— Indian ICC Chief working to get Pak team banned for 3 to5 years
— Pak govt smell rat behind the match fixing drama
— Bookie emerges as RAW man, introduced to Indian cricketers by RAW
— Bookie met Pak player in South Africa at a dinner for the first time in 2009
— Aamir like young players were the basic target
— English journalist got 50,000 Pounds to organize fake sting operation for RAW
— Indian High Commission at London played key role in Bookie’s bail.

From Cherry Ferguson in London, Kapil Verma in Mumbai and Ambreen Nadeem Janjua in Islamabad

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… and making money out of Pakistani misfortune

• Someone in the Zardari government is colluding with the Indians and flooding Pakistani markets with Indian produce
• Zardari govt. colluded with US to allow Afghan-India trade at Pakistan’s expense
• Whose side is the Pakistani govt. on: India’s side, America’s side, or Pakistan’s side?
• Stop benefiting Indian cotton producers at Pakistan’s expense

EDITORIAL

TheNation

Friday, 27 August 2o10.

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

LAHORE, Pakistan—For anyone still believing in Indian altruism towards Pakistan in its hour of suffering and need, a brief look at Indian actions recently will put an end to any such illusions.

If India really wanted to offer aid to Pakistan without seeking political capital from it, it would have given it through the United Nations fund. But that was never the Indian intent.

After all, India has continued to release water into Pakistan’s overflowing rivers deliberately to aggravate the flood situation. This is why India has refused to put in place a telemetry system on its dams on Kashmiri rivers as part of the Indus Waters Treaty infrastructure.

Nor is this all.

Indian opportunism knows no bounds and the Indians are already exploiting Pakistan’s misfortunes as a result of the flood devastation – especially in the agricultural sector.

Already the markets in the cities are filled with Indian vegetables and one needs to ask how these are coming in? Have we removed all restrictions on Indian trade through Wagah?
But it is not just the vegetable market India is eyeing. The Indian government has already moved to take advantage of the destruction of the bulk of Pakistan’s cotton crop as a result of the floods. Knowing that the textile industry would suffer a shortfall of local cotton, the Indian government has lifted an earlier ban on cotton export to enable India to meet the Pakistani textile industry’s anticipated demand. The ban had been in place to keep domestic prices down. Now, with a bumper cotton harvest and ample rain, Indian producers are all ready to export cotton to Pakistan in October. Apparently Pakistan has been importing cotton from India earlier also. However, the dynamics are different now with India’s suspect role of releasing water into our overflowing rivers. There is also the present Indian hostile posturing towards Pakistan and its refusal to renew the composite dialogue. Finally, there is the renewed killing of Kashmiris by Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir. As it is, our government has maintained a shameful silence on this issue and no official voice has been raised in support of the new Kashmiri intifada.

To allow Indian cotton producers to benefit from our flood disaster would be immoral and politically ridiculous since it would effectively reflect a tacit condoning of India’s hostile posture. Not only should Pakistan’s textile industry look to other cotton producers like China, the Pakistan government should make its India policy, especially in terms of trade, transparent. What exactly have we given to India in terms of trade access? At a time when India is actively seeking to undermine Pakistan on all fronts including abetting militancy within the country, especially in Balochistan, Pakistan’s government needs to stand firm against any Indian intrusion into our economic sphere – especially at the cost of the people of Pakistan’s interests.

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• Washington’s aid is politicized and arrogant; Riyadh’s aid is compassionate

By GULPARI NAZISH MEHSUD

Monday, 30 August 2010.

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Saudi Arabia has quietly bypassed the United States as the single largest aid donor in real terms so far. Riyadh’s commitment to helping the victims of Pakistan’s devastating floods has crossed US$140 million.

The Saudis have also outdone themselves. The Saudi military and air force set up a back-to-back air bridge between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, sending thirty large cargo planes carrying hundreds of tons of relief goods. The air bridge continues to operate.

With more than $120 million sent in cash, the first 3-day international telethon to raise funds, and 30 major air relief shipments to land in Pakistan in what is the largest air bridge in support of flood victims, Saudi response was better than any other nation.

The only exceptions are UAE sending six helicopters when the United States initially provided only five, [later increased to 15]. After its initial reluctance, US surpassed any other donor by providing three large cargo planes in addition to ten more helicopters. Most of the pledged US aid money is, however, ‘recycled’ from earlier aid commitments to Pakistan and is not new. And, according to Ahmed Quraishi, Project Pakistan Senior Fellow at Project For Pakistan In 21^st Century, an independent Islamabad-based think tank, US help is politicized, meant to shore up a pro-US govt. in Islamabad in the face of better performances by the Pakistani military and Pakistani charities in responding to the humanitarian disaster.

Mr. Quraishi told PakNationalists.com: “Despite frosty relations with the Zardari-Gilani government, Riyadh’s aid was massive but received little media attention in Pakistan. Unlike the US embassy’s clamor for publicity and attention, the Saudis and others worked quietly. At one point, the Saudi ambassador is reported to have told Pakistani reporters that the Pakistani media failed to highlight the fact that Riyadh was the first country to respond to Pakistani help request after the floods.”

SAUDI REACTION

Within the first week of the flooding that started on 29 July, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz ordered a massive kingdom-wide fundraising and aid collection campaign. Official aid collection camps were set up in all major Saudi cities. The Saudi royal family set an example when several princes donated $20 million on the first day, encouraging Saudi citizens to follow suit. More than $107 million were collected in the first three days.

Saudi Arabia established the largest air bridge to air lift relief supplies to Pakistan, sending more than 30 cargo planes so far to Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-PK and Punjab. Saudi Arabia is the only country so far to have established such a large back-to-back air bridge to Pakistan.

Eight more planes have landed in Pakistan over the weekend carrying two field hospitals, complete with equipment and medical staff. The Saudi ambassador Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim al-Ghadeer hardly visited his office in Islamabad in the past two weeks because of his constant field presence in Lahore, Multan, and Hyderabad, in addition to the Chaklala Air Force base in Rawalpindi, to receive Saudi cargo planes. On the recommendation of the Pakistani military, which suggested the hospitals focus on Sindh, one Saudi field hospital has already become operational in Thatta. The second field hospital will also probably be set up somewhere in Sindh considering the urgency there.

Two Saudi rescue teams, which Saudi Arabia has raised according to international levels of training and performance following repeated floods in some Saudi regions, have also arrived in Hyderabad where they are active in several parts of the Sindh province.

In neighboring Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government lifted a long standing ban on collecting donations in public. This exception was made on the orders of the Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed in deference to the emerging humanitarian disaster in Pakistan. Donation camps sprung up in large and small mosques and shopping malls across the emirate. Interestingly, the wealthy Kuwaiti business community outshone the government in donating to flood victims in Pakistan. One Kuwaiti logistics company, Agility, mobilized 1,000 of its workers for flood relief effort in Pakistan.

Fundraising efforts outside of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are important but were modest in their outcomes. A German telethon attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised $10 million. British donations came largely from the British Pakistani and British Muslim communities, with the British magazine The Economist showing skepticism at reports suggesting ordinary British citizens have shown any passion to donate to Pakistan. Turkey has donated $10 million, China a little more, while India came up with a symbolic $5 million, probably because smug Indian officials were sure Pakistan won’t accept the money anyway [Pakistan thanked India and accepted the money but asked New Delhi to send through UN]. Iran has sent relief supplies and most other countries have also gave preference to relief goods because of lack of trust in the Pakistani government and politicians’ credibility or ability to utilize aid money properly.

SAUDI ARABIA

One of the most endearing aspects of donations coming to Pakistan from the Gulf is individual donations from politicians and businessmen, which are enough to put the wealthy Pakistani politicians to shame.

On the first day of a nationwide Saudi campaign to raise funds for the victims of floods in Pakistan on Monday, 17 Aug. 2010:

-         King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdelaziz Al Saud, donated US$5.3 million from his private money to Pakistan flood victims

-         Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdelzziz Al Saud gave away US$2.7 million from his private money

-         Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdelaziz Al Saud gave away two million Saudi riyals

-         Governor of Tabouk donated one million Saudi Riyals

-         Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdelaziz Al Saud [left] gave ten million Saudi riyals

-         Businessman Eesa bin Mohammad al Eesa, president of the Samba Financial Group, donated two million Saudi riyals

Separately, and in addition to his $2.7 million in aid, the Saudi Crown Prince has also dispatched one hundred tons of dates from his private farmland to Pakistan.

The Saudi public’s response to the massive Saudi aid appeal has been amazing. Women were seen donating jewellery to makeshift fundraising camps in Jeddah and Riyadh.

A Saudi commentator left this comment on the website of the Arabic-language Saudi newspaper, Okaz: “What the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, may Allah protect him, has given to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is something that all the five permanent nations at UNSC and all the Arab countries could not have given. His Majesty’s stand with Pakistan will never be forgotten.”

Comments posted at the online editions of Saudi newspapers showed how deeply the Saudis are moved by the tragedy in Pakistan. “Pakistanis deserve our help,” wrote one Saudi. “They are our brothers.”

IRAN

Iran has committed over 400 tons of relief goods so far as of 14 August 2010 out of which 180 tons have already been delivered by the Iranian transport aircrafts. These goods include tents, floorings, clothes, canned food, bread and medical supplies. Iranian Red Crescent society has also been on the ground along with Pakistan Red Crescent society as part of its ongoing relief operation inside Pakistan reaching out to more than 100,000 flood victims. In addition to the Iranian government help Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani has announced that one third of collected Khums will be donated to Pakistan for humanitarian assistance. Iran’s chamber of commerce also donated US $1 million to the flood victims.

And on 17 August, senior Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi [left] met the Pakistani ambassador in Tehran and announced donating $50,000 to the victims of flood-stricken Pakistan in response to Pakistan’s call for more relief aid.

‘KUWAIT IS WITH YOU’

On 21 August, Kuwaiti government launched a nationwide fundraiser called ‘Kuwait Is With You’, in a message to Pakistanis devastated by the floods.

Kuwait’s official and private donations have crossed $20 million, half of them coming from the government. But most of the aid won’t reach the Pakistani government. The noisy Kuwaiti media, while expressing solidarity with Pakistan, has also seen several write-ups questioning the credibility of the Pakistani government. Some criticized the Pakistani government for ‘collusion’ with Washington in hounding credible Pakistani charities in the name of fighting so-called terror.

The emirate launched a national fundraiser for Pakistan on 23 August, collecting so far close to $10 million from the public.

Kuwait had banned charity fundraisers for the most part of the decade. But on the 23^rd, the government lifted the ban to make way for a nationwide fundraiser for Pakistan, which began grandly at the Grand Mosque of the state, where close to 1,000 worshippers donated generously for Pakistan.

Equally impressive is the contribution from the Kuwaiti business community:

-         Mohammad Hmoud Al-Shaya Company, which owns a series of upscale designer clothing and jewellery outlets across the Gulf, donated $500,000 to Pakistan

-         Kuwait Finance House has dispatched $2 million to Pakistan

-         General Secretariat of Awqaf has donated $1.5 million

-         The Joint Kuwaiti Committee for Relief, a local charity, has donated $1.5 million

-         The sons of the late Abdullah al-Mutawa, a businessman, have donated $100,000 to Pakistan

-         E-Q8 Petrochemicals has donated $100,000

-         The employees of the Bank of Bubiyan started an internal fundraiser for Pakistan

-         Dalal al-Mudaf [left], a senior officer at the Kuwait Investment Company, with offices in the Gulf, London and New York, has kicked off an internal company fundraiser for Pakistan as of today, Monday 30 August. In a statement, she quoted a saying by the Prophet [PBUH], ‘A Muslim for a Muslim is like a wall, pulling one another’.

Agility, one of the largest logistics companies in the region with operations in Pakistan, has mobilized its 1,000 workers here to get involved in relief work.  According to Tariq al-Sultan [right], Chairman of Agility worldwide, the company has offered its entire commercial warehouses full of foodstuffs and the space along with cooling facilities in Multan for use by United Nations in Punjab. In Peshawar, the company has donated several air-conditioned containers to transport food items to flood victims. And in Sukkur, the company has put its entire fleet of trucks in the service of food and aid distribution effort across Sindh. The company has also distributed urgent food items and medicines to 5,000 families in Sindh, and the employees of Agility worldwide have donated their one-day salary to Pakistan.

In another step of indirect support to Pakistan, one of the young members of the Kuwaiti parliament, Mr. Mohammed Hayef al-Huwaila, held a press conference at the parliament building last week and drew the attention of the Arab public opinion to massive human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir. He called on the Kuwaiti government to condemn Indian atrocities.

Data compiled and analyzed by the research team at PakNationalists.com

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السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته ،،،

جب تم نماز نہ پڑهو تو مت سوچو كہ وقت نہيں ملا.  بلكہ يہ سوچو كہ تم سے كونسى غلطى ھوئى ھے كہ الله تبارک وتعالى نے تم كو اپنے سامنے كهڑا كرنا پسند نہ كيا … اس پر غور كرو!!!

اگر توكل سيكهنا ھے تو پرندوں سے سيكهو كہ جب وه شام كو گهر واپس جاتے ہيں توان كى چونچ ميں

كل كےلئيےكوئى دانہ نہيں ھوتا.

جو ايمان اتنا كمزور ھو كہ چل كر مسجد تک نہ جائے وه بهلا قيامت كے دن جنت ميں كيسے لے كر جائيگا……. غور كريں!!!!!

ہركوئى چاہتا ھے كہ مجہے كاميابى مل جائے ليكن جب مسجد سے دن ميں 5 مرتبہ آواز آتى ھے “حي على الفلاح” – (آؤ كاميابى كى طرف) – تو اس طرف جانے كى ہم زحمت نہيں كرتے.  افسوس كہ جس چيز كو وه سارى زندگى ہر جگہ تلاش كركے بهى حاصل نہيں كرسكا وه تو خود اسے اپنے پاس بلارہى ھے …. ذرا سوچيں!!!

الله رب العزت نے فرمايا اگر ميں نے تمام باتيں قسمت ميں لكھنى ہوتيں تو ميں اپنے بندے كو دعا مانگنا نہ سيكهاتا.

كوشش كرو كہ تم دنيا ميں رھو دنيا تم ميں نہ رھے كيونكہ كشتى جب تک پانى ميں رہتى ھے خوب تيرتى ھے ليكن جب پانى كشتى ميں جاتا ھے تو وه ڈوب جاتى ھے!!!

جزاك الله

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By Irfan Husain

Daily DAWN

Demonstrators who support and oppose the proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque Park51 stand with signs in front of the site in New York August 25, 2010. - Photo by Reuters.

The ongoing furore over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque shows no sign of abating after weeks of noisy controversy. In a sense, it has become a litmus test of America’s cherished freedom of worship, as well as its tolerance of other people and other faiths.

But to put things in perspective, I would like to invite readers to imagine that a group of Christians asked for approval to build a church close to the site of an iconic building in Pakistan some of their fellow-believers had destroyed, killing thousands. How would we have responded?

Actually, this scenario is so implausible as to be practically meaningless. The sad reality is that non-Muslims in Pakistan live on sufferance, and it would be unthinkable for them to even dream of expanding their places of worship, let alone constructing new ones. A few years ago, I recall writing about the trials and tribulations of Christians trying to build a church in Islamabad despite having received official permission. They were bullied by a local mullah, and found no support from the city administration. Since then, things have got worse for the minorities.

The ongoing dispute in New York is another reminder of how civilised societies treat those citizens who do not subscribe to the majority faith. Much to his credit, New York’s Mayor Bloomberg (a Jew, by the way) approved the project, despite opposition from right-wing groups. It is President Barack Obama who has been a disappointment to liberals with his equivocation over the issue: after appearing to endorse it at an iftar event for Muslim ambassadors, he backtracked swiftly in the face of shrill and expected criticism from the right.

In a controversial article that appeared recently in the Ottawa Citizen (Mischief in Manhattan; 7 August), Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah, two Muslims who live in Canada, argued that proceeding with the project is tantamount to mischief-making, an act prohibited in Islam. The authors have been attacked for their stance on the Internet, with readers accusing them of taking a reactionary line.

The truth is that the issue has become highly divisive, with over 60 per cent of Americans opposing the project. Before readers think this reflects poorly on secular attitudes in the country, please recall that there are some 30 mosques in New York. What is really giving offence is the location of the proposed Muslim community centre as it is a couple of blocks from where the Twin Towers stood before 9/11.

For weeks now, this controversy has been in the news with talking heads on TV from across the political spectrum reviling or defending the project, initially dubbed the Cordoba Initiative. Critics have attacked the name of the centre for serving as a reminder of Muslim conquests in Europe. In response, the developer has said the name has been changed to Park51.

In such an emotionally charged debate, it’s hard to be rational. Logically, the location should be immaterial: after all, there is already a mosque in the area, not far from Ground Zero. So why should another make any difference? The truth is that the 9/11 attacks continue to resonate deeply in America, so what’s the point in insisting on a project that is like a red flag to a bull?

The project is expected to cost around $100 million, and many think the bulk of the money will come from Saudi Arabia, even though the source of the funds has not been made public yet. If this is indeed so, Raza and Fatah consider this would be a slap in the face of Americans as “nine of the jihadis in the Twin Towers calamity were Saudis”. More to the point for me is that the Saudis have been funding mosques and madressahs around the world, in addition to paying for chairs for Islamic studies at major universities. Many of these have been used to project the country’s official Wahabi version of Islam that has fuelled the rising tide of extremism and jihadi fervour. Against this backdrop, the question to ask is whether we need yet one more such mosque.

Raza and Fatah ask why the $100 million can’t be put to use to help people in Darfur and Pakistan instead? This is especially relevant in the context of the floods that are devastating much of Pakistan today. My own question is about reciprocity: if the Saudis can aggressively spread their ideology abroad, why can’t other beliefs build their places of worship in Saudi Arabia?

Currently, it is illegal to build a church, synagogue or temple in the country. Even importing copies of the Bible or the Torah is forbidden. Granted, Saudi Arabia is not an example of tolerance and freedom of worship. In fact, it is one of the most benighted societies on the planet where the royal family rules with an iron hand in partnership with the clergy. Nevertheless, every time the government or individual members of the ruling House of Saud wish to fund a religious centre abroad, they should be asked to open up their country to other faiths.

Liberal Americans will respond – to their everlasting credit – that their constitutional guarantee of freedom of worship should not be hostage to mediaeval attitudes in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. Ironically, given the choice between living in a religiously ordered state or in a secular country like America, Muslims have voted with their feet in the hundreds of thousands. Most of them are happier in their adopted home, and are free to worship as they please.

This is America’s major strength, and it would be a pity if the events of 9/11 were to erode it. Despite the strong religious strand in American society, it welcomes all faiths. All the more reason, then, for everybody in this melting pot to be respectful of others.

If I am having a meal with a devout Hindu friend at a restaurant, I would not dream of ordering a steak because I am aware that for him or her, cows are sacred. While we all have certain rights, we often do not choose to exercise them so as not to cause offence. This is what living in a heterogeneous society like America entails, so if Muslims opt to live there out of their own free will, it seems to me that they would be wise not to test the limits of tolerance.

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The Aug 3, 2010 issue of the Quetta based newspaper, Azadi, carried details of the 35-page document which contains 14 chapters and 85 clauses. Omar’s constitution emphasis’s that jihad should be strictly in accordance with God’s command and the sunnah (Traditions) and every mujahid should win a place in the hearts of the people. Three days later, Afghan police discovered the bodies of 10 unarmed medial aid workers who were killed in the northern province of Badakshan. Six of the slain men and women were foreign volunteers who had traveled half way across the globe to provide medical care to impoverished  Afghan villagers. The Taliban proudly claimed responsibility.

Another clause in the new constitution cites the sharia and enjoins humane treatment of captured Afghan and foreign troops. It emphasis’s that the “cutting of ear,nose and lips is strictly forbidden.” Despite this, the mutilated remains of two US marines taken prisoner in Logar province by the Taliban on July 23, 2010 were recovered five days later by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

The constitution stipulates that alleged informs and spies should not even be arrested unless they are first made aware of Islamic techniques, warned and given the opportunity to repent. Yet a few weeks earlier, a 7 year old boy was hung on charges of spying. In July this year international media outlets reported that Mulla Omar had ordered his troops to kill or capture Afghan civilians, including women, who cooperate with  ISAF.

There have been scores of similar incidents in the guise of jihad. Afghanistan bleeds but Pakistan bleeds no less. More people have died in Pakistan because of terrorist act, perpetrated by the Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) and its supporters, in 2009 than in Afghanistan. Statistics compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies reveal that 3,021 people were killed and 7,334 were injured in 2,586 terrorist attacks which included 87 suicide bombings. The tally for Afghanistan, according to a UN report, was 2,412 civilian deaths.

The preceding years were no less conspicuous by violence. In Pakistan, the writ of the state was progressively eroded in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and in other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This was largely because the military operations undertaken against the TTP during the Musharaf era were never carried through. The peace deals that were subsequently negotiated with the Taliban not only gave them the space to regroup and rearm but also enabled them to consolidate their hold on almost the entire tribal territories where they enforced their own laws, levied taxes and ran the administration.

Subsequently, Swat was virtually handed over on a silver platter to the Tehree-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi of Maulana sufi Muhammad and to his firebrand son-in-law Mulla Fazlullah of the TTP, when the PPP led government allowed the former to impose his concept of Islamic justice under the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. The punishments inflicted on ordinary people were as swift as they were brutal. The words of Maximilien de Robespeirre (1758-1794), “Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, secure and inflexible,” proved true.

The government soon realized that appeasement never pays. The TTP promptly entered Buner while their influence spread like wildfire not only in the Malakand division but also over the entire province. Flushed with success, Sufi Muhammad declared the Constitution of Pakistan un-Islamic and vowed to impose the draconian rule of the Taliban not only in the country but also beyond. Military operations in Swat began on May 8, 2009 and after its successful culmination, in South Waziristan in the third week of October.

The difference between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP is not thicker that a thin sheet of paper. Their ideology is the same and both want to impose their obscurantist interpretations of Islam on the two neighboring countries. After the Afghan Taliban had captured Mazar-e-Sharif and all but defeated the Northern Alliance in May 1997, the abrasive Mulla Razzak, who had been appointed by the Taliban as their leader north of the Hindu Kush, bluntly asked the Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan, Aziz Ahmad Khan, who happened to be in Mazar-e-Sharif at the time, when Islamabad would enforce Islam in the country.

The Afghan Taliban, the TTP and the extremist outfits in southern Punjab constitute a triangle of terror and the symbiotic relationship between them was in evidence in April this year with the abduction of two former ISI officials, Col Sultan Amir Tarar (r), alias Col Imam, and Sqn Ldr Khalid Khawaja (r) by an obscure Punjab based group with the fanciful name of Asian Tigers. The two were taken to a TTP – controlled area in North Waziristan where Khawaja was murdered in cold blood while Imam’s life was spared after intercession on his behalf by Mulla Omar. He reportedly remains in the custody of either the Afghan Taliban or their Pakistani counterpart.

Despite this, some distinguish between the Afghan and the Pakistani Taliban in the belief that the former are “Pakistan-friendly.” Even if the presumption of a friendly Afghan Taliban is true, a hidebound policy that does not take into account new realities can be disastrous. Short-term expediency is counterproductive if it impacts adversely on long-term national interests and, in this context, we must not ignore the irredentist ambitions of all Afghan groups, including the Taliban, who do not recognize the Durand Line as the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

In the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and in the tribal regions of Pakistan the effectiveness of the overwhelming firepower available to both Kabul and Islamabad is substantially reduced against an amorphous enemy that avoids set-piece battles and relies exclusively on hit and run guerrilla tactics. furthermore the adversary is able to mobilize grassroots support for which it relies on the spirited dissemination of its skewed interpretation of Islamic doctrine. Just as the state needs to permanently win back its territorial sovereignty in parts of the country previously lost to the extremists, the people of Pakistan need to reclaim their religion from the same extremists. The only way to defeat the ideology of extremist violence disguised in the garb of false religion is through the Quran which describes itself as a Book “for people who think” and states categorically “Verily, the vilest of all creatures in the sight of God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason.” The famous Egyptian-born theologian, Jalal-ud-Din-a- Suyauti, (d. 1505), who is credited with 981 works, belived that “everything is based on the Quran.” In other words, the Quran is Islam and there cannot be more precise definition of the religion.

written by: S Iftikhar Murshed

Thanks: The News

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• ‘Royal’ FM’s Fundraiser Costs National Kitty Heavily
• US$20,000 at NYC hotel to raise funds for flood victims!
• Options ignored: cheaper hotels, the residences of the Pakistani Consulate
• Why Amb. Haqqani failed to convince his boss this time to donate the expense to flood victims
• Upscale hotel because the minister is a ‘blue blooded Pakistani politician’ or because he’s a foreign minister?

By: Kaswar Klasra | Published: August 25, 2010

The Nation

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD – While thousands perished and millions were forced to flee from the floods that swept Pakistan this month, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, who came to New York City with a begging bowl in hand for foreign aid, was spending thousands of dollars per night at cushy five-star hotels in the US.
‘Beggars cannot be choosers’ evidently is an adage never heard by our honorable leaders. Be it a visit to the flood victims’ camps or a trip abroad to collect aid for the badly devastated country of ours by the unprecedented flash floods. Their style and status never appears to change.
To the shock and surprise of the entire nation, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the foreign minister of this unfortunate country spent as many as $20,000 from the national kitty during his stay in a luxury hotel in New York City.

[This hotel is normally the top choice for those interested in shopping and sightseeing. Here’s how one reviewer describes the hotel: “For those travelers who prefer luxurious accommodations in the heart of one of the most exciting cities in the world, the Inter-Continental The Barclay is ideal. The Barclay is just minutes from many of the attractions that make New York City such a vibrant and unique place to visit. Located in midtown Manhattan's East Side, the hotel boasts such famous and beloved neighbors as the exclusive shops of Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Broadway theaters and New York City's bustling business district.”]
The total expenditure of Qureshi’s visit including the spending on his six-member entourage may be much more.
Interestingly, when UK Prime Minister David Cameron came to NYC to attend a meeting (Qureshi went there to attend the same meeting) recently, he stayed at the British consulate residence. Qureshi proved to be more Royal than the Royal servants of her Majesty!
According to sources, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his delegation of six assistants who were in NYC recently to beg the world for aid, stayed at Barclay Continental Hotel, one of the most expensive hotels of the city, which cost the national kitty thousands of dollars. It is pertinent to mention here that it is the same hotel where President Asif Zardari has been staying as president whenever he is in New York City.
In comparison, Pakistan Air Force  Chief Qamar Suleman forced Ambassador Hussain Haqqani to cancel a lavish dinner in his honor during his recent visit there. Ironically, following the rejection by the Air Chief, Haqqani is said to have spun the rebuff and released a story to the official APP news agency that he himself had cancelled the dinner and donated the expense to flood victims.

Interestingly, the Foreign Minister’s hotel reservation was also managed by the same ambassador, who avoided hurting his own personal relationship with his boss (Foreign Minister) by suggesting the minister save money and stay at the ambassador’s residence, or at least at a less expensive hotel.
When contacted, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the figures regarding expenditure incurred on Qureshi’s stay at the hotel were far less than those mentioned by this correspondent ($20,000).
Such stories are not new for the Pakistanis. The National Assembly was told on April 24, 2008 that President General Pervez Musharraf and his wife had spent Rs1.5 billion from the national kitty on their foreign trips during his five-year tenure.
It was Foreign Minister Qureshi who disclosed that the former president had taken at least 1,325 visitors along with him in 37 trips since February 2003-2008. Musharraf’s visit to the USA to attend the book launching ceremony of his autobiography “In the Line of Fire” turned out the most expensive trip, as it cost Rs227 million.

Likewise, President Asif Zardari and his associates were busy in spending huge money from the national kitty on their stay in luxury hotels abroad, while thousands of people here in Pakistan were facing shortage of food and safe drinking water.

This report was published by TheNation under title, ‘Royal’ FM’s fundraiser costs the national kitty heavily.

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o   A US client regime In Islamabad accepts insignificant Indian aid on US prodding

o   No respect for Kashmiri blood & no thought to Indian terrorism In Balochistan

By SHIREEN M. MAZARI

Sunday, 22 August 2010.

The Nation

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The Government of Pakistan has truly shown its subservience to the United States on whose orders it chose to accept the puny amount of $5 million Indian aid for the flood relief. This money has the blood of Kashmiris on it and one wonders how our Kashmiri brethren must be feeling as they face the bullets of Indian forces every day and see us taking Indian “aid”.
Some would say that we also took Indian assistance in the 2005 Kashmir earthquake but that was different in that the Indian aid was in kind and basically the two sides of Kashmir were opened up on humanitarian grounds. Later, it transpired that most of the Indian material aid, specifically targeted for Azad Kashmir, was tarnished. But even at that time we had refused to accept India’s offer of helicopters for relief work – an offer which also had the conditionality that Indian crews would come with these copters.
But to accept money from India at a time when the Kashmiri youth have risen afresh against the Indian occupation and are being killed on a daily basis, and at a time when India is targeting Pakistan on false charges again on a regular basis, is a shame for the entire nation. Even as PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif was declaring that Pakistan did not need Western assistance, the US ordered the Pakistani leadership to meekly accept the Indian aid offer. In fact, barely had Senator Kerry departed that the Pakistanis accepted US diktat yet again. Kerry also compelled the government to target Pakistani religious charities doing a remarkable job of relief work.
Here is a country, India, with whom we have fought wars; a country that was instrumental in breaking up Pakistan; a country that continues to deny the Kashmiris their right of self-determination; and the moment the US commands, we accept a meager amount of aid from this same India. How can anyone take our position on Kashmir seriously when we are prepared to forget the people of Kashmir at the mere offer of a blood-soaked $5 million Indian loan? Certainly this reflects our total abandonment of the Kashmiri people in their hour of dire need and moral support.
What can you expect though from a government which allows its President to break all protocol and stand next to a mere Senator from the US for a press conference? This is our shame today – we have effectively become a vassal state of the US.

This column was published by TheNation. Reach Dr. Mazari at callstr@hotmail.com

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