Warning of Violence: TTP focused on ending democracy, says Mehsud

By Nasruminallah

MIRANSHAH: In a letter to the media, leader of banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has said that his group is focused on jeopardising democracy by hindering elections in the country.

“We have succeeded politically after we were asked to negotiate by the government,” said Hakimullah Mehsud.

He added that the group was now solely ‘focused’ on the next elections.

As elections are nearing, TTP’s aim would be to “end the democratic system,” the letter further said. Mehsud also urged TTP militants to target senior politicians and party leaders, while continuing the battle against security forces.

Furthermore, in a rare address from an undisclosed location, the militant chief claimed that the TTP was not just fighting a war on a tactical level, but were also able to ‘subdue’ politicians by making them negotiate.

TTP student union

A student union of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was traced by the police while three of its members splashed posters and banners around Multan.

The publicity material was scripted with inflammatory messages, encouraging people to not vote in elections as democracy was ‘un-Islamic’. It demanded that the people of Pakistan should adhere to the shariah (Islamic law), and said that it was haraam for them to participate in the voting process.

Police claim that the three members were students belonged to Lahore, but were enrolled at the Bahauddin Zakarriya University in Multan. After posting 50 banners in the urban area, they were putting posters on the walls of the Multan press club when they were caught by the journalists.

Violence in Kotri, Jamshoro after JSMM activists killed

By Mohammad Hussain Khan

HYDERABAD: Two people were killed while four others received bullet injuries as violence broke out in Kotri, Jamshoro district on Sunday evening.

The incident comes in the backdrop of the killing of two activists of the banned Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) in Khairpur Nathan Shah of Dadu district.

Their bullet riddled and mutilated bodies were found in Dadu earlier in the day. Two vehicles were torched and a train was attacked in the unfolding incidents of violence in Kotri.

JSMM has called for a province wide strike on Monday, according to a press release received through an email, to condemn the incident.

The PR blamed ISI and Rangers saying that they had picked up two activists who were busy in preparation of late GM Syed’s death anniversary on April 24. After going missing their bodies were found on Sunday in Khairpur Nathan Shah, it said.

Central India aflame with attacks on Christians

The state of Chhattisgarh, in central India, is gaining a reputation for continued attacks by Hindu nationalists on Christians. Chhattisgarh, which borders the states of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, is the scene where well-known Hindu extremist groups are persecuting religious minorities and continue to accuse Christians of “forced conversions.” It was in nearby Orissa in 2008 that scores of Christian churches and homes were burned, while Christians were murdered. An investigation of the atrocities remains inconclusive.

Last week, a Christian place of worship was incincerated in Kondagaon district in Chhattisgarh. According to a report by the Fides news agency, the Evangelical Fellowship of India, which brings together several evangelical Christian communities, built a chapel of wood and straw in the village Chhote Salna. The chapel was burned down on the evening of April 2 as local Christians looked on helplessly. The land on which the church stood had been donated by local Christians, who came to worship there from elsewhere in the district.

Afghan Taliban announce start of spring offensive to ‘defeat western invaders’

By Tahir Khan

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban on Saturday announced they are launching the annual traditional “Spring Offensive” to defeat “western invaders, completely freeing the nation from the cusps of occupation and establishing an Islamic rule” in Afghanistan.

The Taliban said this year’s offensive would be code-named “Khalid bin Waleed (RA)”.

The ISAF commander in Afghanistan, Gen Joseph F Dunford, said ahead of the fighting season that, “the insurgency will confront a combined ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) and Afghanistan Local Police (ALP) force of over 350,000 personnel who are in the lead for security in areas containing over 87 per cent of Afghanistan’s population”.

The Taliban said that the operations would forge ahead under the direct guidance of the group’s military strategists while keeping in mind new developments of the current year.

“This year’s Khalid bin Waleed operation will be launched by the Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate against America, Nato and their backers for the gratification of Allah Almighty, independence of Afghanistan and establishing in it an Islamic government while we humbly raise our hands towards Allah Almighty for its success and hope for a favorable and triumphant end,” the Taliban leadership council said.

“This year’s spring operation, in accordance with its combat nature, will consist of special military tactics quantity and quality wise while successful insider attacks, to eliminate foreign invaders, will be carried out by infiltrating Mujahideen inside enemy bases in a systematic and coordinated manner,” a Taliban statement said. The statement from the Taliban’s powerful leadership council was also sent to The Express Tribune.

President Obama

We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” – President Obama 2013

Read more » http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/21/inaugural-address-president-barack-obama

Our troops didn’t provoke border tension: China

BEIJING: Sticking to its stand that Chinese troops have not caused any “provocation” by violating the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, China on Thursday said the incident will not affect bilateral ties or disrupt peace at the borders as both sides are trying to resolve it in a friendly manner.

“I do not agree with your allegation that it is the Chinese side that has caused the provocation between the border troops,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said while replying to questions about the intrusion of Chinese troops at the Depsang Valley in Ladakh.

“China’s troops have never crossed the (LAC) line. China and India are neighbours and the boundary is not demarcated yet.

“It is inevitable for problems to prop up in border areas. When there is a problem it should be resolved through friendly consultations though existing mechanisms and channels,” she said.

“We believe this incident can also be handled and will not affect the peace and stability of the border areas as well as the normal development of China and India relations,” she said.

Urging the media to be patient, she said, “We also believe that the two sides continue to solve the issue in a friendly manner and we will not let the issue affect border peace and security and normal development of China-India relations”.

“We hope relevant media can keep patience and create favourable conditions for the two countries to solve this issue through friendly consultations,” she said.

The spokesperson said the situation on the Sino-Indian border is peaceful and stable.

“Just want to tell you that the current situation in the border area is peaceful and stable. Both China and India have the willingness to solve the dispute through peaceful negotiations and consultations.

“In the past three days I have repeatedly stressed China’s point and now I would like to reiterate that Chinese troops have always acted in strict compliance to relevant treaty and protocol between the two countries regarding the protection of security of the areas around the LAC,” she said.

China is committed to peace and security of the border areas as well as the negotiated settlement of the boundary issue left over from history, she said.

Asked about reports that the Chinese troops were insisting on Indian army to remove certain fortifications in that area, she said “since I am not in the frontier, so I do not know the latest development of the situation…Both China and India have the willingness to solve the dispute through peaceful negotiations and consultations”.

Would you buy a ‘suspended coffee’ for someone in need?

The daily trip to a local coffee shop may give you your caffeine fix – but thanks to a new scheme, it could also give you a chance to do a small good deed.

The idea of “Suspended Coffee” is simple: When you buy yourself a coffee at a participating cafe, you also pay for a second one – which can then be claimed by someone who cannot afford it themselves.

They don’t have to “prove” anything to claim one, but the scheme relies on the good faith of everyone involved.

The movement has been growing in popularity since it began in Italy several years ago, and has already been embraced by hundreds of coffee shops around the world. Now Starbucks has announced it will soon be adopting a version of the scheme.

Boston mosque refuses to offer funeral prayers for marathon bomber: Report

By AFP / Web Desk

BOSTON: A small mosque in Boston, called the “Islamic Society of Boston”, has refused to hold funeral prayers for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the dead suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, his aunt told NBC News on Wednesday.

According to the report, Patimat Suleimanova said the US authorities had told the family they could have the 26-year-old’s body.

One of the suspects’ uncle approached the mosque requesting a burial and funeral services but the mosque declined the request, she added.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the mosque said that the decision to conduct the burial would be made by a scholar. “This one is complex because the things that this guy did were just absolutely disgraceful,” he was quoted by NBC News as saying.

Authorities are still working to piece together a motive for the twin bombings just over a week ago at the Boston marathon that killed three people and wounded 264, as more details emerged about the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of carrying out the attack.

Still hospitalised, 19-year-old Dzhokhar has reportedly admitted to being driven by radical ideas, telling investigators the attacks were motivated by the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chinese Troops Set Up Post 10km Inside Ladakh – India Times

By IndiaTimes

NEW DELHI: In yet another deep incursion into Indian territory, Chinese troops apparently made inroads into the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector of eastern Ladakh and erected a tented post there this week.

Indian Army officials were, however, not too perturbed about the incursion, holding that it was a common occurrence. “In that area, patrols do have a face-off every now and then due to differing perceptions of where the Line of Actual Control lies. We resolve it through existing consultative border mechanisms,” said a senior officer.

As per reports, a platoon-strength contingent of about 50 troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) came 10 km inside Indian territory in Burthe in the DBO sector, which is at an altitude of about 17,000 feet, on the night of April 15.

Troops from Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP), which mans that stretch of the border, have also established a camp approximately 300 metres opposite the location, the sources said.

ITBP has asked for a flag meeting with the Chinese side but there has been no response till now.

The Ladakh Scouts, an infantry regiment of the Indian Army that specializes in mountain warfare, has also moved towards the area where the situation was described as tense.

DBO, located in northernmost Ladakh, is an historic camp site and located on an ancient trade route connecting Ladakh to Yarkand in Xinjiang, China. IAF has in recent years activated advanced landing grounds at DBO and two other places in eastern Ladakh as part of the policy to build military infrastructure along the LAC, in a belated move to counter strategic moves by China in the region.

Courtesy: India Times
http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/chinese-troops-set-up-post-10km-inside-ladakh-73150.html

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina tells opposition leader Khalida Zia: “Go to your ‘Pyara Pakistan”

Go to Pakistan

PM tells Khaleda, accuses her of instigating army

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday accused the leader of the opposition of instigating the army to take over power unconstitutionally, sensing her defeat in the next election.

“Begum Zia could understand it very well that people of the country would not give vote to a corrupt party like BNP, and for her movement to protect the war criminals,” she said.

She (Khaleda Zia) must know that the situation of 1975 and 2013 are not the same, Hasina told a discussion at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

The premier said the BNP leader still believes in grabbing power by climbing on the shoulder of the army as she has no faith in democracy and public support.

Mentioning that the real face of the BNP leader has now got exposed before people, Hasina said “Go to your (Khaleda’s) ‘Pyara Pakistan’, you’ll feel good there,” reports UNB.

Musharraf’s return: The graveyard is full of indispensables

By Anwar Iqbal

“We rotate these days among people … the only being who cannot and will not perish is your Lord.”

We were inside the parliament building, saying Friday prayers after a stormy Senate session. What we witnessed inside made all of us feel humble and subdued.

“Put Pervez Musharraf in the same cell where he put Nawaz Sharif. Let snakes and scorpions into his room. Let him cry out in pain,” said one of the senators as the lawmakers vented their anger against the former military ruler.

“Handcuff and shackle him and parade him through the streets,” said another senator.

I opened a little window to the recent past and found myself in the army chief’s official residence in Rawalpindi where Musharraf was staying after toppling Nawaz Sharif. He was still the chief executive of Pakistan, a strange title he coined for himself before moving to the president’s office.

We were there with a media team to interview him. Some members of his advisory team were also there, including a Rawalpindi politician. Musharraf sneezed. Three of these advisors ran to him, holding tissue papers. The Pindi politician reached him first. Others looked at him with envy.

None of them came forward to defend the former dictator when PPP, PML-N and ANP lawmakers berated him this Friday, although some of them were present during the debate too.

The senators also targeted the caretaker government for failing to arrest Musharraf after an Islamabad court refused to grant him bail.

They wanted him “hauled to the worst prison” in the country, as a PPP senator said. Later, one senator also suggested that he should be hanged for toppling a lawfully elected government.

Above all, they wanted him “disgraced, dishonored and humiliated” as a “warning to future adventure seekers.”

The retired general, however, had already suffered much humiliation. The man who once hauled the country’s chief justice to his office and tried to persuade him to resign is now forced to appear before junior magistrates, seeking bail.

But that’s not enough for his enemies. They want more. “Do to him what they did to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif,” said one senator, ignoring a plea from the Senate chairman not to get carried away.

The sane among them, however, did warn their colleagues not to go too far. “The ground realities must not be ignored,” said a senior PPP senator. “After all, he is a former army chief and the military obviously will not like this humiliation.”

He urged the angry politicians to seek a way out, proposing “consultation among all stake holders,” i.e. the interim government, the judiciary, PPP, PML-N, ANP and the military.

Other senators also agreed with the suggestion, saying that starting a treason trial against Musharraf will not stop at him. “Don’t forget that the present army chief was also attended Musharraf’s meeting with the chief justice,” said a senator.

High Treason: Senate passes resolution to try Musharraf under Article 6

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Friday unanimously passed a resolution calling for a trial of former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution for derailing democracy and abrogating the constitution.

The resolution was tabled by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s Senator Ishaq Dar and was approved by all members of the Upper House of Parliament.

The resolution also demanded that all photographs, posters and banners of the former president be removed from all government buildings with immediate effect.

The Senators also called for the implementation on its earlier resolution of January 23, 2012.

Moreover, Federal Interior Minister Malik Muhammad Habib Khan informed the Senate that Musharraf was already in the government’s custody and that his Chak Shahzad residence had been declared a sub-jail.

Courtesy: DAWN
http://dawn.com/2013/04/19/senate-passes-resolution-to-try-musharraf-under-article-6/

Congressman Brad Sherman urged the Secretary of State that U.S. should spend a million and a half dollars broadcasting the service of the Voice of America in Sindhi language

Aid cut to Pakistan won’t be in US interest: Kerry

During the hearing Congressman Brad Sherman urged the Secretary of State for broadcasting the service of the Voice of America in Sindhi language.

“There’s probably no more important country than Pakistan and nothing more important than our public outreach to the Pakistani people, yet we’re broadcasting only in Urdu. This committee voted overwhelmingly that we should spend a million and a half dollars broadcasting in the Sindhi language,” he said.

Congressman Sherman raised VOA-Sindhi with Secretary of state John Kerry

Washington: Hon. Congressman Brad Sherman continues to advocate on behalf of Sindhis across the world. At House Committee on Foreign Affairs Hearing, Congressman Sherman spoke with Secretary John Kerry about the need for a Sindhi Voice of America program. You can hear his remarks here starting at the 0:26 mark. SAPAC is immensely grateful for Congressman Sherman’s dedication to the Sindhi people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmHjTaWo63o&feature=youtu.be

Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, April 18, 2013.

Senators demand Musharraf’s arrest for supremacy of law

By APP

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in the Upper House of the Parliament Thursday demanded action against former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for his crimes against constitution, democracy, political leadership and the nation.

They also demanded from the caretaker interior minister to inform the House how he escaped from the court to his residence and “why a former General could not be arrested if the elected prime ministers of the country can be sent to jails.”

Speaking on points of order, the senators claimed that double standard existed in the country in violation of the Constitution which considers every Pakistani equal before the law.

“We have been talking of the rule of law and independence of judiciary. But, today we have seen that it is easy to send an elected prime minister to jail but a former General and military dictator cannot be arrested,” remarked senior PPPP Senator Raza Rabbani.

“In Pervez Musharraf’s case it is test of time. When the court had ordered to arrest him, then why he was not arrested. It’s a question mark,” Rabbani added.

He charged Pervez Musharraf of involvement in the abetment of killing of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti, abrogating the constitution and house arresting the judges of superior judiciary.

“Musharraf is a usurper who twice abrogated the Constitution. He was announced to be arrested but he safely fled in connivance with state institutions. The caretaker government was responsible to arrest him and the interior minister should inform the House why the government had not fulfilled its obligations,” Rabbani said.

PPPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said he does not hold caretaker government responsible for his escape. “I have been looking the state apparatus very closely. There are two laws and double standards in the country. If we could not mend it over the time how we can hold the caretakers responsible for these double standards.”

The Rise of China’s Reformers?

Change You Can Believe In

By Evan A. Feigenbaum and Damien Ma

Most observers are gloomy about the prospects for serious economic reform in China. But they ignore a central lesson of recent Chinese history: reform is possible when the right mix of conditions comes together at the right time. And the very circumstances that facilitated the last major burst of economic reform in the 1990s are largely present today.

Read more » Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139295/evan-a-feigenbaum-and-damien-ma/the-rise-of-chinas-reformers?cid=soc-twitter-in-snapshots-the_rise_of_chinas_reformers-041813

Via – Twitter

Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) condemns the terrorist attack in Boston Marathon

Jamil Daudi, the President of Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) condemns the terrorist attack in Boston Marathon that killed 3 citizens including an innocent eight years old boy and injured over 130 people, many of them are in critical condition.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the Boston Marathon. We hope and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured people and wish that the culprits of this cowardly terrorist attack will be caught and brought to justice soon.

Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, April 15, 2013.

Eyewitness: Explosions “100 times louder than thunder”

By Esme E. Deprez, Drew Armstrong & Annie Linskey

Powerful explosions killed two and injured 23 near the finish of the Boston Marathon, police said.

The first blast near Copley Square caused a huge puff of white smoke and was followed by a smaller one. Police at the corner of Boylston Street and Clarendon Street said there were many casualties.

“There were two bombs that exploded near the finish line in today’s Boston Marathon,” according to statement on the race’s website. “We are working with law enforcement to understand what exactly has happened.”

President Barack Obama was notified of the attack and directed federal authorities to provide whatever assistance is needed, according to a White House statement.

The Boston Globe reported on its Twitter feed that police found other explosives, and a third blast was heard after the area was secured.

Phil Kirkpatrick, a 59-year-old from Nashville with blood on his jeans and shoes, said he was watching his girlfriend race when the explosions went off.

“I was standing just there and something blew up on the street,” he said. “There was a large explosion and a white flash. It blew us all back onto each other. It was so loud, I still can’t hear out of my right ear. I was crawling on the sidewalk, and my cell phone blew out of my hand. There were some really hurt people.”

He was taken a medical tent, and saw a man with his foot blown off.

Makeshift Bandages

Dan O’Gara was working at Marathon Sports, a running store on Boylston Street, next door to where an explosion went off and said three injured people were brought into the store with cuts on their arms and legs. Employees bandaged them with shirts.

“I took a peek out the window and I could see at least four or five people on the ground bleeding,” O’Gara said.

Walter Antos, of Boulder, Colorado, said the explosion about a block away was “100 times louder than thunder.”

Runners were directed off the course and not able to finish, he said.

After the blasts, athletes walking away from the race course began running again.

An online broadcast showed dozens of U.S. military personnel had been patrolling the route.

The marathon, first run in 1897, is considered the most prestigious in the U.S. It attracts about 20,000 runners each year, most of whom have met a qualifying standard in another race. Rita Jeptoo of Kenya won the women’s race; Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the men’s.

To contact the reporters on this story: Esme E. Deprez in New York at edeprez@bloomberg.net; Drew Armstrong in New York at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net; Annie Linskey in Boston at alinskey@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net

Courtesy: Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-15/two-explosions-reported-near-finish-line-at-boston-marathon.html

Via – Twitter

Will the Japan trade deal revive globalization?

Japan Trade Deal May Revive Globalization

By the Editors

The U.S. and Japan agreed to terms last week allowing Japan to join talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, another step toward creating the world’s most important free-trade initiative. The emerging pact has far- reaching implications for domestic policy in Japan and elsewhere, and could offer a new approach to global as well as regional trade liberalization.

Japan’s participation would widen the TPP to 12 members, accounting for 40 percent of global gross domestic product. The Japanese economy is bigger than all the other non-U.S. members combined. By taking part, Japan is making a commitment to long- overdue domestic economic change. Supply-side reform is one of the “three arrows” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised will revive Japan’s stagnant economy (the others are monetary stimulus and fiscal expansion). In the long term, it’s the one that matters most — and it’s the one that the TPP can provide.

Abe deserves much credit for pressing this part of his program so determinedly. Special interests, especially farming, have supported protectionism in Japan for years. (Rice farmers are shielded by tariffs approaching 800 percent.) The TPP will mobilize Japan’s manufacturing exporters, which will gain directly from the deal, as a countervailing political force.

Farmer Resistance

According to the government’s estimate, annual farm and marine production might decline by 3 trillion yen ($30.3 billion) under the TPP, though other sectors would expand more than twice as much, raising aggregate GDP by 3.2 trillion yen. That’s probably an underestimate, because the benefits would build over time. One independent study puts Japan’s potential gain at more than $100 billion a year (2 percent of GDP) by 2025. ….

Read more » Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-14/japan-trade-deal-may-revive-globalization.html?alcmpid=view

George Galloway: Behind the hagiography who was Margaret Thatcher and what did she really do?

Every controversial divisive deadly thing that Thatcher did is being placed in soft focus, bathed in a rose-coloured light – a first draft of history that is simply wrong.

By George Galloway

The old saw that one shouldn’t speak ill of the recently dead cannot possibly apply to controversial figures in public life. It certainly didn’t apply to President Hugo Chavez who predeceased Margaret Thatcher amidst a blizzard of abuse.

The main reason it must not preclude entering the lists amidst a wave of hagiographic sycophantic tosh of the kind that has engulfed Britain these last hours is that otherwise the hagiographers will have the field to themselves.

First Tests For Fusion-Powered Spaceship Propulsion Successful

By Mark Hoffman

University of Washington researchers and scientists at a Redmond-based space-propulsion company are currently building components of a fusion-powered rocket, which could enable astronauts to travel to Earth’s neighboring planet Mars within weeks instead of months, at speeds considerably faster than feasible until now. The current travel speeds using fuel rockets make Mars travel a journey of about four years but the new fusion technology being tested by researchers at the University of Washington promises that in 30 to 90 days.

The lab tests have proven to be successful on each part of the process and the scientists are now planning to combine the sections into a one final and overall test.

“Using existing rocket fuels, it’s nearly impossible for humans to explore much beyond Earth,” said lead researcher John Slough, a UW research associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics. “We are hoping to give us a much more powerful source of energy in space that could eventually lead to making interplanetary travel commonplace.”

The team has developed a technology using a special type of plasma that will be encased in a magnetic field. When the plasma is compressed with high pressure by the magnetic field, nuclear fusion takes place.

VEERU KOHLI: FROM BONDED LABOURER TO ELECTION HOPEFUL

By Hasan Mansoor

Veeru managed to engineer a dramatic escape from her landlord, and is now, astonishingly, running for provincial assembly seat PS-50 in Hyderabad, Sindh.

HYDERABAD: Veeru Kohli was born to a landless Hari. From birth to now, her journey has been a tumultuous one – Veeru was married off to a family bonded to their landlord, managed to engineer a dramatic escape along with her relatives, and is now, astonishingly, running for provincial assembly seat PS-50 in Hyderabad, Sindh.

On the top of her election agenda is to end bonded slavery everywhere – a cause close to her heart considering her past. Veeru lived in a small hut in the Hoosri neighbourhood of Hyderabad, along with her family of agricultural workers. Wearing a traditional ghaghra and an armful of bangles like every other Kohli woman, the 47-year-old has come a long way, she explains.

The activist, who now works tirelessly to get prisoners freed from private jails, was born to a landless Hari, a member of the scheduled Hindu caste, in Allahdino Shah village in the tiny town of Jhudo. At the age of 16, she was married into a family bound to a landlord because of a loan that was never settled.

Veeru was unable to understand why their loan continued to increase despite the fact that the family’s earnings were constantly adjusted with the landlord. Yet, she says, her ‘benefactor’ was far better than some others.

After 17 years, the family took a loan from relatives better off than themselves, and they moved on. They got a job with another landowner in Umerkot. The family had migrated with big dreams, but the man turned out to be a tyrant, and their dream turned into a nightmare.

Courtesy: DAWN
http://dawn.com/2013/04/10/veeru-kohli-from-bonded-labourer-to-election-hopeful/

Pakistan Economy: Sinking Like A Rock, says Asian Development Bank.

Sinking like a rock: Slim chances of recovery for Pakistan’s directionless economy, says ADB

By Shahbaz Rana / Creative: Anam Haleem

ISLAMABAD: Amid deep-rooted concerns over a “directionless” economy due to failure of the previous government and inability of the caretaker setup to take immediate meaningful steps, the Asian Development Bank has warned that Pakistan’s current growth model is unsustainable that also undermines future prospects.

In its Asian Development Outlook, the Manila-based lending agency has painted an extremely bleak picture of Pakistan’s economy that is “directionless” and immediate recovery chances are almost nil amid a worsening balance of payments position.

“A difficult political situation stalled effective policy response to macroeconomic and structural problems, especially regarding energy, and the end of the government’s 5-year term in mid-March limited political scope for major policy or structural reforms,” it said.

The economic developments in this fiscal year are unfolding along broadly similar lines as previous year, but with “deepening concerns about sustainability and the adequacy of forex reserves”.

A missing link in the ADB’s analysis of political failures is the role of bureaucrats in running the affairs of the government who often do not disclose actual extent of problems to the leadership.

Day of Remembrance for Sindhi Martyrs in Los Angeles Commemorated

Tributes paid to all the Martyrs of Sindh on the Anniversary of Bashir Qureshi

Los Angeles, CA  [Press Release] April 7th, 2013**,* Several activists from different parts of Southern California gathered on Sunday the April 7th in local restaurant to commemorate the anniversary of *Bashir Qureshi*, a Sindh leader

who was poisoned to death on the same day a year ago. In last few years Sindh political and civil society leaders have been targeted by the security establishment and by the fascists groups in Karachi.

This event was organized by World Sindhi Congress, a human rights advocacy, based in UK and USA. Participants paid tribute to *Muzafar Bhutto*, *Ghazala Siddiqui, Rooplo Choliyani, Sirai Qurban Khawar, Parveen Rehman, Noorullah Tunio, *and *Samiullah Kalhoro.*

“While world is reading about the terrorism inflicted by Islamic militants upon Shias and other civilian population, the Indigenous people of Sindh and Balochistan are facing terrorism from other parties, the targeted killings of our leaders and workers by the security agencies and fascist groups in Karachi,” said Dr. Saghir Shaikh, the member executive committee World Sindhi Congress. “Fascists groups even did not spare our women leaders, Ghazala Siddiqui and Parveen Rehman,” further said Shaikh.

Amongst others who attended include Malik Dino Shaikh of WSC, Rahman Kakepoto of WSC and also a President of G M Syed Memorial Committee, Sani Panwhar and Bashir Mahar of Sindhi Association of North America, Sobhya Agha, an activist from Sindh Pakistan, Venus Shaikh, Suniti Kakepoto, Susanna Shaikh, Jaffar Shah and Benazir Shaikh of International Sindhi Women’s Organization (ISWO). Sobhya Agha conducted the program, Mr Kakepoto

introduced the activities and mission of World Sindhi Congress, Mr. Malik Shaikh offered the vote of thanks to all the participants.

On platform of the WSC we shall continue to inform the international community about the on-going atrocities on Sindhi people and to raise the issue of targeted killings and forced disappearances at the UN forums, said Mr. Kakepoto of WSC.

Happy Sindhi New Year 2016 – Chetti Chand joon Lakh Lakh Wadhayoon Hujan

Greetings of Sindhi New Year 2016 to all. Sindhi New Year / Cheti Chand, Chet 2016 will be celebrated by Sindhis in South Asia and rest of the world April 1st to mid April. The Sindhi New Year greetings are: “Cheti Chand joon Lakkh Lakkh Wadhayoon Hujan”. The response is: “Tawhaan kkhy bu Chetti Chand jyon Lakh Lakh Wadhayoon.”

More about Sindhi New Year: Cheti Chand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheti_Chand

Pakistan – Tirah valley operation intensifies, 23 soldiers killed

By Zahir Shah Sherazi

PESHAWAR: A decisive operation has been launched against militants in the Tirah valley of Bara by Special Services Groups (SSG) forces along with regular troops, during which at least 23 troops have been killed along with local lashkar men.

Scores of militants have also been killed in the offensive during the last three days.

Official sources confirmed to Dawn.com that several soldiers, including SSG commandos, have been killed in the battle for Tirah valley on Saturday, around 30 militants have also been confirmed dead along with scores of others injured.

On late Sunday evening, a clash took place between security forces and militants in Akka Khel area of Bara tehsil. Ten militants were killed in the fighting, official sources said.

Sources said that SSG commandos along with regular army troops and Frontier Corps are battling to root out the last pockets of resistance in the Tirah valley especially on the border of Orakzai Agency.

The landlocked area is reported to be a bastion of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other foreign militants.

The offensive has entered a crucial phase, after softening of targets by gunships and jet fighters.

Ground troops along with local volunteers have been mobilised to clear the area.

Security experts had already hinted at a decisive strike in the Tirah valley as the TTP and Lashkar-i-Islam had started consolidating their positions in the valley.

The two groups pose a serious threat to the settled areas especially Peshawar.

The FC media cell had confirmed on Friday that four soldiers were killed and over 14 militants had died in the clashes which have been continuing since then.

Sources have confirmed to Dawn.com that one dead body of an SSG commando and six injured SSG soldiers along with eight other solders were shifted to the CMH Peshawar on Saturday.

Why I Love Pakistan

Why I Love Pakistan (March 23, 2013)

Following is the text of the keynote address I delivered at the Pakistan Day banquet of the Pakistan Association of America, Troy, Michigan, March 23, 2013. – Ethan Casey

There’s a question I get asked almost invariably, whenever I speak in public about a country I’ve known and loved for almost twenty years: Why Pakistan? I don’t think I can fully or satisfactorily answer that question, but this talk will be an attempt at least to acknowledge and address it.

The people who ask the question – Why Pakistan? – often phrase it as, “Why did you first go to Pakistan?” There are specific, contingent answers I can give to that version of the question. Most specifically, I first went to Pakistan in early 1995 because a fourteen-year-old Pakistani Christian boy, Salamat Masih, and his uncle were on trial for blasphemy, and the newspaper I was writing for at the time, the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong, wanted me to write about it. More broadly, I had become interested in the horrible and chronically disputed situation in Kashmir, I had already spent many weeks on the ground in the Kashmir Valley itself and several months in India, and I felt both a desire and a duty to spend time in Pakistan, in order to elicit and appreciate the Pakistani point of view on Kashmir. These were identifiable, proximate starting points for what has become my lifelong friendship with Pakistan.

I don’t think that’s what most people who ask mean by the question, though. Implied in it are a few other questions: Why do you care about Pakistan? Why do you look at and write about Pakistan so differently from so many other Americans? Why in the world would you go to a country with such a bad reputation? Why do you keep going back?

These questions are more interesting, and my books are attempts to offer full, proper answers to them. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that it has taken me the effort of writing two full books, just to begin answering the questions for myself.

Which is to say that I can’t really explain my enduring interest in, and love for, Pakistan, but I can narrate it. I once told a New York literary agent that I had written a book about Pakistan. He responded by asking me: “What’s your argument?” I’m sure the agent considered himself savvy, but his question betrayed the fact that he looked at Pakistan the same tiresome way most members of the American political and publishing establishment do: not as a country and a society in its own right, but as a problem or challenge for America to deal with, about which it’s necessary for any writer to have an argument. Not only do I refuse to see Pakistan that way; I genuinely don’t see it that way. I don’t claim to know or understand Pakistan completely. But by the same token, I don’t know or understand my own wife or mother or father or brother completely. But I love my wife and parents and brother, and my own country, as well as I humanly can, despite their faults and flaws, as I know they also love me despite mine. My love for Pakistan is similar: human, based on flawed and partial knowledge and understanding, but honest and genuine. I was so surprised by the literary agent’s question – “What’s your argument?” – that I could scarcely blurt out my answer, which was and is: “I’m not making an argument; I’m telling a story.”

7th April – The First Anniversary of Bashir Qureshi: “Such is my Love for Mother Sindh, Other Beloveds all Forgotten”

By Dr. Ahmed Makhdoom

“Watthee hara hara janamu waribo, mitthaa Mehraann mein milbo”

“Every birth each ‘n every time we’ll keep returning to Sindh Mo0therland,

Dearest! Each ‘n every time we’ll keep meeting on banks of Mehran grand”

(Translated by Ahmed Makhdoom)

(Note: Mehran – Sindhuu Nadee, Indus

River; Grand ‘n Great River of Sindh)

Today, 7th April 2013, is the First Anniversary of the departure of that magnificent, monumental and marvellous Sindhi leader, Saaeen Bashir Khan Quraishi, from his Motherland, Sindh and from our midst, his beloved kindred folks, Maaruunarraa of his Maleer! Integrity ‘n Credibility, Humility ‘n Humbleness are some of the most important ‘n formidable qualities in a real ‘n true, verdant ‘n veritable leader of a great ‘n glorious Nation! His integrity was impeccable! His credibility was impregnable! His humility exemplary! His humbleness exceptional! If Sindh be the Queen of the World, he was her Crowning Glory!

This is my humble homage ‘n a tearful tribute to Bashir Khan Quraishi on his 1st Death Anniversary! I am sharing herewith my humble and modest homage and a tearful and heart-wrenching tribute that I posted on 7th April, 2012, when we heard the passing-away of this wonderful man, a real and true leader of Sindhis and one of my dearest and closest friend! He was venomously, wily and viciously poisoned by the savages, brutes and barbarians who tyrannically rule, terrorise, torture and torment our glorious motherland, Sindh, and the simple, naive, gullible and docile indigenous people of Sindh, today!

Extremely saddened and shocked to learn about the passing-away of one of the most cherished, loved and illustrious son of Sindh. We raise our humble hands towards the Magnificent Lord (Allah, God, Ishwar, Ahura-Mazda, Waaheguru) in sacred prayer, to grant our brother Bashir Khan Qureshi, a choicest place in His Gardens. May His Soul Rest in Peace! May the Good Lord give courage and fortitude to his entire family, colleague, friends and millions of Sindhis in Sindh, Hind and worldwide Diaspora he had left behind mourning, to bear this extremely heavy untimely and irreplaceable loss with patience and forbearance. Aameen.

We also beseech the Most Beneficent Creator to shower His Mercy and Benevolence over his beloved Motherland, Sindh, now suddenly and sadly left without the great helmsman and, I must say, anchorless in this turbulent ocean of our existence.

Bashir Qureshi was a leader extraordinaire, an exceptional and exquisite human being and a bright and brilliant sun that shone and glittered our Fatherland, Sindh!

He was the roaring and raging voice of Sindh, the versatile leader of Sindh, the brave and courageous Sindhi, the humble and loving human being is no more with us! He fought for Sindh, he agitated for the rights of downtrodden people of Sindh, he vociferously, vehemently and valiantly declared Independence and Freedom for Sindh and, sadly, he paid the ultimate price – the martyrdom. Now, it is up to people of Sindh to RESOLVE, UNITE and FIGHT for the Freedom of their Motherland!

‘They want me dead!’ Venezuelan president claims US murder plot

Acting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro believes there is a US plot to assassinate him during his election campaign. He called on his followers to be “vigilant” and warned conspirators want to prevent his victory in next week’s election.

Presidential candidate Maduro pointed the finger at the former US Ambassador to Venezuela Otto Reich and the ex-ambassador to the Organization of American States, Roger Noriega, outing them as the driving force behind the conspiracy.

“Their goal is to kill me,” said Maduro on Saturday during an electoral campaign speech in the northern state of Bolivar. He called on his supporters to be on maximum alert, warning that the object of the plot was to increase the homicide rate in cities across Venezuela and cause a blackout ahead of the elections.

“Roger Noriega and Otto Reich are involved, as well as the Salvadorian far right that has contracted hit men,” announced Maduro during his speech. He stressed that they wanted him dead because “they know they cannot beat me in fair elections.” …

Read more » http://rt.com/news/venezuela-maduro-murder-plot-457/

Is it Musharaf’s political Kargil?

Is Musharraf going for a political Kargil?

by Dr Ghayur Ayub

Gen. (rtd) Pervez Musharaf is a commando trained by a well disciplined army. Against such background, he is known to have taken risks during his career. He makes tactical and strategic plans and executes them accordingly. He does not get discouraged if his tactical plan fails and waits for proper time to strike at strategic level. Take Kargil episode for example. In 1995 he put the plan and presented it to the then PM Benazir Bhutto. It was turned down. He retreated it tactically but kept it alive strategically for future. When the time came he executed it. That’s how his brain works.

When he was the most powerful leader heading Pakistan with four caps, he shouldered MQM in political gusto and made it the most powerful ally in Sindh controlling the economic hub of Pakistan. During his tenure Mustafa Kamal, the administrator of Karachi, was given a privileged reception when he visited America; thanks to him. It was in those days when a news appeared in media that he might join MQM. He never rebutted it. This was his tactical move to be counted as a political player.

Altaf Bhai who has many political eyes on his face and matching ears on his head realised the consequences. He took it as Musharaf’s tactical move to enter MQM and push him to one side later as part of strategic plan taking over the party leadership. He became active and made sure it did not happen. To show his command over the party he brought down two important personalities of MQM to their knees- Dr. Liaqat Hussain and Mustafa Kamal. It happened both were close to Musharaf. The former was thrown out of the party.

Thus Altaf Bhai was successful in obstructing his tactical move. Being Musharaf, he let it go but held to his strategic plan. According to news coming out of London, he maintained his links with a few old guards of MQM such as (late) Dr Imran Farooq. Were those links part of the strategy? Is it also part of that strategy which landed him in Pakistan? Keeping his Kargil episode in mind it may not be surprising to link it with that. Only this time he might be planning to fight political Kargil on three fronts; to clear his name in court cases; to make inroads in MQM; and to isolate Nawaz Sharif. How?

Before going to Pakistan he went for ‘a politicised Umra’ and prior to that he apparently met Nawaz Sharif in Saudi Arabia with blessings of the West and Saudi Arabia.