Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Pakistan's foes bent upon creating fissures using religious, political vulnerabilities: COAS

2023-12-26

[GEO.TV] Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir said Monday that enemies of Pakistain were hell-bent towards creating fissures using religious, ethnic, and political vulnerabilities.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the army chief made the remarks while addressing a ceremony held at Christ Church in Rawalpindi in connection with Christmas celebrations.

The congregation welcomed the COAS and thanked him for sharing the festivity. Gen Munir wished Merry Christmas to the entire Christian community in the country.

The army chief expressed reverence for the religious community and stressed the need to promote greater interfaith harmony in society in order to follow Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s true vision of a united and progressive Pakistain, said ISPR.

The COAS noted: "Islam teaches us the lesson of peace, friendship and encourages interfaith harmony which is the need of the hour."

He stressed the importance of having correct perspective, truth, and knowledge-based opinions about national issues rather than following rhetoric and propaganda, to address complex challenges and issues.

"Enemies of Pakistain are hell-bent towards creating fissures using religious, ethnic and political vulnerabilities. We have to stand together [and] united to rise as a resolute and strong nation."

Link

Afghanistan

Pakistan Commits to Continuing to Support Pakistan-Built Hospitals in Afghanistan

2022-11-20

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] In an extraordinary meeting with the Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
Minister of Public Health, Pakistain’s special representative for Afghanistan affairs, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, stated that his country will continue to fund the three modern hospitals it has built in Afghanistan.

The Pak official wrote in a string of tweets on Saturday, November 19, that he has met with Qalandar Ebad, the Taliban Minister of Public Health in an extraordinary meeting of the Afghanistan Inter-governmental Coordination Cell (AICC).

According to the tweets, the Pak official gave the Taliban side assurance that Pakistain would cooperate with the Afghan people in the healthcare sector, notably by continuing to provide financial support for the three hospitals Pakistain has built in Afghanistan.

"Pakistain has agreed to extend financial support for smooth operations of these hospitals in short to medium term and support the private sector to run these hospitals under public-private partnerships in the long term," Sadiq Khan wrote.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul the Afghan capital, Nishtar Kidney Center in Jalalabad of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province, and Amanullah Pashtun-infested Logari Hospital in Pashtun-infested Logar in eastern Afghanistan are three of the modern hospitals Pakistain has built in Afghanistan.

He further stated that in a bid to assist Afghanistan in becoming self-sufficient in the healthcare sector, Khyber Medical University Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
, which has already trained hundreds of Afghan doctors, will establish medical college campuses in Afghanistan.

This comes as the Pakistain-built Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul was previously transformed into a teaching hospital after the Taliban Ministry of Public Health approved the transformation in mid-June this year.

Link

India-Pakistan

Islamabad, TTP agree on indefinite ceasefire

2022-06-01

[Dawn] The government of Pakistain and the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) have agreed to extend the ceasefire, this time, indefinitely and continue negotiations to find an end to the nearly two decades of militancy in the tribal border region, it has been reliably learnt.

The extension in ceasefire, which was to come to an end last night, indicates significant progress in talks between the two sides in the Afghan capital Kabul, sources familiar with the development said.

Sources told Dawn that the two sides had agreed to extend the ceasefire and continue peace talks following separate meetings with Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, Acting Prime Minister of the ’Islamic Emerate of Afghanistan (IEA)’ at his office the other day.

These sources said that in his meetings with the two sides, the soft-spoken septuagenarian leader expressed his desire that the talks and ceasefire should be allowed to continue without any cut-off date.

In a subsequent joint meeting, the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire indefinitely and pursue negotiations to end the conflict that has seen mass dislocation and killings of thousands of people in Pakistain’s tribal region and the country on the lam.

IEA front man Zabihullah Mujahid and TTP front man Muhammad Khurasani had issued statements early this month, announcing extension in the ceasefire till May 30.

No official statement has been issued so far regarding the indefinite extension in ceasefire but Dawn has been able to get confirmation of this significant development.

The development follows days of "intense and extensive negotiations" in the Afghan capital attended by senior level delegations from the two sides that at one point seemed close to breakdown.

IEA’s Acting Minister for Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani

...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, who is the central mediator, helped bring the talks back on track, sources said.

The GoP, sources said, had demonstrated its seriousness by acceding to some of the TTP’s demands and after the IEA suggested it would be important for confidence-building to move from preliminaries to formal and structured negotiations.

The release of prisoners and presidential pardon to two key hard boy commanders, including TTP Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
front man Moslem Khan, was one such demand.

Compensation for the dead and maimed, enforcement of Shariah regulation in Malakand, withdrawal of military from the borders and reversal of Fata merger into Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were key demands from the TTP side, these sources said.

The Shariah Nizam-e-Adl
...a Pak regulation imposing a system of Sharia. It was implemented in Swar in 2009 with the expected disastrous results...
Regulation, 2009 is still operational in Malakand division. The law was enacted following marathon negotiations with the late Maulana Sufi Muhammad.

The GoP, these sources said, had no issue with some of the TTP’s demand, but two major issues remained challenging: the reversal of Fata merger and the disbandment of the TTP as an armed hard boy group.

The GoP delegates made it clear that the merger brought about through a constitutional amendment was not up for discussion and that tribal people were the main, important stakeholders.

The TTP on its part had brought documents containing the commitment made by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah with the tribal people guaranteeing their autonomy in an independent Pakistain.

They were told that the reversal of the merger would mean return to the Frontier Crimes Regulation which was a relic of the British Empire and did not contain anything that could be considered ’Islamic.’ They were asked to identify laws that had been enacted post-merger which they deemed to be in contravention of their customs or the ’riwaj.’

Besides, the 25th Constitutional Amendment that brought about Fata’s merger into KP is pending before a larger bench of the Supreme Court

...the political football known as The Highest Court in the Land, home of penumbrae and emanations...
of Pakistain since March, 2022 on a petition filed by some tribal elders opposed to it.

The disbandment of the TTP is another make-or-break issue, these sources said. The government delegation has made it plain that no gang would be allowed to enter Pakistain territory or operate as such. Options are being discussed and the IEA is fully on-board in this regard.

The next round of negotiations is expected to take place in the second week of June, sources said, with a tribal jirga holding direct talks with the TTP in Kabul.

Link

India-Pakistan

The marriage age debate

2019-05-17

[DAWN] THE new debate over the minimum marriage age for girls has revealed a massive regression in our society’s social thinking and the implications are truly alarming.

Ninety years ago, a Hindu member of the Central Assembly of India moved a bill to fix the minimum age for the marriage of girls belonging to his community, so that the evil of child marriage could be tackled. Mohammad Ali Jinnah insisted on extending the protection of the proposed measure to Moslem girls, too. Many Moslem members of the assembly opposed him, but no member from any religious community challenged his right to have his say.

Recently, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a non-Moslem member of the ruling party, moved a bill to raise the marriage age for girls to 18 years. A Moslem minister not only disagreed with him, but also challenged his right to move the bill, implying thereby that Vankwani’s belief debarred him from raising a matter that could affect Moslem girls. Retrogressive thinking of this order has not been witnessed in our legislative history ‐ neither before Independence, nor after it.

Link

India-Pakistan

Court moved for removal of ‘N’ from PML-N

2018-08-08

[DAWN] A lawyer has moved the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar

...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
High Court seeking orders for the Election Commission of Pakistain to remove ’N’ from the name of the PML-N after the conviction of party supremo Nawaz Sharif

... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
for corruption.

Khanzada Ajmal Zeb filed the petition saying ’N’ in the PML-N stands for Nawaz Sharif and since the former premier was convicted in a corruption case, the court should ask the ECP to delete ’N’ from the PML-N.

The respondents in the petition are the chief election commissioner, ECP secretary and Nawaz Sharif.

The petitioner said Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the head of the Moslem League, who wanted the party to be a symbol of good governance, development and national interest.

He said Nawaz Sharif was responsible for the division of the PML as he had hijacked the party before forming own faction, PML-N and registering it with the ECP.

The petitioner said the former premier was recently sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by an accountability court for corruption.

Link

India-Pakistan

No place for 'judicial martial law' in Constitution, says CJP

2018-03-24

[DAWN] Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday dismissed rumours of the possibility of "judicial martial law" being imposed in the country, saying that there was no Constitutional provision for such a move.

He also stated unequivocally that autocratic rule would not flourish in Pakistain as long as he is chief justice.

Addressing a congregation of students at Lahore's Cathedral Church on Pakistain Day, the CJP said, "The kind of things that are being said about a judicial martial law ‐ the Constitution does not allow any such thing."

The CJP asserted that he had "taken an oath to protect the Constitution".

"Any deviation from the Constitution will not be tolerated," he declared, vowing that he would not allow "democracy to be derailed in the country".

He said he hoped the upcoming elections would be independent and the next government would be formed in accordance with the Constitution.

He insisted that it was the duty of a judge to treat everyone, be it a ruler or a citizen, equally.

On the occasion, the CJP declared that the minorities of Pakistain were "very dear to the judiciary", recalling that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had said on numerous occasions that non-Moslem communities in Pakistain would have the same rights as the Moslem majority.

Link

India-Pakistan

Jinnah’s address

2017-08-12

[DAWN] IT is the greatest leader’s greatest speech.

Seventy years ago today, Mohammad Ali Jinnah took to the floor of the Constituent Assembly as its first elected president and delivered the iconic lines, "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this state of Pakistain. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state."

He added: "We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one state."

Seventy years later, Mr Jinnah’s founding vision and direction for the country have yet to be realised. Indeed, an argument can be made that this nation has drifted further than ever from the one that he had envisioned. The founding father had warned that the "first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state", but society itself has fallen prey to extremism and an infrastructure of hate.

Link

India-Pakistan

All in the family

2017-08-02

[DAWN] There is the letter of the law and there is good politics. There is recovering from a legal blow and there is doubling down on mistakes. There are the Sharifs and there is good sense.

In the days since Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
’s judicial ouster, the PML-N has hunkered down and devised a new political strategy: the rule of the Sharifs as far as the eye can see and potentially beyond. Or, as Saad Rafique has boasted, remove one Sharif and the party will bring a second, third and fourth Sharif to replace him.

It is a political party’s right to choose its leader and in the controversial circumstances of Mr Sharif’s dismissal, it was inevitable that the ousted prime minister’s preferences would dominate the succession question. But the utter myopia of the Sharifs is dismaying and politically worrying.

Three decisions the PML-N has had to make since Mr Sharif’s ouster and not one of them has been necessary or wise. The first is to instal Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as a stopgap prime minister. Why? Mr Abbasi and many of his colleagues in the erstwhile federal cabinet are perfectly capable of running the government until the general election scheduled for next year.

After all, the PML-N never ceases to remind the nation of its governance credentials and experienced team. The only, and obvious, disqualification of Mr Abbasi and his colleagues for being a PML-N prime minister for a day longer than necessary is that their surnames are not Sharif.

In the 70th year of the country’s existence, the party that usurped the name of the party of Mohammad Ali Jinnah is a nepotistic disgrace. The decision to summarily elevate the younger Sharif brother from Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
to the centre is also politically problematic.

Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
’s desire to play a role at the federal level has been well known in political circles for many years. But he was thwarted -- and denied federal executive experience that could have proved useful today -- because of his brother’s determination to remain prime minister and not have the distraction of a potential rival power centre in the federal capital.

He has been an MNA before, in 1990, but when he is likely sworn in as one again two months from now, it will be to a vastly different parliament and power structure in Islamabad. In truth, Shahbaz Sharif as prime minister is a political experiment that could spectacularly backfire.

Finally, there is the truly unsettling possibility of Hamza Sharif discarding his MNA robes and returning to the Punjab Assembly to take over from his father. Like the House of Saud, the House of Sharifs appears to be preparing for an intergenerational transfer of power.

Perhaps the only temporary grace is that Maryam Nawaz is not part of the immediate succession plans, though that may change. Truly, the Sharifs have morphed into something worse than the Bhuttos.

Link

India-Pakistan

After Sehwan

2017-02-22

[DAWN] It will soon enough be 70 years since Pakistain came into existence, under the aegis of a founding father who clearly declared, on the eve of independence, that he did not envisage any barriers between faiths or any interference by the state in the personal beliefs of its citizens. But, as the Objectives Resolution adopted by an undemocratic assembly barely months after his demise illustrates, Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s secular ideals cut little ice with those who had used him in the preceding years as a conduit for their pseudo-religious fantasies.

This year also brings another landmark anniversary. By and large, Islamist fundamentalism remained on the periphery of Pak politics until 1977. Sure, much had gone wrong before then, but it was the advent of Gen Zia ul Haq

...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
’s military dictatorship that effectively sealed the nation’s fate.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pledge reaffirmed to root out terrorism

2016-08-16

[DAWN] As the nation celebrated its Independence Day on Sunday, the leadership of the country vowed to eliminate terrorism from the motherland and declared that the sacrifices of deaders would not be in vain.

Addressing a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Convention Centre in Islamabad, President Mamnoon Hussain touched upon several important issues, such as terrorism and the National Action Plan, the independence movement, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s advice to the nation, as well as the freedom movement in held Kashmire and Indian atrocities.

President Hussain, who was chief guest on the occasion, hoisted the national flag along with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
. Federal ministers and services chiefs were also present.

The president said the menace of terrorism would be eliminated from the country by carrying out decisive actions with a renewed determination. "Every visible and invisible enemy will be chased and crushed, in order to establish durable peace in the country."

The president said the Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
military operation under the National Action Plan had produced encouraging results and it would continue till its logical conclusion.

Interestingly, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif
..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all....
, at a recent high-level meeting of military top brass, has expressed dissatisfaction over pace of implementation on NAP.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pakistan’s peacekeeping role highlighted

2015-10-24

Something I'd wondered about. Perhaps you did, too, dear Reader.

[Dawn] RAWALPINDI: While the world celebrates Oct 24 as the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
Day, it must not forget the role and sacrifices of Pakistain Army in UN peacekeeping missions all over the world.

Pakistain's commitment with the UN for promoting international peace and prosperity stems from the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Pakistain's role in peacekeeping efforts began in 1960 when it deployed its first contingent in the UN operations in Congo. Over the past 55 years, the country has been the most significant and consistent contributor to the UN peacekeeping around the world.

Pak peacekeepers have left no stone unturned in the noble cause of helping humanity, building peace and bringing stability across the regions under the banner of United Nations, said an Inter Services Public Relations statement on Friday.

Pakistain has contributed more than 160,000 troops to-date in 41 missions spread over 23 countries in almost all continents, it said.

The country has remained one of the largest troop contributing countries consistently for many years.

At present, Pakistain is contributing more than 7,500 personnel of all ranks deployed in six UN missions.

According to the New York Times, through 2014 countries participating in UN missions were paid an average of $1210/soldier/month, so Pakistan has been earning about $9,075,000/month less expenses on the backs of its noble peacekeepers.

In pursuance of its commitment to the noble cause of international peace and tranquillity 144 Pak troops, among them 23 officers, have given the ultimate sacrifice in UN missions and almost an equal number of troops have been maimed.

The performance of Pak peacekeepers has been acknowledged by numerous world leaders and the UN leadership.

The undisputed high professional standing enjoyed by Pak peacekeepers has given them the honour of being one of the most desired bodies of troops in each UN peacekeeping mission, the ISPR statement said.

Link

India-Pakistan

A post-Zia Pakistan?

2015-08-17

[DAWN] INFLUENTIAL leaders continue shaping national fate posthumously through concrete legacies. Viewed so, unfortunately Gen Zia ul Haq

...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
arguably emerges as Pakistain's most influential leader ever, whose legacies still haunt Pakistain decades later.

Time and health did not allow Mohammad Ali Jinnah to bequeath a definitive legacy which could clarify his vision for Pakistain given his contrasting speeches about state and religion. Ayub Khan's legacy of a centralised polity and lopsided elitist development was quickly dismantled by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More