Information

FORGOTTEN ROHINGYA
General Ne Win, who assumed power in 1962, nationalised all businesses and Muslims were the biggest losers. He also purged the armed forces and the civil bureaucracy of Muslims. Many fled to neighbouring East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Anti-Muslim riots took place in Mandlay in 1997 and again in 2001. The current rioting in Rakhine State began early June as majority Buddhists alleged that Muslim men had raped one of their women.
Muslim World Paradise turned Inferno
Saturday, September 01, 2012
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Burma (now Myanmar) has a history of persecuting its minorities, Muslims in particular. The Muslims constitute 4 per cent of its 60 million population. When I was posted at Yangon in the 1990s, local Muslims claimed that their ratio of population was much higher. The last official census was held in 1983. The bulk of the Muslims live in the Rakhine State, bordering Chittagong in Bangladesh. From its west, the Rakhine State (called Arakan by the British) borders the Bay of Bengal with a fairly long coastline. In the north, River Naf separates it from Bangladesh. Islam came to this part of the world through Arab traders and Rohingya Muslims, who number around one million and are descendents of the Yemeni Arab traders. With their darker skins and sharper noses, the Rohingya are easily distinguishable from the Burmese. General Ne Win, who assumed power in 1962, nationalised all businesses and Muslims were the
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Jahangir World Times Published: September, 2012
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CSSForum.com.pk Content Copyright jWorldTimes.com
The UN has described Rohingya Muslims as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Hundreds killed in a few weeks and the world is just not bothered. The West is salivating about the prospects of new business opportunities in Myanmar. President Barack Obama has recently lifted restrictions on US investments in Myanmar and UK has opened a trade office on July 11 in Yangon. The United States is keen to counter vast clout that China enjoys in Myanmar. China and India have not spoken about this persecution as they too have vital interests there. Even the Muslim world has taken no notice of the grotesque brutalities in Myanmar. The OIC, which adopted a human rights charter in 2008, has also done little. And worse still, this huge problem of violation of basic human rights has not shaken the champion of human rights and darling of the West, Madam Aung San Suu Kyi. Thousand of Rohingya have fled by sea or river to Bangladesh only to be returned by its navy using brute force. The Myanmar government still considers the Rohingya as illegal immigrants, ignoring the fact that they have lived there for decades, if not centuries. General Ne Win stripped them of the Burmese citizenship in 1982. This minority has no rights; it cannot buy land and is not represented in government jobs. This is in violation of the Convention on Refugees 1951 and its attendant Protocol of 1967. Under the Convention, no country can shut its borders to the refugees fleeing persecution. The receiving country, however, does have the right to screen the refugees to determine their credentials. Bangladesh has refused to accommodate these refugees on its soil, as it is not a signatory to the convention. However, that position does not entitle BD armed forces to fire on fleeing Rohingya. It may be of interest to the readers to know that a large number of Burmese, who fled to Saudi Arabia in 1960s and 70s hold Pakistani temporary travel documents even today. Thus, Pakistan had done its bit to help these persecuted people. But today, even Pakistan government is quiet about the atrocities heaped on these innocent people by a racist regime in Yangon. Iran is the only Islamic country that spoke for the Rohingya people this time. I have called the regime racist because Myanmar President General (retd) Thein Sein has publicly suggested that these people should be expelled and the UN should take their charge. The UN has rejected this demand out of hand. The Rohingya have all along been loyal citizens of Myanmar and even then their basic citizenship right is denied to them. The West seemed euphoric in recent months as Aung San Suu Kyi was released to contest by-elections. In this international euphoria, President Asif Zardari too rushed to Yangon to bestow a Benazir Award on Suu Kyi. But nothing of substance has changed in Myanmar. The real
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This is racial discrimination, plain and simple!
What we witnessed recently is a systematic genocide abetted by the Myanmar authorities and the international media has just about ignored it. The Myanmar government still considers the Rohingya as illegal immigrants, ignoring the fact that they have lived there for decades, if not centuries. General Ne Win stripped them of the Burmese citizenship in 1982. This minority has no rights; it cannot buy land and is not represented in government jobs.
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biggest losers. He also purged the armed forces and the civil bureaucracy of Muslims. Many fled to neighbouring East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Anti-Muslim riots took place in Mandlay in 1997 and again in 2001. The current rioting in Rakhine State began early June as majority Buddhists alleged that Muslim men had raped one of their women. In the ensuing rioting, hundreds of Muslims were killed. The security forces sent by Yangon (former Rangoon) to protect the Muslims are alleged to have made the situation worse by siding with the majority. The Rohingya problem, however, goes deeper into history. Their area in Myanmar had been a part of the Mughal Empire till 1785, when it was annexed by Rangoon. Some years later, the territory was annexed by the East India Company and then passed to British India. In those days, the Rakhine State was administered from Chittagong and Rohingya moved freely between Bengal and Burma. This has given rise to the false Myanmar claim that Rohingya are migrants from British India. The fact of the matter is other way round. Many of them migrated from Burma and settled in Bengal.
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CS SF
Also, it may ignite a nuclear warfare in the region which will ultimately pose existential threat to
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According to analysts on the Middle East, if Iran goes nuclear, Israel would no longer be able to continue its ambiguous nuclear policy and will have to declare its nuclear weapons.
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US-Israel Nexus and Iran
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The writer has served as ambassador of Pakistan in Myanmar. Email: javedhafiz@hotmail.com
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I have often wondered what makes Buddhists, their monks in particular, as they walk bare-footed to save insects, so cruel. My analysis is that military regimes, lacking legitimacy, befriend clergy. In Myanmar, the generals have often pandered to the monks. Military patronage has made the monks bold, indeed savage. It is about time that the UN, OIC and the international media took notice of this grave historic wrong of racial discrimination that has now become genocide. Bangladesh should speak for the Rohingya rights within Myanmar. After all, a peaceful and stable Myanmar, with all its minorities feeling secure, is good for the entire region. And it would only look good if India, which has secular credentials and aspires to be a global power, also espoused the just Rohingya cause. But I doubt it, as Delhi is too keen on keeping the Myanmar junta in good humour.
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power still lies with the generals. Indeed, with the advent of a semblance of democracy, majority Buddhists feel they now have a licence to persecute minorities. This is tyranny of the majority at its worst.
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Apart from nuclear issue, the influence that Iran enjoys over the Strait of Hormuz is also a cause of concern to the US now. About 20 per cent of the world oil trade is done through the Strait of Hormuz. In wake of warnings and threats of a military attack by the US last year, Iran, in turn, had threatened to block the Strait for trade. On the one hand, it alarmed the Israeli policymakers and on the other, it provoked the US to send its aircraft carriers towards the Strait. Pakistan had been shown the big stick that Obama administration virtually carries in conformity to Roosevelt's saying and issues are yet to be settled between the two states. The US interest in the region, however, is not limited to Iran. China and Pakistan are also correlated as the two countries enjoy greater stakes and strategic and geographical influence in southern part of Asia. Afghanistan as a matter of fact has already bowed to the US policy interests. Of late, Pakistan had been shown the big stick that Obama administration virtually carries in conformity to Roosevelt's saying and issues are yet to be settled between the two states. China while gaining greater strategic and economic leeway through Gwadar port into the Indian Ocean appears to be a potential threat to the US interests. On the other hand, Pakistan continues to pursue Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project apparently in defiance of the UN sanctions on Iran. Also, Iran continues to extend its role in Balochistan. The Iran-Pakistan cooperation and the emerging pattern of maritime politics in Indian Ocean extending to Strait of Hormuz, including China as one of the major players would be detrimental to the US ambitions. Together, this poses policy challenges to the US.
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The US, so far, exercised diplomatic pressure and placed economic sanctions to deter Iran from acquiring and advancing its nuclear programme and warned Iran of grave consequences if the country chose not to abandon its nuclear ambition. Also there have been vociferous reminders that the US would never settle for nuclear-armed Iran and a military attack would be the last resort. However, the recently proposed sanctions were vetoed by China once again.
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Primarily, the likely acquisition of uranium enrichment technology or nuclear weapon technology by Iran, in particular, is what rang alarms in the US and Israel about a decade ago. President of Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has been explicitly following an anti-US agenda. Adopting austerity measures at home, the leader is determined to face every economic challenge posed by the US or the international community in the wake of its missile technology and civilian nuclear technology programme. The cost of the sanctions against Iran is 133 million dollars per day. Although, Iran has yet not acquired nuclear or atomic weapon, for the US, the nuclear Iran in the Middle East, while strengthening anti-US and anti-Israel elements threatens its greater policy interests in the region. On the other hand, Israel views nuclear Iran an existential threat to the Jewish state.
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In March this year, in his address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, US President Barack Obama, while referring to Iran's ambitions to acquire nuclear technology said: No Israeli government can tolerate a nuclear weapon in the hands of a regimethat threatens to wipe Israel off the map.... A nuclear-armed Iran is completely counter to Israel's security interests. But it is also counter to the national security interests of the United States. He also quoted former President of the US, Theodore Roosevelt: Speak softly but carry a big stick. This was not only an unequivocal proclamation of the US present stance on Iran but can also be viewed as a warning to the country against its hard-line anti-US and anti-Israel stance.
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Israel. Despite the close alliance between the US and Israel, there appears a dissonance on Iran's nuclear programme. Israeli leadership dismissed the chances that sanctions would now deter Iran or convince it to give up its nuclear programme. It called for stringent actions against Iran by the US, that may include a military or aerial strike.
Israel on its part has been pursuing a policy of nuclear opacity since 1981 when the country had successfully obliterated Iraqi nuclear reactors. The then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin had announced that 'Israel, under no circumstances, would allow enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction against Israel. The country would defend its citizens, in time, with all the means at its disposal.' Since then, Israel had pursued a tacit nuclear prgramme, however, Iran's nuclear ambitions posed a challenge to Israel's nuclear weapons technology. According to analysts on the Middle East, if Iran goes nuclear, Israel would no longer be able to continue its ambiguous nuclear policy and will have to declare its nuclear weapons. Also, it may ignite a nuclear warfare in the region which will ultimately pose existential threat to Israel. Despite the close alliance between the US and Israel, there appears a dissonance on Iran's nuclear programme. Israeli leadership dismissed the chances that sanctions would now deter Iran or convince it to give up its nuclear programme. It called for stringent actions against Iran by the US, that may include a military or aerial strike. Although Israel has assurances from the US of a military strike if all else fails, the country is planning to opt for a unilateral military action against Iran in self-defence. Although Israel has assurances from the US of a military strike if all else fails, the country is planning to opt for a unilateral military action against Iran in self-defence. Israel, reportedly has established an Iron Dome last year. It is a mobile missile-defence system capable of detecting and destroying short-range missiles in flight. The system made by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defence System is designed to counter rockets with ranges of up to 44 miles and provides a cover against Israel's declared enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Some reports suspect a possibility of a similar system being used by Israel against Iran if needed in future.
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Dr. Javaid R. Laghari: HEC has always been an autonomous body before and after 18th Amendment and it is clearly written in the HEC Act. The act says that the controlling authority of HEC is the prime minister of Pakistan and it is governed by 18-member commission which is also appointed by the prime minister. It includes officials from federal and provincial governments, vice chancellors of universities and eminent educationists etc. Now after 18th Amendment the autonomous status of HEC is unaltered as in 18th Amendment list 1 and 2 clearly indicate that
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Jahangir's World Times (JWT): What is the status of Higher Education Commission (HEC) especially after the 18th Amendment?
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Dr. Javaid R. Laghari Chairperson Higher Education Commission
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We cannot achieve prosperity unless we invest in our youth
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*Nabiha Gul is a researcher and analyst on international affairs and an IR professional. Email: coldpath1@gmail.com
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Lately, Iran tested a more accurate short-range missile capable of striking land and sea targets underscoring its capability to hit naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. The successful tests not only alarmed the US and Israel but apparently ignited the already tense situation. A time when election competitors of Barack Obama are proclaiming support to Israel in launching a military strike against Iran, public opinion in the US largely going against Obama's policy over Iran, it appears difficult for the Obama administration to keep speaking softly no matter they have been showing the big stick as well. The policy of engagement with Iran, diplomatic pressure and restraint may not appear to be working but that is the only feasible option, for a military strike against Iran would be detrimental for both the US and Israel.
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DJL: In my opinion the way to survive in the 21st century is knowledge economy, because the days are gone when countries use to rely on natural resources, now at present age the value-added knowledge economy is very important. Even the countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE etc., despite having rich natural resources, are also moving towards knowledge economy because they realised that these natural resources will runout after 10 or 20 years and they would stand nowhere in the world without knowledge economy. On the other hand, if you look at countries having no natural resources, have prospered a lot just because of knowledge economy. These countries are Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. And there are some other countries which are combination of both like Canada, United States of America and so on. For instance, Finland has half the population the city of Karachi has. It has no natural resources and today the exports of only one company of Finland is more than the total exports of Pakistan. Therefore, this is what we mean by value addition. We don't need coal, we don't need oil, because our assets are the people. We have population of 180 million and out of which half of the population is below the age of nineteen and two-third of the population is below the age of thirty. Thus, these people are our biggest asset as the coal can be converted into diamond, these people can be converted into value addition. Hence, demography of Pakistan is an asset and if you don't do anything then it will be a liability.
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JWT: How would you elaborate the concept of knowledge economy and where does Pakistan stand in it?
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DJL: Well, the achievements of HEC are quite noticeable. We focused on three issues: First is the accessibility, second the quality and the third one is research. Accessibility means access to higher education in the last ten years. The enrolment of students into universities has been increased four times from about 250,000 to more than one million. Here, I would also like to mention how it has happened. The reason is today you can find campuses of universities in the remote areas like Turbat, Loralai, Shringal, Charsada, Mardan etc. We are providing higher education to the people at their door-step. Now as far as quality is concerned a large number of reforms are taking place within the HEC to improve the quality of education and research. There are more than 120 programmes. The curriculum committee which consists of deans and chairpersons of these departments reviews curriculum every three years. They meet at least twice during the review process in order to revise the curriculum as per international standards. Here I would like to add that the research has improved tremendously. It is quite evident by the number of PhDs awarded in Pakistan in the last ten years comparing far more the numbers of PhDs awarded in Pakistan in the last 55 years before the HEC was formed. Similarly, if you see the number of research publications produced by all the universities in 2002. It was about 600 but today this number has crossed 6200 only in the year 2011, so it is the eight fold increase in the number of research papers produced by the universities in Pakistan. Recently, one of the ranking agencies, CIMAGO has reported that Pakistan is the number two in the world that is producing large number of research papers. I think this alone is major recognition in terms of research. Moreover, three years back we weren't even listed in the list of 500 universities of the world, but by the grace of Allah our six universities have been ranked among the top universities of Asia and our two science and technology universities are ranked among the top 300 technology universities in the world. Thus, these are the proof that what was the situation before the HEC and what is after the establishment of HEC.
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JWT: In September 2012 HEC is going to complete its 10 years. What are the remarkable achievements of HEC in your opinion?
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research, science and technology institutions and all regulatory bodies they all are part of federal government. And the Supreme Court itself has given the judgment unless the act of HEC is amended the status quo will remain so.
JWT: We have not a uniform education system. Do you think that NTS and GAT is an appropriate yardstick for M. Phils and PhDs? DJL: GMAT, GRE and GAT are always there to evaluate people with a uniform yardstick. For example, in Pakistan there are many boards of education and each one is different from the other one so, in such a scenario these modules of entrance tests are necessary to gauge the students' calibres as well as to fulfil the course requirements. In my opinion it is very important yardstick which I think should be there especially for the higher education programmes. If we have to improve our level, we need another 10,000 PhDs to teach at our universities and for 10,000 PhDs we need money for scholarships because our universities do not have the capacity to produce 10,000 PhDs in the next ten years. JWT: In many of your TV interviews you have pointed out that HEC is facing budget-cuts, how does it affect the overseas scholarships?
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DJL: Yes I fully agree that our people have low rate of accessibility to the higher education, i.e. 8% which is very low indeed. While Bangladesh is at 12% which is 15% more than us, India is at 18%, even Muslim countries are way ahead of us like Malaysia is at 27% and Indonesia is at 30%. In fact, today we need to double up this percentage, then we can make a difference. Unfortunately, to increase accessibility we need to increase faculty, we need to increase Ph.D faculty and we need to increase campuses and in all this process a large amount of money is involved. If we have to improve our level, we need another 10,000 PhDs to teach at our universities and for 10,000 PhDs we need money for scholarships because our universities do not have the capacity to produce 10,000 PhDs in the next ten years.
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JWT: Our population is increasing at the rate of more than three million a year, but we have only 132 universities. Why the number of universities has not been increased considering the increase in population?
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DJL: Let me admit there were some deficiencies in that policy, but since I have taken over as chairperson HEC, I have corrected. One deficiency was that there was no timeline for such cases so, I have introduced a reform, i.e. timeline of three months. The universities have to decide the case in three months after that HEC committee will take up the case and decide. I think it is something very positive. Secondly, at the time of making of this policy nobody had thought that even the VC himself could be involved. The policy actually said that the VC would form a committee to investigate the charges of plagiarism but here, as we know the charge of plagiarism was on the VC. That is why, I had to write a letter to the chancellor to take the action and now the chancellor authorised the chairperson of HEC to initiate the inquiry. The chairperson of HEC has set up a committee which has sent the charges of plagiarism to the chancellor, i.e. governor KPk since it is an administrative matter between the chancellor and vice chancellor so it was for the chancellor to take action not the HEC and it is entirely a different case comparing all other cases. At the end of the day the vice chancellor was made to resign from his position. Hence, implementation of the policy did take place.
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JWT: Plagiarism is known as 'Academic Theft'. HEC has adopted a policy for plagiarism in 2007 but where is the implementation. We have a case example of Dr. Azmat Hayat, the Vice Chancellor of University of Peshawar?
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DJL: Yes, we are facing budget-cuts therefore our first priority is to support our scholars who have gone overseas for studies. We shall continue to support them till they complete their studies. Whenever there is a budget-cut as it exactly happened two years back when we are not able to send our students abroad on scholarship very few students went abroad during those years.
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JWT: You have always said that private sector is providing good education but it is costly. On the contrary private universities are producing only 3% of the total PhDs in the country? DJL: Well I have been a president of a private university and usually private universities emphasise on undergraduates, i.e. bachelors' education and somehow on masters programmes. Thus, a few universities are focusing on PhDs. That is why, they are providing less PhDs than the public sector universities. We do not have any role in the appointment of vice chancellors because universities themselves are autonomous therefore, we cannot take any action when sometimes an inappropriate or unqualified person becomes vice chancellor of a university. JWT: As you say HEC is a regulatory body. How does HEC regulate because some of the private universities have very bad reputation, e.g. PIMSA and many others. They are selling degrees instead of awarding degrees? DJL: We have banned the campuses of Alkhair University. Recently they opened a campus in Islamabad which we banned too. We have our own procedure. Our teams inspect campuses then we issue an NOC to a university for working. But we are not police. When we receive a complaint we send our team to visit and if a campus is found unauthorised or substandard then we issue them a notice that says, Shut down the campus, otherwise we are going to advertise in the newspapers to declare you blacklist. So, this is our procedure. I do not know about any PIMSAT working in Lahore, but we shall take action if information is provided. Apart from this I also want to mention here that HEC is made under an act. Universities are made according to an act so the universities themselves are autonomous too. It is difficult for us to regulate those who are also made under an act.
Any Message We cannot achieve prosperity unless we invest in our youth because youth is the most valuable asset of Pakistan and future of Pakistan is also dependent on Youth. Thanks
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DJL: Yes, there should be a mechanism and I also raised this issue in the last meeting of standing committee that today after ten years we should review the difficulties which we faced and we have to empower HEC by removing these difficulties. We need some more powers e.g. we do not have any role in the appointment of vice chancellors because universities themselves are autonomous therefore, we cannot take any action when sometimes an inappropriate or unqualified person becomes vice chancellor of a university. That is why we have to seek an extended role for HEC in future.
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JWT: Don't you think there should be a mechanism which may define the jurisdictions of either side?
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A US led Syria and Beyond
The Syrian massacre has flooded the news items all around the world. It's been a year since Obama administration, for the first time, called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down and let Syrians have their right of self-determination. However, the obdurate dictator turned a deaf ear to this call. The clash between the 'regime loyalists' (supporters of Assad) and myriad rebel factions has claimed thousands of lives in Syria for almost seventeen months. The roots of this ongoing civil war can be traced to Benghazi, Libya, where Muammar Qaddafi refused to surrender in front of the rebels. His forces were ready to fight and what they couldn't resist was the 'overreached' retaliation by NATO which had entered the conflict on behalf of the rebels. China and Russia allowed the resolution which gave NATO such sweeping powers to pass, but Russia along with South Africa criticised NATO's role after the death of Qaddafi. This dispute in the UN Security Council created an unpleasant atmosphere as there was a disagreement between the members at a time when an agreed response to violence in Syria had to be chalked out. It was Russia which insisted on quelling the pressure from Assad's regime and including the president while deciding any future political set-up for Syria. This was the reason for the appointment of Kofi Annan (the UN-Arab League joint envoy to Syria) in February 2012 who worked on ''mission impossible (as he himself quotes it). After failing to devise an 'agreed' plan, for a political transition that did not explicitly require Assad's departure, Annan has now resigned. The persistent efforts of Washington to dislodge Assad through
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It is interesting to highlight that both the drafts had a common agenda which favoured a democratic transition at the cost of dismantling authoritarian rule. For this purpose, the notion of a government of 'national unity' (which allows the opposition and those already in the government to share power) was presented. This clearly indicates that the US isn't ready to back a complete 'regime change' and wants to maintain some of the institutions in Syria which will have to abide by its standards of 'human rights'
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From the Geneva recommendations to the six-point peace plan proposed by Kofi Annan, nothing was endorsed with consensus.
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US General Wesley Clerk, former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces Europe, is on record informing US journalist Amy Goodman that within weeks of the terrorist atrocity on 11th September 2001, the then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld wrote a memo describing how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran," (after invading Afghanistan). This seems to be somewhat 'real', but delayed plan in the wake of all that is being done to carve out the fate of Syria. However, the failure in Iraq and the 2006 Israeli defeat in Lebanon has compelled the US to alter the old 'core strategy' of direct occupations. It has now embarked upon the mission of encouraging destabilisation, clandestine operations and feeding civil strife in the targeted regions. With the infiltration of al-Qaeda jihadis, increased involvement of Turkey, influx of arms and intelligence support from the US, Assad is likely to depart especially after the defection of Syrian Prime Minister, Riad Hijab. Syria is the latest victim in the grip of a bitter conflict in which al-Qaeda-type terrorists have established a foothold similar to the one in neighbouring Iraq. It nurtures armed thugs and terrorists being indirectly supported by the US. The long Turkey-Syria border is one of the main routes for smuggling armed men and weapons into Syria. The Syrians represent the heart of what Jordan's King Abdullah called the Shia crescent: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It is the opposition of this crescent against Israel which irks Washington and the 'advocates' (Egypt and Jordan) of Israel in the Arab world. Lebanon was bombed and invaded in a US-backed Israeli invasion in 2006, but was repelled by Syrian-backed Lebanese resistance led by Hezbollah. Efforts are now also being made by Saudi Arabia to weaken Hezbollah, the Shi'ite organisation that is being backed by Iran. Iraq is disintegrated and bleeding heavily, with daily sectarian terrorist atrocities. Iran is the target for which Israel and the US are blood-thirsty in order to ensure Israel's hegemony in the region. The post-Assad Syria driven by 'US aspirations' will not only be worse than Iraq, but will also allow the accomplishment of anti-Iranian proxy war under the US, Saudi, Qatar leadership, with the easy consent of Britain, France and Israel.
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Moreover, there is an unattended question which inquires about the composition of Syrian opposition factions. The most ripe option is that of 'rebels' being fed by Washington's Gulf allies, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. With the infiltration of al-Qaeda jihadis, increased involvement of Turkey, influx of arms and intelligence support from the US, Assad is likely to depart especially after the defection of Syrian Prime Minister, Riad Hijab. There is nothing better for the US other than deciding an abominable fate like that of Qaddafi for Assad or pushing him behind the bars like Hosni. However, the focus is now on the post-Assad Syria that is a more daunting task, orchestrated a decade ago.
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From the Geneva recommendations to the six-point peace plan proposed by Kofi Annan, nothing was endorsed with consensus. It is interesting to highlight that both the drafts had a common agenda which favoured a democratic transition at the cost of dismantling authoritarian rule. For this purpose, the notion of a government of 'national unity' (which allows the opposition and those already in the government to share power) was presented. This clearly indicates that the US isn't ready to back a complete 'regime change' and wants to maintain some of the institutions in Syria which will have to abide by its standards of 'human rights'.
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negotiations have failed utterly, especially after the resignation of Kofi Annan. The US blames Russia and publicly denounces it for purporting a dictatorial regime. On the other hand, Annan blames the Security Council giants (big western states) for name-calling Russia and China. Other than the obviously disgruntled, Moscow and Beijing, the US shouldn't ignore Brazil, India and South Africa which are also in the list of dissenters this time. All four of them are established democracies.
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Palestine is tired and has given up. Iraq is still burning. Afghanistan has yet to breathe peace. Kashmir stands disillusioned. Lebanon is simmering. Libya has been tamed. Egypt and Syria are being chiseled anew. Pakistan is on ICU resuscitation. Iran is on notice. The Muslim world could not be more chaotic and more helpless. Surely these are critical times for the Muslim world.
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AN ILL PILOTED MUSLIM WORLD
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Not to forget what the nave rebels who initiated the peaceful uprising wanted a democratic transition 'without' any foreign intervention no matter how well-intentioned it might be. A ceasefire and political adjustment can include the rebels into the process of negotiation, who are being deliberately turned into terrorists. The idea of militarisation is still strongly condemned, even by the democratic organisations in Syria. The Syrians must accept the fact that they are still not the decision-makers of their country. A glittery illusion from the U.S in the name of human-rights has turned their homeland into a battlefield tilting in favour of Israel. Fakiha Hassan Rizvi
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Every ingredient of political life in these so-called sovereign states has been faked; sovereignty is not sovereignty, parliament is not parliament, law is not law, and the opposition parties are as corrupt and wasted as the ruling parties. Even the independence following the colonial powers' handing over of the reins of government to local rulers was not true independence. Other than being members of the United Nations, they remain virtual colonies of the West with no sense of freedom or dignity.
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Though some of them are sitting on world's largest oil and gas reserves, the majority of Muslim countries are among the poorest and most backward in the world. Poor and dispossessed, Muslim nations emerging from long colonial rule may have become sovereign states but are without genuine political and economic independence. With rare exceptions, they are all at the mercy of the West for their political strength and survival and are politically bankrupt with no institutions other than authoritarian rule. They have no established tradition of systemic governance or institutional approach in their policies and priorities.
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The Muslim world is in crisis. Representing one-fifth of humanity with a global land mass spreading over 57 countries, and possessing 70 per cent of the world's energy resources and nearly 50 per cent of world's natural resources, the Muslim world should have been a global giant, economically as well as politically. Rich in everything but weak in all respects, it represents only five per cent of world's GDP. As a non-consequential entity, it has no role in global decisionmaking, or even in addressing its own problems.
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And the Muslim world is in no better shape. It represents the tragic story of Medusa, the illpiloted French naval ship in the 19th century that ran aground because of its incompetent captain's blunders and his dependence on others for navigational guidance, leaving behind a sordid tale of helplessness, death and desperation. The Medusa's wreck is still out there, lying stuck on the West African coast, and isn't going anywhere. Like Medusa's wreck, the mastless Muslim world is just lying there, aimlessly floating with no one to steer it out of the troubled waters.
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Unfortunately, all is not well with the Third World. Most developing countries suffer from serious governance and rule of law problems rooted in their authoritarian and non-representative political culture. Some of them are mired in perpetual intra-state or inter-state conflicts. What is even more disturbing is that the world's two largest regions, Africa and South Asia, both rich in natural and human resources, are the biggest victims of poverty and violence. Both continue to be the scene of endemic instability as a result of conflicts and hostilities, unresolved disputes, unaddressed historical grievances, and deep-rooted communal and religious estrangement.
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The ideological polarisation of the cold war in two rival blocs, the East and the West has given way to a new configuration of power in the form of unipolarity unleashing its own security challenges and problems for the world at large. The world now stands divided between the West and the Rest and as before, between two unequal halves, one embarrassingly rich and the other desperately poor. While the West is endowed with abundance of wealth and affluence, the Rest that comprises mostly Third World countries representing the overwhelming part of humanity languishes in poverty and backwardness.
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I remember in the 1980s as he orated against the Soviet Union, President Reagan often quoted from Thomas Paine's Common Sense with his vision of a United States great enough "to begin the world over again. Indeed, one of his Republican successors did it. President George W. Bush did begin the world all over again. But he turned it upside down. No wonder, we are today living in a difficult and turbulent world.
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Since 9/11, Islam itself is being demonised by its detractors with obsessive focus on the religion of individuals and groups accused of complicity or involvement in terrorist activities. Islam is being blamed for everything that goes wrong in any part of the world. With violence and extremism becoming anathema to the world's high-and-mighty, Muslim freedom struggles are being projected as the primary source of militancy and terrorism. Global terrorism is now being used to justify military occupations and to curb the legitimate freedom struggles of Muslim peoples. Muslim issues remain unaddressed for decades. Palestine is tired and has given up. Iraq is still burning. Afghanistan has yet to breathe peace. Kashmir stands disillusioned. Lebanon is simmering. Libya has been tamed. Egypt and Syria are being chiseled anew. Pakistan is on ICU resuscita tion. Iran is on notice. The Muslim world could not be more chaotic and more helpless. Surely these are critical times for the Muslim world.
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They have no bone, no muscle and whatever wealth they possess, is being exploited by the West. The rulers in today's Muslim world, ironically, without exception, are at the mercy of the US for their political strength and survival, and are responsible for the current political, economic and military subservience of their countries to the West. Their lands and resources remain under protective military control of their masters, who are also the direct beneficiaries of their oil proceeds and investments. And the Muslim world is in no better shape. It represents the tragic story of Medusa, the illpiloted French naval ship in the nineteenth century that ran aground because of its incompetent captain's blunders and his dependence on others for navigational guidance, leaving behind a sordid tale of helplessness, death and desperation. Peace is the essence of Islam and yet the Muslim nations have seen very little of it, especially after the Second World War. Some of the Muslim states are home to foreign military bases, while others have allowed foreign forces to use their territory freely and even to carry out their operations at will. There are others selflessly engaged in proxy wars on behalf of others and in some cases against their own people. The tragedies in Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq and Afghanistan represent the continuing helplessness of world's Muslims.
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We just had yet another OIC summit in Makkah last month coinciding with the 26th and 27th day of Ramadan. The only special feature of the event was its consecrated timing which may have not only brought about a new spirit for the otherwise totally non-consequential Muslim world but also given a much needed opportunity to its self-serving rulers for availing themselves of their presence at the holiest Islamic soil to do some compunctious soul-searching while begging forgiveness for the sins they have committed in mortgaging to the West not only the security and sovereignty of their countries but also the political and economic futures of their nations.
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The OIC is merely an inter-governmental organisation and cannot be expected to do things that only governments of sovereign states can do. It has neither the credentials nor any operational capacity to be the panacea for the ills of its member-states. Though its ideological basis gives it a unique character, it remains seriously handicapped by the absence of regionality and complementarity in its geo-strategic, political and economic interests.
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On its part, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that groups together the fifty-seven Muslim states has no role whatsoever in global decision-making. It is nave to expect the OIC to bring any change to the Muslim world which remains alien to peace, democracy, science and technology, socio-economic development, rule of law, equality, women's empowerment, tolerance, harmony, moderation, fraternity and brotherhood.
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It makes no sense in dwelling nostalgically on Islam's past and lost glory. For us, the steady erosion of Islamic polity and power, Muslim world's stumbling lurch into western colonialism, and now, total political, economic, social and technological backwardness should be stark reminders of the historical magnitude of the failures of Muslim leadership. We cannot entirely blame the West for the Muslim world's institutional bankruptcy, its political and intellectual aridity, its deficiency in knowledge, education and science and technology, its aversion to modernity and modernisation, and its growing servility to the West.
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What aggravates this dismal scenario is the inability of the Muslim world as a bloc to take care of its problems or to overcome its weaknesses. Its rulers have mortgaged to the West not only the security and sovereignty of their countries but also the political and economic futures of their nations. Despite material affluence in a few oil-rich countries, there is a widespread sense of political and economic deprivation in the Muslim world. These are all a dreary phenomena for which the rulers of the Muslim world alone are responsible. Thanks to our obscurantist mindset, we have done nothing to secure our future in this alarmingly chaotic world.
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Assam, located next to Bangladesh on the north-east corner of India, has a long history of recurring violence targeting minority Bengali-speakers. In 1983, Nellie massacre when Indira Gandhi ruled India, the pogrom, carried out with crude weapons in a matter of a few hours, left some 5,000 people dead. The killers didn't even spare young babies.
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TARGETED MASSACRE OF MINORITIES IN ASSAM
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.The writer is a former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad The writer is a former foreign secretary.
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The key to reshaping the future of the Muslim world lies in its political and economic independence and military strength with each Muslim nation opting for peace and democracy, and for knowledge and technology as top priority. Only governments rooted in the will of the people, and sustained by stable and accountable institutions can lead the way to genuine and healthy transformation of their societies. Each one of them will have to revamp existing mindsets and opt for peace, progress and harmony through genuine democracy and good and accountable governance.
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Things will not change unless the Muslim world fixes its fundamentals and puts its house in order. Angels will not descend to help or salvage it. Ironically, they have been busy helping the West. It must take control of its own destiny through unity, mutuality and cohesion within its ranks. Its wealth and resources now being exploited by the West should be used to build its own strength and for its own socio-economic well-being.
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Muslim leaders are good at oratory promising to their subject paradises on earth. But the problem is that their self-centred visions will not bring change to societies that are among the most illiterate and most backward. Thanks to our obscurantist mindset, we have done nothing to secure our future in this alarmingly chaotic world. Societal mindsets will change only with political, economic and social advancement of the people. This requires, not 'Oh I See' proclamations but tangible actions at national levels for rationalisation of socio-economic priorities through reallocation of resources with high quality education and scientific knowledge becoming the top most strategic priority in individual Muslim states.
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Twenty-nine years after the Nellie massacre, a group of the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is now negotiating with Delhi, asking for more concrete protection for indigenous populations against what they falsely describe as "relentless illegal migration from across the border". The Bengali-speaking people in Assam have also become more assertive these days with the formation of the Assam United Democratic Front under a charismatic leader which seeks to protect the rights of minorities and their periodic ousting from settlements through violence. In 2011, it emerged as the main opposition to Assam's ruling Congress party, winning three times the number
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After the Nellie massacre and 1983 elections, India's federal government tried to placate local sentiments by signing an accord with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) in 1985 which was leading the pogrom against the Bengali-speaking settlers there. The hardline Assamese, however, later described the 1985 accord as a "betrayal" and decided to wage an armed campaign against India to secede from India.
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Unfortunately, the ensuing change in demography, rivalry for land, dwindling natural resources and livelihood, and intensified competition for political power between the ruling party and the separatists has added a deadly force to the issue of who has a right to Assam. It is all about xenophobia. Successive Congress governments have used Assamese/Bengali Muslims as little more than a vote bank without recognising their rights.
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At the heart of Assam's troubles is a debate over the "infiltration" by outsiders, which has led to ethnic tension between the state's so-called indigenous population and Bengali-speaking people who have settled there for generations. Overlooked in this debate is the fact that all these territories were once part of British India with people both Assamese and Bengali living on either side of today's border that separates Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan/ East Bengal) from the state of Assam in India. The Assamese were mostly illiterate people and so many Indians (mostly from the province of Bengal) were brought in to work as engineers, doctors, administrators, clerks, railway workers and other government-related jobs. Many of the Bengali-speaking farmers were also brought in to boost rice production in the area, especially around the 'chars' (river islands). Having lived there for generations, these so-called migrants are as Indian (in today's parlance) as the ethnic Assamese or the tribes-people in the state.
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Assam, located next to Bangladesh on the north-east corner of India, has a long history of recurring violence targeting minority Bengali-speakers. In 1983, Nellie massacre when Indira Gandhi ruled India, the pogrom, carried out with crude weapons in a matter of a few hours, left some 5,000 people dead. The killers didn't even spare young babies.
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South Asia is really going to the dogs or so it appears these days. When we thought that we had seen enough of a pogrom directed by the Rakhine extremists and Burmese authorities against the Rohingyas of Arakan state of Burma (Myanmar), we are forced to witness yet another massacre of unarmed civilians in the state of Assam.
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of seats won by regional Assamese parties and the Hindu nationalist BJP, which promotes Hindutva. It is this emerging political prowess of the Bengali people in Assam which is being exploited as a boogeyman by the ruling Congress party and the Hindu extremists to promote or be indifferent to periodic rioting that engulfs the region. Four years ago, the Indian army had to be called in to stop blood-letting. More than 100 Bengali Muslims were killed in one such raid at Bansbari, a makeshift camp for displaced Muslims in 1993. Unfortunately, the ensuing change in demography, rivalry for land, dwindling natural resources and livelihood, and intensified competition for political power between the ruling party and the separatists has added a deadly force to the issue of who has a right to Assam. It is all about xenophobia. Successive Congress governments have used Assamese/Bengali Muslims as little more than a vote bank without recognising their rights.
The latest pogrom has affected four districts of western Assam, where the Bengalis (mostly Muslims) are pitted against tribes-people such as the Bodos, Rabhas and Garos. In Kokrajhar, the Bodo heartland, Muslims are regularly attacked by Bodo separatist rebels and this periodically erupts into full-scale riots. This latest conflict has left about 40 dead (all Bengali-speaking Muslims) and displaced tens of thousands. As noted by Indian political commentator Aijaz Zaka Syed, "As usual, Muslims were caught in the deadly games of the Congress and assorted separatist groups.
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In this latest pogrom, entire villages have been burnt down while the state administration remains curiously clueless and indifferent. Delhi insists Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi is "monitoring the situation" and doing everything possible to restore peace. "This is little comfort to the community, though, which increasingly lives in fear, worrying the worst may be yet to come. Gogoi is yet to visit the affected areas. Not even a flying, whirlwind tour for the cloistered satrap," writes Syed. If the local Assamese administration and the federal Indian government are serious about the wellbeing of Assamese/Bengali Muslims as well as other communities living in Assam, they should take steps to cool down this simmering volcano that erupts from time to time. Lasting peace in Assam
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Our Hindutva benefactors added fuel to the fire by raising the spectre of invasion by Bangladeshi Muslims. The same drama is being reenacted today with consequences that could be even deadlier. Yet unlike in the past, this conflict isn't communal or religious in nature. It's an economic struggle for the land and dwindling natural resources."
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cannot happen when xenophobia is promoted. Period! Dr Habib Siddiqui
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The United Nations a successor of the League of Nations was created in an attempt to reform the contemporary international political order. The outbreak of Second World War convinced the world leaders that the failures of the League of Nations to contribute towards creating a strong international order, with wider acceptability across the globe and that was well placed to address the global problems, sparked the outbreak. After going through the devastation of the war and facing the chain reaction of bloodshed, violence, brutality, hunger, and migration, the victors of the war decided to improve upon the botched experience of the League and thereupon the United Nations was created. The United Nations officially came into existence when the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the US and by a majority of other signatories on 24 October 1945 the day now known as the UN day. The framers of the charter attempted to make the
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Despite the failures of the UN and its inherent shortcomings, it is difficult to imagine a world without such multilateral organisation in which the values of peaceful coexistence through political independence, mutual self-respect and territorial integrity of each country, at least, exist on paper.
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The United Nations and Maintenance of International Peace and Security
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The General Assembly is the true democratic organ in which each of the 193 members of the UN enjoys one vote. Under Article 10, the General Assembly can deliberate upon any issue that comes under the charter except those that are already under discussion in the Council (Article 12) and has the authority to frame 'recommendations'. To a cynic, the assembly is only a debating club as the meaningful actions take place in the Council. However, objectively speaking, the assembly has weight of its own and it is not possible to endlessly resist an issue on which unanimity prevails in the assembly. It has moral authority of its own which is gaining legal leverage under the international law as the time passes. For instance, the 'uniting for peace' resolution has authorised the assembly to take action when the Council is deadlocked. Since the Security Council comprised all the five powers that have the right to 'veto' any 'nonprocedural or substantive question, therefore the Council often became hamstrung due to deadlock among the P-5.
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The UN comprises six organs: The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Secretariat headed by the UN secretary general. The Security Council has 15 members five permanent also known as P-5 and 10 non-permanent members with two-year term each. The issues on which the Council deliberates upon are classified into 'procedural' and 'non-procedural' or 'substantive'. The vote on procedural question requires concurrence of any nine members whereas on substantive issues concurrence of nine members including the concurrence of P-5. A negative vote of any P-5 member is called 'veto'. Interestingly, the very question whether any issue is procedural or substantive is itself a 'non-procedural' question and can be 'vetoed'. The proceedings of the Council mostly take place in informal consultations and among the P-5. The lack of transparency is the biggest criticism on its working that is entirely indefensible.
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The creation of the UN has prompted the debate over the successes and failures of the UN with arguments on both sides abound. Those in favour argue that the UN system has successfully prevented the outbreak of Third World War. Whereas critics support their arguments pointing towards the opaque proceedings on the Security Council the main decision making body with the powers to enforce its decision under Chapter VII. In order to evaluate the performance of the UN system, first, it is pertinent to understand the infrastructure and the working.
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The purpose of the UN as per Article 1 of the Charter is: 1. To ensure international peace and security and to take collective measures to that effect; 2.To develop friendly relations among nations; 3. To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character; 4. To be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations these common goals. A cursory look at these objectives will reflect the main purpose of the UN maintenance of international peace and security. In pursuance of these objectives, the principles to conduct interstate relations have been mentioned in the Article 2, which, interalia, states that the member states must resolve their difference peacefully and shall 'refrain' from using 'force or threat of using force'. This article also restricts the UN to 'intervene' in matters which fall directly 'within the domestic jurisdiction' of the states. This, however, does not preclude the UN from taking action under Chapter VII of the Charter and enforcing its decision upon any state.
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international system more fluid and flexible to respond to the challenges that could potentially threaten 'international peace and security'. The other motive was to freeze the contemporary status quo to ensure their supremacy and to perpetually outcast the 'axis powers Germany, Japan and Italy who fought against the allied powers America, the Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Explicit references to these states, in the form of 'enemy states' could be found in Articles 53 and 77 of the Charter.
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The Secretariat is headed by the secretary general with the powers to conduct recruitments. This is the apex of the international civil service. The International Court of Justice is the main judicial body to conduct mandatory dispute resolution provided the parties submit to its mandate. It also offers advisory opinion when any question is referred to it by the assembly or the council. The specialised organs can also request an advisory opinion 'on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities'. (Article 96) The Trusteeship Council has now outlived its utility when the last territory, Palau, has been granted independence in 1993. It's another reason why the whole UN system needs reformation. The creation of the UN was a different and a far better experiment in international politics than the League of Nations because of various reasons. The League failed because: 1. The responsibility of maintaining international peace and security was not well defined between the Assembly and the Council; 2. The major powers like the US never joined the League and the USSR joined in 1934 only to be expelled in 1939 over its attack on Finland; 3. The world powers were never interested in maintaining durable peace; 4. Decision making was done through 'principle of unanimity' which means every state, big or small, had equal voting rights. This proved highly defective as it invested with the small states, power to wreck the world peace, when it did not have the capacity to maintain it. Therefore, a small power could irresponsibly hamstring the entire organisation; 5. It was dominated by the Anglo-French powers in the absence of the US and the USSR that could have balanced the representation and effect; 6. It was the result of Treaty of Versailles that created a faade of peace which actually proved to be imperialistic in character and therefore, was in nately fragile and short-living. In contrast, the UN proved to be a meaningful and result-oriented endeavor, aimed at rectifying the shortcomings of the League. Its success, so far, can be gauged by the fact that it is, at least, effectively eschewing the outbreak of another world war. Moreover, many innovative instruments have been developed by the UN such as 'Peace Keeping', 'Pacific Settlement of Disputes' through various means including the International Court of Justice, and hierarchic division of responsibility of maintaining world peace primary of the UN Security Council and residual of the General Assembly, and finally yet importantly, by securing global economic and social reforms under ECOSOC through specialised and subsidiary organs like World Health Organisation (WHO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Education and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and International Atomic Energy Commission, etc.
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Coming back to the main question, maintenance of peace and security, the Charter delegates this responsibility to three different organs: the Security Council with primary responsibility under Article 24, the General Assembly with residual or secondary responsibility under Article 10 and finally, the secretary general under Article 99.
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The failures, on the other hand, are also numerous. Primarily the conflict resolution mechanism, particularly at the Security Council has often resulted in a deadlock among the P-5 due to vested interests. The UN has yet to learn how to resist the 'pull' of the US national interests. Many pressing geographical disputes such as Palestine and Kashmir are lying pending even though the world knows who is at fault and to what extent? Pakistan highly values its association with the UN and has played a very robust role in the entire UN system that far exceeds its actual size and potential. We have joined the non-permanent club of UNSC seventh time. Our high value presence in this most important multilateral forum is in line
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The UN has also helped developing nations obtain funding projects through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, also known as the World Bank. A related UN agency, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) promotes international cooperation on monetary issues and encourages stable exchange rates among nations. Since the end of the cold war, the UN has become increasingly involved in providing humanitarian assistance and promoting improvements in the health across the globe. The UN has provided relief during humanitarian crises caused by international conflicts, and has responded to the emergencies caused by natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and wars. The millennium development goals (MDGs) have mobilised the attention, will and resources of the world towards creating a world with better health standards and a sanguine future.
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The objective analysis of the UN will reveal that there is much to be proud of and a lot remains to be done to enhance its efficacy and effectiveness. It has absorbed the influx of the de-colonised nation-states and has survived the rigours of the cold war and the post war unrestrained uni-polarity. It has promptly acted during Kosovo crisis and actively checked the Serbian aggression; managed to put an end to apartheid in South Africa; swung into action to address the situation in Darfur, etc.
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The high hopes of the framers of the Charter soon fizzled out when the differences between the two super-powers grew to an unbridgeable extent. The world was divided into two major power blocs the communist bloc and the capitalist or the western bloc. Since the Security Council comprised all the five powers that have the right to 'veto' any 'non-procedural or substantive question, therefore the Council often became hamstrung due to deadlock among the P-5. In this scenario, the General Assembly's resolution, Uniting for Peace (377) was a major breakthrough that enabled the assembly to step-in where the Council faltered. It happened during the charismatic stewardship of Mr. Daag Hammarskjold. The Korean question was brought before the Assembly when the Soviet representative boycotted the proceedings of the Council and it was the assembly that authorised the 'Congo Mission'.
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with our foreign policy due to regional and global geo-political realities Kashmir issue being the single most important agenda item. To conclude is to reiterate that despite the failures of the UN and its inherent shortcomings, it is difficult to imagine a world without such multilateral organization in which the values of peaceful coexistence through political independence, mutual self-respect and territorial integrity of each country, at least, exist on paper and these norms themselves could impose a check upon the big powers ambitions. Mian Farooq Kashif The writer is Washington based research scholar of international politics and diplomacy

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Stephen Cohen in 'The Future of Pakistan' opines that the generals of the Pak army know that the country is falling behind its peers, notably India, yet there is no consensus as to what has to be done. Cohen continues that there is also a remote prospect of an army-led transformation of Pakistan, one in which the generals became true revolutionaries, perhaps along the lines of the Turkish army years ago, or more recently, the Indonesian army.
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Pakistan from Welfare State to Security State
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SCENARIO 1 The Failed State Scenario: For the past seven years, Fund for Peace, the Washington-based thinktank, has been publishing the Failed States Index. As per the Index, the top-three 'failed states' are Somalia, Chad and Sudan. Somalia hasn't had an effective government since 1991. Economic growth is stuck at under three per cent and the economy is dependent on foreign remittances and the informal sector. The Somali National Army (SNA) consists of 4,000 soldiers and is in no position to rein in widespread anarchy. Additionally, the Somali National Army has failed to keep the northern clans from declaring independence. Can Pakistan become Asia's Somalia? Our economic and governance indicators are moving in that direction except for Pakistan's army, the 617,000 strong, disciplined force. Pakistan will not become Asia's Somalia for as long as the Pak army remains an undivided, disciplined entity. SCENARIO 2 Balkanisation: Yugoslavia was a country. No more. Yugoslavia split into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia. Josip Tito, from 1943 till his death in 1980,
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The Pak army is learning, albeit grudgingly, that a one-dimensional National Security Strategy singularly focused on 'defence' cannot guarantee the longevity of the Pakistani nation-state. One 'D' may have length but has no depth, width or height. Our future depends on three Ds, not one. They are: defence, development and diplomacy. The 'Future of Pakistan' has become a hot favourite both within and outside Pakistan. Experts and groups of experts are undertaking detailed scenario analysis weighing a whole host of hypotheses and trying to branch potential outcomes from them. Experts and groups of experts are analysing possible future events by considering alternative possible outcomes. The most frequently debated scenarios are:
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In essence, the Pak army plays the central role in almost every future scenario and the one indicator to be watched is the army's public image and its internal cohesion. The future, they say, is much
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Stephen Cohen in 'The Future of Pakistan' opines that the generals of the Pak army know that the country is falling behind its peers, notably India, yet there is no consensus as to what has to be done. Cohen continues that there is also a remote prospect of an army-led transformation of Pakistan, one in which the generals became true revolutionaries, perhaps along the lines of the Turkish army years ago, or more recently, the Indonesian army.
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SCENARIO 4 Muddling through: If Pakistan isn't going to fail or disintegrate then the probability is high that we will just muddle through continue despite confusion and difficulties. Some experts have also hinted at a 'democratic consolidation' but an almost certain deterioration in almost all elements of national power including economics, social and political but muddle through nevertheless at least for the foreseeable future.
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SCENARIO 3 A theocracy: In 1979, Iran adopted a theocratic constitution and became Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran. Saudi Arabia has been al-Mamlakah al-Arabiyah as-Su udiyah since the Kingdom was founded in 1932. Can Pakistan become a theocratic state? Pakistan, unlike Iran and Saudi Arabia, is essentially a multi-faith society and the probability of Pakistan becoming a theocracy is very, very low.
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served as the supreme commander of the Yugoslav People's Army (YPA) holding the rank of marshal of Yugoslavia. Marshal Tito, with 620,000 active duty personnel of the YPA under this command kept, Yugoslavia intact. Within eleven years of Tito's death the YPA clashed with Slovenia Territorial Defence in the Ten Day War. The weakened YPA then took on Croatian forces of independence. And then came the Bosnian War. Can Pakistan become Asia's Yugoslavia? Pakistan will not become Asia's Yugoslavia for as long as the Pak army remains an undivided, disciplined entity.
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Who Controls Karachi: Law or outlaws?

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Exaction refers not only to extortion or the unlawful demanding and obtaining of something through force, but additionally, in its formal definition, means the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant. Easy money, i.e. the sum of exaction now amounts to the tune of two crore (million) rupees daily. Exaction peaks in Ramazan targeting traders, businessmen and industrialists. Fitra parchis (receipts) are common in Karachi and everybody knows who is behind this parchi system. Exaction or
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Up-to-the-minute definition: Extortion also called blackmail, shakedown, out wresting, and exaction. It is a criminal offence of unlawfully obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. What is happening in Karachi is not mere extortion. The very word exaction defines the situation precisely.
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Those who live in Karachi; and those who go to the city of lights frequently whatever the purpose of visit may be they all know the two things go unabated in the city: killing and extortion. The former needs no explanation as the very word itself is enough to cause goose bumps in one's back. The latter extortion perhaps needs a lot more understanding.
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Whether it is Mumbai, Miami or Karachi, gangs or other criminal outfits start controlling cities when the system does not adjust to rapid economic growth.
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Politics should ideally be about ideology but in Karachi, over the last ten years or so, it has become more about money.
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like the present, only longer. Others say that the future will be exactly like the past only far more expensive and far more chaotic. Dr Farrukh Saleem
extortion whatever you name it also stands out during new-year eve (December), fiscal year end (June) and Bakra Eid. Extortionists hurl hand grenades at shops, offices and even bungalows of the riches who declined to pay. This is done so to send a warning to stubborn victim. This also scared others. People pay taxes everywhere in the world. In Karachi people pay double taxes. The collectors are the government and the extortionists.
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Separately, a joint task force headed by a DIG and having representation from Rangers, InterServices Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency had been constituted. An extortion reporting cell has been formed by IG Police Sindh. Citizen Police Liaison Committee is also taking complains of extortion. From January up till now the CPLC has so far received more than 400 complains of extortion from traders and individuals, says spokesperson of the CPLC Ms. Nazish Ayaz. Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has on record revealed that activists belonging to political parties of the PPP-led coalition government of Sindh are to be blamed for the menace of extortion in Karachi. According to interior minister the activists of PPP, MQM, ANP and other parties were
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This so-called ordinance is not simple as it looks. It's a bit perplexing and mind boggling too. The ordinance declares: any person found using a stolen phone or a benami SIM card a SIM card registered under someone else's name to make extortion calls should be sentenced to seven years in prison. The accused once arrested will not have a remote chance of bail from any court of law. Under the new anti-extortion law a statement made before a police officer might be admissible before a court of law. The role of police is not impeccable but shoddy in many ways.
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Some four month ago, Sindh government announced to introduce an anti-extortion law to make all offences relating to money extortion non-bailable. This is a brainchild of our Interior Minister Rahman Malik. The elected government's representatives still do not have any time for necessary legislation in this regard. Instead we have an ordinance promulgated by Governor Sindh Dr. Ishartul-Ibad.
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The ongoing war between certain groups both political or semi-political and political-criminal over control of Karachi has its own toll. More money means more supporters. The more the activists are the more is display of power. The war is for illegal money. The war is for arms and drugs and liquors. The war is for illegal lands, not one or two marlas but thousands of acres and future prime locations. The war is for water supply through tankers that meant for posh areas. The war is for disposal of snatched vehicles. Political parties such as Pakistan People's Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party too have stains on their faces. Land grabbing became a business and getting rid of land grabbers also became a business. Banks hired collectors, usually political workers or those with connections, to recover stuck loans and confiscate leased cars from people unable to pay installments. If there is a bomb threat we have Bomb Disposal Squad. If a vehicle is commandeered we have Anti-car Lifting Cell. If a child is kidnapped for ransom we have Anti-violent Crime Cell. If there is corruption we have anti-corruption cell. Then, why the Karachiites are still deprived of with muchdesired anti-extortion squad or anti-extortion cell?
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From August 1-10 more than 4,000 extortion threats were received by business community. All Karachi Tajir Itehad a forum of megacity traders claimed billions of rupees losses just because of exaction. Other violent crimes are also rampant. During first ten days of August 153 vehicles were reported commandeered. Some 563 motorcycles were snatched at gun-point or stolen. Likewise, from August 1-10 more than 400 cell phones were either snatched at gun-point or stolen.
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involved in extortion in the megacity. He also mentioned People's Amn Committee and Kutchhi Rabita Committee behind heinous crimes. Politics should ideally be about ideology but in Karachi, over the last ten years or so, it has become more about money. In the 1980s, we were divided along ethnic lines, but they have been slowly erased and replaced by financial ones.
Land grabbing became a business and getting rid of land grabbers also became a business. Banks hired collectors usually political workers or those with connections to recover stuck loans and confiscate leased cars from people unable to pay installments. Karachi was already divided on political lines, thus political connections were essential for the recovery gangs. In many cases, settlements were reached at the offices of political parties. Later, recovery gangs became involved in land grabbing. To survive, they needed the protection of a political banner or flag. This is why, more and more political flags were put up on grabbed property or disputed land over the last ten years. The Rangers have been tasked with security of some of the city's prime property but they also have
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For those who were earning legally, there were plenty of places to spend. For those who were not able to jump on the bandwagon, they had their own way of earning from the city: land grabbing and petty crime. Snatch a mobile phone and you get at least Rs. 5,000, mug someone at an ATM and you can get up to Rs. 25,000.
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Real estate became a focus in 2002 and this trend peaked by 2004 and 2005. A house that was easily available for one million rupees in 1999 was going for no less than eight million rupees. Food and shopping malls mushroomed. The government started to make new roads, bridges and underpasses to make property more attractive.
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The story of change began in 2002, when Shaukat Aziz rigorously implemented an IMF agenda to liberalise the economy. Banks were pushed into consumer financing, lending was made easy. Banking, telecommunication and real estate grew. Import duties were minimised. Business flourished in computers, cell phones and luxury items. The media promoted new products. Middle class dreams were realised. People started discovering purchasing power. They bought cars, homes, refrigerators, cell phones.
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Law enforcers are bowing down to the outlaws, thus throwing Karachi to the Frankenstein.

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Sindh is the southern province of Pakistan having a coast on the Arabian Sea. In fact, the two
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The hinterland Sindh and the city of Karachi, produce about seventy per cent of wealth of the country. Despite such an abundance of resources, Sindh has a strong segment of the poorest people, living mainly in its rural areas.
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Socio Political Analysis of Political horizon of Sindh
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It is an open secret that the police and other law-enforcing agencies are beneficiaries. This is why people argue that the lifestyle of many officers does not match their legal sources of income. In some cases, the visiting cards of officers have been recovered from people shot dead in encounters.
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From Lyari to Surjani, New Karachi to Orangi Town, party flags have surfaced and people claiming affiliation with different parties have been dictating the rules of business in real estate and other money matters. This was also made possible with the support from the administration, police, Rangers.
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It would be unfair to hold criminals entirely responsible. They could not have come so far without benefiting the parties in return. Financial gains of political parties are not easy to prove. But an evaluation of leaders' assets and their growth in the last 10 years could reveal this side of the story.
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Many people believe banned sectarian outfits kill Shias to demonstrate strength and consolidate their support bank, get a piece of the pie. Police investigators cite the 1995-96 rise of the anti-Shia Taliban as linked to the killings of scores of Shias in Karachi. By targeting Shias, these outfits send a strong message to their supporters who then reach for their pockets to make donations. In a tit-fortat response, many Sunnis have also been gunned down apparently by Shia outfits.
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a stake in the different business, especially the water supply one. A common perception at Karachi University, where the Rangers have been deployed since 1989, is that whenever students demand their removal from campus, a student clash takes place. Many circles believe the same theory applies to the city as well.
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Since 2008, Sindh and the centre are being ruled by the PPP, led by President Asif Ali Zardari. There are two opinions about the popularity of the PPP in Sindh. Firstly, the PPP rule gives a token representation to the Sindhis in the federal structure. Secondly, an emotional attachment with the Bhutto family. Let us briefly evaluate these propositions. Sindhis didn't vote PPP because of its slogan of Roti, Kapra aur Makan or now the arcane concept of reconciliation, but because of an emotional attachment with Bhuttos, who delivered some trivial benefits to them. President Zardari neither has the Bhutto charisma, nor has he delivered anything substantial to Sindhis. Unlike a statesman, who has a long-term planning for his nation, Zardari is like an acrobat, who bemuses the spectators by outwitting his adversaries with his tricks. The children of late Benazir Bhutto do not know the ground realities of Sindh, nor are they as popular as their mother.
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From 1971 onwards, Sindh and Balochistan continue to complain about their economic and political deprivation. Resultantly, there are markedly strong nationalist feelings either for attaining maximum autonomy or complete secession from Pakistan. However, during the same period, many Sindhis, also manifestly remained supporters of the Pakistan People's Party(PPP). It was the Sindhi vote which helped enormously to bring about Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to power in the 70s and the 90s. And since then, Sindh, along with the Seraiki speaking Southern Punjab has remained the vote bank of the PPP.
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Since 1947, the Bengalis constantly complained that by imposing an over-centralised form of the government on the country, the West Pakistani autocrats violated the Pakistan Resolution of 1940. The leaders of Sindh and Balochistan also joined this chorus. So much so that, G. M. Syed, the leader of Sindhi nationalism, said that by tabling the above-mentioned resolution, he committed the biggest blunder of his life. Due to the acrimony between the Bengalis and the West Pakistani elite, the former created their own state, Bangladesh in 1971. Indeed, India supported Bengalis against Pakistan for its own strategic objectives.
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The past and present political situation in Sindh Before the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Sindh was culturally a homogenous province. The bulk of population spoke Sindhi. Sindh was a Muslim majority province of the united India. In contrast to the All India National Congress, the Muslim League supported the idea of provincial autonomy, thus it was popular among the Muslims of Sindh. On the platform of the Muslim League, the Muslim leaders of the former East Bengal now Bangladesh Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the present Khyber Pakhtunkhaw agreed to create a Muslim majority state ,where with the exception of defence, foreign affairs and currency, the remaining subjects will be given to the provinces. This is called the Pakistan Resolution, and is regarded as the basic document for the creation of Pakistan. On its basis in 1943, the Sindh Assembly, as the first legislature in India, passed a resolution for joining Pakistan. This resolution was tabled by G. M. Syed, the then president of provincial Muslim League. Ultimately, on August 14, Pakistan came into being and Sindh became one of its provinces.
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seaports of Pakistan, the Karachi port built by the colonial power, Britain, about 150 years ago and the recent one, Port Qasim, provide Pakistan with an access to the international waters. Similarly, the Karachi airport, again originally built by Britain, connects Pakistan with a wider world by air. Karachi, the capital of Sindh is the financial hub of Pakistan. The hinterland Sindh and the city of Karachi, produce about seventy per cent of wealth of the country. Despite such an abundance of resources, Sindh has a strong segment of the poorest people, living mainly in its rural areas. More significantly, Sindh's place in Pakistan is the main determinant of the political processes taking place in the province and the country. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the political processes taking place in Sindh, their impact on the next elections taking place in 2013, and their probable after-effects on Pakistan.
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Thus, the Peoples Party is almost a leaderless organisation. Above all, in Sindh province the PPP has broken all the previous records of bad governance and corruption. Sardar Saifullah Dharejo, the provincial minister of irrigation has accused his cabinet colleague, Pir Mazharul Haq, minister of education, of selling even the posts of peons in his department. This example indicates the level of corruption during the PPP rule in Sindh. It is observed that like kleptocrats, the PPP leaders know that it may be their last chance to make money and run away. The Sindhi nationalists have strongly advised the masses to boycott Chinese products, and if it happens, it will certainly hit Chinese market in Pakistan and affect the Sino-Pak relations. At Sindh and the centre, in the name of reconciliation, the PPP has formed the coalition government with the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The MQM has earned the notoriety of collecting extortion, organising strikes and paralysing the economic life in Karachi. This affects the economic activity in the whole country. The PPPMQM alliance is based on the expediency of remaining in power and making more fortunes. In May this year, the police action was taken against a group of the Balochs of Lyari District in Karachi, who were traditionally the PPP loyalists. For some time, there was bad blood between these Balochs and the MQM muscle men. On May 22, on the insistence of the MQM, the police action was taken against the Lyariites and their supporters led by Ayaz Palejo, of the Sindhi Awami Tahreek. In this incidence 12 persons, including women and children lost their lives. It has markedly tarnished PPP's image in its former stronghold. And it is certainly going to put a negative mark on the vote bank of the PPP in Sindh as a whole The PPP government's plan of building coastal town, Zulfikarabad, in the Thatta District, with the Chinese collaboration is vehemently disapproved by Sindhis. The proponents of this project, including President Zardari, argue that since Karachi cannot accommodate the surplus populations, thus, there is a need of construction of a new nearby town with amenities of modern life. These circles suggest that the life-style and jobs of the locals will be guaranteed.
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Moreover, the opponents of the project argue that after its completion, more than three lakh local Sindhis will be dislocated. And there will be a devastating environmental degradation of Sindh. Thus, PPP and the nationalist parties are at daggers drawn on this project, which markedly affects PPP's popularity. The Sindhi nationalists have strongly advised the masses to boycott Chinese products, and if it happens, it will certainly hit Chinese market in Pakistan and affect the Sino-Pak relations. In order to make a foothold in Sindh, the leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, visited Hyderabad in June, and addressed a public meeting mainly attended by the (mureeds)
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The opponents of the Zulfikarabad project argue that in order to appease the MQM, the PPP plans to construct a new megacity for settling the illegal immigrants of Indian, Bangladeshi and Burmese origin. These illegal immigrants form the vote bank of the MQM. And they also provide the cadre of potential militants to it.
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The writer is the former professor of International Relations at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro. He had been a visiting fellow at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
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It is quite probable that these nationalists may return to the provincial assembly. If so, they may form an alliance with the PML (N), which will auger well for the future of Pakistan in wake the precarious geopolitical situation around it. In that case, they may press for the replacement of the 1973 Constitution with a new one, quite similar to the ideals of the 1940 Resolution. Otherwise, the Sindhi separatist forces in alliances with their Baloch cousins may gain ground in nonparliamentary political canvass of Sindh, which will be harmful for Pakistan
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Like the SNF, many Sindhi nationalist parties, including late G. M. Syed's grandson, Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah's Sindh United Party (SUP) has also formed an alliance with PML (N). His party is a member of a nationalist conglomeration, the Sindh National Alliance. The other members of the alliance have criticised Jalal Mohammood Shah for not informing them in advance about his arrangements with the PML(N). But Dr. Qadir Magsi and Ayaz Palejo keep their channels open with it.
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The Future Scenario The contemporary Sindh provides a fertile ground to the Sindhi nationalist parties. The top among them appears to be the Sindh National Front (SNF) of Mumtaz Ali Bhutto. The SNF has been propounding the idea of giving a confederal structure of Pakistan based on the 1940 Pakistan Resolution. Mumtaz Ali Bhutto shares the same electoral constituency of Ratodero in Larkana District, with the PPP top leadership. Because of this reason, he has been defeated in successive elections. His defeat can be attributed to the personality cult of the voters, not the ideological conflict between the federalist PPP and the confederalist Sindh National Front. Mumtaz Bhutto has merged his SNF into PML(N), who has promised to accommodate the interests of smaller province in the new constitutional arrangements. If Nawaz Sharif, recognises the multi-national character of Pakistan having Sindhis, Balochs, Punjabis and Pashtuns as its components, the prestige of Mumtaz Bhutto will be boosted among Sindhis.
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The Functional Muslim League of Pir Pagara is getting popularity in Sindh. Previously, it was confined to the areas inhabited by the Hurs, followers of Pir Pagara. It was also considered the proxy of the army. But the new Pir Pagara is bringing it closer to other Sindhis. The Hurs have been instructed to wear Sindhi caps and turbans, which were banned by the previous Pagara. Moreover, the Functional Muslim League addresses the issues related to Sindh. It takes stiff stand against the MQM's strong armed tactics. Thus, it is making gain in the whole Sindh and it may win more seats in the next elections.
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followers of Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi who has joined the PTI. Mr. Khan spoke on the issues like corruption, election of the new prime minister, bad governance, nuclear deterrence, etc. But none of these issues has any direct bearing on the problems of Sindh. Sindhis prefer to listen to the issues like the fair inter-provincial distribution of water and other resources, or the rehabilitation of the people affected by the super floods and rains of 2010 and 2011, respectively. Moreover, a common Sindhi regards Imran Khan as an ally of the army and a clean-shaven mullah. It was not a good idea address a jalsa of the masses in Urdu, which is not the language of people. Thus, a sufi Sindhi has no attraction for Mr. Khan, and he will not cut much ice in Sindh during the next elections to be held in March 2013.
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Pakistan came into being with the same thought in the mind of our great leaders who were not agreed to see Muslims living in oppressive conditions without any identity or individuality. TwoNation Theory is the basis of creation of Pakistan. It states that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations by every definition; therefore Muslims should have a separate homeland where they can spend their lives according to the glorious teachings of Islam. Mohammed Ali Jinnah's speech at All India Muslim League Conference in 1940 gives a crystal clear concept of Muslims' of that time. The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social values and literary thoughts. They neither intermarry, nor dine together, and they belong to two different civilisations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Today, we are living in a free state, with our own laws, rules and freedom but a question arises here, is it the same Pakistan which our ancestors dreamt of? As far as the celebrations on the Independence Day are concerned, the nation shows love and enthusiasm for their country but, on the whole situation is different. Every year we celebrate Independence Day on August 14, with excitement, great zeal and passion. Our nation renews
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It is human nature to show affection to the land where he is born, grows up and lives. He admires and follows the customs, values and principles of the life designated by the social set-up of the country. He strives to make his homeland a free, secure and a better place to live for himself and the generations to come. In a free country people have the opportunity to speak, act and pursue happiness without unnecessary external restrictions. It is important because it leads to enhanced independence, expressions of creativity and original thought, increased productivity, and an overall high quality of life.
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Two-Nation Theory is the basis of creation of Pakistan. It states that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations by every definition; therefore Muslims should have a separate homeland
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Media Influence on Pakistani Culture and Identity
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The programmes telecast through satellite TV channels and on cable TV networks in Pakistan are predominantly western and Indian. The promotion of American, European and Indian culture via dramas, movies, music programmes, skits etc., telecast on various satellite TV channels escalate change in local culture and values. Pakistanis tend to be more appreciative of the foreign cultures being promoted than their local values and trends. Therefore, they prefer adopting these foreign culture hence leading towards a change in our society. Our new generation is so much involved with foreign culture that it's getting away from the local dresses. They cannot differentiate between the two and ready to adopt whatever is shown to them by the media. They hardly know its actual and indigenous values, culture and traditions. And those few who are followers of their own culture are thought to be out-dated or backward.
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Various catalysts for change are responsible for this scenario including media as the key player. The European and American culture is slowly engulfing our society. The role of media is enormous here whereby the extensive promotion of western product brands are forcing consumers in our society to simply reject the local brands and consider them inferior comparing with the foreign brands in the market.
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commitments to make Pakistan prosperous and strong. Buildings are illuminated and decorated with national flags. Political and civil society organisations arrange rallies, parades and vibrant functions in all small and major cities of the country. Similarly, the electronic media plans wide-ranging programmes, including national songs, talk shows, dramas, quiz, etc. to mark the occasion. The print media carries special supplements, articles, features and highlight the importance of the day and sacrifices rendered by heroes and nation's forefathers for it. These programmes highlight the significance of the day, ideology of Pakistan, importance of identity, goals set for the future and pay tribute to the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam. Regrettably this enthusiasm remains just for few days. The role of media is enormous here whereby the extensive promotion of western product brands are forcing consumers in our society to simply reject the local brands and consider them inferior comparing with the foreign brands in the market. Today the world community comprises more than 180 countries. Pakistan appeared on the world map in August 1947. But in fact since its creation, with every passing year, Pakistan is losing its identity. It's not because of economic and political background, but due to the changing life patterns and thoughts of every Pakistani. It's the individuality or national identity that makes a nation different from rest of the world. Pakistani society is undergoing a massive cultural change rapidly resulting in an identity crisis for Pakistanis. The deep-rooted embedded cultural values in our society are becoming hollow and gradually fading away.
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Mahathir bin Mohammad, former prime minister of Malaysia is of the view that we live in the age of information technology. There has been and there will continue to be an unending explosion in the field of information technology. Today, we can sit in our homes and watch and hear whatever happens in the world. But what we see, hear and witness is decided by media. Clearly the people, who decide what we should see and hear, hold mammoth power. As the people who control the media, control our minds and probably control the world. And who control the powerful world media are not the national governments of developing or developed nations but a very few people. As the people who control the media, control our minds and probably control the world. And who control the powerful world media are not the national governments of developing or developed nations but a very few people. They have an effective weapon in the form of a worldwide television network. Today, they broadcast slanted news, tomorrow they will broadcast raw pornography to corrupt our children and destroy our culture. They are already doing that in Europe. We can control the reception today but not in future. He further says that Malaysia believes in press freedom but with responsibility.
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Muslims being in majority in Pakistan are losing their Islamic/indigenous values and ultra-modern educational institutions as well as media are gradually inculcating western and Indian values in the younger generation. It seems that Pakistanis, a nation of 170 million, are confused about their ideology, culture and sociology, values, religion, priorities and even enemies. Unfortunately our own media is playing a significant role in this regard.
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The undue westernisation is dominating the typical Pakistani culture. For instance, the extended and joint family system, a hallmark of Pakistani culture, is slowly deteriorating. The younger generation seldom cares for their parents and elders. Fascination of English language is so much that many Pakistanis, who are fluent in English, are unable to understand Urdu. Therefore, speaking English language is a status symbol and the people speaking Urdu are considered backward or illiterate. They are creating inferiority complex among those who do not have good command on English but speak excellent Urdu. Further Urdu language is getting unwanted additions due to invasion of foreign words (Hindi and English). A new language which is a mix of Urdu, English and Hindi words is emerging. Similarly, the meal preferences have changed from chapatti and rice to Subway, KFC and McDonalds. Instead of traditional drinks, Pepsi and Coke have found its way into our homes.
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Pakistan's civilian and military rulers must understand that three decades of instability in Afghanistan has generated an acute security crisis at home
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Pakistan's Foreign Policy: New Constraints and Compulsions
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To minimize and resist the effects of western and Indian channels, it is suggested that local channels should be strengthened and programmes should have better content. These channels should produce and broadcast quality programmes that could help in the promotion of Pakistani values and traditions and improve the image of Pakistan at international level.
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Pakistanis and Pakistani media are required to respect the native traditions and individuality, abide by the rules and regulations of the federation, support the minors/minorities and provide education for all irrespective of their financial and social background, we can bring the change, prosperity in our society and secure our homeland. The intellectuals in media and the political circles have the responsibility to start the debate. It is through repeated exposure that the citizens will start to identify themselves with democratic and liberal values.
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If we want to live with honour, dignity and secure our identity, we have to proudly own and love our country. If we want our upcoming generation should breathe freely as an independent nation in the world, then, today we have to work in the best interest of Pakistan. We have to rebuild our characters and minds to take the track which leads Pakistan to the destination our ancestors had dreamt of.
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Apart from government to take measures to control the cultural invasion, the responsibility lies on every Pakistani to own, respect and love this country. We have to believe in our own native values in order to save and secure our identity. Being Pakistani, we should not forget that our homeland made us stand out in the map of the world as an independent nation and provide us the freedom, which many Muslim countries are still striving for today.
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The situation is indeed alarming for the national identity in Pakistan. Therefore firm steps are needed to be taken on regular basis to preserve Pakistan's cultural values and identity.
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A new threat to Pakistan territorial security is the two hostile borders. This may not seem to be an immediate concern but the anti-Pakistan statements given by an important Americans on the Indian soil seem to carry special significance and is a part of the multiple squeezes that Pakistan faces. Notwithstanding the commitment to improve bilateral relations, the issue of terrorism is constantly harped upon by India. The most recent being Abu Jundal's episode, the occasion was routinely exploited to blame Pakistan. Last but not the least is our internal security situation. The Pakistani state writ is challenged everyday from the streets of Karachi to our tribal belts. What the world seeks of Pakistan, Pakistan needs to deliver for its own survival. The Jihadi groups have proliferated in the urban centres of the country. They are not a peripheral phenomenon anymore, and the sectarian, ethnic, political,
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A new latest making rounds is that Pakistan could go to war with Afghanistan. Even if an all-out war doesn't happen, cross-border raids are occurring from both sides of the Durand Line. In the month of July, dozens of militants from Kunar province raided a village near Bajaur and took villagers hostage. And such incursions are not new. Afghanistan has suffered cross-border assaults for years, and Pakistan is also no stranger to them. (recall that last year, 200 militants entered Bajaur from Kunar, and fought Pakistani forces for several days) There are indications that the two governments are starting to lose patience. Afghanistan has claimed that Pakistan's military fired rockets on suspected TTP camps in Kunar, while Pakistan recently accused 60 Afghan soldiers of pursuing militants in Upper Kurram District.
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For the first time in the history of Pakistan, it faces multiple squeezes and threats. The foremost being the multiple squeezes on our territorial security. The flawed notion of strategic depth was rightly rejected by both the foreign minister and the chief of army staff. The new constraint is that Pakistan may have rejected the notion of strategic depth but what it faces today is strategic vulnerability and is all set to meet with strategic defeat in Afghanistan. This transition from a flawed policy of strategic depth to a likely strategic defeat is a scenario that must be prevented.
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Pakistan's foreign policy has always been a story of constraints and compulsions and not the opportunities and choices. The three pillars of Pakistan's foreign policy Washington, Beijing and Riyadh are also a function of this. The alliances Pakistan made, the internal policy making, the prioritisation between state security and human security, democracy and dictatorships are all a function of Pakistan's threat perceptions, the biggest constraint on Pakistani's foreign policy. This threat perception has not receded even though Pakistan is a nuclear power; in fact, it now has trajectories which are beyond the control of at least the existing policy makers of Pakistan, largely because Pakistan was unable to respond to the new emerging trends in international relations and its impact on domestic and global politics.
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criminal and law and order situation in Pakistan today has its link to that extremist paradigm and the weakening writ of the Pakistani state. Drone attacks continue unabatedly. They may provide a military solution, but that aggravate the already grim political situation. One reason for the drone attacks is that Pakistan does not have complete control over its territory and as a result, it is unable to provide security to its citizens on its own soil, who are attacked again and again. Nato supplies are restored and the real story is once again about our economic constrains and compulsion epitomised by the fact that it was our Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh who concluded the final negotiations. The new constraint is that Pakistan may have rejected the notion of strategic depth but what it faces today is strategic vulnerability and is all set to meet with strategic defeat in Afghanistan. This transition from a flawed policy of strategic depth to a likely strategic defeat is a scenario that must be prevented.
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The myth of 'New Foreign Policy' shows as if things are changing in Pakistan, within and without. If we look at the sequence of the events that have been taken place internally and externally, it seems misjudgment, it's the false claim that the foreign policy of Pakistan influences or decides its internal conditions; in fact, it is the other way around. It has been the unstable of conditions inside Pakistan that have long set the frames of its foreign policy, and foreign policy decisions cannot be politicized and emotionalized. Huma Baqai
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The whole debate has now come down to what forced Pakistan to climb down from its initial demands. Fear of isolation, losing its role in the Afghan endgame, aggravating the economy and the threats of designating Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba as terrorist organisations a move that would have had serious repercussions for Pakistan, all contributed to the decision to allow reopening the supply routes. Hillary Clinton's statement on having been assured about the reopening of routes while the DCC meeting was in progress left no doubt that the decision had already been taken and the session was a mere formality. However, the fact that the decision came after a period of seven months is indicative of policy paralysis and policy confusion, one prime minister (Gillani) said the closing was in national interest, the new prime minister said opening was in national interest. GHQ the real architect of Pakistan foreign policy is in a state of strategic confusion over the policy in Afghanistan. Pakistan's civilian and military rulers must understand that three decades of instability in Afghanistan has generated an acute security crisis at home.
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Air Marshal (retd) Shahid Lateef, former vice chief of air staff, is an iconic pilot of PAF. He graduated from PAF Academy, Risalpur with top honours winning the coveted Sword of Honour for his overall best performance and a gold medal for attaining the first position in academics. Subsequently, he earned distinctions throughout his career. He was among the first batch of PAF's pilots who went to America for training and flew the first F-16 from US to Pakistan in 1983. In 2001, he was handed over the JF-17 project, which had failed to take off in the previous seven years. As the chief project director, he and his team performed a miracle by developing the first prototype of JF-17 (Thunder) in less than three years, which is unprecedented in the modern day history of aviation industry. Soon after the successful completion of this onerous task, he was elevated to the rank of Air Marshal and assigned the prestigious post of deputy chief of air staff (Operations) where he served till the appointment of vice chief of air staff in preparation to take over as the PAF chief at the time of the next change-over. However, his candidature for the air chief was disapproved by an influential Western country that was averse to the JF-17 development programme and the future sales and marketing of the aircraft in the region through its co-production in Pakistan. This incident shows the gravity of foreign involvement in our national affairs and decision-making process at the higher level. Nowadays, he is spending his retirement life by participating in different TV programmes on defence and national issues and is also writing opinion columns in 'The News' as a freelance contributor. He is always candid in his views and displays 'matter of fact' attitude in discussions, which is also reflected in his interview to JWT. Jahangir's World Times (JWT): You were among the first batch of PAF's pilots who flew F-16 so, please share with us why Americans were reluctant to give F-16s although Pakistan paid for the consignment?
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Air Marshal (Retd) Shahid Lateef Former Vice Chief of Air Staff
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JF-17 is our brainchild and we have left India far behind in the development of a modern fighter aircraft
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SL: As I earlier said that in 1990s the US left us in the lurch so at that time our command understood that Americans can become nasty whenever they accomplish their missions. Thus, JF-17 is an outcome of this thought process which was initiated by the American's attitude and the Pressler Amendment. The reason behind this was because we always inducted American technology in PAF. So our command realised that if this is the way of Americans then it will create huge problem for PAF because we have old jets in our fleet. e.g. we have the oldest Mirages in the world which we have to replace. And by flying these old machines we are taking huge safety and security risks. We had two options leftone was the purchase of fighter jets from the European countries but there were two major impediments i.e. firstly the European fighter jets were too expensive; secondly, they were not willing to give us front-line aircraft. That is why, this option was dropped. While the second option front of us was to build an indigenous capability in order to meet our needs so, we went for this option and this formed the background of JF-17 development programme. During the period of sanctions imposed by the Presseler Amendment the Chinese offered us a joint venture programme as a partner so at that time it was called Super 7 and later on we changed its name to JF-17. The foundation of this project was laid in the 90s but it was handed over to me in 2001. Unfortunately, the memorandum of understanding was signed in 1995 but during five or six years till 2001 very little work was done; I would say these years were not very well utilised by both sides. When I got the charge of this project I realised that in PAF many aircraft are going to retire in the next five to ten years so if we will not replace them then there will be a serious gap in our operational capability. Because of this situation we started working in an emergency mode and the readers would be pleased to know that in less than three years we flew the first prototype of JF17 which is a record time for the development of a modern fighter aircraft in the contemporary history of aviation industry. Secondly, unique thing is that there is not any air force in the world which has ever got into designing and development of the aircraft. Usually, air forces are provided aircraft they are never mend to make aircraft and no air force has done it yet in the whole world. So, it was a unique challenge which PAF accepted and also fulfilled it successfully. Thirdly, from Pakistan PAF is involved in the project and from China a commercial organisation CATIC was
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JWT: You had been the project director of JF-17 (Thunder) so, please share with us the distinguished features of this aircraft and what it added to the strength of PAF?
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Shahid Lateef (SL): Well after achieving her interests in Afghanistan the US went away and if you recall the Pressler Amendment was passed by the US Senate so, under this Amendment they stopped the supply of F-16s to Pakistan, during that period they were kept on saying that they would provide the remaining F-16s to Pakistan but not only did they stop the supply of F-16s, we also had to pay the parking charges of these aircraft which were made for Pakistan but they were never delivered. Instead we have been provided soyabeans against the cash money which we paid for F-16s. Later on, Pakistan was provided with soybeans for a huge amount of over $650 million which had been paid for the F-16s.
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JWT: After the Mumbai attacks in November 2009 there were threats of surgical strikes by the Indian Air Force inside Pakistan. So in a resort of a surgical strike our reliance again would be on old F-16s and Mirages because new F-16 block 50 and JF-17 are not fully operational yet. Comment. SL: Let me share that when I was heading this project I made a five-years road map, i.e. within the five years this aircraft would be fully operational along with all its equipment and weapons. Unfortunately, when I handed over this project the pace of work slowed down on each and every aspect. In fact, the basic spirit behind the coproduction of this aircraft in Pakistan was to reduce
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SL: Well Indians started the LCA in 1980s. They kept on working the whole 1990s but still even today they are unable to accomplish this project successfully. The aircraft is thus counted in the 80s technology and it has lost relevance with time. On the other hand, we not only completed the project in a record time. Two squadrons of JF-17 have already been inducted into PAF. The Indians are keeping the LCA alive only for face saving and having failed in their struggle to develop an indigenous capability; they are now going for huge aircraft purchases from the west in order to meet their actual operational requirements. We are far ahead of them as far as LCA vs. JF-17 is concerned.
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JWT: How do you compare JF-17 with Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) of Indian Air Force?
involved in it therefore it was a strange combination. Whereas the aircraft was designed and developed at CAC (Chengdu Aircraft Corporation). We pushed so much speed in this project and took risks in deviating from some of the established procedures but we did it in a good faith. Following the usual procedures, it would have taken us 10 to 15 years for the development and qualification of this aircraft as seen even in the advanced countries. However, by moving fast we did not compromise on quality. The JF-17 if I call it as F-16 of Pakistan then I would not be wrong. Because we strictly followed the American standards. The reason we are use to of American technology the reason by following these standards the product becomes universal and we also agreed Chinese for this. I told the Chinese that our product should be able to compete in the international market but if we made it on Chinese standards then it can be sold in this region and it would not earn the international recognition. Moreover, the avionics of JF-17 are also designed around a universal architecture which means if you fit any European or American equipment on JF17 then it will start communicating. There would not be any problem of mismatch. Another interesting fact is that JF-17 is the only fighter jet that China has made from the design board up to its final completion all aircraft before this were the copies of Russians made by China. JF-17 is our brain ware we utilised the manufacturing experience of China. Now JF-17 is going to replace all the old generation aircraft in the PAF. It will enhance the strength of PAF on both countsqualitative as well as quantitative, respectively.
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JWT: What would you say on the 'Cold Start' doctrine of India? Is it a viable strategy? SL: Well this doctrine has three main components one is Infantry, second is Armour and third is Air Force. In this doctrine they have some packages in which these three components or forces have to react in combination rapidly. The main aim of this strategy is to occupy some places in the enemys territory in order to have a bargaining chip for the post war or conflict negotiations. In my opinion it is not a viable strategy because after negotiation they have to give back the occupied territories then where shall go the operational cost which includes the movement of troops, heavy weapons and loss of human life due to the retaliation from other side. In fact, this Cold Start doctrine is made for the rapid mobilization and deployment of troops which India could not do after the attack on Indian parliament. Waqas Iqbal

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Scientists believe the global temperatures will continue to rise for the decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gasses produced by human activities. Over the next century, the temperature might rise by 10 degrees Fahrenheit
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Impacts of Climate Change on Developing Countries II
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dependence on others and to sell it in the international market to earn huge amounts of foreign exchange for Pakistan. The amount of foreign exchange which we will get from this would be so higher than the total amount of foreign exchange which we are getting by all of our exports. So, coming to the point due to slow pace we did not look after our targets therefore today we are not there where we should have been. In fact, we have to overcome our weaknesses in order to induct this state-of-the-art fighter into PAF in big numbers because it is quite capable to full-fil our operational requirements. Actually, it is made to meet the challenges which PAF is likely to face in future in the region. In addition, I would like to share with the readers that due to our smart negotiations we have ensured 58% co-production share for ourselves in this project. We must focus on this aspect wholeheartedly in order to accrue huge financial benefits through third party sales as well as large saving during its massive induction in the PAF as it will form the backbone of our air power for years to come.
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More importantly, almost all of the world's LDCs were once colonial possessions of one or more of the great European powers: England, France or Spain. Their independence was mostly obtained at some point in the 20th century. Colonial powers thought of territorial possessions as sources of raw materials and commercial opportunities that enhanced prosperity at home. Agriculture and mining, therefore, were the major economic activities that were carried on in the colonies, and little or no
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Geography and Economy of Developing World Developing countries are prone to climatic variations because of their geographic features and their economic outlook. Most of the LDCs are agrarian in nature and lands are either irrigated or rain-fed. Population clusters are found near river banks. For instance, in Indian subcontinent, major population clusters are found on the alluvial soils. Few of the largest rivers in the world are found in this region like Yangtze and Yellow rivers in China, Ganges Brahmapurta in Bangladesh and Indus in Pakistan. In Pakistan, 90% of the arable land is irrigated and 10% is rain-fed. More than 60% of the work force is consumed in agriculture sector and this subtropical semi-arid climatic country receives maximum of its rainfall share during monsoon season. Himalayas, the greatest geographic feature of the region, that is considered as the Third Pole of the world and waters the lands of most of the Asiatic region including massive population clusters of China, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Many among LDCs exist in the most vulnerable region of the world due to climatic variations. Rising sea levels, intense weather patterns and frequent droughts and floods have become the permanent feature since last few years.
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Climate change is more than a heating phenomenon and has larger impacts. Climate change is a change in existing climatic system and weather patterns owing to various reasons. It is not in fact synonymous to global warming rather it has been accentuated and has become more pronounced and visible due to global warming in recent times. Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gasses produced by human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. According to the IPCC, the extent of climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or adapt to change. The IPCC predicts that increases in global mean temperature of less than 1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 degrees Celsius) above 1990 levels will produce beneficial impacts in some regions and harmful ones in others. Net annual costs will increase over time as global temperatures increase. Retreating glaciers, rising sea levels and changing patterns of rainfall speak volumes about the magnanimity of climate change. Though it is a global phenomenon and without discrimination affecting the world, still developing world is likely to face the real challenges in future.
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2-Rise in sea level and climate related disasters Rising sea levels increase the risk of coastal flooding and can cause population displacement. More than half of the world's population now lives within 60 km of shorelines. Floods can directly cause injury and death, and increase risks of water-borne diseases. Rising seas threaten to inundate lowlying areas and islands, threaten dense coastal populations, erode shorelines, damage property and destroy ecosystems such as mangroves and wetlands that protect coasts against storms and triggers climate-related disasters. Climate change is intensifying the circulation of water on above and below the surface of the earth and causing drought and floods to be more frequent, severe and widespread. Higher temperatures increase the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, leading to drought in many areas. Between 1980 and 2006 the number of climate-related disasters has quadrupled. The number of people affected by climate-related disasters is expected to reach 375 million per year by 2015. In 2010, climate-related extreme events and disasters affected some 300 million people, most often in countries which have little capacity to cope. Scientific research indicates that climate change will cause hurricanes and tropical storms to become more intense; lasting longer, unleashing stronger winds, and causing more damage to coastal ecosystems and communities. Scientists point to higher ocean temperatures as the main culprit, since hurricanes and tropical storms get their energy from warm water.
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Impacts of Climate Change on LDCs Keeping in view the geographic and climatic features of the developing nations and their economic conditions it is not difficult to understand that climate change can play havoc with them. Experts agree that the world's poor will bear the brunt of climate change. As rainfall becomes increasingly unpredictable, small holder farmers will find it harder than ever to grow the food they need. Moreover, frequent natural disasters will effect the poorest that are most exposed to hunger because they have no support structures to protect them. Few are the very peculiar impacts of climate change on developing countries and are stated as under: Retreating glaciers, rising sea levels and changing patterns of rainfall speak volumes about the magnanimity of climate change. Though it is a global phenomenon and without discrimination affecting the world, still developing world is likely to face the real challenges in future. 1-Food Insecurity and impacts on agriculture Certainly the increased temperatures and unpredictable patterns of rain are directly affecting agriculture sector and food for masses. LDCs that are largely agrarian and are worst effected by this change. Existing rain belt is shifting and resulting in desertification of the arable land. It is said that by 2050, climate change is expected to increase the risk of hunger by 10% to 20% compared to a no-climate change scenario. It is also expected that by 2050 there will be 24 million more malnourished children as a result of climate change. Almost half of this increase, 10 million children, will be in sub-Saharan Africa. With climate change, two-thirds of the arable land in Africa could be lost by 2025 and by 2030 climate change could push food prices up by 50% to 90% more than they would otherwise be expected to rise, according to a recent report. Desertification of the tropical lands will leave millions malnourished.
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investment was made in capital, or even in education or infrastructure, beyond what was needed to provide docile workers, or get the raw materials to the ports. These were the economic conditions that were inherited by the colonised nations when they gained their independence.
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Analysis Efforts like Kyoto Protocol and Copenhagen Conference have been victim to political tussle. Hence, solution to climate change and global warming remains a distant reality. There is no denying the fact that LDCs have to pay for the sins that MDCs has done by destroying the ecosystem and atmosphere. Reducing carbon emissions is not the only solution. Adaptability is a healthy option but that too has high cost. If a case with Pakistan is considered, saving existing water resources, forestation, low fuel consumption and traffic control, solving energy woes, more equipped to control disasters like 2010 floods, developed agriculture system to answer food shortages, health measures to control heat related and water related diseases and such solutions can be forwarded. There can be general guide lines for LDCs but the permanent solution of this gigantic monster varies county to county and should be dealt accordingly. A lot more can be said about this topic of global concern, but to cap it all, it can be said that closing eyes and waiting for things to happen will not help LDCs. They must look up and save themselves from this disaster. Sikander Zishan
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4-Water issues Existing situation in South Asia will sufficiently provide evidences of water shortages that are expected in near future. Countries like Pakistan are already on the verge of being declared as drought prone. More importantly water emergency in India also indicates that world is not far from the time when water will be a rare commodity. Debates have often being conducted under the title that 21st century will be the century of water wars. That is purely because of global warming and climate change. Himalayas, as per the reports of IPCC, are likely to melt by 2040. They are the feeding source of agricultural sector in the region and major source of fresh water for the billions.
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3-Heat related diseases In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 1,500 deaths in India. In addition to heat-related illness, climate change may increase the spread of infectious diseases, mainly because warmer temperatures allow disease-carrying insects, animals and microbes to survive in areas where they were once thwarted by cold weather. Diseases and pests that were once limited to the tropics such as mosquitoes that carry malaria may find hospitable conditions in new areas that were once too cold to support them. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that climate change may have caused more than 150,000 deaths in the year 2000 alone, with an increase in deaths likely in the future.
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Imran Khan Reality Over Myth
Let us analyse some of these areas of debate and see the reality behind the myth. Imran is all big talk The most oft-repeated attack on him is that he has these grandiose ideas that are high sounding but have no connection with reality. His latest tall claim under criticism is that once in power, he will remove major corruption in 90 days. It is but natural that the question arises on whether something that has been deep-rooted for so many years can with a magic wand be erased in a matter of three months. Figures speak for themselves. By the admission of their own appointed NAB chairman,
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Having been written off for the better part of his political career Imran and PTI are today sometimes reluctantly, and sometimes enthusiastically, recognised as the third political force in the country. The enthusiasts are the ones who see him as an anti status quo warrior who will purge this country from its many political and economic ills and will restore the country's self-esteem, while the reluctants still feel that there are many grey areas in his approach that do not make him a voluntary choice but a choice because of no other choice.
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He is not a politician, he is not a business tycoon, and he is not a landlord. In the meanwhile, he is not corrupt, he is not a liar, and he is not a blackmailer. Such qualities should automatically disqualify a person from leading Pakistan, but that is precisely why he is being considered as the symbol of change in Pakistan. For years Imran has been an enigma for analysts, critics, fans and general public. They could not fathom how come a man with such a record of achievements and such amazing following could not be considered fit enough to lead the country? For fifteen years his inability of turning his likability to viability was answered with either a cynical snort of critics that cricket and politics are world apart, or, by a rueful shake off head by his supporters that he is too clean and straightforward to get through the maze of dirty politics.
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Imran's ability to see what others cannot see and do what others could not do is proven by his feats we all know about.
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All transformational leaders like Quaid-e-Azam believed that nobody can take away your selfrespect if you do not give it to them. The Quaid worked for almost five decades to fight for independence and for the rights of Muslims. Imran today is fighting for restoring the same pride and respect for Pakistanis all over the world. His dream of making the green passport a document of value and reverence is a dream every Pakistani shares. His plan for providing security and transparency to attract overseas Pakistani investment in the country is very similar to how the
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Imran is not anti-west but pro-Pakistan. After having studied and lived in the west he has acknowledged many times that many of these countries are more Islamic in their conduct than Pakistan. He admires how these countries by being principle centred and accountable have become so developed. He is very clear that we need to develop friendly relations with all countries on equal footing. He is also clear that the Americans would never infringe our sovereignty if our leaders did not allow them. Thus, the formula is simple. Become economically strong and independent and the Americans or any other country will not dare to dictate their terms.
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Imran is anti-West Another related criticism is that Imran is anti-American and anti-west. This scares off people in two respects; one he is not a moderate Muslim and that fear crops up every time he is seen with Jamaate-Islami leaders, and two, that the Americans will never let somebody who is not a puppet in their hands come into power. Imran believes that if any party stands for the same issues as PTI does, then a dialogue and an issue-based collaboration is possible. Since JI shares the same stance on drones and solidarity with an independent judiciary, PTI will engage with them for joint protests, etc.
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Also remember leadership starts with selling a vision and dreaming the impossible; Imran's ability to see what others cannot see and do what others could not do is proven by his feats we all know about. Standing in a remote rural area and promising a world class college with a University of Bradford degree at no cost, was also laughed upon, but NAMAL today is a case study for international researchers, as is Shaukat Khanum. Vision has to be followed by a passion that defies logic where pursuit of purpose is beyond self, beyond difficulties, beyond circumstances. If Abraham Lincoln, the greatest of US presidents, could only win after losing 17 elections, Imran's time to win is factually a reality. His solution of engaging the Taliban through a dialogue was considered ridiculous and unrealistic. However, time has proven his stance as being just and real. America today is chanting the same song and drone attacks are being condemned by all other parties in the country. Imran is pro-Taliban This is another favourite tagline of those who doubt his philosophy. Some say he is a reborn extremist, for others, he suffers from confused identity. This argument was even more fuelled a few years ago when Imran openly resented the military operations in Waziristan and protested against drone attacks. His solution of engaging the Taliban through a dialogue was considered ridiculous and unrealistic. However, time has proven his stance as being just and real. America today is chanting the same song and drone attacks are being condemned by all other parties in the country. Imran is a great believer in human values of equality, justice and integrity. His fear is that if any operations are carried out indiscriminately and end up hurting people who are innocent, as has been the case in Waziristan, Afghanistan and Iraq, its natural backlash will be more terrorism. His compassion for people living in the remote areas being bracketed with terrorists indiscriminately is what makes him protest against this injustice.
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who is being careful with these figures, the estimated daily corruption is Rs 6 to 8 billion and most of it is due to five major institutions. If we change the head of these institutions we can save Rs 2000 billion annually solving our circular debt and many other problems. Pak Steel is an example. Led by an honest and professional head it was earning Rs 8 billion profit in 2008 and with mercenaries in charge it has now accumulated a loss of Rs 120 billion.
Chinese economy grew and became the power it is today. Imran is an autocrat and not a team builder The image of the angry and upset Imran of younger days was fuelled further by his solo flight as a politician appearing on media for many of the formative years of the party. People felt that his inability to listen to others and connect to many was a huge limit to attract people to his team. However, reality shows that in politics people want to bet on a winning horse and as soon as his viability increased so did his team. In fact, the criticism on him now is to the contrary, i.e. why is he taking people from other teams in his team.
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Then, there are the less popular apprehensions of him being more of a social activist than a politician. If there is one thing that this nation has more or less unanimously agreed upon, and is demanding, is change. If Imran is not a career politician then that is the change we need, because the career politicians have failed time and again to serve this country. Remember this country was not made by career politicians but by people who had the ability to sacrifice self for a higher purpose. Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Iqbal and Sir Syed were not MNAs and MPAs or sons of the political high-ups. This country was made by a lawyer, a poet and a teacher and many like them. People who were not hardcore politicians but had vision, determination and integrity made this country. This country was made by people whose reason of existence was aligned to the reason of existence of the country. Thus, for this country to change, the time to choose people based on their ancestral fame, their constituency name and their political game is over. Facts show that 90 per cent of leadership failures are character failures. Thus, real facts prove that the myth of only the crooks can play politics is just for those shortlived forced acquisitions of power that result in shameful dismissal and abject disgrace eventually. They say that those who can change themselves can change the world. Imran is a living example of
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Teams are always built on the basis of not who opposed whom but who best fits in with the job at hand. Obama's appointment of Hilary is a classic example of how she who opposed many of his stances was still given the top international post due to her experience and competence. It is the quality of the leader to leave behind his own biases and inspire his opponents to share his vision that makes people take the leap of faith. If you take opinion of those who have been with other party leaders to make a comparison between Imran and their previous chairmen they will unanimously tell you that such a democratic leader who listens to every dissenting voice and makes decisions on the basis of thorough consultations is almost unique in political parties.
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This book is unique regarding the fact that it does not read like a lecture or commentary on religion. It is based on sayings of the author on religious theme. How religion can be applied and interpreted in daily life. For example, the author posed a question, Where will you apply religion if there is no one around you, or if you are living in isolation? The rules given by Allah Almighty can only be applied in civilisation.
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The book is on religion, now available in the market. The author is serving in the Customs Department and is also researching on a book on management which will also come in the market shortly.
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REMINDERS WALK THE PATH OF THE SAGE, THE WISE AND OF TRUTH. BE WHAT YOU WERE MEANT TO BE Author: Imran Tariq
A Day-to-Day Spiritual Guide
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Imran is a man driven by the vision of restoring faith in this country. Imran is a man driven by the exciting opportunities this country possesses. Imran is a man driven by his resolve to bring social renaissance in the society. His immense passion and relentless determination have always made bets against him a tricky business and will in the coming time prove a risky business for all those who doubt his ability to do the undoable. Andleeb Abbas
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a man whose sincerity and commitment to a larger purpose has completely transformed him from a man who spent the better part of his life avoiding public for safeguarding his privacy has now given up his life for public.
The book is recommended for a reading as it carries a very different, easy style. It poses no burden on the intellect yet is intellectually very sound.
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IGNORING FILM INDUSTRY IGNORING PAKISTAN
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It is quite an effort expanding over years. It is easy reading as it doesn't test your mental faculties perpetually. The sayings can be read at leisure and there is no discontinuity in reading as the book can be opened anywhere for reading.
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The sayings have been collected by the author over a period of years. They were jotted down as they came to him, lest they are forgotten. When these sayings reached a level to be given a book form, this book was born.
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He says in the Quran What concern does He have in punishing you if you believe in Him and are thankful to Him. He is thus not The One who is out to hurt or give harm to you. He is a very Compassionate God.
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The inspiration behind the book is Prof. Ahmad Rafique Akhtar, the religious scholar with his unique, soft and kind style of talking on religion. According to the author, Prof. Sahib is a great sufi of our time and his main rationale is that Allah has to be your top priority. If He is not your top priority then you will never find Him. If you are lost in the world, you can never reach Him. Allah is the reason behind everything that is going on in the cosmos and in your own lives. It is a dishonesty and insincerity on one's part if one cannot and does not recognise who gave you life and sustains you throughout your life. This act of thanklessness is very hateful in His sight and as a consequence no good news comes to you. With Him, the author says, Life is full of peace and hope. We eat of His bounty, This spectacle of eating food has in it the ability and the capacity to make apparent a basic character flaw in you. Are you grateful or not. Do you thank Him or not, goes a saying. Allah is the reason behind everything that is going on in the cosmos and in your own lives. It is a dishonesty and insincerity on one's part if one cannot and does not recognise who gave you life and sustains you throughout your life. If one is not grateful to Him one cannot be grateful to any one or for anything. This, according to the author is a perfect recipe for making your life a living hell. There is emphasis on the fact that He is Kind and Compassionate and Merciful, as He says and He is not harsh and unkind.
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The book comprises three hundred and sixty-five sayings. One for everyday and is divided so for every month January to December. It is occasionally interspersed with the author's own comments on various issues other than religion. With empathy and love you are a very delicious juicy peach, a plum and without them you are a dried prune, goes a saying.

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The sparked-out war by the tycoons who simultaneously own the weapon factories and the media outlets start propaganda through their TV channels, radio channels, newspapers and movies. Thus, a war is not fought between the two countries. It is fought either between the two rival tycoons who own media and weaponry, or the same tycoon who first sparks out a war between two countries, and then funds both of the countries with the weapons; and stages fake rivalry over his media outlets. Owing to the power of fiction and drama, movies are the most effective propaganda tool, because a drama offers an emotional appeal to the viewers. It tries to convince the hearts first. Frankly speaking, a warrior is an emotional creature by design; and so are the under-developed countries' masses.
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Just have a look at the media owners of the west. You shall come to know that these are the very people who own weapon factories as well. Once the factory has produced enough ammunition, it has to be sold out in order to keep the factory running, adding capital to the surplus and sustain the monopoly. Therefore, already inclined and volatile countries are persuaded to start wars. The company which has a lot of vested interests in the war desperately wants to, number one, perpetuate the war as long as possible, and number two, win it in order to attract the new customers. Sadly, the benchmark of an ammunition factory is the lethality of its products. More the weapons are lethal, more desirable the products of the factory would be.
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The government should realise that the media are no more a tool. Political economy theory and media hegemony theory suggest that the media are a weapon in the hands of the haves. They manufacture consent according to their desire. They marginalise the dissents. The recent history of the modern world has a lot of stories to tell in this regard.
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The federal budget 2012-13, by not allocating any penny for the revival of film and cinema, has worsened the miseries of the already suffering industries.
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Looking at the role, affectivity and penetration of the world media in manufacturing the public opinion, it is surprising to know that the bigwigs of Pakistan are terribly unconcerned with the ever-deteriorating industries of Pakistani cinema and Pakistani films. This article compares what a film can do with what a diplomat can do; and through this comparison, highlights the importance of filmmaking as an effective means of media.
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THAR COAL FUTURE OF PAKISTAN
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Instead of wasting money on the pathetic propaganda-films like Bol and Khuda kay Liyay, the powerful of the nation should take some practical measures. Allocation of special funds/subsidiaries for both cinema industry and film industry and setting the creative and professionals of the field free to produce whatever they want to shall bring tolerance in a pluralistic society like ours. Ahmad Hammad
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Can't Pakistan make movies to effectively counter the Indian or any other enemy's propaganda? Filmmaking can do what diplomats cannot. Films present the culture, the point of view and the face of the nation so vividly to the masses of the other nations that an ambassador, a foreign secretary or even a musical band can never do that.
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Remember Air Force One, Executive Decision and True Lies? The villains are either the Iraqi Muslims or the Russians. They tell the story through films in a so undeniable way that no other effort of the brainwash could easily work then. The surrogate parents of the young generation are the media, says Dr Mughees. The youth receives the image as reality whatever is shown through films.
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If you look at the he-men of Hollywood, Bollywood and Lollywood, you will find no potential difference in terms of talent and diversity of ideas among them. That is, Rambo, Dharmeendra and Sultan Rahi's skills of killing the bad-guys are unparalleled. Put this way, John Woo, Rakesh Roshan and Masood Butt have the similar mindset. The only difference is the way the available technology is used to tell the story. They, the Bollywood and Hollywood filmmakers, successfully prove the labelled bad guy a real bad guy and inculcate a believable impression in the viewers' minds that the story told has a great relevance with the world outside the theatre.
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Owing to the power of fiction and drama, movies are the most effective propaganda tool, because a drama offers an emotional appeal to the viewers. It tries to convince the hearts first. Frankly speaking, a warrior is an emotional creature by design; and so are the under-developed countries' masses. The tycoons via movies convince people that the war was inevitable and the weapons which are being used are lethal enough to curb the insurgency and bring peace to the world. Unfortunately, millions of tons of weapons have been used on the meager, emotional and innocent nations, but the world is yet to experience the dawn of a peaceful day.
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Given its all-encompassing importance in running the engine of economy on sustainable basis, energy sectors is one of the most important sectors globally. It explains why the governments around the world are focusing so hard on ensuring their energy security.
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The emphasis on the project is a manifestation of the need to explore all possible avenues to overcome the energy shortages that have come to plague Pakistan for last few years, arresting country's economic development.
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The expression of the prime minister's confidence in the viability of the project and political commitment to stay the course should come as a comforting development for those who saw the hand of vested interests in torpedoing what has rightly been termed as energy life-line of Pakistan.
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The visit of the prime minister to Thar coalfields is also significant in the backdrop of news doing the round in media that the project was not being pursued as vigorously as it deserved and that the Planning Commission was not well disposed to the potency of idea of underground gasification being spearheaded by Dr Mand.
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On August 9, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf visited Thar coalfields and attended a number of briefings including the one by Dr Samar Mubarakmand regarding underground coal gasification project. In his speech to the public meeting, the prime minister expressed his happiness over the progress being made on producing power from coal and termed the region as 'a future of Pakistan'.
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Pakistan sits on one of the largest coal deposits in the world, which range between 175,000 tons and 185,000 tons. They have the potential of 100,000 megawatt power generation, which can take care of the country's power needs for 300 years. Ms. Benazir Bhutto laid the foundation of development of Thar coalfields in 1993. It is unfortunate that no substantial progress could be made on the project afterwards. If present government dedicatedly works on the development of Thar coalfields, it would constitute a befitting tribute to the leadership of their leader and a great service to Pakistan as well.
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The future energy demands also require us to tap renewable energy resources, including wind, solar and biomass which have huge power generation potential. Hence, development of hydropower projects and Thar coalfields should figure on the top of the government's agenda. Pakistan sits on one of the largest coal deposits in the world, which range between 175,000 tons and 185,000 tons. They have the potential of 100,000 megawatt power generation, which can take care of the country's power needs for 300 years. Ms. Benazir Bhutto laid the foundation of development of Thar coalfields in 1993. It is unfortunate that no substantial progress could be made on the project afterwards. If present government dedicatedly works on the development of Thar coalfields, it would constitute a befitting tribute to the leadership of their leader and a great service to Pakistan as well. The national integrated energy policy of the present government seeks to provide level playing field for the energy sector and create an enabling environment to attract private sector investment in the power sector particularly in Thar coalfield. It should, however, ensure guaranteed rate of return, huge incentives and development of robust infrastructure.
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I am very clear about the fact that the country cannot achieve socio-economic growth unless we urgently focus on development of indigenous energy resources such as hydel projects and Thar coalfields, which are sources of cheap and affordable energy.
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Hence, changing this flawed energy mix is what should top the agenda of the government. At the moment, the share of thermal power is well over 50%, while that of hydropower is 32%. The government should seek to increase the hydel generation up to 65% by 2025 by reducing its depending on oil and gas imports.
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At the current rate, the country is likely to spend $5 billion for import of oil, which approximately totals up to $25 billion over a period of five years. The expression of the prime minister's confidence in the viability of the project and political commitment to stay the course should come as a comforting development for those who saw the hand of vested interests in torpedoing what has rightly been termed as energy lifeline of Pakistan. Out of total electricity produced in a year, less than 1% electricity is generated through coal. While China, India and the US generate 78%, 68% and 48% of electricity through coal, Pakistan's share is too negligible to be mentioned.
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The country's current energy problems owe themselves to a lack of integrated, coherent and balanced energy mix, which is characterised by heavy dependence on import of oil, logistical bottlenecks for oil supplies, inefficient gas and power distribution networks, and the persistent problem of circular debt.
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Pakistan's current crisis in power sector is attributable to the neglect energy sector received at the hands of successive governments when not even a single megawatt of power was added to the national grid, while the size of population and economy's requirements continued to grow exponentially.
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There is no denying the fact that Pakistan's economy including its industrial and domestic sectors has suffered a great deal owing to widening gap between demand and supply of power. In fiscal year 2011-12, the energy shortages were responsible for curtailment of the Gross Domestic Product by almost 2%. For any economy to grow on sustainable basis, achieve accelerated GDP growth and reduce poverty through job creation, it needs uninterrupted, reliable and cheap supply of energy. Going by the size, diversity and depth of Pakistan's economy, it becomes sufficiently manifest that she will need about twice of her current energy resources to drive its economy.
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Consensus on Chief Election Commissioner: Hopes and Challenges
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However, these are the vast, untapped Thar coal reserves that hold the key to Pakistans progress and prosperity of its people. The government should do everything possible to make sure that the engine of our economy keep running uninterruptedly and the country does not relapse into darkness. Amanat Ali Chaudhry
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While the domestic oil production has been stagnant, gradual decline in the indigenous gas supply has been one of the major challenges the country's economy may face if no corrective steps are taken now. The government should devise policy to overcome gas shortage in the short- and medium-terms by imports of LNG and LPG on fast-track basis. It should also vigorously keep pursuing Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, which will provide 750 MMCD of gas by 2015. Any resistance against the pipeline from any quarter including friendly country should be rejected in absolute terms as the matter involves Pakistans future.
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Focus on Thar coalfields should not distract attention from the hydropower projects, which are yet another source of cheap energy. It is a matter of satisfaction that the present government has initiated a number of large, medium and small hydro projects in the country, which will add 11,000 megawatt of cheap power during the coming five years.
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Energy efficiency and conservation is one of the core areas that should be focused as it offers huge gains in terms of saving energy. According to an estimate, if we as a nation inculcate the habit of saving, it can save billions of dollars of precious foreign exchange through reduction in oil imports. This calls for strengthening of key energy sector agencies and restructuring of operations of public sector energy corporations.
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The government should also bring about improvement in energy sector governance to ensure implementation of various reforms and stimulation of capital for capacity expansion.
Fakharuddin G. Ebrahim's appointment gave new hope to the people of Pakistan that he is capable to meet challenges to hold free and fair elections.
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In March 1981, serving as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he refused to take a fresh oath, under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) promulgated by Gen. Zia-ul-Haq along with Justice Dorab Patel and Chief Justice Sheikh Anwar-ul-Haq. The PCO not only negated the independence of the judiciary but also prolonged martial law by nullifying the effect of a judgment giving Gen. Zia's regime limited recognition. Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin wants free and fair election. Sworn-in as new Chief election commissioner Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim reiterated that the next general election would be free, fair, impartial and transparent.
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He is a retired Associate judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and senior advocate of the Supreme Court and is known as a peace activist. Ebrahim also served as the interim law minister from July 18, 1993 until October 19, 1993, and interim Justice Minister from November 5, 1996 until February 17, 1997. He was the Attorney General of Pakistan during the government of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and served as his close legal adviser throughout the 1970s. In 1988, he was also governor of Sindh, appointed by the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during her first term.
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The new election commissioner Fakharuddin G. Ebrahim was selected with consent of all major political parties. He took oath on July 23, 2012. Fakharuddin G. Ebrahim's appointment gave new hope to the people of Pakistan that he is capable to meet challenges to hold free and fair elections.
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The Election Commission of Pakistan is an independent and autonomous constitutional body responsible for conducting transparent, free, fair and impartial elections to the National and provincial assemblies. The holding of elections to the office of the president, the Senate, the local government is also the function of Election Commission. Under the Election Commission Order, 2002, the Election Commission consists of Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan and four members drawn from the sitting judges of the High Courts of their respective provinces. All the executive authorities in the Federation and provinces are constitutionally duty-bound to assist the chief election commission and the Election Commission in the discharge of its functions. The Election Commission of Pakistan enjoys full financial and administrative autonomy and works independently of all government control. The Election Commission was given more powers in 18th Amendment. Now the CEC decide matters jointly and in a democratic manner.
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An organised free and fair elections in the country, he said, It is a challenge, either as a mission. However, this success is the top priority of the whole nation. This is my last wish. The chief election commissioner should concentrate on election process and avoid other political issues asked by the media so that his impartiality is not questioned.
The people of Pakistan have to play a vital role in the coming elections. If they vote with a zeal and commitment they can vote out the corruption from the body policies. The silent majority must vote this time and vote for honest, educated and capable candidate. The destiny of the nation and the future of Pakistan is in the hands of the electorates. If they cast their vote for Pakistan this time the future would be bright. The people of Pakistan must demand with loud voice from political leaders to award party tickets to men of integrity and not the corrupt candidates. The challenges before chief election commissioner are many but we can hope that the new honourable and reliable chief election commissioner will be able to face all challenges and hold first true independent, fair and free elections in the history of Pakistan.
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The traditional feudals of Pakistan who grasp political power through elections will try to use unfair means and violate the code of conduct to keep hold on political power after new elections. The CEC must ensure that polling staff is independent and efficient to stop all efforts of rigging. The police always take sides and patronise its favourite candidates. If army is advised to manage the polling day then the influential fudal candidates will not be able to use unfair means the elections.
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The Election Commission has also issued a code of conduct for political parties and the candidates. In view of this code of conduct now educated middle class can also take part in the election because the election expenditures have been minimised to Rs. 1.5 million for National Assembly seat and Rs. one million for provincial seat. The code of conduct was strictly and successfully enforced during Mullan by-elections. All indications are positive and one can hope that the Election Commission will meet and face all the challenges confidently to hold free and fair elections.
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The Election Commission has publicised the computerised voters list. The people of Pakistan can register their votes before the announcement of election schedule. The president and prime minster both have assured that the elections will be held on time. The country is engulfed in multiple crises and only the fresh mandate of people can solve these crises. The impartial and caretaker set-up would be another step to ensure fair elections and hopefully the government and opposition will agree on caretaker prime minister and cabinet members. All the political parties seem satisfied that the Election Commission will hold impartial elections in the country and the election results will represent the true voice of the people. The chief election commissioner is famous for resignations on principles. The history of elections in Pakistan is witness that almost all elections were rigged by the powerful establishment to get positive results in the elections. However, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvaiz Kyani did not allow the agencies to interfere in election process during 2008 elections. The able, strong and independent CEC will not allow any official agency or department to interfere or influence the election process. There are strong rumours that technocrats set-up will be established for two years. Any unelected set-up will bear no fruit. The new elections are the only solution of our problems.
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All the political parties seem satisfied that the Election Commission will hold impartial elections in the country and the election results will represent the true voice of the people. The chief election commissioner is famous for resignations on principles. The nation expects that this time he will not resign at any cost and will complete the election process. The people of Pakistan and the independent judiciary will support the Election Commission if there are any hurdles from any side to hinder the election process.
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At the end of the article, there is a letter which was published in daily Dawn on July 12, 2012. It has been re-published on these pages just in order to reinforce the writer's point of view.
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He became a laughing-stock around the world and the butt of many jokes at home when Mr Raisani, chief minister of Balochistan, claimed, Degree is degree whether fake or genuine. It ranks right up there with the most unforgettable quotes known to Pakistanis, for sheer ludicrousness if nothing else. A preposterous statement whether given in gravity or jest. Or is it? Think again.
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By setting up such institutes, the capitalist class serves only themselves, and not the country, or the youth. They produce robots, workers, and not thinkers, intellectuals and visionaries. The government should come forward and do something for establishing new universities in the public sector so that no individual may fall prey to the predators we call the private universities.
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Since the August edition happens to be the Youth and Interdependence special, this article highlights the miseries of the young who happen to be the students of the so-called educational institutes. The students of the private universities are at a greater loss, for they are exploited by the 'owners' of the varsities through their front men.
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It's Just Good Business Private Education Limited
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The writer is a renowned columnist. Email: qayyumnizami@gmail.com Qayyum Nizami
The private education sector in Pakistan reeks of money-grubbing at all tiers. The mushroom growth of its schools, colleges and universities is an indicator of just how lucrative a proposition it has become. We have a burgeoning population exceeding 190 million and counting, according to the UNDP, 63% of which is under the age of 25. This opens up a huge market for entrepreneurs wanting to target this particular demographic. The more unscrupulous of who do it in the name of education. Given that government monitoring of the private education sector is minimal and quality/price control not exercised, the people in charge of these private establishments are free to go about their work with relative impunity. They formulate policies as they so please, and for all intents and purposes, are answerable only to themselves. At best private institutes are just shops which provide mercenary education. While some shops might appear to provide quality learning but that has little to do with public service. It is in fact only to boost their reputation so that the students and money keeps pouring in. It's just good business. An objection here could be made by some who would argue that in fact not all private universities are cash counters and that some actually are doing good work. To all those who would like to use the all fingers are not equal' clich let me remind them that those fingers still belong to the same hand, which in this case happens to be the private hand. A private hand in education cannot work for the public interest. Public schools, colleges and universities certainly have their share of problems. But unlike the private ones, their raison d'etre, reason of being, is not in question. For all their problems just because their purpose of functioning is clear, i.e., it gives them propriety and legitimises them. Hence, this makes them the only avenue for valid education.
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Obviously not! He should realise how difficult it is for her and that at least she is trying to cope. More than anything else, the wife is legitimate whereas the prostitute is not. She does it only for money. The wife does it for a cause. Private education is for a significant part about money. Public education is for a cause.
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Take a husband and wife for instance. Now like most wives she is not perfect. She nags at him occasionally, complains about all the work she has to do, fights with him under stress, and cannot be the romantic damsel at all times. So should the husband in fact leave her for a prostitute, who doesn't nag him, fight with him and complains; who gives to him what she is paid for, no excess baggage?
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To give a layman perspective I would like to draw a parallel here, an analogy of sorts.
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Education is what it's about then not colourful documents and so it's the education which needs to be legitimate firstly. Education is a cause perhaps the most noble of causes known to humanity, the enlightenment of man, his progress and development. The moment you temper this notion of nobility with commercial objectives the cause is compromised. The sincerity of purpose is lost amidst the rustle of trained hands counting currency notes. Pakistan is a developing nation riddled with a multitude of problems and facing innumerable challenges, arguably the only long-term solution lies in the dispensation of education which is free of vested interests.
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A degree, in the corporeal sense, is nothing more than a piece of paper bearing a few signatures and stamps. It's the educational value we associate with a degree which gives it significance. Without that, the genuine is fake; and by reverse logic, the fake is genuine. Unwittingly the Baloch chief minister has given a highly ironic depiction of our prevailing education system.

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It is still a dream or a dream is coming true that Pakistan will be engaging in the coming weeks with all nations; from immediate and medium-distance neighbours to long distance friends. A quest for an independent foreign policy has always been a public aspiration in Pakistan but developments in the region and beyond invariably prevented the pursuit of a policy of `friendship with all and enmity with none'. There is a now an emerging realisation among the policy-makers that Pakistan has to look around and formulate policies which not only help it come out of the isolation but create avenues for prosperity of its very people. The underlying `shift' is now luring Pakistan to remain engaged with the United States and its allies as well as to engage with India, Russia, China, Afghanistan etc. Coming few weeks are very important. Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit The notion of an independent foreign policy and friendship with all is in the spirit of Non-Aligned
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Diplomacy At Its Best
Friendship With All:
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The way forward therefore is clear; education in Pakistan needs to be state owned in totality. The existing private sector needs to be brought into the mainstream through a process of indiscriminate and beneficent nationalisation. This will in practice ensure that there are enough government institutes to provide education for all Pakistani students. Furthermore, the quality they offer should be at least world class. Such standards need to be evolved and maintained. Like most things it is easier said than done but the recourse has to be followed there is nothing to lose and everything to gain, our national survival and progress not least of them. Syed Zamin Raza is a political analyst and a filmmaker. He can be contacted at: polycracy@gmail.com Syed Zamin Raza
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Pak-US `normalisation After weeks and months of speaking at each other following Salala attack, Pakistan and the United States are now speaking to each other at military to military, diplomatic to diplomatic and government to government levels. ISAF Commander in Afghanistan General John Allen held a number of meetings with military leadership in Pakistan and then US CENTCOM Chief General James Mattis had what was termed as the US Embassy in Islamabad as a successful discussion with military leadership in Pakistan. Now, the two sides have formally decided to restore the stalled strategic dialogue covering mutual cooperation in as many as 15 different areas. The sectoral meetings in various areas like energy, counter-terrorism, economy, democracy and others will be held in September. By the end of September, there is a likelihood of a meeting between Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will review the outcome of these
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Russian President's visit to Pakistan The cold war era never allowed Pakistan and Russia (former Soviet Union) come closer and forge cooperative ties. The post-cold war `truce' and diplomatic `dtente' between Pakistan and Russia softened the attitudes resulting in President General Pervez Musharraf's visit to Moscow in February 2003. But, it could not attract any Russian president to undertake a visit to Pakistan. However, President Zardari has consistently been pursuing a consistent policy of wooing the Russians to forgo the bitterness of cold war realities and open a new chapter in relationship with Pakistan. It will not be historic moment but a giant leap in Pak-Russia relations when Vladimir Putin lands in Islamabad in October. A quadrilateral summit between Pakistan, Russia, Afghanistan and Tajikistan is scheduled in the first week of October wherein presidents Asif Zardari, Vladimir Putin, Hamid Karzai and Emamali Rahmon would further enhance cooperation.
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Pak-India Foreign Ministers Talks Pakistan will be engaged with India at the foreign minister's level in Islamabad from September 7-9. Foreign Minister of India S. M. Krishna's visit comes at a time when the two countries are trying to open a new chapter of peace, friendship and cooperation in the region. The warmth in the atmospherics between the two countries does suggest that the `hard economic and geo-strategic' realities are forcing the two countries to come closer to each other. And there is a lot to improve between the two countries. Apart from normalising trade activities, the gigantic task is to restore trust between the governments, the establishments and the people. And so much is already taking place. The commerce secretaries of Pakistan and India are also expected to meet in Islamabad in September to oversee the implementation of decisions, leading to formally grant of Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India by Pakistan by the end of the current calendar year. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has also invited his newly appointed counterpart in India Sushil Kumar Shinde for talks on mutual cooperation in their areas of jurisdiction. The two countries have also agreed on a draft for a revised visa agreement and that is pending for signing. The new visa agreement, when comes into force, would replace the existing obsolete agreement signed back in 1970s. The new visa agreement envisages enhanced people to people contacts between Pakistan and India. During the Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna's visit to Pakistan, the two sides would review the progress achieved in this round of talks and search out more avenues for further action. All this activity is to enhance cooperation.
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Movement (NAM) from 1950s during the height of cold war. The 16th NAM Summit in Tehran from August 30 provided an opportunity for President Zardari to interact with other NAM leaders on a wide range of issues confronting Pakistan, the region and the globe. (Please adjust the above sentence as President Zardari is scheduled to attend the Summit and is expected to meet world leaders there). The leaders from regional powers like China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran etc had ample opportunity for talking peace and development in the region. The presence of President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh at Tehran sounds good omen for South Asian peace.
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meetings. With strategic dialogue's revival, the relationship seems back on track. Conclusion The democratic government in Pakistan has been trying to change the tide of violence inside Pakistan and repercussions of violent activities on its foreign policy pursuits. It has changed the very tone of Pak-Afghan relations from accusation to possible cooperation. It has also set a new policy for itself called Neighbours-first policy. Pak-India talks at foreign minister's level have significance; the visit of Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna may serve as harbinger to the muchawaited bilateral visit of Indian prime minister to Pakistan. Since the visit of former Bhartia Janta Party's premier Atal Bihari Vajpaee in 1999, no Indian prime minister has ever paid a bilateral visit to Pakistan. Premier Vajpayee had another visit in 2004 but that was in the context of SAARC Summit. There are critics of the dialogue process being very slow. But slow and steady dialogue is better than deadly and sometimes bloody confrontation between Pakistan and India. Shaukat Piracha
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The cold-blooded murder of the 17-year-old, Warrington-based Shafilea Ahmed at the hands of her parents, has grabbed headlines in the media over the past nine years before the British justice system eventually brought her killers to court. Shafilea's offence, it transpired, was that she had been immersed in the British culture, against the wishes of her highly conservative Muslim parents of Pakistani origin. More importantly, perhaps, she had resisted an arranged marriage in her
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The real devil behind the many incidents of honour crimes among the British Pakistani communities is a strong resistance to immersion in western culture and the spectre of 'arranged marriage'
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ancestral homeland. Shafilea's murder has raised many a pertinent question, especially for the Pakistani communities based in the UK. Whereas the media hastened to term this particular case as another incident of honour killing, the investigating team as well as the state officials have both been cautious with their use of words. Following the completion of the murder trial, Detective Superintendent Geraint Jones said, For me, it's a simple case of murder. This is a case of domestic abuse Domestic abuse is, sadly, something which the police have to deal with too often. It transcends culture, class, race, and religion.
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According to the statistics provided by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), set up by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to give advice and support to potential victims, 1,468 such instances were reported in 2011. 78 per cent of these instances involved female victims and 22 per cent male victims. Moreover, 18.9 per cent of the victims were from London, 13.4 per cent from West Midlands, and 12.7 per cent from North West. 66 instances (4.5 per cent) involved those with disabilities. 56 per cent cases involved people of Pakistani origin, 7.8 per cent those from Bangladesh, 6.2 per cent from India and 1.5 per cent from Afghanistan.
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Dr Gill said that no attention had been paid to why Shafilea would always talk about her suffering but never seek the help of police or social services. Even though Shafilea was a teenager living in constant fear of her parents, no thought was ever given to finding a way to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of domestic violence, despite a number of independent witnesses.
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She said that Shafilea's murder could easily have been prevented were it not for a series of misjudgments on the part of the policy makers regarding the implementation of domestic violence laws and guidelines in dealing with potential youngsters and vulnerable adults. She also outlined a catalogue of mistakes made by the state agencies in this connection.
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Dr Aisha Gill, a Reader in Criminology at the University of Roehampton, who provided expert evidence for the prosecution in the case against Shafilea's parents, spoke to TNS on the issue. She was of the view that the government should adopt a more proactive approach in preventing violence against women among South Asian communities.
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These may just be hasty conclusions. If we look deeper into the cultural folds of the British Asian community, we find that the real issue is actually 'forced marriages', and it is not specific to Pakistanis alone; a majority of cases have been reported among Indians and Bangladeshis based in the UK. Unfortunately, though, Pakistanis top any such statistics or data collected by the British government and campaigners and charities working to deal with the menace.
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A recent BBC Panorama poll on the attitudes of the younger Asian generation (in the UK?) found that 75 per cent of the males and 63 per cent of the females surveyed were in agreement that a family must take care of its collective 'honour' (izzat in Urdu). Those aged between 16-24 years (73 per cent) were more likely to agree on this than the ones between 25-34 years of age (64 per cent). 18 per cent of those interviewed (both male and female) agreed that certain actions of a woman are a reasonable justification for corporal punishment.
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In today's Britain, the terms 'honour crimes' and 'forced marriage' are both conveniently attributed to the Pakistanis (Muslims, obviously). The media here sees the former as a consequence of the latter: when women are accused of bringing a 'bad name' to their family by 'overriding' the 'decrees' of their elders, especially regarding an arranged marriage within the baradari (or community), or when they have a liaison with a person of another culture or religion, they are simply killed off.
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38 per cent of these callers were British Pakistanis, 4 per cent were British Indians, 7 per cent British Bangladeshis and 4 per cent White British. Sajida Mughal, who has been running a project called Mujboor (by JAN Trust) that deals exclusively with Pakistani women, says the figures of abuse compiled by the government and the charities are just the tip of the iceberg. Many cases go unreported and so the real figures are expected to be a lot higher.
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According to the figures compiled by Karma Nirvana which are often at variance with those provided by the other charities in the first half of the current year, the charity has already received 3,900 calls, averaging 557 calls a month. 47 per cent of the callers were under the age of 21, and 12 per cent were males who [had] resisted honour-based violence as well as a forced marriage. 36 per cent were first-time callers, 36 per cent had rejected their family's decisions for them, 23 per cent had said no to an arranged marriage, 20 per cent had said no because they were dating the person of their own choice.
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Years later, she is still on the run she hasn't disclosed her whereabouts lest her folks will get hold of her.
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The 2010 statistics quote cases involving individuals from Pakistan (52 per cent), Bangladesh (10.3 per cent), India (8.6 per cent), Africa (5 per cent), Turkey (1.7 per cent), Iran (1.3 per cent), Iraq (1.2 per cent) and Afghanistan (1 per cent). In today's Britain, the terms 'honour crimes' and 'forced marriage' are both conveniently attributed to the Pakistanis (Muslims, obviously). The media here sees the former as a consequence of the latter: when women are accused of bringing a 'bad name' to their family by 'overriding' the 'decrees' of their elders, No one better than Jasvinder Sanghera, a Sikh, knows how ill-fated are the women who dare to go against the wishes of their families in her community in the UK. A middle-aged lady who is married with three children, Sanghera says she was only 14 when her parents showed her the photo of the man they had chosen to be her husband. She remembered her four sisters who had all had bad marriages. So she rebelled and ran away.
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This year, so far, the FMU claims to have provided advice/support in 594 individual cases. 14 per cent of these involved victims below age 15; 31 per cent involved victims aged 16-17; 35 per cent involved victims aged 18-21; 87 per cent were about female victims and 13 per cent males. 46 per cent of the cases were about individuals from Pakistan, 9.2 per cent from Bangladesh, 7.2 per cent India, 2.7 per cent Afghanistan, 1.5 per cent Turkey and the rest from African and Middle Eastern countries.
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The Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah or traditions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are the basic and primary source of Islamic Shariah. All the other sources of Islamic Shariah such as Ijmaa or Consensus of opinion, Qiyas or Analogical deduction, Ijtihad, Istidlaal or Reasoning, Istihsaan etc. are the secondary sources because they are derived from and based upon the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUP). The Holy Qur'an is the basic, fundamental, ultimate and the most important source of Islam. All the Islamic laws and tenets are having their origin from the Holy Qur'an. It is the last book sent by the Allah Almighty for the guidance of humanity that was revealed upon the last prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in a span of 23 years. The term Qur'an means recitation. It is a complete code of life that provides guidance in each and every sphere of
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The Holy Qur'an is the basic, fundamental, ultimate and the most important source of Islam. All the Islamic laws and tenets are having their origin from the Holy Qur'an. It is the last book sent by the Allah Almighty for the guidance of humanity that was revealed upon the last prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in a span of 23 years. The term Qur'an means recitation. It is a complete code of life that provides guidance in each and every sphere of life.
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THE HOLY QUR'AN
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Mughal claims that a majority of the victims are young British Pakistani girls, with family origins in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir. The perpetrators (i.e. the parents) use religion to endorse their actions. This is absolutely uncalled-for. Islam condemns forced marriage and provides the woman with the right to say no. Murtaza Ali Shah
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She further says, Generally, the victims do not want to incriminate their family members, as this would result in a complete breakup with them and their community. Besides, the victims are often [financially as well as emotionally] dependent on the perpetrators.
life. Being the last revealed book, its teachings are for eternity and for whole humanity and are not confined to a particular age or specific community. The basic theme and topic of Holy Qur'an is humanity and it covers a wide range of issues such as articles of Faith, rituals or modes of worship, moral values, civil and criminal laws, rules of economics, stories of previous prophets, etc. It provides a way for the eternal success of human beings. The life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is nothing else but the practical form of the Holy Qur'an. The Holy Qur'an is a living miracle of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and it is available in the form and shape in which it was revealed about 1400 years ago. The Allah Almighty himself took responsibility for its preservation and protection as the Allah Almighty declares in verse No. 9 of the Surah Hajr, Chapter the Rock. Verily We have revealed this Remembrance/Qur'an and verily We are it's guardian. For this purpose the Holy Prophet (PBUH) devised a strategy under divine commandment for collecting and preserving the Holy Qur'an in a fool-proof manner. Whenever the text of the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH), he would recite it in the assembly of Muslim men. Later he would repeat the same text in the special assembly of women. First of all, whenever the text of the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH), he would recite it in the assembly of Muslim men. Later, he would repeat the same text in the special assembly of women. This practice establishes that the Prophet (PBUH) was as much concerned with the education of women as he was with that of men. Secondly, he would direct one of his literate companions to write it down by dictating the same to him. Immediately after dictation he would ask the scribe to read out what he had taken down. The idea was to ensure perfect accuracy. Thirdly, after dictation, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) would ask his companions to memorise the text. Fourthly, he directed the Muslims to recite the verses of the Holy Qur'an in their five time daily prayers. Fifthly, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) used to recite aloud the whole Qur'an (i.e. revealed till that year) during the month of Ramadhan. The companions who could read and write would bring along their personal manuscripts and would compare them with the recited version of the Prophet (PBUH). This practice was called Ardah which means presentation. Under divine commandment, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) recited the whole of Holy Qur'an twice in front of companions during the last Ramadhan of his life in order to leave no room for mistakes in its text. Sixthly, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) directed the Muslims to learn the Holy Qur'an from an authorised teacher. On account of these measures, the Holy Qur'an was preserved for posterity. During the life time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) there were a large number of companions who had committed the Holy Qur'an to memory and there were also a number of Muslims who were having the verses of Holy Qur'an in black and white. In this regard there are certain references in Islamic History such as the incident of accepting/embracing of Islam by Hazrat Umar-e-Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him) in the house of his sister and brother-in-law Hazrat Saeed bin Zaid when they were reciting the verses of the Holy Qur'an from a written text. Similarly, at the second covenant of Aqabah the Holy Prophet (PBUH) gave a complete written copy of the Qur'an revealed until then to the tribe of Banu Zurayq.
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This manuscript remained with Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) till his death. Then it came in the custody of second caliph Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). After his martyrdom it came in the possession of Hazrat Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) the daughter of Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and wife of Holy Prophet (PBUH). Under divine commandment, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) recited the whole of Holy Qur'an twice in front of companions during the last Ramadhan of his life in order to leave no room for mistakes in its text. During the regime of third Caliph of Muslims, Hazrat Usman-e-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) a dispute arose among a group of Muslims over the recitation of the Holy Qur'an in a distant part of Islamic state. Some wanted to recite few verses of the Holy Qur'an in one way and some wanted to recite the verses in another way. The matter was reported to the caliph. In order to resolve
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The people having verses of the Holy Qur'an in written form presented those before the Commission and after an hectic and careful exercise, compilation of the Holy Qur'an was completed during the regime of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and the manuscript was presented to him. So the first complete and perfect manuscript of the Holy Qur'an was compiled one year after the demise of Holy Prophet (PBUH).
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The procedure of further consolidation and preservation of the Holy Qur'an continued after the demise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). During the reign of the first caliph of Islam, Hazrat Abu Bakar (may Allah be pleased with him) the battle of Yamamah was waged against the apostate Musaylamah the liar and his supporters. It was a fierce battle. Although the Muslims won the battle, but a large number of Muslims nearly 6000 were martyred in that battle and some of them were those companions who had memorised the Holy Qur'an. Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) feared that the number of those companions who had memorised the Qur'an would dwindle either owing to natural death or martyrdom in future battles. So on the advice of Hazrat Umar, the first caliph of Muslims Hazrat Abu Bakr constituted a commission under Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit for the purpose of writing down the whole of Qur'an as he had not only memorised the Holy Qur'an but was also an important and trusted compiler of the Holy Qur'an during the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). At least 25 companions, who had committed the Qur'an to memory, were alive at the time of Prophet's (PBUH) death including a woman Umm Waraqah. Their services were also utilised for this purpose.
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PAS (Pakistan Administrative Service), 1st in Sindh Urban CSS-2010

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It provides the way for the perfect and eternal triumph of all human beings. The Allah Almighty has used various titles for the Holy Qur'an such as guide, blessing, cure, advice, light etc. In verse No. 2 of Surah Al-Baqara, Chapter the Cow, the Allah Almighty says, This is the book of Allah, there is no doubt in it; it is a guidance for the pious. In verse No. 82 of Surah Bani Israel/Chapter the Children of Israel the Allah Almighty says, What We are sending down in the course of revealing the Quran is a healing and a grace for those who have faith; but it adds only to the ruin of the wrong-doers. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) declared to the Muslims on the occasion of his last sermon, I am leaving two things among you. One is the Holy Quran and the other is my Sunnah. Until you adhere to these, you would never be misled. Atta ur Rehman Khilji
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Unlike the Holy Qur'an, the other divine books were altered and amended by their followers as there was no modus operandi for their preservation. They were not preserved for future generations because they were revealed on prophets none of whom was the last prophet and because they were confined to a particular age and particular community; whereas the Holy Qur'an is for eternity and for the whole humanity.
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On account of the said measures the Holy Qur'an was preserved for future generations and was protected from alterations and amendments. According to teachings of Islam, the practice of learning the Holy Qur'an by heart entails great reward and since the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the Muslims are having such people known as Hufaaz as they are held in high esteem in true Muslim society. Their number is increasing with each passing day in Islamic world.
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this conflict once for all, he requested Hazrat Hafsa to give him the manuscript that was prepared during the reign of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). On receiving it, he handed it over to Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit (the head of commission that had compiled it earlier), with the request that copies should be prepared, compared and corrected. Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that in case of a difference in pronunciation of a certain word, the pronunciation of the people of Makkah would be given priority. So Hazrat Zaid ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) with the support of literate and trusted assistants prepared about seven copies of the manuscript that were presented to the third caliph. Under his directives, each of the seven copies was read aloud from beginning to end in Prophet's Mosque to ensure transparency and accuracy. Afterward one copy each was sent to various provincial capitals of his vast empire with instruction that in future copies of the Holy Qur'an would be made only from the official authentic text. Thus, he united all the Muslims on one pronunciation of the Holy Qur'an, owing to which he has been given the title Jame-ul-Qur'an. Some of those copies are still extant. One is preserved in Tashkand Museum and one is preserved in Istanbul. The Istanbul copy is stained with the blood of third caliph of Muslims because he was reciting it at the time of his martyrdom.
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JWT: What type of guidance should one seek to achieve such a wonderful success?
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SJM: No I did not study at any academy. I use to study in library for long hours. Here, I must say that perseverance is required to achieve such a privileged position. JWT: What did you prefer, books or notes; what should be prepared and how? SJM: There is no alternate of books; however once you go through the book. You can always
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JWT: Did you join any academy for the preparation, if not, then how did you manage to get this privileged position?
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SJM: Aspirants should go for smart study. Effective time management and proper application of the knowledge whatever you have is very important. I use to take a lot of guidance from my seniors as well.
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SJM: I adopted a straightforward strategy. It was mainly focused on general study for increasing the knowledge, with a special focus on newspapers. Apart from this I also studied books on politics and history.
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JWT: Being first position holder in Sindh Urban, what was the pattern of study did you follow for the preparation of CSS exams?
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Syed Jawad Muzaffar: I belong to Karachi. I have studied in Chenar Army College, Murree till intermediate level. Then I did my bachelor in Computer Science from Karachi University and later on I did MBA in marketing from IBA, Karachi. After MBA I joined Nestle as Management Trainee officer. I joined a Dutch pharmaceutical company Organon as Assistant Manager Business Development, then I joined DAWN TV as an Associate Producer and also worked for Dawn.com in the same capacity. Finally, I appeared in CSS-2010 and topped Sindh Urban and got the top preference, i.e. PAS (Pakistan Administrative Service) the former DMG.
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Jahangir's World Times: Please tell us about yourself, educational background and achievements in detail.
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prepare short notes for revision purpose. In my opinion books and notes both are essential for the success in the exam. JWT: What are the steps for the preparation of CSS exams especially English Essay and Composition paper?
JWT: How many months and daily hours are required for CSS preparation? SJM: There is no set pattern; however quality study is required along with a proper schedule and for this. Eight to 10 months are enough.
SJM: The main problem is awareness. Then there is no proper guidance or encouragement for the aspirants of CSS. JWT: Do you believe in 'Luck Factor' in CSS-exams? SJM: I just believe that a person makes his own destiny. And God helps those who help themselves. JWT: What is so special in Police Service of Pakistan (PSP)/ DMG / FSP that you opted for this group? SJM: It is a versatile group with both vertical and horizontal mobility. The grooming options are best provided in this group and one gets the opportunity to work in a number of fields.
JWT: Any other thing, which you want to tell?
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SJM: I would like to say that whatever one learns he must transfer that knowledge to others especially to the deserving class. And I strongly back this notion that education is the only solution for our social ills. Any Message
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SJM: I think strong faith in Allah is very necessary to cope with the challenges wherever I will be posted. One has to remember that he is a public servant and has to work for the peoples of Pakistan.
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JWT: Being an officer of PAS, how would you deal with the administrative challenges, especially in Rural Sindh as well as in the mega city of Karachi?
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JWT: What are the general problems of CSS candidates in Sindh Urban? Give general and personal point of view.
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SJM: I totally disagree that one subject is scoring and we have to go for it. If you are good in any subject, in fact, you have aptitude for that subject, so one can easily make a difference in that subject. Thus, the selection of subjects should also be linked to your aptitude.
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JWT: What sort of combination should students opt for the optional subjects?
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SJM: I believe that one should write a lot for the preparation of CSS exam. Only then one can convert his or her knowledge into a strong essay. I use to write at least one essay per week from the previous years' topics. For composition, one should improve sentence structure and try to avoid grammatical errors while attempting paper. For that, one can always get guidance from experienced English teachers.
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'A medical examination enables a doctor to prognosticate your future health.' Woolgathering means absent mindedness, indulgence in daydreaming.
'His woolgathering caused failure in exams.' Chronicle: a chronological record of events; a history.
'I read a chronicle of Bill Gates life.' Mnage: a domestic establishment; household\ a social unit living together.
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'The weekly session was especially designed for the young girls to learn how to manage a mnage.' Stalking: harassing another in an aggressive, often threatening and in an illegal manner\unwanted obsessive attention by an individual or a group. 'Stalking is now a crime in many states.'
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Prognostications: a forecast or prediction\to predict from the evidence.
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Nouns:
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Learning English
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ENGLISH CHANNEL
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I just say that be humble and have a strong faith in Allah. Do not find shortcuts, keep on working hard and never lose hope, you will certainly find success. Waqas Iqbal
Idiomatic Phrases: Under the wire: at the last moment, just in the nick of time.
'If she is not a gold digger, how come her all boy friends are so rich?'
Confusing Words:
Callous , Callus : Callous means careless but callus means a patch of hard skin. 'Her callous attitude towards studies will create troubles for her to get admission in a well recognized college.'
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'The idea of making course folders was broached by the head of the department in the faculty meeting.'
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Broach, Brooch : To broach is to introduce a subject, whereas a brooch is a piece of jewellery, fixed to the dress with a pin to embellish it.
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'He asked the people to bate the noise while he was setting up the meat as bait for the lion.'
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Baited, Bated: Bated means to lessen or reduce, whereas bait refers to the food that is used as a lure to catch something.
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'I don't want to be a wet blanket but please consider others when you are playing music otherwise you'll disturb your neighbours .'
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A wet blanket: someone who does or says something that stops other people from enjoying themselves.
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'You shouldn't have promised me a job before, now I'll make you eat your words.
To eat one's words: to confess that one's predictions were wrong; to take back one's statement as it was wrong.
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'The Quran tells us how to walk with God.'
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Walk with God : to teach and live according to the doctrine of faith; to live in obedience to his commands, go in the ways of God)
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A gold digger: a woman who has relationships with rich men so that they will give her money.
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'I completed my assignment just under the wire.'
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Emotional problems and conflicts, especially depression and anxiety, are by far the most common causes of prolonged fatigue.
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Emotional Problems Cause Prolonged Fatigue
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'He has catholic taste in food.' Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic.' Maryam Jahangir
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Catholic, catholic : With a small c, catholic means wide-ranging, comprehensive, and broad-minded. With a capital C, Catholic is used as the shortened form for the Roman Catholic religion.
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Capitol, Capital : The capitol is the legislative building (the building in Washington, DC, used by the Congress of the US for its sessions) and capital is the city in which the legislature is located. 'Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan.' 'I went to see the capitol which is in Washington DC, the capital of US.'
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Understanding the underlying emotional problem is the crucial first step toward curing psychological fatigue and by itself often results in considerable lessening of the tiredness. Professional psychological help or career or marriage counselling may be needed.
So long as a habit, even if it is not so good or not generally approved of by the society, remains within control, it may not be very harmful. There are certain habits which, if not carried to excess, may serve as good pastime. They may keep one interested in life and serve as good diversion. They may be welcome relief from hard struggle for survival which is necessary for all of us. Kite-flying, playing different games, keeping pets, playing cards, keeping pigeons, enjoying the company of friends, visiting restaurants or clubs, even smoking moderately, participating in literary meetings, writing poetry, listening to music, etc. are some habits which, if not indulged in excess, make life enjoyable, interesting, happy and worth living. They serve as one's servants. So long as they remain one's servants, they do not cause any positive harm. Society may not entirely approve of these habits, but they are generally accepted and tolerated. Society gives some latitude to all of us. Now, it is up to us to keep these habits within limits. These very habits, when they go beyond reasonable
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Habit: Good servant but bad master
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Emotionally induced fatigue may be compounded by sleep disturbance that results from the underlying psychological conflict. A person may develop insomnia or may sleep the requisite number of hours but fitfully, tossing and turning all night, having disturbing dreams, and awakening, as one woman put it, feeling as if she had been run over by a truck.
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One of these situations is so common it has been given a name tired housewife syndrome. The victims are commonly young mothers who day in and day out face the predictable tedium of caring for a home and small children, fixing meals, dealing with repairmen, and generally having no one interesting to talk to and nothing enjoyable to look forward to at the end of their boring and unrewarding day. The tired housewife may be inwardly resentful, envious of her husband's job, and guilty about her feelings. But rather than face them head-on, she becomes extremely fatigued.
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Fatigue may represent a defence mechanism that prevents you from having to face the true cause of your depression, such as the fact that you hate your job. It is your body's safety valve for expressing repressed emotional conflicts, such as feelings trapped in an ungratifying role or an unhappy marriage. When such feelings are not expressed openly, they often come out as physical symptoms, with fatigue as one of the most common manifestations. Many people who are extremely fatigued don't even know they are depressed, Dr. Bulette says. They are so busy distracting themselves or just worrying about being tired that they don't recognise their depression.
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International Literacy Day

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It is an all-admitted fact that education plays a pivotal role in economic progress and social welfare. Investment in education leads to the reduction of poverty, improvement in health and increase in the pace of economic growth. Besides this, access to education increases the level of political awareness and assists in balancing political and economic progress. For this very reason, the educational sector of every important country strongly emphasizes on encouraging the maximum number of children to go to school and facilitating them to continue their education. International
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Pakistan has the world's second highest number of non-school-going children. There has been 254 per cent increase in the country's literacy rate since its independence, but still, 51 million adults living here do not know how to read and write. This grim situation demands emergency measures for the progress of educational sector in the country, but perhaps, this is not being done, because the existing facts are telling an entirely different story about the state of education in the country.
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Lack of proper educational facilities in our schools is one of the most important reasons for the educational backwardness in Pakistan.
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limits, become harmful and evil. Then we justly deserve the disapproval of society. A person, slave to one or more habits, is bound to suffer greatly. He loses respect in the eyes of even his own kith and kin. His life becomes miserable and he becomes a pariah in society. A person who has thus made these habits his masters, may realise that these habits are ruining his health, character and reputation and involve great financial loss. At a certain stage, he may like to get rid of his bad habit or habits. But he will soon find, to his dismay, that these habits have become his masters. He will know how helpless he is before an ingrained habit or habits. Deep-rooted habits become second nature. It becomes almost impossible to get rid of them. The end of these servants of habits is generally very tragic. Prof Muzaffar Bokhari (Retd)
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Universal Primary Education basically depends upon the success of the country's policy regarding adult education. Only educated parents can realize the significance of education and send their children to schools and will not allow their children to drop out of schools. In this connection, the situation in Pakistan is that according to the UNDP's Human Development Report 2011, literacy rate among adults (who are 15 years old above) was 55.5 per cent. In Pakistan, literacy rate is measured with reference to the people who are ten years old and above. Seen in this context literacy rate in Pakistan was 58 per cent in 2010-11. With reference to the adult literacy rate, Pakistan is 127th among the 144 countries, whose statistics are available. According to the report of Pakistan's National Education Management Information System 2011, in Pakistan, there are 270825 educational institutions, having 50,926661 students, who are being taught by 1,507100 teachers. 71.86 per cent of Pakistan's educational institutions, 65 per cent of its students and 57.88 per cent of its teachers are working under public sector. 57.38 per cent of the boys and 42.62 per cent of the
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The extremely meager amount of money allocated for the educational sector is another important reason for the deplorable state of education in Pakistan.
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This alarming situation requires urgent measures to improve the condition of educational sector in the country, but perhaps, this is not being done, because the existing facts are telling a bitter story about the state of education in the country. Each year, 60 per cent girls and 72 per cent boys belonging to the school going age group, get admission in primary schools in Pakistan. But according to the UNICEF's State of the World Children Report 2012, 60 per cent of the children who get admission in primary schools in Pakistan are able to reach class five. 29 per cent girls and 36 per cent boys belonging to the secondary school going age group, get admission in secondary schools in Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2010-11 issued by the National Education Management Information System, between 2005-06 and 2010-11, the number of boys getting admission in primary schools decreased by 3.74 per cent. But during the same period, the number of girls getting admission in primary schools increased by 0.83 per cent. It is encouraging to note that the number of school going girls in the country is increasing. However, the decrease in the number of primary school going boys and the slight increase in the number of primary school going girls cannot be so helpful in achieving the target of Universal Primary Education by the year 2015.
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Literacy Day is observed on September 8 each year, to highlight the need for achieving this objective. Universal Primary Education basically depends upon the success of the country's policy regarding adult education. Only educated parents can realize the significance of education and send their children to schools and will not allow their children to drop out of schools. Since its independence, Pakistan has made a considerable headway in the field of education. From 1951 to 2010-11, literacy rate in the country rose by 254 per cent. During this period, the literacy rate increased from 16.40 per cent to 58 per cent. But even then, situation in the country is not so encouraging with reference to the achievement of 2015 Millennium development Goals, because Pakistan has the world's second highest number of non-school-going children and the world's third highest number of illiterate adults. According to the Fact Sheet issued by UNESCO in June 2012, 5.125 million children living in Pakistan did not go to school till the year 2010. They were 8.40 per cent of the total number of non-school-going children in the world. In the same way, according to UNESCO's Education For All Global Monitoring Report 2011, 51 million adults living in Pakistan were illiterate between 2005 and 2008. It means that during this period, 6.40 per cent of the world's total number of adults lived in Pakistan.
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Secondly, experts are of the view that educated mothers increase the chances of better nutrition and survival of their children. Twenty-six per cent children of the world, who are at the age of 5 or below, are shorter than the other children of their age. In the same way, 14 per cent children are underweighted at the time of their birth. For this reason, if mothers are educated, there are fewer chances of their children being underweighted or having shorter stature. Every additional year of education of mothers, reduces the chances of the death of their children by seven to nine per cent. Thirdly, experts have stated that education is helpful in combating HIV AIDS and other diseases.
Fourthly, education is helpful in promoting gender equality and equity. The reason is that educated
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International experts have given five reasons to show the importance of education. Firstly, education reduces poverty and speeds up economic growth. Research has proved that each year of additional education becomes the cause of ten per cent increase in individual income. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to educate the people in order to bring them out of the quagmire of poverty. Besides this, education can boost economic growth. One study of 50 countries between 1960 and 2000 found that an additional year of schooling lifted GDP by 0.37 per cent annually.
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Lack of proper educational facilities in our schools is one of the most important reasons for the educational backwardness in Pakistan. According to the statistics provided by the National Education Management Information System, 9.24 per cent of the primary-secondary schools working in the public sector have got no building. 48.59 per cent schools are without electricity. 26.16 per cent schools have got no drinking water for the students and there is no toilet in 27.56 per cent schools. Besides this, 29.30 per cent schools have no boundary wall and 39.59 per cent public schools are in need of repair. The educational backwardness of Pakistan can be further illustrated by the fact that 11.67 per cent of its primary-secondary schools working under the public sector consist of only one classroom and 38.45 per cent schools have got only two classrooms. In addition to this, 4.98 per cent schools in the country are non-functional and are known as ghost schools. They get financial benefits from the budget but their educational outcome is zero. The extremely meager amount of money allocated for the educational sector is another important reason for the deplorable state of education in Pakistan. In 2010-11, 1.8 per cent of the country's total GDP was spent on education. In 2001-02, it was 1.5 per cent of GDP. Thus, there has been a slight increase in the amount of money spent on education, but even then, it is far less than 4 per cent of the GDP, recommended by international experts for the promotion of education. The increasing level of poverty is another major cause for the country's educational backwardness. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Half of Pakistan's children belonging to poor families, between the ages of 7 and 16 years, do not go to schools. Five per cent of the children belonging to rich families also remain away from schools. In 2011, UNESCO's Education For All Global Monitoring Report presented an EFA Development Index for measuring the progress in connection with the achievement of the goals set for Education For All. According to this index, Pakistan stood at #119 among the 127 countries of the world, whose statistics were available. The condition of some other South Asian countries was better than that of Pakistan. The Ranking of these South Asian countries in accordance with this index is as follows: Maldives 54, Bhutan 101, India 107, and Bangladesh 112.
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girls are getting education in the country's educational institutions. On an average, 27.15 students of Pakistan have got one teacher, 151.11 students have got one educational institution and one educational institution has an average of 5.66 teachers.
girls play a positive role in ensuring gender equality. Fifthly, education is essential and highly significant, because it is instrumental in promoting democratic values and strengthening the process of positive participation in social and public activities. International research has proved that educated voters, even if their education is up to the primary level, are 1.5 per cent more supportive of democracy than illiterate voters. In the same way, those who have received secondary education are three times more enthusiastic supporters of democracy than illiterate voters. These facts clearly reveal the importance of education for individuals as well as nations.
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12-07-2012 The News President signs Contempt Bill 2012 into law: President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Contempt of Court Bill 2012, which was passed by the Senate and by the National Assembly. 12-07-2012 The News
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12-07-2012 The News ICA issues stay order on Kishanganga Dam: The International Court of Arbitration has issued a stay order on the construction of Kishanganga Dam on the Neelum River at Gurez. According to the media reports the international court has ruled in the favour of Pakistan.
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11-07-2012 Dawn FBR gets new chairman: Mr Ali Arshad Hakeem, former chairman of NADRA, has been appointed the new chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue.
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National Affairs
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WORLD IN FOCUS
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(A Research Report Written And Compiled By Muhammad Atif Sheikh) Muhammad Atif Sheikh
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17-07-2012 Dawn Nanga Parbat scaled from Mazeno side first time: Two British climbers, Sandy Allan and Rick Allen, have become the first to scale the 8,126-metre Nanga Parbat summit by traversing the long and knife-edged Mazeno Ridge, according to Alpine Club of Pakistan (APC). They are also the first to conquer an eight-thousander peak this year. 19-07-2012 Dawn US House reduces Pakistan military aid by $650m: The US House of Representatives has cut $650 million from its military aid to Pakistan amid warnings that the move will send a wrong message to the Pakistani people.
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16-07-2012 Dawn Pakistan bags silver medal: A Pakistani student Syed Waqar Ali Shah, an A-level student of PakTurk International School, Karachi, won silver medal at the international mathematical Olympiad which continued for about two weeks at an Argentinean town, Mar del Plata. About 550 students from 96 countries participated in this Olympiad.
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15-07-2012 The News Rs 13.3 crore media initiatives launched with Norways help: Free Media Foundation has signed a 1.4 million dollar (Rs. 13.3 crore) two-year contract with Royal Norwegian Embassy to support South Asian Free Media Associations (SAFMA) programme Media development, freedom and peace in South Asia.
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15-07-2012 The News An under-matric to assist Punjab CM on education!: The Punjab chief minister has appointed an under-matriculation individual Kizar Hayat Hiraj as his special assistant on education, while the incumbents only credentials are his being the father-in-law of a Pakistan Muslim League-Q unification bloc MPA and a former Pakistan Muslim League-N loyalist.
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15-07-2012 Dawn Iraq initials gas exploration deal with Pakistani firm: Iraq initialled a gas exploration deal with Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., a senior official said. We are now initialling a contract between the Iraqi oil ministry and Pakistan Petroleum, said Abdul Mehdi al-Amidi, the head of the ministrys contracts and licensing department.
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14-07-2012 The News 72MW Khan Khwar hydropower project inaugurated: The 72 megawatt Khan Khwar hydropower project was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. It has been constructed on Khan Khwar (Nullah), a right bank tributary of the Indus River near Besham town in District Shangla of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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13-07-2012 Dawn Fakhruddin appointed CEC: The government appointed senior jurist Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim as the Chief Election Commissioner to fill a post which has been lying vacant for four months.
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CCI reconstituted: On the advice of prime minister, President Asif Ali Zardari approved the reconstitution of the Council of Common Interests (CCI). According to the new composition of the council, prime minister will be the chairman, while chief ministers of Balochistan, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh will be its members. Mir Changez Khan Jamali, Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination will also be the member of the CCI.
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25-07-2012 Dawn 300 CNG stations facing closure: In a bid to put a cap on once robust CNG industry, the government has refused to renew the licence of nearly 300 CNG stations, paving way for the closure of all CNG outlets in three years time. CNG licences were granted for the period of 15 years with provision of a five-year extension. The government, however, has decided not to grant any extension to manage the shortfall of gas. 25-07-2012 Dawn
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24-07-2012 Dawn Rs14.6b bailout package for Steel Mills approved: With its capacity utilisation at a disgraceful 15 per cent, the loss-making Pakistan Steel Mills got another lease of life when the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved a Rs14.6 billion bailout package for it.
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23-07-2012 Dawn South Asia faces threat of either drought or flood: The sudden propping up of the so-called El Nio effects in South Asia has delayed the monsoon rains in Pakistan and India, which can cause a drought-like situation in the entire region, and also worried experts who fear another round of floods if the phenomenon takes an obverse turn.
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23-07-2012 Dawn Only fair polls can secure future: Ebrahim: Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim who took the oath of the Chief Election Commissioner has said that only three free and fair general elections have been held in the history of the country.
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21-07-2012 The News Pak-Afghan trade transit deal extended to Tajikistan: In a landmark development, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to extend the Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade Transit Agreement (APTTA) to Tajikistan in what will be the first step for the establishment of a North-South trade corridor. This move would subsequently be extended to other neighbouring Central Asian states including Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan and Turkmenistan after the initiation of the first link.
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19-07-2012 Daily Times Politicised SC could end up dissolving Pakistan govt: ICG: International Crisis Group President Justice Louise Arbour has expressed fears that the judges who were restored through the 2007 lawyers movement have become intoxicated with their own independence, and that their current direction threatens to upend the very democratic order that restored them to the bench.
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28-07-2012 Tribune Imran Khan awarded medical fellowship: Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) in recognition for his contribution to cancer services. The fellowship has been awarded for his contribution through the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. The RCPE, founded on December 29, 1994 is now a professional membership organisation with over 10,000 fellows in 91 countries. 31-07-2012 Dawn
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27-07-2012 Daily Times Concordia Rescue Team: Pakistans first mountain rescue: A mountain rescue service is finally born in Pakistan. Its name is Concordia Rescue Team, and its made up entirely by qualified Pakistani staff. The base camp is on the Concordia Glacier, at the foot of K2, and the equipment of the team includes a hyperbaric chamber, oxygen bottles and first aid materials for high altitude diseases.
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He was profiled as one of the United States most improbable politicians in an article published in The New York Times.
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27-07-2012 Dawn Pakistani doctor wins hearts minds and votes in Texas town: Arjumand Hashmi, a Pakistani cardiologist, has been elected mayor of the town of Paris in (Texas). The overwhelmingly white and Christian town has a population of 25,000.
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27-07-2012 Dawn Remarks made by SC judges upset Senate: Despite a general perception that relations between the judiciary and the executive are on the mend, members of the treasury benches in the Senate voiced concern over remarks made by some judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, about oppositions role in parliament during the adoption of the contempt of court law. One PPP senator even accused the judiciary of inciting the opposition to violence.
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Talking to newsmen during a visit to the National Press Club, Mr Thomson said that inclusion of unrelated persons in an Olympic squad was impossible because the accreditation process had been completed months before start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
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26-07-2012 Dawn No one travelled on fake papers for Olympics: The United Kingdom has no evidence of anyone travelling to Britain on a fake passport as part of Pakistans Olympic squad, said British High Commissioner Adam Thomson.
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25-07-2012 The News Cabinet approves draft pact with US on Nato supplies: The federal cabinet approved the written agreement regarding reopening of Nato supplies to Afghanistan and decided to file a libel case against the British tabloid, The Sun, in the courts of United Kingdom for publishing a false story about a passport scam in Pakistan.
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Sahiwal BISE notified: The Punjab government has notified formation of the Sahiwal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE). This is the 9th board in Punjab. Sahiwal was declared ninth division of Punjab by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif two years ago, with Okara, Sahiwal and Pakpattan as its component districts.
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03-08-2012 Dawn Apex court scraps contempt law: The Supreme Court inflicted yet another blow on the government when it threw out the hurriedly prepared and enacted Contempt of Court Act (COCA) 2012 designed to save the new prime minister from the ire of the judiciary. 03-08-2012 Dawn Coalition parties send defiant message to judiciary: A meeting of parties in the PPP-led coalition government held in the presidency after the Supreme Court struck down the recently promulgated contempt law gave a strong message to the judiciary that they would continue to uphold the
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02-08-2012 The News Pak students win debate: A three-member team of Pakistan students brought laurels to the country by winning an international debating competition, Karl Popper Debating Championship (KPDC) 2012, held in Mexico recently. Pakistani student Zainab Hameed clinched first position, Azeem Liaquat second while Ahmad Shujjan got fifth position in the international tournament. This years topic for the KPDC finals was Guantanamo Bay prison should be closed down immediately. Pakistans was the affirmative team in the final with Korea as the opposing team.
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02-08-2012 The News SBP allows two Pak banks to operate in India: The central bank has allowed the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and the United Bank Limited (UBL) to open branches in India, underlining the steady progress in improving economic and trade ties between the two countries.
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02-08-2012 Dawn Chitral youths joining Afghan army: A large number of youths in the border areas of Chitral district have joined the Afghan National Army (ANA) and also offered services to Nato forces in Afghanistan, says a statement issued by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department.
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The government of India has reviewed the policy and decided to permit a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan to make investments in India, said a statement from the ministry.
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01-08-2012 Dawn India allows investments from Pakistan: India overturned a ban on foreign investment from Pakistan, the Indian commerce ministry said. The move is aimed at building goodwill amid a renewed push for peace.
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Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf also reconstituted the eight-member Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) with Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, as its chairman.
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31-07-2012 The News PM reconstitutes ECC, ECNEC: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has reconstituted the 13member Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) with the Federal Minister for Finance, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, as its chairman.
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The signing of the accord for Transit of cargo to and from Afghanistan through Pakistan paved the way for the release of $1.18 billion in Coalition Support Fund reimbursements held up for over two years.
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Agreement with US on supplies signed: The government signed with the United States a memorandum of understanding (MoU) governing supplies to and from American troops in Afghanistan.
supremacy of parliament and face emerging challenges with unity, force and conviction. 03-08-2012 Dawn 5 army officers jailed for militant links: A military court has convicted and sentenced five military officers, including Brig Ali Khan, for maintaining links with a banned organisation, the militarys public affairs wing, the ISPR, said in a statement.
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10-08-2012 Dawn SBP cuts rate to 10.5pc; business hails move: The State Bank of Pakistan, in a surprise move, cut its key policy rate by 150 basis points to 10.5 per cent for two months amid an improved projection of inflation for 2012-13 and aimed at encouraging private investment. 10-08-2012 The News WB, ADB want NOC from India: In a massive blow, the leading donor for Bhasha Dam, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has informally reversed its commitment to finance the project, top officials in EAD, Wapda, finance and water and power ministers told The News.
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07-08-2012 Dawn Power system may collapse soon, Senate committee told: It was officially stated in the Senates Standing Committee on Water and Power that a military control of the power sector in the early 90s had failed and that the power transmission system was going to collapse in four years.
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06-08-2012 The News Asif confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Air Chief Marshal: President Asif Ali Zardari conferred Nishane-Imtiaz (Military) on Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt during a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
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WINNERS Usama Tahir Lahore Grammar School (LGS) Lahore Hafsa Shahab LGS Islamabad Hassan Mirza (honourable mention) LGS Lahore The 43rd International Physics Olympiad Muhammad Taimoor Iftikhar (Bronze Medal) Rangers Public School and College, Mandi Bahauddin The 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) Armughan Ahmad Khan (Bronze Medal) LGS Lahore
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These Pakistani students were facilitated under the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Careers Programme (STEM), a joint venture between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) to groom students for future careers in STEM.
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05-08-2012 Dawn Pakistani students excel at International Science Olympiads: Pakistani students won one silver and four bronze medals along with two honourable mentions in various events at the International Science Olympiads 2012, held in Singapore, United States, Argentina and Estonia.
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03-08-2012 Daily Times US releases new funds for Pakistani energy projects: US Congress has released $280 million in new US assistance to support Pakistans energy sector. The funds will support improvements to Mangla Dam and infrastructure support and due diligence work on the Kurram Tangi Dam project.
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Ms. Dlamini-Zuma successfully challenged the incumbent, Jean Ping of Gabon, who has held the post since 2008. Mr. Ping had the backing of French-speaking African nations, while Ms. DlaminiZuma had the backing of the English-speaking nations. Ms. Dlamini Zuma is the former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma. 16-07-2012 Oman Tribune Iraq signs energy deals: Iraq signed an initial deal with a Kuwait-led consortium and a contract
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14-07-2012 The Guardian South African minister chosen to lead commission: African leaders have elected a female politician from South Africa to lead the African Union. The South African minister of home affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was voted to lead the African Union Commission.
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13-07-2012 The Global Times Thai court dismisses complaint against ruling party: Thailands ruling party escaped the threat of dissolution after the Constitutional Court dismissed an opposition complaint that had raised fears of reigniting the kingdoms bitter splits.
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Since March, the service has gradually moved to the new east wing attached to Broadcasting House in Portland Place, two kilometres away.
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12-07-2012 The Telegraph BBC World Service says goodbye to Bush House: The BBC World Service transmitted its final bulletin from Bush House in London, ending 71 years of radio broadcasts from the building that kept millions informed across the globe.
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11-07-2012 The Telegraph First US envoy in 22 years arrives in Myanmar: The first US ambassador to Myanmar in over two decades arrived to take up his post as Washington prepares to reward reforms in the formerly army-run nation by further easing sanctions. Derek Mitchell, a veteran US policymaker on Asia, met President Thein Sein in the capital Naypyidaw, marking the latest olive branch from the US as relations between the two countries warm.
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Current Pakistan International Affairs
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This has left Pakistan in the lurch and now the authorities concerned are going to put their heads together to find out alternatives to raise funds for the most important water and power project of Pakistan.
was awarded to a Russia-led group to drill for energy, part of Baghdads efforts to strengthen its role as a major producer. 16-07-2012 The Washington Post US drought now covers widest area since 1956: A new report says the drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, and the effect on the nations corn and soybean crops is alarming.
Fifty-five per cent of the continental US faces a moderate to extreme drought, according to the monthly State of the Climate drought report released by the National Climactic Data Centre. 16-07-2012 The Sunday Times Human dominoes smash Guinness World Record: One thousand and one people have had a bit of a lie-in in China, toppling each other and the Largest Human Mattress Dominoes record. The volunteers, most of whom were domino lovers, first carefully arranged and leaned against 1,001 mattresses in an empty section of a shopping mall in Shanghai. 17-07-2012 The Global Times WHO awards China official for battling smoking: The World Health Organisation is giving Chinas health minister an award for battling smoking in a country whose people and government remain prodigiously addicted to tobacco. WHO said Health Minister Chen Zhu will be presented a certificate of recognition at a ceremony attended by WHO chief Margaret Chan. 17-07-2012 The Korea Times N. Korea names new army vice marshal: North Korea has named Hyon Yong Chol to the post of vice marshal in the army, state media said, a day after it emerged that the countrys army chief had been relieved of all his posts.
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17-07-2012 Daily Herald Spains king cuts own salary: Spains King Juan Carlos will cut his salary by about seven per cent in line with reductions imposed on public sector workers in the countrys financial crisis, the royal palace said. The king will cut 20,910 euros ($25,545) from his annual gross salary from the state previously set at more than 292,000 euros for this year and 10,455 euros from that of his son and heir Felipe,
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Hyon had been given the title of vice marshal of the Korean Peoples Army, it said in a brief statement.
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a source in the palace said. 17-07-2012 The Seattle Times Romania yields EU on impeachment vote: The interim president of Romania, Crin Antonescu signed into law a rule that requires a majority of registered voters to take part in a referendum for it to be valid.
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22-07-2012 Hindustan Times Congress stalwart Mukherjee elected Indian president: Congress party stalwart Pranab Mukherjee, shored up by the left and the right of the spectrum, was elected Indias 13th president, a largely ceremonial post that can acquire crucial powers in the current climate of inconclusive polls and fractious coalition governments. Mr Mukherjee, 77, was inducted as finance minister in Indira Gandhis cabinet in 1982 but was shunned by her son during his 1984-89 tenure, mainly to thwart a lobby that wanted Mr Mukherjee to succeed the slain Mrs Gandhi as prime minister. He endeared himself to the current Congress leadership by controversially leading a coup against a rare backward caste Congress president
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Economists have long argued that Russia needed to join the WTO as it was the only major economy outside the body following Chinas membership in 2001 and the government hopes accession will stimulate growth.
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21-07-2012 The Moscow Times Putin signs protocol for Russia to join WTO: President Vladimir Putin signed the bill ratifying Russias entry to the World Trade Organisation after 18 years of often acrimonious negotiations.
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21-07-2012 The Daily Star New Mauritius president sworn-in: Rajkeshwur Purryag became the fifth president of the Republic of Mauritius when he was sworn into the largely ceremonial post. His predecessor Anerood Jugnauth had resigned in March following open conflict with Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ramgoolam.
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19-07-2012 The Gulf Today China, Russia veto Syria sanctions resolution at UN: China and Russia vetoed a UN resolution that could have imposed sanctions on the Syrian government angering the West as hundreds fled an army offensive against rebel districts of Damascus.
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Now almost exclusively populated by Armenians, the region calls itself the Nagorny-Karabakh republic, but its independence is not even recognised by Armenia. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has repeatedly warned it intends to retake the territory.
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Nagorny-Karabakh, which is not recognised by any country in the world, was claimed by ethnic Armenians backed by Yerevan in a horrific war after the collapse of the Soviet Union that claimed some 30,000 lives. The international community still considers it to be part of Azerbaijan.
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19-07-2012 The Sunday Times Unrecognised Karabakh votes as tensions rise: The self-declared state of Nagorny-Karabakh was voting in leadership elections as fears grow of a new conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over its status.
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Coming under pressure from the European Union, Mr. Antonescu enacted the legislation before a July 29 impeachment referendum to decide the fate of the suspended president, Traian Basescu.
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Sitaram Kesri who was replaced by Ms Sonia Gandhi. 24-07-2012 The Moscow Times Russian cargo ship fails to dock at ISS during tests: The Russian cargo ship Progress has failed to successfully dock with the International Space Station (ISS) during tests designed to facilitate future link-ups, the US and Russian space agencies said.
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26-07-2012 Khaleej Times Egypt all-veiled TV aims to cover womens needs: A satellite channel Maria TV in Cairo was launched on the first day of Ramadan. This channel is being run and hosted by fully-veiled presenters. The channel aims to break down the barriers for women in niqab who until the revolution that brought Islamists to power were shunned by Egypts lucrative television industry.
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26-07-2012 Daily Mail Baroness Warsi cleared of all allegations by House of Lords commissioner: A report into the expenses of Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, co-chairperson of the Conservative Party and Britains first Muslim cabinet minister, has cleared her of any wrongdoing in relation to her expenses.
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The rift, some 1.5 kilometres (one mile) deep, 10 kilometres wide and 100 kilometres long, was found by researchers using radar to measure the sub-glacial topography.
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26-07-2012 The New York Times Scientists find Grand Canyon-sized rift under Antarctic ice: Scientists have discovered a rift the size of the Grand Canyon hidden under the Antarctic ice sheet which is contributing to ice melt and a consequent rise in the sea level.
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On average, about half of the surface of the ice sheet melts during the summer. But from July 8 to July 12, the ice melt expanded from 40 per cent of the ice sheet to 97 per cent, according to scientists who analyzed the data from satellites deployed by NASA and Indias space research institute.
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25-07-2012 The New York Times Unusual burst of melting hits Greenlands ice sheet: In a scant four days this month, the surface of Greenlands ice sheet melted to an extent not witnessed in 30 years of satellite observations, NASA has reported.
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24-07-2012 The Muscat Daily Morsi names his PM: Egypts Islamist President Mohamed Morsi named outgoing irrigation minister Hisham Qandil, a reputed independent, as prime minister to form a new government, state television announced.
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About a quarter of the carbon dioxide on Earth is stored away in its oceans some 40 per cent of that in the Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica. At a depth of about 1,000 metres (3,200 feet), carbon can be locked away for hundreds to thousands of years, yet scientists had never been sure exactly how it gets there after dissolving into surface waters. 30-07-2012 The Guardian Romanian president survives impeachment vote: Romanian President Traian Basescu escaped
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29-07-2012 The Herald Sun Scientists find CO2-sucking funnels in Southern Ocean: Scientists said they had unravelled the mechanism by which Earth-warming carbon is sucked deep into the Southern Ocean to be safely locked away a process that may itself be threatened by climate change. Wind, eddies and currents work together to create carbon-sucking funnels, said the research team from Britain and Australia in a discovery that adds to the toolkit of scientists attempting climate warming predictions.
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29-07-2012 The Globe and Mail Assad forces pound Aleppo, declare Damascus victory: The government of Bashar Al Assad declared victory in a hard-fought battle for Syrias capital Damascus, and pounded rebels who control parts of its largest city Aleppo.
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29-07-2012 The Hindu India tests army version of BrahMos cruise missile: India test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile as part of a user trial by the army from a test range at Chandipur. The missile, which has a flight range of up to 290km, is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300kg.
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28-07-2012 The New York Times ICE to end New York floor trading after 142 years: The 142-year-old tradition of floor-based open-outcry trading at the former New York Cotton Exchange is coming to an end as the last of its contracts options on futures tied to agricultural products such as sugar and cocoa go exclusively electronic.
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27-07-2012 Africa Daily Worlds largest Cherenkov telescope launched in Namibia: The huge Cherenkov telescope, the size of two lawn tennis courts and the biggest of its kind, has started to capture cosmic rays from its base in Namibia, scientists have announced. The 600-ton telescope structure with its 28metre (92-feet) mirror will be observing the most violent and extreme phenomena of the universe in very high energy gamma rays.
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Aides to Hazare, a 75-year-old former army driver who models his appearance on independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, broke the news at the end of his six-day hunger strike to press his demand for a new powerful anti-corruption ombudsman. 04-08-2012 Today's Zaman
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03-08-2012 Hindustan Times Indian activists led by Hazare to enter politics: Indian anti-graft activists led by Anna Hazare said they would start a new political movement aimed at winning seats in parliament for candidates committed to fighting corruption in public life.
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03-08-2012 The Bangkok Post Former Mongolian president jailed for corruption: A court in Mongolia has jailed former president Nambar Enkhbayar for four years after finding him guilty of corruption charges that he has called politically motivated.
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Carr and UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan inked the deal in Abu Dhabi, with the Australian minister describing it as a step forward for the Emirates domestic nuclear power plans.
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02-08-2012 Gulf News Australia signs N-deal with UAE: Australia has signed a nuclear supply treaty with the United Arab Emirates in a deal Foreign Minister Bob Carr said would see the Gulf state become Canberras first Middle Eastern uranium customer.
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02-08-2012 The Moscow Times Uzbekistan bans foreign military bases on its soil: Uzbekistan is moving to ban foreign military bases on its territory, ending speculation it could allow the United States to reopen a base for operations in neighbouring Afghanistan.
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02-08-2012 Herald Sun New Egypt cabinet sworn-in, faces heavy task: Egypts new prime minister and his cabinet were sworn-in, the first government since the election of a Muslim Brotherhood leader as the countrys first freely elected president.
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Meanwhile, a military official said that army commander Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who served as Hosni Mubaraks defence minister and then ruled the country after the dictators overthrow, will be defence minister.
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01-08-2012 Herald Sun Egypts PM selects new cabinet: Egypts Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has selected a new government in which the current finance and foreign ministers will retain their posts.
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31-07-2012 Times of India Power failure blacks out half of India: A massive power failure hit India for the second day as three national grids collapsed, blacking out more than half the country in an unprecedented outage affecting over 600 million people. The Worlds Worst Power Cuts Asia
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impeachment when a referendum on his removal from office fell short of the 50 per cent turnout threshold, despite a resounding vote for his dismissal. His arch rival Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who has led efforts to push Basescu, argues that he had lost all legitimacy.
Turkey retires 40 coup plot generals: Turkeys military high command has retired 40 generals and admirals who are currently in custody on charges of coup plotting. Turkeys top military council ordered the retirement of dozens of generals and admirals who are currently being held on charges of coup plotting, the army announced on its website. Fifty-five generals and admirals are required to retire due to a lack of vacancies in their positions and one admiral due to his age as of September 1.
08-08-2012 USA Today Toad suck voted most unfortunate town name: A new poll across seven English-speaking countries has chosen Toad Suck, Arkansas, as having the most unfortunate town name in the US, Yahoo News reported. The Top 10 list was: 1. Toad Suck, Ark. 2. Climax, Ga. 3. Boring, Ore. 4. Hooker, Okla. 5. Assawoman, Md. 6. Belchertown, Mass. 7. Roachtown, Ill. 8. Loveladies, NJ. 9. Squabbletown, Calif.
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07-08-2012 Gulf Times Afghan defence minister quits: Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak resigned after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving President Hamid Karzai scrambling to find a replacement for one of his top security tsars as militant attacks mount.
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06-08-2012 The News NASA lands rover on Mars: NASA has successfully landed its $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity rover on the surface of the Red Planet, breaking new ground in US-led exploration of an alien world. The one-ton rover is the largest ever sent to Mars, and its high-speed landing was the most daring to date, using a never before tested rocket-powered sky crane to lower the six-wheeled vehicle gently to the surface.
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06-08-2012 Arab Times Syrian PM defects, slips into Jordan: Syrias Prime Minister Riad Hijab joined the anti-regime revolt and fled abroad, in what Washington and the opposition hailed as a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad.
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05-08-2012 The New York Times Parliament votes to oust 2 top Afghan ministers: The Afghan Parliament has voted to dismiss the two most powerful members of President Hamid Karzais security team, a surprise move that could create new turmoil as the US-led coalition prepares to leave the country. Lawmakers explained the move which would cast out the defence minister and the interior minister in the middle of a war as part of an effort to end the crippling corruption and cronyism endemic in the government.
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05-08-2012 The Times of Israel Israel bars envoys; West Bank conference cancelled: A meeting of envoys from the Non-Aligned Movement due to convene in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was scrapped after Israel refused to admit four attendees from states with which it has no diplomatic relations, Palestinian officials said.
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10.
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SPORTS
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10-08-2012 New York Times Romney Picks Ryan as Vice-Presidential Running Mate: Republican Mitt Romney reset the race for the presidency as a battle over the size and scope of the federal government Saturday, choosing as his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the architect of the GOPs plans to slash spending and overhaul Medicare.
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10-08-2012 Global Times Lee visit to disputed isles angers Japan: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak paid a surprise visit to islands at the centre of a decades-long territorial dispute with Japan, which recalled its ambassador from Seoul in protest.
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10-08-2012 The Guardian Pro-Islamist elected Libya assembly chief: Mohamed al-Megaryef, a staunch opponent of Moamer Gaddafis overthrown regime who is seen as being pro-Islamist, was elected president of Libyas new national assembly. Megaryef, won with 113 votes in the General National Congress (GNC) against liberal independent Ali Zidane, who got 85.
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09-08-2012 The Guardian Libyas council hands power to new assembly: Libyas National Transitional Council handed power to a new assembly, in a symbolic move marking a peaceful transition following the overthrow of Moamer Qadhafis 40-year rule.
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09-08-2012 New York Times July in US was hottest ever in history books: US scientists say July was the hottest month ever recorded in the Lower 48 states, breaking a record set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The average temperature last month was 77.6 degrees (25 Celsius). That breaks the old record from July 1936 by 0.2 degree, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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09-08-2012 Hindustan Times India tests nuclear-capable missile: India successfully test-fired its medium range nuclear capable Agni-II missile with a strike range of 2000km as part of a user trial by the army from the wheeler island off Odisha coast.
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09-08-2012 Khaleej Times Assad names new premier: President Bashar al-Assad has appointed Wael al-Halqi as Syrias new premier, state television reported. Health Minister Halqi was appointed to replace Riad Hijab, whose defection to the opposition was announced.
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15-07-2012 The Telegraph Garcia stuns Amir in fourth-round knockout: American Danny Garcia knocked out Britains Amir Khan in the fourth round to add the WBA light-welterweight crown to his WBC superlightweight title. Amir, 26-3 (18 KOs), looked the superior fighter early on, showing vastly superior hand speed as he landed right hands behind a long jab and opened up a cut on Garcias eye with a left hook.
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15-07-2012 The Courier Mail Taylor century in vain as West Indies wrap up series: New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor smashed a fine century but it was not enough to prevent West Indies wrapping up the One-day International series with a 24-run win in fourth match.
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12-07-2012 The News Molinari creates course record: Italys Francesco Molinari produced a new course record 10under par 62 to take an early three shot lead on day one of the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in northern Scotland.
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12-07-2012 The Sun Gemili claims 100m world junior title: British sprint hope Adam Gemili clocked a personal best of 10.05 seconds to win the world junior 100 metres title. The 18-year-old former footballers time was a personal best and the second fastest run by a European athlete this year after the 10.04 secs clocked by Frances Christophe Lemaitre in Rome in May.
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11-07-2012 The Pioneer Bopara stars as England complete Aussie whitewash: Ravi Bopara starred with bat and ball as England routed Australia by seven wickets in the fifth and final One Day International at Old Trafford to complete a 4-0 series win.
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It is about ninety years from now when the legendary Anarkali, was inked and published for the first time. That is, it was in 1922. The very time that fades all colors but hatches coal to become sapphire.
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01-08-2012 Chicago Tribune Phelps underlines greatness with ultimate Games record: Four years after he climbed to the top of Olympic achievement, Michael Phelps took the last step he needed to reach the absolute peak. The greatest swimmer of all time became the most decorated Olympian of all time when he won a record 19th Olympic medal at the London Games. Muhammad Usman Butt
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01-08-2012 The Daily Star 8 badminton players kicked out: Eight badminton players were disqualified from the Olympics after a scandal over throwing matches. Four pairs in the womens doubles competition one from China, one from Indonesia and two from South Korea were barred after being hit by disciplinary charges of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) took action.
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31-07-2012 Dawn Kohli century helps India seal ODI series: Virat Kohli hammered his second century of the series to lead India to a six-wicket win against Sri Lanka and clinch the One-day International series.
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31-07-2012 Dawn History-maker Jung inspires German clean sweep: Germanys Michael Jung created equestrian history at the London Games, winning gold to become the first rider to hold the European, world and Olympic individual eventing titles hours after guiding his country to gold in the team event.
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22-07-2012 Sydney Morning Herald Alonso wins German GP to extend lead: Fernando Alonso extended his lead in this years Formula One drivers world championship when he drove to a flawless victory for Ferrari in the German Grand Prix.
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16-07-2012 The Manila Times Igarashi new WBC flyweight champ: Japans Toshiyuki Igarashi defeated title-holder Sonny Boy Jaro of the Philippines by a split decision to become the new World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight champion.
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16-07-2012 The News Saadi clinches Asian karate bronze medal: Pakistans outstanding martial art player, Saadi Abbas has won a bronze medal in the Asian Karate championship in Taskhent.
Anarkali, since its dawn at the paper, has been one of the major concerns of the critics. This legendary piece of literature came into being through the fertile pen of Sayyed Imtiaz Ali Taj. Sayyed Imtiaz Ali Taj is a great name in the history of Urdu drama. He was born on October 13, 1900. He belonged to a literary family. His father, Shamas-ul-Ulema Molvi Sayyed Mumtaz Ali was a prose writer. He founded publishing house named Dar-ul-Ashaat Punjab in Gowalmandi (Old Lahore). Interestingly, Taj's mother Sayyeda Muhammadi Begum was also a remarkable writer with 24 books to her credit. She was the editor of Tehzeeb-e-Niswaan, a monthly journal dedicated for women only. It was printed from the very publishing house. Phool a special journal for children was another dedicated periodical of the publishing house; and Sayyed Imtiaz Ali Taj worked as its editor till 1958. Anarkali, since its dawn at the paper, has been one of the major concerns of the critics. This legendary piece of literature came into being through the fertile pen of Sayyed Imtiaz Ali Taj. Taj was a Ravian, that is, he did his graduation from Government College, Lahore. In addition to the jobs mentioned earlier he had been working as the Nazim of the Majlis Tarraqi-e-Adab, Lahore as well. He published several research books on the study of drama, thus almost 61 books (compiled and written) are to his credit. He gave an ever-lasting comedy character Chacha Chakkan to Urdu literature. Anarkali, a magnum opus of Taj, is an Urdu play, which according to Dr. Tabassum Kashmiri, was actually a piece of oral history. No researcher finds the most celebrated Nadira Begum kaneez famous as Anarkali in the court of Mughal emperor Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar. However, the spicy love-tale of Shahzada Saleem and Anarkali, which has of course no historical roots, could be listened to by a guide if you are at a visit in Agara, Jaipur or Delhi. This fact has been mentioned in the preface of Anarkali by an honest Taj himself. This story revolves around the silent love of Shahzada Saleem and Anarkali. Both of them fell for each other but could never announce due to some certain reasons. Meanwhile, Dil Aram (exfavourite kaneez of Aalam Panaah Akbar and jealous of Anarkali's pristine beauty informs Akbar that Anarkali was trying to become the next queen of the empire of Hindustan. How an almighty emperor like Akbar could have tolerated such a misdirected and rude ambition from a kaneez? Therefore, he demanded a few solid evidences testifying the told ambitions of the
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kaneez. In order to generate the proofs, Dil Aram makes some secret arrangements and thus was confident to finally put them forth to the emperor on the Jashan-e-Naurooz. She had planned to decorate the throne of Akbar and then make Anarkali dance. She set mirrors everywhere around the throne so that whichever angle the emperor might intend to look through, must watch Anarkali. She, that is how, tried to make sure that the emperor and his son must not miss any move of the dancing beauty. Dil Aram, tightening the noose around the neck of the ambitions of Anarkali, mixed intoxicative syrup in water. Anarkali drank it during her performance while addressing Shahzada Saleem only. Alam Panaah did not like this bold act; kaneez frankly addressing a crown prince through lyrics, and ordered to arrest her and lock her up till death. Efforts of Shahzada Saleem and Rani Ajodhen to save the life of the poor beauty went in vain. The emperor ordered to stitch her in a wall. Shahzada Saleem killed Dil Aram for her conspiracy against his love. He started hating his father. And the sad father left the ground of the room of his son Saleem in a great dejection. Shahzada Saleem remained standstill. Taj concludes this play at this tragic scene.
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis most commonly affects the lungs but it can affect almost any tissue of body like spine, kidneys, brain and intestines; irrespective of gender. It is the leading cause of death worldwide from a bacterial infectious disease. The disease affects 1.8 billion people per year, which is equal to onethird of the entire world's population. WHO states that in 2010, 8.8 million people fell ill with TB and 1.4 million died from TB. Over 95% of deaths related with TB occurred in low- and-middle-income countries.
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Does TUBERCULOSIS Always Lead to Death?
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The writer is lecturer of Urdu at Kinnaird College Lahore. She can be contacted at bushrasheereen@gmail.com Bushra Sheereen
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Taj once said, it is yet to be decided if it is the tragedy of Anarkali or of Saleem, or of Jallal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar. As name Anarkali was such an attractive name that I could not even think of any other, said Taj.
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Taj was only 27 years old when he wrote Anarkali. According to Dr. Saleem Akhtar, it was his bountiful youth which made him write this romantic tragedy.
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The disease affects 1.8 billion people per year, which is equal to one-third of the entire world's population. WHO states that in 2010, 8.8 million people fell ill with TB and 1.4 million died from TB. Over 95% of deaths related with TB occurred in low- and-middle-income countries.
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ACTIVE TB The other form of the disease is active one. When a person develops active TB, the characteristic symptoms as mentioned at the outset (cough, fever, night sweats, weight loss etc.) develop, but they may remain mild for many months. This can lead to delays in seeking care, and results in transmission of the bacteria to others. People ill with TB can infect up to 10-15 other people through close contact over the course of a year. Risk factors that enhance the chances of contracting this infection include poor nutrition, alcoholism, drug abuse, other systemic diseases like diabetes and specially AIDS. Without proper treatment up to two-thirds of people ill with TB will die. TREATMENT Fortunately this debilitating disease is treatable and curable. For Active tuberculosis, drug-sensitive TB disease is treated with a standard six to nine months course of four antimicrobial drugs that
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LATENT TB The disease might also exist in many people in the latent form; which means people have been infected by the TB bacterium but have not fallen ill as yet. This protection comes from a healthy immune system of the person which effectively walls off the causative organism. The efficient immune restricts the multiplication of the organism as a result of which, the person with latent TB cannot transmit the disease to others.
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It is transmitted from the throat and lungs of people with the active respiratory tuberculosis to others via air-borne droplets. When affected people cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A healthy person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis most commonly affects the lungs but it can affect almost any tissue of body like spine, kidneys, brain and intestines; irrespective of gender. It is the leading cause of death worldwide from a bacterial infectious disease.
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A middle aged thin, lean, weak, lethargic and feverish man (who is mostly 'the only' earner of a large poor family) lying in a corner of the courtyard of house, coughing with short intervals and spitting sputum around which is often blood stained, is usually a constant character of the most of our low socio-economic families. The symptoms are clearly pointing towards tuberculosis; though confirmation of diagnosis needs isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in specimen from patient.
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include isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol; where all the four drugs are taken for initial two months and isoniazid and rifampicin alone for a further four months. For Latent tuberculosis, the standard treatment is six to nine months of isoniazid and rifampicin.
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ELIMINATION OF DENGUE IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT PUBLIC COOPERATION
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The writer is an assistant professor of Anatomy at King Edward Medical University, Lahore. She can be contacted at__________ Dr Mah Jabeen Muneera
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There is hope that such simpler and better regimens might be designed for Active form of TB too in near future and that the affected poor population of the third world countries might be having easy access to those regimens for a better and healthier life.
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The new regimen consists of 12 once-a-week doses of rifampicin and isoniazid. This shorter and simpler regimen has been found as effective in preventing and curing the disease as the older nine months course. Yet the doses should be taken under the supervision of a health care worker to ensure completion of doses.
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Health care providers in the United States have outlined a new way to treat Latent tuberculosis infection. According to recommendations released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention administration of a new 12-dose regimen for TB preventive therapy will significantly shorten and simplify the course of treatment from about nine months to 12 weeks. The recommendations are based on the results of three clinical trials, as well as expert opinions.
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To complete the course with proper dosage of drugs is very important; deficient dosage or irregularity can leave viable drug resistant bacteria behind in the body. A large number of pills to be taken simultaneously for such a long duration definitely reduces patient's compliance and it really needs proper supervision and support yet treatment adherence can be difficult and the disease can spread. The new regimen consists of 12 once-a-week doses of rifampicin and isoniazid. This shorter and simpler regimen has been found as effective in preventing and curing the disease as the older nine months course. Myrin-P is the formulation that combines recommended doses of the aforementioned four drugs in a single tablet. It markedly raised the compliance and hence curability of the disease. Yet the long duration is a problem.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than two billion people across the world become victims of dengue and 1.8 billion (almost 70%) of them live in Asian countries. Dengue virus is transmitted with the bite of a female mosquito namely Aedes Egypti, bites. This mosquito, unlike others, breeds in clean water. Therefore, its effective control is possible only through a well coordinated public awareness campaign to guide people and make sure that they keep their surroundings clean and keep their water pots or tanks covered. Children and people having weak health are particularly vulnerable to this disease. Being a completely curable disease, dengue fever, can be effectively treated within seven days through proper rest and using simple medicine such as Panadol and Paracetamol. But, the patient may have to face serious trouble if he does not take appropriate preventive measures or remains unable to get proper medical treatment. If a person, already affected by this ailment, again catches the dengue fever, he may have internal bleeding; and in that condition, he has to be given fresh blood and platelets (Tiny particle of protoplasm found in vertebrate blood; essential for blood clotting). In spite of the fact that death rate due to this disease is less than one per cent, there is a considerable amount of panic among the people about it. In Punjab, this disease was for the first time attacked Noshehra in district Khushab in 2003, but at that time, it remained confined to that small area. After two years of calm, some dengue cases were reported from Lahore and Rawalpindi on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha in 2006. Travelling of infected people from Karachi to Lahore and other cities was the main cause behind. In Lahore, dengue patients were found near Railway Station and Shadbagh locality, while in Rawalpindi, dengue cases were reported from surrounding areas of Nullah Lai. Number of patients increased slightly in 2007. However, in 2008 and 2009, only 1407 and 120 dengue cases, respectively, were reported from different parts of Punjab. But in 2011, dengue fever spread as a deadly epidemic, which claimed the lives of more than three hundred persons and more than 25,000 were confirmed as its victims.
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Dengue fever is not a new disease. For the last several decades, dengue virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, has remained a nuisance and a source of serious medical problems in many countries.
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It was a challenging situation for the Punjab Chief Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and the provincial government. The Chief Minister courageously took up this challenge and took highly appreciable steps on emergency basis for the control of dengue and the treatment of people affected by it. International dengue experts from Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries, were immediately brought to Lahore because they have been coping this menace for the last five or six decades. By dint of the untiring and relentless efforts of the Punjab Chief Minister and invaluable guidance of foreign experts, the provincial government successfully checked the spread of this epidemic. With a great deal of hardwork and professional commitment, Sri Lankan experts performed their duties, guided local experts and doctors in the case management of dengue patients. A protocol was formally prepared for the treatment of such patients. On the instructions of the CM Punjab, High Dependency Units (HDUs) were set up in all hospitals for dengue patients and necessary training was imparted to doctors, nurses and paramedics. Government provided free of cost CBC blood test facility in all government hospitals while private hospitals and laboratories were directed to charge only 90 rupees for this test. Same facility has been provided again this year and any case of noncooperation at any level can be reported to the concerned authorities on the helpline number 080002345. Moreover, last year, general physicians working in private hospitals were also trained in government hospitals and Chief Minister Dengue Research Cell was also set up for conducting research on Aedes Egypti. Besides, Dengue Experts Advisory Group (DEAG), comprising senior professors and headed by renowned physician and Principle Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Professor Faisal Masood, was also created. The group is working very actively and efficiently; and whenever a new suspected dengue case is noticed, the doctors are there to conduct necessary tests to decide whether he is suffering from Dengue or not. Being a completely curable disease, dengue fever, can be effectively treated within seven days through proper rest and using simple medicine such as Panadol and Paracetamol. As per the instructions of CM Punjab, all the required paraphernalia have been provided to the district governments for coping with any possible outbreak of dengue. All district governments have got ample stocks of fogging machines, spray pumps and necessary insecticides. The 2011 massive outbreak of dengue was out of the blue for the people as well as the government of Punjab and medical experts also did not have sufficient information about it. On the special instructions of the CM, medical experts were sent to Sri Lanka and Thailand for training to combat dengue. Now, they are the master trainers and providing useful training to the local medics and others persons for controlling the spread of dengue virus and treating dengue patients. In addition, upon the orders of Chief Minister, a separate Dengue section has been set up in the Department of Health headed by Additional DG Vector Born Diseases. In the light of last year's experiences, CM Punjab and all concerned departments are working actively for the control and eradication of dengue virus. Vector surveillance, disease surveillance and larvae siding are being done incessantly. All the Town Response Committees, chaired by the elected public representatives, have also been made active again.
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In spite of these laudable steps and utilization of all available resources, public awareness is of utmost importance for the prevention of diseases especially, dengue. Government always need full public cooperation for tackling the problems. But it is extremely important in case of dengue, because experts opine that dengue as a social problem is much important than a medical problem as it cannot be eradicated without creating public awareness. Keeping it in view, the Punjab Government and its Health Department have launched a vigorous public awareness campaign. As a part of this campaign Print and electronic media are being extensively used by the government, Moreover, Lady Health Workers and CBC supervisors are delivering handbills and leaflets to all homes. In addition, more than fifteen thousand government-trained Dengue Volunteers are also going door-to-door. Besides, urbanites are also being informed about the preventive measures for controlling dengue. People are being repeatedly told that complete eradication of dengue producing mosquitoes should be their top priority and they should not allow water to remain stagnant in their homes and streets. Water tanks, tubs and other utensils of water should be kept covered and water should not be stored for a long time. Water should be immediately expelled from old tyres, flowerpots, fountains and other such things, to stop breeding of this mosquito. Mosquito repellant sprays should be used inside the homes. As, this mosquito bites in morning or at evening, people should, therefore, adopt precautionary measures in these hours in particular. Park-goers should put on full dress, to avoid the mosquitoes bite. Use of mosquito repellent lotions on hands and faces is also highly advised. Lady Health Workers and CBC supervisors are delivering handbills and leaflets to all homes. In addition, more than fifteen thousand government-trained Dengue Volunteers are also going door-todoor. Government steps and strategies along with massive public awareness campaign have been very effective, as only a few dengue cases have so far been reported this year. This year, the situation so far, seems well under control. But instead of being complacent, we should be very vigilant and monitor the situation from moment to moment. Government efforts can bear fruit only when they receive full public cooperation. Besides being a public duty, it is the responsibility of every individual to keep a strict watch on the situation prevailing inside his home and its surroundings and ensure a neat and clean atmosphere for eliminating all chances for the growth of mosquitoes. The crux of the matter is that it can be said that for the complete eradication of Dengue, the role of the public is of greater importance than that of the government.
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HEADLINES 1 Chief Minister's announcement to continue the Dengue Virus eradication campaign as a movement. 2 Protection of human lives is our topmost priority and I myself will take part in this campaign. (Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif). 3 The steps taken by the government this year for the control of Dengue are far more effective than those of last year. 4 The Chief Minister has directed that Assembly members, provincial secretaries and heads of government departments should daily spend two hours in the field to review the steps being taken in this connection. 5 There is no fee for the CBC Test in government hospitals, while its fee in private laboratories is only Rs. 90. 6 In case of non-co-operation, people can file their complaints by using the help line 0800-02345. 7 The setting up of High Dependency Units throughout the province. 8 All segments of society will have to play their role for the complete eradication of Dengue Virus. 9 Change in life style is also essential for the effective control of Dengue virus. Athar Ali Khan
The Olympics and Us II
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In Pakistan's case the poor showing at the Olympics cannot be attributed to a shortage of money alone. Our political system does not allow free competition in any sphere, sports included. Our economic system does not offer a majority the nutrition required to match the European athletes' physical strength and stamina. And in our culture of gluttony eating and feeding are the highest forms of diversion, and people are ranked by the scale of their girth. Even policemen are required to push their tummies back only once in a while. And terrorism, sedentary habits and TV have destroyed whatever tradition of outdoor exercise and sports we had.
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When a nation wins the bid to host the Games, state and society are both motivated to invest heavily not only in infrastructure but also in training sportsmen and sportswomen. The Olympics are now a play of big money. The Frenchman who led the movement for the revival of Olympics in 1896 might be turning in his grave at seeing the role of money and state power in the Games. Still, the Olympics continue to offer opportunities for sports lovers from small and poor countries to excel in competition with moneybags. Only the Muslim moneybags are more interested in buying English clubs or casinos in the US than in developing their people's sports potential. Good to see that Jamaica has retained its short-distance crown (for men), Kazakhstan and Iran have risen in rank and Afghanistan has retained the bronze it won at Beijing. They have dared the rich machines.
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That host countries generally improve their positions is known. Spain as the host in 1992 took fourth position and has never done that well since, falling to 21st rank in 2012. Australia came fourth as the host country in 2000; it dropped to 10th position in 2012. Greece too had its best performances since 1992 as the host in 2004. Only China can claim to have maintained aconsistent record fourth in 1992 and 1996, third in 2000, second in 2004, first in 2008 (host) and second in 2012.
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First, a few words about the 9bn extravaganza. The US regained the world's No 1 spot that China had snatched from it in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics. This time the host country, Great Britain, collected a record haul of gold since 1904. But Britain has been steadily climbing up from 36th position in 1996 to 10th in 2000 and 2004, fourth in 2008, and now the third.
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WATCHING the London Olympics 2012, hailed as a singular success, was an exhilarating experience, and for Pakistanis, who waited in vain for an opportunity to raise a shout for one of them, the spectacle offered much food for thought.
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The PAF is still the lead organisation in this game but one wonders if it has done enough to groom a worthy successor to Hashim, or Roshan, or Qamar, or Jahangir, or even Jansher.
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There was ample justification for assigning the lead role in sports to the defence services. The universities and colleges that had been one of the nurseries of athletic and sports talent started falling off the track soon after Independence. Other big employers ports, railways, electricity corporations had nobody like Brigadier Rodham, perhaps the greatest benefactor of Pakistan's sports in the area of track and field events. Thanks largely to him Pakistan's Abdul Khaliq became the fastest man in Asia. Other laurels were won for throwing hammer and javelin. The army has produced no second Rodham, though it still leads the table in national Olympics, now reduced to a ritual without spark or flavour. The wrongs done over years will take a long time to be undone. Perhaps we need a 10-year plan for the promotion of sports as one of the key planks of social sector development. The air force too has had its share of glory. Was it not a group of PAF officers stationed at Peshawar who pooled their resources to enable Hashim Khan to proceed to England and write the opening chapter in the history of Pakistan's dominance in squash?
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Take the case of the Pakistan Hockey Federation. From 1948 till now it has been led by a professional in the real sense only twice Akhtar Rasool (1997-1998) and Qasim Zia (since October 2008), thanks to their political parties' clout. One wonders how Khan Abdul Qaiyum Khan or Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani were chosen as presidents of the federation even if as slim and smart young men their names had figured in school/college hockey teams. The largest number of federation presidents have come from the air force, its serving or retired chiefs, including Nur Khan, but he was truly incomparable.
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Sports is a matter of organisation too. Besides the factors mentioned that have inhibited the development of sports in Pakistan, the policy of entrusting leadership of sports bodies to political heavyweights, generals and air marshals has been disastrous.
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The only time Pakistan's flag went up at an Olympics during 1992-2012 was at Barcelona (1992) when its hockey team won a bronze. Hockey is the only event in which Pakistan has ever had any hope of victory. All its triumphs came before 1996, including three gold medals (Rome 1960, Mexico 1968, and Los Angeles 1984). However, on their return from their London holiday the team stewards are happy that they did better than the Indian wielders of the curved stick, the ultimate measure of success or failure developed by the pehlwans in Pakistan's sports chambers.
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Corporate Agriculture Farming (CAF) is a fairly broad term that deals with the general practices
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Corporate farming is a fairly broad term that deals with the general practices and effects of a small number of large, global corporations that dominate the food industry. It simply encompasses all activities from production to retail consumption.
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Pros and Cons of Corporate Farming
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One might be asked whether it is proper to talk of sports at a time when death is free to stalk our streets and saunter across our open spaces, when terrorists outnumber our sports squads. Yes, because sports and healthy outdoor exercise could help the people to defy the terrorists and offer an efficient means to wean the youth off their suicidal pursuits. I.A. Rehman
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The wrongs done over years will take a long time to be undone. Perhaps we need a 10-year plan for the promotion of sports as one of the key planks of social sector development. Local government institutions may be made to join the larger employers defence forces, ports, Wapda, railways and educational institutions to meet the infrastructural needs of full-scale sports activity. There is no point in sending contingents to Olympics if there is little sport at the domestic level.
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A radical restructuring of the sports authorities has certainly become overdue. It is time to bid the oldies in command a decent farewell, reorganise sports bodies in a manner the people can accept as democratic, and put them under the charge of young professionals. Finding them won't be easy as we have neglected the need to train sports organisers. That should now be a priority. Any people who take sports seriously begin grooming talent at the school level. There was a time when a high school was considered incomplete without playgrounds. Now we have universities operating out of garages and there are educational institutions that do not even have space for a ping-pong table. The land mafias are gobbling up whatever green patches are left in major cities.
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and effects of a small number of large, global corporations that dominate the food industry. It simply encompasses all activities from production to retail consumption. Corporate farming or agribusiness is used by the critics of the idea as a term of Third World farmers' hardships, heavy subsidies of the western governments to their agriculture sectors, genetically modified food and unemployment of the rural labour and everything that is associated with corporate world. Therefore it reflects the difficulty to sell the idea to the subsistence farmers, civil societies, NGOs active in the field and to the environmentalists. Agriculture is an industry that provides economies of scale to large producers of a small number and depicts their monopolistic characteristics. Corporate farming concentrates food production through adoption of mechanised methods designed to maximize production. It encompasses not only the farm itself but also the entire chain of agri-business from transport, distribution, marketing, advertising and retail sales and even influences the other areas of public policy including research, education through lobbying efforts and thereby protecting their interests. Corporate farming lobbyists have been very successful in moulding national public policies of their home governments to their advantage in such a way that has hurt the Third World poor farmers.
Pakistan's government, in order to implement the idea in any of its forms, will have to educate the public particularly farmers, persuade and convince the critics and alley their fears. This means that before initiating CAF we should plan thoroughly keeping in view all related aspects and alleviate the fears of all stakeholders and then adapt to the agricultural, social and economic realities prevailing in Pakistan. This is not a small challenge and should be taken up with the utmost skill and diligence possible. Owing to their superior farming methods they narrow down the market share of subsistence farmers since Transnational Companies (TNCs) use mechanised farming which ultimately cause unemployment in the countryside. However, corporate farming is not without its advantages. Corporate farming boosts production and improves the quality of the production. Big transnational companies have the capacity to invest heavily in order to use mechanised farming and the latest technology (e.g. land levelling through laser technology). It also provides for the best fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemical inputs. It also saves water by employing innovative and economical irrigation techniques. Moreover, it can invest huge amounts of capital to undertake research in the field of food industry. It brings professional management expertise to the sector.
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The benefits of CAF are not as great as they appeared as it involves huge amount of water, energy and chemicals often with little regard to long term adverse effects. Since the narrow focus of industrial agriculture is to increase production and ignoring the environmental impact altogether. Some of them are pumping of water from reservoirs faster than they are being recharged. As a result of excessive use of herbicide and insecticide they are accumulating in ground and surface waters. Chemical organism are damaging micro organism besides bringing adverse affects of rapidly developing resistance among pests. At the same time environmental degradation and pollution are worsened by the waste from livestock and poultry farms. Damage to fisheries form oxygen depleting micro organisms fed by fertilizer runoff. Another adverse impact is the increased health risks borne by agriculture workers and farmers exposed to pesticides as a result new health hazards will further put our public policy institutions under pressure. In a country like Pakistan where water resources are fast depleting and due to political reasons the available resources are not being harnessed to their maximum potential the resistance from farmer community is obvious to crop up.
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Owing to their superior farming methods they narrow down the market share of subsistence farmers since Transnational Companies (TNCs) use mechanised farming which ultimately cause unemployment in the countryside. Extra pressure on the cities as a result of mass migration further aggravate the situation in the already problem ridden urban life.
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Uncontrolled Produce: Though productivity will increase but opponents of the idea express their fears about our food security. With a view to maximize profit, they will invest their resources in cash crops and not in food crops. It is nave to expect that they will be catering to the nation's needs for food commodities. Small Farmer's Chances: The plan also jeopardises the future of our poor rural masses. The corporate farms can flood the market with a single commodity production; the price of the commodity comes down, while the cost of input is on an upward increase. This cost-price squeeze hurts small farmers and
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Moreover, critics are aghast at the anomaly that private citizens are barred from unlimited landholding, whereas foreign investors can own as much land as possible. This has led to the outcry, on the part of a section of observers, that our very sovereignty may be compromised.
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Now that CAF promises abolition of any ceiling to landholdings for corporations, it is feared that big landlords will protect their huge landholdings by registering as companies, or forming partnerships with foreign corporations, at the same time exempting their farm from taxes.
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These laws successively abolished 'Jagirs' without compensation and imposed a ceiling on individual land holdings, (40 hectares for irrigated and 890 hectares for the un-irrigated lands). However, due to a number of factors these reforms failed to realise the desired outcome. Nevertheless the experience shows that wherever these reforms were implemented, the outcome was very positive in respect of productivity and employment.
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The factors that particularly hit our farmers and the whole system are as under:Negation of Land Reforms: Previous land reforms were enacted in different stages. 1.The Land Reform Act of 1959 (Martial Law Regulation 64) 2.The second Land Reform Act of 1972 (Martial Law Regulation 112) 3.The third Land Reform Act of 1977
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It is believed that the cultivable waste area, which is almost half of the total cultivated area, has the potential to boost the total agricultural production. Cultivable waste land in Balouchistan is mainly in Kalat, Quetta, Nasirabad and Makran Divisions. In Punjab cultivable waste area is mainly in D.G Khan, Bhawalpur, Rawalpindi and Lahore Divisions. In Sindh, cultivable waste area is located in Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Sukkur and Larkana Divisions. In Khyber PK the cultivable waste land is located in D.I.Khan, Hazara and Kohat Divisions. Besides identifying cultivable waste land, fisheries sector, production of mutton through raising of sheep and goats, dairy farming, dehydration of vegetable, off season vegetable production, animal feed mills, fruit juice making plant, and hybrid seed production are among the objectives to commercialise agriculture sector.
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1. Balouchistan 4.87 million hectares 2. Punjab 1.74 million hectares 3. Sindh 1.45 million hectares 4. Khyber PK 1.08 million hectares
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Now we look at the situation as to why CAF is to some extent necessary to be undertaken in Pakistan. Basically among other thrusts of the policy is to bring wasteland under cultivation. The total geographical area of Pakistan is 79.6 million hectares. Of this 9.14 million hectares land is cultivable wasteland. Province-wise break-up of the land is as follows:
entrepreneurs, whereas only giant corporations can make profit.
Apart from its production methods, she also raises serious questions about the organisation of the CAF, saying that it has an inherent tendency for consolidation and monopolisation. This ultimately pushes the small, local entrepreneurs to the wall. This concentration of market share in a few hands has been observed in USA, where family farm and small farmers have been ruined. This is no good example to follow in Pakistan. Despite what its critics say there is immense potential in corporate farming in Pakistan. What the critics have highlighted are issues that need to be monitored once this concept of farming is launched.
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She cites the experience of USA, China and erstwhile USSR in chemical monoculture farming which has turned hundreds of thousands of acres of farmlands into infertile desert. She points out that there is a worldwide movement to turn back to chemical- and hybrid-free organically grown foods, and that there is burgeoning $15 billion market for it. India has already launched a National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). Citing the report of National Commission on Small Farms by US Department of Agriculture (A Time to Act) she says that there is a growing realisation in US too that there is a strong need to turn away from corporate agriculture and to focus on environmentally sustainable and socially beneficial farming.
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A study by the Food and Development Policy Institute of USA (Food First) and the Transnational Institute of Nederland released at the UN Conference in Maastricht covering both industrialised as well as developing countries demonstrated and reconfirmed that indigenously-farmed small acreages are 200 to 1000 percent more productive than the bigger ones. Small farms and peasants however cannot be successful if governments withhold basic facilities and extend them exclusively to a privileged minority.
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Is CAF Necessary? Some experts have fundamentally challenged the efficacy of corporate agriculture farming methods. One such critic, Najma Sadeque has led the attack on CAF by asserting that it is not efficient at all, contrary to the official projections:
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Water Issues: If we plan to bring an area of 9.14 million hectares under cultivation, half of which is in Baluchistan (4.87), it is natural to ask from where the water to irrigate this vast area will come from. We are already facing acute water shortage for our agriculture sector needs; with the country facing drought like conditions, the provinces are fighting over the issue. This is a very obvious and important question, but still there is no answer from the government side. The opponents point out that if water had been available, this area would have been brought under cultivation long ago.
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Why should they (MNCs) come and invest in remote, poor regions of a country notorious for its shaky law and order and creaky social structure? With increasing awareness about environmental degradation and consumer rights in the developed world, multinational companies are out-sourcing production to those parts of the world where people know little about these issues, laws are lax and administration more than willing to let companies circumvent in some case bend all rules of the game for their favour, Agriculture is no exception to this rule With western concerns rising, prohibitive laws multiplying and ethical questions gaining momentum, it is high time for these companies to look east for safe havens.
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Foreign Investment: It is said that this free style production and a pliant government are the real attraction for transnational corporations. In the words of one analyst,
Summarising the ill-effects of the corporate experience in Pakistan, she states: Industrial farming has historically exploited with massive capital investment for short term high profits, which displaced and created few or no jobs for peasants, driving out local small entrepreneurs and factories out of business whose losses added to corporate consolidations. In America, the family farm is almost extinct. Corporate farming in Pakistan will concentrate vast, unlimited acreages in fewer hands, with all the attendant diseconomies of scale applying to chemical monoculture and environmental degradation. The shortage of finite water supply means it will be diverted to where money is. Government may not ignore the fact that all natural resources belong to the people and not even elected governments have the mandate to do as they please. It is a violation of the civil and human rights and should be withdrawn immediately. Pakistan's International Commitments: Pakistan has international commitments to halve poverty by year 2015 (World Food Summit 2002) and is a signatory to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. In its report about the implementation of the UNCCD, April 2002, the Government of Pakistan has promised to distribute three million acres of available land to small farmers. This distribution will be coupled with infrastructure and inputs provision with the objective to combat poverty and desertification. In National Report of Pakistan on the Implementation of UNCCD which was submitted in April 2002 to UNCCD Secretariat, Government of Pakistan reports, Government has a plan regarding redistribution of assets, especially state-owned land. It can have a major impact on poverty reduction efforts in rural Pakistan. The Government has launched a programme of accelerated distribution of state-owned land to small farmers. The distribution of about three million acres of available land will be fully supported with the provision of infrastructure and all other possible inputs to combat desertification and rural poverty. The critics of CAF voice their inability to understand how the government is going to carry out its commitments. Despite what its critics say there is immense potential in corporate farming in Pakistan. What the critics have highlighted are issues that need to be monitored once this concept of farming is launched. Pakistan should learn from the experiences of other countries and devise mechanisms for safeguarding the ill effects of corporate farming. Establishment of economical large farms, using quality inputs, implementing mechanized farming and processing agricultural products are realms only corporate sector can enter. These realms are out of reach of an ordinary farmer however financially strong he is. One of the ways out for Pakistans agriculture sector is that corporate farming be brought in on a large scale but it should be heavily regulated and preferably should be indigenous in nature and must be initiated before taking all the stakeholders into confidence. The writer is Director in a Public Sector Organization. Muhammadramzan2001@hotmail.com Muhammad Ramzan
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Real Threat in Virtual World

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Many of them face issues such as having their emails intercepted or data stolen, having their websites attacked or hacked and having their identities exposed against their wishes. The obvious purpose of carrying out the study is to highlight the importance of security in using email services, running websites, interacting on social media websites and sharing data, sometimes unnecessarily, with larger audience and later on train journalists to take care of this aspect. No doubt this training is essential for every person who logs on to Internet, but the reason to focus
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Based on interviews of several journalists and bloggers, the report findings suggest that though a vast majority of journalists uses Internet in their work and take basic precautions such as installing anti-virus software and using strong passwords, they were largely unaware of secure tools such as IP blockers, which can be set up to block access to one's website from computers or networks that have certain Internet protocol (IP) addresses, such as from particular government entities, and virtual private network (VPN) services.
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The report titled Digital Security and Journalists: A Snapshot of Awareness and Practice in Pakistan reveals a widespread lack of awareness of the security risks Pakistani journalists and bloggers face in their online activities without being aware of who's following them and for what purpose.
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This is the gist of a recent report commissioned by the Internews Center for Innovation & Learning and conducted by Bytes for All (B4A), a Pakistani human rights organisation with a focus on information and communication technologies.
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Who says journalists land into trouble when they transgress certain ideological or geographical boundaries? That's not always the case. Today, it's not necessary for them to travel to lawless zones to risk their security. They are equally vulnerable to dangers even within the confines of their homes if they care less about their security in the virtual world.
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Going digital without precautions exposes Pakistani journalists to unimaginable risks
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Explaining keyloggers, Shahzad states it can be a software (sent to you via email or transferred during downloading sessions) or a hardware device that can record the real time activity of a computer user including the keyboard keys they press. They are hidden within the system and a non-techie user cannot find out easily that his/her online activity is being logged/recorded by someone sitting at a remote computer. No doubt this training is essential for every person who logs on to Internet, but the reason to focus on journalists first was that their unsafe online practices can harm whistleblowers or their informants Such softwares, he says, work like viruses that infiltrate your computer system and take over all the resources and digital assets that you have. They can come in via an attachment or transferred via
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A very few of them were aware of the modus operandi of cyber attackers who use spy softwares such as trojans, keyloggers etc to hack email accounts and websites and commit identity theft. They were not aware that careless attitude in the cyberspace can cause severe harm to one's professional and personal reputation.
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Contacts were made through telephone, email and various sources within the journalist community. A total of 52 people (65 per cent of those initially contacted) completed questionnaires. Seventy per cent of the respondents were working journalists and the remaining 30 per cent identified themselves as bloggers.
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These respondents were selected using convenience sampling, on the basis of their importance in the media world and the blogosphere, says Shahzad. He adds extreme care was taken to ensure gender and regional diversity, and national scope among participants.
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Imran Naeem has made passwords complex and taken some other precautionary measures to avoid such attacks in future. But the way hackers operate and the advanced tools they have to achieve their end calls for a more professional handling of the menace. The responses gathered from around 80 journalists and bloggers contacted during the study suggest the respondents are least equipped to counter the threats they face.
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We have our suspicions of course as to who could have engineered such a cowardly deed and why. The list is surprisingly short. We have already taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again.
Imran Naeem shares it with TNS that the hacker then threatened to do it again, making his intentions clear by sending us a message through our website after we were back. He strongly believes it was not a random action and neither was it the act of some bored teenager. Indeed, JournalismPakistan.com was the calculated target of a cyber terrorist, a virtual mercenary. It was intended, he adds.
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They were staring at a blank page on the screens for a good 12 hours and the attacker had deleted all the content. Fortunately, they had back-up of all data and were able to get the website back fairly quickly.
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Imran Naeem Ahmad, co-founder and managing editor of website JournalismPakistan. com, is one such victim who was not ready for a hacker's attack. The website was hacked in June 2012 and it took them by surprise. We had never thought this could ever happen to us, after all hackers often target mega websites.
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on journalists first was that their unsafe online practices can harm whistleblowers or their informants, believes Shahzad Ahmad, Country Director Bytes for All, Pakistan. If the password of one person in a network is taken over, he/she can make the whole network vulnerable.
different downloading websites e.g. movies or software portals, which though offer you free downloads but may be spreading such kind of malicious softwares. The most troubling thing is that once a keylogger is installed on your computer, the person sitting at a remote computer can use your computer for any unlawful activities, Shahzad says. For example, spamming is a crime in several countries so someone can use your computer power, and bandwidth without your knowledge to spam someone, whom you even don't know. Unfortunately, there are no cyber laws in Pakistan and hence no deterrence against unwanted online activities. That's one of the major reasons why hackers operate with impunity and the poor victim gets no relief at all. Muhammad Adeel, a Lahore-based expert in network security, believes identity theft is frequent because people share too much personal information on social media websites and store user names, passwords and other personal information in memory offered by email accounts. It's easy for hackers to retrieve passwords by doing guesswork on the basis of personal information. However, Shahzad contests this assertion, saying strong password is just the first line of defense in the cyberspace. There is no guesswork involved as there are softwares to harvest passwords. Digital security experts suggest that the time of passwords is over and now everyone should have pass phrase and that too should be at least 20 characters long. He suggests that passwords should also be changed frequently, adding those who want to take over your passwords can also use keyloggers that can send your personal information across. So it is fairly easy that if you are not observing secure practices to access your digital assets (emails, website, blog or other documents) it can be at risk. Shahzad says journalists can also be victims of cyber stalking on social networks. Women and young girls are especially the target of this practice and that is why Bytes for All under its Take Back The Tech campaign works with young girls to train them on how to be safe and secure online.
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Female journalists, especially the popular anchors of TV talk shows, are highly vulnerable to cyber stalking. They must constantly look out for fake pages in their names often carrying their engineered pictures and act before the damage is done, says an Internet addict, who does not want to be named. Shahzada Irfan Ahmed
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One such case is that of a female human rights activist who was harassed online when her profile was created on a fake fan page. It had her name and her pictures but she was described as a prostitute in that fake account. The girl had to write to the Facebook complaint centre that helped her at a later stage in taking it off. Similarly, several girls complained about their fake profiles on Facebook in Peshawar.
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There are several cases of women and girls, who had to face miserable consequences due to their poor digital security. Some of the Pakistan-specific cases are available at https: //www.apc.org/ushahidi/.
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September 1, 1969 - Military officers overthrew the Libyan government. The Libyan Arab Republic was then proclaimed under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. September 1, 1983 - Korean Airlines Flight 007 was shot down by a Russian fighter jet while on route from New York to Seoul, killing all 269 persons on board. September 2, 1666 - The Great Fire of London began in a bakery in Pudding Lane near the Tower. Over the next three days more than 13,000 houses were destroyed, although only six lives were believed lost. September 2, 1870 - Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to the Prussians during the Battle of Sedan, resulting in the fall of the Second French Empire.
September 3, 1783 - The Treaty of Paris was signed by John Adams, Ben Franklin and John Jay, formally ending the American Revolutionary War between Britain and the United States. September 4, 1886 - The last major US-Indian war came to an end as Geronimo was captured. He died of natural causes in 1909 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. September 5-6, 1972 - Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were killed during an attack on the Olympic village in Munich by members of the Black September faction of the Palestinian Liberation Army. September 5, 1997 - Mother Teresa died in Calcutta at age 87, after a life of good works spent aiding the sick and poor in India through her Missionaries of Charity order. September 6, 1965 - Pakistani armed forces rebuffed the Indian attack on Pakistani soil.
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September 2, 1945 - Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
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September 1, 1939 - At 5.30 a.m., Hitler's armies invaded Poland starting World War II in Europe.
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This Month in History September
September 7, 1822 - Brazil declared its independence from Portugal after 322 years as a colony. September 8, 1900 - A hurricane with winds of 120 mph struck Galveston, Texas, killing over 8,000 persons, making it the worst natural disaster in US history. The hurricane and tidal wave that followed destroyed over 2,500 buildings. September 8, 1974 - A month after resigning the presidency in disgrace as a result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon was granted a full pardon by President Gerald R. Ford for all offenses committed while in office.
September 11, 1948 Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah founder of Pakistan died. He was 71.
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September 11, 2001 - The September 11 attacks also referred to as 9/11 were a series of four suicide attacks that were committed in the United States on
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September 10, 1943 - Hitler's troops occupied Rome and took over the protection of Vatican City.
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September 9, 1993 - Israel and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) agreed to recognise each other, paving the way for a possible peaceful end to the hundred year old conflict between Arabs and Jews in the Mideast.
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September 9, 1976 - Long time leader of Communist China, Chairman Mao Zedong, died. As a Chinese revolutionary soldier and statesman, he had proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949 in Beijing.
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September 9, 1948 - Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed with Pyongyang as its capital.
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September 9, 1776 - The United States came into existence as the Continental Congress changed the name of the new American nation from the United Colonies.
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September 14, 1960 - The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed by representatives of oil-producing countries meeting in Baghdad. September 15, 1776 - British forces under General William Howe captured New York during the American Revolution.
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September 16, 1982 - Beginning of a two-day massacre in Palestinian refugee camps in West Beirut as Christian militiamen (the Phalangists) entered Sabra and Shatila and began shooting hundreds of Palestinians, including elderly men, women and children. 17 September 1941- Death penalty abolished... for the time being. The Labour Party had opposed
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September 16, 1620 - The Mayflower ship departed from England, bound for America with 102 passengers and a small crew. The ship weathered dangerous Atlantic storms and reached Provincetown, Massachusetts on November 21. The Pilgrims disembarked at Plymouth on December 26.
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September 15, 1890 - British mystery author Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, England. She wrote nearly a hundred books including mysteries, dramas, poetry and nonfiction.
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September 14, 1812 - Napoleon and his troops first entered Moscow as the retreating Russians set the city on fire. Napoleon found it was impossible to stay through the winter in the ruined city. He then began a retreat from Moscow which became one of the great disasters of military history. Fewer than 20,000 of the original 500,000 men with him survived the Russian campaign.
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September 13, 1814 - The Battle of Fort Henry in Baltimore Harbour occurred, observed by Francis Scott Key aboard a ship.
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September 12, 1943 - Former Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers on orders from Adolf Hitler. Mussolini was being held prisoner by Italian authorities following the collapse of his Fascist regime.
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September 11, 1917 - Ferdinand Marcos was born in Sarrat, Philippines. He ruled the Philippines from 1966, imposing an authoritarian regime until he was ousted in 1986.
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September 11, 2001. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes, none of whom survived.
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capital punishment, and, after it took office in 1935, it commuted all death sentences to life in prison. This policy was confirmed by the abolition of the death penalty for murder in 1941. September 18, 1810 - Chile declared its independence from Spain after 269 years as a colony.
September 23, 1991 - Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. September 24, 1980 - War erupted between Iran and Iraq as Iraqi troops crossed the border and encircled Abadan, then set fire to the world's largest oil refinery. September 25, 1690 - The first American newspaper was published. A single edition of Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick appeared in Boston, Massachusetts. However, British authorities considered the newspaper offensive and ordered its immediate suppression. September 26, 1984 - Britain agreed to allow Hong Kong to revert to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
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September 28, 1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat signed an accord at the White House establishing Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank.
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September 28, 1542 - California was discovered by Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo upon his arrival at San Diego Bay.
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September 27, 1995 - The Israeli cabinet agreed to give Palestinians control of much of the West Bank which had been occupied by Israel for 28 years.
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September 22, 1791 - British scientist Michael Faraday was born in Surrey, England. His discovery of electromagnetic induction proved that moving a magnet through a coil of wire produces a current, resulting in the development of electric generators.
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September 22, 1996 - Australian Bob Dent, a cancer victim, became the first person to commit legally assisted suicide, via a lethal injection, under a voluntary euthanasia law.
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September 22, 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves in territories held by Confederates as of January 1, 1863.
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September 21, 1949 - The People's Republic of China was proclaimed by its Communist leaders.
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September 20, 1989 - F. W. De Klerk was sworn-in as president of South Africa. He began an era of reform aimed at ending apartheid and was succeeded by Nelson Mandela.
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September 19, 1994 - US troops invaded Haiti, with the stated goal of restoring democracy.
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September 19, 1893 - New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote.
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Energy consumption in offices and workplaces needs to be addressed on a large scale as lot of energy is consumed and wasted here. The use of excess energy contributes to the problems associated with dwindling fossil fuel reserves. Also, wasting energy reduces profitability.
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How to Manage Energy Consumption in Offices and Workplaces
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September 30, 1966 - Nazi war criminals Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach were released from Spandau prison after serving 20 years. The prison, originally built for 600 inmates, was left with only one prisoner, former Deputy Fhrer Rudolf Hess. Numan Ahmed
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September 29, 1901 - Nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi was born in Rome. While teaching at the University of Chicago, he developed a method of causing nuclear fission, producing a chain reaction releasing explosive nuclear energy which led to the development of the Atomic bombs.
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Step 2. Understand You can't manage what you don't measure is especially true for management of energy in offices and workplaces. Meter readings at regular and frequent intervals are necessary to control the energy costs. Constant watch on the meter will enable: ? Identification of exceptional consumption and quick attention to the causes ? Checking of utility invoices will ensure that the payment is done only for the amount of fuel that
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The Key factors for commitment and efficient management of energy in offices and workplaces are: ? Pressure for change (senior management commitment is essential) ? A clear shared vision (involvement of staff) ? Capacity for change (provide the resources: time & finance) ? Action (monitor performance & keep commu nication channels open)
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Step 1. Commitment Energy must be used efficiently within the organization in order to keep carbon dioxide emissions to a minimum wherever possible. The organizational policy should include steps and effective measures towards the environment- the senior management must set an example by inculcating a sustainability drive in office premises and by adapting renewable energy and encouraging projects that make use of clean energy. This will definitely give rise to energy efficiency and improved management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces. A few of the employees within the organization must form a team and take up the responsibility to make other employees aware of the importance of energy efficiency and this team must get all the necessary co-operation needed by the senior management. This energy team must act as the firms eyes and ears for managing energy wastage; be responsible for reading the meters and checking the fuel bills; develop a weekly or monthly checklist of duties; and consider forming an Energy Action Team to report on progress and problems to stimulate further action.
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The government support programmes in some countries on energy efficiency and management as well as carbon management have proved that most companies can reduce their energy costs by implementing maintenance and cost-effective measures, which help in managing energy consumption in offices and workplaces. The 5 steps and tips for effective management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces are: 1. Commitment 2. Understand 3. Plan and Organize 4. Act 5. Control, Monitor & Review
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Monitoring and Targeting (M&T) has been shown to be an effective management tool in numerous companies and organizations But it should be kept up. Experience has shown that once companies stop monitoring their energy use on a regular basis, waste starts to occur often at least 10% in a relatively short time. This is because problems arise (for example failed or wrongly set controls) and procedures change and the effect on energy consumption goes unnoticed or unexplained. Therefore, efficient management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces, with regular data collection, its review, monitoring and control will ensure that energy is not wasted and there is efficient energy use. Nabeel Niaz
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Step 5. Control, Monitor & Review Energy management should be a process of continuous control and improvement, not a one-off effort. Recording as well as monitoring systems must be set up to check whether targets are being met.
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Step 3. Plan and Organize An energy policy statement must be introduced in every organization to raise the awareness among the staff and demonstrate the commitment of senior management towards management of energy consumption in office. A simple policy statement should set out the main objectives, together with the performance targets that need to be met to fulfill the objectives. Once objectives and targets have been agreed, action plans can be drawn up to drive the management plan forward and set down what needs to be done and when. As a general rule of thumb, meters should be read monthly if invoicing is quarterly and be read weekly if invoicing is monthly. Meter readings can be recorded on worksheets or on a computer spreadsheet. In either case consumption can then be displayed graphically, which is useful for detecting trends and giving warning of exceptional consumption. Step 4. Act A good way of managing energy consumption in office and finding energy waste is to conduct an initial energy walk-round. Ask key members of the staff to identify problems and opportunities, and ensure that they feel part of the assessment process. The pattern of energy use will vary throughout the day, so it is useful to vary the times of the walk-rounds, for example: ? When the cleaners are on duty ? At lunchtime ? At night or over weekends (if the meter readings indicate that there is unexpectedly high energy use during these periods) Whenever energy is being wasted because of lack of awareness, or procedures are being ignored, repair or maintenance work is needed to reduce energy costs, or there is a need for capital investment.
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is consumed ? Comparison of current costs and performance with previous years ? Comparison of several sites, processes or buildings in the company with each other ? Assessing the seasonal pattern of consumption Making these comparisons will help set improvement targets and identify where the greatest scope for saving energy exists in business. How often you take meter readings will be determined by how much energy is used. As a general rule of thumb, meters should be read monthly if invoicing is quarterly and be read weekly if invoicing is monthly. Meter readings can be recorded on worksheets or on a computer spreadsheet. In either case consumption can then be displayed graphically, which is useful for detecting trends and giving warning of exceptional consumption. In short paying attention to the simplest activity helps in efficient management of energy consumption in offices and workplaces.
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The main motives behind writing this piece are: To expose RAW's subversive and sabotage activities and its countless false-flag terror operations inside Pakistan by supporting different terrorist groups. These are the realities which rarely gain any attention of media, neither local nor international. To show to the world, the real and ugly face of world's largest democracy as world powers especially US refutes Pakistan's serious concerns against India and denies India's involvement in any of illegal and unjustified actions.
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RAW's whimsical role in creation of Bangladesh is no more a secret. RAW exploited Bengalis sensitivities, their politico-economic disparities and their orientation towards their language. Long before the local Bengalis themselves jumped into the fray for their war of independence, RAW had prepared ground for this vicious game. Ashok Raina in his one of the most authentic book on RAW, 'Inside RAW' puts as:
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This phenomenon is not compatible with India's regional and global hegemonic designs, the ambitions which are part and parcel not only of Hinduism but also that of Indian strategic posture and its foreign policy objectives. These are the policy goals set by Chanakya (Kautilya) many hundred years ago. To accomplish these cherished designs, India for last few decades has resorted for indirect/unconventional and psychological warfare against its other South Asian neighbours in general and Pakistan in particular, mainly through its premier spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). RAW is India's external intelligence outfit established in September 1968. RAW gains all of its inspiration from Chanakya's teachings of cunning, hypocrisy, manipulation, treachery, deceit and guile presented in his renowned book Arthashastra.
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After the overt Nuclearisation of South Asian arch rivals; India and Pakistan, engagement of armed forces of both countries in conventional method of warfare is no more a viable option as any outbreak of war would have potential of crossing the nuclear threshold.
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RAWs Unconventional Warfare Against Pakistan
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Moreover, India is fully backing Balochistan separatist movement and main leadership of the movement is directly under the security umbrella of Indian government. CIA and Mosad and Afghanistan's RAMA are also playing their role in this whole play and seem to be hell bent to disintegrate Pakistan. Fanned by worse condition of governance and red tape activities of Pakistani authorities, India is at forefront to exploit this situation in Balochistan, as it did in case of East Pakistan. RAW is providing all types of aid and abet to BLA, BRA fighters against Pakistan. This view was validated by an independent and renowned scholar, Christine Fair former member of RAND Corporation and presently an Assistant Professor at George Town University USA, revealed after her visit to Afghani stan: Having visited the Indian mission (Indian consulate in Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan) in Zahedan, I can assure you they are not issuing visas as the main activity. Moreover, India has run operations from its mission in Mazar Sharif (through which it supported the Northern Alliance against Taliban) and is doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Kandahar along the border. Indian officials have told me privately that they are pumping money into Balochistan.
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US-led Nato forces invasion in Afghanistan, and replacement of Taliban's pro-Pakistan regime with pro-India Northern Alliance, paved the way for RAW to stab Pakistan in the back. Now Indian's major espionage programmes and PSYOPS are orchestrated inside the territory of Afghanistan; particularly the areas bordering Pakistan. In this area more than 14 Indian consulates have been established which literally are used as a launching pad for the terror activities against Pakistan's state and society to create stir and chaos. There in these consulates not only Baloch separatists and sub-Nationalist fighters are trained and equipped but also the operatives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). RAW after giving them training and weaponry, identifies targets for them inside Pakistan to maximize social, political, economic and psychological damage. RAW is doing all this with collaboration of other cousin intelligence agencies. RAW is India's external intelligence outfit established in September 1968. RAW gains all of its inspiration from Chanakya's teachings of cunning, hypocrisy, manipulation, treachery, deceit and guile presented in his renowned book Arthashastra. A report published in Pakistan's two most credible newspapers Dawn and The News verified RAW's direct support for TTP. Three TTP suicide bombers named Khurram Ishtiaq, Ghulam Mustafa and Shamim were arrested from Lahore disclosed that RAW has been funding suicide terrorists inside Pakistan and flooded Rs. 680 million through Afghan intelligence service RAMA Research-and-Analysis-Milli-Afghan. These arrested men verified that all of the major blasts and suicide attacks were actually backed by Indian RAW. (The News International Wednesday, October 22, 2008). Webster Griffin Tarpley, an American journalist, writer, and historian in a TV interview in response to a question asserted saying; the Research and Analysis Wing of Indian intelligence, they are up in Afghanistan, recruiting crazies from there to bring them down and help them to engage in terrorism inside Pakistan. So the Indians have this real dirty aspect.
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Pakistan's nuclear programme has been an issue of greatest interest for RAW right after Pakistan embarked on this journey of nuclearisation. According to the September issue of Indian weekly magazine 'Sunday', a RAW agent claimed that in early 1978 they were very close to obtain blueprint of Kahuta Research Laboratories but the then Indian PM Morarji Desai refused to sanction the $10,000 demanded by RAW agent.
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The Bangladesh operation possible began a year before the actual operation was underway. When the world gets a whiff of it in the shape of Mukti Bahani many remained unaware of RAW's involvement. By then phase one of the operation was already completed phase two was the Indian armed forces poised for the liberation of Bangladesh.
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Most recent in last month (May 2012), RAW however faced an irreversible humiliation. On May 9, 2012 almost all the Indian newspapers and TV channels, that RAW alerted Mumbai Police on Sunday by issuing five coloured photographs of Pakistani terrorists who had secretly entered in Mumbai to wreak havoc just like the 26/11 incident in this India's commercial capital. Realising the sensitivity of the situation Mustansar Hussain Tasir
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Then in the two-day secret meeting of Indian military commanders in New Delhi in the month of April 2010, the stratagem was undertaken to instigate a sectarian strife in Pakistan to destabilise it or to weaken it from within. Christina Palmer of daily Mail newspaper in her report published on April 18, 2010 predicted RAW's plan to spark sectarian war in Pakistan which proved true and Pakistani witnessed a ruthless attack on Shoora procession on Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi in the month of Moharram. Then attack on the shrine of Baba Fareed-ud-Din of Pakptan, attack on procession near Urdu Bazar, Lahore and a series of endless killing commenced. A number of RAW operatives have so far been arrested and PM Yousaf Raza Gilani also handed over a dossier to his Indian counterpart at Sham-ul-Sheikh meeting, with evidences of Indian involvement in conspiracies and terror against Pakistan.
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RAW has also been working tirelessly to create disparity among Pakistanis on sectarian lines. By killing a religious leader of one group and pointing it towards the other sectarian group, to initiate a turf war among different schools of thought has been its common method. Sectarian violence in Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and other parts of the country are backed by RAW, CIA, with active support of Mercenary Armies like Black Water (Xe), Dyn corp and most importantly Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Jeremy Scahill, an American investigative journalist and security commentator, the author of the best-selling book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, winner of a George Polk Book Award, has confirmed the clandestine activities of these notorious elements inside Pakistan, in his article 'Blackwater's Black Ops'. An other Washington-based journalist, Wayne Madsen in his article titled, Pakistan: Blackwater/Xe Hits in Quetta, written on September 14, last year has confirmed the above-mentioned agencies, especially Blackwater's involvement in different false-flag terrorist attacks and in the various recent incidents of sectarian strife in Pakistan and also their coordination with TTP and other terrorist groups operating inside Pakistan. This claim is clearly verified by the shameless incident of Lahore, where the American secret operative Raymond Davis, under the cover of a diplomat, ruthlessly killed three citizens and was latterly released by Pakistani authorities due to immense pressure from Washington.
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All material is sourced from http://jworldtimes.com/ and is copyright of the respective owners.
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