After Lahore blast, people will give you different reasons for the blasts; they will say that it is Pakistan and America’s fault; America and Pakistan trained these people earlier to fight against Soviets, and now they have turned against both; they will say these people have nothing to do with Islam, and Islam is a peaceful religion; they will say these people do not represent Islam. May be it is true. But somehow, somewhere religion is involved, and one can not deny that–hence, these savage killers believe that they are just about to meet 71 virgins after committing mass murder. They are doing all this in the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful; whether with his approval or without.

It is not just one particular religion, most religious people, whether belonging to Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism or Islam, are different from people, who let’s say have very casual attitude towards religion or do not believe in God at all. Here in USA, I have personally experienced, the more religious a person is, it is more likely that person would hate certain “others”. In the case of Christian religious fanatics in USA, they have long list of people whom they hate, but these days mainly Muslims.

In the case of Islamic fanatics, they have long list as well, in fact Islamic fanatic hate almost every other religion, every other religion is their enemy, be it Christians, Jews, Hindus. In the case of Pakistani fanatics, the situation very strange, the only other culture they seem to like is Chinese, who don’t even have a religion. A Pakistani fanatic would prefer a Chinese over a Shia or an Ahmedi without blinking his eyes.

The more religious you are; it is more likely that you fail to accept or tolerate any other belief, but yours. This is where missionary zeal leads people to fight it out with others. Some religions seem to have more of it than others. Almost all the wars were, and are being fought to advance religion, or in the name of religion.

Few years ago, I was talking to my uncle, who is very religious person himself. He mentioned that how he admires Hitler, and if only Hitler had stayed in power few more years, all the Jews would have been wiped out from this earth. It really got me thinking, and I asked him, do you mean all? He said, yes, all, because all Jews are horrible people. I asked him again, what about countless little babies, few days, months or years old? What crime those little kids committed, for which they were killed, assuming that may be adults did something wrong, because they at least had the chance to do it. He had no answer. It seems like religious hate and zeal completely blinds people of any rationality.

The most hated people in religious philosophy are those who do not believe at all; Atheist/ Liberals etc. But who do Atheists/Liberals hate? If you are an immigrant in USA, having different religion and culture, the only people who fully accept you wholeheartedly without any judgment are the ones who don’t believe in God. It is an important question to ask, why believers of God are so full of hate and non-believers so full of compassion and understanding? Why so much killing in the name of most compassionate, most merciful.?

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This post was submitted by Umar Tosheeb.

A large group activist gathered together in front of the Pearl Continental Hotel to show solidarity with the protesting workers who have been holed up in the PC basement for the past 23 days. Having supported this cause on mere humanitarian issue I feel there are two sides to every argument, but interestingly this protest has far more deeper implications then what meets the eye.

The issue I feel is being complicated well beyond by a greater possibility of an underlying game of national politics. It is quite possible that the union activities are being irked by the PPP-led government trying to exert pressure on the Hashwani group to accede to their demands [I could go to the extent of speculating that this is probably a part of some serious Presidential level blackmailing tactic against the Hashwani group]. In the midst of this protest labor unions are having a field day leveraging their own positions and pushing the protesters to brace for a long fight.

This post has a video enclosed, please click through to watch the video

Hashwanis on one hand are the rich and famous of Pakistan, have minted millions from the string of hotel chains across Pakistan but presently a declining tourism industry combined with a few hotel bombings namely Islamabad Marriot and PC Peshawar might actually felt the compulsion to downsize, starting off with a few layoffs, PC being a private entity has the right to make this business decision but with legalization of unions they are compelled to follow some degree of labor union laws, which sadly most business owners ignore.

Despite so many intricate complications as perceived by me, I continue to support the PC Worker Protest on a simply humanitarian basis and also urge you to sign their petition, how could the Hashwanis ignore the demands of 150 workers for 23 days and counting, I stand up against this elitism that has prevailed in Pakistan might is right in the military perspective and rich is right in a civilian context where the rich and famous tend to get away being above the law.

12►

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The protest by PC Workers continues in the basement of the Pearl Continental Hotel where over 150 union employees are holding fort asking three basic demands. Reinstatement of Four sacked employees (PC Four), The PC Management to recognize the union and third is to come to the negotiation table. It has been 21 days and the situation is not getting better. A protest is being planned at PIDC tomorrow at 4:00pm called by a large spectrum of left-wing parties to come forth in unison. Action for a Progressive Pakistan obtained fresh pictures of the protesting workers, i share here

Read the detailed fact sheet on this dispute and then support these protestors by sIgning the PC Workers Petition to The Hashwani Group

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Along with most people, I was glad to hear that young Sahil Saaed had been safely recovered. What a relief! Finally some good news to lift our spirits!

However, in the aftermath of Sahil’s rescue more questions are being raised. For one his kidnapping has shed light to the awful spectre of child kidnappings that plague in our country. It has, more importantly, shed light on the states indifference to kidnappings and the lack of support available to victims.

Disclaimer: Before I continue I would like to this opportunity to clearly recognize that while the country faces many security challenges in the face of terror threats across the country, it may be unfair to expect much from an over stretched, under paid, poorly trained, under staffed and poorly resourced police force.

Let’s continue, Rana Sanaullah, the erstwhile Punjab law minister if not embroiled in enough controversy has apparently put his foot in his mouth once again. He is quoted as saying that: there had never been so much government effort put into a kidnappings case. He said Pakistani intelligence was also involved in the boy’s recovery. What does that say of our society and government at large? Does a crime have to make world headlines before security agencies take note and spurned to act? Or is this a question of the relationship between our political masters and wider society?

I for one see this as evidence of, rather disappointingly of what I already have known all along. Our powers to be treat their citizens with the contempt of second class citizens, a passing inconvenience. For those who are local victims of kidnappings, the media attention that the disappearance of Sahil created is the equivalent of pouring salt on an open wound.

Just such a victim is Ali who remarks, “Our rulers don’t consider the children of Pakistani citizen’s human beings. They don’t act promptly as they do if a foreigner goes missing,” He continues, “But if a child with another nationality gets kidnapped in Pakistan then they do the maximum and even visit their homes,”

Similarly, another distraught mother who unfortunately unlike Sahils mother does not hold a British passport, cannot count on consular support or the local media’s coverage of her child’s kidnapping, remarked standing at the home of Sahil’s relatives in Jhelum: “This shows the difference between rich and poor. No one even came to my house to console me… Everything is done here for the rich and the British but nothing for Pakistanis and the poor,”

Given the way Sahil Saeeds kidnapping unfolded, an important point to note is that once mobilized our security establishment seems able to retrieve kidnapped victims. Police commanders can be empathetic and sympathetic to victims. As the head police official of Jhelum district commented to a BBC reporter, “I feel the pain of a childs kidnapping, I after all have two children myself.”

This ordeal has at the very least given us evidence of the fact that given the “right” circumstances not only are our officials able to empathetically share the grief of victims, working with intelligence agencies they are actually able to recover kidnapped victims.

So it seems that our police force coupled with support from “intelligence agencies” is able to overcome its shortcomings. That is its existence as an over stretched, under paid, poorly trained, under staffed and poorly resourced police force.

As a police force it must be encouraged to share these newly discovered values with the rest of the Pakistani citizenry. The Government should commit itself to the high standards that it has displayed in this instance and use it as a benchmark for tackling future kidnapping cases. The media may want to give as much attention to victims who do not happen to hold a foreign passport and we as citizens should perhaps develop some empathy with our fellow citizens who face such ordeals and offer support.

While Ali and the distraught mother mentioned in this article have both highlighted their grievances, we naturally blame the government for its apathy. This apathy will not be magically overcome by a benevolent change of heart amongst our political leaders and security heads. The citizenry must offer overwhelming support to victims and generate unrelenting pressure on the state to act!

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This post was submitted by Nadir El-Edroos.

There are only about 140 people left in the basement in their 20th day of protest at the PC. On Sunday evening about 30 to 40 went home due to sickness or some other emergent reason and were not allowed to return to the basement and in their astute attitude the PC management is not budging from their position. The workers’s current demands are basically asking them to come to the negotiating table and do not fire the PC Four.

Since the last few days the PC management has restored to video taping these protesters while they are eating food. These protesters being holed up in the PC basement consume food from the hotel and the management prefers to video tape them eating to humiliate them that – you dare eat our food and then you talk about unions. The Human Resources Director fighting against these protesting workers is a retired Major Zia Jan who came to the PC after busting a union at the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC). Major Zia recently told the striking workers that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for fighting the PC.

About 17 left-wing parties and labor bodies met today at the Labor Party Pakistan Office today evening and all have unanimously decided to to step up their struggle with the PC workers and chalked out plan to exert more pressure on the PC management to address the issue .

The decisions that were made are as follows

1. All the representatives will present at NIRC Court tomorrow morning at 10am where PC workers case will be processed [as an NIRC Judge has issued arrest warrant of the four sacked officer bearers today]
2. Parties and workers’ delegation will visit various media centers and urge them to increase coverage of the PC workers
3. A protest rally will be held on Wednesday 17th March at 4pm at PC Hotel
4. Following which a Press conference of all citizens representatives will be held on Thursday 18th March and they will give a three-day ultimatum to PC Management to accept the demands of the workers or else an indefinite hunger strike will be started at Karachi Press Club till the acceptance of demands.

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Today a string of 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 bomb attacks in Pakistan has the entire nation emotionally hurt compounded the fact that we also suffered a loss of 40 innocent lives. The series of suicide bombings has forced many of us to vocally condemn this mindless act of terrorism but interestingly Daniyal Noorani has chosen to send his message across in a short 3-1/2 minute music video, where he tries to narrate a story of a confused boy, searching for answers, ends up interacting with some mindless Islamic fanatics who expertly manipulate his concerns into becoming a potential suicide bomber. It serves as a touching reminder on how the Talibans can take advantage of the impoverished manipulating them for their own secret agenda which has nothing to do with Islam and heaven

This post has a video enclosed, please click through to watch the video

Music, lyrics and direction is by Daniyal Noorani, character design and animation by Marria Khan, while the guitars by Shahjehan Khan and violins by Mialy Clark. He shares his reasons on why he wrote this song on Dawn Blog to say

I wrote ‘Find Heaven’ at a time when I felt there was no clear public consensus on suicide bombings. At that point, the urban centres of Pakistan had not been as hard hit as they are today and I felt that the country didn’t know how they felt about these activities, whether they were sympathetic or condemning of it. It was around that time I started writing the lyrics. The song tells the story of a confused young man seeking answers about life’s important questions and traces how an individual lures this young man by saying he has the answer to life’s ultimate question, how to find heaven or zenith? The lyrics convey the young man’s journey and the events that lead to the conclusion he comes to.

Read more at Dawn, Pakistaniat, KoolMuzone

The Urdu version has also been released

This post has a video enclosed, please click through to watch the video

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Farooq Tariq of Labor Party Pakistan shares an eyewitness account of his children who were on the scene of the suicide bomb blast in Lahore today.

“I was waiting at the school lounge for uncle Allah Ditta to pick me up after the school time was over. We heard the first blast and it was not very powerful but frightening. Our teacher said that it is army that is firing in the area; there is no need to worry about. Then, came the real one. The earth under our feet was moving away from us, it was like an earthquake. I started crying so were many more children. The teachers asked us to move away from the walls and come in the ground in an open place. I saw my teachers in tears as well. The uncle Allah Ditta arrived and I went with him.”

The blast today at RA Bazaar was only few hundred meters away from the school building. It seems that over 50 have been killed and many more injured in the deadly suicidal attack today at an army vehicle by some religious fanatics.

My daughter M. Farooq (16) School was also nearby and there were similar scene there with children crying and glass broken of several cars. She told me that she started crying as the first thought I had was that the blast has blown my brother school and my mother was also supposed to pick us up today. So were many more fear-provoking thoughts coming to my mind. We had wait for some time before uncle Allah Ditta came to pick me.

Lahore is once again becoming a dangerous place to live. The two attacks in a week time have shaken the confidence of every one and many feel insecure all the time. I had to rush home after the blast from the office to calm my children who were still terrified”

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As a long time activists working for a free and open Internet in Pakistan, I would like to join Reporters Sans Frontieres in highlighting the World Day Against Cyber Censorship today 12th March. This event is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. It is also meant to draw attention to the fact that, by creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom.

The Internet in Pakistan is controlled by the bureaucracy within the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the people of Pakistan remain at the behest of their discretion on what is permissible and what is not permissible in Pakistan. PTA is quite definitely influenced by the mighty and powerful rulers of our country and enforce censorship on specific websites that they may deem themselves to be offensive.

Historically internet censorship took a plunge for the worst in 2006 when the Supreme Court in Pakistan decided to block 12 specific websites for carrying the offensive Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Cartoons which were published by a danish newspaper. PTA should have blocked the particular website but instead blocked the entire blogspot.com domain which resulted in millions of blogs which were hosted on blogspot.com blocked to internet users in Pakistan. In an uproar the bloggers in Pakistan voiced their anger across the world wide web and it also lead to the formation of Don’t Block the Blog which became the front runner in providing verbal resistance to this blanket censorship. The tussle with PTA last over year, only removed when Google obliged to switch their IP addresses while doing a technical upgrade on their servers, PTA simply did not react and blogspot was yet again open to the general public.

Ever since 2006 we have actively monitored the workings of PTA and it has been seen that it remains at the beck and call of dictators, rulers, the mighty, the powerful, and the rich and famous in Pakistan obliging them with blanket censorship when something irritating or defamatory crops up on the Internet against them. There are effectively no ground rules or principles which are followed by the PTA and it is generally seen that a simple notifications is issued to all ISP’s in Pakistan ordering them to initiate a block on a particular URL, the users are to discover only by accident, if they happen to stumble upon the website.

The hypocrisy of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is blatantly evident by the fact that in an Islamic state of Pakistan millions of pornographic websites remain fully accessible to the users in Pakistan, yet the PTA chooses to leverage its authority on suppressing freedom of expression against the corrupt rulers, or merely censoring reports of human rights issues, all based on the whim of the rulers of the country.

It is my position that the internet should be free and open to the People of Pakistan allowing the people to harness this boundless platform for creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet should be considered as a force for freedom and looked upon as a tool for progressing the growth of a struggling nation. Join Reporters without Borders in rallying for World Day Against Censorship

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Conspiracy theories are making a big splash in both the domestic and international media. While we in Pakistan are often angered as to how Pakistan is portrayed in the Western media, the same people seem to be supporting various individuals and right wing parties who are also gaining much traction with foreign correspondents in Pakistan.

Recent articles in the NY Times, Times and The Guardian all highlight some of the more outlandish (outlandish for me, common sense to others) arguments to explain the various challenges that the country faces. These articles and conspiracy theorist skeptics recognize that by offering elaborate and complex explanations for Pakistan’s miseries politicians, generals, media personalities etc are trying to deflect responsibility onto un-provable external actors. Not only are they deferring any questions that may be linked to their contribution to the nations state of affairs, by making statements such as “external actors cannot be ruled out” the narrative of the Pakistani state being constantly under siege is maintained.

But is this neat explanation, often cited true? While conspiracy theorists blame acts of terrorism and the nations economic woes on foreign factors they present themselves as diagonally opposite to those who would seek to undermine the Pakistani state. They situate themselves as the enlightened patriots who have a clear understanding of the nefarious designs of foreign powers. However, a major problem with conspiracy theories is that they point to vague, external actors over whom we have little power to act against.

The rise of terrorism and economic chaos along with the conspiratorial explanations for the latter’s upsurge are not interrelated as much as they are a product of the state of society. Fundamentalism in part, has been blamed on inward looking Madrassas where rote learning acts as a tool to brain wash young children to accept an intolerant world view. In urban centres children in public schooling are likely to follow a similar path, years of rote learning and regurgitation of facts and figures with no emphasis on analysis or questioning the very foundations of knowledge an army of urban youths have been trained in skills and armed with knowledge that is increasingly irrelevant in the modern work place.

Our government has long recognized the nexus between high unemployment and the ability of terrorist organizations to recruit amongst disgruntled youth. Similarly media outlets and certain personalities have understood the frustration of young people and the need for someone to offer answers as to why Pakistan is seemingly hostage to the next act of violence or the next spike in oil prices. Both sides are able to offer answers and a sense of purpose.

General Stanley McChrystal has rightly recognized that the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan is a war of perceptions. Local populations are likely to support the side which for them, at the local level seems to be winning. The overwhelming might of NATO’s firepower is unlikely to impress a local farmer in a remote village while strategic heights are controlled by a band of zealous Taliban fighters. McChrystal’s emphasis on winning over local populations via controlling information flows points to a massive gap in the government of Pakistan’s attitude towards both terrorist organizations and the media in general.

The lack of transparency and openness on the part of both the government and the military in dealings with foreign powers and local fundamentalist groups has created information vacuums. The government and the military denied predator drones were operating from Pakistan until pictures of them emerged, the presence of Blackwater in Pakistan was denied until Secretary Gates spilled the beans and the organizations role in training security forces in the NWFP and Islamabad was recognized. The Quetta Shura that until six weeks ago according to the government didn’t exist has in the last week seen half of its members arrested across the country.

These along with several other examples suggest that the government actually helps create the conditions, which are exploited by both right-wing groups hell bent on spewing hatred and fundamentalists spewing religious intolerance who are then able to dominate national conversations.

Two solutions are offered. On the one hand in the short-run the government and the military should try to treat its citizens with a certain degree of respect and encourage greater transparency and openness. In the long-run massive investment must be made to reclaim the minds of young people who are increasingly influenced by hatred and the perception of being surrounded by enemies. Through an overhaul in education coupled with greater access to information and knowledge young people must be offered a future full of hope and prosperity, rather than the spectre of a constant struggle to defend the state against foreign enemies.

Pakistan is likely to continue to face international ridicule as we seek to explain away all our problems by blaming America-India-Israel or whoever is fashionable at the time. While in several cases we may rightly point at foreign interference and failings, our inability to help ourselves seems to baffle both foreign and local observers. As policy and opinion is formulated more along the line of perceptions rather than fact it has become essential that fringe and extremist voices are challenged by an alternative narrative that does not display helplessness and political noise in the face of adversity; rather adopting a narrative that makes the most of what we as a nation can control for and alter to tackle terrorism, injustice and economic plight.

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This post was submitted by Nadir El-Edroos.

Ever since the first email at 10 am a lot has been achieved in an effort to provide security and protection to the couple in Quetta, all this mobilization has been done to prevent a possible disaster, there were no confirmed reports on this but the couple was threatened enough to alert Human rights activists in Pakistan. It is my belief that every effort must be done to prevent a disaster when a person is willing to reach out and ask for help.

If we succeed and this couple becomes a living example to have withstood these heinous traditions, it might possibly encourage other such people facing such similar threats to reach out and also ask for help. I share with you Tahira Abdullah’s email just receive moments ago

“Update: 10 March midnight: Pakistani civil society’s/human rights activists’ strong apprehensions and demands for protection have been registered with the Govt. of Baluchistan: The executive administration (esp the police chiefs) + the judiciary + the legislators. In addition, we have mobilized the relevant quarters in the Federal Govt, e.g. M/O Interior (Police Chiefs), Parliamentarians, NCSW, MoWD, MoHR, etc. Civil society is bombarding the IG/Police Baluchistan + the DIG/Police with telephone calls!!!! The media, unfortunately, seems to be totally immersed in 24-hour coverage of the various Bye-elections held today.

Telephone numbers in Quetta: IG/P: (92-81) 920 12 62 or 920 13 66 or 920 18 34 (office numbers)

But since it’s now past midnight, I’d suggest letting them get a modicum of sleep! let’s start calling them at 7:30 a.m. (Pak time) – that’s 9:30 p.m. EST/USA. That is, if they have not put ALL cell+telephones off the hook already!!!! Here’s keeping our fingers crossed + dialling!!!

Best of luck to Haseena & Akhtar,

In solidarity,
Tahira”

I must acknowledge the efforts of Tahira for having alerted us all about this issue and quite possibly averting a disaster. Lets pray for the safety of the couple in Quetta not only tomorrow but hope they remain in protection until the dust settles beyond as well, quite possibly lending a new meaning to No News is Good News

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