beat him to death. na rahega baas na bajegi bansuri

[RajeshA]

I too think that a bhoot preyt has taken hold of my beloved brother, and that I would have to use lathi at full force to get this bhoot preyt out! Or it could be a Horcrux of Mo! I don't know!

I can virtually see the "HELP ME" sign on tummy of Paki bhaiya! Paki bhaiya needs an exorcist!

And then you beat him to death. na rahega baas na bajegi bansuri

Tauba, Tauba, Tauba! Why should I beat my Paki bhaiya to death?! He should live, albeit with continuous lathi-sotta beating until the bhoot-preyt leaves!

Death is easy way out for both parties! Besides I don't have the money for Kriya Karm, only for one lathi/sotta!

[nachiket]

Tauba, Tauba, Tauba! Why should I beat my Paki bhaiya to death?! He should live, albeit with continuous lathi-sotta beating until the bhoot-preyt leaves!

Because the Paki bhaiya is not possessed. Whatever he is doing is his real nature. Sooner will understand that the better.

[RajeshA]

Tauba, Tauba, Tauba! Why should I beat my Paki bhaiya to death?! He should live, albeit with continuous lathi-sotta beating until the bhoot-preyt leaves!

Because the Paki bhaiya is not possessed. Whatever he is doing is his real nature. Sooner will understand that the better.

See, you people have all given up on Paki bhaiya. You are too lazy for lathi/sotta exorcism!

[chetak]

{quote="SSridhar"}Shashi Tharoor on India's approach to Pakistan

I am cautiously optimistic that free trade between the two countries will ensure that economic interests become intertwined. This would, in the long run, ensure that the Pakistani businessman would lobby and make attempts to ensure that Pakistan and its intelligence agencies will abandon the anti-India stance and would work in the better interests of peace in the region.

He meant the businesses run by TSPA will lobby TSPA to abandon it's anti-india policy. Wah kya logic hai

Anticipating sweat equity for himself and wifey as consultants to paki "businessmen"

The ISI will be among the first to set up shop in India much Like the CIA and their many "companies"

[Anindya]

From Tharoor:

Pakistani businessman would lobby and make attempts to ensure that Pakistan and its intelligence agencies will abandon the anti-India stance and would work in the better interests of peace in the region.

There's a fundamental assumption, that has been misplaced by Tharoor here.

Pakis do not take up terrorism and overt bigotry, as an explicit choice - it is cultural and habitual. There are too many examples of Pakistaniyat from people who have grown up in the western world. There's no major non-Muslim country with significant Paki presence, which does not have to deal with Paki terrorism or what we euphemistically call Pakistaniyat.

Pakistanis cannot give up terrorism and overt bigotry, even if they want to - its too deeply embedded within their ideology and cultural habits.

You do not have to be an educated Abdul to know that LeT, JeM are terror organizations that kill people en masse - yet these organizations receive budget line items from governments, collect ushr in rural Pakistan and regular donation box submissions in most major cities.

When public conversion of an emaciated minority makes for a hit TV program, but the acid burning of a forced conversion target, does not receive any attention - there's something fundamentally wrong with the people concerned.

This cultural affinity to terrorism and bigotry of Pakistanis, cannot be solved through wishful thinking that such people will react with humanity, based on pecuniary concerns.

[lakshmikanth]

^^^ There is a major fundamental mistake in assuming that free-trade would remove "othering" and hatred for Indians among Baki pigs.

They do not understand fundamental human nature (I guess the same applies to animals too):

Any emotional human being would rate lack of happiness/pleasure as a more acceptable condition than the presence of pain. Thus the possibility of pain is a more powerful motivator than the potential to lose happiness/pleasure

i.e. Free trade increases pleasure and happiness for the rich men on either side of the border. War would obviously mean lack of happiness/pleasure due to the source of income/money being taken away. That is not the same as potential to harm and cause pain. The former is a much easier condition to bear than the latter.

So (with no offense to animals) if we are thinking that Bakis would turn into rational animals from the irrational (but emotional) animals that they are by just throwing them the carrot and then saying this: "Hey, if you are gonna bite us, the carrot would disappear tomorrow", we are deluding ourselves.

There is no strategy that says "carrot or no carrot", without a BIG stick to hurt the pakis, the carrot and the potential lack of it is a delusional strategy.

[Kanishka]

Indian passport for man from Pakistani-held Kashmir

A man from Pakistani-administered Kashmir who entered India illegally is to apply for an Indian passport after officials said he could stay.

Siraj Khan had requested deportation so he could see family in Kashmir again.

However, officials said he should be considered an Indian citizen as India claims all of Kashmir. The case is thought to be the first of its kind.

Kashmir has been divided between the two countries since independence and both claim it in its entirety.

Siraj Khan told the BBC soon after the court hearing that he was happy with the outcome.

"I am also relieved that my three-year-old fight was over and that I can now visit my parents and other family members on an Indian passport," Mr Khan said.

Mr Khan, 30, had applied to the Bombay High Court seeking his own deportation after appeals to the Indian authorities and the Pakistani High Commission to send him back to Pakistan had failed.

Mr Khan, who works as a caterer in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), is married to an Indian Muslim woman with whom he has three children.

"I love Mumbai but I love my parents too and I must visit them as soon as my passport is ready," he said.

Mr Khan came to India when he was nine years old, staying first in Rajasthan and then in the northern city of Varanasi before making his way to Mumbai.

He had no passport or any official documentation, which prevented him from leaving the country.

The state government has now promised to issue him a ration card, which is the first step towards issuing other legal documents including his passport.


Last week the Bombay High Court criticised the state and federal governments for "allowing a man, who claims he is from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and had crossed over to India in 1995, to stay in the country for so long".

Judges at the court said the case had "ramifications on national security" and summoned the state's attorney general to explain how Mr Khan had been allowed to stay in the country illegally.

However, as soon as the hearing began on Monday the state government said it regarded him as an Indian citizen and that therefore all cases against him for being in India illegally should be dropped.

The advocate general of Maharashtra state, Darius Khambata, told the court that Mr Khan should be considered an Indian citizen, since the Indian constitution regarded "Pakistan-occupied Kashmir" as an integral part of India.

He urged the court to drop all cases against Mr Khan and said he was free to apply for an Indian passport.

There has been no reaction from officials in Pakistan, which rejects the suggestion that Pakistani-controlled Kashmir should be regarded as Indian territory.

Mr Khan's lawyer Ejaz Naqvi described the state government's decision as "a landmark outcome".

"Never before has the government accepted a citizen... [from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir] as a citizen of India. This will have a far reaching effect," Mr Naqvi said.

Mr Naqvi said he believed other people living in India in similar circumstances could now ask for Indian citizenship.

Last year the Indian government said in a statement that "more than 700 Pakistanis were given Indian citizenship in the last three years". But most of these were Pakistani Hindu immigrants.

Mr Khan's case may be viewed with interest by other Pakistanis who have been detained for entering India illegally.

The two countries have detained hundreds of each other's citizens for illegally crossing the frontier and for spying, as well as holding prisoners from the three India-Pakistan wars.

[member_23629]

^^^
What an idiotic argument from the government -- a sign of intellectual bankruptcy. Indians are experts at accepting foriegners into their land while offering their land to others. Other countries do the opposite -- they want the land but not the people. This is the continuation of Gandhi's suicidal policy of signing away two-thirds of India's territory to Muslims and then vociferously preventing them from leaving India, thus getting Hindus short changed from both ends. "You keep taking our land, we will keep taking your people" -- this seems to be the policy.

[krithivas]

This is along the lines of what China claims with Indians based in Arunachal Pradesh - That they don't need a visa to enter China because they are Chinese. If this is securely and very carefully managed by GoI, it could be a strategic weapon. LoC no more.

[AbhiJ]

http://www.superpowerpakistan.in/

Thot Provoquing!

[sanjaykumar]

Not to fiqr saar, let the man come, land to join later only.

[Anujan]

Shashi Tharoor on India's approach to Pakistan
I am cautiously optimistic that free trade between the two countries will ensure that economic interests become intertwined. This would, in the long run, ensure that the Pakistani businessman would lobby and make attempts to ensure that Pakistan and its intelligence agencies will abandon the anti-India stance and would work in the better interests of peace in the region.

He meant the businesses run by TSPA will lobby TSPA to abandon it's anti-india policy. Wah kya logic hai

I have spoken to him. He is not as naive as he looks. The man is extraordinarily smart and is no WKK nor is he blind to perfidy. I think he deserves some benefit of doubt.

[anupmisra]

Paging Dr. Khan; Paging Dr. Khan
Help, save us! The hour has come. Pa'astan needs super-surgeons like you. (Alert: Read on at the risk of spilling your coffee)

Save Pakistan...Random thoughts

The public at large-intellectuals, political analysts, commentators, columnists, lawyers, journalists, students, etc.-are all extremely worried about the dangerous situation the country is facing.

Everyone is talking about the rampant corruption, loadshedding, inflation, unemployment, targeted killings, maladministration, etc. and are at a loss on how to get out of this situation and how to get rid of the rulers who are perpetuating the problems.

our spineless politicians

What a self-centred, corrupt clique!

I have been approached by hundreds of thousands of patriotic Pakistanis who have requested me to play a role and save the country from the looming danger.

when the country was in mortal danger on a previous occasion, I returned to Pakistan leaving behind a respectable and bright career

After carefully considering the insistent requests received from so many people, I decided not to sit by as a mere spectator but to try to do something practical.

To this end I have established a movement named “Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan which aims to make voters aware of the significance of their ballot, the sanctity of their vote, and the great importance of electing honest, competent, educated representatives in the coming elections in order to be able to get rid of corruption and feudal politics.

I would like to request everyone, including the expatriate community, who can play an important role in advising their family and friends, to join me in this noble endeavour.

This is our country, our homeland. If we lose it we will end up being like the Palestinians.

I witnessed the creation of Pakistan. I entered Pakistan via Khokrapar, walking barefooted on scorching sand, on August 14, 1952.

After 65 years of independence we are no better than Mali, Niger, Chad, Rwanda and Burundi.

they have achieved a permanent drought and subsequent starvation.

...the ignominious defeat and surrender of the Pakistan Army in 1971.... That tragedy made me give up everything I had achieved in 15 years of living abroad in an attempt to save the country from Indian hegemony

.

Now my heart bleeds

The situation demands that I do my duty as a patriotic Pakistani.

It is time to tighten our belts.

Phew! What an arrogant, lying, self-aggrandizing son of a she-dog! I loved the part where he "describes walking barefoot on scorching sand across the border in 1952"!! That SoB's family was wealthy and were afraid of losing all their landed property. They could have bought airplane tickets (and probably did) and flown to K'rachi.

[ramana]

.......
I have spoken to him. He is not as naive as he looks. The man is extraordinarily smart and is no WKK nor is he blind to perfidy. I think he deserves some benefit of doubt.

Its very important for public figures to speak unambigously lest they be quoted out of context. What is the need to have a unclear message?

[KLNMurthy]

I have spoken to him. He is not as naive as he looks. The man is extraordinarily smart and is no WKK nor is he blind to perfidy. I think he deserves some benefit of doubt.

if a politician only says and does stupid things, even looks stupid, does it help that in some quantum mechanical view, he is "not as stupid as he looks?"

I don't want to unfair to Tharoor or anyone else. Can you possibly share specific segments of your conversation-what questions were asked, what answers were given, what insights were provided, is he capable of listening and engaging-- etc., that led you to make the statement you did? Without something like that to back it up, I am afraid your endorsement will only impress those who are desperate for reassurance and are ready to clutch at straws.

(I am quite aware that Tharoor is smart in some aspects; I am concerned here about the quality of his thinking in political aspects that pertain to India's security.)

[SSridhar]

Unfortunanately, Shashi Tharoor has only confirmed GoI's naive policy.