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Hafiz Hussain Ahmad	Hafiz Hussain Ahmad	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam	India-Pakistan				20020301
	Hafiz Hussain Ahmad	Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal	Afghanistan/South Asia	Pakistani	At Large	Big Shot	20040319

Dupe URL: Nuggets from the Urdu press

2012-04-15

Yunus Habib's gift of Rs 1.5 billion Daily Mashriq reported that banker Yunus Habib told the Supreme Court that he had put together nearly Rs 1.5 billion on behalf of Army Chief Aslam Beg and distributed it to politicians and journalists to defeat the PPP in 1990 elections. After he said that he had no record of this distribution, the Court added that it had uncovered some details and would keep them sealed.   Mian Amir as new Punjab governor? Reported in Mashriq after the debacle of the defeat of PPP leader Aslam Gill as Senate candidate because the PPP members of Punjab Assembly did not vote properly, the central PPP was enraged and wanted to change Governor Punjab Latif Khan Khosa. The new governor would be Lahore's ex-mayor Mian Amir Mehmood who is also the owner of University of Central Punjab and Dunya TV channel. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was also trying to make Mian Amir join the PMLN.   Imran Khan fails in his saint's city Reported in Jinnah the mammoth meeting of Imran Khan's tsunami party Tehreek Insaf failed in Gujjar Khan where his saint Dr Rafeeq Akhtar lived. Imran reached there two hours late, while two and half thousand chairs remained empty. This triggered speculation about the fizzling out of Tsunami Khan and that his party had probably lost steam.   Raja Zafrul Haq versus nationalities PMLN leader Raja Zafrul Haq was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that there was a conspiracy to divide Pakistan into nationalities instead of one nation on the pattern of the Soviet Union - which was a plan that his party would defeat.   Khaleda Zia took money from ISI Incumbent prime minister of Bangladesh Hasina Wajed was quoted by Jang as saying that her opposition leader Khaleda Zia had received bribes from Pakistan's ISI on the eve of 1901 elections to defeat the Awami League of Hasina Wajed and to incite trouble in the north-western states of India through Bangladesh. In all, Khaled Zia received Rs 50 crores. At that time Pakistan itself was reeling under the scandal called Mehrangate.   Taseer's family will stay in Pakistan Quoted in Jang daughter of late governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, Sheherbano Taseer, said on the occasion of Women's Day in Lahore that despite the fact that her father was treated shabbily and her brother was being held by terrorists, her family would not leave Pakistan but stay to face the challenge.   Blasphemy law revives divine love Famous TV preacher and scourge of minorities Amir Liaquat Hussain was quoted by Jang as saying that Blasphemy Law was a blessing that kept faith alive (imaan zinda rakhta hai). He said it was the love of Prophet Muhammad PBUH which kept the faith intact.   Osama's wives killed him through infighting Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that Osama's many wives could have been the cause of his death because they were fighting among themselves while living with him. Intimate wife Amal and her son Khalid were convinced that wife Khairya was thinking of betraying him to the Americans after she had asserted that she would 'do the last great thing for Osama'. Osama was himself was suspicious but was helpless in the face of his wives and left the matter to Allah.   Arbab Raheem speaks up from Dubai Daily Nawa-e-Waqt telephoned ex-chief minister Sindh Arbab Raheem in Dubai who immediately revealed that Zardari had made him the offer of office if he joined the PPP. Raheem said the country was tired of PPP's robbery (loot-maar) but the PML must unite once again against it.   Foreign affairs committee not too united Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt members of Senate standing committee on foreign affairs spoke differently on the subject. Salim Saifullah said good relations with neighbours were greatly needed. But others said that US alliance with India was a great hurdle. SM Zafar said that by boycotting the Bonn conference after the Salala attack by US greatly boosted the confidence of Pakistan.   Pasha was behind Imran Khan Daily Jang reported that many people were happy that General Pasha of the ISI was not retained on another extension. One party was PMLN which thought that Pasha was behind the Imran Khan phenomenon directed against the PMLN to make it lose the coming election. The PMLN therefore was at the forefront of those who did not want any extension given to Pasha. Mashriq reported that Pasha's relations with the US had soured but that the new ISI chief was close to Army Chief Kayani and had served with him. Both are supposed to want that in relations with the US be normal.   Zardari is a fake Baloch Politician with a funny bone JUI's Hafiz Hussain Ahmad stated in Nawa-e-Waqt that fake Baloch leaders like Zardari had damaged Balochistan. He said he was asking the army to quit Balochistan but the Baloch like Talal Bugti are inviting the Army in. He said warrants of Musharraf should be pasted on the gates of the GHQ in Rawalpindi.   Driver makes money off accidents A driver called Sajid was reported by Jinnah to have earned Rs 77 lakh from the American embassy after he was wounded after his car was hit by an American. Later he got interested in doing more of the same for the Americans, which was hitting the car of the Iranian ambassador in Islamabad. He was being investigated.   Hindu girls being 'converted' and married Daily Mashriq reported that the trend in Sindh to convert Hindu girls and marry them was on the increase thus damaging the family life of the Hindu minority there. The courts let this happen because the converted girls were made to tell the court that they had converted for real. Those involved in this were powerful local feudal lords.   Imran destined to win! Writing in Jang Haroon Rasheed stated that Imran Khan was predestined by Allah to win and therefore it was not possible to understand his leadership according to reason. But people writing against him were motivated by personal animus, especially one popular English columnist (Ayaz Amir?) whose column was greatly admired who wanted to join Imran but was enraged by rejection by Tehreek Insaf. Most people were unable to understand Imran Khan.   'Fixer' fast bowler Amir in love Daily Mashriq reported that young Pakistani fast bowler who had spent time in British jail for fixing a match has left prison with love in his heart. Sajida Malik his lawyer is the latest development in his life but the family says that relations between him and Sajida Malik are strictly professional.   Message for new ISI chief Famous columnist Irfan Siddiqi wrote in Jang that the new ISI chief Zaheerul Islam was welcome to his job but he must keep in mind the fact that being lenient to the US was not in the interest of Pakistan. The arrest of Raymond Davis showed united action between the army and political leadership but letting him go in the end was not good. General Pasha was looked at by Americans with hostility because he had tried to keep the Americans within limits. This was very important.

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India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2012-04-15

Yunus Habib's gift of Rs 1.5 billion Daily Mashriq reported that banker Yunus Habib told the Supreme Court that he had put together nearly Rs 1.5 billion on behalf of Army Chief Aslam Beg and distributed it to politicians and journalists to defeat the PPP in 1990 elections. After he said that he had no record of this distribution, the Court added that it had uncovered some details and would keep them sealed.   Mian Amir as new Punjab governor? Reported in Mashriq after the debacle of the defeat of PPP leader Aslam Gill as Senate candidate because the PPP members of Punjab Assembly did not vote properly, the central PPP was enraged and wanted to change Governor Punjab Latif Khan Khosa. The new governor would be Lahore's ex-mayor Mian Amir Mehmood who is also the owner of University of Central Punjab and Dunya TV channel. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was also trying to make Mian Amir join the PMLN.   Imran Khan fails in his saint's city Reported in Jinnah the mammoth meeting of Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... 's tsunami party Tehrik Insaf failed in Gujjar Khan where his saint Dr Rafeeq Akhtar lived. Imran reached there two hours late, while two and half thousand chairs remained empty. This triggered speculation about the fizzling out of Tsunami Khan and that his party had probably lost steam.   Raja Zafrul Haq versus nationalities PMLN leader Raja Zafrul Haq was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that there was a conspiracy to divide Pakistain into nationalities instead of one nation on the pattern of the Soviet Union - which was a plan that his party would defeat.   Khaleda Zia took money from ISI Incumbent prime minister of Bangladesh Hasina Wajed was quoted by Jang as saying that her opposition leader Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... had received bribes from Pakistain's ISI on the eve of 1901 elections to defeat the Awami League of Hasina Wajed and to incite trouble in the north-western states of India through Bangladesh. In all, Khaled Zia received Rs 50 crores. At that time Pakistain itself was reeling under the scandal called Mehrangate.   Taseer's family will stay in Pakistain Quoted in Jang daughter of late governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, Sheherbano Taseer, said on the occasion of Women's Day in Lahore that despite the fact that her father was treated shabbily and her brother was being held by terrorists, her family would not leave Pakistain but stay to face the challenge.   Blasphemy law revives divine love Famous TV preacher and scourge of minorities Amir Liaquat Hussain was quoted by Jang as saying that Blasphemy Law was a blessing that kept faith alive (imaan zinda rakhta hai). He said it was the love of Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!) which kept the faith intact.   Osama's wives killed him through infighting Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that Osama's many wives could have been the cause of his death because they were fighting among themselves while living with him. Intimate wife Amal and her son Khalid were convinced that wife Khairya was thinking of betraying him to the Americans after she had asserted that she would 'do the last great thing for Osama'. Osama was himself was suspicious but was helpless in the face of his wives and left the matter to Allah. This, my dears, is why it is safest to be monogamous.  Arbab Raheem speaks up from Dubai Daily Nawa-e-Waqt telephoned ex-chief minister Sindh Arbab Raheem in Dubai who immediately revealed that Zardari had made him the offer of office if he joined the PPP. Raheem said the country was tired of PPP's robbery (loot-maar) but the PML must unite once again against it.   Foreign affairs committee not too united Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt members of Senate standing committee on foreign affairs spoke differently on the subject. Salim Saifullah said good relations with neighbours were greatly needed. But others said that US alliance with India was a great hurdle. SM Zafar said that by boycotting the Bonn conference after the Salala attack by US greatly boosted the confidence of Pakistain.   Pasha was behind Imran Khan Daily Jang reported that many people were happy that General Pasha of the ISI was not retained on another extension. One party was PMLN which thought that Pasha was behind the Imran Khan phenomenon directed against the PMLN to make it lose the coming election. The PMLN therefore was at the forefront of those who did not want any extension given to Pasha. Mashriq reported that Pasha's relations with the US had soured but that the new ISI chief was close to Army Chief Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... and had served with him. Both are supposed to want that in relations with the US be normal.   Zardari is a fake Baloch Politician with a funny bone JUI's Hafiz Hussain Ahmad stated in Nawa-e-Waqt that fake Baloch leaders like Zardari had damaged Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... . He said he was asking the army to quit Balochistan but the Baloch like Talal Bugti are inviting the Army in. He said warrants of Musharraf should be pasted on the gates of the GHQ in Rawalpindi.   Driver makes money off accidents A driver called Sajid was reported by Jinnah to have earned Rs 77 lakh from the American embassy after he was maimed after his car was hit by an American. Later he got interested in doing more of the same for the Americans, which was hitting the car of the Iranian ambassador in Islamabad. He was being investigated.   Hindu girls being 'converted' and married Daily Mashriq reported that the trend in Sindh to convert Hindu girls and marry them was on the increase thus damaging the family life of the Hindu minority there. The courts let this happen because the converted girls were made to tell the court that they had converted for real. Those involved in this were powerful local feudal lords. And besides, they're cheap. No bride price, no expensive wedding...the son of a poor man could do worse. Imran destined to win! Writing in Jang Haroon Rasheed stated that Imran Khan was predestined by Allah to win and therefore it was not possible to understand his leadership according to reason. But people writing against him were motivated by personal animus, especially one popular English columnist (Ayaz Amir?) whose column was greatly admired who wanted to join Imran but was enraged by rejection by Tehrik Insaf. Most people were unable to understand Imran Khan.  The utter blankness of the utterly blank slate is like unto nirvana itself. One can only partake of the blankness... Or not. 'Fixer' fast bowler Amir in love Daily Mashriq reported that young Pak fast bowler who had spent time in British jail for fixing a match has left prison with love in his heart. Sajida Malik his lawyer is the latest development in his life but the family says that relations between him and Sajida Malik are strictly professional.   Message for new ISI chief Famous columnist Irfan Siddiqi wrote in Jang that the new ISI chief Zaheerul Islam was welcome to his job but he must keep in mind the fact that being lenient to the US was not in the interest of Pakistain. The arrest of Raymond Davis showed united action between the army and political leadership but letting him go in the end was not good. General Pasha was looked at by Americans with hostility because he had tried to keep the Americans within limits. This was very important. Good luck with that, guys. Really.

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India-Pakistan

JUI-F split after 18 leaders expelled

2008-01-17

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has expelled 18 leaders, including former provincial minister Maulvi Asmatullah, after differences emerged in the party, Samaa TV reported on Wednesday. The expelled leaders formed a new alliance, the Nazriati (ideological) group, the channel said. Nazriati group leaders have blamed Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Ashrafi for the split, saying they had “revolted against the party and violated its traditions,” the channel said. The channel quoted its sources as saying that former MNA Hafiz Hussain Ahmad was covertly supporting the new alliance and the confrontation was likely to grow.

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India-Pakistan

Qazi, Fazl lose Hafiz Hussain's resignation

2007-10-01

Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader and member of the National Assembly (NA) Hafiz Hussain Ahmad’s resignation, which he had submitted to MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmad and MMA central leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been misplaced, a private channel reported on Sunday. Hafiz Hussain told Geo news that he had given copies of his resignation to Fazl and Qazi, but was told by both that they had lost his resignation. He said he himself would go to the NA on Monday and present his resignation to the NA speaker. Hafiz said he was resigning from the NA in protest against the Women’s Protection Act, 2007.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan police round up Musharraf opponents

2007-09-24

ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani opposition leader on Sunday accused President Pervez Musharraf of trying to crush dissent after police held dozens of people who vowed to protest against the military ruler’s re-election. Police served four leaders of a pro-democracy alliance with 30-day detention orders on Saturday night and kept them under heavy guard at their parliamentary lodgings in Islamabad. "Hokay, into da wagon wit yez!" Security forces arrested dozens more activists in raids on their homes, while party officials said other opposition figures have gone underground to avoid being rounded up. Javed Hashmi, the acting chief of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party, said his lawyer would challenge his ‘illegal’ detention in court. ‘They want to crush every voice of dissent,’ Hashmi told AFP from the parliamentary apartment where he is being held. Seems like they're making some headway ... The other leaders held are Raja Zafar ul-Haq, from the same party and Hafiz Hussain Ahmad and Mian Aslam of the pro-Taleban Jamiat-ulema-e-Islam party. Party sources said they would also appeal against their detention. The opposition coalition, called the All Parties Democratic Movement, has vowed to block Musharraf’s bid to win another five-year term in a vote by the federal and provincial assemblies on October 6. ‘They have confined me for 30 days, but we will continue to raise our voice for the rights of the people of Pakistan, for democracy and against military dictatorship,’ Hashmi said. ‘They want power by the use of force, not by the power of the ballot,’ added Hashmi, who was freed from jail by the Supreme Court in August after serving three years on sedition charges. Deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said the ‘preventative detentions’ were justified. ‘These people were threatening to storm the Supreme Court and attack the election commission. No government can allow them to take the law into their hands,’ Azeem told AFP. ‘Some leaders are under preventative detention to ward off any threat to law and order to protect the sanctity of the institutions,’ he said. Because the sanctity of the institutions could be sullied by having, you know, a fair vote ... The alliance staged protests on Friday and says that it will blockade the election commission to stop Musharraf filing his nomination papers on Thursday. It has also vowed to resign from parliament. Don't they threaten that about every other week or so? Somehow they never seem to get around to actually doing it ... As police sources said that more arrests were likely, Sharif’s party and the biggest coalition of religious parties, the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Front, said most of their leaders had gone into hiding. ‘The leadership has gone underground to keep the movement alive. Hundreds of our workers have been detained,’ said Shahid Shamsi, a spokesman for the Islamist alliance. Sharif’s party said its leaders have ‘left their homes for safer places’ while several dozen had been detained. ‘This is sham democracy,’ spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said. ‘The regime is proving our point that it is autocratic not democratic.’ Police would not confirm the full number of arrests. Coppers in a police state generally don't. Musharraf has faced mounting protests and slumping popularity ever since his failed bid to sack the Supreme Court chief justice in March. Dumb, dumb, dumb move; beginning of the end for him right there. The Supreme Court has shown increasing autonomy, ruling in August first that Hashmi could be freed and then that party leader Sharif himself was allowed to return from seven years in exile. But when he did so nearly two weeks ago Pakistani authorities immediately dumped Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, on a plane to Saudi Arabia. "But they said I could stay!" "And we say you go! Into the baggage compartment wit yez!"

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India-Pakistan

Qazi resigns from NA

2007-07-24

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed resigned on Monday from National Assembly. Qazi’s private secretary Attaur Rehman submitted the resignation to the NA speaker. In his resignation, Qazi said one-man rule was bypassing parliament on important matters. Military operations in Balochistan, Waziristan, Bajaur tribal agencies and the Lal Masjid operation had widened the gulf between the people and the army, he said. MMA secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Qazi had breached the MMA’s discipline. “The resignation is a shocking disappointment for me.” The MMA wanted explanations from Qazi, Fazl told reporters after an All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM) Joint Action Committee meeting at PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq’s house. Fazl ducked a question about MMA Deputy Parliamentary Leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad’s demand for holding an election for a new MMA chief. Hafiz Hussain Ahmad praised Qazi’s decision and urged other MMA members to follow him. Online adds: MMA sources said the resignation was Qazi’s personal decision and that it was unlikely that other MMA members would resign.

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India-Pakistan

MMA's Supreme Council meets today

2007-04-20

The Supreme Council of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will meet here today (Friday) evening, Daily Times learnt on Thursday. MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmad will preside over the meeting to be held at his residence in Sector E-7. According to the sources the meeting will discuss the ‘judicial crisis’, the reports of “deal” between Benazir and General Musharraf, besides the MMA’s strategy for the upcoming session of the National Assembly. Leader of the Opposition in NA Maulana Fazlur Rehman will apprise the council members of his meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif, the exiled leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in London. Senator Prof Sajid Mir, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Liaquat Baloch and others will also attend the meeting.

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India-Pakistan

Bugti’s Killing Sparks Mass Arrests, Violence

2006-08-28

Violent nationwide protests flared for a second day yesterday against the Pakistan military’s killing of rebel tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti as police arrested hundreds of rioters. Local political groups said Bugti’s death had sparked a “never-ending war.” Enraged mobs burned dozens of shops, buses, banks and police vehicles in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, in defiance of a round-the-clock curfew imposed yesterday by government authorities to try to quell the outpouring of anger over 79-year-old Bugti’s killing on Saturday in a raid on his mountain hide-out. Nine policemen suffered minor wounds in a clash with about 70 protesters, some firing pistols, who tried to loot a bank and several nearby shops in northern Quetta, said police Inspector Zahir Shah. Police fired tear gas to disperse the mob. A bomb blast damaged a government building and arsonists set fire to a telephone exchange in Kalat, a town about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Quetta, said local police official Ghulam Farid Jamali. There were no casualties. Quetta police chief Suleman Sayed said 450 people were arrested yesterday in Quetta as security forces tried to crack down on violence, which has spread to other parts of impoverished Balochistan and into neighboring Sindh province’s capital of Karachi. “All forces have been put on alert,” Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani told privately run Geo TV. An alliance of four Baloch nationalist groups announced a 15-day mourning period over Bugti’s death and vowed to continue protests throughout the region. Businesses and public transport will observe a strike today. “The government has pushed Balochistan into a never-ending war,” said Hasil Bizinjo, a senior figure of Baloch Yakjehti, or the Baloch Solidarity alliance. Government forces killed the silver-bearded Bugti, one of Pakistan’s most prominent fugitives, and at least 24 of his supporters during a raid on his cave hide-out in the Kohlu area, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) east of Quetta. Bugti went into hiding in late 2005 after an attempt was made on the Pakistani president’s life. Bugti’s son-in-law, Shahid Bugti, a senator in Pakistan’s Parliament, denounced the killing and demanded the government return the tribal chief’s body to his family for burial. “This is a very tragic affair for the whole family, the tribe and the people of the whole region,” Shahid Bugti said from his father-in-law’s family house in Quetta. “We consider him a martyr. He led a very graceful life and he had a graceful death, going out while fighting for his people’s rights.” Balochistan has been wracked by decades of low-level conflict, which has often flared into large-scale clashes, as ethnic-Baloch tribespeople led by Bugti pressed the government for an increased share of wealth from natural resources extracted from the province, including gas, oil and coal. In recent months, the government has said scores of fighters loyal to Bugti have laid down their weapons and surrendered to authorities as it stepped up attacks against the tribal chief. The government also accused Bugti of ordering attacks on government installations, including gas refineries, the electricity grid and train lines. Hostilities escalated in December when militants fired rockets that landed about 300 feet from President Gen. Pervez Musharraf while he was visiting Kohlu. Bugti went into hiding shortly after. The operation that killed Bugti was launched after a land mine blew up a vehicle carrying security forces in Kohlu, said a top security official, who declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic. Four security personnel were wounded. Security forces attacked Bugti and up to 80 of his supporters in a cave hide-out following an intercept of a satellite phone call in Kohlu district, the official said. Five soldiers were also killed in the attack on Bugti’s hide-out. Bugti and his supporters were killed when the cave’s roof collapsed after it came under heavy fire from Pakistani military forces, said the minister of state for information, Tariq Azeem Khan. No bodies have been retrieved so far. Bugti, a former Pakistani senator and interior minister and Balochistan governor, was an articulate spokesman for the Baloch cause. He described Pakistani Army forces as “invaders and occupiers” for expanding military garrisons into the region. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Bugti tribesmen fought under his leadership. The government launched an offensive against the Bugti and Marri tribes, whose leaders control swaths of Balochistan and the army put down a tribal rebellion in 1974, reportedly leaving about 3,000 dead. Many leaders from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) have condemned the killing of Bugti, including Secretary-General Sayed Mushahid Hussain, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, chief of PML(Q), former speaker of the National Assembly Elahi Bux Soomro and Vice Chairman of PML (Q) Kabir Ali Wasti saying, “this issue should have been resolved through political dialogue and not force.” Hafiz Hussain Ahmad of JUI asked the government to return the body of Bugti.

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India-Pakistan

Qazi to leave for London on 10th

2006-07-07

Qazi Hussain Ahmad, ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), will leave for London on July 10 to meet PML-N patron Mian Nawaz Sharif and PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto, sources told Daily Times on Thursday. Sources said that Qazi Hussain was going to London to attend the UK Islamic Mission Conference, which will commence from July 8. They said that JI Secretary General Syed Munawar Hassan was likely to leave for London on July 7 to address the opening session of the conference while Qazi Hussain will address the concluding session. Sources said that Qazi Hussain would meet Sharif during his five-day visit, but he may not meet Ms Bhutto because of shortage of time. They added that MMA Secretary General Hafiz Hussain Ahmad would meet Sharif and Ms Bhutto in the first week of August. Sources said that Qazi Hussain would try to convince Sharif and Ms Bhutto to cooperate with the MMA in its anti-government movement.

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India-Pakistan

Review of the Urdu press

2006-05-12

SECOND OPINION: Sorry, your extremism is showing! — Khaled Ahmed’s Review of the Urdu press How is extremism born? Now that our great cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq says music is banned, the masses should gather and destroy all TV stations broadcasting music. This has been done in the past, by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Lashkar-e-Tayba in Muridke On Tuesday last a seminar in Peshawar came to the unanimous conclusion that there was no extremism among Muslims and Pakistanis, and that the perception of it abroad was based on a misrepresentation of facts. Had the seminar read just one day’s Urdu press it would have thought otherwise. The Muslim mind has two qualities: extremism and denial, two concepts based on exaggeration and falsehood. Quoted in Khabrain (17 March 2006) several clerics condemned Lahore’s famous novelist and social worker Bushra Rehman for joining the Hindus to celebrate the festival of holi. Maulana Abdul Malik said that she should not have accepted a tilak on her forehead and thrown colour as that was tantamount to shirk for which she should do tauba. PML women politicians too became pious. Mehnaz Rafi said that she should not have done the ritual of aarti. Qudsia Lodhi said she should not have worshipped. Nighat Parvin said she was no longer a Muslim. Bushra Rehman said that she did not give up her Islamic faith and added that all claims of tolerance were hypocritical in Pakistan. This incident is shocking in the extreme because Begum Bushra’s condemnation came from women politicians who pretend not to be extremists. What would they say about Jinnah’s joining the Christians in their celebration of Christmas, which he did to the last moments of his life? That the PML women condemned Bushra is shameful because the party pretends to agree with Musharraf that Pakistan needs to shun extremism. Talking to Nawa-e-Waqt magazine (12 March 2006) Pakistan’s greatest spin bowler Saqlain Mushtaq said that music was haram (banned) in Islam and therefore he never listened to music. He said that the only perfume he liked was the smell of ghilaf-e-Kaaba (cover of Kaaba). The best cities in the world are Makka and Madina although people say Lahor Lahor Ai. He said if Pakistan wanted to make progress it didn’t have to go forward. It had instead to move backward about 14 hundred years. Our sportsmen who provide us entertainment and relief from the rigours of extremist religious thought are joining the devil too. How does extremism spring? Now that Saqlain says music is banned the masses should gather and destroy all TV stations broadcasting music. This has been done before, by the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Lashkar-e-Tayba in Muridke. According to Khabrain (14 March 2006) the town of Jatoi came to a standstill with fears of large-scale destruction after a contractor on the highway blasphemed against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The incident took place when a tractor driver crossed the barrier without paying the toll. The contractor ran after him and caught whereupon he took the name of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The contractor blasphemed in the presence of the students of a madrassa. The news spread like wildfire and the cities in a radius of miles began to close down. People came out in Jatoi ready to destroy public property because of their love of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Students from all colleges blocked the traffic on all the roads. The police was activated and had registered a case. The man who allegedly blasphemed should have been handled differently. Why block roads and threaten the lives of innocent people not connected with the incident? But much acclaim is showered on ashiqan rasul (lovers of the Prophet) so that more extremist behaviour is resorted to. Columnist Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang (16 March 2006) that all countries of the EU were making changes in their immigration laws to make the entry of Muslims into Europe virtually impossible. Also new laws were on the anvil to keep an eye on the private activities of the Muslims already resident in the EU. There may soon come a time when EU will not allow any Muslim to visit Europe and no European would want to visit Pakistan. Extremism on the roads of Pakistan therefore should be avoided. Most Pakistanis who were not given to extremism must secure the true spirit of Islam against the extremism and violence of a few among them. Extremism among expatriate Pakistanis is rising in complete disregard of the legal and constitutional action Europe can take against them. People break all sorts of barriers to get to Europe, then adopt extremist conduct as a way of life. Quoted in daily Pakistan (13 March 2006) the wife of Hafiz Saeed, leader of the banned Lashkar-e-Tayba, told a gathering of women in Lahore that Muslim women in Pakistan should tie bombs around their bodies to defend the honour of Islam. She said only thus would the honour of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) be protected in the world. What more evidence does one need of extremism? And what more proof is needed about who is spreading it? If after this the UN Committee on terrorism in the Security Council places a ban on Jamaat Dawa what moral defence would Pakistan have of its decision to keep the organisation alive as a “jihadi option”? According to Nawa-e-Waqt (18 March 2006) Jamaat Dawa, formerly Lashkar-e-Tayba banned by the UN Security Council as a terrorist organisation, made its show of strength in Lahore with a rally of 20,000 dedicated to the honour of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). It called on the Muslims not to tolerate insult to the Prophet PBUH (peace be upon him) and refuse the slavery of the United States. Chief of Jamaat Dawa Hafiz Saeed said that the Muslims should make a United States of Muslims and get out of the UN. Maulana Samiul Haq said that the Muslim ummah had woken up after the Danish cartoons. Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said that the Americans were trying to grab the resources of the Muslims. Hameed Gul said that the Muslims were at war because the West had attacked the honour of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Hafiz Idrees said that the flag of jihad will not be lowered. Mujibur Rehman Shami said that Muslim governments were no longer representative of the Muslim masses and had to be changed. Hafiz Said is the last panjandrum of jihad that Pakistan has decided to go down with. Here is an example of how extremism can lead to terrorism. About the United Nations of Muslims, allow one to say that the OIC states could not get together enough money to fund the salaries of the Hamas government in Palestine, which is now on European and American dole. * Panjandrum. I had to look that one up.

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India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2006-05-08

Pakistanis eating poultry fed on pig! According to Khabrain the government had caught a number of large poultry farms importing feed made of pig’s meat and blood. At least four large-scale poultry breeders had been importing pig-feed with the connivance of the bureaucracy which had made crores of rupees in bribery. Frontier CM took Rs 30 crore Columnist Nazeer Naji said in Jang that the JUI rebels in the Peshawar Assembly had revealed in a TV programme that chief minister Akram Durrani had taken Rs 30 crore as bribe from the Senate candidates he selected from the province. One rebel insisted that the Peshawar government gave one crore each to the MPAs to satisfy them and keep them loyal. Osama bin Laden and Nawaz Sharif Columnist Hamid Mir said in Jang that PMLN former information secretary Siddiqul Farooq had denied that Osama bin Laden and Nawaz Sharif had ever met or that the latter had received any money from the former. The truth was that in August 1999 prime minister Nawaz Sharif had collaborated with the US to hunt Osama bin Laden down in the Tribal Areas. News came about Americans being active in Waziristan, whereupon the JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman took steps to block the operation against Osama from DI Khan (Tank to Wana Road) where his party began checking all traffic, leading to clashes with the FC troops. At this JUI leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad had sarcastically remarked that the same Nawaz Sharif who had once asked for Osama’s help against Benazir was now collaborating with America to hunt him down. What anti-America bloc? Columnist Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang that people fired by anti-American passions were thinking of an anti-American bloc by joining which Pakistan could defeat America. The latest suggestion was that Musharraf should immediately tour Russia, China, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the Central Asian republics as well as Malaysia and Indonesia and tell them about America’s wrongdoing. Naji asked if any of the states mentioned could be in an anti-American bloc? He said China was threatened by Muslim terrorists just like America, so was Russia in Chechnya, and the Central Asians were on the American side in Afghanistan as they backed Northern Alliance. He wrote that such suggestions would be cruelty towards the Pakistani people. It would be like a mad sufi from Malakand sending his private army to defeat the United States there in 2001. Sipah Sahaba attacks a festival According to daily Pakistan Sipah Sahaba ‘Taliban’ in their hundreds from Tank, Daraban Kalachi and DI Khan got together on 60 cars, a truck and a bus, and armed with kalashnikovs and rocket launchers, attacked the shrine of Kalu Qalandaria in a village of DI Khan. They set the shamianas on fire, fired in the air to scare the people of the mela and sacked the bazaar. After this there was a clash between the people and the Sipah in which the local police too intervened. The Sipah Sahaba exchanged fire with the police and fled only after it met stiff counter-fire from the police. What should Balochistan do? Talking to monthly Naya Zamana (April 2006) Hafeez Hasanbadi – a Baloch poet from Kharan who was educated as a Marxist in the Soviet Union – stated that Baloch nationalism had been hijacked by Marri and Mengal sardars who were not in favour of representation because parliament would never be under Baloch influence. Yet leaders like Pushtun Achakzai didn’t want what the two sardars wanted. The Baloch must think of the Gwadar port as an earnest of their good fortune and must not let war in Balochistan block the Iranian pipeline which can change their lives for the better. He said if the Baloch sardars succeeded then Pakistan too will suffer as a credible partner in the fight to end terrorism. Army has given us freedom Writing as a minority Christian, Samuel Rehmat stated in Jang that all Pakistanis must create in themselves the habit of arguing rationally. He said that despite all its past flaws the present army leadership had given Pakistan more freedom of expression than would be possible in the future. Communists are now American toadies Writing in Jang Abdul Qadir Hassan stated that Communists tried to overthrow the government in 1951 after which the Left Wing declined in strength. Bhutto too showed off as a leftist but was actually a feudal and abandoned his lefties in favour of the feudals. Today all the lefties and communists had become lovers of the United States and were running NGOs and their favourite pastime was anti-Islam (Islam Dushman). Hudood and Osama bin Laden Columnist Khursheed Nadeem wrote in Jang that President Musharraf was in favour of removing the hudood laws but his partner in power PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was in the way as he believed that hudood laws could not be touched. The columnist was shocked that Qazi Husain Ahmad of the MMA had refused to acknowledge that he even knew Osama bin Laden, although the MMA had gained electoral edge by appealing to the feat of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Eighty per cent tax cases are bogus! Columnist Irshad Haqqani wrote in Jang that according to Mr Abdullah Yusuf, chief of the Central Board of Revenue, 70-80 per cent of the income tax cases brought against citizens by the income tax department were found to be wrongly prepared. There were 60,000 cases pending in tribunals, high courts and the Supreme Court, most of them will now be withdrawn. Income tax officers, after losing at the High Court, sent the cases up to the Supreme Court where they had no chance of winning. There were 1200 cases pending at the Supreme Court out of which 1000 were bogus and would be withdrawn. The taxpayer was thus made to suffer unless he bribed the tax officials. Trouble in Sindh Writing in Jang Ikram Sehgal stated that President Musharraf needed to act quickly in Sindh as the province was moving towards a crisis far more dangerous than the crises faced in Balochistan and FATA. The politicians chosen to run the government in Karachi had little support, thus weakening the PML leadership there, while the MQM had a solid urban base and remained popular. The centre was responsible for inflicting controversial and corrupt politicians on Sindh. The ‘imposed’ (musallat) politicians must be removed from Sindh. Mad mullah of Miran Shah Writing in the daily Pakistan Tanvir Qaisar Shahid stated that Maulvi Abdul Khaliq of North Waziristan had taken over the main city of Miran Shah and was literally holding the people hostage under his personal government. He has given battle to Pakistani troops and had taken control of most of the property in the town in the name of Islam, dealing out punishments to people who did not obey him. Because of his mad aggression people were moving in large numbers to the settled city of Bannu in the NWFP which was becoming overpopulated.

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India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2006-04-30

Is entertainment allowed? Writing in Jang Ataul Haq Qasimi referred to a statement made by singer Abrarul Haq on the question of music as a source of peace of mind. A lady had asked if namaz was not the only source of this tranquillity. The columnist stated that the ulema were not united on the concept of entertainment in Pakistani culture. Were music, photography, singing, painting, poetry and cinema allowed as entertainment or not? Khalid Khwaja and Osama bin Laden Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang that ex-ISI operative Khalid Khwaja had recently revealed that Osama bin Laden had paid Nawaz Sharif money to get rid of Ms Bhutto’s government in 1989 and that he himself had carried the money to Mr Sharif. The truth was that Osama was not interested in bringing a no-confidence vote against Ms Bhutto, he was more interested in getting his Arab friends out of trouble in Peshawar. That year Hosni Mubarak, Qaddafi and Shah Husain had asked Ms Bhutto to get rid of the Arab terrorists in Peshawar. In the operation that was mounted, Abu Mussab Al Zarqavi too had to spend six months in jail in Peshawar. After his release he was imprisoned in Jordan too. Khalid Khwaja was then retired from the ISI but was personally serving Nawaz Sharif and flying Nawaz Sharif’s personal plane between Pindi and Lahore. He proposed that Osama pay money to end Ms Bhutto’s government so that his men would not be bothered any more. One Khayyam Qaiser got some of the money but returned it to Khalid Khwaja because no next ruler would save Osama’s men in Peshawar. Nawaz Sharif and Osama bin Laden Writing in Jang Hamid Mir stated that Nawaz Sharif had done a lot of planning to help the Americans get Osama bin Laden. The Americans thought they could trust Nawaz more in the matter of capturing Osama. In 1998 when Nawaz Sharif was prime minister the Americans bombed Afghanistan for the first time. In 1999, it was agreed between Nawaz Sharif, American adviser on security Sandy Burger, Shahbaz Sharif and ISI chief Ziauddin to mount an operation to capture Osama; and the army chief Musharraf was unaware of it. American writer Bob Woodward had revealed that an operation was afoot in 1999 in the border areas in Pakistan which also triggered the reaction from JUI’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman that any American found in the area should be shot on sight. Nawaz Sharif had also banned Harkatul Ansar and declared war on Al Qaeda, but was toppled in 1999. Magician burns Quran Reporting from Haroonabad in Punjab, the daily Pakistan stated that an aamil (exorcist) of Faqirwali put a copy of the Holy Quran on the burner as a part of his magic spell. When his wife tried to stop him he slapped her. When the village got to know he was given a thrashing and was handed over to the police. During his arrest he tried to throw his magic spell but was not able to do so. Witnesses said he seemed possessed. Some people were thinking of destroying public property to express their anger. A shroud-eating corpse Reported in Khabrain a spiritual ‘baba’ Pir Fazl told a family that their recently dead family members were in great pain in their graves because another dead man was eating up their shrouds (kafan). In Rajanpur everyone became alerted to the underground shroud-eater who was named by Pir Baba as Allahyar. He asked the relatives to open his grave and break his skull with a hammer. The concerned family did the deed but the relatives of the ‘shroud-eater’ found out that their man had been defiled in his grave and there was much trouble in the village. Speaker asked to open his legs According to Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Amir Hussain was about to enter the Australian parliament when he was body-searched (jama-talashi). He submitted to that but then he was asked to spread his legs which he found most insulting. The column was most offended with the thought that the Australians were after something more embarrassing than explosives when they asked him to open his legs. Fish with divine names According to Nawa-e-Waqt a Muslim in London, Ali Al Wakeedi, had bought a pair of fish with Allah and Muhammad written on their bodies. He said the divine names were not very clear to the eye but he believed that the names were there. He now receives a lot of Muslims who want to see the miraculous fish to increase their faith. America running the show! Famous historian Dr Safdar Mehmood wrote in Jang that the educated people of Pakistan were becoming increasingly aware that Pakistan had become the colony of the US and the US could bomb our region any time and arrest anyone it wanted any time and then go back home. They thought that Pakistani rulers had become functionaries (karinday) of America and, after the Bush visit, had come to realise that America itself was not satisfied with these rulers. On the other hand the one-man show in Pakistan was ignoring merit and inducting army officers and friends into important jobs. In these conditions, Pakistan was simmering with underground moves for a final dangal (wrestling bout) against the rulers. ‘Talaq’ while sleeping According to Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt a Muslim in India divorced his wife in his sleep. When he approached his local Islamic scholar he was told that divorce had actually happened and now he had to get his ex-wife married off to a cleric who would divorce her to make her eligible for remarriage to him. Sarerahe thought that the Islamic cleric too gave his fatwa while asleep. Sardar Atiq and snakes Writing in Khabrain Tariq Hamid stated that Azad Kashmiri and Muslim Conference leader Sardar Atiq Khan was an accomplished politician but he was also into spiritual practices. For instance, he could make your headache go away in an instant through incantation. He was also an expert at making the snakes of Azad Kashmir run away from homes. There were many miraculous stories associated with his magical powers. But the columnist wondered why, if Sardar Atiq was against snakes, did he want American and NATO forces to stay on in Azad Kashmir. Chief minister in trouble Writing in the daily Pakistan, Naseer Ahmad Salimi stated that chief minister Arbab Ghulam Raheem was under pressure from coalition in-fighting and a rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in Sindh. After the coming to power of the present MQM-PML coalition, the following politicians had been gunned down in Karachi: PPP’s Abdullah Murad, Jamaat Islami’s MPA Aslam Mujahid, MQM’s former speaker assembly Abdur Raziq Khan, former Sindh minister Badar Iqbal and MQM’s Khalid bin Waleed. Iran has guts! Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul said that Iran will not accept dictation from America because Iran had guts (jaan hai). He said that American ambassador’s statement that there would be no AQ Khan in future was against diplomatic rules. He added that there was ember in the ashes of the Muslim ummah and it will become a fire. MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said that hundreds of AQ Khans had been born in Pakistan; but America would not find a single Musharraf here in future.

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