A Simple Guide To Pakistan’s Enemies

A famous and an honest Pakistani bureaucrat, QUDRATUALLAH SHAHAB, wrote the following in his autobiography, SHAHAB NAMA, in page 778.

(Translation)
”In 1969, when I was a member of the executive board of UNISCO, one of my friends from Poland was angry that Russia is influencing Poland against the will of polish people. The Poles were against the Soviet bloc and they didn’t like the Soviet influence in Poland. But the Polish government was a client of the Soviet Union. My Polish friend was one of the senior and experienced foreign affairs officers of his country.

One day during a chat and discussion he said, ‘Although Russia and America are enemies but on some issues they become friends.’

I was surprised and asked, ‘For example?’

He said, ‘For example, PAKISTAN.’

‘I was stunned. I requested him to explain.’

Pak moves 100,000 troops from Indian to Afghan border

Reuters

WASHINGTON - Pakistan has shifted 100,000 of its troops from its Indian frontier to spearhead an unprecedented crackdown on militants along the Afghan border, but the offensives are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

In a report to Congress released on Wednesday, the Pentagon estimated that about 140,000 Pakistani troops were taking part in offensives against militants in the semi-autonomous tribal regions, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, and the Northwest Frontier Province, near Afghanistan.

The Pentagon, which had long pressed the Pakistanis to take on Taliban and al Qaeda leaders on their territory, said the recent military deployments were the biggest in the country’s history on the western border.

No road map to break ongoing cycle of violence

By Asif Haroon Raja

When the US decided to invade Afghanistan in October 2001, both Afghanistan and Pakistan were on very friendly terms. For the first time in Pakistan’s history its western border had become safe.

Within Pakistan, FATA and Balochistan were peaceful and people of the two regions were as patriotic as of any other region. Suicide attacks or car bomb blasts were unheard of. Tribesmen of FATA stood fully committed to defend western border at their own. It was owing to their sense of patriotism that Pak government never felt the need to send regular troops there. Small scale localized skirmishes were dealt by the Political Agent who had at his command Khasadars and Frontier Constabulary.

On rare occasions assistance of Frontier Corps was sought. Despite common ethnic and religious affinities between the people living both sides of the Durand Line, the people of FATA never allowed foreign influence to penetrate within their domain. Afghanistan government’s machinations never made any impact on them despite extreme poverty and underdevelopment in FATA. Likewise NAP, latter ANP’s desire for Pakhtunistan failed to cut ice in FATA.

Senate approves 18th Amendment Bill

By Raja Asghar

ISLAMABAD: It was finally all ayes for the 18th Amendment on Thursday after some divisive sound and fury as the Senate completed the legislative approval of landmark constitutional reforms aimed mainly to empower parliament and provinces.

On April 8, all 292 members of the 342-seat National Assembly had voted for the bill drafted by a 26-member committee headed by PPP’s Senator Raza Rabbani. -Photo by APP

All 90 senators of the 100-seat upper house present at the time – 23 more than the required two-thirds majority – voted for the 102-clause Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, copying a similar rare unanimity seen in the National Assembly a week ago.

The renaming of the NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa created some fireworks during the clause-by-clause second reading of the bill earlier, but the move’s opponents, mainly from the opposition PML-Q, failed to show a respectable strength and suffered an overwhelming defeat.

Power Production From The Coal Reserves in Pakistan That not Only Fulfill our country Demand But Also Surplus Energy

As we all knows that Pakistan has great Geological aspects and God bless our country with strong nation, esteemed nation with four weathers and four provinces and every province has importance. Punjab and Sindh fulfill the demand of foods with blessing of fertility in the Land. This province is land of Five Rivers on the other end toward the South this province has deserts keeping the buried treasures of nature like Different Ores and minerals. Similarly if we see NWFP our North Province, it is diversified with Mountain Ranges and Fata Fana Forests. The Beauty of the Valleys with great importance for Tourism as well. The Ice that froze on its Hills in the winters on after melting fills the rivers of the Country. Baluchistan is the province with resources of Energy like Natural Gas. and others Ores like Chromium, Gypsum and Coal.

Coal is one of major energy source which is contributing in world’s energy systems with the share of 23.80% and 23.75% of production and consumption respectively. In order to obtain clean fuels, the liquefaction and gasification of the world’s most abundant fuel i.e., coal, have gained increasing attention. The energy sector requires efficient and clean energy supplies. In case of coal, we would have to ensure higher efficiencies, environmental acceptance, prolonging its availability and proper replacement for oil and natural gas. This is only possible through sustainable development of new coal conversion technologies.

Anti-Pakhtunkhwa protest claims seven lives in Abbottabad

Protesters burn two police vans, one police station, Edhi ambulance; PML-N, ANP blame PML-Q for Hazara situation; Nawaz urges peace, asks PCCR to calm situation

ABBOTTABAD: Seven people were killed and over 100 sustained injuries on Monday when police used force to break up a protest here against the renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The peaceful headquarters of Hazara division turned into a battlefield when the police used batons and fired teargas shells to disperse protesters who fought back with sticks and stones in the streets. The angry mobs blocked roads with burning tyres, set two police vehicles on fire and attacked a couple of police stations. The police fired bullets to disperse protesters.

APP adds: A large contingent of police from Peshawar was called in to maintain the law and order situation The protesters also torched an Edhi ambulance, besides the building of the Cantonment Police Station. They besieged and pelted the Mirpur Police Post with stones. As a result, three policemen sustained injuries. The enraged protesters also ransacked the office of the Khaksar Movement.

US laud Pakistan law enforcing agencies for curbing narcotics trafficking

Associated Press of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: United States Wednesday appreciating efforts of Pakistan’s law enforcing agencies for taking effective measures to curb drug trafficking and poppy cultivation, assured to provide more help and cooperation in achieving the targets of ‘poppy free Pakistan’. Talking to newsmen, David T. Johson, U.S. Assistant Secretary Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcing Affairs here at American embassy , said the US is working on a dollars 150 million programme with the cooperation of Pakistan’s anti-narcotics forces to fight the menace of drugs.

He said over 93 per cent poppy being used in the world, was being supplied from Afghanistan while Columbia, Mexico, Burma and some other countries contributed rest of 7 percent. He, however said, Pakistan’s share in supply of poppy was very low.

Replying to a question he rejected the reports that NATO or international forces are helping the local population in promoting poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

About achieving ‘poppy free country’, status by Pakistan, Johnson said,” it depends on the control by the law enforcing agencies in the areas where operation is going on against the terrorists”.

Pak Army’s Contributions in Fight Against Terrorism

Spearhead Research

View Full Report Here : PAK ARMY’S CONTRIBUTIONS IN FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

332 terror hits claimed 5,704 lives since 9/11

By Sabir Shah

LAHORE: The extent to which Pakistan has borne the brunt of the US-led War against Terror can be gauged from the fact that during the last 102 months since the 9/11 episode, the country has averagely been rocked by terrorists every 10th day during this period, which has witnessed 332 terrorism-related incidents inflicting 5,704 deaths till date.

While 58 terrorism-related incidents have jolted Peshawar (Charsadda and Darra Adamkhel included) since September 11, 2001, the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have been hit 46 times by terrorists in these last eight and a half years.

A research conducted by The News, using statistics and chronology recorded by the US Department of State, archives of Pakistani newspapers and websites carrying

information about global terrorism, has revealed that while the port city of Karachi has been struck 37 times by terrorists during this period under review, Lahore has confronted such happenings on 21 occasions, the same number as the Swat valley.

While Quetta has so far seen blood pouring down its drains 18 times, Dera Ismail Khan has been attacked 16 times by the terrorists during this still ongoing war. The Pakistan Army personnel and installations of country’s armed forces, outside the war zones of Swat, South and North Waziristan etc, have been targeted at least 22 times during this time period under review.

Meanwhile, not fewer than 105 terrorism incidents have taken place since in the war-ridden Bajaur Agency, Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency, Lower and Upper Dir, Mohmand Agency, South Waziristan and North Waziristan agencies etc.

The NWFP cities mainly hit include Hangu, Kohat, Shangla, Buner, Bannu, Mansehra, Buner, Haripur, Nowshehra, Lakki Marwat and Parachanar etc. Terror has also whacked the calm of Dera Bugti four times.

The residents of Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Hub, Sargodha and Faisalabad found themselves strapped in the grip of fear on two occasions each.

Horror also haunted Multan, Mian Channu, Taxilla, Pishin, Panjgur, Gujranwala, Wah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kalat, Kamra, Bhakkar, Chakwal, Mianwali, Hassan Abdal and Muzaffarabad etc, at least once each.

During this fright-studded period, high-ranking al-Qaeda officials like Abu Zubaida and Ramzi Binalshibh were arrested by Pakistani officials on March 23, 2002, and September 14, 2002, respectively.

Similarly, on March 1, 2003, Wall Street Journal newsman Daniel Pearl’s killer Khalid Shaikh Muhammed was arrested during CIA-led raids on a suburb of Rawalpindi.

At the time of his capture, Khalid was the third highest ranking official in al-Qaeda and was believed to have supervised the planning for the September 11 attacks on the US.

Khalid Sheikh Muhammed was also linked the USS Cole bombing, an attempt to blow up a civilian airliner with a shoe bomb and the terrorist attack at a synagogue in Tunisia.

Claiming that it has lost around $35 billion since joining the still-continuing War on Terror, Pakistan witnessed only two terror-related incidents in 2001, 14 in 2002, just 8 in 2003, 18 in 2004, 11 in 2005, 16 in 2006, 56 in 2007, 72 in 2008, 130 in 2009 and 29 in the first two-and-a-half months of 2010 till the fling of this report.

The year 2009 of course remained the bloodiest of all with 130 incidents claiming around 1,800 lives, followed by 2008 which saw 1,565 people falling prey to 72 such attacks.

Terror in Pakistan claimed the lives of eminent personalities like the two-time Premier Benazir Bhutto (December 27, 2007), banned Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sihaba chief Maulana Azam Tariq (October 6, 2003), former Interior Minister Lt Gen (R) Moinuddin Haider’s elder brother Ehteshamuddin Haider (December 21, 2000), noted religious scholar Ghulam Murtaza Malik (May 7, 2002), eminent Deobandi scholar and head of Islamic religious school Jamia Binoria, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai (May 30, 2004), leading Shia scholar and Chief of Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan, Allama Hassan Turabi (July 14, 2006), Chief of Peshawar City Police Malik Saad (January 27, 2007), former Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam MNA and Wafaqul Madaris Vice Chairman Maulana Hassan Jan (September 15, 2007), Pakistan Army’s top medic Lt Gen Mushtaq Baig (February 25, 2008), former head of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group Maj Gen (R) Ameer Faisal Alvi (November 19, 2008), Awami National Party Provincial law-maker Alam Zeb Khan (February 11, 2009), leading Sunni Barelwi cleric Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi (June 12, 2009), Punjab-born Balochistan Education Minister Shafiq Ahmed Khan (October 25, 2009), Balochistan’s Deputy Inspector General Nizam Shahid Durrani (November 19, 2009), ANP politician Shamsher Ali Khan (December 1, 2009), former NWFP Education Minister Ghani-ur-Rehman (January 3, 2010), Peshawar’s District Police Officer Iqbal Marwat (February 12, 2010) and Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat’s key leaders Mufti Saeed Jalalpuri (March 11, 2010) and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem (March 14, 2010).

During this particular period, former President Pervez Musharraf survived three life attempts.

While Musharraf saw death close to him twice in December 2003, he also managed to survive the July 6, 2006, attack aimed at his life.

Then Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat also narrowly escaped on June 10, 2004, when gunmen opened fire at his convoy in Karachi.

On July 30, 2004, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the Prime Minister-elect Shaukat Aziz, while he was campaigning for a by-election in Attock District.

On August 2, 2004, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousaf also managed to deceive death.

On April 28, 2006, the then Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, survived an assassination bid at Charsadda.

On July 17, 2007, another suicide bomber blew himself up outside the venue of the district bar council convention in Islamabad, just be-fore the arrival of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto also escaped unhurt on October 18, 2007, when her convoy was attacked in Karachi upon her return from a long exile, but could not ride her luck the second time she was fatally targeted on December 27, 2007.

On October 30, 2007, a suicide bomber struck a police checkpoint in the high security zone of Rawalpindi, less than a kilometre from President Musharraf’s Camp Office.

The blast also splattered the checkpost outside the residence of then Chief of the General Staff General Tariq Majid.

On November 9, 2007, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the house of the then Federal Political Affairs Minister Amir Muqam in Peshawar. The minister escaped unhurt though.

On December 21, 2007, a suicide bomber again unsuccessfully targeted former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao.

On June 9, 2008, controversial Swat cleric and chief of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi Maulana Sufi Muhammad survived a remote-controlled bomb.

On October 2, 2008, a suicide attacker targeted the Charsadda house of ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan, who survived the attack.

On October 6, 2008, a suicide attacker targeted a gathering at PML-N legislator Rashid Akbar Nawani’s house in Bhakkar. Nawani luckily survived the attack.

On November 11, 2008, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a packed Qayyum Stadium in Peshawar, minutes after the NWFP Governor Owais Ghani had left the venue and just moments prior to the departure of Senior Provincial Minister Bashir Bilour.

On March 3, 2009, a convoy carrying Sri Lankan cricketers and officials in two buses was fired upon near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket team were injured.

On March 11, 2009, senior minister of the NWFP Bashir Bilour survived yet another assassination attempt in Peshawar.

On June 11, 2009, the NWFP Prisons Minister, Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, was

seriously injured when his convoy was ambushed by suspected militants in Darra Adam Khel.

On September 2, 2009, sitting Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi was injured in a brazen attack in Islamabad.

On February 9, 2010, renowned politician Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was attacked by militants in Rawalpindi, though Sheikh Rashid managed to live on by ducking the bullets.

Taliban Increasingly Unpopular in Pakistan

Four percent say Taliban’s presence is positive influence

by Julie Ray and Rajesh Srinivasan

This article is the first of a two-part series that looks at Pakistanis’ and Afghans’ views of the Taliban’s influence and their respective countries’ efforts to combat terrorism.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Taliban’s presence on either side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is largely unwelcome, but increasingly so in Pakistan, where Gallup surveys show they have lost much of the little appeal they had. Four percent of Pakistanis in a November-December 2009 poll, conducted prior to Pakistan’s current push to rout the Taliban within its borders, said the Taliban’s presence in some areas of the country has a positive influence, down from 15% in June.

Gallup most recently polled Pakistanis in the particularly deadly period after the army’s anti-Taliban operations in the South Waziristan tribal area started in October. Retributive militant attacks across Pakistan reportedly have claimed more than 600 Pakistanis’ lives since then, which the public’s increasingly negative view of the Taliban may reflect.

The Taliban lost support in every region of Pakistan. But nowhere are they more unpopular than in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), ground zero for a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban last May. In November-December 2009, 1% of NWFP residents said the Taliban have a positive influence, down from 11% in June. The percentage saying the Taliban’s influence is positive in Baluchistan, which abuts South Waziristan, dropped from 26% to 5%.

On the other side of the border, Afghans agree with Pakistanis that the Taliban have a negative influence. However, Afghans’ views have remained relatively unchanged despite the Taliban’s threats and violence before the presidential election in August. In both surveys in 2009, roughly 8 in 10 Afghans said the Taliban has a negative influence.

Majorities of Afghans in every region of the country see the Taliban as a negative influence, with their opinions changing little throughout 2009. Residents in the South, which included people in Kandahar, where U.S. and coalition forces are expected to challenge the Taliban this summer, continued to be more likely than others to say the Taliban have a positive influence. But even so, the majority said the Taliban have a negative influence.

Bottom Line

Gallup’s surveys show few Afghans and even fewer Pakistanis view the Taliban’s presence as a positive influence, which suggests there may be popular support for government efforts to dislodge the Taliban. Public support will be an important factor in the coming months if Pakistan continues its anti-Taliban operations and as the U.S. and coalition forces begin their offensive in Kandahar.

For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact worldpollpartners@gallup.com or call 202.715.3030.

Survey Methods

Results are based on face-to-face interviews in Pakistan with 1,147 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in Nov. 14 to Dec. 7, 2009, and 1,133 adults, conducted May 1 to June 30, 2009. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3.7 percentage points.

FATA/FANA were excluded. The excluded area represents less than 5% of the population. Please note improved sample coverage and change in data collection agency beginning June 2009 measurement. The survey included Azad Jammu and Kashmir, but sample sizes were too small to report results. Maximum margin of error by region in both survey waves ranged from ±6 percentage points in Punjab to ±11 percentage points in Baluchistan.

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted Sept. 20 to Oct. 12, 2009, and 1,000 adults in June 4-16, 2009, in Afghanistan. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. Seventeen provinces were randomly chosen from 34 provinces and the sample was adjusted to reflect the population in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity, and rural and urban population. Sample sizes and margins of error for each region were the same in both survey administrations.

North Afghanistan: Results based on interviews with 290 adults from the provinces of Balkh, Kunduz, Sar E Pol, Takhar, Badakhstan, and Samangan. The maximum margin of sampling error is ±7 percentage points.

Central Afghanistan: Results based on interviews with 250 adults from the provinces of Bamiyan, Kabul, Parwan. The maximum margin of sampling error is ±8 percentage points.

South Afghanistan: Results based on interviews with 230 adults from the provinces of Ghazni, Kandahar, Zabul, and Paktika. The maximum margin of sampling error is ±8 percentage points.

West Afghanistan: Results based on interviews with 130 adults from the provinces of Badghis and Herat. The maximum margin of sampling error is ±11 percentage points.

East Afghanistan: Results based on interviews with 100 adults from the provinces of Nurestan and Nangarhar. The maximum margin of sampling error is ±13 percentage points.

The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

The war against Pashtuns

Ali Sukhanver

It is not the gun but the gunner that hits the target. A very sophisticated weapon becomes useless when it comes to unskilled and inexperienced hands. Skill and experience joined together with wisdom can do miracles. Wisdom is the only element which is always important from beginning till the end, in all problematic matters of life. In spite of having a lot of strength and a lot of resources, the USA is still not even near the brink of success in Afghanistan; the only reason behind is the lack of wisdom. The situation is going to get more confusing, more entangling if the US authorities don’t stop preferring the use of force to the application of wisdom. They will have to come out of the dilemma of their misunderstandings first if they want their efforts in Afghanistan bear fruit.

The first and the most grievous misunderstanding of USA is about the Pashtuns. It is almost a criminal point of view that all Pashtuns are Taliban. It might be true to some extent that some of the Taliban have their hide-outs in the frontier area surrounding Pakistan-Afghanistan borders, they have their sympathizers and well wishers there but it does not mean that all people who belong to the Pashtun origin, living in that particular belt, are the supporters of Taliban and they must be crushed brutally with the help of drones.

It has been clearly mentioned in different books on the history of Afghanistan that the tribes living in southern Afghanistan, particularly between Herat and Qandhar and who speak Persian are called Afghans while others living in the rest of Afghanistan, NWFP and Balochistan speaking Pashtu language are called Pashtuns. These Pashtuns are in a clear majority in Afghanistan. According to a recent calculation provided by the CIA, the total population of Afghanistan is 28,396,000. This population is a mixture of different ethnic and linguistic groups. Pashto is spoken most widely in the south, east and south west as well as in western Pakistan. The Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group. The Pashtuns and the Afghans have altogether different cultural and traditional values but the US authorities are mistakenly mixing up these two entirely different identities. At present there is a very clear cut division between the Pashtuns and the Afghans. The Pashtuns are aggrieved that in spite of being in majority, they are not given their due share and authority. The US hi-ups and the Indian conspirators are providing full support to the Afghans whereas the Pashtuns are being crushed and maltreated simply because the Taliban belong to the Pashtun origin according to their analysis. More pathetic is the fact that President Karzai is intentionally ignoring them and favouring the Afghans. He has very successfully proved himself a dummy and a rubber stamp. He has ever been trying to stabilize his government by using money to buy loyalties of the Afghan war lords. He is ignoring the fact that this ‘purchase’ of loyalties is a costly affair with limited outcome. As per their tradition, the Afghans may remain loyal to the fund-providers till the time money keeps flowing up to them. When the flow of cash stops the loyalties will shift automatically and the effort will go futile. The Pashtuns are in majority in Afghanistan but the US led Afghan government is never ready to let them play the leading role. The situation can be easily tackled with if the Pashtuns are given a chance of forming a legitimate government in Afghanistan. Such type of government would surely succeed in playing a vital role for a long-term and deep rooted peace in the country.

Taliban are neither a generation nor a race; they are a philosophy. Philosophies are never limited to material boundaries. The US authorities must get rid of this misunderstanding that all Pashtuns are the Taliban. According to a recent survey, the Taliban are losing their popularity in all those areas where just a few years back they were very much popular and lovingly admired. The reason behind this loss of public support is nothing but the cruel terrorist activities going on in the name of Taliban. Suicidal attacks on innocent Pakistanis and Afghanis, the bomb blasts in the mosques and a whole sale massacre of the innocent Namaziz particularly during the Friday prayers have caused a grave loss to the Taliban mission. Moreover as a result of terrorist activities hundreds of Pashtuns living in Peshawar and adjoining areas have lost their lives. If the Taliban were Pashtuns, how could they deprive their own people of their lives in such a painful manner?

In fact the situation is very much confusing and ambiguous. Afghanistan has become a battlefield for various groups of fighters; some of them are striving for the safety of their motherland; some are doing jihad and so many others are taking care of foreign interests. No one is clear what is going to happen next. That is the reason that there are still countless people in Pakistan and Afghanistan who are not ready to accept that Taliban can be involved in such heinous kind of brutalities .They think that all this blood-shed is the artistic work of CIA and Raw and the motive behind is simply to defame the Taliban movement. It is also a fact that the supporters of Taliban are not willing to embrace the Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as the representative of the original and actual Taliban movement. Be it the Afghan Taliban or the TTP, the USA is measuring all of them with the same yard stick, taking them as Pashtuns. Sometimes US war on terror seems the war against the Pashtuns. USA could have been successful in its war against terror if this war were not ‘the war against Pashtuns’. This prejudice approach of the US policy makers towards the Pashtuns is giving birth to a reactionary disliking and unending anger in their hearts .It is the result of this anger and disliking that most of the Pashtuns go with the Taliban in spite of their ideological differences with them. Moreover the drone attacks are adding fuel to fire.

In such a horrid situation all policies of the USA and the Afghanistan government need to be revised. America is still following the old policy of spending money on warlords and old Mujahideens of eighties. All such efforts will once again go waste unless the Pashtuns are given their legitimate right to form government in Afghanistan. Hence change of present government and change in US policy is imperative to succeed in Afghanistan. Pakistan can play a positive role in Afghanistan but unfortunately the authorities that matter have created an environment of distrust between US and Pakistani leadership to manage affairs in Afghanistan. There is a need to overcome such misunderstandings by attending to Pakistan’s concerns and interests if USA is serious and sincere with reference to its objectives in Afghanistan.

The writer is a Pakistan based bilingual analyst on national and international strategic and defense affairs.

In search of the real Pakistan

With extremism on the rise, it is more important than ever to support the tolerant, peaceful elements of Pakistani society

Amil Khan
guardian.co.uk

A different side of Pakistani society … Labourers decorate a mosque in Islamabad. Photograph: Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

What exactly is Pakistan all about? The international media will tell you it’s one of the most dangerous places on earth, beset by sectarian warfare and religious extremism. Well-heeled Pakistanis beg to differ. Their country, they say, is made up of an irrepressible population that likes to buy the latest fashions, listen to the latest music and read poetry about mysticism.

In reality, Pakistan is both of those things and many more in between. The country has spent most of its existence ruled by military dictators, but each of them was regularly lampooned in newspaper cartoons. Today, it has a largely rural and conservative society but one of the country’s most popular talk show hosts is a Dame Edna-style transvestite. It has a politically engaged population that tunes into the many current affairs programmes broadcast on more than 70 private channels with enough regularity to make Pakistani news media one of the few in the world to turn a profit. Its largest media group has spearheaded an attack on the perceived corruption of politicians with a ferocity that makes the MPs’ expenses scandal in the UK pale in comparison.

Many Pakistanis distrust western intentions, but that doesn’t mean helping Pakistan involves battling the country’s character. Pakistan’s greatest strengths contribute to its most pressing problems. A governing ideology inherited from the British still values a free press and independent civil society. At the same time, a relatively hands-off approach to religion has allowed local extremists to build extensive local infrastructure with outside funding. As the world now knows, that extremism was nurtured and exploited by whisky-loving generals (with the tacit support of western powers) for short-term gain and has now turned against the state.

Extremism is not just limited to the Taliban in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) but is bleeding into the rest of society. In a restaurant tucked away in a corner of Islamabad’s upscale shopping district I met a 20-something Pakistani friend with an encyclopaedic knowledge of rap lyrics and Indian movie starlets. After ordering a beer from the restaurant’s illicit stash, he told me why he thought his more conservative relatives held the answer to Pakistan’s social and economic problems. “In my uncle’s family the women cover their faces and they have thrown out their television, banned music and disconnected the internet … They had the strength to follow Islam properly. I wish I had. If we all did, Pakistan would no longer be weak,” he said.

Yet many Pakistanis oppose this sort of outlook. And they aren’t just the rich, insulated and western-educated. In Attock, a small village on the border of Punjab and NWFP, I met local people who had decided that the growing extremism they were witnessing amongst their young men was down to the serious lack of educational opportunities, social services and proper Islamic knowledge. They are working on building a girls’ school, a hospital and a mosque with a teacher capable of challenging the cult of suicide bombings and the ideology of religiously sanctioned hate. However, despite America’s commitment to provide $7.5bn to strengthen Pakistani civil society over the next five years, the villagers of Attock – who lack the right connections – have been unable to find anyone to help them with their project.

For the last five months, I have been working in Pakistan on a project to support the many elements of Pakistan’s society who believe that hating other religions or different Islamic communities is against the nature of Islam. Our project, Karvaan-e-Amn (Caravan of Peace) has its work cut out, not because its message its alien, but because we are trying to argue against an ideology that has been purposely built up over 30 years with millions of dollars worth of foreign funding.

Pakistan’s future is far from decided. It needs help to become a peaceful, prosperous and stable country, and those who stand ready to assist will find allies from across its diverse society. They might also be surprised by a nation that dearly wants to prove wrong its portrayal in the international media.

Tahir ul Quadri: The cleric who dares terrorism

ByMohammed Al Shafey

London, Asharq Al-Awsat-Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri is the Pakistani Islamic scholar who recently made headlines with the publication of his 600-page fatwa prohibiting suicide bombing. Ul-Qadri is one of Pakistan’s most prominent clerics, and he believes that his fatwa represents a complete theological rebuttal of every argument used by Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. In his fatwa, Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri asserts that terrorists do not go to heaven but instead are bound for hell, and he utilizes Quranic references, hadith, and scholarly interpretations to reinforce his opinion. Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri told Asharq Al-Awsat that he hopes his fatwa will have an affect on the ground and prevent Muslim youth from becoming brainwashed by terrorist ideology.

Ul-Qadri is the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Qur’an International [MQI] which has branches in more than 90 countries around the world and which works to promote peace and harmony between communities. Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri is also the founder of the Minhaj Welfare Foundation and the Minhaj International University. Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri has published a vast number of Islamic scholarly texts, and he is well known for being a promoter of inter-faith dialogue and a strong critic of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

The following is the text of the interview:

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Have you previously issued any fatwas against terrorism?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] I have written 1000 books, 400 books have already been published about one dozen of those books I have written on this particular subject. The first book that I wrote was on this subject and that was in 1995 and it was from the standpoint of human rights. In the first question in the discussion [section] of this book which was published in February 1995, I wrote that the killing of Muslims and non-Muslims in terrorist operations is totally prohibited, and then I quoted about 200 pages on this particular subject. This was in 1995, and soon after 9-11 I wrote this book on human rights; it is called Muqaddima as-Sira and is on the pattern of Muqaddima Ibn Khaldun and I included all of these discussions in this book which is made up of two volumes. I then wrote my second book which was published in 2004 and called Human Rights in Islam. Two thirds of this book is on this particular subject, but it was not in the form of fatwa it was just a research book about human rights and non-Muslims rights and property rights [in Islam].

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Is there a particular reason behind the timing of your issuance of this fatwa prohibiting suicide operations?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] The reason that I issued a fatwa at this particular time is because terrorism has become stronger in Pakistan over the past year, and they have begun slaughtering people like sacrificial animals. Some eye-witnesses have even said that they have unearthed the bodies of people that were killed and hung from trees for days…this was done in Sawat [in Pakistan] where many people were slaughtered. They then started targeting mosques on Friday, and this happened in Karachi, not to mention the Army Mosque in Islamabad, and also [mosques in] Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Kohat, and many other places.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What do you think about the call for dialogue with the Taliban in order to calm the situation and restore security and stability to the country?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] When such [terrorist] activities began targeting the people praying, first many ulema and scholars and some political leaders went for a dialogue with them [the terrorists] in Sawat…the Pakistani government went for dialogue, but the process stalled, because they [the terrorists] did not act on the basis that they were in a condition of dialogue. Therefore they returned to attacking mosques and schools, and everything was closed, and the same killing resumed.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Why are religious scholars in Pakistan hesitant about condemning terrorism or terrorist groups?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] I saw many scholars silent on this subject, and they were merely demanding that this military operation be stopped. They were not ready to condemn the terrorists for their terrorist activity. Secondly, if they were asked why they refused to condemn the terrorists, they would try to drag the subject to other issues; they were not interested in addressing this.

Some ulema condemned the acts of terrorists, but these were merely condemnations, they were decisions of one of two pages along with the signatures of hundreds of ulema, but they did not contain any evidence or [citation of] authorities on which grounds this condemnation should be based. There no Quranic or hadith references to convince the brainwashed youth.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Are the political scholars in Pakistan afraid of violence from Al Qaeda or the Taliban? Could this be a factor in their reluctance to issue condemnations?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] One reason is that many of the scholars are perhaps scared that if anybody declares any decree of fatwa, he is murdered. Over the last twenty years perhaps more than sixty ulema have been murdered either as a result of sectarian terrorism or during the present wave of terrorism. Hassan Ilahi al-Zahir was murdered, and until today nobody knows who was responsible for this. Recently, Dr. Sur-Firas al-Naeimi gave a very small verbal condemnation of terrorism, and he was murdered by a suicide bomber at his madrassa.

Therefore one reason is that they are scared, because there is no protection in Pakistan for anybody. Second is the political reason, because all of these terrorists originate from the North West Frontier Province [NWFP]; from Sawat, from Peshawar, from Waziristan, and most of the ulema have political constituencies in that region. Therefore they find themselves needing to win the votes of the residents of this area…so they have vested political interests. Therefore if they issue a verdict [against terrorism] they issue it with ifs and buts, or with conditions and excuses, and this confuses the youth. Therefore I thought that there should be a fatwa without any conditions and excuses, but with absolute condemnation.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] How would you describe the Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and their ideologues that push the youth to commit suicide operations?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] These are the ones who brainwash the youth, until they carry out suicide bombings believing that this is jihad. They are the Kharijites of today, according to the hadith the Kharijites “are the dogs of hellfire” because they diverge from the true path and bring division amongst the Muslim community. They believe that this is a kind of jihad and that they will go to heaven, but they will not go to heaven.

These young suicide bombers have been brainwashed, they believe they will become heroes of the ummah, but this is not true at all, they will become heroes of hell, and they will be commemorated there. They are not going to heaven, they are going to hellfire.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What about countries like Iraq and Afghanistan? Does this fatwa apply to suicide attacks in these countries?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] This is different. When there is warfare in any country, and you are fighting in a battlefield where everybody is killing one another, then everything is permissible during warfare. However even during warfare there are hadith narrated in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that confirm that during warfare you cannot kill women, children, or old people; this is haram. You [also] cannot kill their priests, their animals, burn their trees, destroy their property, or kill their farmers; this is the Hadith of the holy prophet [pbuh] prior to the battle of Tabouk. The Quranic verse is also clear, and states “Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors. [Surat Al-Baqara; Verse 190]“

This is the Sunnah of our Holy Prophet that is for all mankind. Islam is a great religion, but look at the unfortunate situation that we find ourselves in, people are losing their lives in the mosques and on the streets, they are being killed sleeping in their houses, they are being killed in the markets; the women, the aged, the children, so there is no justification [for this]. These terrorists of Al Qaeda and the Taliban are tarnishing the image of Islam with their indiscriminate killing of innocent people in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, New York, London, and Madrid.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Were you in contact with any scholars and sheikhs in the Arab region before issuing your fatwa?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] I am in contact with them almost continually, along with my students, thank God, in all areas of the Arab world.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Every day we are seeing suicide operations being carried out against the Americans, so how can anybody justify this?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] Whenever a suicide bomber carries out an operation that results in the death of innocent people then this is prohibited and totally haram. Islamic teachings say that it is better to leave 99 sinful people than kill one innocent person, and as the Holy Quran says “whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind [Surat al-Maeda; Verse 32].” This verse reveals two things, killing of a person is a sin, it is haram, and considering this killing lawful, this is blasphemy.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups brainwash the youth saying that if they undertake suicide operations they will go to heaven where they will have 72 virgins, is this true?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] Absolutely not! Absolutely not! This is rubbish!

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Where are they going then?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] They are going to hell. They are going to hell, because they are killing human beings, they are killing women, children, old people. They kill the innocent, non-combatants, and so they are going to hell. The prophet peace be upon him said that “whoever kills a person who has a truce with the Muslims will never smell the fragrance of Paradise” while in another hadith the Prophet confirmed they would go to hell.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you believe your fatwa will have an effect in Pakistan, on the Taliban?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] Let me create a distinction. There are three kinds of people that you can consider to be on the extremist terrorist side. Firstly there are the extremist leaders. The second category are those who are 100 percent brainwashed; they have no ability to understand, they are not open to reason, or they are in a situation where no book can reach them. I would exclude these two categories of people. Next are the thousands of youth who have not yet reached this point, but who are already proceeding along this path, and they have the potential to become extremists and terrorists. These youths number in the thousands, they are much larger in number [than the previous two categories] and they will definitely be affected by this fatwa, because it is aimed at them. They will hear about it through the media, and they may also be aware of my name.

The majority of these youth belong to different countries, and they aware that I never talk without authority. I never say a single thing without the authority of the Quran, the Sunnah, or the authority of the great imams. So they will be obliged to read it. We are going to prepare DVDs and online video recordings [of this fatwa], and they will read the Quranic verses and the tafsir [Quranic interpretation] and the hadith and the great authorities, and they will definitely have to change their minds. They will discover that what they were taught is a different story, and this [fatwa] is an absolutely different teaching. This will create doubt in their mind and they will be obliged to read this again and again and I hope – God willing – that Almighty God will grant them wisdom.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] How effectively do you believe a fatwa can influence the situation on the ground?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] It can influence the potential extremists and terrorists. They will be influenced by the fatwa when they read or listen to it, because they are Muslims, and there is a room to understand what the Quran, or the words of the great imams like Sheikh Ibn Baz or al-Albani or Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Tammiyah. However they were tricked into listening to al-Zawahiri and Bin Laden and the Kharijites of today, and it is the role of imams and scholars to reveal the “deviant ideologies.” They have only been listening to one side of the story, and I am sure they were never taught that killing innocents leads to hell. When they come across the dozens of hadiths [to this effect] they will be shocked; so this is how we will change their minds.

They are confused whether their acts of terrorism and killing people is right or wrong, they are stuck in the middle path, so when they read [this fatwa] the concept of terrorism will become clear to them and they will be able to differentiate between the right way and wrong way of defending their rights.

Islam suggests peaceful means of protest, and regime change. I think the more [such fatwas] are available to the people, the more it will be able to gradually change the situation on the ground.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] How would you describe the terrorist ideologues and leaders?

[Tahir ul-Qadri] I will describe them categorically, and according to Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Tammiyah, who said that they were the “Kharijites of today.” The Holy Prophet said that they will continue to emerge in my ummah throughout history, their presence is continuous, and the last of them will emerge with the Masih ad-Dajjal [false Messiah]. They are not going to heaven, they are going to hellfire.

Shahbaz is loyal to Punjab at Pakistan’s expense

By Shafiq Awan

We appreciate Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s late night visit to a number of bomb-stricken areas in Allama Iqbal Town, a move that boosted Lahori spirits against terrorism.

There is no doubt that such visits by a high-profile personality, at a time when the city was under the grip of terror, invigorates public valor. Our political contingent is determined to rid of the menace of extremism, but this aim cannot be achieved without an effective administration.

The CM’s appeal, asking the Taliban not to target Punjab, since both the terrorist group and the provincial government have the same views over foreign dictation has shocked many. I believe his statement will lead to further controversy and that Sindh and NWFP should have serious reservation over it. His love for Punjab cannot be doubted, but shouldn’t he be making an appeal for the safety of the entire country?

The residents of Iqbal Town were still mourning the loss of 75 of their loved ones who were lost in the Moon Market blast in December 2009, while the recent wave of terror has further shaken their confidence in law enforcement agencies. What were out law enforcement agencies doing when the terrorists struck our citizens? Where were our Patrolling Police, Muhafiz Force, Quick Response Force, Mujahid Squad, Elite force? Where were those responsible for protecting the masses?

After the RA Bazaar blasts and the first two explosions in Iqbal Town, law enforcers should have become extra vigilant. Iqbal Town Circle Superintendent of Police Nasir Iqbal Rizvi stubbornly repeated that the Iqbal Town blasts were low-intensity and triggered by home made “crackers”, but the Bomb Disposal Squad refuted the claim and declared that the series of blasts were carried out using time device.

How can a home-made “cracker” so badly damage a car? One couldn’t help but notice how all the nameplates outside police officers’ residences were removed following the Iqbal Town blasts.

A senior police officer told me that law enforcers had not been prepared to deal with any possible threat in the Iqbal Town region after the RA Bazaar attack. No special measures or patrolling was designed to counter a possible threat in the area. If any number of security personnel had been deployed in the area after the first two blasts, the terrorists would have known that “Lahore was ready”. But the terror spree was allowed to continue.

A senior police officer complained that police officials had been “bullied” in the CM’s meeting on law and order after the blast. My dear officer, the CM’s concerns after the RA Bazaar attack and the woeful planning after the series of blasts in Iqbal Town were genuine. To avoid any harsh treatment in the future, you should really be extra vigilant. Shahbaz was right in his claims that his government were providing all facilities to police, ranging from finances to strategic facilities, but law enforcers should at least plan well to compensate for their performance.

The said police officer admitted that the series of blasts in Iqbal Town could have been averted if police had been vigilant. He dispelled the impression that cops had locked themselves in their safe houses after the blasts. To a question as to why police had failed to reach the blast site on time, he excused himself by saying that the delay had been caused by being ill prepared for the attack.

I disagree with the notion that police had not planned appropriately. In fact, capability is the first step to competence. Only afterwards does planning hold any importance. Our police lacks the capability to deal with such situations and it had dedicated itself to exercise third degree tortures, stage encounters, converting police stations into concentration camps and converting cops into proverbial scarecrows.

The CM directed police to collect evidence and protect crime scenes like the military did after the RA Bazaar blasts. A senior police officer complained about how journalists crowded on to blast sites, “which distorts potential evidence”. This might be true, but it can be avoided by making the crime scene a “no go area” for every person except security personnel and emergency services’ personnel. Police have a right to treat journalists the same as everyone else.

Militants storm NGO office in Mansehra

Two women among six staff members killed, seven injured

MANSEHRA: Six staff members, including two women, were killed and seven others sustained injuries when over a dozen armed men wearing masks attacked the office of a non-governmental organisation in Oghi on Wednesday.

Police said that over a dozen militants attacked the World Vision office with guns and grenades in Oghi town in Mansehra, killing six staff members and injuring seven others. All of the victims were of Pakistani origin, they said.

An official of the World Vision, Muhammad Sajid, who was present in his office at that time, told reporters the gunmen made the staff members hostage in a hall and then dragged them to an adjacent room and killed them one by one. The gunmen also snatched cash, cell phones and other valuables from the hostages.

Before fleeing the scene, the masked militants detonated an explosive device, damaging the rented building occupied by the charity. According to the bomb disposal unit, about 10 kilograms of explosives were used in the explosion creating a four feet deep crater at the bombing location.

Those killed in the incident were identified as engineer Muhammad Ayaz (Swat), advocacy officer Muhammad Jamshed (Mardan), engineer Muhammad Fahim (Abbottabad), Liaqat Khan (Mansehra), Kehkashan Bibi, Abbottabad) and Zaryab Bibi (Mansehra).

The injured identified as Qazi Hamid, Muhammad Abid, Muhammad Sohail, Munir Ahmad, Imtiaz, Khushboo Bibi and Zahida Bibi were rushed to field hospital in Oghi wherefrom three critically injured were taken to the Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad. Those with minor wounds were discharged after first aid.

It was the second attack of its kind in Mansehra. Earlier, in February 2008, four aid workers of British-based group Plan International were killed in a similar gun and grenade attack in Mansehra.

World Vision has been working in the area since October 8, 2005 earthquake, which had killed about 73,000 people and left at least 3.5 million homeless. Sources said a search operation was launched in the area after the attack but no arrest was made till filing of this report.

Eyewitnesses said that some 15-armed militants disappeared into a mountainous area after the attack. They added that the militants were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and hand-grenades.

NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti condemned the incident and said the perpetrators of the heinous crime would not go unpunished. The US Embassy in Pakistan also condemned the terrorist attack. “We extend our deepest sympathy to the injured and offer condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the tragedy,” said a statement issued by the embassy.