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India-Pakistan
8 terrorists, aides absconding in TADA cases for 3 decades arrested in Doda: SIA
2023-09-06
Cold Case: India.


State Investigation Agency (SIA), the anti-terror arm of the J&K Police, has arrested eight absconding hard boyz and their associates involved in serious crimes of terrorism and disruptive activities.

The SIA on Thursday said that the TADA cases were registered around three decades ago in different Police Stations of district Doda and chargesheeted in the TADA Court, Jammu.

"These absconding hard boyz had managed to escape from the clutches of law for decades by going underground and remaining untraced for sometime and then resurfaced to enjoy normal family life at their native or some distant places. Some of these terrorist absconders have managed to get government services and contracts, others found engaged in private businesses and even working in the court," the SIA officials said here.

The arrested persons include Adil Farooq Faridi son of Abdul Ghani Faridi of House No 230, Sahidi Chowk Jammu (government employee presently posted in JKBOSE, Jammu); Muhammad Iqbal alias Javed, son of Sikander Khan of Asthan Mohalla, Doda; Mujahid Hussain alias Nisar Ahmad, son of Abdul Rasheed Gathwan of Asthan Mohalla, Doda; Tariq Hussain, son of Ghulam Ali Misger of Barshalla, Doda; Ishtiaq Ahmad Dev alias Ajaz, son of Muhammad Ayoub Dev of Sah Mohalla, Doda; Ajaz Ahmad alias Muhammad Iqbal, son of Abdul Rehman of Dandi Bhaderwah; Jameel Ahmad alias Jugnu alias Chika Khan, son of Faiz Ahmad of Kursari, Bhaderwah; and Ishfaq Ahmad, son of Ghulam Ahmad Sheikh of Bun Doda (working as writer in Court Complex Doda).

"They will be produced before the TADA and POTA Court Jammu in pursuance of warrants issued against the aforementioned absconder terrorists," they said.

The SIA officials said that these terrorist absconders were involved in kidnapping for ransom and threat to kill one Ghulam Muhammad Wani of Doda at gunpoint (Case FIR No 158/1992 under Sections 3, 4 of TADA, 364 RPC, 3/25 Arms Act of Police Station Doda), kidnapping for ransom and killing of Muhammad Sadiq and Tariq Hussain of Doda from their home on April 23, 1994 night. Tariq Hussain was later killed and Muhammad Sadiq seriously injured. (Case FIR No 48/1993 under Sections 3 and 4 of TADA, 302 and 307 of Ranbir Penal Code, and 3/25 of the Arms Act, Police Station Doda).

"It also included instigating people by setting false narrative during the prayer of Shab-e-Qadr in Jamia Masjid Doda and other mosques of Doda, atrocities committed on the innocent people of Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
 and motivated them to observe strike in Doda at the gunpoint by these hard boyz (Case FIR No 58/1991 under Sections 3 and 4 of TADA, 153/194-A of RPC of Police Station Doda), and recovery of huge cache of arms and ammunition on June 22, 1994 concealed by these hard boyz under the ground at Shambaz area (Case FIR No 101/1994 under Sections 3 and 4 of TADA and 3/25 of the Arms Act of Police Station Doda)," they said.

The SIA said that in pursuance of its larger objective and mandate of achieving zero terrorism in J&K, it had initiated a special drive to trace and produce before the concerned court all absconders of terrorism related cases for facing trial under law.
Good job, guys — you are to be congratulated.
"The SIA has so far verified and identified 369 (215 in Jammu and 154 in Kashmir) absconders out of 734 absconders (317 in Jammu and 417 in Kashmir) in 327 TADA and POTA cases. Of the 369 verified absconders, 127 remained untraced, 80 have died and 45 are residing in Pakistain or PoK and other countries abroad and four are lodged in jail," the SIA officials said. "How these absconder hard boyz managed to escape from the law and live normal life at their native place without being traced for so long and other aspects of larger criminal conspiracy and nexus thereof and role of insiders if any will also be investigated by the SIA."
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Afghanistan
Rights Body Slams Taliban For High Civilian Death Toll
2016-02-16
Why would the Taliban care about the censure of unbelievers?
[Tolo News] The Institute For Human Rights Studies on Monday blasted the Taliban for their role in the high civilian corpse count in Afghanistan, and called on the group to stop spilling to blood of innocent Afghans.

"The civilian corpse count hit unprecedented heights in 2015. We as human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
 study institutions blame Taliban Lions of Islam for the corpse count," Laila Jaffary, head of the Institute For Human Rights Studies said.

In addition, the institute called on gangs to value the lives of the civilians during their military campaigns.

"The people of Afghanistan, children and women should no longer be sacrificed for insurgency. I want to call on bully boyz to avoid posing further destruction to the people of Afghanistan and avoid sacrificing their own for a regional game," a member of the Institute for Human Rights Studies Faiz Ahmad Sadaq, said.

The statements come a day after the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
 Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Sunday launched its Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Annual Report 2015 and said that last year they recorded the highest number of civilian casualties in a single year in Afghanistan.

The annual report, produced by UNAMA in coordination with the UN Human Rights Office, shows that increased ground fighting in and around populated areas, along with suicide and other attacks in major cities, were the main causes of conflict-related civilian deaths and injuries in 2015.

Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA said in a statement: "This report records yet another rise in the number of civilians hurt or killed. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable."

He went on to say: "We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop to the killing and maiming of civilians in 2016."

Meanwhile,
...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw...
 speaking at a presser to launch the report, Danielle Bell, Director Human Rights Unit, UNAMA, said conflict-related violence is increasingly impacting Afghan civilians. "Last year, UNAMA documented 3,545 civilian deaths and 7,457 injured (a total of 11,002 civilian casualties), a four percent increase from 2014, and the highest number of total civilian casualties recorded in a single year by UNAMA," she said.
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India-Pakistan
Wounds of Waziristan
2015-06-27
[NATION.PK] A few days ago the Government of Pakistain celebrated the successes of Operation 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!)...
 in North Wazoo and other parts of FATA over the last one year. Justifiably the official reports quoted figures about the number of holy warriors taken out in the aerial bombardments and ground operations. Also justifiably, were given the numbers of personals of LEAs who sacrificed their lives in fighting to defend the country against terrorism. The people of Pakistain are obviously proud of their soldiers who have given supreme sacrifices in a war being fought for defending them. They are genuine heroes and there are no two opinions about that.

But what about the Pashtuns of FATA in general, and the Pashtuns of Waziristan in particular?
You know, the guys who were harboring the bad guys...
What horrible tragedies have they been through for not just the last one year, but during the last decade for no fault of theirs?

Who has ever investigated into and registered their heart wrenching miseries and agonies during their brutal occupation by Al Qaeda, Haqqani Network and TTP when North Waziristan was turned into the capital of terrorism in the region?
It was the Pak govt that let it happen.
Hundreds and hundreds of pro-state maliks and tribal elders were murdered by holy warriors to make an example out of them and the responsible state authorities were not even bothered enough to offer mere condolences to the bereaved families, let alone providing them justice.
That's because the govt regarded the bad guyz as being in their side.
For years it was a routine for the people of Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
 and Mir Ali to find dead bodies dumped on the roads in the morning with a written chit on their chests accusing them to be spies and with warnings to the rest of the population. The illustrious Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz seems to have written the line for them when he said, "We who have been killed (unknown) in the dark alleys." The bitter fact is that the colonial policy regarding FATA, as a strategic space for the great games in the region, still continue. It is even worse than being a periphery or political backyard.

In December 2001 when OBL and other Al Qaeda leaders were holed up in Tora Bora in the border area of Afghanistan facing heavy US bombardment, a number of their followers entered Pakistain via Tirah valley of Khyber Agency and Khurram Agency that were closest to Tora Bora. Many of them were caught by the Army deployed in the area and handed over to the US. But the senior holy warriors knew better. They walked south inside Afghanistan before turning left and entered through the open borders into South and North Waziristan where they gradually established bases and started the Pak-supported third war in Afghanistan. Musharraf was accused by many for his famous u-turn but actually it was a double u-turn that literally handed over Waziristan to holy warriors starting a nightmare for the people of the area that has yet to be over. He has recently owned this war in a public interview. Terrorist killings, Drone attacks and military operations became a routine for many years after that, making life a living hell for the locals. They had to pay the price for misguided state policy towards Afghanistan.

There is not much in terms of an institutional record of their suffering, even when more than a million of them had to leave their homes and hearths at a notice of few hours and become IDPs in June 2014 just before the start of Zarb-e-Azb. Yes there were some symbolic gestures made by the high state functionaries for a few days in the beginning but that was all about it. Even after the high profile approval of the 20 point NAP in December 2014 after the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), 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.
 tragedy, in which winning the hearts and minds of the IDPs (better known locally as Intentionally Displaced Pashtuns) was an important point, nothing has changed. For the media, which has always looked at FATA from Islamabad's telescope, there were many distractions. Prolonged brawls over "Takht-e-Lahore", the Saudi war in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
and turns and twists in the Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
 operation were important enough to dominate the media head lines leaving no space for the news emanating from Waziristan. So when on June 22 the IDPs in Bakka Khel camp in Bannu protested against the lack of water, and the security forces opened fire on them, there was no place for the incident in the news. Neither the Governor of Pakhtunkhwa nor the Minister of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) bothered to visit the camp or issue a condolence message. Even the provincial government turned a blind eye towards them. Do the Pashtun need any further proof about the cheapness of their blood?

There has been a lot of talk about the repatriation of the displaced Pashtuns but the picture on the implementation side is dismal. Although there are official claims about the clearance of 90 percent of the North Waziristan territory, so far only a small town Idak has been formally declared to be "cleared" from holy warriors to which the displaced persons can return after Ramazan. No decision has been made so far about the wide Tochi valley that includes the towns of Mir Ali and Miranshah. Most of the residential and commercial areas have been destroyed in the towns but there is no tangible plan to reconstruct them. In fact, to the horror of local population the authorities were seen bulldozing some of the structures that are still intact. The wisdom behind it, if there is any, has to be explained to the people. Even the "cleared area" is not accessible to media or civil society to know about the collateral damage and the current security situation on the ground. A number of holy warriors have been holed up since June 2014 in the areas of Shawal and Datakhel. The area regularly receives aerial bombardment and drone strikes but the ground forces have yet to clear it. Interestingly enough more than one hundred thousand displaced people, who had crossed into Afghanistan, find no mention in the repatriation plans. The worst aspect of the whole process is the total absence of parliamentary or political oversight. The black out of the situation in media is complete. The process is totally monopolised by civil and military babus bureaucrats who have insisted on signing of the humiliating "social contract" for the repatriation despite wide spread opposition from the local population and public opinion. Lest we forget, Waziristan is but an epitome of the situation in FATA.
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India-Pakistan
ATC issues death warrants of two convicts
2014-12-25
[DAWN] An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday issued death warrants of two condemned prisoners convicted on terrorism charges.

Presiding judge Muhammad Qasim issued the warrants on an application of superintendent of Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
 jail.

The superintendent stated that condemned prisoner Faiz Ahmad was awarded death penalty in 2006 for killing Lance Naik Tariq Mahmood in Nankana Sahib.

He said the appeal of the convict against the sentence was also dismissed by the superior courts.

He said the second prisoner on death row, Muhammad Sharif, was convicted in 2000 for involvement in various terrorism activities. The jail chief pointed out that mercy petitions of the convicts had also been rejected by President. Therefore, he asked the court to issue death warrants of the convicts for their execution. The court allowed the application and issued the death warrants.
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Afghanistan
Dr. Abdullah Survives Taliban Ambush
2014-02-22
[Tolo News] Afghan presidential candidate Dr Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
 survived a Taliban attack on Wednesday on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, his campaign said.

The attack occurred on Wednesday about 4:30 pm, when a group of gunnies targeted Abdullah's convoy while he was returning to Kabul from an electoral campaign event in 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.

"Yesterday after participating in a gathering...Dr Abdullah was on his way from Nangarhar province to Kabul, when he was targeted in the Tangi Abrasham area of Sorobi district," said campaign front man Fazal Rahman Oria. "Fortunately no one was hurt and then Abdullah went to Sorobi district and gave a speech."

Oria condemned the attack, and accused the government of neglecting in providing security for the candidates.

"Unfortunately I must say that the government should provide security and arrange forces in the area, which the government didn't," Oria added.

Ministry of Interior Spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told TOLOnews that the attack was on police forces and not Abdullah. Sediqqi added that candidates should cooperate with the ministry and that police forces took control of the area after the attack.

Taliban front man Zabiullah Mujahid grabbed credit for the attack and said that three of Abdullah's personal guards were killed in the attack.

Previously, unknown gunnies rubbed out two of Abdullah's in the western city of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
, highlighting concerns about security in the run-up to the April vote.
Shujahudeen and Dr Faiz Ahmad Hamdard were rubbed out just one day before the official start of the election campaign in early February.

Security has been a top concern for Afghan officials leading into this year's elections, which come as President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
 leaves office and the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
 coalition leaves Afghanistan.

A number of presidential candidates have mounted criticisms recently against what they say are insufficient security measures being taken to protect the elections.
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Afghanistan
Afghan Presidential Candidate's Aides Shot Dead in Herat
2014-02-03
[Tolo News] Unknown gunnies rubbed out two aides of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
 late on Saturday in the western city of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
, highlighting concerns about security in the run-up to the April vote.

Shujahudeen and Dr Faiz Ahmad Hamdard were rubbed out on Saturday around 06:30 pm by unknown gun men driving a car, officials said, while they were finishing campaigning for Abdullah, officials said.

"It's our rivals who are behind it," said Fazl Rahman Orya, a front man for Abdullah Abdullah, who declined to name anyone.

"No one coordinated with us regarding Dr Abdullah's electoral campaign and about their office. And regarding whether they were Dr Abdullah's electoral campaign aides or not, we cannot confirm that because till yet electoral campaigning are not started officially and there were no coordinating information with police from before," said Samiullah Qatra, Provincial Police Chief.

The killing occurred just one day before the official start of the election campaign.

Security officials in Herat province say no one has yet grabbed credit for the attack, and the police have started investigations.

Taliban faceless myrmidons have threatened to target the candidates.
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Afghanistan
Herat Court Sentences Money Smuggler to 3 Years Jail
2012-11-23
[Tolo News] A man in western Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
 province has been sentenced to three years jail for attempting to smuggle almost US$1million to Iran, officials said Thursday.

The Herat Primary Court also ruled on Wednesday that the man should pay a fine of $900,000 -- the amount confiscated from him -- and it should be paid into the state treasury.

Herat resident Faiz Ahmad was captured a few months ago carrying US$900,000 in cash at a border crossing with Iran. He is said to have admitted that the money was his and he was trying to transfer it out of the country.

"After investigating this case, he is sentenced to three years of serving in prison and penalized a US$900,000 cash fine," said the Herat primary court judge Ghulam Rasoul Mansour.

Under Afghan law, it is illegal to transfer cash of more than 1 million Afghanis or its equivalent in a foreign currency to another country.

It is first time in at least a year that a money smuggler has been sentenced to prison in Herat. Judicial institutions say that several other cases are under investigation.

The Herat Primary Court also sentenced a man to three years imprisonment for robbing valuable stones from the shrine of Gawhar Shad Begum's dome.

"This man was charged for the robbery of rocks and the court sentences him to three years jail," Mansour ruled.
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India-Pakistan
Pakistan shocked, shocked as Punjab governor killed by bodyguard
2011-01-06
[Arab News] The governor of Pakistain's wealthiest and most populous province was rubbed out in the capital Tuesday by one of his own guards, who later told interrogators that he was angry about the politician's stance against the country's blasphemy law, officials said.

The attacker, Malik Mumtaz Qadri from Elite Force of Punjab, shot up the governor at Kohsar Market in Islamabad where Taseer went for lunch with friends.

An intelligence official interrogating Qadri said the commando boasted about the liquidation, saying he was proud to have killed a blasphemer. Qadri, 26, pumped nine bullets into Taseer, hitting him in chest and face.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said seven people were jugged for investigation. He said security was being beefed up around Christian localities across the country.

"We will see whether it was an individual act or weather someone had asked him to do it," said Malik. "It was one shot first and then a burst. I think nine or 10 shots," said R.A. Khan, a witness. "I rushed over and saw coppers pinning down another police commando, who was lying on road with his face down."

Five other people were maimed as other security personnel responded to the attack.

Taseer's funeral prayer would be offered on Wednesday at the Governor House in Lahore.

Taseer was a member of Pakistain People's Party (PPP) and a close associate of President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who showed remarkably little curiosity about who actually done her in ...
. In recent days, as the PPP has faced the loss of its coalition partners, the 56-year-old Taseer insisted that the government would survive. It was his very public stance against the blasphemy law that apparently led to his killing.

Pakistain's blasphemy law has come under greater scrutiny in recent weeks after a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The law effectively prescribes death for anyone convicted of insulting Islam.

During a recent interview with Arab News, Taseer said: "I do not have the authority to remit the death sentence ... she (Aasia) has filed a mercy petition addressed to the president and I will send her petition to the president with favorable recommendation."

Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minority affairs, said Pakistain's religious minorities would join the PPP in two-week mourning for Taseer.

Taseer, son of a poet, Muhammad Din Taseer, and nephew of legendary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, was born in Lahore. He went to the city's St. Anthony's School and Government College and then to London School of Economics. In 1977, he joined Tehrik-e-Istiqlal and in 1979, after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's execution, he joined the PPP.

All politicians including Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain, Pakistain Mohammedan League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Müslim League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
 Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Information Minister Fauzia Wahab, condemned the liquidation. Gilani announced a three-day period of national mourning and ordered flags lowered to half-mast.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
 Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Fazlur Rahman, who is currently in Madinah, said that in a country where there are courts, legislative assemblies and other organs of a democratic state, nobody should take the law into their own hands. "I condemn it. I am a political worker and believe in democracy. Any act that derails the political system is not in the interest of Pakistain," he said.

Rahman said there is extremism on both sides. "There are some people in Pakistain who in their quest to please the West describe jihad -- which is a just struggle -- as terrorism. Parliament should enact laws that leave no room for anybody to violate the principles of Islam," he said.

Riyadh-based Pak national Faiz Al-Najdi said he was shocked by the killing. "I condemn this ghastly incident and I believe this should be condemned by all. Pakistain is visibly in the grip of anarchy. Such incidents surely bring a bad name to the people and the country. It is needless to underscore here that violence breeds violence and it would only put the country on the path of anarchy. And, I believe ultimately this would lead to Pakistain's destruction." He said the killing indicates that the security apparatus in the country has been penetrated by the Islamic myrmidon elements who have been indoctrinated to resort to violence. "In my opinion, it is about time the security forces in the country take stock of such situation."

In 1981, Taseer married Amna Haq. Taseer is survived by seven children.
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India-Pakistan
Cultural boundaries: We are not them!
2008-12-06
By Hasan Zafar

Back in 2005 I came to Pakistan in a time when ‘moderate enlightenment’ was much being taught and talked about, I was surprised to see how India was marvelled for her advancement in the IT field and not to say a couple of box office hits Bollywood had produced. It was mostly people who were associated with the fashion industry and the entertainment industry in Pakistan who spoke too highly of the Indian achievements. And why not, they were getting envious receptions and rewards for speaking of ‘no cultural differences’ between India and Pakistan. No cultural differences? That means the ‘Two Nation Theory’ upon which the creation of Pakistan was based, was false. No wonder such people got red carpet receptions and warm welcomes, not to speak of the ‘contracts’ given to them by the film industry in Mumbai.

These people who spoke ‘their language’ and insisted that music could help ‘melt’ the geographical boundaries. I mean, frankly speaking, singers who probably never made well up to their high schools were making such statements. And overwhelmingly, they got applause from their Indian hosts for the ‘nice and humanistic approach’ they demonstrated. So, should I listen to these singers and comedians performing in India or should I listen to what Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Allama Iqbal, Maulana Altaf Husein Hali, Maulana Shibli Naumani, Sir Agha Khan and Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah said on the cultural identity of the Indian Muslims?

Here I am only taking an opportunity in the wake of the current scenario to talk about the Indian mindset that has surfaced in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks and that supports my long standing argument on the way we need to approach our relationship with India. And I believe that needs to be done with this in mind that ‘they are not us’ and we must keep a check on ‘over excitement’ in terms of our relations with a country that has aimed to demolish our identity in peace times.

This was Kuldip Nayyar (a veteran Indian journalist), meeting some friends at a private gathering in Lahore this summer where he pleaded the case of ‘friendship through linguistic ties’. Again, that we speak one language and that language is a binding force; hence geographical boundaries matter less when it comes to a shared language and therefore a common culture, nicely leading to ‘no cultural differences’. I asked Mr. Nayyar whether language was all we needed to form a common culture. And if so, how come Arabic speaking Middle East was divided into so many countries/nations? How come Polish and Russians were different nations since they could understand each other or why did not British and Americans become just one nation since they spoke the same language or by that definition why did not the English and the Irish people become one nation? Or for that reason if the basic notes of the music played in India and Pakistan are the same we are the same nation? If that is so, by drinking tea in the morning instead of lassi (yogurt shake) we can become British according to this theory!

And where were the linguistic ties when the trains full of Muslims migrating from Indian to Pakistan in 1947 were looted and mass massacre was carried out? Where was this shared culture when Pakistani cricketers received empty bottles and abuses from the spectators in the Eden Garden Stadium in Kolkata? Or why did not it work when the same culture Indians sent their army in the East Pakistan? Sure, we need to look forward to a better future but must we forget all that? But how can I believe in all that, when recently Samjhota Express (the friendship train between India and Pakistan) was attacked in the Indian territory during the peace talks? And why cannot those Pakistani artists see the Indian films engaged in demonising Pakistan’s image or the hatred and prejudice shown by the Indian television media in the last few days and even before? The Indian character as displayed by their film industry and television media and the human rights record of the largest democracy of India in terms of handling of its minorities (both Christians and Muslims in India) is a bit too ugly to be treated as a model.

Friendship is a nice sounding notion but how does one progress in this area when one party is constantly busy in demolishing and challenging the other’s identity? Mr Nayyar insisted that friendship was important and he came up with the idea of a United South Asia on the pattern of the European Union. It was a time when there were reports of India nearing the inauguration of the Baghliar Dam on the River Chenab and I asked Mr. Nayyar if that was a good way of making advancement on the path of friendship by stopping our water? Or was that a right way of promoting friendship by giving a few bucks to the singers and other artists from Pakistan to make statements against the ‘Two Nation Theory’ (that there are no cultural differences between India and Pakistan) in the programmes on Indian television channels? I was finally told by him that I had spoken much and now others should be given an opportunity. The rest of the evening I was a silent spectator.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz said, ‘If we begin our history from Mohenjodaro, we will be compelled to own the succeeding periods of history which include the periods of Barhama culture, and the period of Greek culture, and in consequence we will have to accommodate Ashok, Chandra Gupt, Alexander the Great, Raja Porus and Raja Risaloo among our heroes’. My point of view is that Pakistan’s history starts from August 14, 1947, with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah stating that a ‘new nation is born’ and later Faiz affirming this point of view by saying that “With the partition of the Subcontinent a new country came into existence and a new nation was born — Pakistani nation”.

And I maintain that our culture must be defined in terms of the sense of separation upon which the division of the Subcontinent took place. The formation of a nation is based on a shared experience of history and a collective past, and the experience which the Muslims of the Subcontinent shared in terms of the prejudice of the Hindus against the Indian Muslims laid the foundations of Pakistan. One needs to refresh in mind the events that led to a distancing of the Muslims from the Indian National Congress in 1906. Events like the Hindu dominated Congress’ stand against the Persian language as the official language of India because it was written in the same script as the Holy Quran, or the opposition to any such developments that in anyway benefited the Muslims in India during the British Raj. ‘Mr. Nayyar’, I said, ‘I understand your nostalgia for the past when you lived in Sialkot (now Pakistan), that is your reality. But I am born in Pakistan and that is my reality. And my reality does not allow me to be linked with the Indian culture in anyway by means as absurd as music or a common language.

The writer holds an M Phil degree in film and television and teaches at various universities
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India-Pakistan
Curriculum of hate
2008-06-08
By Dr Farrukh Saleem

Afghanistan, Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Syria, UAE, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Iraq, Maldives, Djibouti, Benin, Brunei, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mozambique, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Suriname, Togo, Guyana and Côte d'Ivoire are all Muslim-majority states. Can you name the one -- and the only -- Muslim-majority state where Muslims blew up the Danish embassy killing at least eight other Muslims?

Why, why Pakistan? I don't have all the answers, and I am sure no one does. But, please have a look at what the Punjab Textbook Board is teaching eleven-year old Pakistanis. Here is a paragraph from the Social Studies textbook for Class 7, page 43 (written by Professor Dr M H Bokhari and Syed Hassan Tahir):

"European nations have been working during the past three centuries, through conspiracies on naked aggression to subjugate the countries of the Muslim world."

Here is a paragraph that was not part of the previous year's Pakistan Studies but has been inserted in the textbook for the current academic year. This text was written by Muhammad Hussain Chaudhry, Ali Iqtadar Mirza, Sheikh Anees, Rai Faiz Ahmad Kharal, Syed Abbas Haidar and Dr Qais. This is for students of Class 9 and appears on page 3:

"The economic system of (the) west was creating unsolvable problems and had failed to do justice with the people."

Thirteen- and fourteen-year-old students of Pakistan Studies are being taught that "one of the reasons of the downfall of the Muslims in the sub-continent was the lack of the spirit of jihad (Class 9-10; Pakistan Studies, page 7)."

Imagine; thirteen-year-old Pakistanis are being taught that "In Islam jihad is very important…..The person who offers his life never dies….All the prayers nurture one's passion of jihad (Class 9-10; Pakistan Studies, page 10)."

Look at what Dr Sultan Khan, Muhammad Farooq Malik, Rai Faiz Ahmad Kharal, Muhammad Hussain Chaudhry and Khadim Ali Khan are teaching sixteen-year-old Pakistanis: "Always keep oneself ready to sacrifice one's life and property is jihad…..The basic purpose of all submissions and jihad is to keep oneself follower of the good will of Allah Almighty (Class 12; Pakistan Studies, page 4)."

At the tender age of 10, Pakistani students are discovering what the British had done to them. "The British sent rare books from these libraries to England. Thus the British ruined the Muslim schools. They did not want that Islam should spread (Class 6; Social Studies, page 99)." This text was scripted and translated by Professor Mian Muhammed Aslam, Professor Muhammed Farooq Malik and Qazi Sajjad Ahmed.

Look at the remarkable breakthrough achieved by of our learned Professor Dr M H Bokhari and Syed Hassan Tahir. In a total of 36 words, the duo has managed to capture the cause of the crusades: "History has no parallel to the extremely kind treatment of the Christians by the Muslims. Still the Christian kingdoms of Europe were constantly trying to gain control of Jerusalem. This was the cause of the crusades (Class 7; Social Studies, page 25)."

It seems as if our ministry of education is grooming our children for death rather than for life. The examples quoted above are all out of our federal ministry of education's curriculum designed by the curriculum wing. I agree that nine-, ten- and eleven-year-old students after reading these textbooks are not going to go and blow themselves up but the federal ministry of education is certainly creating a thoroughly militarized society. In that sense, our curriculum appears to have been deliberately designed to facilitate the usurpation of genuine educational space by forces of hate, violence and that of extremism. What we have is a primary and secondary school environment consciously manufactured to nurture terror, promote prejudice and breed extremism.

Our 'Curriculum of hate' is, hopefully, not producing suicide bombers but it is definitely breeding closet bombers who wholeheartedly support the ideals of suicide bombers being produced elsewhere. In essence, the two -- suicide bombers and closet bombers -- have a strange symbiotic relationship whereby the parasite cannot survive without a receptive host. And, the receptive host is all around us -- courtesy the ministry of education, government of Pakistan. Why is our ministry of education so bent upon preparing our kids for death and not for life?
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India-Pakistan
Pindi suicide blasts: ATC issues arrest warrants for five, including Mehsud
2008-04-02
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) No 1 on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and his four associates over their alleged involvement in two separate suicide bombings in Rawalpindi. Proceedings have been adjourned until April 21.

Mehsud and his accomplices — Ikramullah, Faiz Ahmad, Qari Nazir and Qari Ismail — have been accused of involvement in last yearar’s bombing of a police picket at Golf Road, and that of an Army Medical College bus near the General Headquarters (GHQ).

The court, headed by Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman, has already issued arrest warrants for the five militants in Benazir Bhutto’s murder case. The judge ordered a joint investigation team of security agencies to arrest the accused, and submit a compliance report before the court.

The court also extended the judicial remand of Rafaqat and Hasnain Gul, who are allegedly involved in the two bombings. The two were brought to the court under tight security, and were later moved to Adiala Jail.
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Afghanistan
Soldier among 10 killed in Afghanistan
2006-07-26
A roadside bomb along a busy Kabul road killed two Afghans on Tuesday as fighting in the eastern provinces left a US-led coalition soldier and seven suspected Taliban dead, officials said. The bomb in Kabul killed a man and a woman riding in taxi, and wounded four others, said Faiz Ahmad Hotaq, a police official.

In the eastern Kunar province, a coalition soldier, whose nationality was not disclosed, was killed on Monday in firefight with militants, a coalition statement said. Seven militants were also killed in Paktika province in clashes with coalition soldiers, it said. One coalition soldier was slightly wounded.

The US military said on Tuesday that two American engineer soldiers were seriously wounded in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Khost province. The two were on their way to a road project Sunday between the towns of Khost and Gardez when they were attacked, the military said. Their injuries were serious but not life threatening.

President Hamid Karzai, meanwhile, condemned the fatal shooting of an Afghan doctor and a driver for the international Christian relief and development organisation World Vision on Sunday after they delivered medicines to the town of Charsada in Ghor province. Karzai said in a statement that the two were killed “at the instructions of foreigners,” but did not elaborate.
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