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Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts

Sunday, June 12, 2011

New Delhi rulers - frustrating administration of justice

By Hassan Zainagiree
Srinagar, June 11: It's always guilty that must be punished, no matter who he is, what institution he belongs to. What matters is the nature of crime and the spirit of justice which must be the only standard to judge the merit of the case, comments -Aggressors like Halakoo and Changaiz did what history recorded them for. Genocides, macabre death dances, imperialistic arrogance and killing sprees. They hungered for blood and blood they had in full.

They played hosts for the owls to celebrate doomsday. They loved and enjoyed the “music” of innocent hapless yelling in pain, frying in agony. Unlike present day “civilized democrats”, champions of human rights and “secularists”, these “savage tormentors” however, did not wear gloves to hide their murdering hands, nor put on masks to conceal their identity. They raised the minarets of skulls in broad day light. They created tsunami of death and destruction quite openly. To let no one harbor any misunderstanding or misconception about their intentions. In the guise of saviors they didn't masquerade as brutal killers. Summary executions they would take at the wink of an eye. But would be ashamed of carrying out enforced disappearances, take encounters and custodial killings. Merciless tyrants they undoubtedly were. But duplicitous and cunning they certainly were not.

What the “civilized” world is doing today under various garbs and after taking “solemn pledges” of “respecting human dignity” and showing commitment to International Laws and numerous Geneva Conventions, makes it absolutely clear that medieval period ruthless warriors and despotic    monarchs had at least one moral edge over present day “democratic” rulers. In their not being guilty conscience they had not to hide their criminal profile under various “legal” nuances, nor fudge the records and resort to unmarked graves.

If by some miracle the Halakus and Changaizes were to arise from their graves, they would file in defamation suits against their “siblings” in death and destruction for unjustifiably maligning and accusing them for what they “excelled” in perfection themselves.

In a modern state if institutions of justice are deprived of serving the basic purpose of providing justice to the victim and their “constitutional powers” of prosecuting proceedings against perpetrators of heinous crimes, the state is, of its own, blurring the distinction between detestable regime it denounces and the democratic state it takes pride of giving it to its people. In this backdrop, invoking Armed Forces Special Power Act to halt administration of justice has all but exposed Indian state in its tall claims that every one is accountable before the law of land. On April 24 was stayed the trial of involving murdering civilians in fake gunfights by police and army. The ruling came after the counsel for union of India pleaded that army personnel named in case could not be prosecuted as the sanction has not been given by the government of India which is an essential requirement under the section 7 of the AFSPA. Earlier Supreme Court of India stayed proceedings in an identical case (Pathribal case) in which five civilians were murdered and then passed off as foreign militants responsible for massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chittisingpora. Forensic tests revealed they were civilians. It is to be noted that the chief judicial magistrate in Srinagar has asked the army to either stand trial in a criminal court or in an army court. But the army refused to exercise the option and stated it enjoys impunity under AFSPA. 

The fake encounter came to force last year. Eleven persons, including five army personnel, are accused of murdering of innocent people for promotion and “gallantry” award. The guilty police officers have already been arrested and are facing the trial. Justice demanded both troops and police personnel involved in the same crime and who are accomplice of each other should be punished and no discrimination shown. How can a killer in olive green be exonerated while the one in khaki be prosecuted? This is close to apartheid and smacks of neo-colonial approach. A sweeping generalization Delhi insists observers must avoid from making. “Individual aberrations”, it argues in defense.

Prosecuting erring soldiers doesn't mean prosecuting or maligning army as an institution. Only a “miniscule” from 'individual aberration', it means, have to account for their grave crimes they perpetrated against unarmed civilians. It is only when state shields such “action addicts”, under one pretext or other, that, infact, tars black the entire face of Indian army and drills holes in its claim that it is a “disciplinary” force. This attitude of authorities emboldens men in uniform to indulge in more excesses and atrocities. Even those immune to such “heroic” adventures loose the veneer of tolerance and get going. A message flows down the rank and file: We are above the law. State is behind us for every thing we will do. Thus it is state that gives them a license to kill and main, rape and destroy. On one hand Delhi repeatedly talks of “zero-tolerance” on human rights, on the other, it invokes the draconian law to ensure infringement.

The AFSPA requires pre-sanction of Delhi for prosecuting guilty soldiers, which usually is not given as Delhi's rigidness shows. More than 300 cases of gross human rights abuses against Indian forces like army and para-military troops could not be tried because Indian Home Ministry has not granted sanction. This is how authorities in Delhi are bent on frustrating administration of justice.

AFSPA and democracy are irreconcilable and can't be stuffed in one scabbard. Amnesty International too states that the black law encourages and abets abuse of human rights by men in uniform. Why authorities in Delhi allow a handful of soldiers to tarnish the image of the organization and the country they belong to, one fails to understand.For its own sake it is time Delhi repeal the law that has dented its credibility as a democratic state. 
(The edited version of the article written by Kashmiri writer Hassan Zainagiree)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

US APOLOGISES TO PAK OVER DRONE ATTACKS

ISLAMABAD, May 17: The United States has formally apologized to Pakistan over drone attacks, Geo News has reported.
 
According to sources, the US apologized civil and military leadership of Pakistan over the drone strikes that killed nine people in North Waziristan yesterday.
 
The sources added that these strikes were scheduled before the visit of US Senator John Kerry. The US has stated that it would work together with Pakistan on any future operations in the country.

Bin Laden was a US prisoner before being killed: Iran

Tehran, May 16:  Sheikh Bin Laden was a US prisoner before being killed: Iran TEHRAN: Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was a prisoner in US custody for "sometime" before he was killed by the American military, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday,reports AFP.

"I have exact information that bin Laden was held by the American military for sometime... until the day they killed him he was a prisoner held by them," the president said in a live interview on Iranian state television.

"Please pay attention. This is important. He was held by them for sometime. They made him sick and while he was sick they killed him," Ahmadinejad added.

He accused US President Barack Obama for announcing the Al-Qaeda leader's death for "political gain."

"What the US president has done is for domestic political gain. In other words, they killed him for Mr Obama's election and now they are seeking to replace him with someone else," Ahmadinejad said without elaborating.

Bin Laden was shot dead on May 2 in a US commando raid on a heavily fortified compound near Islamabad, Pakistan.

On May 4, Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi too had cast doubt on bin Laden's death, saying there were "ambiguities" over the way he was killed.

The Americans "said they threw his body in the sea. Why did they not allowed an independent expert to examine the body to say if it was bin Laden or not?" Vahidi said.
   

Secret deal with US not acceptable: Nisar Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: May 17: The government will have to finish inking secret deals with US. No behind-the-curtain agreements will be acceptable from now and onwards, these were the warning statements made by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the leader of opposition in National Assembly (NA) and the leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Geo News reported.

“No Pak-US joint operation against a high-value target in Pakistan will be allowed in future and a judicial commission to probe into US raid on a compound in Abbottabad on May 2 be immediately formed, ” Nisar demanded.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was addressing a press conference here at the Punjab House. He said that he came to know though media reports that the federal government and US administration have agreed upon a new code of conduct.(Writer-South Asis)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

"Osama bin laden still alive"

NEW YORK | Wed May 4: Almost immediately after the United States said it had killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the conspiracy theories started.

Even some relatives of the Sept. 11 victims of the 2001 attacks on America say his death, announced by President Barack Obama in a speech at the White House, begs questions.

The U.S. government said Bin Laden was shot in the head when elite Navy SEALS stormed his compound on Monday after he had evaded a decade-long manhunt as the world's most wanted man.

But his swift burial at sea, in which he was slipped into the Arabian Sea in a weighted body bag, and authorities' reluctance to release pictures of his corpse have been fuel for the conspiracy theorists.

One hotly argued assertion is that bin Laden was in fact a CIA stooge who had been dead for years, a fanciful figure who was used to justify America's war in Afghanistan.

That is a position shared by U.S. anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and other doubters from Indiana to Kabul.

"If you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid," Sheehan wrote on her Facebook page.

Sheehan, who set up an anti-war camp at President George W. Bush's Texas ranch in 2005, disputes the facts given by the government, asking how the United States could get such fast DNA results, why the burial was hasty and why no video had been released.

And, she noted, the late Pakistani President Benazir Bhutto claimed in 2007 that bin Laden was already dead.

Sheehan is not alone in posing such questions.

Internet site Yahoo said searches for "osama bin laden not dead," "osama bin laden still alive" and "bin laden not dead" spiked off the charts on Monday.

Men were most likely to think he may be alive, Yahoo said, adding that searchers of "bin laden conspiracy" were mostly from Oregon, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana and New Jersey.

In Iran, the semi-official Mehr news agency declared: "The death of Osama is a lie."

Iranian state television news said by disposing of the body at sea, "the mystery (of his death) has increased." Iranian media say the myth of bin Laden has been used to justify the U.S. occupation of its neighbor, Afghanistan.

Nearly 3,000 people died when planes hijacked by bin Laden's al Qaeda followers flew into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, setting off a hunt for the plot's architect.

Afghanistan's Taliban said in a statement posted on their website that talk of bin Laden's death was "premature" and that the United States had not provided "convincing evidence."

ELVIS AND ALIENS

Some Americans thrive on conspiracy theories. Who really shot President John F. Kennedy? Elvis Presley lives! Did aliens land in a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico? Was Sept. 11 orchestrated by U.S. interests to justify the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?

At New York's "Ground Zero" where the twin towers once stood, some visitors pondered whether bin Laden's death might be too good to be true.

"I just hope we really did get him. They buried him at sea. Who knows what happened?" said project manager Sal Leto, 59.

Retired teacher Joani Ellingson, 62, who was visiting from Minnesota, said: "It is part of the death culture that we want to see proof positive. We have a curiosity."

Rosaleen Tallon, whose brother died in the attacks on the World Trade Center, said she was "dismayed" that bin Laden was buried so quickly.

"It has unfortunately opened this up to the possibility of conspiracy theories," she said.

At Pace University, political science professor David Caputo asked students if they doubted bin Laden was dead. Two thirds had at least a slim doubt, and 5 percent had a major doubt, he said.

(Additional reporting by Ramin Mostafavi in Tehran and Edith Honan in New York; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Nato regrets Pak troop deaths, urges route re-opening

ISLAMABAD/BRUSSELS: Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed regret on Monday for the deaths of Pakistani soldiers last week and said he hoped Pakistan’s border would reopen for NATO supplies to Afghanistan as soon as possible, reports Jumg (5/9./2010)

Angered by repeated attacks by Nato helicopters on militant targets within its borders, Pakistan blocked one of the supply routes for Nato troops in Afghanistan after a strike killed three Pakistani soldiers in the western Kurram region.

Analysts and Western officials said Pakistan’s closure of the border for a few days would not seriously impact the war effort in Afghanistan, but it would create political tension that Pakistan could exploit.

“I expressed my regret for the incident last week in which Pakistani soldiers lost their lives,” Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after meeting Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Brussels. “I expressed my hope the border will be open for supplies as soon as possible.”

The apology came after gunmen attacked a convoy of trucks taking goods to Western forces in Afghanistan on the outskirts of Islamabad, killing three guards. The foreign minister while apprising the Nato secretary general of the gravity of public anger over Nato incursions said that Pakistan would only reopen the supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan once public anger eases and security improves. “Unless the reaction cools down and we make sure that the supply line is secured, we cannot reopen it,” the foreign minister added. He further said the UN mandate for Isaf is confined to Afghanistan and Nato/Isaf forces are again advised to refrain from any actions that constitute a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Foreign Minister Qureshi did not hold a press conference after the meeting. Hours later, suspected militants attacked trawlers carrying supplies for Nato through Balochistan, killing one man, police said.

Pakistan has officially said the border has been closed for security reasons and the Taliban threat of more attacks will likely prolong the closure of the vital supply route — now in its fifth day — and further strain ties with ally Washington, which has long demanded Pakistan crackdown on militants. “Efforts are underway to resolve this issue, but there is a lot of anger in Pakistan about the border incursion,” a senior Pakistani government official told Reuters.

ISAF spokesman Major Joel Harper told Reuters in Kabul that the border closure wouldn’t impact the mission, but that the supply lines are “an important element of the Pakistani economy. It’s important to our logistics stocks”. The closures would force more supplies through NATO’s northern supply route through Russia and the central Asian republics, he said. “Nato authorities have all along anticipated disruptions in the supply chain and have been stockpiling supplies in advance,” said Kamran Bokhari, South Asia director at STRATFOR global intelligence.

Andrew Exum, a fellow with the Center for a New American Security and former adviser on Gen Stanley McChrystal’ assessment team in Afghanistan, said the closures mattered little tactically.

“Even though it’s painful it doesn’t cripple the mission,” he said. “The larger strategic issue is that we’re seeing a period of rising public tension between the United States and Pakistan.”

“It’s clear the Pakistanis are frustrated with the United States,” he continued. “It’s clear the Pakistanis are frustrated with the drone strikes in Pakistan. What I don’t think the Pakistanis understand is how frustrated the Americans and the American public are with the Pakistanis.”

Rasmussen said the killing of the three Pakistani soldiers was unintended and showed the need to improve coordination between the NATO and the Pakistani military. He said a joint investigation was under way. “It is important we step up our cooperation,” he said. —Agencies

Mariana Baabar adds: Meanwhile, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), when contacted, said it cannot confirm the identity of two planes that hovered inside Pakistani airspace at the time when Nato helicopters were striking a Pakistani checkpost. A private television channel showed the footage of the incident in which for the first time the presence of these two planes came to light.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

समर्थक स्वतंत्रता क़ौम रॉक जम्मू और ईद प्रार्थना के बाद कश्मीर

भारतीय कार्यालय भवनों श्रीनगर में जलता हुआ सेट

श्रीनगर, 11 सितंबर कश्मीर, ईद उल फितर, आज के विवादित स्थिति में,: बड़े पैमाने पर भारत विरोधी प्रदर्शनों, भारतीय अर्द्धसैनिक बलों और प्रदर्शनकारियों और श्रीनगर में एक विशाल लाल चौक में सार्वजनिक सभा के बीच संघर्ष के साथ चिह्नित किया गया. हजारों लोग, स्वतंत्रता समर्थक नारे लगाते, बाहर Eidgah से श्रीनगर और अन्य शहरों और कस्बों पर कब्जा क्षेत्र का विशाल जुलूस में ले लिया. श्रीनगर में एक बड़ा मार्च हुर्रियत अध्यक्ष मीरवाइज उमर फारूक, जो एक लाल चौक पर में बैठने में भाग लिया के नेतृत्व में किया गया था. हुर्रियत नेता, यास्मीन राजा और अन्य नेताओं को भी मुक्ति शामिल हो गए चिल्ला मोटरसाइकिल पर सैकड़ों और हजारों युवाओं के अंदर बैठने के लिए, हम स्वतंत्रता चाहते हैं, लाल चौक पर एकत्र हुए और. पाकिस्तानी फहराया और हरे रंग के एक शीर्ष क्लॉक टॉवर झंडे.

के रूप में लाल चौक रैली को समाप्त करने के बारे में था एक भीड़ की स्थापना, भारत की अपराध शाखा, पावर विकास विभाग, विद्युत निगम और एक पुलिस पोस्ट के भवनों जलता हुआ. क्रुद्ध युवा Hazratbal, Tral और अन्य स्थानों में पुलिस पदों में एक भारतीय सशस्त्र बलों शिविर में भारतीय पुलिस की बैरकों आग लगा दी. सैनिकों को हवाई फायरिंग, बेंत चार्ज और आंसू गैस का सहारा करने के लिए बमबारी.

हजारों लोगों ने Bemina, हब्बा Kadal, Nawab Bazar, Khanqai Muala, Zaindar Mohala, Khanyar, Sonawar, Sopore, Pampore, Baramulla, Kupwarda, हंदवाड़ा, बांडीपोर, इस्लामाबाद, पुलवामा, बडगाम और अन्य कस्बों और शहरों में सड़कों के लिए ले लिया भारतीय विरोध राज्य आतंकवाद.

Eidgah में लोगों की बाढ़ की एक सभा को संबोधित करते हुए हुर्रियत के अध्यक्ष मीरवाइज उमर फारूक को मुक्ति संघर्ष जारी रखने की कसम खाई जब तक यह अपने तार्किक निष्कर्ष पर पहुंच गया. वह सैयद अली गिलानी, शब्बीर अहमद शाह, Nayeem अहमद खान, अब्दुल मियां Advocate Abdul Qayoom, Aasiya Andrabi, Zafar Akbar Bhat, Gh. Nabi Shaheen, Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai और दूसरों के अवैध निरोध की निंदा की. मीरवाइज भारत से आग्रह किया कि अपने सैन्य नीति छोड़ सकते हैं और त्रिपक्षीय वार्ता के जरिए कश्मीर के समाधान के लिए सकारात्मक कदम उठाए.

इसी तरह ईद सभाओं को संबोधित आगा सैयद हसन अल मूसवी, निसार हुसैन बल्कि, Javid अहमद मीर, मुख्तार अहमद waza सहित Hurriyet नेताओं ने कहा कि भारत को 'कश्मीरियों जानवर बल द्वारा मुक्ति के संघर्ष को दबाने के लिए सक्षम नहीं होगा.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

‘Youths have given fresh lease of life to movement’ WAR QUESTIONS MIRWAIZ’S ‘UNITY’ MOVE

Srinagar, Sep 06: PPP Chairman Engineer Hilal Ahmed War has questioned Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s hollow unity initiative terming it as mere political stunt. War said that Kashmiris who are laying down their lives for the attainment of right to self-determination cannot be fooled by such gimmicks. “More than sixty youths have been martyred by police and paramilitary for raising their voice against Indian occupation and nobody would be allowed to play with their blood,” said War adding “I think Mirwaiz hasn’t done enough homework or else it is some foreign idea which Mirwaiz wants to experiment.” War said that unity shouldn’t be restricted to three people offering Eid namaaz. “Such trinity shows can’t be used to hoodwink the masses.  These are mere photo-ops and the pro-freedom leadership needs to be more practical,” said War.

“It is beyond me why Mirwaiz called All Parties Meeting at Mirwaiz Manzil Rajouri Kadal in the month of June if his definition of unity is bringing just two more people in confidence. Confining the effort to three  people and barring other pro-freedom parties and genuine resistance forces is highly questionsable,” said War.

He said that the resistance movement has reached the decisive phase and the Kashmiri youths are doing a commendable job by taking it out from mosques and shrines by reaching out to the world through all possible means. “From internet resistance to street resistance, Kashmiri youths have given a fresh lease of life to the movement spilling their blood for the attainment of the right to
self-determination,” said Er Hilal War.

He said Mirwaiz needs to refrain from such futile, childish exercises and try to understand the dynamics of Kashmir issue.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Indian troops martyr nine innocent Kashmiri youth

Srinagar, August 31 : Latest reports from Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred nine innocent Kashmiri youth during a siege and search operation in Uri area of Baramulla district.

Complete shutdown was observed in the occupied territory, today, call for which had been given by veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani as part of the Quit Kashmir Movement.

Shops, businesses establishments, educational institutions, banks and post offices remained closed while transport was off the road.

On the other hand, the occupation authorities continued to clamp curfew in parts of Srinagar and in Kupwara and Kralpora while imposing restrictions in Hyderpora, Budgam, Islamabad and other towns to prevent people from holding anti-India demonstrations.

Five youth were wounded, two of them critically, when Indian police resorted to firing in Maisuma area of Srinagar. Local residents told mediamen that the youth were playing carrom when the police fired at them without any provocation. Angry people, raising anti-India and pro-liberation slogans, took to streets to protest against the incident. The APHC spokesman in a statement in Srinagar strongly denounced the police action.

Hurriyet leader and the Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League, Masarrat Alam Butt, in a media interview in Srinagar reiterated the pledge to continue the liberation struggle till its logical conclusion, despite all odds.

A trooper of Indian Border Security Force committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle while on duty at Khayara Post in Samba district. This raised the number of such deaths amongst Indian troops and police personnel in the occupied territory to 191 since January 2007.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

फर्जी मुठभेड़ नतीजा ? (Fake Encounter in Kashmir)

फर्जी मुठभेड़ नतीजा ?
कप्तान माँ न्याय करना चाहता है
'सेना मेरे बेटे को मार डाला के रूप में वह' सच पता


नई दिल्ली, 29 अगस्त: शनिवार को देर कैप्टन सुमित कोहली की माँ उसे "रक्षा मंत्री ए.के. एंटनी को 'न्याय, एक स्वतंत्र जांच की मांग की सीबीआई ने शायद, उसके बेटे का दावा मृत्यु में, के लिए चार साल की लड़ाई लिया है कि यह एक हत्या की गई द्वारा साथी अधिकारी उपस्थित थे.

वीणा कोहली बाद में पत्रकारों को बताया कि रक्षा मंत्री के परिवार को आश्वासन दिया था, चंडीगढ़ में आधारित है कि युवा अधिकारी की मौत की जांच की और फिर वह उन्हें वापस करने के लिए उस पर जल्द ही मिल जाएगा किया जाएगा.

हालांकि, कर्नल राहुल पांडे, जो तब कैप्टन कोहली इकाई 16 राष्ट्रीय राइफल्स के कमांडिंग अधिकारी था माँ का विवाद का खंडन किया है और बनाए रखा है कि यह आत्महत्या का मामला था. परिवार का आरोप है कि सुमित क्योंकि वह जानता था, जो कश्मीर में एक Lolab में फर्जी मुठभेड़ में चार कुलियों की अप्रैल 2004 में हत्या के पीछे थे हत्या कर दी थी.

वीणा कोहली एंटनी को एक प्रतिनिधित्व प्रस्तुत उसे urging करने के लिए एक जांच, सेना के नियंत्रण से स्वतंत्र है, उसका बेटा, जो एक शौर्य चक्र विजेता रहा था की मौत पर सच्चाई की तह तक पहुंचने के आदेश.

, वीणा संवाददाताओं से "हाँ, मैं एक सीबीआई जांच की तलाश के रूप में मैं विश्वास सेना की जांच में नहीं है अब होगा, क्योंकि वे सच्चाई को छिपाने की कोशिश की है और मेरे बहादुर बेटे की छवि धूमिल बताया कि इस संबंध में प्रश्नों के जवाब दे.
कैप्टन कोहली बंदूक की गोली घावों के साथ मर अप्रैल 2006 में अपने Lolab पर सैन्य आवासीय सुविधा में कमरे में मिला था, जबकि वह 16 राष्ट्रीय राइफल्स में जम्मू और कश्मीर में सेवारत था.

यह सिर्फ दो महीने के बाद से किया गया था वह देश के तीसरे सर्वोच्च शांतिकाल वीरता पदक और उसकी अचानक मौत जीता था और उन्हें अपने परिवार ख़फ़ा, विशेष रूप से, क्योंकि सेना ने दावा किया था कि यह परिवार मुसीबतों की वजह से आत्महत्या कर ली थी हैरान था.
वीणा बेटी नम्रता है, जो उसकी माँ और परिवार के साथ वकील मेजर (सेवानिवृत्त) Guneet चौधरी एंटनी को पूरा करने के एंटनी ने कहा कि वे करने की अपील की थी परिवार को न्याय प्रदान करते हैं.

, नम्रता ने कहा कि हम के बारे में 15-20 मिनट के लिए रक्षा मंत्री से मुलाकात की और मेरे भाई की मृत्यु में एक स्वतंत्र जांच की मांग की और वह हमें एक स्वतंत्र जांच का आश्वासन दिया है ".

मूल उसके बेटे की मौत से संबंधित दस्तावेजों के लिए उपयोग की मांग की, वीणा ने कहा, "यह पता चला जाना चाहिए कि कैसे वह मर गया. मैंने पहले सोचा था कि जो कुछ कह रही थी कि सेना सही था, लेकिन मैं उसकी पोस्टमार्टम रिपोर्ट करना चाहते हैं ताकि मैं पूरी तरह संतुष्ट हो सकते हैं. मेरा मानना है कि वह आत्महत्या नहीं कर सकता था. "

कर्नल पांडे, उसके आरोपों का जवाब, कहा मौत एक आत्मघाती था कि वहाँ सेना प्रक्रिया है जिसके तहत नागरिक डॉक्टरों पोस्टमार्टम आयोजित की और अधिक सेना में अप करने के लिए रिपोर्ट प्रस्तुत कर रहे थे.

"के बाद दस्तावेजों उच्च सेना पदानुक्रम में अप तक पहुँचते हैं, यह इकाई को वापस नहीं करता है. मुझे नहीं पता था कि वह अधिकारी की मौत पर कोई संदेह था. उन्होंने कहा, अगर वह मुझे फोन किया था या मुझे करने के लिए लिखा पहले, मैं उसके लिए दस्तावेज मिल सकता था. "

पूछा क्या उसे संदेह के आधार पर किया गया था, वीणा ने कहा, "वह एक शौर्य चक्र से सम्मानित और एक बहादुर अधिकारी थे. वह यह नहीं कर सकता. "

आरोप लगाया कि कुछ सैन्य कर्मियों उसके बेटे की मौत के पीछे थे, कोहली ने कहा, "मैं इस बात के लिए पूरी सेना को दोष नहीं देंगे, लेकिन वहाँ कुछ लोग हैं जो उसे अपने रास्ते से बाहर हो गई हैं क्योंकि वह अंदर हो रहा है सब कुछ जानता था. इस घटना ने कश्मीर में Lolab घाटी में पोस्टिंग के अंतिम दिन पर हुआ. "

कैप्टन कोहली की मौत की खबर के बाद जल्द ही परिवार पहुँचे, उसके पिता एक स्ट्रोक पीड़ित और उसके बेटे की अंतिम संस्कार के बाद एक दिन मर गया. सुमित कोहली 26 वर्ष की आयु में निधन हो गया.

जाहिरा, कर्नल नीरज सूद, जो 18 राष्ट्रीय राइफल्स के कमांडिंग था, इस बार फिर 23 साल जून को इसी तरह की परिस्थितियों में सीमांत जिला कुपवाड़ा के Lolab घाटी क्षेत्र में मृत्यु हो गई.घटना Machil क्षेत्र में एक फर्जी मुठभेड़ में चार Nadihal युवाओं की 29 मई को हत्या के सरफेसिंग के बाद जगह ले ली.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

कश्मीर के ज्यादा के नियंत्रण में चीनी सेना (Chinese army in control of much of Kashmir)

श्रीनगर, 28 अगस्त चीन वीजा एक सेवारत भारतीय सेना महाप्रबंधक को मना कर दिया है कि वह भूमि है पर, जम्मू और कश्मीर के विवादित राज्य में भारतीय सेना के प्रभारी.चीन एक विवादित क्षेत्र के रूप में किया गया है जम्मू और कश्मीर का वर्णन. बीजिंग के लिए लेफ्टिनेंट जनरल बी एस जसवाल की यात्रा की अनुमति देने से इनकार कर दिया सेना के जनरल आफिसर कमांडिंग इन चीफ, उत्तरी कमान के क्षेत्र में.पिछले कुछ वर्षों के लिए एक अभ्यास के साथ रखने में, भारतीय रक्षा प्रतिष्ठान जून में था एक नियमित रूप से उच्चस्तरीय आदान प्रदान की चीन यात्रा इस साल अगस्त के लिए उत्तरी एरिया कमांडर द्वारा तैयारियाँ शुरू किया. 

", एक श्रीनगर स्थित सैन्य विश्लेषक हिलाल अहमद युद्ध जो मुजफ्फराबाद से हाल ही में लौटे की शर्त पर आजाद Jamuu और कश्मीर (ए जे) के क्षेत्र की एक बड़ी पथ चीनी पीपुल्स लिबरेशन आर्मी (पीएलए) के प्रभावी नियंत्रण के तहत अब है" कहा गुमनामी. 

विकास "भारत अपने उत्तर पश्चिमी सीमा पर सुरक्षा हितों, दूर" एक वीसा के चीन के इनकार पर एक चीनी चाय "कप में लेफ्टिनेंट जनरल बी एस जसवाल को तूफान से भी अधिक के लिए भारी" महत्व रखती है, उन्होंने कहा.भारतीय अधिकारियों का कहना है कि वे पूरी तरह आजाद जम्मू और कश्मीर में चीनी सैनिकों की उपस्थिति के बारे में पता. विदेश मंत्रालय के एक प्रवक्ता ने शुक्रवार को भारत के मीडिया को बताया: "हम PoK.We में गतिविधियों के बारे में पता कर रहे हैं स्पष्ट रूप से कहा कि जम्मू और कश्मीर के पूरे राज्य भारत का एक हिस्सा है और किसी भी गतिविधि है हमारी अनुमति के साथ जगह ले जाना चाहिए." 

यह पूछने पर कि सरकार विशेष रूप से किया गया था चीनी सेना और सड़कों के निर्माण में अन्य एजेंसियों की उपस्थिति के बारे में पता, उन्होंने कहा: "हम इसे जानते हैं और हम बना दिया है हमारे विचारों में जाना."चीनी प्रतिक्रिया के बारे में पूछे जाने पर उन्होंने कहा, "हम स्पष्ट स्थिति और चीनी बनाया है के बारे में जानते हैं."वीजा के इनकार, भूमि जसवाल कि जम्मू और कश्मीर के परिचालन कमान में था जो चीन विवादित क्षेत्र मानता है, पर शुक्रवार को भारत से एक मजबूत प्रतिक्रिया उकसाया. चीनी राजदूत ने विदेश मंत्रालय और वीजा के लिए बुलाया गया था कुछ चीनी सैन्य कर्मियों के लिए मना कर दिया. Demarches भी बीजिंग के लिए भेजा गया था करने के लिए लेफ्टिनेंट जनरल जसवाल के लिए एक वीजा के इनकार के विरोध में. 

चीन पिछले परिचालित एक 'देश भारत से अलग कश्मीर चित्रण नक्शे में है, और controversially राज्य से यात्रियों के लिए वीजा प्रदान stapled. कुछ विश्लेषकों का कहना है कि चीन के नवीनतम उत्तेजना के बीच आता है अन्य सीमाओं पर चीनी की बढ़ती मुखरता संकेत. , योनातन Holslag, समकालीन चीन अध्ययन और के लेखक की ब्रुसेल्स संस्थान में अनुसंधान साथी कारणों "यह कहना मुश्किल है कि यह कैसे निर्णय चीन जटिल नौकरशाही द्वारा किया गया था, लेकिन यह एक समय आता है, जब बीजिंग विभिन्न क्षेत्रीय विवादों में अपनी मांसपेशियों flexing है" चीन और भारत: शांति के लिए संभावनाओं. 

, Holslag नोट "जाहिर है, चीन अरुणाचल प्रदेश पर संघर्ष में दांव upped है, लेकिन अब कश्मीर में भी फिर से एक सौदेबाजी चिप और एक महत्वपूर्ण रणनीतिक गलियारे के रूप में शोहरत के लिए बढ़ रहा है." चीन उन्होंने कहा, "तेजी से निर्माण और जल प्रबंधन परियोजनाओं के सभी प्रकार में दिखाई आजाद जम्मू और कश्मीर में."अन्य विश्लेषकों चीन पिन विज़ pricks-A-विज़ कश्मीर और उसके-the-भूमि में पाकिस्तान की गतिविधियों पर अपनी पश्चिमी सीमा के साथ व्यस्त रखने के लिए भारत की रणनीति के हिस्से के रूप में, और चीन से दूर देखें.", जॉन ली, स्वतंत्र अध्ययन के लिए सिडनी स्थित केंद्र में विदेश नीति अनुसंधान साथी और हडसन संस्थान में अतिथि साथी का कहना है कि चीन एक दशक से अधिक के लिए लगातार रणनीति के लिए भारत विचलित रखने के उत्तर की ओर कर दिया गया है". 

ली का मानना है कि वीजा के इनकार चीनी सामरिक हलकों में एक "धारणा के लिए बंधे हो सकता है कि भारत चीन के 'हाल के वर्षों के दृष्टिकोण के नरम - और, सकारात्मक विपरीत पर जवाब नहीं था, अमेरिका और दक्षिण के देशों के साथ साथ सामरिक संबंधों को मजबूत पूर्व एशिया. " 

चीनी सामरिक हलकों में भारत के साथ चीन के रिश्ते की एक "सख्त लिए पिचिंग हैं क्योंकि उनका मानना है कि वे बहुत खोना नहीं है, क्या दिया पिछले कुछ वर्षों में हुआ है." 

चीन का मानना है कि भारत में ज्यादा होता जा रहा है और दक्षिण पूर्व एशिया में रणनीतिक रूप से मुखर है, वह कहते हैं. लंदन में वेस्टमिंस्टर विश्वविद्यालय के प्रोफेसर Dibyesh आनंद बाहर हाल के वर्षों में वहाँ चीन के "मुख्य राष्ट्रीय हितों की तीखी अभिव्यक्ति किया गया है, और कश्मीर में कील के" परिवर्तन "- अगर सरकारी नीति के रूप में की पुष्टि की -" हिस्सा हो सकता है कि अंक इस अभिकथन "भारत., आनंद कहते हैं, स्पष्टीकरण ही नहीं लेनी चाहिए जनरल वीजा के इनकार पर है लेकिन जम्मू और कश्मीर पर चीन की स्थिति पर. 

"जब चीन का कहना है कि भारत को बार बार चीन के हिस्से के रूप में तिब्बत स्वायत्त क्षेत्र की अपनी मान्यता पुनरावृति, वहाँ कोई कारण है कि भारत एक समान स्पष्टीकरण प्राप्त नहीं कर सकता है." और अगर वे कहते हैं, चीन के विवादित क्षेत्र के रूप में पूरे जम्मू कश्मीर विचार, " भारत को अपने पूरे चीन नीति पर पुनर्विचार की जरूरत है - क्योंकि यह स्पष्ट रूप से भारत के आंतरिक मामलों में हस्तक्षेप और एक पाकिस्तान के साथ द्विपक्षीय संबंधों में हो जाएगा. " 

लेकिन ताजा प्रकरण से परे लग रही है, आनंद का कहना है कि भारत चीन सीमा विवाद के एक संकल्प के लिए महत्वपूर्ण है. "दोनों देशों के बीच सहयोगात्मक संबंध इतना जब तक सीमा विवाद ज़िंदा है के लिए गिनती नहीं". होगा और उसके आकलन में, सीमा विवाद न केवल सामरिक प्राथमिकताओं लेकिन अधिक महत्वपूर्ण बात के बारे में राष्ट्रवादी narratives के बारे में "है." इन narratives में, चीन एक "परेशानी, अमेरिका के साथ काम करने के लिए तैयार एक देश के रूप में भारत को देखता है. नुकसान के लिए चीन के" भारत, दूसरी तरफ, "के रूप में देखता है कुटिल चीन और पाकिस्तान के साथ मिलकर काम."और भारतीय और चीनी नेताओं का कहना है, आनंद, "इन narratives राष्ट्रवादी बदलने में कोई रुचि नहीं दिखाई है." 

Holslag कि "के रूप में चीन सामरिक क्लौस्ट्रफ़ोबिया की बढ़ती भावना के साथ संघर्ष कर रही है के रूप में ज्यादा है, अन्य शक्तियाँ क्या वे चीन की बढ़ती मुखरता के रूप में अनुभव के बारे में fretting रहे हैं. मानना है कि" ये सुरक्षा दुविधाएं वे कहते हैं, "अधिक दबाव एक क्षेत्र में हो जाएगा, जहां की शेष राशि बिजली की तेजी से बदलने के लिए, खासकर जब क्षेत्रीय हितों को दांव पर लगा रहे हैं. " 

, Holslag का कहना है कि भारत नवीनतम उत्तेजना, "वृद्धि प्रबंधन करने के लिए प्रतिक्रिया के लिए के रूप में महत्वपूर्ण है." भारत वह नोट, "कुछ यात्राओं को रोकने के द्वारा अनुपात प्रतिक्रिया नहीं दी है. जबकि ट्रैक पर सबसे अधिक सैन्य आदान रखने" लेकिन साथ जारी रखा "पाकिस्तान पर तकरार, व्यापार विवादों proliferating, सीमा वार्ता में पदों सख्त है, और राष्ट्रवाद बढ़ रही है," भारत चीन उन्होंने गिनाते संबंधों "बन तेजी से करने के लिए मुश्किल का प्रबंधन करेगा. (Writer-South Asia)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Withdrawal of troops, repeal of black laws demanded : Syed Ali Shah Gilani

सैनिकों की वापसी, काले कानूनों के निरसन की मांग की
कर्फ्यू, प्रतिबंध, कश्मीर घाटी में विरोध प्रदर्शन


श्रीनगर, 21 अगस्त: APHC, के अध्यक्ष मीरवाइज उमर फारूक और अनुभवी Hurriyet कश्मीरी नेता सैयद अली गिलानी भारत से आग्रह किया है करने के लिए अधिकृत कश्मीर से सेना वापस लेने, काले कानूनों को निरस्त करने और कश्मीरी बंदियों की रिहाई के लिए अनुकूल माहौल बनाने के लिए कश्मीर विवाद को सुलझाने.

श्रीनगर में एक मीडिया साक्षात्कार में हुर्रियत के अध्यक्ष बनाए रखा कि भारत के intransigence सुस्त विवाद को हल करने में मुख्य बाधा थी. मीरवाइज ने, जो घर में नजरबंद रखा गया है पर जोर दिया कि कश्मीर एक राजनीतिक विवाद है, जो बातचीत भारत, पाकिस्तान और कश्मीरी लोगों को शामिल करने की प्रक्रिया के माध्यम से हल किया जा सकता था.

एक अलग इंटरव्यू में सैयद अली गिलानी ने कहा कि सार्थक बातचीत कश्मीर विवाद के समाधान का एक ही रास्ता था, लेकिन वह तभी संभव था जब भारत जम्मू स्वीकार किए जाते हैं और कश्मीर के विवादित क्षेत्र के रूप में. उन्होंने deplored है कि एक हाथ पर, नई दिल्ली में बातचीत की पेशकश की है, जबकि दूसरे पर, यह अपने अभिन्न अंग के रूप में जम्मू और कश्मीर में वर्णित है.

दूसरी ओर, अधिकारियों ने कर्फ्यू और प्रमुख शहरों और क्षेत्र पर कब्जा कर लिया, आज के कस्बों में लगाए गए प्रतिबंध clamped था, भारत विरोधी प्रदर्शनों जोत और बैठो-ins से लोगों को रोकने. पुलिस और अर्द्धसैनिक बलों के हजारों सैनिक कश्मीर घाटी में तैनात किया गया था. प्रतिबंध के बावजूद, लोगों के स्कोर बड़गाम, Humhama और Shopian क्षेत्रों में विरोध प्रदर्शन का मंचन किया. कई लोग घायल हो गए जब अर्धसैनिक जवानों Shopian में प्रदर्शनकारियों के खिलाफ पशु बल प्रयोग किया. दो पुलिस कांस्टेबल घायल हो गए जब प्रदर्शनकारियों Sheikhpora पर बड़गाम में एक पुलिस दल पर हमला किया.

अखिल भारतीय वाम समन्वय एक बैठने का नई दिल्ली में विरोध में जंतर मंतर पर कश्मीर के लोगों के साथ एकजुटता व्यक्त करने का मंचन किया. यह छात्रों के एक नंबर ने भाग लिया, मजदूरों कार्यकर्ताओं, और अन्य व्यक्तियों को, जिन्होंने कहा है कि कश्मीरी लोगों द्वारा भारतीय सैनिक क्रूर दमन का विरोध कर रहे थे. वाम समन्वय चार (एमएल) लिबरेशन भाकपा, माकपा पंजाब, लाल निशान पार्टी (लेनिनिस्ट) महाराष्ट्र और वाम समन्वय समिति केरल सहित वाम दल शामिल हैं.

और लंदन में, ब्रिटेन की अग्रणी दक्षिण एशियाई और भारतीय भारत के प्रधानमंत्री डा. मनमोहन सिंह के लिए एक संयुक्त पत्र में अधिकार समूहों से आग्रह किया कि उसे अधिकृत कश्मीर में नागरिकों के खिलाफ अत्याचारों भारतीय अर्द्धसैनिक सैनिकों द्वारा बंद करो. पत्र सशस्त्र बल विशेष अधिकार अधिनियम के निरसन की मांग की. (Writer-South Asia)

Friday, August 6, 2010

The Kashmir situation

Feedback from Sanjay:

Kashmir is back to the boil again. The army had to be called in after 15 years of relative normalcy in the valley. The situation threatens to spiral out of control just when you would’ve thought it was getting better.

How did it all come to this? Where did we go wrong? Where ARE we going wrong?

There has been a lot of discussion about the history of the Kashmir issue – the wars, the UN resolutions, the Shimla accord and so on. What we don’t discuss regularly are the people of Kashmir and their concerns. They include those on the other side of the border, those who live in the valley, those who have been chased out of the valley, and even those who live in the Jammu and Laddakh regions.

Why many of us don’t feel any pain whatsoever when human rights are violated in the region? Why don’t we create the kind of uproar we saw in the Ruchika or Jessica case when similar, if not more disgusting, crimes are committed in Shopain? Why do we go hysterical when a ‘prince’ falls in a bore well but not when a school boy is killed by security forces in Srinagar on his way home from school?

Let’s face it. Those who are out on the streets in Kashmir are not terrorists. They are not even militants. They are ordinary teenagers whom the system has failed. They deserve the same freedoms that we take for granted. If we wouldn’t like our PM telling us not to let our children out on the streets, the Kashmiris shouldn’t be told that too. If we like political freedoms in our colleges and universities, the Kashmiris should have that political engagement too. If we like to live in our homes, the Kashmiris should be resettled in their homes too!

What we need is to show some empathy towards the Kashmiris. If we can’t do that much, we have not right to call Kashmir an integral part of India.

Sanjay Bhat, New Delhi

Thursday, August 5, 2010

NATO Pulls Pakistan Into Its Global Network

Rick Rozoff
By Rick Rozoff
Srinagar:
August, 5: In four months the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will hold a summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The host country was one of the 12 nations that founded the United States-dominated military bloc 61 years ago reports Intelligence daily.
The Warsaw Pact dissolved
The rival grouping that was created six years after NATO’s formation and its expansion into Turkey and Greece in 1952 and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955, the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), formally dissolved itself almost twenty years ago.

NATO's expansion

In the interim since its formation, having grown to 16 members by 1982 with the incorporation of Spain, NATO expanded from 12 to 28 members and absorbed 12 nations in Eastern Europe over the past 11 years. The last dozen were, except for two former Yugoslav federal republics (Croatia and Slovenia), earlier part of the Warsaw Pact and in three instances (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) also of the Soviet Union.

The North Atlantic military bloc’s sole right to maintain its name is that its major powers do largely have coastlines on the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of its members do not. Since the Warsaw Pact’s demise and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO has subordinated all of Europe through full membership and the Partnership for Peace and more advanced programs.

"Partnership for Peace"

The newest members of NATO graduated through successive stages of integration from the Partnership for Peace to Individual Partnership Action Plans and Membership Action Plans to full membership. All supplied troops for the occupation of Iraq and now have forces serving under NATO in the Afghan war zone.

Current members of the Partnership for Peace program in Europe are: Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Ireland, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine. Bosnia, Moldova and Montenegro now have Individual Partnership Action Plans and Ukraine was recently granted a special Annual National Program. Russia was a member of the Partnership for Peace from 1992-1999, but suspended participation in that program and the Permanent Joint Council with NATO over the Alliance’s 78-day bombing war against Yugoslavia in 1999. However, in 2002 the NATO-Russia Council was inaugurated and though in abeyance after the 2008 Georgia-Russia war is functioning again.

All three former Soviet South Caucasus states – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – are Partnership for Peace members. The first two also have Individual Partnership Action Plans and Georgia its own Annual National Program, which NATO awarded it shortly after its five-day war with Russia in 2008.

In Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are in the Partnership for Peace. Kazakhstan is the first country outside of Europe (inclusive of the Caucasus) to receive an Individual Partnership Action Plan.

Middle East and Africa
In the Middle East and Northern and Western Africa, the following countries are NATO Mediterranean Dialogue partners: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Israel and Egypt each have an Individual Cooperation Program with NATO introduced in the last three years under enhanced Mediterranean Dialogue provisions. Egypt and Jordan have small troop contingents in Afghanistan.

Under the auspices of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative of 2004, NATO has strengthened military ties with the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. All but Oman and Saudi Arabia have formalized military cooperation arrangements with NATO. The United Arab Emirates is one of 46 official Troop Contributing Nations for NATO’s war in Afghanistan and there are also Bahraini soldiers in the war theater.

Contact Countries
The Brussels-based military bloc also has a category of military cooperation called Contact Countries, which to date include Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. All four have assisted the war in Afghanistan in various capacities and all but Japan have provided NATO with troops. Other Asia-Pacific states have deployed troops to serve under NATO in Afghanistan and as such are arguably already Alliance partners. Those countries include Singapore, Mongolia and Malaysia.

Tripartite Commission
NATO has initiated a Tripartite Commission consisting of its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the armed forces of Afghanistan and Pakistan. A complement to the U.S.-Afghanistan-Pakistan Tripartite Commission, in 2008 former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth referred to it as the Trilateral Afghanistan-Pakistan-NATO Military Commission, which is a more accurate, if not its formal, title.

A tally of 28 full NATO members and the partners mentioned above produces a list of at least 70 of the 192 members of the United Nations which are linked to the Western military bloc in some manner.

NATO's Grip on PakistanOf all those nations, Pakistan is the second largest, its population of 170,000,000 only surpassed by that of the U.S. It is also one of only seven nations that acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons.

NATO’s grip on Pakistan was increased in 2005 when the military bloc became involved in an earthquake relief operation in the country, NATO’s second mission in Asia.

After that Pakistani military officers attended training courses at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany for the first time in 2006. The Pakistani Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, General Ehsan ul Haq, visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels in the same year.

In 2007 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer became the first NATO secretary general to travel to Pakistan. In the same year Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited NATO Headquarters.

The next year President Pervez Musharraf made the same trip, followed by his Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ten months afterward.

In January of 2009 NATO chief Scheffer visited Pakistan to meet with newly installed President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army chief General Kayani.

Returning the favor, Kayani paid a visit to NATO Headquarters in May, and the next month President Zardari, nine months after assuming his post, traveled to NATO Headquarters for a meeting with the bloc’s top governing body, the North Atlantic Council, being the first elected president of Pakistan to do so. In October of last year NATO conducted an international seminar on Pakistan in Brussels which included the ambassadors of all 28 of the bloc’s member states. In December NATO launched an Individual Tailored Cooperation Package to consolidate the integration of Pakistan.

This year Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi was at NATO Headquarters in February to meet with the new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and to address the North Atlantic Council, and last month Prime Minister Gilani led a large government delegation to the same location, where he also met with Rasmussen and addressed the North Atlantic Council.

On either end of the International Conference on Afghanistan held in Kabul on July 20, NATO Secretary General Rasmussen visited Tajikistan, where French NATO forces have been stationed since 2002 and where recent reports detail plans for the U.S. to open a training center [1], and Pakistan.

On July 19 Rasmussen met with Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev and Security Council Secretary Amirkul Azimov to coordinate a common Afghan strategy.

He arrived in Pakistan on July 21, six days after a twenty-member Pakistani parliamentary delegation completed a four-day trip to NATO Headquarters in Belgium “to share information about the Alliance’s policies and activities and to strengthen political dialogue between NATO and elected representatives of Pakistan.” [2]

The group was also taken to the Allied Command Operations Headquarters, formerly known as Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the central command of NATO military forces.

While in Islamabad this Wednesday, Rasmussen was accompanied by a large delegation which included NATO Spokesman James Appathurai and Robert Simmons, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Security Cooperation and Partnership and its first Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia. [3] Simmons was also in Pakistan in May when he spoke at a conference entitled “NATO’s Transition and its Relation with Pakistan.”

His comments at the time included the assurance that “Pakistan is NATO’s valued partner and our common challenge is war in Afghanistan.”

A report of his visit stated, “Simmons emphasized that NATO does not want to limit [itself] to high level dialogue with Pakistan but also to have practical cooperation by making use of the instrument of [an] Individual Cooperation Program to cover civilian and military affairs” [4], the same name as that used by NATO for its advanced partnerships with Israel and Egypt.

On May 21 Rasmussen and other NATO officials met with Pakistani President Zardari and with Chief of Army Staff General Kayani and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid in separate meetings at the military’s General Headquarters. During the meeting with General Majid, discussion “focused on the future NATO strategy for Afghanistan [and] the status of NATO-Pakistan relations including a proposed framework to institutionalize enduring, broad-based and mutually beneficial future cooperation.” [5]

During Zardari’s meeting with Rasmussen, the Pakistani president stated he “appreciated training facilities offered by NATO to Pakistani officers and called for further increasing such facilities,” and “hail[ed] NATO’s intended support for training counter-terrorism units.” [6]

Last year the Pakistani military launched a “counterinterrorist” offensive in the Swat Valley and adjoining parts of the North-West Frontier Province that dwarfed in comparison fighting on the other side of the Durand Line, leading to 3,000,000 civilians being displaced according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Oxfam among other sources. There can be little doubt that the operation was ordered by Washington.

Over the past two years the U.S. has killed over 1,000 people with drone missile attacks in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. There have been reports of NATO helicopter gunship and commando raids in Pakistan launched from Afghanistan.

On July 21 NATO chief Rasmussen said that “Pakistan and NATO enjoy an important relationship and intend to build upon it…it goes beyond Afghanistan.” Indeed. Rasmussen also “commended Pakistan’s operations in the Tribal Areas….He mentioned the tripartite arrangement with NATO and said [NATO] would encourage Pakistan to continue it.” [7]

NATO’s first war in Asia and its first ground war is not limited to Afghanistan. In touting his organization’s “long-term partnership with Pakistan,” the Alliance’s secretary general added that NATO’s presence in Afghanistan and several adjoining nations was “driven not by calendar, but by commitment.” [8]

NATO is in South and Central Asia to stay. In Afghanistan, in Pakistan and in the former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan following suit and India next in line. (The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, began a two-day visit to India on July 23, and pledged a continued “commitment” to South and Central Asia.)

In November NATO will endorse its new Strategic Concept, the first since it began its Eastern expansion at the fiftieth anniversary summit in Washington, D.C. in 1999. It is NATO’s first 21st century, first avowedly expeditionary military doctrine. It is the blueprint for global NATO, with partners and operations on at least five continents.

References:
   1. Afghan War: Petraeus Expands U.S. Military Presence Throughout Eurasia
      Stop NATO, July 4, 2010
   2. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, July 16, 2010
   3. Mr. Simmons’ Mission: NATO Bases From Balkans To Chinese Border
      Stop NATO, March 4, 2009
   4. Xinhua News Agency, May 21, 2010
   5. South Asian News Agency, July 21, 2010
   6. Associated Press of Pakistan, July 21, 2010
   7. Daily Times, July 22, 2010
   8. 8) Ibid

About the author: Rick Rozoff has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of
Stop NATO international.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Lashkar, ISI Expanding Anti-India Operations in Afghanistan: NYT

Srinagar, August 4: Many Afghan and international intelligence officials and diplomats stationed in Kabul have confirmed that with the help of ISI, Lashar-e-Taiba (LeT) has expanded its anti-India operations into Afghanistan and set up training camps, NYT reports. 

Officials said that LeT is believed to have masterminded and carried out three major attacks on Indian government employees and private workers in Afghanistan in recent months, reports said. 

The New York Times reported that Pakistan maintains that it doesn’t support or help Lashkar any longer but its expanded activities in Afghanistan, particularly against Indian targets, raises suspicion that it has become one of Pakistan’s proxies to counteract India’s influence in the war ravaged country, said reports. 

“Our concern is that there are still players involved that are trying to use Afghanistan’s ground as a place for a proxy war,” Shaida Abdali, Afghanistan’s deputy national security adviser, was quoted as saying. “It is being carried out by certain state actors to fight their opponents,” Abdali was quoted as saying. Experts opine that now the LeT is more of a threat in Afghanistan than even Al Qaeda is, reports said. The paper said that there were a few Lashkar cells in Afghanistan three or four years ago, but they were not focused on Indian targets and, until recently, their presence seemed to be diminishing, said reports. In a recent testimony to the US Congress, Pakistan analysts described the LeT as a terror group ‘having ambitions well beyond India’, reports said. 
   
“They are active now in six or eight provinces. They are currently most interested in Indian targets here, but they can readily trade attacks on international targets for money or influence or an alliance with other groups,” a senior NATO intelligence official, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, was quoted as saying.