Dr Shabir Choudhry's blog: July 2014

Wednesday, 30 July 2014

Amazing what they get away with, isn't it.....

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

HRCP slams Ahmadis killing in Gujranwala

HRCP slams Ahmadis killing in Gujranwala

Lahore, July 28: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has slammed the mob attack and killing of four members of the Ahmadi community in Gujranwala and burning of five houses as “brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows”.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Commission said: “HRCP is shocked and disgusted at the killing of four citizens belonging to the Ahmadi faith in Gujranwala after a blasphemy allegation. Four other Ahmadis were reported to be hospitalised in a critical condition. As things stand in the country now, particularly in Punjab, a blasphemy charge, however unfounded, makes such cold-blooded killings somehow less repulsive. The people who were killed were not even indirectly accused of the blasphemy charge. Their only fault was that they were Ahmadi. Torching women and children in their house simply because of their faith represents brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows.

“The community, rights respecting citizens and civil society would and must demand accountability of the mob that cheered as the deceased and injured cried for help. But if prospects for such justice were even remotely realistic, that might have deterred many in the mob from being a part of the heinous enterprise. There are many others who are so blinded by their hate and intolerance that they feel justified in cold-blooded murder, even of children, as was reported from Gujranwala. What agonises HRCP is that nothing concrete is being done to tackle neither of the two tendencies. That the mob was dancing for the TV camera after torching the houses of people who were not even accused of blasphemy proves that the whole episode had nothing to do with blasphemy but was aimed at further vitiminising an already persecuted community. It should not be too difficult to imagine the feelings of members of the targeted community in Gujranwala, or anywhere in Pakistan for that matter.

“HRCP calls for a thorough inquiry to find out why police failed to act as the mob went around a number of Ahmadi localities before they eventually chose the one that they decided to target. Members of the mob and the people who instigated them need to be identified and brought to justice. Most importantly, the biases and intolerance that led to the killing must be rooted out through proactive and meaningful steps if we are to survive as a civilised society.”

Zohra Yusuf

Chairperson

ROLE OF SAUDI ARABIA, AS CALIPHS OF ISLAM IN PROMOTING ISLAMIC EXTREMISM AND JIHADISM By Nauman Sadiq

The Pakistani military establishment is rightfully blamed for creating the Taliban; but the phenomena of religious extremism and terrorism is not limited to Pakistan; this conflagration has engulfed the whole of Islamic world from Iraq and Syria to Algeria and Indonesia and even the Muslim minorities in China, Thailand and Philippines. Pakistani establishment does not has access to all these regions, thus, aside from local actors, some regional and global actors are also responsible for creating the menace of Islamic extremism and terrorism. A more holistic understanding of the problem will identify three actors responsible for creating this menace: Pakistani military establishment; Saudi and Gulf petro-monarchies and last but not the least, the Western support for the Afghan Jihad in the context of the Cold War.

A recent EU parliament report also identified the Wahabi-Salafi roots of Global Terrorism; a laudable report which ironically or rather expectedly doesn’t even makes a passing reference to the role of Western powers in sponsoring Islamic terrorism during the 80s. Plausible deniability in waging proxy wars is a clever Machiavellian tactic in realpolitik but it is a form of “denial” which is always a part of the problem and never a part of the solution. Truth is a sine qua non in any Truth and Reconciliation approach. But this write-up is about the role of Saudi Arabia as the proverbial Caliph of Islam in promoting extremism and terrorism in the Muslim Ummah or Commonwealth; the role of Western powers in creating this hoax, I have already discussed in my blogpost: Terrorism as pretext for intervention.

Essay:

Social selection plays the same role in the social sciences which the natural selection plays in the biological sciences: it selects the traits, norms and values which are most beneficial to the host culture. Seen from this angle, social diversity is a desirable quality for social progress; because when diverse customs and value-systems compete with each other, the culture retains the beneficial customs and values and discards the deleterious customs and values. A decentralized and unorganized religion, like Sufism, engenders diverse strains of beliefs and thoughts which compete with one another in gaining social acceptance and currency. A heavily centralized and tightly organized religion, on the other hand, depends more on authority and dogma, than value and utility. A centralized religion is also more ossified and less adaptive compared to a decentralized religion.

When we look at religious extremism and the consequent militancy and terrorism, in Pakistan in particular and the Islamic world in general, it is not a natural evolution of religion, some deleterious mutation have occurred somewhere which has infected the whole of Islamic world. Most Pakistani political scientists blame the Pakistani military establishment for a deliberate promotion of religious extremism to create a Jihadi narrative which suits the institutional interests and strategic objectives of the Pakistani military. There is no denying this obvious fact but it is only one factor in a multifactorial equation. Like I said earlier, the phenomena of religious extremism is not limited to Pakistan, the whole of Islamic world from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria to Indonesia, Malaysia and even the Muslim minorities of Thailand, China and Philippines are witnessing this phenomena.

In my opinion, the real culprit for the rise of religious extremism and terrorism in the Islamic world is Saudi Arabia. The Aal-e-Saud (descendants of Saud) have no hereditary claim to the Throne of Mecca since they are not the descendants of the prophet, nor even from the Quresh (there is a throne of Mecca which I’ll explain later). They were the most primitive marauding nomadic tribesmen of Najd who defeated the Sharifs of Mecca violently after the collapse of the Ottomans in the first world war. Their title to the throne of Saudi Arabia is only de facto, not de jure, since neither do they have a hereditary claim nor do they hold elections to ascertain the will of the Saudi people. Thus they are the illegitimate rulers of Saudi Arabia and they feel insecure because of their illegitimacy; which explains their heavy-handed tactics is dealing with any kind of dissent, opposition or movement for reform.

The phenomena of religious extremism all over the Islamic world is directly linked to the Wahabi-Salafi madrassahs which are sponsored by the Saudi and Gulf petrodollars. These madrassahs attract children from the most poorest backgrounds in the third world Islamic countries because they offer the kind of incentives and facilities which even the government-sponsored public schools cannot provide: free boarding and lodging, no tuition fee at all, and free of cost books and even stationery. Aside from madrassahs, another factor that promotes Wahabi-Salafi ideology in the Islamic world is the ritual of Hajj and Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina). Every year millions of Muslim men and women travel from all over the Islamic world to perform the ritual and wash their sins. When they return to their native countries, after spending a month or two in Saudi Arabia, along with clean hearts and souls, dates and zamzam, they also bring along the tales of Saudi hospitality and their true puritanical version of Islam, which some, especially the rural-tribal folks, find attractive.

Authority plays an important role in any thought system; the educated people accept the authority of the specialists in their respective fields of specialty; the lay folks accept the authority of the theologians and clerics in the interpretation of religion and scriptures. Aside from authority certain other factors also play a part in the individuals’ psyche: loyalty, purity or the concept of sacred, and originality and authenticity as in a concept of being close to an ideal authentic model. Just like the modern naturalists who prefer organic food and natural habits and lifestyles; because of their belief in the goodness of nature, or their disillusionment from the man-made fuss; the religious folks prefer a true version of Islam which is closer to the putative authentic Islam as practiced in Mecca and Medina: the Gold Standard of Petro-Islam.

Yet another factor which contributes to the rise of Salafism throughout the Islamic world is the immigrants factor. Millions of Muslim men, women and families from the third world Islamic countries live and work in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Oman. Some of them permanently reside there but mostly they work on temporary work permits. Just like the pilgrims, when they come back to their native villages and towns, they bring along an Ox-bridge degree and an attractive English accent. Not literally but figuratively. Spending time in Arab countries entitles one to pass authoritative judgments on religious matters; and having a cursory understanding of the language of Quran makes you an equivalent of a Qazi (judge) among the illiterate village people. And they just reproduce the customs and attitudes of the Arabs as an authentic version of Islam to their compatriots.

The Shia Muslims have their Imams and Marjahs (religious authorities) but it is generally believed about the Sunni Islam that it discourages the authority of the clergy. In this sense, Sunni Islam is closer to Protestantism, theoretically, because it promotes an individual and personal interpretation of scriptures and religion. It might be true about the Hanafis and other educated schools of thought in Islam; but on a popular level, the House of Saud plays the same role in Islam that the Pope plays in Catholicism. By virtue of their physical possession of the holy places of Islam – Mecca and Medina – they are the ex officio Caliphs of Islam. The title of the Saudi King, Khadim-ul-Haramain-al-Shareefain (Servant of the House of God), makes him a vice-regent of God on Earth. And the title of the Caliph of Islam is not limited to a nation-state, he wields enormous influence and clout throughout the Commonwealth of Islam: the Muslim Ummah.

Now, when we hear slogan like “No democracy, just Islam” on the streets of third world Islamic countries, one wonders what kind of an imbecile would forgo his right to choose his ruler through a democratic process? It is partly due to the fact that the masses often conflate democracy with liberalism; without realizing that democracy is only a political process of choosing one’s representatives and legislators through an election process; while liberalism is a cultural mindset which may or may not be suitable in a native third world society depending on its existing level of social progress in an evolutionary perspective; which prefers a bottom-up, gradual and incremental changes over a top-down, sudden and radical approach. But one feels dumbfounded when even some educated Muslims argue that democracy is un-Islamic and an ideal Islamic system of governance is a Caliphate. Such an ideal Caliphate could be some Umayyad/Abbasid model that they conjure up in their heads; but in practice the only beneficiaries of such an anti-democratic approach are the illegitimate tyrants of the Arab World who claim to be the Caliphs of Islam albeit indirectly and in a nuanced manner: the Servants of the House of God and the Keepers of the Holy places of Islam.

The illegitimate, hence insecure, tyrants adopt different strategies to maintain their hold on power. They heed to the pragmatic advice of Machiavelli: “Invent enemies and then slay them in order to control your subjects.” The virulently anti-Shia rhetoric of the Salafis and Takfiris is such a Machiavellian approach. They cannot construct a positive narrative which can specify their achievements; that’s why they construct a negative narrative that casts the Evil Other in a negative light. The Sunni-Shia conflict is essentially a political and economic conflict which is presented to the lay Muslim in a veneer of religiosity. Saudi Arabia produces 10 to 15 million barrels of oil per day (equivalent to 15 to 20 % of the global oil production) it can single-handedly bring down the oil price to $ 50 per barrel and it can also single-handedly raise the oil price to $ 200 per barrel, a nightmare for the global industrialized economies. 90 % of the Saudi oil installations are situated along the Persian Gulf; but this sparsely populated region comprises the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia which has a Shia majority. Any separatist tendency in this Achilles heel is met with sternest possible reaction. Saudi Arabia sent its own battalions to help Bahraini regime quell the Shia rebellion in the Shia-majority Bahrain; which is also geographically very close to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Qaeda inspired terrorism is a threat to the Western countries; but the Islamic countries are encountering a much bigger threat of inter-sectarian terrorism. For centuries the Sunni and Shia Muslims lived peacefully side by side; but now certain vested interests are provoking inter-sectarian strife to distract attention away from the popular movements for democracy throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The ultimate goal of the Arab Spring is to overthrow the illegitimate House of Saud and this tide will not subside until its objective is achieved. There are ebbs and flows in any grass-roots political and social movement; it ebbed in Egypt but it will rise again to flood the whole of MENA region. What’s unfortunate is the fact, that the so-called champions of democracy can’t even lend a moral support, let alone the material support; because their interests always outweigh their principles and ideals.

Conclusion:

Islam is regarded as the fastest growing religion of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are two factors responsible for this Islamic-resurgence phenomena: one, Islam is a practical religion, it does not demands from its followers to give up worldly pleasures but only to regulate them; two, Islam as a religion and ideology has the world’s richest financiers. After the 1973 collective Arab oil embargo against the West, the price of oil quadrupled; the Arabs sheikhs now have so much money that they don’t know where to spend it. This is the reason why we see an exponential growth in Islamic charities and madrassahs all over the world and especially in the Islamic world. Although the Arab sheikhs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and some emirates of UAE excluding Dubai (which isn’t liberal per se but morally depraved) generally sponsor the Wahabi-Salafi brand of Islam but the difference between numerous sects of Sunni Islam are more nominal than substantive. The charities and madrassahs belonging to all the Sunni sects get generous funding from the Gulf states as well as the private donors. Therefore the genie of petro-Islamic extremism cannot be contained until and unless the financial pipeline is cut off. And to do that we need to promote the moderate democratic forces in the Arab world even if they are ostensibly Islamic. The moderate democratic Islamism is different from the monarcho-theocratic Islamism because the latter is an illegitimate and hence an insecure regime; to maintain its hold on power it needs subterfuges and external rivals to keep the oppositional internal threats to its survival under check. Like Machiavelli famously said: “Invent enemies and then slay them in order to control your subjects.” Takfirism (labeling others as infidels) and Jihadism are a manifestation of this Machiavellian trend. In the nutshell, Islam is only a religion, just like any other religion, no need to elevate it to an ‘exceptional’ status; but it’s the petro-Islamic extremism and the consequent Takfirism and Jihadism phenomena which is like a collision of the continental tectonic plates which has engulfed the whole of Islamic world from the Middle East and North Africa to Bangladesh and Indonesia and even the Muslim minorities in China, Thailand and Philippines.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/29072014-role-saudi-arabia-caliphs-islam-promoting-islamic-extremism-jihadism-oped/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29

WHY TERRORISM CANNOT BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED FROM PAKISTAN, by Kashmala Chaudhry

WHY TERRORISM CANNOT BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED FROM PAKISTAN

By Kashmala Chaudhry JULY 29, 2014

Pakistan has finally launched a military offensive against militants using its land for terrorism. The operation Zarb-e-Azb has been going on since mid-June with its full pace in the North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan, from where local and foreign militants were not only operating against Pakistan but were aiming at international targets as well.

So far the operation is going on successfully in Mirali after clearing Miranshah, Boya and Degan areas of North Waziristan Agency from terrorists. More than 500 terrorists have been killed, and dozens of hideouts wiped out. Tons of armor, numerous improvised explosive device (IED) making factories have been recovered along with notebooks with clear English handwriting and formulae for explosive materials. All of this depicts how once considered strategic assets are now playing in hands of foreign forces.

The operation, however, is aimed at eliminating terrorism from Pakistan and according to the premier it could bring peace to the motherland. In this wake, Pakistan army has pledged not to spare any militant be it local or be it a foreign militant.

Although security institutes are determined at driving all the terrorists out of the country yet the question that remains integral to address is will this operation alone be enough to eliminate terrorism from Pakistani soil. Especially when internationally declared terrorists organizations like Jammat ud Dawa are still operating freely in the rest of Pakistan and are even alleged to have the support of the state. The question is when we are going to learn from our mistakes.

We nurtured the Taliban, though it is considered as a requirement of the time by some to secure our western borders because there were no other options to stop the proceedings of the then USSR. Today, these Taliban have become tools in the hands of foreign forces and are used against Pakistani soil. They have done irreparable damage to the country economically, socially, and in terms of precious lives that cannot come back ever. They have damaged the country’s image too. Yet we haven’t learnt from this mistake and are giving protection to groups like Jamat-ud-Dawa.

On the one hand the state is carrying out an operation against Taliban and like-minded organizations in one part of the country, and on the other hand it is allowing these groups to move freely in the main centers of Pakistan and to recruit our youth to fulfill their agenda.

Hafiz Saeed the head of JuD with a 10 million bounty on his head by the US has huge fan base in Pakistan and his gatherings attract massive crowds. Though at the moment Saeed might not seem as a threat to Pakistan — like the Taliban were once considered friends of Pakistan – however, history shows that such groups with extremist mind-sets cannot be trusted.

As Hussain Nadim maintained in 2013, Saeed, a reformed militant acting on the behalf of the state, is considered a key figure by the security establishment who would either assemble militants and mollify their enmity against Pakistan or would evolve them into political actors.

History, however, shows that these extremist groups cannot be trusted. Appeasing them and molding them in favor of Pakistan is not going to work. Because time and again it has been experienced that no agreement can bind them to remain faithful towards the state. And if these militants converted into political actors they again could not be considered safe because their mindset and ideology would remain the same. To eliminate terrorism, this mindset needs to be defeated.

Reforms and rehabilitation policy is required at massive scale and at national level. In this regard not only curricula revision and madrassa transformation is required, but all those Dars centers which are operating as established institutions or from homes should be closed. These Dars centers are preaching extreme interpretations of religion and are attended by hundreds of women. These women are responsible for running the institution of their families. If the mindset of these women is inclined towards extremism, then growing up their children as balanced individuals who can turn down the fancy calls by such radical jammats would become difficult. And most important of all the state should abandon all such organizations which could again become a threat to Pakistan in the future.

Kashmala Chaudhry
M.Phil. Scholar; Government and Public Policy
National Defense University

http://www.eurasiareview.com/29072014-terrorism-completely-eliminated-pakistan-oped/

GERMANY SECRETLY PLANNING TO JOIN BRICS

GERMANY SECRETLY PLANNING TO JOIN BRICS

NSA surveillance controversy centered on U.S. fear that Europe's economic powerhouse will dump the dollar

Financial analyst Jim Willie sensationally claims that Germany is preparing to ditch the unipolar system backed by NATO and the U.S. in favor of joining the BRICS nations, and that this is why the NSA was caught spying on Angela Merkel and other German leaders.

In an interview with USA Watchdog’s Greg Hunter, Willie, a statistical analyst who holds a PhD in statistics, asserted that the real reason behind the recent NSA surveillance scandal targeting Germany was centered around the United States’ fear that Europe’s financial powerhouse is looking to escape from an inevitable dollar collapse.

“I think they are looking for details on assisting Russia on dumping the dollar. I think they are looking for details for a secret movement for Germany to get away from the dollar and join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.) This is exactly what I think they are going to do,” said Willie.

Earlier this month, the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), announced the creation of a new $100 billion dollar anti-dollar alternative IMF bank to be based in Shanghai and chaired by Moscow.

Putin launched the new system by saying it was designed to, “help prevent the harassment of countries that do not agree with some foreign policy decisions made by the United States and their allies,” a clear signal that Russia and other BRICS countries are moving to create a new economic system which is adversarial to the IMF and the World Bank.

Offering an insight into the attitude of the western elite towards Russia, comments made by the likes of former US ambassador to Iraq Christopher R. Hill suggest that Moscow is increasingly being viewed as a rogue state. Back in April, Hill said that Russia’s response to the Ukraine crisis meant that Moscow had betrayed the “new world order” it has been a part of for the last 25 years.

In another sign that BRICS nations are moving to create an entirely new multi-polar model adversarial to the west, the five countries are also constructing an alternative Internet backbonewhich will circumvent the United States in order to avoid NSA spying.

Willie also ties the Germany’s move into last week’s shoot down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which has been exploited by the U.S. and Britain to push for more stringent sanctions on Russia despite the fact that they have had little effect so far and only appear to be harming the trade interests of countries in mainland Europe.

“Here’s the big, big consequence. The U.S. is basically telling Europe you have two choices here. Join us with the war against Russia. Join us with the sanctions against Russia. Join us in constant war and conflicts, isolation and destruction to your economy and denial of your energy supply and removal of contracts. Join us with this war and sanctions because we’d really like you to keep the dollar regime going. They are going to say were tired of the dollar. . . . We are pushing Germany. Don’t worry about France, don’t worry about England, worry about Germany. Germany has 3,000 companies doing active business right now. They are not going to join the sanctions—period.”

http://www.infowars.com/analyst-germany-secretly-planning-to-join-brics/

For Pakistan, defeat is that moment when it can no longer resist India, Christine Fair

For Pakistan, defeat is that moment when it can no longer resist India, Christine Fair

South Asian political and military affairs expert Christine Fair's recent study on the Pakistan Army concludes that Pakistan would not be satisfied even if there was a solution to Kashmir, because for the Pakistan army, the war against India is a 'jihad' or war of civilizations. In India to promote her book, 'Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War', Fair tells Indrani Bagchi that she believes Pakistan's North Waziristan terrorist clean-up was just an eye-wash and why the US continues to cut Pakistan cheques

What is the central theme in your book?

I look at a puzzle in the book: Why does Pakistan persist with its revisionism as long as it has? Given that with every subsequent endeavour they become less successful. On top of that, the primary tools they developed to harass India is jihad. Because of a series of events following 911, a large swath of those jihadi groups it nurtured for use on India and Afghanistan have formed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). So not only is this strategy failing, it's actually imperiling the viability of the state itself.

Why does Pakistan do this?

I've been assembling Pakistani defence publications. I'm not relying on interviews with these people (Pakistan army) because they lie. The people I have interviewed in the ISI never deviate from the script. These texts are really a conversation they have amongst themselves. I derived from this their strategic culture.

You speak about the idea of 'jihad' being central to Pakistan's way of war.
It's surprising just how much jihad and Islam is actually in their publications. If the US army or India were to do this, it would be so controversial. What Pakistan is trying to do is use jihad to mobilize and to boost the morale of their troops so they are on perpetual war footing with India.

It's kind of demoralizing if you think you can't actually win against India. So the use of jihad is a way to make it seem as if everything the Pakistan army does is Islamically justified. For example, they say India started every war. Therefore they describe their response to these wars as defence of jihad.

How do they refer to India?

They always pitch India as a "Hindu"nation. This is critical to them because they are settling up this civilization battle. Every army chief says the two-nation theory is their ideology and the army protects their ideology and geography.

Is there an interest in getting another special envoy for Kashmir in the US administration?

Every US president starts with a renewed interest in Kashmir. Obama did, with the appointment of the special representative, which was supposed to be Afghanistan-Pakistan-India. People like Barnett Rubin and Ahmed Rashid argue for a grand bargain that solves Kashmir. This is all rubbish, I argue.

Pakistan is actually an ideological state. The Kashmir issue is not causal, it's symptomatic. Pakistan is not a security seeking state in which we can satisfy their insecurities. Instead it's an ideological state. I lay out a structure for containing Pakistan, because there is nothing in our toolbox that will reshape it.

Which means even if there is a solution to Kashmir, Pakistan would not be satisfied?

Yes. It's costly for Pakistan to maintain this competition, but they view defeat very differently. They don't view it in terms of territory lost or value of territory or number of lives lost. They view defeat as that moment when they can no longer resist India. They are like an international insurgent.

That's why they keep taking calculated risks, knowing well they are never going to achieve the outcome. The goal is simply to exhibit to India that India cannot exert its will in the neighbourhood. If there were to be any kind of negotiation on Kashmir that gives up any inch of territory, it's not going to fix the situation.

What is your assessment of Pakistan's North Waziristan operation, Zarb-e-azb?
It is Zarb-e-bakwas. We have seen it before. To me it is an awful lot like what happened in 2009 in South Waziristan. They gave months of warning; any terrorist worth his salt has already left either with the internal refugees or - as was the desired effect - into Afghanistan.

What most people don't know is Senator Levin put in a proviso in FY 2015 that says if the Pakistanis don't do an operation in North Waziristan we're not going to give them $300 or $900 million. Now that they are done with this operation, the Pakistanis are making an argument in Washington DC that they should be given continued coalition support.

This is outrageous. They are creating and sustaining an insurgency , then they ask for compensation to protect the border. They're actually asking for money to protect them from their own Frankenstein's monster.

Will America give in?

I think they will. The irony is this: the Americans will help them kill as many terrorists as they will let them. But the Americans won't make them stop producing more terrorists. They (Pakistanis) have taken $30 billion from us, they still kill our troops and we still pay the cheques. Osama bin Laden was in Abbottabad and still the cheques are coming.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/all-that-matters/For-Pakistan-defeat-is-that-moment-when-it-can-no-longer-resist-India/articleshow/39083550.cms

Monday, 28 July 2014

Mob kills 3 members of Ahmadi community

Mob kills 3 members of Ahmadi community

http://www.dawn.com/news/1122231/mob-kills-3-members-of-ahmadi-community

GUJRANWALA: Police registered a case against more than 500 people on Monday after a mob killed a woman and two children and set several houses of the Ahmadi community on fire late on Sunday when a youth from the community allegedly posted blasphemous material on Facebook.

Among those booked by police were prayer leader Maulvi Hakim and his son Zakariya.

According to police, young Saqib allegedly shared a blasphemous image with Ejaz on Facebook. Infuriated, Ejaz, Zakariya and some other people gathered outside the youth’s house in Arafat Colony to “teach him a lesson”.

Sensing danger, members of the Ahmadi community assembled at the house of one Dr Sohail, said police. The angry mob attempted to enter that house in pursuit of Saqib when the people inside allegedly opened fire on them, injuring Zakariya.

The mob had grown in size by that time and eventually entered the house, damaging it. The crowd also damaged some other houses, police said.

Gujranwala CPO Waqas Nazir, Civil Lines SP Zeeshan Siddiqi and CIA DSP Rashid Sandhu reached the spot and began negotiations with members of the two communities to bring the situation under control.

“Later, a crowd of about 150 people went to the police station and sought the registration of a blasphemy case against the youth,” said a police officer. “As police were negotiating with the crowd, another mob attacked and began burning houses of the Ahmadi community.”

The names of the deceased were Bushra (45), Hira Tabassum (seven) and Kainat Tabassum (10 months). Ruqaiya and her two children Noor Tabassum and Ata, Samer Ahmad, Atia Tabassum, Talha, Humaira and Muneer Ahmad fell unconscious.

SP Siddiqi said a woman suffered miscarriage.

Salimuddin, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community, said the incident on Sunday night was the worst attack on his community since the attacks in Lahore four years ago.

“Police were there but only to witness arson and looting. They didn’t do anything to stop the mob,” he said.

“First the crowd looted homes and shops and then they burnt the houses.”

According to police and eyewitnesses, seven to eight houses of the Ahmadi community are in the neighbourhood. All of them have since been vacated.

Heavy contingents of police have been deployed outside the victims’ houses and the hospital where the injured are under treatment.

The police have registered the case against more than 500 people, seven of them nominated accused, under sections 302, 436, 148 and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act on the complaint of Bhutta, the father of the deceased children, at the Peoples Colony Station.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has characterised the mob attacks as brutal and barbaric.

In a statement, it said: “The HRCP is shocked and disgusted at the killings after a blasphemy allegation. As things stand in the country now, particularly in Punjab, a blasphemy charge, however unfounded, makes such cold-blooded killings somehow less repulsive. The people who were killed were not even indirectly accused of the blasphemy charge.

“Their only fault was that they were Ahmadi. Torching women and children in their house simply because of their faith represents brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows.

“The community, rights-respecting citizens and civil society would and must demand accountability of the mob that cheered as the deceased and injured cried for help. But if prospects for such justice were even remotely realistic, that might have deterred many in the mob from being a part of the heinous enterprise.

“The HRCP calls for a thorough inquiry to find out why police failed to act as the mob went around a number of Ahmadi localities before they eventually chose the one that they decided to target.

“Members of the mob and the people who instigated them need to be identified and brought to justice. Most importantly, the biases and intolerance that led to the killing must be rooted out through proactive and meaningful steps if we are to survive as a civilised society.”

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2014

Pakistan or Israel what’s the difference, Zara Ahmad Daily Times July 29, 2014

Pakistan or Israel what’s the difference, Zara Ahmad

Daily Times July 29, 2014

Do we take morbid pride in calling ourselves Muslims and butchering the innocent people of our own country in the name of religion? Who gave us the authority to play God? Is it just illiteracy or did our hearts really turn as cold as those of the Jews we see in Israel today?

Being a Muslim in Pakistan, uploading posts and pictures on social media about the freedom of Gaza is fairly easy but when it comes to saving your own country and making things right for it by practically standing up against the ‘dark forces’, the whole nation goes silent. It is simple! Nobody wants to clean up their own mess. Today, Pakistanis are killing each other in the name of religion. Be it Ahmedis, Christians or Shias who are the victims of this never-ending violence, there is chaos everywhere despite the fact that Pakistan is a so-called ‘Muslim country’. Many Pakistanis, especially those who sit online, are feeling repugnant towards the Israelis. We are calling them cruel, insensitive, soulless and every other bad name we can think of. We are sharing the pictures of burnt Palestinian children online, we are tweeting every hour about the plight of the Palestinians and how remorseful we are about what is happening but have we taken a minute to ask ourselves how remorseful we should be about our own country? Do we take morbid pride in calling ourselves Muslims and butchering the innocent people of our own country in the name of religion? Who gave us the authority to play God? Is it just illiteracy or did our hearts really turn as cold as those of the Jews we see in Israel today? Today, every contact I have on Facebook is standing up for Gaza but will they ever stand up for Pakistan? Will they stand up for every victimised person of this country regardless of the sect he/she belongs to?

We are not willing to make things better as a nation because it is difficult to step out of our comfort zone when we are not the victims of these brutal attacks. We are Muslims and we only stand up when we are the targets of sectarian violence. We only stand up when it is our children who get killed. We only stand up when it is our own houses that get burned. And if we are not the victims, then we are safe enough to continue our lives by sharing posts on Facebook and feeling satisfied at the so-called effort we are making. Maybe today, if we had resolved the sectarian conflicts in our own country, Gaza might have gotten some real help from us. If today we had realised what being a human actually is, we might have saved Gaza along with Pakistan. We are failing our country every day. We are failing because we have forgotten the law of karma. Karma awaits us all. Today, no matter how many Jewish products we boycott, we are no different than them.

Today, Pakistan is divided into two forces in which half of the people are playing the part of the Palestinians and the other half have taken up the responsibility to portray the role of the cruel Zionists. The one thing we have all forgotten is that, first and foremost, we should be human. We have lost the essence of our human nature. Are we killing each other because we do not approve of each other’s choice of religion, way of faith? We are humans when we are born. Religion is a choice. And only God can judge a person on the choices they make. The only choice worth making here is between violence and peace. Any sensible human being would opt for peace.

Today I am not proud to be a Pakistani because my own countrymen are killing each other every day. Today, I do not want to stand up for Gaza because my own country is acting like the aggressive Israel. We are becoming what we hate. Today, I just hope that we extinguish the fires of hate that dwell in our hearts before it is too late. It is about our country, about our people. Save both of them before you head out on a mission to save Gaza.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/29-Jul-2014/pakistan-or-israel-what-s-the-difference

Sunday, 27 July 2014

Zarb i Azb Army claims 70pc area of Mirali cleared in NWA, By Mateen Haider

Zarb i Azb Army claims 70pc area of Mirali cleared in NWA

By Mateen Haider

http://www.dawn.com/news/1121964

ISLAMABAD: After clearance of Miramshah, Boya and Degan areas from terrorists, Pakistani military on Sunday claimed that 70 per cent of Mirali town along with its neighbouring villages – the second largest stronghold of militants – has been cleared by the security forces.

“Operation Zarb-i-Azb continues to achieve its objectives and is progressing well in North Waziristan,” a spokesman for Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

This information, however, could not be independently verified.

Two huge ammunition factories with ammunition stock were recovered as house to house search continues in the area, said the spokesman.

He said that 30 barrels filled with explosives and chemicals used for making IEDs were also recovered from two large underground tunnels during clearance of Mirali.

“A massive IED, weighing 5,000 kilos was recovered from Boya, and was diffused by the expert Counter IED team of Army Engineers. Later when detonated, it shook the entire agency and the explosion was heard as far as settled area,” said the ISPR spokesman.

He claimed that a total of 570 terrorists have been killed since the start of Zarb-i-Azb operation. 98 terrorist hideouts and 30 IED factories, three ammunition making factories and a number of suicide bomber training centres were destroyed during Operation.

Huge cache of arms, communication equipment, propaganda literature have also been recovered, said the statement, adding that 34 security forces personnel have embraced shahadat (martyrdom) during the operation in North Waziristan Agency alone.

UN agencies agree to provide basic facilities to IDPs

Nearly a million people have fled the offensive in North Waziristan, which is aimed at wiping out longstanding militant strongholds in the area, which borders Afghanistan.

Tens of thousands of families have left for the town of Bannu, close to North Waziristan, while hundreds more have moved further afield to the towns of Lakki Marwat, Karak and Dera Ismail Khan since the Operation Zarb-i-Azb began in mid-June.

Friday, 18 July 2014

Member EU Parliament criticises Arabs for silence on Kashmir issue

LONDON: Conservative Member of the European Parliament Dr Sajjad Karim has said that protests worldwide against Gaza atrocities are being led and helped by Pakistanis, Arab rulers and organisations simply refuse to stand up for the rights of oppressed Kashmiris.

The North West England MEP said that it was unfortunate that not a single Arab government has ever raised the Palestinian issue with him in the European Parliament.

Sajjad Karim MEP said that on the issue of Indian held Kashmir, the Arab governments firmly stood by India, not Pakistan and this is a fact Pakistanis must digest. “When it comes to Kashmir all to often they are seen standing with the oppressors.”

Speaking to The News, Dr Sajjad Karim said that the horrendous suffering of Kashmiris may not make it onto TV screens and highlighting the plight of Kashmiris may not be trendy amongst many circles in the world “but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening”.

He added: “Kashmirs have been oppressed and they are under attack on daily basis by the Indian government but we don’t hear about that often in western media. Pakistanis across the globe must remember the Kashmiris’ plight also. Its Pakistanis who are leading the protests against Isreal, they should speak up for Kashmiris too.”

Sajjad Karim said that from the International community once again “we see the same silence that is officially pronounced for the suffering experienced in Kashmir and Myanmar is also meted out for the Palestinians. Except there is one difference and that is the public consciousness which tries to take a stand for the Palestinians.”

Sajjad Karim MEP said that as Pakistanis all over the world take to the street to protest they must keep in mind the fundamental question - “what is the official position of these same Arab states when it comes to the long suffering people of Kashmir? Pakistanis should first ask where do Arab states stand on Kashmir before placing themselves on front line in Arab issues.”

Sajjad Karim said that for many rich and influential Arab states, the issue of Kashmir doesn’t matter because of their dealings with the Indian government over trade and commerce.He called on the Pakistani government to also reflect why there is confusion over the issue of Kashmir as official position keeps changing and there is so much more that could be done to highlight the issue.

Dr Sajjad Karim said that for the EU - India free trade agreement negotiations, he ensured that a specific paragraph on human right abuses in Indian occupied Kashmir is included. “This ensures that so far as EU trade with India is concerned Kashmir cannot be ignored. No such constraints exist for the Arab nations and Pakistanis on an individual basis need to show greater maturity in assessing their responses to international situations.”

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-262683-Member-EU-Parliament-criticises-Arabs-for-silence-on-Kashmir-issue

Thursday, 17 July 2014

India must not waste time on Pakistan, Sushant Sareen

India must not waste time on Pakistan, Sushant Sareen 17 Jul 2014

When the Narendra Modi Government came to power, it was widely expected that the traditional pusillanimity that has characterised India’s policy and approach to the ‘international migraine’ on our Western border i.e. Pakistan, would become a thing of the past. But a couple of months into the new Government, there is a gnawing sense that this Government will also tread the old, tired, beaten and desultory track of its predecessors. No, this isn’t about the invitation to Nawaz Sharif (along with other South Asian heads of state) for the swearing-in ceremony; nor is this about the shawl-sari diplomacy. Those were diplomatic gestures that don’t, or shouldn’t, affect the bigger game-plan or policy framework. What is worrisome are some other actions that have, for now, set the amber lights flashing.

In what could well be the first Pakistan-specific Budgetary measure, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed “exemption from basic customs duty (of 5 per cent) is being granted on re-gassified LNG for supply to Pakistan”. The motivation for this measure was disclosed by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who told a newspaper that “It’s an important project (LNG pipeline to Pakistan) that will help improve bilateral diplomatic and economic ties between the two neighbours (emphasis mine).” There are also reports of India considering opening mobile telephony access to Pakistani SIM cards. We also have the Vaidik circus in town which suggests that instead of using hard options to crush terrorists, an effort will be undertaken to affect a change of heart in the terrorists by drawing inspiration from the examples of Valmiki and Angoolimaal. Even the RSS seems to have endorsed this initiative, otherwise why else would Indresh Kumar hand out certificate of patriotism to VP Vaidik (unless of course, this is a classic example of patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel).

While Vaidik’s vacuity can and should be ignored (of course, if there is even an iota of truth that a narcissist, loud mouth and self-promoting guy like Vaidik was used either as an emissary or even a sounding board with Pakistan, then we can safely predict that this Government will end up as a bigger disaster than the Manmohan Singh Government) the Pradhan premise is what suggests that this Government is going down the same path as its predecessors. Quite clearly, the Modi Government seems to have fallen for the done-to-death ‘carrot and stick’ policy towards Pakistan. Briefly, this dubious policy’s basis is that ‘carrots’ (LNG pipeline for example) should be offered to Pakistan to incentivise it to change its behaviour; at the same time, a big stick should be kept ready in case Pakistan steps out of line. This is precisely the policy that countries like the US and UK have adopted, and a fat lot of good it has done them. In fact, new research by American scholar Christine Fair has blasted this nonsensical policy by arguing that far from giving Pakistan an incentive to change its policy, this approach actually ends up encouraging Pakistan to continue with its rank bad behaviour.

Until now, the way the ‘carrot and stick’ policy has played out is that while India gave the carrots, Pakistan gave the stick. Perhaps, the Modi Government has tweaked this policy and will try to restore the balance between the carrot and stick (though there is as yet no sign that it has). The pipeline proposal suggests that the new dispensation is thinking of tying in Pakistan more closely with India and building solid economic leverages that can then be used as sticks. If indeed this is the case, then it won’t be long before the Modi Government has another thought coming its way. Aside from proving Einstein’s definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result every time – this policy completely ignores the ugly reality that no matter what goodies you give and no matter how closely you tie Pakistan economically, that country remains unreconstructed and unreformed in its hostility towards India.

The Modi Government would do well to recollect that until 1965, a huge proportion of Pakistan’s foreign trade was with India, and yet that didn’t prevent Pakistan from initiating the 1965 war. India also needs to learn from the US experience – nearly $30 billion have been pumped into Pakistan since 9/11 and yet it wasn’t enough to dissuade the Pakistanis from their double-games of playing both the Americans and the Taliban in pursuit of their own strategic agenda. Even today, nothing has changed in terms of Pakistan’s strategic calculus vis-à-vis India. And yet, if the Modi Government wants to once again try and engage Pakistan ‘productively’ then chances are that once again India will give the carrots and Pakistan will wield the stick. Even if Pakistan doesn’t or cannot wield the stick, there will be little that the Modi Government will have to show for its efforts or its carrots to Pakistan because whatever else these carrots do, they are not going to effect a paradigm change (which clearly the Modi Government is expecting or hoping) in Pakistan’s India policy.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are the author's personal opinions. Information, facts or opinions shared by the Author do not reflect the views of Niti Central and Niti Central is not responsible or liable for the same. The Author is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.

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Dr Shabir Choudhry's blog

Wednesday, 30 July 2014

Amazing what they get away with, isn't it.....

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

HRCP slams Ahmadis killing in Gujranwala

ROLE OF SAUDI ARABIA, AS CALIPHS OF ISLAM IN PROMOTING ISLAMIC EXTREMISM AND JIHADISM By Nauman Sadiq

ROLE OF SAUDI ARABIA, AS CALIPHS OF ISLAM IN PROMOTING ISLAMIC EXTREMISM AND JIHADISM By Nauman Sadiq

WHY TERRORISM CANNOT BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED FROM PAKISTAN, by Kashmala Chaudhry

GERMANY SECRETLY PLANNING TO JOIN BRICS

For Pakistan, defeat is that moment when it can no longer resist India, Christine Fair

Monday, 28 July 2014

Mob kills 3 members of Ahmadi community

Pakistan or Israel what’s the difference, Zara Ahmad Daily Times July 29, 2014

Sunday, 27 July 2014

Zarb i Azb Army claims 70pc area of Mirali cleared in NWA, By Mateen Haider

Friday, 18 July 2014

Member EU Parliament criticises Arabs for silence on Kashmir issue

Thursday, 17 July 2014

India must not waste time on Pakistan, Sushant Sareen

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