Bharat Rakshak

arun wrote:The US gets knifed in the back by its Major Non NATO Ally, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan .

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan apparently allowed their PR Chinese friends to examine and take away samples of the wreckage of the stealth helicopter that crashed at Abbotabad during the mission to execute Osama Bin Laden :

Pakistan gave China access to US helicopter

For a country that is supposed to be a key ally of Washington – and is the recipient of billions of dollars of American aid – this represents a serious breach of trust on the part of the Pakistanis. Islamabad cannot expect to be a key ally of Washington while at the same time indulging in open acts of treachery.

arun wrote:BSF DIG (G Branch), S Oberoi:

"We have given them sweets and fruits on their Independence Day yesterday during a flag meeting. But they have returned the gesture with bullets today on our Independence Day,"

Read it all:

Pak Violates Ceasefire on I-Day Along J&K Border

abhishek_sharma wrote:An officer and a gentleman: Ashok Malik

Qais Hussain’s touching letter of condolence is not without precedent. As is now well-known, Hussain, a former fighter pilot of the Pakistan Air Force, shot down an Indian civilian plane over the Rann of Kutch in 1965. He had believed it was on a spy mission. A half-century on, Hussain made contact with the family of Jahangir Engineer, the Indian pilot killed that day, and apologised. He also expressed his regrets to the family of Balwantrai Mehta, the then Gujarat chief minister and Engineer’s passenger. .......................

Wistful as these stories are, do they speak of Pakistan’s past more than its present? Both Hussain and Nasir belong to an old school of the Pakistani military. They were recruited in the 1950s or 1960s, before the Zia-ul Haq era, before young officers were taught to think of themselves as holy warriors in uniform.

The tragedy is not just that Jahangir Engineer and Arun Khetrapal are dead. It is that the gallant Qais Hussain and KM Nasir are probably part of a dying breed.

PAF pilot says he did not apologise, only shared the grief

Former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Flying Officer Qais Hussain, who fought for Pakistan in the 1965 war, has made it clear that while writing a condolence letter to the daughter of an Indian pilot whose plane he had downed 46 years ago, he neither apologised nor expressed remorse for his act which was carried in the line of duty.

In an exclusive interview with The News, Qais Hussain said he did not intend to apologise to the daughter of the Indian pilot and his only intention was to share the grief of her family members. “The Indian media has interpreted my goodwill gesture as an apology and repentance despite the fact that there is no such thing in my letter. I have clearly stated in my letter that I did not play foul and that I carried out my orders in the line of duty. I have further stated, ‘I feel sorry for you, your family and the other seven families who lost their dearest ones in September 1965’. It does not mean that I am apologising. It only means that I am trying to share their grief as a human being, which is their due.” …………………………………


The News

ramana wrote:Battle of Basantar incident in 1971 war and the shooting down of Beechcraft in 1965 war are different. The former is in a real battle and between soldiers. The Beechcraft shoot down was a military plane vs a civilan plane that appeared lost and was surrendering by the Paki pilot's own account. So to shoot it down is cowardly act by the Paki pilot Hussain and cannot be equated to the Battle of Basantar.

Also note the tone of humilty of the Paki Brig in recounting the Battle of Basantar vs the triumphalism in the Paki pilot Hussain's account of the Beechcraft shootdown. A world of difference. The Paki pilot's account is more like a ghazi slaughtering his surrendered victims. This is same as long line of infamous murderers from that region including those who killed Daniel Pearl.
Only thing missing is whether he screamed AOA while firing.

Ashok Malik has lost his moral compass when he equates the two.
There I said it again.

mailto: [email protected] -- Subject= Neither an officer nor a gentleman

Updated 19 minutes ago

KARACHI: It appears that violent incidents like shooting have come to stay in the business hub of Pakistan as a recent spate of such unfortunate events has scared the breath out of its residents.

This time the extortionists have upped the ante by graduating from routine ways of terrorizing people like shooting and display of weapons to throwing hand-grenades at those who don’t submit to their demands. This has put the affluent businessmen of Karachi in a new trouble.

Reportedly the city has seen at least four hand-grenade attacks. With the Eid drawing near armed robbery/waylaying has picked up pace exponentially.

In a similar incident looters entered a house in North Nazimabad in the guise of labourers and held the occupants hostage, but after some yelling and screaming by the scared women they opened fire killing a youth along with injuring his mother and sister.

Orangi Town was not behind as its notorious Katti Pahari once again echoed with gunshots when hoodlums commandeered a minivan plying on the W22 route and gave their looting a finishing touch with an undiscriminate gunfire wounding two passengers seriously.

Gunmen also struck Hassan Square and Esa Nagri areas of Gulshan-e-Iqbal where they stripped the passengers of a Bilal Coach and a D1 bus of their valuables and left the same signature behind as those of the Katti Pahari looters by lodging bullets in the bodies of two of their victims.

To top it all in Garden East extortionists threw a hand grenade at a warehouse when their exactions were not met sending two to hospital and damaging assets big time.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Quite contrary to government claims about the condition of the poor, a new survey by the UK-based charity, Oxfam, which has carried out extensive humanitarian work in the country, lists Pakistan among the 21 countries of the world that are facing a food crisis due to high and volatile prices. The survey notes that around 120 million people in Pakistan – or two-thirds of the population – spend 50 to 70 percent of their income on meeting food needs. How little this leaves for other necessities is easy to imagine. Oxfam also notes that over 35 percent of Pakistanis are malnourished.

Other agencies have also commented on growing food deprivation in Pakistan, where levels now match those of sub-Saharan Africa. This is despite the fact that the country grows enough food to meet its population’s needs. Ironically enough, it is government policy that has aggravated the situation. As the UN World Food Programme and other organisations have reported, the decision to raise the wheat support price from Rs550 per 40 kg to Rs950 for the same, has had a devastating impact. The government says the intention behind this move is to facilitate farmers and curb smuggling. In real terms, it has put food out of the reach of the urban population, and also large sections of our rural population that depend on wages, salaries, foreign remittances or other fixed forms of income that have not undergone a corresponding increase. The result is mass hunger – and quite literally, a starving population. The prices of commodities such as milk, sugar and other items have also risen – but despite disturbing reports, such as the one from Oxfam, no concerted efforts are being made to alleviate hunger in the country.

BijuShet wrote:From The News (posting in full)
Extortioners get to grenade attacks

This time the extortionists have upped the ante by graduating from routine ways of terrorizing people like shooting and display of weapons to throwing hand-grenades at those who don’t submit to their demands. This has put the affluent businessmen of Karachi in a new trouble.

Such cooperation with China would be provocative, providing further evidence of the depths of Pakistan’s anger over the Bin Laden raid, which was carried out without Pakistan’s approval.

ramana wrote:Battle of Basantar incident in 1971 war and the shooting down of Beechcraft in 1965 war are different. The former is in a real battle and between soldiers. The Beechcraft shoot down was a military plane vs a civilan plane that appeared lost and was surrendering by the Paki pilot's own account. So to shoot it down is cowardly act by the Paki pilot Hussain and cannot be equated to the Battle of Basantar.

Also note the tone of humilty of the Paki Brig in recounting the Battle of Basantar vs the triumphalism in the Paki pilot Hussain's account of the Beechcraft shootdown. A world of difference. The Paki pilot's account is more like a ghazi slaughtering his surrendered victims. This is same as long line of infamous murderers from that region including those who killed Daniel Pearl.
Only thing missing is whether he screamed AOA while firing.

Ashok Malik has lost his moral compass when he equates the two.
There I said it again.

jrjrao wrote:Latest from the WSJ:

U.S. Links Pakistani Aid to Performance
White House Is Basing Billions in Assistance Funds on Islamabad's Ability to Meet a 'Scorecard' of Security Objectives
By ADAM ENTOUS And SIOBHAN GORMAN

WASHINGTON—The White House has started conditioning the award of billions of dollars in security assistance to Pakistan on whether Islamabad shows progress on a secret scorecard of U.S. objectives to combat al Qaeda and its militant allies. The U.S. also is asking Pakistan to take specific steps to ease bilateral tensions.

WSJ link

ramana wrote:KLNM, You mean Ashok Malik and not Ashok Mehta.

TAMGHA-I-PAKISTAN: Brother Raymond.

SITARA-I-PAKISTAN: Dr Mohammad Farqad Alamgir (UK Medicine); Adnan Bin Mohammad Amin Katib (Saudi Arabia) and Chen Qiu Fa (China)

Mahendra wrote:^
Should be Tamacha-e-Pakistan
Raymond Davis

UMERKOT: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani visited a fake relief camp set up in Kunri on Monday only for the visit.

The prime minister, who was accompanied by federal ministers Syed Naveed Qamar and Syed Khursheed Shah and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, arrived by helicopter at the Benazir Government Girls College in Kunri where a `temporary relief camp` had been set up by the administration on Sunday night.

According to sources, the camp housed peasants belonging to areas of some PPP legislators. A number of rain-hit people, including women, who have been living on the road outside the school for the past few days, were barred from entering the premises and were allowed only when some journalists intervened.

The prime minister and his team waved from a distance to people in the camp and the rain-affected people. He shook hands with PPP MPA Nawab Taimoor Talpur and returned to the helicopter.

The people who were expecting to get some relief goods or an announcement in this regard from the prime minister received nothing except the dust raised by the helicopter while landing and taking off.

After the prime minister left the area, the affected people tried to pull out tents but they were attacked by PPP workers with sticks.

abhishek_sharma wrote:Stabilizing Karachi

from a paki

Direct Action Day the Core Of Pak Malignancy

India and Pakistan, once nurtured in the same civilizational womb have differently celebrated their modern identity. For India, August 15 marked freedom from the rapacious colonial yoke and the end of British Raj — and the more deeply embedded characteristic was derived from Mahatma Gandhi’s resolve to attain freedom through non-violence and ahimsa.

For Pakistan, August 14, 1947, was a sui generis moment. Never in recent history had a nation been created in this manner and even its very name was mintfresh, having been conceived in intense religious zealotry. The two-nation theory was cast in stone and jettisoning the Jinnah vision, an exclusive, inflexible, intolerant ideology was espoused by a nascent Pakistani security establishment.
Over the last 64 years, both nations have moved on different trajectories and evolved into two very different entities. India, despite its many warts, is acknowledged as the more consolidated and successful experience, while Pakistan is seen to be in danger of unraveling due to its many internal contradictions and distortions. Paradoxically, both nations are currently grappling with complex internal challenges and the manner in which they address them will determine their future orientation. For India, it is the accretion of institutional decay and related turpitude that now looms large and the turbulence over the cancer of corruption and the Lokpal Bill is illustrative.

For Pakistan, the challenge is far more fundamental – the very idea of the nation and its carefully embellished narrative and deviously re-constructed history is being challenged by its own citizens. The current mood in Pakistan in what may be described as the post-Osama bin Laden phase is bleak. Since the daring US military raid of early May and the PNS Mehran terrorist attack in Karachi later that month, the Pak military as an institution is under unprecedented domestic scrutiny and indictment.

The irrepressible and courageous human rights activist Asma Jehangir has called them ‘duffers’ and questioned their competence and credibility. Many skeletons are tumbling out and none more damaging than the accusations and allegations that the Pak ‘fauj’ has sold its services (and soul) to the highest bidder and many rumors abound in Lahore and elsewhere about how much money and other inducements (US green cards) was offered to betray bin Laden. The once feared and revered fauj has become ‘bay-gairat’ (dishonorable and devoid of shame ) in the eyes of its own people.

In recent months, an unprecedented review of Pakistan’s history in relation to India is taking place. In early June, Air Marshal (rtd) Asghar Khan, the first Pak Air Chief (1957–65) delivered a public lecture in Islamabad on “Pakistan’s Security”. The 90-year-old veteran, who is president of the Tehrik-i-Istaqlal party, made a startling revelation when he asserted: “None of the four wars we fought with India were started by India. From first incursion after Independence in Kashmir till Kargil, we started the hostilities.” Air Marshal Khan added that an objective history of the subcontinent indicates that no incursion started from southeast and it was always from northwest. Apropos the 1971 war that led to the birth of Bangladesh, he stated that many other Pakistani politicians also disliked the military action by General Yahya Khan but did not speak out. Asghar Khan recalled that he openly opposed the operation against Mujaeeb-ur-Rahman and was accused of being a traitor. He reiterated: “We (Pakistan) had started Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir before the 1965 war and Kargil (1999) was also our misadventure.” The gist of the Asghar Khan thesis was familiar and privately supported by many liberals in Pakistan – that the Pak military had hijacked the state in the early decades and had created a false narrative about the threat from India and the contours of Pakistan’s security, even while underlining democracy and the civilian political system, to ensure their own institutional primacy. Regrettably the Pak military was supported in this endeavor by the US and the false narrative kept alive by the Anglo-American media/academic combine of the time.
Predictably the response from the Pak establishment to this historical corrective was that the veteran and highly-respected Asghar Khan had become senile. But more objective and rational voices in Pakistan supported the candor of the former Air Chief and Najam Sethi, Pakistan's best known editor has confirmed this version. In a recent article (August 12) Sethi opined: “We miscalculated when we sent Pashtun lashkars to liberate Kashmir in 1948, because that provoked the partition of Kashmir…and the compulsion to demonize India as the biggest and continuing threat to Pakistan, thereby creating the budgetary rationale for an authoritarian national security state…”. Sethi adds further: “The second, third and fourth wars

with India were all provoked by Pakistan and lost by it, whereas the national security paradigm was constantly strengthened by the propagation of an exactly opposite narrative in which we were portrayed as the heroic victims against a venomous and aggressive India.”

In the Pakistani psyche and narrative, India has become synonymous with Hindu – again denying the reality that India has more Muslim citizens than the entire population of Pakistan. The penchant for using covert force with state complicity to terrorize the (Hindu) adversary while invoking Islam has become a central feature of the strategic culture of the Pakistani establishment. And it is instructive that this pernicious seed was sown by Jinnah himself as far back as July-August 1946. In a resolution passed on July 27, 1946, the Muslim League revoked its decision to support the Cabinet Mission plan and Jinnah declared to his followers that they should “bid goodbye to constitutional methods and take direct action.” Later he added: “Today we have forged a pistol and are in a position to use it.”

August 16, 1946, was designated as Direct Action Day by the Muslim League and Calcutta chosen as the city where this violence – with state complicity – was to be unleashed with unabashed virulence. More than 5,000 people were killed and upwards of 20,000 injured. Bengal was the only Muslim majority province at the time in British India and Chief Minister Hussein Suhrawardy played a devious role in abetting violence against Hindus, even while restraining the local police and Army from taking preventive action. It may be averred that the seemingly spectacular ‘victory’ that the Muslim League achieved after Direct Action day on August 16, 1946, became the core DNA that was internalised by the Pak army in later years. This in turn led to a pattern of launching concealed/covert attacks against (Hindu) India, followed by robust denials and assuming the role of the hapless victim; and then burnishing the narrative to mislead the Pakistani public and the gullible global community.

From the first war for Kashmir in October 1947, through 1965 to Kargil in 1999 and the most recent Mumbai attacks of November 2008 – the Pak fauj and its support base have created a virtual reality for 64 years – the simulacrum that Baudrillard referred to, wherein the make-believe becomes more real than reality itself.

Asghar Khan, Najam Sethi and other courageous Pakistanis including Asma Jehangir and Pervez Hoodbhoy among others are to be commended for speaking truth to power — when death lurks in the background — for exuding such conviction. But the Pakistan security elite must come to terms with their sullied past if they are to redeem their future. Direct Action day may well be the key to comprehending the ‘bay-ghairat’ halo that now adorns the Pakistani fauj.


C UDAY BHASKAR
The author is former officiating Director of Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi

rajanb wrote:
Let us see how the great super-duper power responds to it.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/conco ... elicopter/

For a country that is supposed to be a key ally of Washington – and is the recipient of billions of dollars of American aid – this represents a serious breach of trust on the part of the Pakistanis. Islamabad cannot expect to be a key ally of Washington while at the same time indulging in open acts of treachery.

Senior sources said PM Manmohan Singh has ordered officials to withdraw India's official opposition at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to a concessional trade package offered by the European Union to Pakistan.

menon s wrote:^^^^ This is Chanakyaness, the other aggrieved party is Bangaldesh. For them, loosing garment exports means a lot lot more than India. GOI knows that Bangladesh will not back out, and so a change in stance.