by A.H Amin
While third world military figures , in power or retired make impressive speeches at various forums and think tanks , very few outside their countries understand their mindset and motivation , which by and large is driven by highly personalized and ulterior motives !
Keeping this premise in view it is important to understand the mindset and the personalities of the third world military juntas , most important in this case being the Pakistani military junta! ….
by Michael Schwalbe
When we study Marx in my graduate social theory course, it never fails that at least one student will say (approximately), “Class struggle didn’t escalate in the way Marx expected. In modern capitalist societies class struggle has disappeared. So isn’t it clear that Marx was wrong and his ideas are of little value today?
I respond by challenging the premise that class struggle has disappeared. On the contrary, I say that class struggle is going on all the time in every major institution of society. One just has to learn how to recognize it. …
Read more : Common Dreams
HOUSTON, TX.- Sindhi luminaries, Naz Sanai (48) of Sann, Sindh and Dr. M. K. Jetley (79) of New Delhi, India, were conferred with the prestigious ‘G. M. Syed Memorial Awards 2010’ in recognition of their contributions to Sindhi identity, language and Sindhi Rights Movement.
These awards were announced during the 107th Birthday Anniversary Commemoration of G M Syed, held January 2011 in Houston, TX. These awards are jointly sponsored by the World Sindhi Congress (WSC) and the G. M. Syed Memorial Committee, a Houston, Texas-based educational group.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Life can be lonely on the high seas and one pirate has decided enough is enough, it’s about time he got himself a wife.
But the Somali pirate chief has taken a fancy to his 13-year-old Danish hostage – and he is so besotted with her he’s willing to let the rest of her family go free, and even forget the $5 million dollar ransom his pirate colleagues demanded.
According to The Times, the pirate made the bizarre proposal during a conversation with a Danish reporter, who visited the African nation to track down the Johansen family who were taken hostage in the Indian Ocean more than a month ago.
Read more : Mail Online
Government Judiciary Row—No Signs Of Rapprochement. Situation Getting Worse
By Aijaz Ahmed
The contempt notices to PPP Sindh leaders, Taj Haider and Sharjeel Memon by Supreme Court of Pakistan are indicative of future scenario in which the ongoing tussle between the government and the judiciary is gradually being turned into a bout between the PPP as a political party and the Judiciary as an institution. Thus the future and intensity of the row will be decided with Supreme Court’s treatment to the reference the government is sending to SC to reopen Bhutto case to seek apex court’s verdict on the case that the PPP termed judicial murder of its founder. …
Read more : Indus Herald
Model Poonam Pandey to bare all if India wins WC
After Paraguay model Larissa Riquelme, who promised to run naked through the streets if Paraguay won the football World Cup, an Indian model plans to do something alike if India beats Pakistan and goes on to win cricket’s showpiece event.
Cricket-crazy model Poonam Pandey says she will bare-all if the Indian team wins Wednesday’s semi-final against the neighbours at Mohali.
According to reports, the city-based model, has decided to go nude in front of the entire stadium if India ends up winning the World Cup.
Claiming she is just trying to motivate the Men in Blue, Pandey said she even won’t mind giving the team a private show in the dressing room if they win. …
Read more : Rediff.com
The BBC Urdu Service goes to Lahore, Pakistan and asks ordinary Punjabis what they know about the country’s largest province, Baluchistan. It seems nothing at all.
By: Aijaz Ahmed
Excerpt:
…. Another interesting information regarding the source that paid such a heavy amount in terms of blood money is also available. Contrary to the earlier claims of some media hawks that the money was paid by the government of Pakistan, it is revealed that the amount was actually arranged by ISI itself. Reports further suggest that few Lahore and Karachi based business tycoons having good relations with the state institutions like ISI, on request by the agency, arranged this money as a good will gesture. All this information regarding how the money was arranged is not a secret inside the country any more, however, the reaction and sustained attitude of Ghairat Brigade is quite astonishing for the independent political observers in the country. Few renowned journalists and a particular media group in their initial response cautiously took line that the issue is resolved in the national interest and in accordance with the laid down principles of Islamic Shariah and the statuary book. Later the said journalists and their colleagues, all part and parcels of Ghairat Brigade, took a complete U-Turn and are constantly making all out efforts to provoke people’s sentiments, but no body is ready to shed his blood on the call of Ghairat Brigade members in media and the political parties as they are aware that apart from the governments at center and province, the ISI, military top brass and Judiciary were taken into confidence before moving ahead to settle the issue.
To read full article : Indus Herald
PAKISTAN: Five more disappeared persons are extrajudicially killed in Balochistan
Name of victims: 1. Mr. Hameed Shaheen, son of Haji Ghous Baksh, former chairman of Baloch Student Organization (BSO Azad), resident of Muslimabad of Sariab Quetta, Balochistan.
2. Mr. Fareed Baloch, Student of Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdar, zonal president of Baloch Student Organization (BSO Azad).
3. Mr. Arif Noor, son of Noor Muhammad Baloch, was an employee as 16 grade officer in Gwadar Development Authority (GDA)
4: Mr. Saleh Muhammad, son of Nuroz Khan, resident of Balochistan
5. Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Marri, resident of Balochistan
Names of alleged perpetrators: Law enforcement agencies
Date of incident: 2011, Place of incident: Quetta, Khuzdar, Windar, Balochistan
Read more : Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
In India’s Punjab, a rebuilt mosque stirs hope
By Rick Westhead
One of the most revered figures in the Sikh religion, Guru Hargobind built it for the local Muslim community at the same time as the Taj Mahal was being constructed in central India. But in 1947, the Guru Ki Maseet was ransacked and fell into disrepair after Muslims living here migrated to Pakistan following partition.
Nowadays, there are about 15 Muslim families living in Sri Hargobindpur and the closest operable mosque is an hour’s drive away.
Besides preserving what is arguably an archaeological site, the repair means Muslim families here will have a place of worship within walking distance. A Sikh foundation in the U.S. has contributed $20,000 for the project, with the Punjab state government adding another $88,000.
“I think if Gandhi could see this he would pat us on the back,” said Harjeet Bhalla, 60, president of Sri Hargobindpur’s municipal council.
“Ours is a multilingual, multi-religious country so it’s important that we do this.”
Several locals say they hope the project sends a message beyond this remote farming community.
To read full article >> The Star
March 24, 2011 — People’s World — On March 15, the Communist Party of Egypt announced that after many years underground because of repression, it will be assuming open, public political activities once more. The announcement came after “an extensive meeting with all of its bodies” and was unanimous.
The original Communist Party of Egypt, the Hizb al Shuvuci al-Misri, had been founded in 1922 when Egypt was still a monarchy and very much under the thumb of British imperialism. The last king of Egypt, Farouk, was overthrown by an uprising of young army officers in 1952. Out of that revolution came the 14-year regime of Colonel Gamel Abdel Nasser, a radical nationalist who worked to break Egypt away from subservience to Western capitalist powers. In 1965, the Communist Party of Egypt merged into Nasser’s own movement, the Arab Socialist Union.
A number of former Communist Party activists dissented from this merger and formed their own independent journal, Al-Inisar (Victory), starting in 1973, which led to their re-founding the Communist Party in 1975. Under the governments of Anwar Al Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, the re-founded Communist Party of Egypt faced repression and was not allowed to run in elections. However, it did not disappear and did not abandon the struggle for democracy and socialism.
When the demonstrations against the Mubarak regime began earlier this year, the Communist Party of Egypt, working in unity with other left-wing dissident groups, quickly gained public visibility as a key voice in the secular opposition. Its February 1, 2011, proclamation read as follows. ….
Read more : Link International
Indian prisoner freed after 27 years
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday remitted the jail sentence of Gopal Das, an Indian prisoner who had been languishing in a jail in Lahore for the past 27 years.
The president’s spokesperson Farhatullah Babar confirmed the remission of the remaining sentence was taken on humanitarian grounds …
Read more : ZemNews
Unique Holi event advocates harmony
HYDERABAD, March 23: Awami Tehrik President Ayaz Latif Palijo said on Wednesday that Hindus and Christians should be given equal rights and they should not be referred to as minorities or scheduled caste.
Addressing a big Holi function organised after several years by Sindhi Hindu Sujaag Tehrik at Sindh Museum which was also attended by a large number of Muslim women and children, Mr Palijo said that all religions preached peace, love and tolerance and Sindhi people would never accept extremism.
He said that history would never forgive those who had forced tens of thousands of Hindus to migrate from Sindh. Sindhi Hindus are natives of Sindh and they have been living here since thousands of years, he said, adding that Sindhi Muslims had always shared their joys and sorrows with Hindus.
He said the upper class of Sindh had always been opportunist and demanded that the Waderas who were responsible for the murder of Bhagat Kanwar Ram should tender an apology to Sindhi people.
MPA Chetan Mal said that despite hardships, Hindus would not leave Sindh.
A journalist Satram Maheshwari said that such programmes would go a long way in creating Hindu-Muslim harmony. …
Read more : DAWN
HEC’s devolution to provinces opposed
by Khalid Hashmani, McLean
In my opinion, the recent decision by the Pakistani Government to devolve HEC into provincial HECs is overdue and must be carried out. As a matter of fact, I recommend to Dr. Javaid Laghari to not only support this decision but also help to ensure that it is implemented fully and that he should assume the role of Sindh HEC and make it one the best educational institutions in Pakistan and in the world as he did with ZABIST.
I do not know of any federal-level powerful higher education authorities in any federal state in the world as we have in Pakistan. Using the name of Islam and Pakistan, the establishment of Pakistan has been imposing unnecessary and inefficient centralization on the provinces/ States/ Republics. The tool of “centralization” has been used to discriminate and exploit smaller provinces and usurp resources of Sindh and Balochistan for the benefit of other provinces. Neither Canada has a federal HEC nor USA and other democratic and federal countries have created such institutions. In other countries where a federal-level commissions exist, their role is very limited and constrained to advise on standards.
The reason that Sindh’s Education Ministry is inefficient has no relevance whether or not Pakistan’s HEC should be devolved. The federal Education Ministry and HEC both have history of discrimination against Sindhis and denying due share in educational opportunities in Pakistan. The same rational of inefficiency is given for centralized control of Sindh’s resource industries such as coal, oil, gas, and ports.
The fact that few Vice Chancellors and educationalists from Sindh do not support devolution of HEC is the same as some pro one-unit establishment organs gave when the people of Sindh, Balochistan, and Pakhtunkhwa demanded dissolution of one unit. Such pronouncement did not succeed then and they will not stop devolution of HEC and other federal agencies and departments returning them into their provincial jurisdictions.
As a highly super centralized state, Pakistan is increasingly failing and is now considered one of worse countries on most human development factors. It is time that it’s setup is reorganized on the basis of the 1940 Resolutions, which is the fundamental principle for various provinces/ States/ Republics to join Pakistan.
Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, March 27, 2011.
Failed state or Weimar Republic?
Pakistan remains a military-dominated rentier state, still committed to American and Gulf Arab alliances
By Omar Ali
A friend recently wrote to me that Pakistan reminded him of the Weimar republic; an anarchic and poorly managed democracy with some real freedoms and an explosion of artistic creativity, but also with a dangerous fascist ideology attracting more and more adherents as people tire of economic hardship and social disorder and yearn for a savior. Others (much more numerous than the single friend who suggested the Weimar comparison) insist that Pakistan is a failed state. So which is it? Is Pakistan the Weimar republic of the day or is it a failed state?
Continue reading Pakistan remains a military-dominated rentier state
Excerpt:
…. “Every dead body that ‘mysteriously’ turns up in Balochistan after ‘mysteriously’ going missing — the last count was 13,000 dead — is another nail in the coffin of any peace and stability in the province. It will not be long before we will be burying the soul of the largest province in this country. Short-sighted hated policies, cruel treatment, what comes close to an illegal occupying force in uniform and the consequent hate-fuelled sentiments of the Baloch people have turned one more part of Pakistan against the centre. Enough with the rhetoric and the cosmetic promises; Balochistan needs a determined political solution, otherwise we can, literally, kiss it goodbye.”
Brutality is the hallmark of small men with large influence. History has never seen or heard of a brutish sage. This is the debilitating cost of being governed by ‘small men’ and therein lies the bane of the rule of small men who cast long shadows. They neutralise virtues and allow vice to prevail and prosper. Their disconnect from reality curtails every opportunity for reform and progress. Woe betide the people ruled by small men.
To read full article : Daily Times
Security of ATC judge hearing BB murder case withdrawn
RAWALPINDI: An Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) judge who was hearing two high profile cases complained that his security had been withdrawn with out any reason, DawnNews reported.
The ATC special Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed in a letter to the Punjab Home Department said that his security was removed …
Read more : DAWN
PPP leaders face contempt charges – By Qaiser Zulfiqar
ISLAMABAD: The apex court on Saturday served contempt of court notices to two ruling Pakistan Peoples Party members Taj Haider and Sharjeel Inam Memon, also a provincial legislator, for calling a strike and using contemptuous language against the superior judiciary for invalidating the appointment of former NAB chairman Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah and summoned them on April 1. …
Read more : The Express Tribune
By KAREEM FAHIM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
AJDABIYA, Libya — Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces retreated from this strategic city on Saturday, running for dozens of miles back along the coast in the first significant advance for Libyan rebels since American and European airstrikes began a week ago. …
Read more : The New York Times
By Shahid Nadeem
Pakistani cricket fans are on their way to Chandigarh to cheer their team in the mother of all matches taking place at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali.
Among them are Pakistani peace activists who will be joined by their Indian counterparts to promote peace. Pakistani cricket fans would have crossed the border without obtaining no objection certificates from Rehman Malik and by passing the Indian government’s newly introduced stringent visa policy. While stepping over the imaginary border line, they will surely notice the well-built, tough-looking border security jawans from both sides, who behind their thick, oiled moustaches, may be hiding their desire to join the cricket caravan. Back home, people will be taking half day off, even if the government doesn’t announce it. The tyre-burning mobs may suspend their ‘noble’ campaign and Karachi’s target-killers may give themselves a much-needed break for the day. Cricketing hero-turned-playboy-turned-The Avenger, has already instructed his Tehrik-i-Dharna brigade to schedule the anti-Nato sit-in well after the World Cup final. …
via – Siasat.pk – Read more : The Express Tribune
Unrest in Syria: What you need to know
By Zachary Roth
The uprising in Libya, which provoked military intervention by the United States and its allies to avert a brutal government crackdown, has dominated this week’s headlines. But meanwhile, there’s new unrest in yet another Middle Eastern nation–one with perhaps greater strategic implications for the United States.
Could the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad be set to go the way of the dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia, which were toppled last month by massive popular protests? And what would that mean for the U.S.?
Here’s a rundown on the current situation in Syria:
What exactly has been happening on the ground?
Mass protests against the government have been going on since last week, and on Wednesday, demonstrators in the southern city of Dara’a were killed by al-Assad’s security forces while taking refuge in a mosque. The number of casualties hasn’t been confirmed, but some witnesses have put it as high as 100.
The deaths prompted even bigger anti-government demonstrations in Dara’a yesterday, and today the protests spread to the capital city of Damascus, where people called out: “Dara’a is Syria” and “We will sacrifice ourselves for Syria.” In response, supporters of the president chanted back: “God, Syria, and Bashar, that’s all.” ….
Read more : YahooNews
A place to call home
Pakistani-born immigrant credits Canada for helping him explore his identity
by Tayyab Rashid
When I came to North America some 15 years ago, I thought that most of us are migratory beings, or some part of our constitution is. Living in Canada has changed or perhaps expanded my thinking — we are also sedentary souls. …
Read more : via – Siasat.pk – Canadianimmigrant.ca
The language of the discussion is in urdu/ Hindi.
Courtesy: Aaj News TV ( Aaj Ki Baat – 26th March 2011 – Shahid Ameen & Sohail Warraich)
The prayer/ Namaaz is same since Hazrat Adam, that is why the way of performing Namaaz is not described in the Holy Quran. Islam, Christinanity, and Judaism is one and the same religion.
There are 5 places where one “bends-down” during this prayer (HT5:10). Each time one “bends-down,” he should arch his back bending over …
The content of this prayer were established by the Court established under Moses, at the time at which it was headed by Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Zechariah, etc…( HT5:2); It’s also called the Shemoneh Esreh …
When beginning … daily prayers, start from a standing position facing toward …, with feet side by side, eyes lowered, and ones right hand clasped over his left hand over his heart, with his heart turned to “Above” in fear, awe, and dread, as a servant before his master, (HT5:4).
– NOTE: Not EVERYTHING done in the clip is obligatory. If someone is confused or mislead, it is not our fault because the belief/ opinion/ view is personal matter and it could be right or wrong. The opinions, beliefs, wishes, traditions etc expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policy of editor.
Pakistan ‘crop shortage’ warning
By M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad
Lowering wheat prices would create food shortages in Pakistan and encourage smuggling, officials say, responding to criticism from the UN.
On Wednesday the UN’s food relief agency said the government set prices too high and malnutrition was rising.
But an official at Pakistan’s food ministry told the BBC farmers would simply switch to more lucrative crops if wheat prices went down.
Devastating floods across Pakistan in 2010 damaged acres of arable land.
Although crop yields in 2011 are projected to be healthy, prices are too high for an impoverished population, the director of the UN’s World Food Programme told journalists on the sidelines of humanitarian meetings in Geneva on Wednesday.
“The crop outlook is not bad but the food security situation remains difficult because prices remain so high,” Wolfgang Herbinger said.
Smuggling risk
Malnutrition levels in the southern province of Sindh had reached 21% to 23%, according to the WFP.
“That is well above African standards. The emergency standard is 15%,” Mr Herbinger said. …
Read more : BBC
By ROBIN HINDERY, Associated Press Robin Hindery,
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – A U.S. soldier who pleaded guilty in the killings of three Afghan civilians has agreed to testify against four others whom he says were co-conspirators in a case that has raised some of the most serious criminal allegations to come from the Afghanistan War.
Spc. Jeremy Morlock, who was accused of taking a leading role in the killings last year, was sentenced to 24 years in prison Wednesday, the maximum sentence under a plea deal that also calls for him to testify against his co-defendants. He pleaded guilty hours before his sentencing to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use. …
Read more : YahooNews
BY: SCHONA JOLLY
“PUNJABI IS MY MOTHER TONGUE, my blood, my soul, my language. I think, dream and feel in it. I will also die in it,” proclaims Amarjit Chandan, an acclaimed poet born in Kenya. “In pardes (abroad),” he explains of his adult life spent in London, “I invented the Punjabiland.”
For a land that has been home to some of the world’s richest civilisations, modern Punjabi culture remains remarkably little known outside the noisy clichés of Bollywood and music videos. As the Indian state of Punjab grapples with complex social and economic issues, the Pakistani province of Punjab collapses due to political woes, and a large diaspora stays settled all over the globe, Punjabi poets and storytellers of old seem to be disappearing along with the water levels in the land of the five rivers. But Punjabis are nothing if not adept at handling change—it is the legacy of their own turbulent history, after all—and there are small but significant signs, that this vibrant melting-pot culture is on the verge of reemergence.
History has not been kind to the people of Punjab. The brutal division of the state during Partition led to both carnage and to one of the biggest mass population movements during the 20th century. Amidst the riots, butchery, rape and devastation, Punjabis of all religious persuasions suddenly found that they had to create new identities. In Pakistan, those identities had to be established through a new, Urdu-speaking nationalist ethos that sought to reimagine the country’s history and culture by severing ties with its neighbour. In India, those identities had to be reshaped by millions of refugees whose culture, possessions, love and longing belonged to another place. In the decades after Partition, hundreds of thousands of Punjabis from both East Punjab, in India, and West Punjab, in Pakistan, left their homelands to seek sanctuary and a new life abroad. For all of these people, the historical and cultural ties to their motherland had to be reforged. The multi-hued complexion of both states had become altered radically overnight.
Lahore, the united Punjab’s former capital, had long been considered the jewel in the crown of North India and had been developed as a cultural capital under both the Mughals and Maharaja Ranjit singh. “Jisne Lahore nahi dekhya, woh janmia nahi (Those who have not seen Lahore, have not lived),” proclaimed popular lore at the time. …
Read more : Wichaar
Nuclear power as the “shark attacks” of energy
I was at a coffee shop recently and a SWPL couple (woman had dreads to boot!) a number of tables away were reading a newspaper, and the husband expressed worry about the Fukushima disaster. The wife responded that “now other people will understand how dangerous nuclear power is,” with a sage nod. They then launched into twenty minutes of loud righteous gibberish about chemicals (I had a hard time making sense of it, despite the fact that I learned a lot about chemicals in the past due to my biochemistry background). Because they’d irritated me I was curious and I tailed them as they left. Naturally they had driven to get coffee in a S.U.V. of some sort (albeit, a modestly sized one which looked like it was more outfitted for the outdoors’ activities common in the Pacific Northwest; they’d probably done their cost vs. benefit about those chemicals!).
In terms of radiation fears, I suspect that if more people just automatically knew …
Read more : Discorver Magazine
by Syrian Socialist
Events are beginning to move in the direction of revolution in Syria. Prior to today’s day of action we received this letter from a Syrian socialist that gives some interesting insights into the difficulties the regime is facing.
The situation in Syria is reaching a boiling point. The regime has used brutal repression in the city of Darr’a. The so called “Saraya Al-Difa’ (Defense Brigades) which are paratroops under the command of Maher Al-Asad, the brother of the president, were the ones who stormed the Omary Mosque and are the ones besieging the city, terrorizing, arresting, and shooting. It is believed that more than 100 martyrs have fallen so far and hundreds more have been arrested. On top of that, locals have reported that Farsi is being spoken among some members of the security forces and there is widespread belief that these are Iranian “Revolutionary Guards”.
Today, Boutheyna Sha’aban, was on TV. She is a prominent face of the Syrian regime who has occupied a number of ministerial posts in the past and who is currently, some sort of a counselor for the president. She seemed shaky and was mumbling during parts of her speech, although she was trying to look strong. She repeated all kinds of rubbish that the regime has been saying along the lines that the President respected the legitimate demand of the protesters and is going to respond to them and that the violence that took place was caused by “agent provocateurs” who took advantage of the peaceful protests to advance their own agenda which has nothing to do with the demand of the Syrian people, but only aimed at striking at the stability and harmony the country enjoys. She finished her speech with the most ridiculous concessions, nonetheless very reflective of the fears of the regime, which included the immediate establishment of all sort of “committees” to “study” the different economic and political demands of the Syrian people (!) and also raising the wages of public sector workers (and improving benefits) to meet their needs. But how to meet “their needs” and by how much the wages are going to be increased she did not say! When she was asked who was behind this “conspiracy” in Darr’a she could not figure that one out either!
Tomorrow [Friday] is supposed to be the Syrian day of a rage and is going to be a decisive day that could very well mark the beginning of a full scale revolution. There have been many calls on people to take to the streets and protest but the response has been very meek so far. What happens tomorrow is significant because after the atrocities …
Read more : Wichaar
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