Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Corps commanders reiterate resolve to give 'befitting response' to any Indian aggression

2019-10-04

[DAWN] The military's top brass on Thursday reiterated its resolve to give a befitting response to any Indian misadventure or aggression directed towards Pakistain and not to make any compromises which deny the right of self-determination to the people of occupied Kashmir
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....
The resolve was expressed during a Corps Commanders Conference presided over by Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa at GHQ today.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the meeting reviewed the "geostrategic and national security environment" along with the prevailing situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir, which has been under a crippling lockdown for nearly two months now.

"Commanders reiterated resolve for befitting response to any Indian misadventure or aggression being conveyed through irresponsible media statements by Indian military commanders," the military's media wing said.

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India-Pakistan

JUP to run in elections

2007-12-11

The Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) has announced that it will run in the January 8 elections.

JUP is the Brelvi faction.

The JUP is the third largest party of the six-party religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the largest component of the MMA, has already announced that it will contest the elections. The JUP election cell decided on Monday that it would run in the polls from the MMAs platform. However, there is a controversy among the MMA components as to who would use the alliances election symbol, book.

The "book" being the Koran, of course.

This little episode represents the death knell of the MMA, if we're lucky, and I've got to admit we owe it all to the combination of Perv's politicking ability and the sizes of the egos involved. Breaking up the Qazi-Fazl-Sami alliance was a major accomplishment.

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India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2007-10-14

Practical mullahs of Turkey
Columnist Amir Hashim Khakwani wrote in daily Express, that Tayyab Ardogan has shown a new strategy for Islamic movements. He faced strong opposition from the army, judiciary and bureaucracy, but opted for a liberal economy and attracted foreign investment. The opposition of Jamal Abdul Nasir by Akhwan ul Muslimeen, the Islamic Salvation Front of Algiers, the Taliban of Afghanistan, and the suicide bombers of Pakistan should learn a few hidden lessons from the peaceful revolution in Turkey.

Not even a rat is ready to support the opposition
Sarerah wrote in daily Nawa-e-Waqt, that Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) Punjab president Pir Syed Masoom Shah Naqvi said that if Nawaz Sharif starts growing a beard, they would make him president of JUP and would welcome him in Pakistan and wouldnt let him be deported again. Sarerahe said that the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) could not bring people out on the streets and what would the JUP alone do to bring people out on the streets? The government is claiming that even a rat is not ready to come out on the streets with the opposition. People went home and watched some movies and selected songs to please themselves (dil pehowari kartay hain).

Cinemas closed in Swat
As reported in Daily Pakistan, after the closure of CD shops and barber shops, people have started shifting to Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsada to set up their businesses. According to a report of the Interior Ministry of NWFP, the cinemas are closed for an indefinite period in Swat after receiving bomb attack threats. Cinemas in Nowshera also received threats from the local Taliban.

Reward for killing Danish cartoonist
As reported in daily Khabrain, an organisation associated with Al Qaeda has announced a reward of US$ 100,000 for killing the Danish cartoonist and US$ 50,000 for killing the editor of the newspaper which carried his cartoon. The Islamic state organisations head announced on an Islamic website that if Sweden didnt apologise, they would attack Swedish companies. They announced a reward of US$ 150,000 for cutting the throat of the cartoonist.

Nawaz should have arrived at Lahore airport
As reported in Daily Pakistan, the leader of Tehreek e Insaf, Imran Khan, said that Nawaz Sharif had no option but to come to Pakistan after the Supreme Courts decision in his favour. He said that after the arrival of Muqaran and Saad Hariri, Nawaz should have changed his plans. It would have been a great show if he had landed at Lahore airport.

Dispute of Imamat turns into gunfight
As reported in daily Khabrain, in Jamal Garhi, Mardan Umarzada group and Rafiq Shah group had a dispute over the Imamat (prayer leader), and opened fire on each other. Five worshippers were killed and four injured. The injured were shifted to the Mardan hospital.

People not coming out to support democracy
Kaldip Nayyar wrote in daily Express, that the episode of Nawaz Sharif proved that Pakistanis are not ready to come out on the streets for democracy. It is true that four to five thousand people were arrested before the arrival of Nawaz Sharif, but we didnt see the kind of forceful agitation for democracy as was the case in Nepal, against the King. The emotional agitation of lawyers for the restoration of the Chief Justice for four months convinced him that the people would rise if the situation arose.

Tora Bora situation in tribal areas
As reported in daily Express, ex ISI chief Hamid Gul said that a suicide attack on the army base in Tarbela could be the reaction of our support to Americas so called War on Terror. He said that the situation is out of control in the tribal areas and we should revise our policies. Instead of using force, we should rely on dialogue. He said that America wants to create an Iraq-like situation in Pakistan. He said that he agrees with Musharraf in that nobody can make Pakistan into Tora Bora, because we are doing it ourselves.

No interest-free bank in Islamic world
According to daily Jang federal religious minister Ijaz ul Haq said that our Zakat and Baitul Mal system is the best in the Islamic world. He said banks earn billion of rupees from the depositors money and the small profit given by the bank to depositors is not interest. He said no Islamic country has interest free banking.

A madrassah girl disappears mysteriously
As reported in daily Khabrain, in Jandiala Sher Khan a labourers 15 year old daughter Muqqadas disappeared from the hostel of a madrassah. She had been studying for three years to learn the Quran. Her mother went to see her and the head of the madrassah Maulvi Shah Nawaz Hashmi told her that her daughter was not coming to the madrassah and they were looking for her. She registered an FIR against Maulvi Shah Nawaz Hashmi, and appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to recover her daughter.

Duty versus prayers
As reported in daily Jang, ASP Cantt profusely abused a sub inspector who left his duty at a mosque to offer his prayers. He was later suspended. The sub inspector told policemen to be alert and then went inside the mosque to pray with the congregation. The ASP Defence arrived at the scene and asked for the in-charge, and was told that he was offering his prayers inside the mosque.

Dr Israr wants another suo moto action
In daily Jang, Dr Israr ul Haq wrote that revolutionary verdicts are being announced by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who has also freed innocent people from jail. He urged the Chief Justice to take a suo moto action and release the national hero, Dr Qadeer Khan, because according to the British newspaper The Sunday Times, and the interview of ex Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali, it is now proven that he was arrested on American pressure and that the charge sheet against him is suspicious.

Fake MBBS degrees from Afghanistan
As reported in daily Jang, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Peshawar has started investigating MD doctors in government hospitals who have acquired degrees from Afghanistan. There are 300 doctors in NWFP who have Afghan degrees, but the majority never went to Afghanistan. 200 doctors are working for the health department, and NAB sealed three clinics and arrested the doctors. Doctors may be jailed for 10 years if the investigation proves that their degrees are forged.

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India-Pakistan

Musharraf's re-election unacceptable, says JUP

2007-01-22

The Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) will not allow President General Pervez Musharraf to get himself re-elected from the present assemblies, JUP chief Shah Muhammad Ans Noorani told a press conference on Sunday. Noorani said that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) was in contact with other opposition parties and Musharrafs re-election may lead to en-bloc resignations by the opposition, creating a national crisis. Noorani criticised law and order in Punjab and urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the deteriorating situation in the province and dismiss the PML government.

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India-Pakistan

Basant cancelled under mullah pressure

2006-03-10

The Punjab government buckled under pressure from religious parties on Thursday and imposed an immediate ban on kite flying in the province, effectively cancelling the Basant festival. The prohibition order means that festive Basant activities planned for the weekend will no longer be held. Officials of the Punjab government told Daily Times that all the district governments and relevant law enforcement agencies have been directed to ensure the implementation of the ban. Violators of the ban can be punished for up to three years imprisonment or a fine of Rs 40,000, or both.

The MMA had planned a protest rally against the Basant festival today (Friday) after the Friday prayers, while a faction of the Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) had announced a shutter-down strike on Saturday. The provincial government was concerned that protests on the two days that Basant festivities would be at their peak were likely to turn violent, sources said. They said that the government has imposed the ban to avoid a law and order situation. A provincial government official said that the decision to ban kite flying immediately was taken in a meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi late on Thursday night. The meeting was also attended by Punjab Law Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja and Chief Secretary Salman Sadiq. The official said that the government took the decision to prevent more casualties in kite flying accidents. At least 10 people have died in the last 12 days while flying kites in Lahore alone. Four children were injured in the latest kite flying accident on Wednesday.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2005-08-23

Pakistani terrorists in Ayodhia
The daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that the Indian police had charged that Pakistani terrorists had attacked the temple at Ayodhia and they were recognised because they spoke Sindhi and Balochi. The conspiracy was prepared in Poonch in Held Kashmir and the training was imparted by Pakistan. Khabrain editorialised that India was once again levelling false charges of terrorism against Pakistan to benefit from the pressure being put on Pakistan after 7/7. Pakistan too had handed over proof of Indian terrorism in Pakistan. Everyone knew that India did terrorism in Pakistan through Afghanistan.

7/7 done by Jews!
Quoted in the daily Pakistan, MMA leaders said in a meeting in Lahore that the 7/7 bombings in London were organised by the Jews just like the bombings of 9/11 in America. JUP leader Mufti Hidayatullah said that Pakistan was being run by the slaves of America and Britain. Jamaatâs Lahore leader Hafiz Salman Butt said that the West had put the label of Islam on terrorism.

Hasba Bill is good!
Talking to Khabrain, Maulana Ajmal Qadiri of his own JUI faction said that the Hasba Bill was necessary because the 1973 Constitution was strangled by Mr Bhutto. He said he did not have contacts with Mullah Umar and thought that he was an emotional (jazbati) man. He said Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rehman were against each other. MMA was not terrorist but the Jamaat was responsible for violence. He said that the JUI was a natural ally of the PPP. He said instead of China, trade relations should be strengthened with India. He believed that if the NWFP government was removed, the federal government would fall too.

Qadianis not allowed, please!
As reported in the Jang, chief election commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar announced that all candidates standing for local elections would have to submit affidavits of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat so that no Qadiani could avail the right of standing for elections under otherwise joint electorates. Non-Muslims are allowed but not Qadianis. The affidavit denounces the apostatised sect.

Girls beat boys again!
Reported in Khabrain, matriculation results in the Lahore, Multan and Gujranwala divisions of the Punjab showed that girls had taken the top three positions and that girls had passed in larger numbers while 50 per cent of the boys had failed the exam for 2005. State-owned schools did not perform well. No distinction was won by their students. The English-medium private school students protested that their answer sheets were checked by Urdu-medium teachers.

9/11 was never resolved
According to Khabrain, the head of the journalism department in the University of the Punjab, Dr Mughisuddin, said that new terrorism was being spread in the name of ending terrorism. He said it was never found out as to who was responsible for the 9/11 act of terrorism in the United States.

Qadianis have joined the Jews
Reported in the Nawa-e-Waqt, a Khatm-e-Nabuwwat gathering in Muzaffarabad came to the conclusion that the Qadianis were becoming active in Kotli and Muzaffarabad and were building their places of worship that looked alarmingly like mosques. They accused the prime minister of Azad Kashmir of being Qadiani-Nawaz (favouring Qadianis) and said that the Qadianis had joined the Jews to start a conspiracy to divide Kashmir forever.

7/7 was done by Qadianis and Jews!
Quoted in the daily Pakistan, Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) leader Qari Zawwar Bahadur said in Lahore that the London bombings were done by the Qadianis and the Jews as a conspiracy against Islam. He said the Qadianis and the Jews had finally come together as enemies of Islam and their plan is to victimise the Muslims of the world. He said the breakaway factions of his JUP would soon be reunited to face the government on local elections. It was reported that after the death of the JUP founder Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, the Lahore faction of the Noorani faction led by Shah Faridul Haq and General (Retd) KM Azhar rebelled against the family of Maulana Noorani now headed by son Anas Noorani and formed a new faction.

Village council gets boy sodomised
According to Khabrain, in Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP) a village council (jirga) decided that a large number of men should take 17-year old Habib into the fields and sodomise him. Dozens of men complied and raped the boy, but after the act was completed, the ulema appeared on the scene and ruled that their nikah (contract) with their wives had become null and void. After this all the men of the village who had sodomised the boy arranged for remarriage to the wives they had lost because of sodomy. The men of the village had relied on a five-man jirga which was now in jail.

Blair did 7/7!
Speaking to the Nawa-e-Waqt, a group of great Islamic scholars of Lahore, including Sarfraz Naeemi of Jamia Naimiyya, Maulana Abdur Rehman Makki of Jamaat Dawa, Pir Saifullah, Maulana Nusrat Ali Shahani, Maulana Abdul Malik and others, said that Tony Blairâs popularity was failing, and therefore he arranged the 7/7 London bombings to unite his voters. They said that 9/11 too was a plan to grab the Muslim states; and Musharraf was committing a blunder by supporting Bush.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Religion column decision marks start of govt defeat: JUP-N

2005-03-27

The restoration of the religion column in machine-readable passports is a major defeat for rulers in the face of public pressure, said Gen (r) KM Azhar, the secretary general of Jamiat Ulema Pakistan-Noorani (JUP-N). "Soon, the anti-government movement by religious parties will compel Gen Pervez Musharraf to step down from power."

"We (the religious parties) will not sit idol [sic] till Gen Musharraf is ousted from the corridors of power. We gave Gen Musharraf a respectable way out but he violated his promises by not doffing his uniform by December 31, 2004," Azhar told Daily Times on Friday. "Gen Musharraf is working for American interests. This is unacceptable to religious and patriotic Pakistanis," he said, adding that the situation in Balochistan had been created as a result of protecting American interests in Gwadar. Azhar said that the main objective of religious parties was to depose Gen Musharraf and restore the Constitution. "The restoration of the religion column was a minor demand," he added.

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India-Pakistan

Jamiat Ulema Pakistan religious fanatics support their government against India

2002-01-07

Chief of Jamiat Ulema Pakistan and United Front, an umbrella organization of six religious parties, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani has assured every possible cooperation and help to the government to ensure national security. Addressing the central, provincial and district leaders of JUP, he said the masses including the workers of all religious parties would join the Pakistan army against any Indian misadventure to defend the homeland.
Well, that's certainly a comfort. The religious fanatics are hoping they'll find it easier bumping off Hindus than they did fighting jihad against the Americans.

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