Where are all the KLB bashers?

Ibrahim Sajid Malick

Do you wonder why have the Pakistani pundits stopped complaining about imperialist tyranny and exposing the onerous conditions of Kerry-Lugar Bill? Why all of a sudden KLB is a non-issue? I was curious and I spend last several days in Washington DC trying to understand how Obama administration managed the PR fiasco.

Conversations with several insiders and subject matter experts point to a set of meetings on October 19^th in Islamabad. General David Petraeus and US Senator John Kerry reached Islamabad on Sunday (October 18^th). It was reported in local media that the meetings were about Waziristan operations but in reality talks with top Pakistani General were limited to the $7.5 billion dollar aid package. “They wanted to understand how this aid package violates Pakistan’s sovereignty. And, they wanted to hear it from the horses mouth,” said a diplomatic source.

Gen. Patreause and Sen. Kerry were sent to Pakistan after US President Barack Obama signed a record 7.5 billion dollar package tripling non-military aid to the nuclear-armed Muslim nation to boost its campaign against a virulent Islamist insurgency. Although the Zaradari government defended the package, Pakistan’s powerful military sparked a domestic showdown, expressing grave reservations about conditions that hinge some of the funds on efforts to battle Islamist extremism. The bill prevents the funding from being used for nuclear proliferation, to support militants or to attack neighboring countries — namely India — and calls for a cut-off in aid if Pakistan fails to crack down on extremists.

United States Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus and Chairman Senate Foreign Affairs committee Senator John Kerry on Monday October 19^th held separate meetings with the Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashraf Kayani and the outcome of those meetings were an immediate yanking of the anti-KLB campaign from Pakistani private TV channels. When Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus went to the GHQ he categorically told Gen Kayani to halt anti-KLB campaign. “Gen. Kayani was told in absolutely clear terms that the Obama administration will not tolerate another Honduras,” said a source very close to this conversation.

It is interesting that three of my sources mentioned Honduras while talking about the possible outcome of anti-KLB campaign in Pakistan.

On June 28th Honduran soldiers roused democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya from his bed at gunpoint and flew him to Costa Rica. The coup d’etat was the first in Central America in over a quarter century. The coup, led by the Honduran Gen. Romeo Vasquez, was condemned by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and all of Honduras’ immediate national neighbors.

The Obama administration initially did not legally classify Zelaya’s ouster as a coup, which would automatically trigger a suspension of aid. However the administration subsequently suspended military cooperation with the country. Honduran controversy has been extremely embarrassing for the Obama administration which had come to power on the rhetoric that America should seize supporting tyrants and military dictators.

In Pakistan, Zardari administration was portrayed by the media as too deferential to the United States. Pakistani journalists who unconditionally support their Army started the campaign against KLB and coalesced anti-Western politicians, and Muslim fundamentalists — implausibly claiming that Pakistan’s sovereignty was undermined and the country could end up as a U.S. neo-colony. Some of it is untrue!

To begin with, Pakistan has been an American neo-colony for last six decades and most of that time it was under a military dictorship. And, most importantly Pakistan has been an American satellite state because of it’s army. Pakistan’s military operates on the U.S. financial and technological assistance and it will receive even more support in the near future as it targets Taliban strongholds. Therefore conditions placed by the U.S. Congress on $7.5 billion in economic aid to Pakistan over the next five years should not have been of major consequence to Pakistani generals.

Sen. Kerry brought the carrot while Gen. Patreus had the stick. Gen. Kayani was assured that his military will get monies and equipment that he has asked for but if he pulled a fast one, the Obama administration would at once severe its ties with Pakistan army.

Sen. Kerry’s meeting was held earlier in the day and Gen. Patreaus arrived at the GHQ in the afternoon. General Kayani counseled his peers and advisors and by the end of October 19^th and it was decided that Kerry-Lugar Bill will not be publicly condemned. Five Pakistani journalists were contacted the very same night and told not beat the dead horse.

It is undoubtedly true that Pakistani government is too deferential to the Americans. Not that I condone it but this is not new. Bone of contention here was the ‘non-military’ aid. This aid package was historic because it earmarked monies for health, education, infrastructure and civil society. Pakistan army felt left-out. Although Pakistan army has backed out of KLB but democratic government is still hanging on the balance. NRO, food security, energy crisis all loom over Zardari’s head.

Pakistani media is packed with stories of corruption – same TV anchors who had become Hugo Chavez of Pakistan on army’s behest opposing Kerry-Lugar bill have now launched vociferous campaign against Zaradri government exposing corruption of ruling politicians. Not a single anchor has ever asked what happened to corrupt Generals. Why are corrupt army officials beyond criticism?

From trafficking heroin to grabbing precious land; from taking kick-back on purchase of equipment (sub-marines included) Pakistan army has looted everything we have ever had. Why then, I wonder, Pakistanis only discuss civilian corruption? Managing PR fiasco was easy for the Obama administration. They had to remind the source of opposition of an old proverb: you can’t bite the hand that feeds you. Pakistani Generals understood and complied.

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Taliban and Allama Iqbal

We reproduce here the denial of Pakistani Taliban of their involvement in terrorists activities in Pakistan, and its analysis by BBC Urdu's Mohammed Hanif. The Taliban video statement starts with an Urdu verse by Allama Iqbal.

It would appear that the script of this video message was written by the senior members of the Mullah Media Alliance (also known as the Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists), i.e. Hamid Mir, Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi or Irfan Siddiqi. The delivery of the script was made by the Pakistani Taliban spokeperson, Azam Tariq, a name adopted in the memory of the slain sectarian leader of the terrorist organisation, Sipah-e-Sahaba.

Pakistan Taliban airs video denial

Monday, 16 November 2009 20:56

Al-Jazeera

Attacks that have continued across Pakistani towns and cities are being blamed on Tehreek e-Taliban, Pakistan’s Taliban.

However, the group has issued its first video statement denying involvement in targeting civilians and has blamed external forces for at least two recent blasts.

Azam Tariq, a spokesman of the Tehreek e-Taliban, posted the video statement on YouTube on Monday.

The message refers to a bombing at the Islamic University in Islamabad, which the spokesman said was orchestrated to prepare the ground for a military operation in South Waziristan, a stronghold for Pakistan’s Taliban fighters.

He also said his group had no role in the bomb blast in a Peshawar market that killed at least 100 people as well as an attack in Charsada, a town located in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.

Tariq said Taliban attacks never aimed to target civilians, but that the explosions were linked to Blackwater activities in the country.

Blackwater is a private military and security company founded in the United States.

Propaganda war

Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Islamabad, said: “Even when those bomb blasts did happen, the Taliban denied they had anything to do it.”

He said: “It was surprising to see that it [the video message] came up on the al-Sahab video. That is the Al-Qaeda wing of media publicity.”

Blackwater has denied having any contracts in Pakistan.

Hyder added: “There is a growing anger among Pakistanis. If one looks at the type of attacks that have been taking place – indiscriminate attacks – the first thing that came out, even reported by local media, was the blaming of Blackwater and other American agencies.

“The public opinion has turned against the Americans. The video that has appeared today would be trying to capitalise on that. Al-Jazeera

موجودہ بحران کا سادہ سا حل

محمد حنیف

بی بی اردو ڈاٹ کام، کراچی

تحریک طالبان کے سربراہ حکیم اللہ محسود تنظیم کے ترجمان اعظم طارق کے ہمراہ

کل فیصل آباد یونیورسٹی میں ٹیکسٹائل انجنیئرنگ کے ایک طالب علم نے کانوکیشن میں احتجاجاً گورنر سلمان تاثیر سے یہ کہہ کر میڈل لینے سے انکار کر دیا کہ وہ قانونِ ناموس رسالت میں توہین کی بات کرتے ہیں۔

چند مہینے پہلے کراچی یونیورسٹی کے ایک طالب علم نے ایک امریکی صحافی پر جوتا دے پھینکا تھا جسے انٹرنیشنل ریلیشنز پر لیکچر دینے کے لیے مدعو کیا گیا تھا۔

کل ملک کے سب سے بڑے اخبار کے سب سے بڑے کالم نگار نے یہ کہہ کر آمریت کی مخالفت کی کہ دیکھیں جنرل ضیا نے سیاچن بھارت کے حوالے کر دیا تھا۔

گزشتہ ہفتے ایک مقبول ٹی وی چینل پر بچوں کے ایک پروگرام میں ایک خوبرو اداکارہ جہاد کے فضائل بیان کرتے ہوئے یہ بتا رہی تھیں کہ کس طرح مشرقی پاکستان میں ہمارے مٹھی بھر بہادر فوجوں نے ہندوستان کی کافر فوج کو تقریباً نیست و نابود کر دیا تھا۔

اگر آپ ان متفرق نعروں، تجزیوں اور احتجاج کے چکر میں نہیں پڑنا چاہتے تو اس ہفتے جاری ہونے والا تحریک طالبان کے ترجمان اعظم طارق کا ویڈیو بیان سن لیں۔ آپ کو نہ صرف پاکستان کے موجودہ بحران کی سمجھ آئے گی بلکہ اس کا سادہ حل بھی سمجھ آجائے گا۔ اور آپ کو یہ بھی پتہ چلے گا کہ اگرچہ وہ پاکستانی میڈیا پر تنقید کرتے ہیں لیکن ان کے اور میڈیا کے تجزیے میں کوئی زیادہ فرق نہیں۔

’ملک میں سارا فساد بلیک واٹر کا پھیلایا ہوا ہے۔‘ فرق صرف اتنا ہے کہ بقول اعظم یہ کام بلیک واٹر آئی ایس آئی کے ساتھ مل کر کر رہی ہے۔ پاکستان کے چینلوں پر بیٹھے پنڈت ہمیں یہ بتاتے ہیں کہ یہ سب فساد آئی ایس آئی کی تمام تر کوششوں کے باوجود بلیک واٹر ہی پھیلا رہی ہے۔

مسئلے کا حل حضرت اعظم طارق نے اپنے بیان کے شروع میں ہی علامہ اقبال کا یہ شعر پڑھ کر سنا دیا:

فطرت کے مقاصد کی کرتا ہے نگہبانی

یا بندۂ صحرائی یا مردِ کوہستانی

اب علامہ اقبال سے اختلاف کی جرات کون کرے۔ اسی شعر کی جدید تشریح کے مطابق بندہ صحرائی اسامہ بن لادن ہیں اور مرد کوہستانی اعظم طارق اور ان کے ساتھی۔

مسئلہ صرف یہ ہے کہ ہماری زیادہ تر آبادی صحراؤں اور کوہستانوں کے باہر رہتی ہے۔ شہروں میں، دریاؤں کے کنارے، گاؤں دیہاتوں میں، کچی آبادیوں میں، تنگ و تاریک فلیٹوں میں یا بڑے شہروں کے فٹ پاتھوں پر رہنے والوں کا کیا ہوگا۔

اعظم طارق جب یہ شعر سناتے ہیں تو ان کا ایک ہاتھ بلند ہوتا ہے جس میں ایک سگریٹ پکڑا ہوا ہے جو جلایا نہیں گیا۔ یا تو یہ کسی ایسے نگہبان کے لیے خفیہ پیغام ہے جسے ہمیں فطرت سے قریب لانے کے لیے ہمارے بیچ بھیجا گیا ہے۔ یا پھر ہوسکتا ہے کہ یہ میرے جیسے سگریٹ نوشوں کے لیے کوئی اشارہ ہو۔ لیکن مجھے یہ سمجھ نہیں آئی کہ ہمارے لیے حکم ہے کیا؟ سگریٹ چھوڑ دینے کا یا پیتے رہنے کا

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Saleem Safi's questions for Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi and other Friends of Taliban

Saleem Safi asks some pertinent questions from the Friends of Taliban in Pakistani media and politics. Some of these questions are:

1. If agencies such as CIA, MI6, RAW, Mossad, Blackwater/Xe etc are responsible for terrorist attacks in Pakistan, then why are they attacking their own "agents" in Pakistan, such as the ISI, ANP, PPP, and previously Musharraf and his administration?

2. Why are not the enemies of Pakistan hurting or attacking the Friends of Taliban, e.g. Imran Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami, Shahid Masood and Ansar Abbasi?

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The ‘It-is-not-us’ syndrome - By Hajrah Mumtaz

A couple of months ago, I wrote a column in praise of certain Pakistani pop stars and bands, arguing that there are a fair number of songs that display political consciousness and a related sense of responsibility. I referred to such songs as Junoon’s ‘Talaash’, Shahzad Roy’s ‘Lagay Raho’ and ‘Kismet Apnay Haath Main’, Noori’s ‘Merey Log’ and Laal’s rendition of Habib Jalib’s ‘Main Nay Uss Say Yeh Kaha.’

I find now that that argument was all very well – as far as it went. Such is the manner in which we are bound by our long-cherished prejudices and mental chains that it took a report by the New York Times’ Adam B. Ellick to show me what I had completely failed to notice: the music acts’ total refusal to either touch upon the topic of the Taliban, or to even acknowledge them as a concern.

In a video report shot in Lahore, Ellick asks a few of Pakistan’s top musicians why they have spoken out against corruption, political wheeling-dealings, poverty and the manner in which the country has been done in by everyone from the politicians to the West to India – but never against the Taliban, who currently constitute the clearest and most present of dangers.

Here, verbatim, is what Ali Noor of Noori has to say:

‘We are not going to get up and say that we want to talk against the Taliban – simply because they are probably one of the smallest problems this country has. [...] It’s the West. It’s the West that is against the Taliban, because they are very heavily affected by it. We’re not.’

And here is what Ali Azmat – the man who once sang about ‘zehni ghulami’ – has to say: ‘We know for a fact that all this turbulence in Pakistan ... it’s not us. It’s the outside hands.’

What, really, can one say? The Taliban are one of the smallest problems this country has? When we’re having a bombing virtually every day, when parts of the south-west of the country were until very recently in serious danger of falling to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and its associated gang of goons?

Ellick comments, dryly, that this view – it’s not us, it’s ‘foreign hands’ – persists despite a spate of bombings in the country with the targets ranging from civilians and security forces’ installations to an Islamic university for women. ‘They’re [Pakistan’s pop musicians] angry about one fact: that the United States has interfered in Pakistan’s politics for decades.’

Of course Ellick focuses in his report on the anti-American angle apparent in many Pakistani pop songs, using stills from the ‘Klashinfolk’, ‘Kismet Apnay Haath Main Lay Li Hai’ and a CoVen video to press his point home. And he ignores other work such as that by Laal. Nevertheless, his point is made well enough to make me cringe: amongst the people interviewed in his report, there seems to be an utter refusal to acknowledge that the Taliban are in any way a threat, or that this is a local, home-grown problem that affects Pakistan first and most deeply.

To be sure, other comments may have been made in the interviews that were edited out when the report was compiled. And, as Nadeem Farooq Paracha tells Ellick, a musician is not necessarily the best person to come up with insights into the situation of Pakistan, since his view would tend to reflect the dominant one. But, he asks, ‘at least address the schools’ issue. Why are you [the Taliban] destroying schools? What has that got to do with America or Zionism? Nobody’s even talked about it.’

So in the next shot, Ellick puts the question to Ali Azmat. Off-camera, he asks, ‘Would you ever sing a song about how two hundred girls’ schools were blown up?’ Azmat’s reply? ‘Well you know, you cannot blame the Taliban for that. Where do you think those fundings are coming from? It’s the agenda of the neo-cons to de-Islamise Pakistan... religion must be killed.’

One could be forgiven, at this point, to want to shoot oneself in despair. We’re all tempted to defend Pakistan in the face of criticism, sure. But in this manner and in such ill-chosen words?

But why blame Ali Azmat or Ali Noor? The sad fact is that this is a nation of delusional people, and the views these two men have expressed are shared by a great many people – I’d go as far as to say the majority. It took years of beheadings, bombings, whippings and extortion by the Taliban to turn the tide of public opinion against them. It took the infamous ‘flogging video’, the imminent fall of Swat and parts of Malakand into the militants hands, and an active threat posed to the government’s writ over Peshawar to set people saying finally that the Taliban-led militants had to be countered. Until then, if you remember, the public discourse had mainly been along the lines of ‘but all they want to do is enforce an Islamic system – and that, after all, is what we all want.’

What will it take for us to recognise that Pakistan’s problems, from the Taliban to poverty, under-development and corruption, are home-grown? Even where we reject them, we try to blame others. ‘It’s the foreign influences; a conspiracy against Pakistan and Islam; it’s India; it’s America; it’s Israel.’ Like pre-schoolers, we whine on and on: ‘It’s not us; we aren’t like this.’

Ellick also shows in his report portions from that highly popular song ‘Yeh Hum Nahin’, the collaborative effort against terrorism by some of the country’s biggest pop icons. Here are the lyrics he picks up on:

‘This is not us; not us. The story that is being spread in our names is a lie. These stamps of death on our foreheads are the signs of others.’

(To be fair, Ellick also refers to Shahzad Roy of taking on religion in his ‘Laga Raho’ song. But that doesn’t alter the fact that no one refers to the Taliban-led militants. And it is true, as Ali Hamza says, that ‘If we start talking about the Taliban, it’s very easy for them to get rid of us.’ But that doesn’t alter the fact that others, from theatre groups such as Ajoka and Tehrik-e-Niswan, to filmmakers and journalists, are speaking up.)

Pakistan is a nation in denial, unwilling to mature and accept responsibility for mistakes past and future – unwilling to shoulder the weight of responsibility for improving its own future. Certainly, other countries have meddled in our politics. But we’re the ones taking the decision to let them, and then finding ways of shooting ourselves in the foot. The Taliban are a case in point, thanks to Pakistan’s notions of strategic depth in Afghanistan. Like ostriches, we always have and perhaps always will keep our heads stuck in the sand. One can argue that it is the state and the government that ought to be tasked with steering the course of the country’s future away from its currently suicidal direction: but until individuals who constitute society change their minds, a mere government can achieve little of long-term impact.

So much for zehni ghulami!

– hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com Sunday, 15 Nov, 2009 (Dawn)

Link to Documentary by ' Adam B. Ellick'

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/11/11/world/1247465633296/tuning-out-the-taliban.html?scp=2&sq=Adam%20B.%20Ellick%20&st=cse
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Gilgit Baltistan Victory - An Eye Opener

Post by :Jarri Mirza

Guest Column by Usama Bhutto

The Gilgit Baltisan victory comes out to be an eye opener for the pro Taliban Anti democratic Media Persons and Journalists. Pakistan Peoples Party has won an over whelming vote in the region where speculations of the Pro-Taliban Media were opposite. I think it is high time for these elements to re-define their loyalties. Despite the row over the Kerry lugar bill and the NRO episode, the people of Gilgit Baltistan have altogether rejected the one sided propaganda against the PPP and its Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

The landslide victory of the PPP has been due to the leadership of the Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his bold decision to counter the threat of Terrorism. Where two years ago, Swat was a nogo area for a Pakistani today the Army Operation has paved the way for the general public to continue the norms of life. The South Waziristan Operation had been long awaited and the President’s decision to pursue the policy of zero tolerance against these sectarian killers, the people of Pakistan have got a new hope for the future of their country. It has not been a story of today. The menace of terrorism had engulfed Pakistan since 2003. The PPP government accepted the great challenge and has lived to the aspiration of the peole of Pakistan. This is evident from the fact that the recent Elections in Gilgit Baltistan have been taken away by the PPP.

Despite several Media Campaigns by Pro-Taliban Anchors and Journalists, Asif Ali Zardari has emerged to be a very successful President. It was under his Leadership that the PPP fought this elections and came out victorious. It should be noted here that Gilgit Baltistan was given self rule by the sitting PPP government. Earlier too, the only reforms for this region had come about in the times of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. The Presidency had been a target of the Taliban Friendly Elements since Asif Ali Zardari stepped into its walls. All conspiracies ranging for the Kerry lugar to sugar crisis to the NRO were directly blamed at the Presidency one after another. The courage and zeal with which the President has withstood these propagandist elements is sheerly amazing. In face of an opposition that first used the long march to topple the Presidency and then came about with several issues one after another with a single point agenda of damaging the Democratic Set-up, Asif Ali Zardari has emerged victorious once again. The vote of the people has far more outreaching effects than a Television Talk Show defaming the government over non-issues and speculating a Mid Term election in coming days. I think the phase of Mid-Term elections is over and now all the democratic forces will have to assemble under a flag of democracy to save the system and thus benefit Pakistan. It is an open message to the Anti Democratic Forces and Pro-Taliban Elements sitting in the Media and Political Parties and Institutions, the at the people of Pakistan have had enough with violence and the klashincov culture. They see their future in a Pakistan where they have an Elected government that completes its term. The recent Military action against Taliban has given a ray of hope to the people of Pakistan where they saw themselves doomed a year ago.

President Asif Ali Zardari has emerged as the Symbol Of Federation. The ever most popularly elected president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, his daunting decisions in the foreign policy and domestic issues have raised the bar for the stooges of Taliban and Anti Democratic Alliances. The vote of people in Gilgit Baltistan is a clear indicator of the peoples’ trust in the current government and thus its President. Previously the Media Campaigns have proved naught and even in the future it seems the people of Pakistan will altogether reject any Minus-One Formula given a hype by the Media people. The President it seems is living true to his word of Reconciliation and his slogan of “Pakistan Khappay”

This election victory is more of an advice for the Media and its Taliban Spokespersons Hamid Mir, Shaheen Sehbai, Talat Hussain, and of course Dr Shahid Masood: I hope he has now seen everything "Awaam K Mutabiq"..

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Story of a 14-year-old suicide bomber brainwashed by the Friends of Taliban

It has been learnt that Taliban use the anti-Pakistan (i.e. anti-democracy, anti-Pakistan Army and anti-west) hate propaganda spread by their friends in Pakistani media (e.g., Hamid Mir, Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi, Javed Chaudhry and others), in order to brainwash the ill-educated and ill-informed Pakistani youth. Here is a detailed account of a 14-year-old suicide bomber by BBC correspondent Orla Guerin.

'I agreed to become a suicide bomber'

A 14-year-old boy in the tribal region of Bajaur, in north-west Pakistan, says he was detained by Taliban forces who tried to turn him into a suicide bomber. The boy is now in army hands. He provided a detailed account to BBC correspondent Orla Guerin. His story cannot be independently verified. The boy says he was beaten until he agreed to become a suicide bomber There were five people who came after me from a place in Bajaur. They tricked me. They told me they were going to behead my father. I went with them but my father wasn't there. They tied me up. They said: 'You have two choices. We will behead you, or you will become a suicide bomber.' I refused. There were two more guys of my age. They were also training to be suicide bombers. If we refused they would tie our hands behind our backs, blindfold us and start beating us. They brainwashed us and told us we would go to heaven. They said 'there will be honey and juice and God will appear in front of you. You will have a beautiful house in Heaven'. We used to ask them to let us out to pray. They would reply 'you are already on your way to heaven. You don't need to pray.' They beat me hard for five days. I wasn't given any food. While they were beating me I agreed to become a suicide bomber. They separated me from the other boys. Mosque mission They took me to a dark room and started giving me pills. I was handed over to Maulvi Fakir [the Bajaur Taliban commander]. After all this preparation they said I was to go and do the job in a mosque. Before the Taliban came we used to enjoy freedom. We used to play, and go to our schools 'Haunting' Taliban problem It was an ordinary mosque but the cleric there used to talk against the Taliban, and they declared him their enemy. They told me the cleric was a non-believer, a non-Muslim. They took off my shirt and put the jacket on my shoulders. There were two hooks on my chest. They told me that when you go there you say 'Allahu Akbar' [God is Great] and then you pull apart these two hooks. Then they took me there, showed me the mosque and went off. I was drugged and I couldn't feel anything. I only came to my senses when I arrived in the mosque. I saw the peaceful kind face of the cleric, and I saw the mosque was full of holy books. I saw the people praying. And I thought, they are all Muslims. How can I do this? I decided not to and I came out. I sat under a tree outside the mosque and waited for prayers to be over. After that I made my way back to the Taliban. Then they called me 'a son of a bitch' and asked why I had come back without doing it. I told them I could not do it because they were carrying out body searches of all the people entering the mosque. They took off my vest and handed me over to Maulvi Fakir. They tied me up but I told them to give me another chance and I would do it. They trusted me. I was roaming around with them for a couple of days. I got to the road, found transport and came home. They followed me to my house. They wanted to know if I was still there or had run somewhere else. Watch Orla Guerin's TV report from Bajaur The Taliban had beaten me so harshly my back was scarred. When my parents saw that my mother started to cry, and told me not to go back to them. My father asked them why they were after his son. One day he took his weapon and went after them. But they wanted to kill him so he came back home and closed the door. Before the Taliban came we used to enjoy freedom. We used to play, and go to our schools. There were no restrictions on us. Morning and evening we used to play games, and sit and chat with friends. We used to listen to music on our mobile phones. They banned that. They stopped us doing anything. They stopped us playing cricket and going to school. We felt like prisoners. I want to join the army because they are the defenders of the land. They are fighting for the right cause. I want to fight against the Taliban. I have no other intention except to defend my country. The Taliban should be eliminated. I want to tell the Taliban that they are cruel, and what they did to me was unjust. I can't kill innocent Muslims. I am not afraid of them. I am only afraid of God. I am answerable only to Him. Source

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The Ziaist Taliban versus Professional ISI

By Abdul Nishapuri

We, the people of Pakistan, notwithstanding our political, religious or ethnic affiliations, wholeheartedly support the professional commitment expressed by Pakistan Army and its intelligence wing (ISI) in rooting out the remnants of General Zia, i.e. jihadi and sectarian terrorists who are currently operating under various banners, e.g. Taliban, Sipah-e-Sahaba and Al Qaeda.

We salute the officers and jawans of Pakistan Army who are sacrificing their lives in the defence of Pakistan in this true jihad against terrorists.

We also warn the agents of Taliban in Pakistani media and politics (e.g. Dr Shahid Masood, Hamid Mir, Ansar Abbasi, Munawar Hasan, Hamid Gul and Imran Khan) to refrain from misleading the Pakistani nation. Our armed forces, police and other security agencies need our full support. To the Friends of Taliban: Please do not add to our woes and miseries by brainwashing the ignorant youth and producing more suicide bombers against the Pakistani nation. Please do not exploit Islam for your evil political agenda. Please stop being the Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs of Pakistan.

ISI attack death toll rises to 17

PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide car bomb that targeted the Peshawar headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence rose to 17 on Saturday. Sources told Daily Times that four more bodies were recovered from the rubble, taking the death toll to 17, including 14 security personnel. Senior NWEP Minister Bashir Bilour said the provincial government had proposed a six-month ban on supply of explosives for mineral-extraction. akhtar amin

TTP claims responsibility

PESHAWAR: The TTP on Saturday accepted responsibility for Friday’s attacks on the ISI’s Peshawar office and a police station in Bannu. “We will launch so many attacks that the president, prime minister and governor would not be able to sit in their palaces,” TTP spokesman Azam Tariq told AFP. Qari Hussain, a TTP leader, said the attacks were in reaction to the “military operation in South Waziristan and government policies”. staff report/afp

EDITORIAL: Safety no more

More than a dozen people — military personnel and civilians — were killed on Friday and several others injured when a suicide bomber targeted the regional headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Peshawar. It is indeed quite alarming that a suicide bomber with an explosives-laden vehicle could hit such a sensitive target; that too when there is a high security alert all over the country. Such an attack could not be ruled out in the light of the security situation. Only a few months ago, militants had targeted the ISI headquarters in Lahore. It is now clear that the terrorists have the security agencies of Pakistan in their sights.

ISI’s role in the past as a supporter of militancy is no secret, but now the tables have turned. The ISI is therefore pitted against the militants and vice versa. The security and law enforcement agencies are being targeted left, right and centre by the terrorists in the wake of the military offensive against the militants in Swat/Malakand and South Waziristan. The attack on GHQ last month was the most significant terrorist attack in the history of Pakistan, highlighting the fact that the militants have now declared open war against the state of Pakistan and its military and intelligence agencies. Needless to say, the intelligence agencies are playing a crucial role in the military operations against the terrorists. Without good real time intelligence, no military operation can be successful, especially when the enemy is engaged in guerrilla and asymmetrical warfare. In the past, both the military and the intelligence agencies have tried to pacify the militants by playing the ‘good Taliban, bad Taliban’ card. It has not worked. The penny has finally dropped and the military has realised that there is no such thing as a ‘good’ militant. This does not mean of course that the door should not be left open for those militants who for one reason or another choose to come in out of the cold, abandon militancy, and are desirous of reintegration into society.

Irrespective of this ‘open door’ policy though, it is by now crystal clear that the militants are out for blood, which is why it is doubly unfathomable that no proper security arrangements were made for the regional ISI headquarters in Peshawar. If GHQ and ISI buildings can be targeted so easily, it does not inspire confidence that civilian targets can be kept secure. The modus operandi is almost the same in all major terrorist attacks. Explosive-laden vehicles were used to carry out suicide bombings at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and the FIA building in Lahore. Under such circumstances, suspect vehicles should not be allowed anywhere near high-risk targets.

The police, too, are being targeted by the jihadis. On Saturday, there was a suicide attack at a police checkpost on the outskirts of Peshawar, while on Friday a police station in Bannu was attacked by terrorists. Such attacks do not end here. Trucks carrying NATO supplies for Afghanistan were targeted at Mach in the Bolan Pass on Friday morning.

Those who have been saying that this is the US’s war should now take a good look at all these events. If it ever was the US’s war exclusively, by now there can be little doubt that this is our war now. The zealots are not only targeting military and security personnel but also ordinary citizens. They have killed scores of women, children and men all over the country. By attacking the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this year, they made it clear that they would not spare anyone. It is high time that all political parties unite against these barbarians and speak up. It is time that sanity prevails instead of the mad voices that we often hear in the media. No one in Pakistan is safe anymore; not till extremism is rooted out of the veins of the country. (Source)

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"The dogs of war" unleashsed against democracy in Pakistan

In English, the dogs of war is a phrase from line 270, scene 1, Act III of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war" referring to releasing the "dog", i.e. the restraining mechanism. In the context of Pakistani politics, it would appear that certain pro-establishment (read anti-democracy and/or pro-Taliban) dogs of war have been unleashed by the civil and military establishment in order to retrain or derail democracy. The current target of the dogs of war (namely Shaheen Sehbai, Shahid Masood, Shireen Mazari, Javed Chaudhry, Talat Hussain, Hamid Mir, Ansar Abbasi and other agents of anti-democracy forces) is indeed the elected president Asif Ali Zardari. Here is an apt analysis by Asadullah Ghalib.

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The Triple S Brigade's ill-wish and Zardari's grave

"The Triple S Brigade" (i.e. Shaheen Sehbai, Shahid Masood, Shireen Mazari) are persistent in their anti-democracy and pro-Taliban agenda.

Lady Taliban, Dr Shireen Mazari, the Resident Editor of The Nation, has released the following report on President Zardari, through her reporter Maqbool Malik (a close associate of Ansar Abbasi), about the possible location of Zardari's grave.

The triple S brigade, and other Friends of Taliban in Pakistan, it would appear, are now resorting to ill-wishes in order to get rid of the democratic government. Here is the news item which appeared in The Nation on 11 November 2009, which is followed by a satirical analysis by Nazir Naji:

Zardari chooses Ghari Khudabakhsh as last abode
By: Maqbool Malik | Published in The Nation: November 11, 2009

ISLAMABAD – Struggling head-on to surmount a plethora of challenges, President Asif Ali Zardari has been contemplating about his future to the extent of even choosing his last abode, The Nation has reliably learnt on Tuesday.

According to sources close to the President, Asif Zardari has been brainstorming for some time whether it should be Ghari Khudabakhsh or Madina (Saudi Arabia) for his last resting place.

The sources were of the view that President Zardari has actually chosen Ghari Khudabakhsh as his last abode, which he reportedly believed, had more to do with the cause of democracy in the country.

“President Zardari is prepared to die for the cause of democracy rather than succumbing to any pressure to compromise”, the sources said.

According to the sources, the President has been making up his mind about his personal decisions for quite some time now. They also denounced the impression that he made up his mind after surviving three attempts aiming at unseating him from the power corridors. Rather, the sources added, the President was determined to do or die for his ambition of changing status quo with a governance system based on democracy and accountability.

Another source well acquainted with President Zardari shared with the TheNation the secret of Zardari’s self-assured grin saying, “It was always to give out a contrary impression.”

“Trust deficit has been haunting the President ever since he stepped into his political career”, the sources informed.

Ghari Khudabukhsh is the ancestral graveyard of President Zardari’s in-laws where apart from his assassinated wife and two times Prime Minister late Benazir Bhutto, his father in law late Z.A. Bhutto and brothers-in-law are buried.

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Imran Khan's Shireen Mazari and her shoddy journalism

Shireen Mazari, the General Secretary of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, was disgracefully dismissed from the editorship of The News in the recent past. She was also reprimanded by the GHQ (Pakistan Army) for misquoting and misinterpreting Pakistan Army and the ISI on a number of occasions.

However, it appears that Shireen Mazari (also known as Lady Taliban) has maintained her standards in her capacity as the Resident Editor of The Nation.

Here is what has been observed in The News (Editorial) today:

Shoddy journalism

Thursday, November 12, 2009 (The News)

Journalists lead dangerous lives in Pakistan. They are targeted by the terrorists whose actions they report and by politicians and bureaucrats whose failings and indiscretions they expose. All this is to be expected. What a working journalist may not expect, however, is to be stabbed in the back by one of his own, as has recently happened to Matthew Rosenberg, a journalist working for the Wall Street Journal. Mr Rosenberg has been accused in a local newspaper of having links to the CIA and Mossad and of acting in some undefined way as an agent of Blackwater. As if this were not enough to blight his life and career, he is further accused of having 'secret' meetings with Secretary Law and Order FATA Secretariat, Tariq Hayat Khan, and Additional Chief Secretary FATA, Habib Khan. Both are said to have 'fed' documents to Mr Rosenberg, thereby implicating them in his alleged espionage activities. The story is based upon information from a nameless source and has no supporting evidence. Mr Rosenberg has had to leave the country and is unlikely to be working here in the foreseeable future.

The editor of the Wall Street Journal has rightly and robustly sprung to the defence of his journalist and written to the editor of the newspaper that printed the story. The opening paragraph of his letter reads … "As a fellow editor I am writing to convey in the strongest possible terms our dismay and disgust over the slanderous falsehoods published on the front page of your newspaper on November 5th regarding our reporter Matthew Rosenberg." We might add 'grossly irresponsible' and 'unprofessional' to the list of printable adjectives that may be applied to this dangerous travesty of journalism. Accusations such as this, based on information from a single unnamed source are life-threatening in their gravity. At the very least there should one other corroborating source and preferably more than one where accusations as grave as this are made. The electronic media has recently reached a voluntary agreement to 'clean up its act'; and perhaps some sections of the print media need to do the same. (Source)

Condemnation by The Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned The Nation for publishing “a reckless and unsubstantiated story”. Last week, Pakistan Media Watch wrote about the incident – in which The Nation published an article with no facts calling an American journalist a spy. Here is what the CPJ wrote today:

Last Thursday, Pakistan’s The Nation newspaper published a reckless and unsubstantiated story accusing Wall Street Journal South Asia correspondent Matthew Rosenberg of being a spy. It’s an accusation that gravely endangers Rosenberg’s safety. Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Robert Thomson responded with a scathing letter to The Nation’s editor, Shireen Mazari, expressing his disgust at the publication of the story, which he called baseless and false. He demanded an immediate retraction.

It’s of course deeply disturbing to us at CPJ that a newspaper would publish a story like this that clearly puts the life of a fellow reporter in danger. But we are also concerned about the source for this scurrilous information, someone the reporter identified as “an official of law enforcement agency, who requested anonymity.” Could this be a deliberate government attempt to intimidate Rosenberg and other foreign correspondents working in Pakistan? That’s a deeply chilling possibility that must be investigated.

In addition, the Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Robert Thomson, wrote a scathing letter to Shireen Mazari conveying his “disgust” over “the slanderous and dangerous falsehoods published on the front page” of The Nation.

Dear Ms. Mazari,

As a fellow Editor, I am writing to convey in the strongest possible terms our dismay and disgust over the slanderous and dangerous falsehoods published on the front page of your newspaper on November 5 regarding our reporter, Mathhew Rosenberg.

Journalism is an important vocation and Pakistan has many fine and courageous journalists who operate in extremely difficult conditions. Foreign correspondents also have an important social role and are similarly exposed to danger from extremists. So for your paper to have suggested, absolutely groundlessly, that Matthew had some intelligence connection was a betrayal of our collective calling and has endangered him, all other Wall Street Journal correspondents, and all journalists and foreign correspondents in your country.

Let me set the record straight: Matthew is an experienced foreign correspondent who has worked for many years covering the region, including Pakistan. In that capacity, he has pursued no other agenda than seeking the truth and has had no other aim than to bring to the world’s attention news and analysis of what is happening in your very important country at a critical time.

Our profession has been done a great disservice by the utterly baseless article, and I call upon you to print an immediate and prominent retraction to ensure that it is widely understood that the piece was without foundation. At present, your paper is is guilty of spreading falsehoods, but it could ultimately be complicit in a far greater tragedy unless this wrong is corrected. We obviously reserve our right to pursue legal action in this instance.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Thompson

Source

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Anchor-istan: Media jihadis and their vision of Pakistan

Guest blog by: Bahadar Ali Khan

After watching Pakistani media’s talk shows, the assertions made by learned anchor-persons of these talk shows and reading the Urdu columnists I have visualized a future scenario of good governance for Pakistan. Under the recommendations of the media persons of our country and right wing parties, I have come to the conclusion that we should make a government just as they recommend and infer every day in their allotted air time. My understanding is that after we have this government inplace all of our problems would be resolved for ever. We’ll no longer be accepting US dictations nor we would be needing their arms. India would flee from Kashmir. Another popular hate-subject, Israel would be annihilated. The Western civilization would cease to exist and US and European will get back to stone age. All the corrupt elements from the Pakistani society would chastise theirself and anyone who obtained expensive plots from government would return it in the greater interest of the general public. Also anybody who got anything except salary would return it.

Now let us see how this government of ‘angels’ would look like. Nobody can doubt that best person for Pakistan’s presidentship is General (rtd) Hamid Gul. Syed Munawar Hassan is the best candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan. None other than Imran Khan suits the best for ministry of religious affairs. He is so good at collecting donations that he would run his ministry purely on donations and nothing would be taken from national exchequer. Shireen Mazari can be appointed ambassador to US. Qazi Hussain Ahmed would become Pakistani High Commissioner to India because by doing so one day he would fulfil his life long wish of heralding Pakistani flag on Delhi’s Red Fort. He can do this secretly on any weekend. Rest of the portfolios of economy, defence, foreign affairs, strategic affairs, science and literature and many other section can be filled by the appointments of very talented and expert on every subject media anchor-persons. These people are so capable that every ministry would run in an exemplary fashion.

There would be a National Consultation Council whose members would be from the board of the directors of “Ideology of Pakistan Limited”. General Mirza Aslam Beg can be appointed as governor of Baluchistan and because of terrain of his province he would be more effectively keep an eye on the ’strategic depth’ and US activities in Afghanistan. MQM suits best for the governorship of Sindh because though they are kind of misfit for this set up but the problem is that if we appoint anybody else the governor, MQM would not let him enter the governor house.

I believe if this government comes into being all of our assets including Talibans and nuclear weapons would get safe for ever. We will defeat NATO and allied forces in Afghanistan and later on will continue our march towards Central Asian states until we get our strategic goals and during this course our strategic depth would expand as far as North Pole goes. This government will neither take any foreign aid nor will return anybody’s loan. In order to appease Taliban this government will shut down all the girls colleges and schools.

Maulan Abdul Aziz ( Lal Masjid fame ) will be appointed Pakistan’s permanent representative in United Nations where he will brief the rest of the world about Pakistan power and importance. He will construct a mosque in the UN building whose students would march in the streets of New York and anybody ( any women ) not following the proper dress code will be kidnapped and brought to UN Mosque where she would be tortured to get the dose of spirituality. If the US, because they are host of UN office, do something derogatory or put any restrictions on our envoy’s actvities , our government will transfer the head quarters of UN to Waziristan. Osama bin Laden will be our Ambassador at large where he will work on the puritinization of the infidels and if some infidel not followed his line, he would be slaughtered.

Our new government will keep friendly relationship with China only one condition, if all Chinese men stop shaving their faces and their women put on modest dress. If China not followed these condition then we would teach them a lesson by sending our Mujahideen in their Sinkiang province. This government would definitely fulfil the longing for waging a war against US and in that war our government would destroy US.

The only problem that is left to be tackled as what will happen to the current lot of Politicians. So our pious government would arrange their punishments from the federal Shariah Court. And their worst punishments would be to appoint them on higher posts but stop them from taking bribe and perks.

So what do you think?

Source: http://bkhan.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/anchor-istan-a-vision-of-a-pure-government/

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