Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Analysis on recent Talat Hussain show with Imran Khan (please read and comment)
آج میں نے طلعت حسین کا پروگرام
دیکھا جو اس نے عمران خان کے ساتھ کیا اور اس سے یو ایس ڈرون کے حوالے سے
اسکی پالیسی پر بحث کی۔ کچھ بھی کہنے سے پہلے میں یہ کہہ دوں کہ میں طلعت
کی عزت کرتا ہوں اور اسے جینوین جرنلسٹ سمجھتا ہوں اور وہ پاکستان کا فخرہے
اور میری اسکے بارے میں راے یہ پروگرام دیکھنے کے بعد بھی وہی ہے۔
میں طلعت صاحب کے اس پروگرام کا تنقیدی جایزہ آپ کے سامنے رکھنا چاہتاہوں۔ طلعت نے عمران سے پوچھا کہ آپکے اس مارچ سے یو ایس ڈرون سے بمباری تو نہیں روکنے والا۔
میں طلعت کی اس بات سے بالکل متفق ہوں ۔ تو پھر اسکا حل کیا ہے؟ کیا چپ کرکے بیٹھنا چاہیے یقینا یہ حل تو نہیں ہے ۔ دوسری بات یہ ہے کہ پی ٹی آیی اپنی موجودہ حیثیت میں اور کیا کرسکتی ہے ۔ زیادہ سے زیادہ یہی کرسکتی ہے جو اس نے کیا۔ باقی کے سوالات اگر طلعت آصف علی زرداری کا ایسا ہی انٹرویو کرکے پوچھ لیں یا فارن منسٹر کو ہی بلالیں اور اس سے اتنے ہی سخت سوال پوچھ لیں تو بہتر نہ ہوتا۔ کیونکہ مسلہ تو ویسے بھی اسی طرح موجود ہے اور ملیٹینٹ ختم تو نہیں ہو گیے اور نہ ہی ختم ہوں گے۔
پھر عمران نے جب یہ کہا کہ اگر پی ٹی آیی کی حکومت آیی تو ہم امریکہ سے کہیں گے کہ وہ ڈرون بھیجنے ختم کریں اور ہمیں یہ جنگ اپنے طریقے سے لڑنے دیں۔ تو طلعت نے کہا کہ اگر انہوں نے بند نہ کیا تو عمران نے سلامتی کونسل میں شکایت درج کروانے کی بات کی تو طلعت نے ایک اور مفروضہ سامنے رکھ دیا کہ وہ کہے گی کہ آپکی سرزمین سے دہشت گرد آپریٹ کرتے ہیں اور امریکے کو ان سے خطرہ ہے ۔ اب مجھے یہاں طلعت صاحب جیسے ذہین صحافی سے یہ توقع نہیں تھی کہ وہ ایسا کہیں گے۔ پہلی تو بات یہ ہے کہ جب سلامتی کونسل یہ کہے گی تو پاکستان کو یہ کہنا چاہیے کہ آخری بار کب ایسا اقدام اٹھایا گیا جب یہاں پر آپریٹ کرنے والے دہشت گردوں نے امریکہ کی سالمیت پر حملہ کیا۔ لیکن یہ ضرور ہوا کہ امریکہ نے اس مفروضے کے تحت عراق اور افغانستان کو تہس نہس کردیا اور پاکستان کی سالمیت پر وہ روز حملے کرتا ہے۔ اسلیے یو این کا یہ نقطہ تو یہیں غلط ثابت ہو جاے گا۔ دوسری بات یہ ہے کہ پاکستان یو ایس کو ڈرون نہ بھیجنے کی درخواست کے ساتھ یہ گارنٹی بھی دے گا کہ کویی دہشت گرد پاکستان کی سرزمین سے آپریٹ نہیں کرے گا کیونکہ نہ صرف ڈرون ہمارے ملک کی سالمیت پر حملہ ہیں وہاں ان ملیٹنٹ اور دہشت گرد بھی ہمارے ملک کے لیے خطرہ ہیں سو آپ ان ڈرونز کو روکیں تاکہ ہم ان تشدد پسندوں کو قابو کرسکیں۔ اسطرح دونوں کا مسلہ حل ہو جاے گا اور اگر پھر بھی آپ ڈرون بھیجنے پر بضد ہیں تو یہ ٹیکنالوجی ہمیں دے دیں تاکہ ہم اپنے لوگوں کو یہ کنونس کر سکیں کہ یہ ڈرون امریکی نہیں بلکہ ہم مار رہے ہیں۔
اب طلعت صاحب نے ایک اور بات کی جو کہ مجھے بحث براے بحث کے علاوہ کچھ نہیں تھی کہ اگر ایسا بھی نہ ہوا اور ویسا بھی نہ ہوا تو پھر آپ کیا کریں گے تو جناب عمران کیا کویی بھی صحیح لیڈر ہو گا تو وہ یہی کہیے گا جو عمران نے کہا کہ ڈرون گرادیں گے ۔ کیا آپ یہ چاہتے تھے کہ عمران آپ سے یہ کہتا کہ ٹھیک ہے پھر ہم کیا کرسکتے ہیں بس مارتے رہیں ڈرون اور ہم دیکھتے رہیں گے ۔ اگر طلعت اس بات سے خوش ہو تا تو طلعت کی پالیسی پر تو موجودہ حکومت چل رہی ہے ۔ پھر طلعت کا یہ کہنا کہ اسکا مطلب ہے آپ قوم اور پاکستان کو جنگ میں جھونک دیں گے تو جناب اگر کویی ملک آپکو اتنا دیوار کیساتھ لگا دے تو آپ کیا کریں گے آپ نے فوج کیا انڈے دینے کے لیے رکھی ہے اسکا آدھا بجٹ کیا چنے چبانے کے لیے دیتے ہیں۔ اگر ایسا ہے تو انکا بوریا بستر گول کریں اور دیں اپنی سکیورٹی کی ذما داری امریکہ کو جیسے بہت سے ملکوں نے کیا ہوا ہے اور مزے سے رہیں امریکہ کی ایک کالونی بنکر۔
یہا ں ایک اور پہلو کو بھی طلعت صاحب نے نظرانداز کردیا ہے اور وہ یہ کہ جب پاکستان یہ مقدمہ سلامتی کونسل میں لیکر جاے گا تو اس سے پہلے اس علاقے کے کچھ اور سٹیک ہولڈرز کو بھی اعتماد میں لے گا اور وہ ہیں روس اور چین۔ امریکہ جب پاکستان سے بلاوجہ جنگ کرے گا تو کیا یہ دونوں منہ اٹھا کر تماشہ دیکھیں گے کیا ۔ روس کو پاکستان سے دلچسپی ہو یا نہ ہو لیکن وہ امریکہ کی بجانے کے لیے ہر ممکن کوشش کرنے کے لیے تیار ہو گیا اگر پاکستان اپنے پتے عقلمندی سے کھیلتا ہے تو اور چین تو ویسے ہی پاکستان کا دوست ہے اگر پاکستان اصولی موقف پر ہوا تو وہ اسکا ساتھ ضرور دے گا ۔ ویسے بھی چین امریکہ کو اس خطے میں قدم جمانے کی کبھی اجازت نہیں دے سکتا۔ مجھے افسوس ہوا کہ طلعت حسین جیسے چاروں طرف سے سوچنے والا صحافی اتنے اہم پہلو کیسے نظر انداز کرسکتا ہے
آخر میں مجھے عمران سے شکوہ ہے جب طلعت نے یہ کہا تھا کہ کیا آپ پوری قوم کو جنگ میں جھونک دیں تو عمران کو کہنا چاہیے تھا کہ اگر ہمیں کویی اتنا دیوار کے ساتھ لگاے گا تو جہاد پاکستانی قوم کے لیے فرض ہو جاے گا اور پھر فیصلہ کرنا پڑے گا کہ مسلمان اور مومن بن کرزندہ رہنا ہے یا بزدل منافق بنکر ۔ تب میں اپنی قوم سے خطاب کروں گا اور پوری قوم کو اعتماد میں لیکر امریکہ سے جنگ کروں گا کہ ہم مسلمان ہیں جو ہمیشہ امن کو قایم کرنے کی حتی الوسع کوشش کرتا ہے لیکن جب اس پر جہاد واجب ہو جاتا ہے تو وہ یہ نہیں سوچتا کہ دشمن کتنا طاقتور ہے ۔ وہ اقبال نے کیا خوب اس موقع کے لیے کہا ہے
آ تجھ کو بتاوں کہ تقدیر امم کیا ہے
شمشیرو ثنا اول طاوس و رباب آخر
میں طلعت صاحب کے اس پروگرام کا تنقیدی جایزہ آپ کے سامنے رکھنا چاہتاہوں۔ طلعت نے عمران سے پوچھا کہ آپکے اس مارچ سے یو ایس ڈرون سے بمباری تو نہیں روکنے والا۔
میں طلعت کی اس بات سے بالکل متفق ہوں ۔ تو پھر اسکا حل کیا ہے؟ کیا چپ کرکے بیٹھنا چاہیے یقینا یہ حل تو نہیں ہے ۔ دوسری بات یہ ہے کہ پی ٹی آیی اپنی موجودہ حیثیت میں اور کیا کرسکتی ہے ۔ زیادہ سے زیادہ یہی کرسکتی ہے جو اس نے کیا۔ باقی کے سوالات اگر طلعت آصف علی زرداری کا ایسا ہی انٹرویو کرکے پوچھ لیں یا فارن منسٹر کو ہی بلالیں اور اس سے اتنے ہی سخت سوال پوچھ لیں تو بہتر نہ ہوتا۔ کیونکہ مسلہ تو ویسے بھی اسی طرح موجود ہے اور ملیٹینٹ ختم تو نہیں ہو گیے اور نہ ہی ختم ہوں گے۔
پھر عمران نے جب یہ کہا کہ اگر پی ٹی آیی کی حکومت آیی تو ہم امریکہ سے کہیں گے کہ وہ ڈرون بھیجنے ختم کریں اور ہمیں یہ جنگ اپنے طریقے سے لڑنے دیں۔ تو طلعت نے کہا کہ اگر انہوں نے بند نہ کیا تو عمران نے سلامتی کونسل میں شکایت درج کروانے کی بات کی تو طلعت نے ایک اور مفروضہ سامنے رکھ دیا کہ وہ کہے گی کہ آپکی سرزمین سے دہشت گرد آپریٹ کرتے ہیں اور امریکے کو ان سے خطرہ ہے ۔ اب مجھے یہاں طلعت صاحب جیسے ذہین صحافی سے یہ توقع نہیں تھی کہ وہ ایسا کہیں گے۔ پہلی تو بات یہ ہے کہ جب سلامتی کونسل یہ کہے گی تو پاکستان کو یہ کہنا چاہیے کہ آخری بار کب ایسا اقدام اٹھایا گیا جب یہاں پر آپریٹ کرنے والے دہشت گردوں نے امریکہ کی سالمیت پر حملہ کیا۔ لیکن یہ ضرور ہوا کہ امریکہ نے اس مفروضے کے تحت عراق اور افغانستان کو تہس نہس کردیا اور پاکستان کی سالمیت پر وہ روز حملے کرتا ہے۔ اسلیے یو این کا یہ نقطہ تو یہیں غلط ثابت ہو جاے گا۔ دوسری بات یہ ہے کہ پاکستان یو ایس کو ڈرون نہ بھیجنے کی درخواست کے ساتھ یہ گارنٹی بھی دے گا کہ کویی دہشت گرد پاکستان کی سرزمین سے آپریٹ نہیں کرے گا کیونکہ نہ صرف ڈرون ہمارے ملک کی سالمیت پر حملہ ہیں وہاں ان ملیٹنٹ اور دہشت گرد بھی ہمارے ملک کے لیے خطرہ ہیں سو آپ ان ڈرونز کو روکیں تاکہ ہم ان تشدد پسندوں کو قابو کرسکیں۔ اسطرح دونوں کا مسلہ حل ہو جاے گا اور اگر پھر بھی آپ ڈرون بھیجنے پر بضد ہیں تو یہ ٹیکنالوجی ہمیں دے دیں تاکہ ہم اپنے لوگوں کو یہ کنونس کر سکیں کہ یہ ڈرون امریکی نہیں بلکہ ہم مار رہے ہیں۔
اب طلعت صاحب نے ایک اور بات کی جو کہ مجھے بحث براے بحث کے علاوہ کچھ نہیں تھی کہ اگر ایسا بھی نہ ہوا اور ویسا بھی نہ ہوا تو پھر آپ کیا کریں گے تو جناب عمران کیا کویی بھی صحیح لیڈر ہو گا تو وہ یہی کہیے گا جو عمران نے کہا کہ ڈرون گرادیں گے ۔ کیا آپ یہ چاہتے تھے کہ عمران آپ سے یہ کہتا کہ ٹھیک ہے پھر ہم کیا کرسکتے ہیں بس مارتے رہیں ڈرون اور ہم دیکھتے رہیں گے ۔ اگر طلعت اس بات سے خوش ہو تا تو طلعت کی پالیسی پر تو موجودہ حکومت چل رہی ہے ۔ پھر طلعت کا یہ کہنا کہ اسکا مطلب ہے آپ قوم اور پاکستان کو جنگ میں جھونک دیں گے تو جناب اگر کویی ملک آپکو اتنا دیوار کیساتھ لگا دے تو آپ کیا کریں گے آپ نے فوج کیا انڈے دینے کے لیے رکھی ہے اسکا آدھا بجٹ کیا چنے چبانے کے لیے دیتے ہیں۔ اگر ایسا ہے تو انکا بوریا بستر گول کریں اور دیں اپنی سکیورٹی کی ذما داری امریکہ کو جیسے بہت سے ملکوں نے کیا ہوا ہے اور مزے سے رہیں امریکہ کی ایک کالونی بنکر۔
یہا ں ایک اور پہلو کو بھی طلعت صاحب نے نظرانداز کردیا ہے اور وہ یہ کہ جب پاکستان یہ مقدمہ سلامتی کونسل میں لیکر جاے گا تو اس سے پہلے اس علاقے کے کچھ اور سٹیک ہولڈرز کو بھی اعتماد میں لے گا اور وہ ہیں روس اور چین۔ امریکہ جب پاکستان سے بلاوجہ جنگ کرے گا تو کیا یہ دونوں منہ اٹھا کر تماشہ دیکھیں گے کیا ۔ روس کو پاکستان سے دلچسپی ہو یا نہ ہو لیکن وہ امریکہ کی بجانے کے لیے ہر ممکن کوشش کرنے کے لیے تیار ہو گیا اگر پاکستان اپنے پتے عقلمندی سے کھیلتا ہے تو اور چین تو ویسے ہی پاکستان کا دوست ہے اگر پاکستان اصولی موقف پر ہوا تو وہ اسکا ساتھ ضرور دے گا ۔ ویسے بھی چین امریکہ کو اس خطے میں قدم جمانے کی کبھی اجازت نہیں دے سکتا۔ مجھے افسوس ہوا کہ طلعت حسین جیسے چاروں طرف سے سوچنے والا صحافی اتنے اہم پہلو کیسے نظر انداز کرسکتا ہے
آخر میں مجھے عمران سے شکوہ ہے جب طلعت نے یہ کہا تھا کہ کیا آپ پوری قوم کو جنگ میں جھونک دیں تو عمران کو کہنا چاہیے تھا کہ اگر ہمیں کویی اتنا دیوار کے ساتھ لگاے گا تو جہاد پاکستانی قوم کے لیے فرض ہو جاے گا اور پھر فیصلہ کرنا پڑے گا کہ مسلمان اور مومن بن کرزندہ رہنا ہے یا بزدل منافق بنکر ۔ تب میں اپنی قوم سے خطاب کروں گا اور پوری قوم کو اعتماد میں لیکر امریکہ سے جنگ کروں گا کہ ہم مسلمان ہیں جو ہمیشہ امن کو قایم کرنے کی حتی الوسع کوشش کرتا ہے لیکن جب اس پر جہاد واجب ہو جاتا ہے تو وہ یہ نہیں سوچتا کہ دشمن کتنا طاقتور ہے ۔ وہ اقبال نے کیا خوب اس موقع کے لیے کہا ہے
آ تجھ کو بتاوں کہ تقدیر امم کیا ہے
شمشیرو ثنا اول طاوس و رباب آخر
An Unsung Hero of Modern History: Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman
An Unsung Hero of Modern History: Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman
PKKH Exclusive | by Mariam Shah
“General Akhtar was the architect of the Afghan Jihad. It was he who advocated Pakistani participation, it was he who devised the overall military strategy, and it was he who supervised its implementation so skillfully that the Mujahedeen defeated a superpower” (Brig Retd Muhammad Yusaf)
Buried in the Army graveyard in Rawalpindi, this unsung brave man is one of the true heroes of this land, who defeated a world super power in the Afghan jihad. He was a silent soldier who crafted the destruction plan of the Soviet Union at the hands of the Mujahedeen. He showed passion, commitment, intelligence and the warrior spirit of the great Islamic conquerors. He gave a spark to and ignited the lifeless intelligence agency of Pakistan and made it one of the finest and a dynamic spy agency of the world. Through his tireless and tacit efforts, ISI played an important part in the destruction of the Soviet Union. He was the real architect of the Soviet defeat and worked as a mason, building day and night, to turn the tables on the enemies of Islam. With his foresight, commitment and dedication he increased the power and effect of the ISI as an intelligence agency. He was a background player and executed his plans from behind the curtain.
The anecdote of General Akhtar Abdul Rahman’s life, who is one of the finest generals of Pakistan army, is that being a child he would never have know that he will become a mastermind for the devastation of a world super power. He was born on 11 June 1924 and his father, Dr. Abdul Rehman died when he was three and a half years old. He completed his high school education from the Ajnala High school and after that he entered the Islamia College Amritsar. Then he joined Government College Lahore and did his masters in economics in 1945. Soon after completing his education he joined the Army and was commissioned in 1946. He led the journey of his life without a father, not knowing that he is going to even the scores with a super power in the near future; he was raised and educated by his mother.
He joined the Indian army in 1945 and was commissioned in 1946. Akhtar was a very junior artillery officer at the time of the partition of India and the birth of Pakistan. He witnessed the unspeakable horrors of the partition and was dismayed by the brutalities committed by Hindus and Sikhs against Muslims during the course. The whole traumatic episode left a deep mark inside him and it was never forgotten nor forgiven by him. After this, for the rest of his life he considered India as a relentless enemy both for his country and his religion. He fought in three wars (1948, 1965, and 1971) with India and defended the beloved land. He had several appointments before he was offered the position of DG ISI.
In 1979, General Akhtar was offered a very important and coveted position of Director General Inter Services Intelligence. He headed the intelligence agency and built it as a very effective military institution which impacted both national and international affairs. Within the span off seven years he, along with his potential and loyal team, gave life to ISI and made it one of the most vibrant and effective institution. He conceived and crafted the plans to deal with the Soviet Union through the Afghan Mujahedeen and covert guerilla fighters from Pakistan.
In the wake of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan there were apprehensions that they might attack Pakistan too, so there were many potential threats to the security of Pakistan at that time. After the initial years of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, the military leadership under General Zia decided to fight with soviets and to teach them a lesson, even before the American assistance initiated through CIA. At that time US President Jimmy Carter was entangled in the internal dilemmas and threats which emerged after the hostage crisis in Iran, so no considerable assistance was provided. In the beginning Gen Akhtar was alone in considering that he can force the Soviet forces out of Afghanistan, he was way too optimistic. He was of the view that Pakistan should support the Jihad covertly.
America followed the “wait and see” policy as they believed that Soviet troops would take over Afghanistan in few weeks. So they did not offer any support as they thought of Afghanistan as a lost case; so why throw good money and provoke the Soviets by supporting the Mujahedeen. The US also thought that Afghan resistance cannot go more than six months, so they didn’t bothered to assist, but once they witnessed the slaughter of soviet troops at the hands of Afghan Mujahedeen, they changed their plan and fueled the money inside. It should be very clear that when USA sensed the victory in Afghanistan at the hands of Mujahedeen then they initiated the aid and assistance. When Reagan came in the White House he announced an aid package for Pakistan, which Gen Zia accepted. Although the covert operations by ISI were funded by CIA but Pakistan became a frontline state and Afghanistan a battle ground. In making Afghanistan a “graveyard of a super power”, ISI in general and General Akhtar played a central role and made the Soviet pullout inevitable. To come face to face with a super power like Russia was not a joke nor it was that simple, but Gen Akhtar was determined to wipe them out, and he never looked back once he had come to his decision.
When Gen Akhtar took the command of ISI as DG, he started each and every task from the scratch. It was a very major task to provide assistance to Afghan Mujahedeen at every front. But there was no such strategy and plan to deal with all the emerging scenes, never dealt with by the Pak forces before. Gen Akhtar was solely responsible for devising and executing plans and organizing massive covert military operations against the Soviets. He established training centers and many army officials were made responsible to train the Afghan Mujahedeen, equipping them with warfare strategies and necessity skills so that they would be able to defend their homeland against the Soviet invasion. ISI trained the guerilla fighters and even a few army soldiers were trained to assist, guide and fight with the Mujahedeens in Afghanistan in the covert operations. Gen Akhtar established a very close relation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan, and with the State Department, especially the branch that interacted constantly with the CIA. Gen Zia managed the diplomatic affairs and Gen Akhtar directed and led the troops in the ground. The constant nine years of training, guidance and military assistance to guerilla fighters in Afghanistan by ISI, demolished the base of the Soviets and claimed around 13000 lives of soviet troops. The world stood in surprise and shock as less trained, less equipped and sometimes illiterate guerilla fighters defeated the well trained and highly equipped army of thousands.
Gen Akhtar was on the hit list of KGB and huge prize-money was put on his head, but he fearlessly involved himself in the planning and execution of the jihad, and never bothered about the personal threats which emerged against him. He not only countered the communist threat but pushed them back in the hell. He was an inborn strategist, as the way he articulated the guerilla warfare against a conventional army is still unparalleled. He was sharp at the diplomatic end as well and dealt at all fronts with intelligence and open mindedness. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan owe a lot to him, as he fought for the cause of the Ummah. He died in a fatal plane crash on 17th August 1988 near Bahawalpur and was never able to see the dawn of the Afghan Mujahedeen and fall of the Soviet Union.
He had a complex personality, as he never showed his emotions nor ever revealed himself outside his family. As an individual he was too honest and upright as he always reported what was going on, never overlooking anybody including his own staff, but Zia never reacted. He was very straight and never accepted corruption on the other hand Zia seemed to accept corruption as a way of life in Pakistan, and would not sack individuals for this offence. He never encouraged nor was he an admirer of favors and popularity. He was very crucial for the Afghan Jihad and he worked closely with Gen Zia on national and international matters. Based on his competence, integrity, and loyalty Zia developed a great trust and confidence in Gen Akhtar and at last promoted him to the rank of a general.
History repeats itself, first it was Ghauri and Ghaznavi and now a soldier from the green land. One interesting thing which is very rarely mentioned about Gen Akhtar is that his ancestors were from Afghanistan and were Kakazai (a tribe from the Laghman province of Afghanistan who came to South Asia during the Afghan invasion made by Mahmud of Ghazni). If we create a link between his ancestral place, love for Pakistan and Islam, it is true to say that a “son of Afghanistan fought from the soil of Pakistan, for the cause of Islam and stood for Jihad till the last”.
What ISI is today can be very much attributed to the efforts and commitment shown by General Akhtar Abdul Rahman. He very tactfully maneuvered the annihilation plan of the Soviet Union and through the ISI, gave a serious blow to it, which demolished communism as such. This role of Pakistan was acknowledged by the Germans and the ISI was presented with a piece of Berlin Wall marked with the inscription “those who struck the first blow” in appreciation to its efforts which eventuated in the demolition of the Soviet Empire. This piece of stone is one of the most valued possessions of the ISI. Gen Akhtar was the person who was very optimistic about the covert operations by Pakistan and supportive of the Afghan jihad from the start. He was the architect of the intelligence warfare in Pakistan as he molded the fragile structure into a forceful one, which ultimately proved its worth. He wrote the history with a message of hope, courage and consistent commitment to a cause. He did his job with modesty and humility, that’s why he never came into limelight and remained an unsung hero and died as a “silent soldier” with his boots on.
One year before the Bahawalpur incident, a young Pakistani man met an American journalist carrying photographs of injured Afghan children with General Akhtar Abdul Rehman. The Pakistani asked the journalist the reason for keeping these photographs and he answered that whenever he was disappointed he looked at the photographs of the general and the children, to get courage. Today, the US and Western analysts and experts admit that the DG ISI, CJCOSC and right hand of General Zia ul Haq, General Akhtar Abdul Rehman was the man who forced the superpower ‘Soviet Union’ to be torn into pieces. For the first time in history the mason of a great victory was known by the world after his death. We owe him a lot on this day and all days to come. Rest in peace Sir and May Allah Almighty raise your levels in Janna’t, amen.
Mariam Shah is a regular contributor at PKKH and a ( Columnist @ The Fortress Magazine), She is a Human Rights, Youth and Peace Activist and doing MPhil in ”Peace and Conflict Studies”
میرے دیس میں جنگل کا قانون ہے؟
عوام نے موجودہ حکمرانوں کو اپنے اوپر حکمرانی کا شرف بخشا تھا! اس امید سے کہ یہ انکی حالتِ زار کو خوشحالی میں بدلیں گے۔ ترقی آئے گی، مہنگائی سے نجات ملے گی اور جلتا ہوا ملک امن کی راہ پر چل پڑے گا۔ خواب تو سہانا تھا مگر تعبیر الٹی نکلی۔ عوام کی حالت بد سے بد تر ہوتی گئی، مہنگائی نے بھوکا مرنے پر مجبور کردیا۔۔ غریب اپنے ہی جگر کے ٹکڑوں کو قتل کرنے لگے۔* خودکشی کرنے لگے۔ ملک میں اُٹھی آگ کی چنگاری شعلہ بن گئی۔ کسی نے سابق وزیرِاعظم عزت ماب سید یوصف رضا گیلانی صاحب سے عوام کی شکستہ حالی کے بارے سوال پوچھا تو موصوف نے دو ٹوک الفاظ میں کہہ دیا تھا کہ "تو وہ پاکستان چھوڑ کیوں نہیں دیتے؟
*
جن پتھروں کوعطاکی تھیں ہم نے دھڑکنيں
*جب زبان ملی توہم ہی پربرس پڑے
*
اور پھر کس منہ سے کہتے ہیں کے ہم عوام کی عدالت میں جائیں گے؟ کوئی ان سے کہےکہ جاؤ پہلے ایسا چہرہ تراشو جس سے عوام تمہیں پہچان نہ پائے۔ ضمنی انتخابات میںاپنی جیت کو یہ کہہ کر پیش کرتے ہیں کہ وہ عوام کی عدالت میں سرخرو ہوئے ہیں۔ ارے ہم عوام توغلامی کا فرض نبھارہے ہیں۔ جس تیر نے ہمارا سینہ چاک کیا اُسی تیر پہ مہر لگا کرآتے ہیں۔ کاش تم بھی حاکمیت کا فرض پورا کرنا جان لو۔ غریب کو اس کا حق دینا سیکھ لو۔ شیر جنگل کا بادشاہ اور تیر جنگل کا شکاری۔ پھر میں کیوں نہ کہوں کہ میرے دیس میں جنگل کا قانون ہے؟
*
ابھی بھی وقت ہے کہ غریب عوام کی نظروں میں چھپے سوال پڑھ لو۔ ان کے دلوں میں لگی آگ کی تپش بھانپ لو۔ اس سے پہلے کہ وہ سوال زباں پرآجائیں اور آپکے ایوان ہل جائیں وہ آگ کا لاوا اُبل پڑے اور سب کچھ خاکستر ہو جائے۔
آخر میری غلطی کیا ھے ؟ ..just a cake
میں نے تو "ان " سے اس واقعے کا سرسری سا ذکر ھی کیا تھا ، مجھے کیا علم تھا کہ وہ اتنا طیش میں آ جائیں گے . پیار کا اظھار اتنا الٹا بھی پڑ سکتا ھے ، شائد وہ بھی نہیں جانتے تھے.. ..اپنی " دو نالی بندوق " اٹھا کر وہ خود ھی "شکار " پر جانا چاہتے تھے، لیکن میرے سمجھانے پر کہ ہماری " ایلیٹ فورس " کے شاہینوں کا کام قصر سلطانی کے گنبد کی نگہبانی ھی ھے، پہاڑوں پر بسیرا وہ تبھی کرتے ہیں جب ہم لوگ چھٹیاں منانے مری جاتے ہیں
اتنی "معصومانہ " سی طلب کی اتنی بڑی سزا.
"کیک " کھانے کی خواہش ہی تو کی تھی ، کوئی ڈاکہ تو نہیں ڈالا ، کوئی چوری تو نہیں کی ، پھر یہ ہنگامہ کیسا .
شائد مجھے ان "سری پایوں " کی بد دعا لگ گئی جو میری "منجھلی" امی نے روغنی نانوں کے ساتھ میز پر سجا رکھے تھے .
سب سے چھوٹی والی امی جو پچھلے ہفتے ہی میرے "پاپا" کی دلہن بنی ہیں ، انہوں نے بھی لاکھ سمجھایا کہ اتنے بھر پور لوازمات کی موجودگی میں "کیک" کا ناشتہ نہ صرف کفران نعمت ھے بلکہ خاندانی " روایات " سے بغاوت بھی ..لیکن میں نے تو "پاپا " سے بس یہی سیکھا ھے کہ جب کوئی فیصلہ کر لو تو ڈٹ جاؤ، پھر چاھے سعودی عرب کے کسی محل میں "جبری " جلا وطنی ہی کیوں نہ کاٹنی پڑے
کوئی اس دو ٹکے کے " سوئیپر" کو کیوں نہیں پکڑتا جو مجھے اپنے کاروبار کے " اصول و ضوابط " کا درس دینے بیٹھ گیا،، کہنے لگا میرا کام جھاڑو دینا ھے کیک دینا نہیں..کیک دینے والے تین بجے آئیں گے . آپ خود کو میری جگہ رکھہ کر سوچیں ، اگر آپ کے " پاپا " پورے صوبے کے بے تاج بادشاہ ہوں اور ایک معمولی سے خاکروب کی "اصول پسندی " کی وجہ سے آپ کا "ناشتہ " ڈیلے ہو رہا ہو تو آپ خود ھی بتائیں کہ میں نے جو کچھہ کیا ، کیا وہ ذرا سا بھی غلط تھا ..بھاڑ میں گئی ایسی بادشاہی کہ جس میں شہزادی کو ناشتہ بھی وقت پر نہ مل سکے
سب کچھہ پلاننگ کے مطابق بلکل ٹھیک ٹھاک " سر انجام " پایا، لیکن بیڑا غرق ہو اس " فرنگی " کا جس نے یہ سی سی ٹی وی ایجاد کیا،،، اور وہ جو اس ویڈیو کو یوں پھیلا رہے ہیں جیسے یہ کوئی ثواب کا کام ہو ...فرانس کی ملکہ دوسروں کو کیک کھانے کا مشورہ دے تو وہ بھی جرم ، کوئی خود سے کیک کھانا چاھے تو وہ بھی گناہ، یہ کیسا انصاف ھے ؟
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The News: ""Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf May Bagawat""
Resentment seems to be on rise in the party ranks against
the media cell of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) and a group of the
party members wants immediate dissolution of the media cell just like
other wings to ensure that workers chose members through party polls.
According to sources, a group within the party seems to be greatly displeased over the way the media wing of the party is handling the affairs at a time when its responsibility is very high keeping in view very limited time left in the upcoming elections.
Insiders in the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf stated that feeling of resentment against Information secretary of the of party, Shafqat Mehmood, was on a high and most of the members, who claim to stand by the party in the time of crisis, were unhappy with the way the new media team of Imran Khan was working.
A group within the party believes that since the nomination of Shafqat Mehmood as the new information secretary, the party has failed to maintain its popularity graph as he and his team seemed to be unable to defend the party at TV shows and in other parts of the media.
Similarly, some of the people in the party hold the view that previous media wing of party was somehow working quite well and had a good liaison with media persons but, since the new team had assumed charge, the situation had turned against the party.
Besides, some party members also accused the new media team, particularly its head, of promoting groupings in the party which was causing a division and, resultantly, weakening the party position in public.
Javed Badr, one of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf workers, in a statement also leveled similar allegations against the information secretary of the party, Shafqat Mehmood.
Javed Badr who, according to sources, is a member of a group of a senior provincial leader of the party and close confidant of Imran Khan for last many years demanded the party chairman to immediately dissolve the wing like other wings so that people could elect people of their own choice in the party polls expected soon.
Javed Badr went on to say that, under Shafqat Mehmood, the popularity graph of the party was constantly declining and his attitude towards media persons during the recent Waziristan march was also quite apathetic, which had invoked serious criticism against the party.
He said that, rather than relying on Shafqat Mehmood whose affiliation with the party was not very long, some party loyalists should be made media coordinator and this wing should be dissolved immediately like other chapters of the party.
“Elections should also be held in media cells,” demanded Javed Badr.
The central media cell of the party, however, came up with a different story and stated that persons, like Javed Badr, had nothing to do with media office as he was fraudulently posing himself as ‘media coordinator.’
According to a press release issued here by the media cell, Badr “had not been appointed as media coordinator and (he) was fraudulently issuing statements on the behalf of party”.
Shafqat Mehmood, central information secretary of the party, while talking to The News, said that the said person had ‘doubtful activities’ and he was not considered for any post in the media cell of the party. He stated that allegations leveled by him had neither any worth nor any base.
Resentment against PTI media cell increases - thenews.com.pk
According to sources, a group within the party seems to be greatly displeased over the way the media wing of the party is handling the affairs at a time when its responsibility is very high keeping in view very limited time left in the upcoming elections.
Insiders in the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf stated that feeling of resentment against Information secretary of the of party, Shafqat Mehmood, was on a high and most of the members, who claim to stand by the party in the time of crisis, were unhappy with the way the new media team of Imran Khan was working.
A group within the party believes that since the nomination of Shafqat Mehmood as the new information secretary, the party has failed to maintain its popularity graph as he and his team seemed to be unable to defend the party at TV shows and in other parts of the media.
Similarly, some of the people in the party hold the view that previous media wing of party was somehow working quite well and had a good liaison with media persons but, since the new team had assumed charge, the situation had turned against the party.
Besides, some party members also accused the new media team, particularly its head, of promoting groupings in the party which was causing a division and, resultantly, weakening the party position in public.
Javed Badr, one of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf workers, in a statement also leveled similar allegations against the information secretary of the party, Shafqat Mehmood.
Javed Badr who, according to sources, is a member of a group of a senior provincial leader of the party and close confidant of Imran Khan for last many years demanded the party chairman to immediately dissolve the wing like other wings so that people could elect people of their own choice in the party polls expected soon.
Javed Badr went on to say that, under Shafqat Mehmood, the popularity graph of the party was constantly declining and his attitude towards media persons during the recent Waziristan march was also quite apathetic, which had invoked serious criticism against the party.
He said that, rather than relying on Shafqat Mehmood whose affiliation with the party was not very long, some party loyalists should be made media coordinator and this wing should be dissolved immediately like other chapters of the party.
“Elections should also be held in media cells,” demanded Javed Badr.
The central media cell of the party, however, came up with a different story and stated that persons, like Javed Badr, had nothing to do with media office as he was fraudulently posing himself as ‘media coordinator.’
According to a press release issued here by the media cell, Badr “had not been appointed as media coordinator and (he) was fraudulently issuing statements on the behalf of party”.
Shafqat Mehmood, central information secretary of the party, while talking to The News, said that the said person had ‘doubtful activities’ and he was not considered for any post in the media cell of the party. He stated that allegations leveled by him had neither any worth nor any base.
Resentment against PTI media cell increases - thenews.com.pk
Hamid Karzai says to Imran Khan "Mind Your Own Business" !!
KABUL:
The reverberations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s political gaffe are being felt across the Durand Line.
The Afghan government has strongly condemned the PTI chief for his statement, said Farhad Azimi, deputy secretary of the Afghan parliament while talking to The Express Tribune.
“This is clear interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. We urge the Pakistani government to arrest people who support the Taliban,” Azimi said. Imran, while visiting child activist Malala Yousafzai in Peshawar on Thursday, had termed the ongoing war in Afghanistan against foreign troops ‘jihad.’
Afghan govt condemns Imran’s jihad comment – The Express Tribune
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/...rk_805467.html
The reverberations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s political gaffe are being felt across the Durand Line.
The Afghan government has strongly condemned the PTI chief for his statement, said Farhad Azimi, deputy secretary of the Afghan parliament while talking to The Express Tribune.
“This is clear interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. We urge the Pakistani government to arrest people who support the Taliban,” Azimi said. Imran, while visiting child activist Malala Yousafzai in Peshawar on Thursday, had termed the ongoing war in Afghanistan against foreign troops ‘jihad.’
Afghan govt condemns Imran’s jihad comment – The Express Tribune
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/...rk_805467.html
Mqm vs jui f new
mqm
کراچی … متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے قائد الطاف حسین کا کہنا ہے کہ ڈرون حملوں کے خلاف ہیں اور ان کی مخالفت کرتے رہیں گے، پاک فوج طالبان کے خلاف کارروائی کرے، ایم کیو ایم ساتھ دے گی۔ کراچی کے جناح گراوٴنڈ عزیز آباد میں متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے جنرل ورکز اجلاس سے ٹیلی فونک خطاب میں ایم کیوایم کے قائد الطاف حسین نے کہا کہ ملالہ یوسف زئی علم کا اجالا ہے، جس پر حملہ کرنیوالے دہشت گرد انسان نہیں درندے ہیں۔ ملالہ ، شازیہ اور کائنات کی جلد صحت یابی کی دعا کرتے ہوئے الطاف حسین نے سوال کیا کہ اس حملہ کے بعد بعض سیاسی اور مذہبی جماعتیں خاموش کیوں ہیں؟، یہ خاموشی سمجھ سے بالاتر ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ عوام پاکستان کی بقاء و سلامتی اور قائد اعظم کا پاکستان چاہتے ہیں یا دنیا کے نقشے سے پاکستان کو مٹانا چاہتے ہیں۔ الطاف حسین کا کہنا تھا کہ تمام مشکلات کے باوجود آگے بڑھنا ہوگا، قوموں کو اپنی حالت خود بدلنا ہوتی ہے۔ ایم کیو ایم کے قائد نے کہاکہ جن 50 علماء نے ملالہ پر حملے کے خلاف فتوے دیئے وہ انہیں سلام پیش کرتے ہیں۔ الطاف حسین نے بتایا کہ ایم کیو ایم ڈرون حملوں کے خلاف ہے اور آئندہ بھی مخالفت کرتی رہے گی ۔ الطاف حسین نے مزید کہا کہ ملالہ اور ان کی ساتھیوں پر طالبان دہشت گردوں کے حملے کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہیں، ملالہ قوم کی بیٹی ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ ملالہ یوسف زئی نے تعلیم کے فروغ کیلئے آواز بلند کی، طالبان کے زیر اثر علاقوں میں تعلیم کیلئے آواز بلند کرنا بہادری ہے، معصوم بچیوں پر طالبان کا حملہ شرمناک ہے، ملالہ پر حملہ تعلیم پر حملہ ہے۔
jui f
سکھر …جمعیت علمائے اسلام کے سربراہ مولانا فضل الرحمن نے کہا ہے کہ ایک دوسرے پرالزامات لگانے سے معیشت درست نہیں ہوسکتی،سیاستدان ایک دوسرے پرکرپشن کے الزامات لگاتے ہیں،آج فاٹا،بلوچستان اورکراچی کی صورتحال دیکھ لیں۔انھوں نے ان خیا لات کا اظہار اتوار کی شب سکھر میں اسلام زندہ باد کانفرنس سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کیا، جہا ں شرکاء ایک بڑی تعداد انکا خطاب سننے پہنچی تھی،جے یو آئی کے سربراہ نے اس موقع پر اپنے خطاب میں مزید کہا کہ ملک میں امن وامان کی صورتحال خراب ہے،یوں لگتاہے یہ ملک بھتاخوری کیلیے بنایاگیا،مولانا فضل الرحمن نے کہاکہ احتساب بلوں سے ملک کی معیشت بہتر نہیں ہوسکتی،65سال پہلے ایک فلاحی ریاست کیلیے ہم سے قربانیاں لی گئی تھیں، انھوں نے کہا کہ آج بھی غریب جاگیر دار کے شکنجے میں جکڑا ہوا ہے،ہم عالمی قوتوں کے جبر کے نظام کو قبول نہیں کریں گے،جن لوگوں نے آ ج تک حکومت کی،کیاانھوں نے اس قوم کوایک قوم بننے دیا،65سال میں غریب کو خوشحالی نہیں دی گئی، جمعیت علمائے اسلام(ف) کے سربراہ نے کہا کہ کیا آج بھی ہمارا ملک ایک سیکیورٹی اسٹیٹ نہیں ہے، ہمیں کہاجاتاہے کہ علما ملالہ کے واقعے کیمذمت کریں ،پہلے وہ لوگ ہمارے مدرسوں پربمباری کی تو مذمت کریں،ملالہ یوسفزئی ہماری بیٹی ہے،مولانا فضل الرحمان نے کہا کہ کچھ لوگ ملالہ پرحملے سے اپنی سیاست چمکارہے ہیں،بین الاقوامی صورتحال کا ذکر کرتے ہوئے انھوں نے کہا کہ ایران اورافغانستان سے تعلقات مستحکم کرنیکی حکومت میں صلاحیت نہیں،آج بھی مذہبی طبقے کونشانہ بنایاجارہاہے،موجودہ قیادت اورادارے ناکام ہوچکے ہیں انھوں نے کہا کہ ،ہمارے ادارے اغواہونیوالوں کاپتاتک نہیں بتاسکتے،اب بلوچوں کوضمانت دیناہوگی کہ پاکستان میں تمہارامستقبل محفوظ ہے،اگرلوگ اپنے بچوں کاتحفظ چاہتے ہیں توقیادت بدلناہوگا،لوگوں کولسانیت،صوبائیت اورفرقوں کی بنیادپرلڑایاجارہاہے
کراچی … متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے قائد الطاف حسین کا کہنا ہے کہ ڈرون حملوں کے خلاف ہیں اور ان کی مخالفت کرتے رہیں گے، پاک فوج طالبان کے خلاف کارروائی کرے، ایم کیو ایم ساتھ دے گی۔ کراچی کے جناح گراوٴنڈ عزیز آباد میں متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے جنرل ورکز اجلاس سے ٹیلی فونک خطاب میں ایم کیوایم کے قائد الطاف حسین نے کہا کہ ملالہ یوسف زئی علم کا اجالا ہے، جس پر حملہ کرنیوالے دہشت گرد انسان نہیں درندے ہیں۔ ملالہ ، شازیہ اور کائنات کی جلد صحت یابی کی دعا کرتے ہوئے الطاف حسین نے سوال کیا کہ اس حملہ کے بعد بعض سیاسی اور مذہبی جماعتیں خاموش کیوں ہیں؟، یہ خاموشی سمجھ سے بالاتر ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ عوام پاکستان کی بقاء و سلامتی اور قائد اعظم کا پاکستان چاہتے ہیں یا دنیا کے نقشے سے پاکستان کو مٹانا چاہتے ہیں۔ الطاف حسین کا کہنا تھا کہ تمام مشکلات کے باوجود آگے بڑھنا ہوگا، قوموں کو اپنی حالت خود بدلنا ہوتی ہے۔ ایم کیو ایم کے قائد نے کہاکہ جن 50 علماء نے ملالہ پر حملے کے خلاف فتوے دیئے وہ انہیں سلام پیش کرتے ہیں۔ الطاف حسین نے بتایا کہ ایم کیو ایم ڈرون حملوں کے خلاف ہے اور آئندہ بھی مخالفت کرتی رہے گی ۔ الطاف حسین نے مزید کہا کہ ملالہ اور ان کی ساتھیوں پر طالبان دہشت گردوں کے حملے کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہیں، ملالہ قوم کی بیٹی ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ ملالہ یوسف زئی نے تعلیم کے فروغ کیلئے آواز بلند کی، طالبان کے زیر اثر علاقوں میں تعلیم کیلئے آواز بلند کرنا بہادری ہے، معصوم بچیوں پر طالبان کا حملہ شرمناک ہے، ملالہ پر حملہ تعلیم پر حملہ ہے۔
jui f
سکھر …جمعیت علمائے اسلام کے سربراہ مولانا فضل الرحمن نے کہا ہے کہ ایک دوسرے پرالزامات لگانے سے معیشت درست نہیں ہوسکتی،سیاستدان ایک دوسرے پرکرپشن کے الزامات لگاتے ہیں،آج فاٹا،بلوچستان اورکراچی کی صورتحال دیکھ لیں۔انھوں نے ان خیا لات کا اظہار اتوار کی شب سکھر میں اسلام زندہ باد کانفرنس سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کیا، جہا ں شرکاء ایک بڑی تعداد انکا خطاب سننے پہنچی تھی،جے یو آئی کے سربراہ نے اس موقع پر اپنے خطاب میں مزید کہا کہ ملک میں امن وامان کی صورتحال خراب ہے،یوں لگتاہے یہ ملک بھتاخوری کیلیے بنایاگیا،مولانا فضل الرحمن نے کہاکہ احتساب بلوں سے ملک کی معیشت بہتر نہیں ہوسکتی،65سال پہلے ایک فلاحی ریاست کیلیے ہم سے قربانیاں لی گئی تھیں، انھوں نے کہا کہ آج بھی غریب جاگیر دار کے شکنجے میں جکڑا ہوا ہے،ہم عالمی قوتوں کے جبر کے نظام کو قبول نہیں کریں گے،جن لوگوں نے آ ج تک حکومت کی،کیاانھوں نے اس قوم کوایک قوم بننے دیا،65سال میں غریب کو خوشحالی نہیں دی گئی، جمعیت علمائے اسلام(ف) کے سربراہ نے کہا کہ کیا آج بھی ہمارا ملک ایک سیکیورٹی اسٹیٹ نہیں ہے، ہمیں کہاجاتاہے کہ علما ملالہ کے واقعے کیمذمت کریں ،پہلے وہ لوگ ہمارے مدرسوں پربمباری کی تو مذمت کریں،ملالہ یوسفزئی ہماری بیٹی ہے،مولانا فضل الرحمان نے کہا کہ کچھ لوگ ملالہ پرحملے سے اپنی سیاست چمکارہے ہیں،بین الاقوامی صورتحال کا ذکر کرتے ہوئے انھوں نے کہا کہ ایران اورافغانستان سے تعلقات مستحکم کرنیکی حکومت میں صلاحیت نہیں،آج بھی مذہبی طبقے کونشانہ بنایاجارہاہے،موجودہ قیادت اورادارے ناکام ہوچکے ہیں انھوں نے کہا کہ ،ہمارے ادارے اغواہونیوالوں کاپتاتک نہیں بتاسکتے،اب بلوچوں کوضمانت دیناہوگی کہ پاکستان میں تمہارامستقبل محفوظ ہے،اگرلوگ اپنے بچوں کاتحفظ چاہتے ہیں توقیادت بدلناہوگا،لوگوں کولسانیت،صوبائیت اورفرقوں کی بنیادپرلڑایاجارہاہے
BBC: Aik Malala He Kiyon? ایک ملالہ ہی کیوں ؟
وسعت اللہ خان
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، کراچی
آخری وقت اشاعت : اتوار 14 اکتوبر 2012 ,* 12:58 GMT 17:58 PST
یہ بات درست ہے کہ ملالہ یوسف زئی کو سر آنکھوں پر بٹھانے والوں کو ڈرون حملوں میں اپاہج اور ہلاک ہونے والے سینکڑوں بچے یاد نہیں اور میڈیا کو صرف ملالہ سے مطلب ہے۔ اس کے ساتھ زخمی ہونے والی شازیہ اور کائنات کے بارے میں کوئی فکر اور ذکر نہیں۔
بالکل اسی طرح جیسے مغرب نے گذشتہ پانچ سو برس سے ایک انیس سالہ ان پڑھ فرانسیسی دہقانی لڑکی جون آف آرک کو سر پر چڑھا رکھا ہے۔ حالانکہ برطانیہ اور فرانس کے درمیان سو سالہ جنگ میں لاکھوں مرد، عورتیں اور بچے مرے۔ ہزاروں عورتوں کو جون کی طرح مشرک ہونے کے جرم میں پادریوں نے چوکوں میں نصب چوبی کھمبوں سے باندھ کر زندہ جلا دیا۔
کن پاپائے روم نے ان میں سے کسی کو جون کی طرح ولی کا درجہ نہیں دیا اور شیکسپئیر، والٹیئر، بریخت، برنارڈ شا نے بھی اپنے ڈراموں کا کردار بنایا تو صرف جون کو۔
کیسا ظلم ہے کہ دوسری عالمی جنگ میں ہٹلر کی مزاحمت کرنے والے فرانسیسی حریت پسندوں کو اپنا مزاحمتی سمبل بھی پانچ سو سال پرانی جون آف آرک میں ہی دکھائی دیا۔حالانکہ جون آف آرک کے ساڑھے تین سو برس بعد انقلابِ فرانس کو ممکن بنانے میں لاتعداد لوگوں نے لہو دیا۔ مگر مجال ہے جو کسی نام نہاد فرانسیسی لبرل یا مذہبی قدامت پسند یا بائیں بازو کے دانشور یا دائیں بازو کے کسی نسل پرست نے اس نا انصافی پر کبھی احتجاج کیا ہو۔ سب کے سب آج تک جون آف آرک کی مالا جپ رہے ہیں۔توبہ توبہ توبہ۔۔۔
اور اقبال کو دیکھو۔کم از کم انہیں تو معلوم ہی تھا کہ تیرہ سو سالہ مسلمان تاریخ میں ایسی سینکڑوں بچیاں اور خواتین گزریں جنہوں نے غزوات سے لے کر صلیبی جنگوں تک اور مراکش سے ہندوستان تک مسلمان مردوں کے شانہ بشانہ دشمنوں سے لڑائی کی، اگلے مورچوں تک اسلحہ اور خوراک پہنچائی، زخمیوں کا خیال رکھا۔ مگر صد افسوس کہ اقبال کو بس انیس سو گیارہ میں طرابلس ( لیبیا) کے محاذ پر اطالویوں اور ترکوں کی جنگ میں زخمی غازیوں کو مشکیزے سے پانی پلانے والی ایک گیارہ سالہ بچی فاطمہ بنتِ عبداللہ ہی یاد رہ گئی ۔
فاطمہ تو آبروئے امتِ مرحوم ہے، زرہ زرہ تیری مشتِ خاک کا معصوم ہے۔
اور یہ تئیس سال کا لونڈا بھگت سنگھ کون ہے ؟ ایک بگڑا ہوا ملحد مارکسی انارکسٹ جس کے ہاتھ ایک انگریز پولیس افسر کے خون سے رنگے ہوئے تھے۔ جس نے لیجسلیٹو اسمبلی میں بم پھینکا پھر بھی ہندوستان اور پاکستان میں کروڑوں گمراہ اسے آزادی کا ہیرو سمجھتے ہیں۔
حیرت ہے کہ جناح صاحب کو اٹھارہ سو ستاون میں پھانسی پانے والے ہزاروں ہندوستانیوں میں سے کوئی یاد نہیں رہا۔ وہ بھی انیس سو اکتیس میں جذبات کی رو میں بہہ گئے اور جیل میں بھگت سنگھ اور اس کے ساتھیوں کی بھوک ہڑتال کی حمایت کرتے ہوئے یہ تک کہہ ڈالا کہ بھگت سنگھ کو بھلے آپ کچھ بھی سمجھیں لیکن وہ اپنے مقصد کی سچائی پر یقین رکھتا ہے اور اس جابرانہ نظام سے تنگ لوگوں کی بیزاری کا نمائندہ ہے۔
اور نہرو کو تو دیکھو جسے انگریزوں کے خلاف نہ منگل پانڈے کا کلمہ ِ بغاوت یاد آیا اور نہ رانی جھانسی کی بہادرانہ شہادت۔ اگر یاد رہا تو بھگت سنگھ جسے نہرو نے کھلے میدان میں دشمن کو للکارنے والا جری قرار دیا۔
ٹھیک ہے مان لیا بھگت سنگھ بڑا ہیرو تھا مگر اس کے ساتھ پھانسی چڑھنے والوں میں راج گرو اور سکھ دیو بھی تو تھے۔ ان کا ذکر کوئی بھگت سنگھ کی طرح کیوں نہیں کرتا۔ ان پر کسی نے کیوں ڈرامے نہیں لکھے، گیت نہیں کہے، فلمیں نہیں بنائیں، یادگاری ٹکٹ اور سکے جاری نہیں کیے۔
اور تو اور بھارتی پارلیمنٹ کے صحن میں بھی بھگت سنگھ کا ہی اٹھارہ فٹ اونچا تانبے کا مجسمہ لگایا گیا۔ کوئی پوچھے کہ راج گرو اور سکھ دیو کا کیا قصور ؟ چلیں بھارتیوں کی مرضی جو چاہے کریں مگر غضب خدا کا یہ پنجاب حکومت کو کیا ہوا کہ اس نے بھگت سنگھ کی پھانسی کے اسی برس بعد لاہور کے شادمان چوک کا نام بھگت سنگھ چوک کردیا۔ کیا اسے تقسیم کے وقت شہید ہونے والے لاکھوں لوگوں میں سے کوئی نام یاد نہیں آیا۔ بے حسی کی اس سے بڑی کیا مثال ہوگی۔
ملالہ یوسف زئي کی صحت یابی کے لیے دنیا بھر میں دعائیں ہوئی ہیں
اور لو تازہ ترین ظلم دیکھو۔ مشرقِ وسطی میں شاہی، فوجی اور سیاسی استبداد کے خلاف گذشتہ سو برس میں ہزاروں لوگ جدوجہد کرتے ہوئے شہید ہوگئے۔ لیکن آج کروڑوں بے وقوف سمجھتے ہیں کہ وہ عرب سپرنگ جس نے گذشتہ دو برس میں الجزائر سے بحرین تک ہر آمر کو ہلا دیا۔ تیونس، مصر، لیبیا اور یمن میں حکومتیں الٹ دیں اور لاکھوں شامیوں کو موت کے منہ پر تھوکنے کا حوصلہ بخشا اس کی ابتدا تیونس کے ایک چھبیس سالہ سبزی فروش محمد بوعزیزی کی خود سوزی سے اٹھنے والی چنگاری سے ہوئی۔ اس سبزی فروش کے لیے تیونس کی نئی حکومت نے ڈاک ٹکٹ جاری کیا اور برطانوی اخبار ٹائمز نے اسے دو ہزار دس کا مین آف دی ایئر قرار دے ڈالا۔
ایسا کیوں ہے کہ سات ہزار برس کی تاریخ لاکھوں قربانیاں دینے والوں اور ایک سے ایک ذہینوں سے بھری پڑی ہے لیکن ان لاکھوں میں سے صرف سقراط، جون آف آرک، شیکسپئیر، لیونارڈو ڈا ونچی، فاطمہ بنتِ عبداللہ، آئن سٹائن، بھگت سنگھ، چی گویرا، مارٹن لوتھر کنگ، محمد بو عزیزی جیسے پانچ چھ سو لوگ ہی ہمیں یاد آتے رہتے ہیں؟
بات شاید یہ ہے کہ تاریخ ایک مسلسل گیت ہے جسے ایک سے ایک سریلا میسر ہے۔ مگر ایک خاص فضا اور موقع پر ہزاروں لاکھوں میں سے کسی ایک کا سر ایسے لگ جاتا ہے کہ چھت پھٹ جاتی ہے، شیشہ تڑخ جاتا ہے یا بارش ہوجاتی ہے۔ یوں وہ سریلا اور سر اجتماعی یادداشت کا حصہ بن جاتا ہے۔
ورنہ تو یہ بحث کبھی ختم ہی نہ ہو کہ ملالہ کے ساتھ دیگر سینکڑوں ہزاروں زخمی بچے کیوں یاد نہیں آتے۔ بالکل اسی طرح کہ جنہیں صرف عافیہ یاد ہے انہیں امریکیوں کے ہاتھوں عقوبت خانوں میں رسوا ہونے والی سینکڑوں عراقی اور افغان عورتیں اور پاکستان کی گلیوں اور سڑکوں پر عریاں گھمائی جانے والی لڑکیوں اور قبائلی علاقوں میں سر قلم ہونے والی ادھیڑ اور بوڑھی عورتوں کے نام کیوں یاد نہیں ؟؟؟ ایسی بحث میں نا ملالہ کا کوئی بھلا ہے نا عافیہ کا۔۔۔
اکثر ہماری آنکھیں تعصب کے موتیے سے دھندلا جاتی ہیں اور ہم سمجھتے ہیں کہ منظر دھندلا ہے۔ اگر موتیا صاف کروا کے چشمے کا نمبر بدل لیا جائے تو مسئلہ با آسانی حل ہو سکتا ہے۔
ہم من حیث القوم بے حس ہیں۔۔۔۔
ہم من حیث القوم بے حس اور نہایت ہی گھٹیا ذہنیت کے لوگ ہیں اور جو آج ہمارے حالات ہیں وہ ہماری
انہی نیتوں کی وجہ سے ہے۔ہم اوپر سے شریف زادے ہوتے ہیں اور اندر سے ہم جیسا جانور دُنیا میں
کہیں بھی دیکھنے کو ہرگز ہرگز نہیں ملے گا۔
ملالہ یوسفزئی پر حملہ انتہائی افسوس ناک تھا،اللہ اس بچی کو صحت دے اور اپنی حفظ و امان میں رکھے آمین
میڈیا،سوشل ورکرز،این جی اوز،سیاستدان،حکومتی اہلکار اور پوری پاکستانی قوم کا محور صرف ملالہ ہی بنی ہوئی
ہے اور ہم سب کے سب اپنے اپنے مقاصد اپنے اپنے مطلب اپنی غرض کی خاطر اس بچی کے اس حادثے کو کیش کر
رہے ہیں،چاہے وہ نواز شریف ہے چاہے عمران خان ہے چاہے زرداری ہے چاہے الطاف حسین اور دیگر سیاسی رہنما ہوں
میڈیا کیا این جی اوز کیا اور پوری قوم کیا۔۔۔۔ہم سب کے سب صرف اور صرف مطلب اور غرض کی خاطر اس بچی کے
ساتھ پیش آنے والے حادثے کو پوری طرح سے کیش کرنے کی کرشش میں لگے ہوئے ہیں۔
ملالہ کے ساتھ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔شازیہ اور کائنات بھی زخمی ہوئی تھیں۔۔۔کائنات تو گھر میں ہے اللہ نے اُسے بچا لیا لیکن شازیہ
کی حالت بھی ملالہ جیسی ہی تشویش ناک ہیں لیکن چونکہ شازیہ ہائی پروفائل فگر نہیں ہے تو اُسکا نام کسی
کی زبان پر نہیں۔۔۔۔کیوں ؟؟؟؟ یہ ہماری سوچ اور انداز فکر کی بہترین مثال ہے
ہم لوگ اتنے گرے ہوئے ہیں کہ جس کی کوئی انتہا نہیں۔
ہم من حیث القوم بے حس اور بے ضمیر لوگ ہیں۔
انہی نیتوں کی وجہ سے ہے۔ہم اوپر سے شریف زادے ہوتے ہیں اور اندر سے ہم جیسا جانور دُنیا میں
کہیں بھی دیکھنے کو ہرگز ہرگز نہیں ملے گا۔
ملالہ یوسفزئی پر حملہ انتہائی افسوس ناک تھا،اللہ اس بچی کو صحت دے اور اپنی حفظ و امان میں رکھے آمین
میڈیا،سوشل ورکرز،این جی اوز،سیاستدان،حکومتی اہلکار اور پوری پاکستانی قوم کا محور صرف ملالہ ہی بنی ہوئی
ہے اور ہم سب کے سب اپنے اپنے مقاصد اپنے اپنے مطلب اپنی غرض کی خاطر اس بچی کے اس حادثے کو کیش کر
رہے ہیں،چاہے وہ نواز شریف ہے چاہے عمران خان ہے چاہے زرداری ہے چاہے الطاف حسین اور دیگر سیاسی رہنما ہوں
میڈیا کیا این جی اوز کیا اور پوری قوم کیا۔۔۔۔ہم سب کے سب صرف اور صرف مطلب اور غرض کی خاطر اس بچی کے
ساتھ پیش آنے والے حادثے کو پوری طرح سے کیش کرنے کی کرشش میں لگے ہوئے ہیں۔
ملالہ کے ساتھ۔۔۔۔۔۔۔شازیہ اور کائنات بھی زخمی ہوئی تھیں۔۔۔کائنات تو گھر میں ہے اللہ نے اُسے بچا لیا لیکن شازیہ
کی حالت بھی ملالہ جیسی ہی تشویش ناک ہیں لیکن چونکہ شازیہ ہائی پروفائل فگر نہیں ہے تو اُسکا نام کسی
کی زبان پر نہیں۔۔۔۔کیوں ؟؟؟؟ یہ ہماری سوچ اور انداز فکر کی بہترین مثال ہے
ہم لوگ اتنے گرے ہوئے ہیں کہ جس کی کوئی انتہا نہیں۔
ہم من حیث القوم بے حس اور بے ضمیر لوگ ہیں۔
Malala - A perfect target with best timing.
A perfect target, right when everyone was talking about drones and their victims.
Our COAS/interior minister/international media/local media everyone is crying for that poor kid. and why should not we all do, its a poor baby girl who had nothing to do with everything, just going to school with other kids and boom a shot in the head. Shame on those savages for targeting a poor kid. And then I was thinking I dont know even one kid's name who was targeted by drones, surely someone innocent I mean at least one kid was injured during those drones strikes but I dont recall one name. WHY?
A poor swati girl flogged by savages: right when everyone was talking about giving peace a chance. WHY?
Our COAS/interior minister/international media/local media everyone is crying for that poor kid. and why should not we all do, its a poor baby girl who had nothing to do with everything, just going to school with other kids and boom a shot in the head. Shame on those savages for targeting a poor kid. And then I was thinking I dont know even one kid's name who was targeted by drones, surely someone innocent I mean at least one kid was injured during those drones strikes but I dont recall one name. WHY?
A poor swati girl flogged by savages: right when everyone was talking about giving peace a chance. WHY?
PTI's Senior Vice President Angry Shah Mehmood Qureshi Joining PMLn ...
Islamabad:
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi is likely to join Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after having confrontation with the party’s chief Imran Khan.
According to sources close to PTI vice chairman, Qureshi was annoyed with the party leadership after not giving him the chance to speak during the PTI’s peace march gathering in Tank.
“Qureshi has started negotiations with PML-N and soon an announcement is imminent,” they said.PML-N leader Mushahid Ullah Khan refused to confirm the news of Qureshi joining PML-N but said that negotiations were going on with the PTI leader.
It is to be mentioned here that after PTI’s large public gathering in Lahore and Karachi, several renowned politicians joined the party but now many of them had either left the party or ready to do so.
PTI leader Shah Mehmood Quresh likely to join PML-N | The News Tribe
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi is likely to join Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after having confrontation with the party’s chief Imran Khan.
According to sources close to PTI vice chairman, Qureshi was annoyed with the party leadership after not giving him the chance to speak during the PTI’s peace march gathering in Tank.
“Qureshi has started negotiations with PML-N and soon an announcement is imminent,” they said.PML-N leader Mushahid Ullah Khan refused to confirm the news of Qureshi joining PML-N but said that negotiations were going on with the PTI leader.
It is to be mentioned here that after PTI’s large public gathering in Lahore and Karachi, several renowned politicians joined the party but now many of them had either left the party or ready to do so.
PTI leader Shah Mehmood Quresh likely to join PML-N | The News Tribe
" 10 questions for Imran Khan Niazi "
Q 1: Sir, you have always maintained that militants are taking innocent Pakistani lives because the militants are being attacked by American drones. But the militants insist that they would “kill everyone and anyone who stands against the imposition” of their version of Islam. In essence, the militants are convinced that they are fighting for ‘Islam’ while you continue to maintain that militant actions are actually reactions to American drones.
Q 2: Sir, if anyone wishes to negotiate with the PML-N, he would naturally have Mian Nawaz Sharif, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan or Senator Pervez Rasheed in mind. You have always favoured negotiating peace with the militants. Please name just four names representing the militants that are in your mind with whom you will negotiate peace.
Q 3: Sir, you have promised that Prime Minister Imran Khan shall wipe off militancy from the face of the country. Can you please name just two militant organisations that you plan to wipe off?
Q 4: Sir, you have been rightly pointing out that more than 40,000 innocent Pakistani lives have been lost in what you say is ‘America’s war’. Can you please identify by name the forces and groups responsible for the loss?
Q 5: Sir, a state cannot be called a state unless it has ‘monopoly of violence’ within its geographically defined physical terrain. The State of Pakistan must, therefore, have ‘monopoly of violence’ within our 796,095 square km. But Pakistani militants in a recent message sent to Reuters have stated: “We have a clear-cut stance. Anyone who takes the side of the government against us will have to die at our hands.” Sir, are you willing to surrender ‘monopoly of violence’ to the militants?
Q 6: Sir, if Prime Minister Imran Khan decides to end all disputes with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the militants oppose that decision. What would PM Imran Khan do? Would Pakistan’s foreign policy, under Imran Khan, be made by the State of Pakistan or the militants?
Q 7: Sir, you have rightly demanded from the Americans to stop their drone attacks. You have also asked the Pakistan Army to stop their operations. But, sir, you have never asked the militants to stop their murderous assaults.
Q 8: Sir, in your worldview Pakistani militants are the victims and America is the victimiser. How would you apply your victim-victimiser theory to the Malala tragedy?
Q 9: Sir, your official spokesperson, Mr Shafqat Mahmood, has said that an ‘end to drones will end the war’. Sir, isn’t that being a demagogue par excellence? Isn’t that overly simplistic? As you know, sir, our war began in 1994 when Sufi Mohammad took over Swat exactly 10 years before the first American drone showed up.
Q 10: Sir, has the Malala tragedy had any impact on your train of thought?
Albert Einstein: “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh 15@hotmail.com
10 questions for Imran Khan - Farrukh Saleem
Monday, October 8, 2012
6 Pak universities among top 300 Asian universities, says HEC
LAHORE - The Higher Education Commission (HEC) Executive Director Prof
Dr Sohail H. Hayat while addressing a video conferencing seminar on
Monday in connection with the 10 years establishment of HEC, said that
six Pakistani universities have been ranked among the top 300 Asian
universities while two Pakistani universities are standing among the top
300 sciences and technology institutions of the world.
Besides this, 41 more universities had been established across the country in a span of ten years to educate the people with modern and quality education, he observed. Dr Sohail urged the educationists and the researchers to maintain good relations with the industry in order to transform their knowledge into goods and services by solving the problems of the industries with the help of good research work.
Highlighting the contributions of the HEC during the last ten years, he said that they had enabled the spread of higher education to every region of Pakistan with an increase in the number of university campuses in Pakistan from 168 to 258, including the establishment of 41 new universities. While sharing statistics with the participants, Dr. Sohail said that due to the efforts of the HEC, there was an increase in student enrollment at universities from 330,000 to over a million, increase in the enrollment of women in universities from 36 percent to 46 percent, awarding of more than 10,000 local and foreign scholarships through a well-defined and transparent mechanism that did not make any compromise on merit, awarding of 2,000 scholarships for the talented youth of Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and the launch of additional 600 MPhil/PhD scholarships exclusively for the students of Balochistan.
Prof Dr Zakir Hussain said the university was bearing a deficit budget of Rs. 150 million two years ago but because of good financial interventions, the university surplus budget had gone up to Rs. 480 million this year. He pointed out that the university was standing among the top universities of country as it had emerged to number six in the overall rankings, whereas last year the university was at number 19. He lauded the steps taken by the HEC to improve the quality of education for making them at par with international standards by raising the standard of education and uplifting the status of the teaching staff with hefty pays.
He apprised that the university was committed to take any tangible steps for meeting the criteria of 33 agendas set by the HEC. He said that it was a matter of pride for the varsity that it had 200 PhDs and had hired 70 teachers on tenure track system. He also informed the audience about the new campus of the university which was being set up at Jhang road on 200 acres of land. The new building would be built at a distance of a few kilometers from the current campus to meet the demand of increasing students, he added.
Besides this, 41 more universities had been established across the country in a span of ten years to educate the people with modern and quality education, he observed. Dr Sohail urged the educationists and the researchers to maintain good relations with the industry in order to transform their knowledge into goods and services by solving the problems of the industries with the help of good research work.
Highlighting the contributions of the HEC during the last ten years, he said that they had enabled the spread of higher education to every region of Pakistan with an increase in the number of university campuses in Pakistan from 168 to 258, including the establishment of 41 new universities. While sharing statistics with the participants, Dr. Sohail said that due to the efforts of the HEC, there was an increase in student enrollment at universities from 330,000 to over a million, increase in the enrollment of women in universities from 36 percent to 46 percent, awarding of more than 10,000 local and foreign scholarships through a well-defined and transparent mechanism that did not make any compromise on merit, awarding of 2,000 scholarships for the talented youth of Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and the launch of additional 600 MPhil/PhD scholarships exclusively for the students of Balochistan.
Prof Dr Zakir Hussain said the university was bearing a deficit budget of Rs. 150 million two years ago but because of good financial interventions, the university surplus budget had gone up to Rs. 480 million this year. He pointed out that the university was standing among the top universities of country as it had emerged to number six in the overall rankings, whereas last year the university was at number 19. He lauded the steps taken by the HEC to improve the quality of education for making them at par with international standards by raising the standard of education and uplifting the status of the teaching staff with hefty pays.
He apprised that the university was committed to take any tangible steps for meeting the criteria of 33 agendas set by the HEC. He said that it was a matter of pride for the varsity that it had 200 PhDs and had hired 70 teachers on tenure track system. He also informed the audience about the new campus of the university which was being set up at Jhang road on 200 acres of land. The new building would be built at a distance of a few kilometers from the current campus to meet the demand of increasing students, he added.
Pakistani youth take spouse visa route to success
A
Pakistani passport. An increasing number of Pakistani men have married
foreign-residents despite being in relationship with women and having
wives back home – File photo courtesy Creative Commons
Simple, innocent and conservative overseas-born or raised Pakistani girls are an easy target for these men. Most Pakistani families living abroad raise their children in a sheltered and protective environment, where they try to maintain their traditional ties with their native country and expect the same respect in return.
Marriage is a sacred union. Majority of overseas Pakistanis and respectable families in Pakistan cherish this system, adhering to the values and upholding the sacred union. However, seeing the latest matrimonial advertisements in the leading Pakistani national newspapers and online websites, marriage has become a business agreement. A culturally arranged marriage has become rather a business deal, where the groom needs to chalk out a business plan, conduct a SWOT analysis and check their return on investment.
It’s not only Pakistani men but also Pakistani women that are being married to foreign-passport-holding Pakistani men regardless of checking their compatibility, education, personality, age and long-term commitment, just to secure a better life for their family back home.
Frustrated by the economic and political instability and limited opportunities within their own country, Pakistani men and women are seeking refuge in other countries through any means. According to a British Higher Education Statistics Agency report, Pakistan accounts for 54 per cent of UK’s (non-EU) international students. In 2009-2012 there were over 9, 815 Pakistani students enrolled in higher education institutes. Furthermore, popular countries such as Canada, North America, several North European countries, including Sweden and Finland are attracting thousands of Pakistani students to their universities. More than 8, 458 Pakistani students studied in Australia in 2009-2010, increase of 11.4 per cent over 2008-2009.
Unless there is financial backing, life is tough for these Pakistani students overseas. Expensive college/university tuition fees, low-wages, odd jobs and unstable living conditions lead them to resentment and bitterness towards their country of stay. Moreover, they become opportunistic individuals that are willing to compromise and deceive others in order for them to gain permanent residency. An easy shortcut solution is to marry a local citizen.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) recently stated that there are a record number of fraudulent weddings and spouse claims being made by visa cheats in order to gain entry in the county and obtain Australian-citizenship.
According to the Herald Sun special DIAC report (August, 2012) more than 1,300 overseas-born partners have been sent packing in the past four years after their relationships with Australian residents and citizens were exposed as lies – 406, or eight a week, in the past year alone. Four in 10 partner visa applications came from foreigners already in the country on student, work or holiday visas in the past year, and they were most often rejected.
In New Zealand, nearly 500 people were turned away by immigration officers in the previous financial year after claiming to be in a long-term and stable relationship with New Zealanders.
Increasing number of statistics of Pakistani men involved in polygamous marriages and unregistered marriages in Pakistan is alarming; this is where Pakistani men have married foreign-residents despite being in relationship with women and having wives back home. They are not only spoiling the lives of innocent women in Pakistan for their self-vested interest abroad but leaving a social stigma for both these women residing abroad and in Pakistan.
According to a BBC report, Pakistani woman, Dr Zabina Shahain married a well-known man Mr Pervez Choudhry, former Conservative party leader residing in United Kingdom, who did not disclose but was still married. He did not realise that marriage in Pakistan was legally valid in the UK and was given a community order after admitting bigamy.
Similar cases are now emerging among young Pakistani men overseas that are taking part in dual marriages without disclosing information to their prospective spouses. Once these men secure their permanent visas, and achieve their goals they take the exit route. Left behind, are distraught and mentally disturbed women that have no option but to either stay due to family commitments or face social challenges if they leave them behind.
Common signs that Pakistani families need to be cautious of when assessing prospective spouses for their dear ones is to have a thorough background check, assess their emotional involvement towards their spouse to-be, disclosing of personal information and whereabouts and be wary of excessive blandishment.
A time where Pakistan already faces political, economic and social challenges domestically and in the international arena, the country cannot afford individuals to further damage its image.
Bridging gap between borders and generations
Bridging gap between borders and generations
‘Face to Faith’ brings students from Pakistan and India together to talk about treatment of elders
The mention of Pakistan conjured up stark images for students of Brindavan Vidyalaya until an interaction through video conferencing this week shattered the cultivated stereotypes.
Though divided by borders, students from both nations found a common pitch in challenges they faced, including the widening gap between Generation Y and senior citizens.
Organised by international organisation , ‘Face to Faith’ that brings students across cultures and faiths together through technology, the video-conference between four schools, two from Pakistan and two from India , included Brindavan Vidyalaya, Thiruvanaikoil as a participant. The school had invited grandparents to join students in the discussion centred on International Day of Older Persons observed on October 1.
The mediator encouraged students to share anecdotes and axioms from scriptures to express what diverse faiths talk about treatment of elders.
Students from Brindavan Vidyalaya joined their counterparts in Bal Bharathi Public School, Pitampura, New Delhi, in narrating instances from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, and sayings by Thiruvalluvar and Avvaiyar.
Rama’s exile in obedience to Dasaratha, Shravan Kumar’s devotion to his aged parents who were carried in two baskets slung over his shoulder, Parasurama who beheaded his mother’s head in compliance with his father’s order and used a boon granted by him to restore her to life, were cited.
Students from across the border quoted the Prophet on the value of respecting elders.
Surmounting technological challenge
“New technologies and communication have widened the gap between grandparents and grandchildren” said a grandparent. “While we struggle to keep up with the pace of advancement, we are looked down upon by youngsters as people who know nothing. It makes us feel inferior.”
While grandparents felt that grandchildren no longer listened to their stories, children felt it was because the tales were not relevant and held no interest to them. In the course of the discussion there was a shift in attitudes.
“It is not the stories that matter, but spending time listening to them or finding alternatives like watching television together,” said a student. Another felt it was important to ‘replace sympathy with empathy and put ourselves in their shoes’.
The challenge for this generation is to not permit technology to get in the way of their relationship with the older generation, said the mediator.
“Can you switch off the television earlier? Can you spend less time talking on the phone? Can you get off your computer to spend time with your grandparent?”
‘Face to Faith’ brings students from Pakistan and India together to talk about treatment of elders
The mention of Pakistan conjured up stark images for students of Brindavan Vidyalaya until an interaction through video conferencing this week shattered the cultivated stereotypes.
Though divided by borders, students from both nations found a common pitch in challenges they faced, including the widening gap between Generation Y and senior citizens.
Organised by international organisation , ‘Face to Faith’ that brings students across cultures and faiths together through technology, the video-conference between four schools, two from Pakistan and two from India , included Brindavan Vidyalaya, Thiruvanaikoil as a participant. The school had invited grandparents to join students in the discussion centred on International Day of Older Persons observed on October 1.
The mediator encouraged students to share anecdotes and axioms from scriptures to express what diverse faiths talk about treatment of elders.
Students from Brindavan Vidyalaya joined their counterparts in Bal Bharathi Public School, Pitampura, New Delhi, in narrating instances from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, and sayings by Thiruvalluvar and Avvaiyar.
Rama’s exile in obedience to Dasaratha, Shravan Kumar’s devotion to his aged parents who were carried in two baskets slung over his shoulder, Parasurama who beheaded his mother’s head in compliance with his father’s order and used a boon granted by him to restore her to life, were cited.
Students from across the border quoted the Prophet on the value of respecting elders.
Surmounting technological challenge
“New technologies and communication have widened the gap between grandparents and grandchildren” said a grandparent. “While we struggle to keep up with the pace of advancement, we are looked down upon by youngsters as people who know nothing. It makes us feel inferior.”
While grandparents felt that grandchildren no longer listened to their stories, children felt it was because the tales were not relevant and held no interest to them. In the course of the discussion there was a shift in attitudes.
“It is not the stories that matter, but spending time listening to them or finding alternatives like watching television together,” said a student. Another felt it was important to ‘replace sympathy with empathy and put ourselves in their shoes’.
The challenge for this generation is to not permit technology to get in the way of their relationship with the older generation, said the mediator.
“Can you switch off the television earlier? Can you spend less time talking on the phone? Can you get off your computer to spend time with your grandparent?”
Ghairat is not Honor!
An interesting read. I guess many of non-resident Pakistanis and Indians can to some degree relate to this article.
They do not have a word for ‘ghairat’ in English
Soruce: They do not have a word for
“They do not have a word for ‘ghairat’ in English,” said Khadim. He paused, looked at his audience and asked: “Do you know why?”
Without waiting for a response, he added: “Because they do not have ‘ghairat’ in the West.” His remarks, as he had expected, pleased this audience of South Asian Muslims, Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. “Not true,” said Farhan, one of the few liberals in the crowd. “They do have a word for ‘ghairat,’ honour.”
“Incorrect,” declared Khadim, “honour is a very light word. It does not have the intensity of ‘ghairat.’”
Many in the audience understood this ‘intensity’ well. They had grown-up daughters. And every time their daughters went out, in jeans or shalwar-kameez, they felt this intensity. The intensity increases, if the jeans are a bit too tight or the headscarves do not cover the head properly.
Farhan had so far been very patient. It was the ‘barsi’ or the annual prayer meeting for someone who had died last year. It was a solemn occasion, where conservatives outnumber others. He did not want a confrontation with them. Whenever they lose an argument, they go to his father who forces Farhan to apologise to “your elders.”
But he could hold no more. He looked around and found a copy of the day’s newspaper. He opened a page, holding it above his head and said:
“Look, this is your ‘ghairat’ and this is what you do when this intensity gets out of control.” And he started reading the caption under a picture:
“This is a June 19, 2012, file photo of Iftikhar Ahmed, the father of murdered teen-ager Shafilea Ahmed. A British court found that Iftikhar and his wife Farzana Ahmed suffocated their 17-year-old daughter, Shafilea, in 2003, because she was seeing boys and had refused to accept an arranged marriage. Both parents are originally from Pakistan.
“During the trial, Shafilea’s sister Alesha told the jury that her parents pushed Shafilea onto the couch and she heard her mother say ‘just finish it here’ as they forced a plastic bag into the girl’s mouth.”
(On Friday Aug. 3, 2012, the court found the parents guilty of murdering their teenage daughter in a so-called honour killing.)
Farhan stopped, waiting for the words to sink in, and said: “If this is ‘ghairat,’ thank God people in the West do not have this ‘ghairat.’ They only have honour.”
“Enough. Sit down,” shouted one of the elders at Farhan. “Who invited this brat to this religious gathering?” Nobody answered him, although they all knew why Farhan was invited.
Unlike most in the audience, Farhan had learned the Holy Quran from an Arab teacher. He recited it faster than others and pronounced every word correctly. He also had a sweet voice. So he was always invited to such places.
And his parents made sure that he went to all such gatherings, sometimes against his will.
This was the last Friday before Ramazan. They finished the recital, said the evening prayers and were waiting for the meal when the argument started.
They usually served kebabs and rasmalais at such dinners and Farhan loved both. But the argument upset him, so he walked out, got into his car and drove away.
Once outside, he realised he did not want to go home yet. So he drove to a nearby shisha bar.
“Still no news of the moon?” Razi, who runs this alcohol free shisha bar in a Washington suburb, asked as he saw Farhan.
“Not my problem,” said Farhan, who was still upset.
“It is my problem, though,” said Razi, also a Pakistani-American. “I need to know, to decide whether to have belly dance tonight.”
Around 10 pm, a friend called and told Razi their local mosque had announced that Ramazan starts tomorrow. “OK, there will be no belly dance tonight,” he said.
It was Friday night and the dancer was already there. Razi paid her $400 and sent her home. The dancer, Zebi, although nobody knew her real name, was also a Muslim, a Central Asian Muslim. “I am going to fast as well,” she said. Some believed her. Some did not.
“You wasted $400,” Farhan said to Razi.
“Yes, I cannot do this during Ramazan,” said Razi.
“Oh, I see. You are a Muslim too, right?” said Farhan, “As if Islam allows dancing on other nights.”
“It does not and that’s why I do not serve alcohol at my place. You see, this is America so we have to compromise on some issues.”
What Razi and thousands of others do in America is not a simple compromise. They modify their faith to suit their needs.
Selling alcohol is prohibited but some Muslims sell alcoholic beverages. They justify it by claiming that since they deal with an interest-based banking system, which is also forbidden, they can sell liquor too.
Others deal with the problems they face by drawing lines between what they would and would not do. For instance, most people will not eat pork but they will comfortably gulp down a bottle of beer or a glass of wine.
Some are so particular about halal or haram that they carefully read ingredients list every time they buy a chocolate or a packet of biscuits. But the same people do not mind having girlfriends or even bringing call girls with them.
One such man came home with a call girl and while he was in the bedroom, his friends cooked ‘karahi-gosht’ for him. When he came out, he asked: “Where did you get this meat from?” When told that the meat was from the common refrigerator, he said: “No, I cannot eat this. I know the meat was not halal.”
Razi tried to engage Farhan into a debate on what is allowed and what is forbidden during Ramazan, but Farhan was not interested.
“Not tonight,” he said, “I have had enough of religion for one night.”
“Why, what happened?” asked Razi. Farhan explained and then said, “I am fed up with these FOBs (freshly off the boat). Why did they come here if they were so concerned about preserving their customs?”
Razi, a second generation American like Farhan, agreed. “I am also fed up these one-track uncles and aunts,” he said. “All they discuss is politics, religion or cricket.”
While they were talking, a customer came with a DVD of Afghan songs and asked Razi to play it. He did. The customer went inside the shisha room where a group of young men and women were waiting for him.
The women – all Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa – started dancing. The men joined them.
“What will you do now?” asked Farhan with a big grin on his face.
“Nothing, this is America and here the customer is always right,” said Razi, eyeing the dancers with some interest.
As they were watching the amateur dancers, Farhan said he was hungry. Razi called a waiter from the halal restaurant next door.
“What is the Ramazan special, doctor sahib?” he asked the waiter.
“Partridges,” said the waiter, a physician who had twice failed the qualification in America and was now preparing for his third attempt.
“Wow, delicious,” said Razi, “bring two with nans.”
“You should tip this poor physician handsomely,” said Farhan.
“I always do but wait till he passes his exam and then he will be tipping us,” said Razi.
“Do you remember Dr. Nadir,” he asked.
“Yes, I do. Why?” asked Farhan.
“He used to live in a studio apartment before he passed his exam. Last week, he invited me to a dinner at his home. He lives in a palace now. His swimming pool is bigger than three of these shops put together,” said Razi.
“Yes, America is for the doctors,” said Farhan, a software engineer who earned a decent salary but nowhere near what a physician does.
The waiter brought three partridges. “Why three?” asked Razi. “Mr. Khan also wants to join you.” Khan owned the halal restaurant.
While they were eating, two middle-aged men came and said they wanted to talk to Razi separately. Razi took them to a corner, spoke with them for a few minutes and came back. The men went back to their car.
“What do they want?” asked Farhan.
“The same old story. One of them is a Pakistani and the other an Afghan. Their daughters are inside, dancing. They want me to send them home.”
“What did you say?” asked Khan.
“I told them I always checked their IDs and all the girls inside are above 21. So I cannot do anything but they started pleading, asking me to help them as a fellow Muslim. I asked them to wait in the car.”
Farhan finished his food. Then went to the shisha room and spoke to the women. Two of them came out with him, went to their fathers, spoke with them for few minutes, promised to return home soon and came back.
The men drove away.
“What did you say?” Razi asked one of the women.
“We told them we cannot go with them right now because if we do others will make fun of us. We will go soon,” she said. They stayed for another half an hour and then went home.
“This ended nicely,” said Khan. “Remember the other shisha bar, ‘Hookahwalas’? They had to close down because of the parent-children fights.”
“I learned from their mistakes,” said Razi. “First of all, I make sure that all my customers are adults. IDs are always checked.” Then he pointed at a police car, parked on the other side of the road. “And when I sense trouble, I call the cops.”
“I can see why they do that,” said Farhan whose anger had subsided and he was now feeling sorry for the parent-generation. “Poor devils, they had no choice. They came here because they wanted some prosperity, which they got. They were not ready for this huge cultural shock.”
Farhan was right. Most of their parents were from small villages, half-educated and were unable to understand the difference between working in Dubai and migrating to America.
“Why is their ‘ghairat’ always linked to women? Why not men? Nobody comes looking for their sons,” said Khan.
“They do, they worry about their sons too,” said Farhan thinking of his mother who often stays up at night, particularly during Ramazan, praying to God to make sure that her sons remained good Muslims.
Razi said that while the parents of his customers were upset with him for opening this shisha bar, they did not want him to close it down either. “They say that if you close, our daughters will go to other bars where they also serve alcohol.”
“I am sure those two poor souls must have been crying on their way home,” said Farhan.
“Yet, nothing justifies killing your daughter,” he added, thinking of the 17-year old girl killed by her parents in England. “No sympathy for murderers, even if they are parents.
They should be hanged,” he said.
“No, nothing justifies a murder, honour or no honour,” Razi agreed.
Khan, who was also a first generation immigrant, was too lost in thoughts in respond.
They do not have a word for ‘ghairat’ in English
Soruce: They do not have a word for
“They do not have a word for ‘ghairat’ in English,” said Khadim. He paused, looked at his audience and asked: “Do you know why?”
Without waiting for a response, he added: “Because they do not have ‘ghairat’ in the West.” His remarks, as he had expected, pleased this audience of South Asian Muslims, Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. “Not true,” said Farhan, one of the few liberals in the crowd. “They do have a word for ‘ghairat,’ honour.”
“Incorrect,” declared Khadim, “honour is a very light word. It does not have the intensity of ‘ghairat.’”
Many in the audience understood this ‘intensity’ well. They had grown-up daughters. And every time their daughters went out, in jeans or shalwar-kameez, they felt this intensity. The intensity increases, if the jeans are a bit too tight or the headscarves do not cover the head properly.
Farhan had so far been very patient. It was the ‘barsi’ or the annual prayer meeting for someone who had died last year. It was a solemn occasion, where conservatives outnumber others. He did not want a confrontation with them. Whenever they lose an argument, they go to his father who forces Farhan to apologise to “your elders.”
But he could hold no more. He looked around and found a copy of the day’s newspaper. He opened a page, holding it above his head and said:
“Look, this is your ‘ghairat’ and this is what you do when this intensity gets out of control.” And he started reading the caption under a picture:
“This is a June 19, 2012, file photo of Iftikhar Ahmed, the father of murdered teen-ager Shafilea Ahmed. A British court found that Iftikhar and his wife Farzana Ahmed suffocated their 17-year-old daughter, Shafilea, in 2003, because she was seeing boys and had refused to accept an arranged marriage. Both parents are originally from Pakistan.
“During the trial, Shafilea’s sister Alesha told the jury that her parents pushed Shafilea onto the couch and she heard her mother say ‘just finish it here’ as they forced a plastic bag into the girl’s mouth.”
(On Friday Aug. 3, 2012, the court found the parents guilty of murdering their teenage daughter in a so-called honour killing.)
Farhan stopped, waiting for the words to sink in, and said: “If this is ‘ghairat,’ thank God people in the West do not have this ‘ghairat.’ They only have honour.”
“Enough. Sit down,” shouted one of the elders at Farhan. “Who invited this brat to this religious gathering?” Nobody answered him, although they all knew why Farhan was invited.
Unlike most in the audience, Farhan had learned the Holy Quran from an Arab teacher. He recited it faster than others and pronounced every word correctly. He also had a sweet voice. So he was always invited to such places.
And his parents made sure that he went to all such gatherings, sometimes against his will.
This was the last Friday before Ramazan. They finished the recital, said the evening prayers and were waiting for the meal when the argument started.
They usually served kebabs and rasmalais at such dinners and Farhan loved both. But the argument upset him, so he walked out, got into his car and drove away.
Once outside, he realised he did not want to go home yet. So he drove to a nearby shisha bar.
“Still no news of the moon?” Razi, who runs this alcohol free shisha bar in a Washington suburb, asked as he saw Farhan.
“Not my problem,” said Farhan, who was still upset.
“It is my problem, though,” said Razi, also a Pakistani-American. “I need to know, to decide whether to have belly dance tonight.”
Around 10 pm, a friend called and told Razi their local mosque had announced that Ramazan starts tomorrow. “OK, there will be no belly dance tonight,” he said.
It was Friday night and the dancer was already there. Razi paid her $400 and sent her home. The dancer, Zebi, although nobody knew her real name, was also a Muslim, a Central Asian Muslim. “I am going to fast as well,” she said. Some believed her. Some did not.
“You wasted $400,” Farhan said to Razi.
“Yes, I cannot do this during Ramazan,” said Razi.
“Oh, I see. You are a Muslim too, right?” said Farhan, “As if Islam allows dancing on other nights.”
“It does not and that’s why I do not serve alcohol at my place. You see, this is America so we have to compromise on some issues.”
What Razi and thousands of others do in America is not a simple compromise. They modify their faith to suit their needs.
Selling alcohol is prohibited but some Muslims sell alcoholic beverages. They justify it by claiming that since they deal with an interest-based banking system, which is also forbidden, they can sell liquor too.
Others deal with the problems they face by drawing lines between what they would and would not do. For instance, most people will not eat pork but they will comfortably gulp down a bottle of beer or a glass of wine.
Some are so particular about halal or haram that they carefully read ingredients list every time they buy a chocolate or a packet of biscuits. But the same people do not mind having girlfriends or even bringing call girls with them.
One such man came home with a call girl and while he was in the bedroom, his friends cooked ‘karahi-gosht’ for him. When he came out, he asked: “Where did you get this meat from?” When told that the meat was from the common refrigerator, he said: “No, I cannot eat this. I know the meat was not halal.”
Razi tried to engage Farhan into a debate on what is allowed and what is forbidden during Ramazan, but Farhan was not interested.
“Not tonight,” he said, “I have had enough of religion for one night.”
“Why, what happened?” asked Razi. Farhan explained and then said, “I am fed up with these FOBs (freshly off the boat). Why did they come here if they were so concerned about preserving their customs?”
Razi, a second generation American like Farhan, agreed. “I am also fed up these one-track uncles and aunts,” he said. “All they discuss is politics, religion or cricket.”
While they were talking, a customer came with a DVD of Afghan songs and asked Razi to play it. He did. The customer went inside the shisha room where a group of young men and women were waiting for him.
The women – all Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa – started dancing. The men joined them.
“What will you do now?” asked Farhan with a big grin on his face.
“Nothing, this is America and here the customer is always right,” said Razi, eyeing the dancers with some interest.
As they were watching the amateur dancers, Farhan said he was hungry. Razi called a waiter from the halal restaurant next door.
“What is the Ramazan special, doctor sahib?” he asked the waiter.
“Partridges,” said the waiter, a physician who had twice failed the qualification in America and was now preparing for his third attempt.
“Wow, delicious,” said Razi, “bring two with nans.”
“You should tip this poor physician handsomely,” said Farhan.
“I always do but wait till he passes his exam and then he will be tipping us,” said Razi.
“Do you remember Dr. Nadir,” he asked.
“Yes, I do. Why?” asked Farhan.
“He used to live in a studio apartment before he passed his exam. Last week, he invited me to a dinner at his home. He lives in a palace now. His swimming pool is bigger than three of these shops put together,” said Razi.
“Yes, America is for the doctors,” said Farhan, a software engineer who earned a decent salary but nowhere near what a physician does.
The waiter brought three partridges. “Why three?” asked Razi. “Mr. Khan also wants to join you.” Khan owned the halal restaurant.
While they were eating, two middle-aged men came and said they wanted to talk to Razi separately. Razi took them to a corner, spoke with them for a few minutes and came back. The men went back to their car.
“What do they want?” asked Farhan.
“The same old story. One of them is a Pakistani and the other an Afghan. Their daughters are inside, dancing. They want me to send them home.”
“What did you say?” asked Khan.
“I told them I always checked their IDs and all the girls inside are above 21. So I cannot do anything but they started pleading, asking me to help them as a fellow Muslim. I asked them to wait in the car.”
Farhan finished his food. Then went to the shisha room and spoke to the women. Two of them came out with him, went to their fathers, spoke with them for few minutes, promised to return home soon and came back.
The men drove away.
“What did you say?” Razi asked one of the women.
“We told them we cannot go with them right now because if we do others will make fun of us. We will go soon,” she said. They stayed for another half an hour and then went home.
“This ended nicely,” said Khan. “Remember the other shisha bar, ‘Hookahwalas’? They had to close down because of the parent-children fights.”
“I learned from their mistakes,” said Razi. “First of all, I make sure that all my customers are adults. IDs are always checked.” Then he pointed at a police car, parked on the other side of the road. “And when I sense trouble, I call the cops.”
“I can see why they do that,” said Farhan whose anger had subsided and he was now feeling sorry for the parent-generation. “Poor devils, they had no choice. They came here because they wanted some prosperity, which they got. They were not ready for this huge cultural shock.”
Farhan was right. Most of their parents were from small villages, half-educated and were unable to understand the difference between working in Dubai and migrating to America.
“Why is their ‘ghairat’ always linked to women? Why not men? Nobody comes looking for their sons,” said Khan.
“They do, they worry about their sons too,” said Farhan thinking of his mother who often stays up at night, particularly during Ramazan, praying to God to make sure that her sons remained good Muslims.
Razi said that while the parents of his customers were upset with him for opening this shisha bar, they did not want him to close it down either. “They say that if you close, our daughters will go to other bars where they also serve alcohol.”
“I am sure those two poor souls must have been crying on their way home,” said Farhan.
“Yet, nothing justifies killing your daughter,” he added, thinking of the 17-year old girl killed by her parents in England. “No sympathy for murderers, even if they are parents.
They should be hanged,” he said.
“No, nothing justifies a murder, honour or no honour,” Razi agreed.
Khan, who was also a first generation immigrant, was too lost in thoughts in respond.
Pakistan school offers hope for children rescued from the Taliban
At first glance they seem just like any other group of high-spirited
teenage schoolboys. Dressed in the compulsory school uniform comprising
green-and-white striped shirts and cream trousers, they spend their
mornings studying hard for their exams and their afternoons on the
playing fields.
To observe these boys studiously poring over their textbooks, or running around the sports field during games of football or basketball, it was hard to imagine that only a few months previously they had been living a very different existence.
For the 180 or so boys attending this highly specialised school on Pakistan's lawless North-West Frontier are all veterans of the Taliban, the militant Islamist movement that is waging war on both sides of the border with neighbouring Afghanistan.
Seized or bought from their families by Taliban fighters promising them a better life, they were plunged into a relentless cycle of indoctrination aimed at turning them into suicide bombers or fighters willing to sacrifice their lives attacking Nato forces in Afghanistan or taking part in the Taliban's increasingly violent campaign against the Pakistani government.
In one such case, the Taliban seized a seven-year-old boy who, after three years of indoctrination and training, was sent to Afghanistan to kill a policeman. His mission, thankfully, failed. On his return to Pakistan, he was found by his parents who, appalled at his exploits, surrendered him to the authorities in the hope they could help him to rebuild his life.
The boy, now 11, is one of the lucky ones. Pakistani security officials estimate that hundreds, if not thousands, of children have been killed in the Taliban's relentless campaign of terrorism.
In one of the worst examples, a Pakistani boy was caught on a CCTV camera moments before he blew himself up outside a Sufi shrine in Lahore in 2010, killing 45 people and maiming another 175. Overall, it is estimated that more than 4,000 people have been killed by 200 attacks carried out by teenage Taliban suicide bombers.
As a result, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the head of the Pakistan army, ordered that a specialist school be set up to rehabilitate these teenage victims of the Taliban's indoctrination programme.
Called the Sabaoon School (Sabaoon in Pashto means the first light of dawn), it is located in the frontier town of Malakand, where, in 1897, the young Winston Churchill took part in his first military campaign with the British Army, as well as writing the occasional dispatch for the The Daily Telegraph.
Run on the same principles as any normal boarding school, with the children learning the same curriculum taught in other schools in the area, Sabaoon also boasts an team of child psychologists who work closely with the children to help them learn the error of their ways.
"Our main task is to try to reverse the brainwashing they have suffered at the hands of the Taliban," said Col Mohammed Islam, who runs the school, which receives funding from Unicef and the Pakistan government.
"We are trying to break the myth of misplaced perceptions perpetrated by the terrorists."
This is no easy task, particularly as the school remains a prime target for the Taliban, which has pledged to kill anyone involved in the project. Its precise location is kept secret and the complex is protected by steel barricades and razor wire. Weapons are trained on visitors from the windows, roof, gatehouse and guard posts that occupy each corner.
Despite these intense security precautions, the Taliban managed to murder one of the school's founders, Dr Mohammed Farooq Khan, a Pakistani religious teacher and intellectual who publicly denounced the Taliban's brain-washing techniques.
By far the biggest difficulty the Sabaoon staff face, though, is in trying to deal with the traumatic experiences many of the children have suffered.
Speaking through an interpreter, one boy, aged about 13, related how he had been recruited by the Taliban after attending his local mosque in the Swat Valley three years ago. "There were guns in the mosque," he explained to one of the psychologists, and he was encouraged to support the Taliban's campaign to impose Sharia on Pakistan.
On one occasion after joining the movement, the boy came across a group of Taliban fighters whipping a girl. "One of them came up and handed me the cane and ordered me to whip her, and I did," he explained. "If I hadn't done what they told me to do they would have killed me. I tried to hit her gently, but they told me off and told me to hit her harder."
Another pupil explained how the Taliban forced him to become a suicide bomber. His family had handed him over to the Taliban because he had a drink problem, and was causing problems at home. "They beat me very badly with sticks and they showed me the way of suicide," he explained. "They taught me it was the best way to fight."
Some of the children at the school were bought by the Taliban from their families for 25,000 rupees (about £160). "They come from poor families who have too many children and can't afford to keep them," explained one of the school's psychologists. "They sell them to the Taliban thinking they will be looked after, and it is only later that they discover what is going on."
One of the biggest challenges the school faces is to persuade parents to take their children back once they are deemed fit. "The families don't want them because of the cost," he said.
Even so, Col Islam believes he is making good progress at helping the children to reject the Taliban's ideology and make a better life for themselves. To date only three of those released from the school have rejoined the Taliban, which he believes is a major achievement given the scale and effectiveness of the organisation's brainwashing techniques.
"We find that once these children have been introduced to proper education they don't want to stop learning," said Col Islam.
Pakistan school offers hope for children rescued from the Taliban - Telegraph
To observe these boys studiously poring over their textbooks, or running around the sports field during games of football or basketball, it was hard to imagine that only a few months previously they had been living a very different existence.
For the 180 or so boys attending this highly specialised school on Pakistan's lawless North-West Frontier are all veterans of the Taliban, the militant Islamist movement that is waging war on both sides of the border with neighbouring Afghanistan.
Seized or bought from their families by Taliban fighters promising them a better life, they were plunged into a relentless cycle of indoctrination aimed at turning them into suicide bombers or fighters willing to sacrifice their lives attacking Nato forces in Afghanistan or taking part in the Taliban's increasingly violent campaign against the Pakistani government.
In one such case, the Taliban seized a seven-year-old boy who, after three years of indoctrination and training, was sent to Afghanistan to kill a policeman. His mission, thankfully, failed. On his return to Pakistan, he was found by his parents who, appalled at his exploits, surrendered him to the authorities in the hope they could help him to rebuild his life.
The boy, now 11, is one of the lucky ones. Pakistani security officials estimate that hundreds, if not thousands, of children have been killed in the Taliban's relentless campaign of terrorism.
In one of the worst examples, a Pakistani boy was caught on a CCTV camera moments before he blew himself up outside a Sufi shrine in Lahore in 2010, killing 45 people and maiming another 175. Overall, it is estimated that more than 4,000 people have been killed by 200 attacks carried out by teenage Taliban suicide bombers.
As a result, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the head of the Pakistan army, ordered that a specialist school be set up to rehabilitate these teenage victims of the Taliban's indoctrination programme.
Called the Sabaoon School (Sabaoon in Pashto means the first light of dawn), it is located in the frontier town of Malakand, where, in 1897, the young Winston Churchill took part in his first military campaign with the British Army, as well as writing the occasional dispatch for the The Daily Telegraph.
Run on the same principles as any normal boarding school, with the children learning the same curriculum taught in other schools in the area, Sabaoon also boasts an team of child psychologists who work closely with the children to help them learn the error of their ways.
"Our main task is to try to reverse the brainwashing they have suffered at the hands of the Taliban," said Col Mohammed Islam, who runs the school, which receives funding from Unicef and the Pakistan government.
"We are trying to break the myth of misplaced perceptions perpetrated by the terrorists."
This is no easy task, particularly as the school remains a prime target for the Taliban, which has pledged to kill anyone involved in the project. Its precise location is kept secret and the complex is protected by steel barricades and razor wire. Weapons are trained on visitors from the windows, roof, gatehouse and guard posts that occupy each corner.
Despite these intense security precautions, the Taliban managed to murder one of the school's founders, Dr Mohammed Farooq Khan, a Pakistani religious teacher and intellectual who publicly denounced the Taliban's brain-washing techniques.
By far the biggest difficulty the Sabaoon staff face, though, is in trying to deal with the traumatic experiences many of the children have suffered.
Speaking through an interpreter, one boy, aged about 13, related how he had been recruited by the Taliban after attending his local mosque in the Swat Valley three years ago. "There were guns in the mosque," he explained to one of the psychologists, and he was encouraged to support the Taliban's campaign to impose Sharia on Pakistan.
On one occasion after joining the movement, the boy came across a group of Taliban fighters whipping a girl. "One of them came up and handed me the cane and ordered me to whip her, and I did," he explained. "If I hadn't done what they told me to do they would have killed me. I tried to hit her gently, but they told me off and told me to hit her harder."
Another pupil explained how the Taliban forced him to become a suicide bomber. His family had handed him over to the Taliban because he had a drink problem, and was causing problems at home. "They beat me very badly with sticks and they showed me the way of suicide," he explained. "They taught me it was the best way to fight."
Some of the children at the school were bought by the Taliban from their families for 25,000 rupees (about £160). "They come from poor families who have too many children and can't afford to keep them," explained one of the school's psychologists. "They sell them to the Taliban thinking they will be looked after, and it is only later that they discover what is going on."
One of the biggest challenges the school faces is to persuade parents to take their children back once they are deemed fit. "The families don't want them because of the cost," he said.
Even so, Col Islam believes he is making good progress at helping the children to reject the Taliban's ideology and make a better life for themselves. To date only three of those released from the school have rejoined the Taliban, which he believes is a major achievement given the scale and effectiveness of the organisation's brainwashing techniques.
"We find that once these children have been introduced to proper education they don't want to stop learning," said Col Islam.
Pakistan school offers hope for children rescued from the Taliban - Telegraph
Imran Khan, knowingly or unknowingly ‘Taliban’ Khan – The Express Tribune Blog
Imran Khan is guilty of one of two things. He is either guilty of deliberately and knowingly legitimising the Pakistani Taliban as a political force for what he perceives to be his own populist gain, or he is guilty of colossal naivety and unintelligibility.
Personally, I am far more worried by the latter, and also far more convinced of its plausibility.
Allow me to explain.
Let’s consider the possibility that Imran Khan is indeed playing to what he understands the populist tune to be and that his soft, apologetic stance towards the Pakistani Taliban is a deliberate ploy fueled out of a mixture of two fears; one fear being of his own life and the other being of antagonising his Pashtun support base.
This is not implausible.
It would not make sense for Imran Khan to be making new enemies with elections and his first real chance of being a major part of a coalition fast approaching. This would also allow him the liberty of being able to take a harsher stance towards the Pakistani Taliban once he is actually part of a government and has less, not everything, to lose.
This is what most die-hard PTI supporters will tell you when you exasperatedly ask them what on earth their dear leader is up to. They will tell you with the utmost conviction, that this is all part of an elaborate master plan that will only become apparent when Imran Khan wants it too.
They will tell you, with straight faces, that this is the same master plan that includes Imran Khan’s mysterious ‘team’ of young and brilliant public administrators that can and will only be announced when the ‘time is right’ because , you know, the system would corrupt them otherwise.
Here’s what I think is actually the case. I think that Imran Khan has conflated a number of distinct entities and problems and has ended up thoroughly confusing himself and everyone else as a consequence.
First of all, I believe that Imran Khan doesn’t really actually know very much about the Pakistani Taliban or their, short but colourful, history, profile and goals.
I believe, and fear, that Imran Khan’s conception of the Pakistani Taliban is clouded by his notion and understanding of the Afghan Taliban, and that he hardly takes the trouble to distinguish between the two. I think he has accidentally conflated the issue of drones and the Pakistani Taliban, not realising that opposing drone strikes and endorsing the legitimacy of the group responsible for 30,000 civilian and 4000 Pakistani military deaths is two very different things.
I think Imran Khan truly believes that the Pakistani Taliban have a legitimate cause and that they are people with whom negotiation, dialogue and compromise is a possibility.
Worst of all, I think Imran Khan still has not accepted, and refuses to accept, the fact that regardless of how and why it came to be, this is very much Pakistan’s war now.
Imran has often been, somewhat, jokingly referred to as Taliban Khan for his apologist tendencies, which up till now I have always thought to be a bit unfair. Yet this entire affair of even considering the possibility of relying on the Taliban for security during a political rally is akin to crossing the dangerous line between innocent flirting and unforgivable advance. This is a deplorable and dangerous policy, for if Imran continues to engage and endorse the Pakistani Taliban, it will have the unintended consequence of granting unwanted legitimacy to whatever nutty, far out cause they claim to have.
Imran will be giving our enemies exactly what they have been trying to acquire for years; some sort of mainstream political endorsement.
This transforms them from a purely militant organisation to a political entity and recognised ideology. You can stamp out militants but not ideologies Captaan sab, please remember this. If you strengthen, albeit accidentally, the position of our enemy then the blood spilled as a result will be on your hands as well.
An analysis, of the recent methods of the Pakistani Taliban, indicates an increasing want of political legitimacy and recognition. This is both a sign of strategic maturity and overall weakness. When the Pakistani Taliban was at its peak in 2009 there were attacks on civilians almost every day in major cities. Then Operation Rah-e-Raast was conducted and the Pakistan Army literally killed a thousand Taliban fighters in a matter of days and with them losing much of their top leadership.
Since then heavy amounts of military operations have been underway in South Waziristan and the Pakistani Taliban is decidedly on a back foot, now in a position of relative strength in only North Waziristan. This back foot has dictated a huge reduction in the targeting of civilians and a large increase in the targeting of military individuals and installations. This deliberate sparing of civilians is designed to lure people into a false sense of security, not unlike we did to them in Swat, as if to say that our war is only with your army and not you. This is a classical psychological guerrilla tactic; it causes people to question the role, right and moral position of our armed forces, whom have been valiantly defending the country from the Taliban menace for years now.
In such situations, it is the responsibility of the political leaders of the nation to stand firmly behind their armed forces, building a war narrative, outlawing and delegitimising the enemy, not agreeing to be protected by them. It is the responsibility of our leaders to take ownership of the war, not take the cowards way out by continuing to call it America’s war on terror despite it being quite apparent that the Pakistani Taliban’s war is with us and not with the Americans.
That would be the Afghan Taliban, an older, more mature and politically mature group that has focused goals and is ready to make political concessions. The Pakistani Taliban is nothing more than a group of well trained, naturally warlike criminals and brigands that have delusions of grandeur; of imposing their own draconic interpretation of Islam on a nation of 160 million people.
With a penchant for beheadings and blowing up schools, funded by foreign powers, and comprising of a large percentage of foreign fighters, the Pakistani Taliban is the most backward, savage, cruel and downright despicable group of fighters in the world today. They are dangerous because they are young, determined and well disciplined. The average age of a Pakistani Taliban commander is between 30-35 years, making their rank and file extremely young and immature, prone to the deliverance of absolute savagery and cruelty in the name of Islam. The Pakistani Taliban is our enemy, and he is an enemy we should fear for two reasons, the first being that he is a formidable enemy and the second being that it is only out of fear that Pakistani’s have ever stood united. We must oppose them with all the moral righteousness that they oppose us with. We must fight fire with fire and not cease until ultimate victory is not achieved.
In short, we must clear North Waziristan once and for all, come what may, no matter the sacrifice. It will not be easy, and there will be heavy losses, yet if there was ever an army capable of such a task it is the Pakistan Army.
The, very good, reason that the Pakistan Army does not launch an operation in North Waziristan is precisely because of people like Imran Khan. Public opinion shapers just don’t get the fact that the army is almost powerless without them, or maybe they do, and that is the problem. Unless the civilian government and major public opinion shapers do not stand firmly behind the army in a unanimous and unwavering vow of commitment to the defeat of the Pakistani Taliban, it is not viable.
The moment the operation is launched there will be a backlash in major cities.
Soft targets such as malls, markets, cinemas and public gatherings will be relentlessly attacked by suicide bombers. Support for the war, hardly existent to begin with, will quickly dwindle, with the Najam Sethi’s and Asma Jehangir’s of our society jumping on the opportunity to ridicule, criticise and antagonise our military using the irresponsible media to their full advantage. There will be anarchy like never before in Pakistan, the economy will further plummet, violence will skyrocket and effective public administration, what we need more than anything, will be the least of anyone’s worries.
The Americans, who have been waiting for an excuse, will finally conclude that Pakistan cannot in fact guarantee the safety of its nuclear arsenal and will use the unrest to justify launching special operations to relieve us of our nuclear capabilities. The Army will stand routed amidst the storm of chaos that will begin to rain down and it will have all been for nothing.
Thus the choice lies with us.
Accept this bunch of crazies as a legitimate entity within our country, as Imran Khan seems to be doing, or rid our home of this evil once and for all. The power to fight our enemy lies with us, and begins with our recognition of a common enemy and the need to defeat him.
As always the right choice is the hard choice, but it’s one we must all make, pronto. For in indecision lies only more of the same.
Palestine cancel tour to Pakistan
KARACHI: Palestine’s tour to Pakistan for two friendly football matches
has been cancelled, a Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) press release
issued on Sunday confirmed.
The Palestine national team were set to play two friendly matches between October 14-18 in Pakistan but the venue was yet to be confirmed.
According to the statement issued, the Sports Board of Punjab confirmed the availability of Punjab Stadium for the two matches very late due to which Palestine was forced to withdraw as they could not send a team on such a short notice.
Palestine also toured Pakistan last year for a two-match series which was played in Karachi and Lahore. The visitors won the series 1-0.
Pakistan is likely to tour Singapore in November as it would be difficult to arrange any other series, PFF’s secretary general Ahmad Yar Lodhi was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
The Palestine national team were set to play two friendly matches between October 14-18 in Pakistan but the venue was yet to be confirmed.
According to the statement issued, the Sports Board of Punjab confirmed the availability of Punjab Stadium for the two matches very late due to which Palestine was forced to withdraw as they could not send a team on such a short notice.
Palestine also toured Pakistan last year for a two-match series which was played in Karachi and Lahore. The visitors won the series 1-0.
Pakistan is likely to tour Singapore in November as it would be difficult to arrange any other series, PFF’s secretary general Ahmad Yar Lodhi was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
The World's Most Dangerous Cities
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47534909/The_World_s_Most_Dangerous_Cities?slide=1
Salute To Pakistani Soldiers !!!
Salute To Pakistani Soldiers !!!
May Allah rest their souls in peace !!
Major Mujahid and Captain Usman Shaheed !!!
Captain Usman Ali Age of his Daughter 2.5 month
Captain Usman Ali
Major Mujahid from 105 L/C who embraced shahadat in NATO attack on Pakistani checkpost in Salsala Village
Namaz-e-Janaza of Nato Attk Martyrs
“This is not true. Theyare making up excuses. What are their losses, casualties?” said army spokesmanMajor-General Athar Abbas
“I cannot rule outthe possibility that this was a deliberate attack by Isaf,” said Abbas. “IfIsaf was receiving fire, then they must tell us what their losses were.”
Pakistani armyofficials said the posts that were attacked were about 300 metres intoPakistani territory. Isaf officers, however, maintain that the borderin that area is disputed.
Abbas told the Guardian that the firing lasted forover an hour, and that Isaf made “no attempt” to contact the Pakistani side.
“This was a totally unprovoked attack. There are nosafe havens or hideouts left there [for militants] in Mohmand,” he said.
“This was a visible, well-made post, on top ofridges, made of concrete. Militants don’t operate from mountaintops, fromconcrete structures.”
The article, which followed a similar report by theGuardian, cited three Afghan officials and one Western official as saying theair raid was called in to shield allied forces targeting Taliban fighters.
Nato and Afghan forces “were fired on from a Pakistaniarmy base”, the unnamed Western official told the Wall Street Journal. “It wasa defensive action.”
The United States has been told by Pakistan's military leadership to evacuate a logisticallykey airbase it operates in Balochistan – Shamsie Airbase – within 15 days. In addition, pakistan's fury was driven home with an officialstatement that it will shut down Nato supply routes operating through itsterritory – something that has happened for the first time, though supplyroutes have previously been temporarily blocked unofficially following similar attacks.
Allah Almighty be with our soldiers,gives strength to all of our soldiers (ameen)
May Allah rest their souls in peace !!
Major Mujahid and Captain Usman Shaheed !!!
Captain Usman Ali Age of his Daughter 2.5 month
Captain Usman Ali
Major Mujahid from 105 L/C who embraced shahadat in NATO attack on Pakistani checkpost in Salsala Village
Namaz-e-Janaza of Nato Attk Martyrs
“This is not true. Theyare making up excuses. What are their losses, casualties?” said army spokesmanMajor-General Athar Abbas
“I cannot rule outthe possibility that this was a deliberate attack by Isaf,” said Abbas. “IfIsaf was receiving fire, then they must tell us what their losses were.”
Pakistani armyofficials said the posts that were attacked were about 300 metres intoPakistani territory. Isaf officers, however, maintain that the borderin that area is disputed.
Abbas told the Guardian that the firing lasted forover an hour, and that Isaf made “no attempt” to contact the Pakistani side.
“This was a totally unprovoked attack. There are nosafe havens or hideouts left there [for militants] in Mohmand,” he said.
“This was a visible, well-made post, on top ofridges, made of concrete. Militants don’t operate from mountaintops, fromconcrete structures.”
The article, which followed a similar report by theGuardian, cited three Afghan officials and one Western official as saying theair raid was called in to shield allied forces targeting Taliban fighters.
Nato and Afghan forces “were fired on from a Pakistaniarmy base”, the unnamed Western official told the Wall Street Journal. “It wasa defensive action.”
The United States has been told by Pakistan's military leadership to evacuate a logisticallykey airbase it operates in Balochistan – Shamsie Airbase – within 15 days. In addition, pakistan's fury was driven home with an officialstatement that it will shut down Nato supply routes operating through itsterritory – something that has happened for the first time, though supplyroutes have previously been temporarily blocked unofficially following similar attacks.
Allah Almighty be with our soldiers,gives strength to all of our soldiers (ameen)
New Chief of the Air staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir rafique Butt...!!
Air Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt Monday has taken over the charge of Chief of the Air Staff.
A formal “Change of Command Ceremony” was arranged at Pakistan Air Force Headquarters on Monday morning where former Chief of the Air Staff Rao Qamar Suleman handed over the command to the new Air Chief. Earlier, the outgoing air chief examined the guard of honour, and salute was presented to the new air chief.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Top 25 Natural Lakes In Pakistan #mancharlake #banjosalake #pyalalake
پاکستان حیرت انگیز قدرتی اور مصنوعی جھیلوں سے مالا مال ہے۔ یہ جھیلیں اپنے تازہ شفاف پانی، شاندار خوبصورتی اور قدرتی ...
