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Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Article 370 of the Constitution of India

Sheikh Gulzar
Article 370 of the Constitution of India is a special article that gives  special status to the erstwhile Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This article gives the State of Jammu and Kashmir the freedom to frame and maintain its own constitution while prohibiting the implementation of the federal constitution in Jammu and Kashmir in most matters. Under this special article, except for defense, finance, foreign affairs, etc., the Union Government cannot implement Indian laws in the State of Jammu and Kashmir without the ratification and approval of the Central Parliament and the State Government. Under Article 370, the State of Jammu and Kashmir enjoys a special and unique position.

The provisions and laws of the Indian Constitution that are applicable to other States cannot be applied to the State of Jammu and Kashmir under this article.

Under this article, many fundamental issues of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, including property, citizenship and fundamental human rights for citizens, are different from the general laws of India. An attempt has also been made to preserve the 1927 Resident States Act of head of the state of  J&k  Hari Singh, whereby no ordinary citizen of India can buy property within the state of Jammu and Kashmir, this is not limited to the ordinary citizens of India, but Indian corporations and other private and public companies cannot acquire property within the state without legal justification. According to this law, state land cannot be occupied for the construction of residential colonies and setting up industrial factories, dams and other factories within the state. For any kind of changes, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the state representatives who are present in the form of an elected assembly.

Being a part of the constitution, its implementation is mandatory, however, it is a transitional provision. It plays a role in paving the way for the formation of a transitional structure.

The purpose of this article is to protect the state rights of Jammu and Kashmir. The impetus for this article is the agreement made with the head of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which stated that the state would not be forced to accept the federal Constitution of India in any way. 

Its main objectives are as follows:
The central Constitution of India will apply to the state only in certain matters.
The state will frame its own constitution, which will shape the government structure in the state.

Any administrative change by the central government can be made in the state only when the state assembly gives its permission.

This article can be changed only when the requirements for the change in the article are met and the will of the state is included in it, which is interpreted by the state assembly there.
The change in the article can be made only on the recommendations of the state assembly, the center is not authorized to do so.

Monday, May 5, 2025

Pahalgam attack-Who will take the first step in an attack ?

Srinagar : Pakistan and India had a nuclear agreement in 1988 in which both countries agreed not to attack each other's nuclear installations. In 1991, the agreement was amended and both countries also revealed the locations of their nuclear installations to each other.

Since then, the two countries have been regularly exchanging information on their nuclear locations. India's nuclear doctrine is clearly based on not taking the first step, but if it is attacked with chemical or biological weapons, then it can use nuclear weapons.

After India's termination of the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan has warned that after this, the remaining bilateral agreements, including the agreement not to attack nuclear installations, have no validity.

Kashmir’s Hidden Treasure: Medicinal Plants and Herbal Tourism
Herbal tourism in Kashmir
Herbal tourism, a growing niche in the tourism industry, focuses on travel experiences centered around the use of herbal medicine and natural remedies, often for health and wellness purposes. This type of tourism can involve visiting herbal gardens, learning about traditional healing practices, and experiencing local herbal products and therapies. 


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On the other hand, Pakistan has not formulated any policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons, which leaves it with the option of using nuclear weapons even if India comes within its borders and harms its troops or its economy.

Observers say that Pakistan also has nuclear weapons with limited damage. That is, if Indian forces enter its borders in thousands, it has weapons that can wipe out the opposing forces in a matter of moments.

This is the dangerous scenario due to which there are possibilities of nuclear war between the two countries. In 2022, India accidentally fired a Brahmos missile towards Pakistan. Any such coincidence can set off nuclear missiles.

Who has the key to peace?
If we keep in mind the conflict of the recent past of 2019, one thing becomes clear that after the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian plane in retaliation the day after the Balakot attack, the two countries had reached the brink of war and the drums of war were about to sound at any time, however, at that time this war was averted due to pressure from the United States and Western countries.

Even then, Donald Trump was the president in America and he is the same president today. But this time he has made a statement that is very vague, that is, that both countries will find a way out on their own.

After the horrific attacks of  Israel on Gaza and the Russian attacks on Ukraine, the peacekeeping forces are already suffering from distrust, due to which the world is not so interested in the recent tension between the two countries.

There is also an idea that India wants to repeat the dangerous behavior that Israel has shown in Gaza as an example in Kashmir. It has even started demolishing the houses of Kashmiris using the Pahalgam attack as an excuse, and thousands of Kashmiris have been arrested.

Even if there is no full-scale war between the two countries, very bad days have begun for the Kashmiris because India believes that the world will become a spectator in Kashmir just as it was in Gaza.

But this will be a difficult situation for Pakistan, can it leave the Kashmiris alone?
Whenever Pakistan jumps into this war, the risk of nuclear war will increase. It seems that the key to regional peace has fallen in Dal Lake, which both countries and the world have failed to find.

On the other hand, Pakistan has not formulated any policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons, due to which it has an open option, even if India comes within its borders and harms its troops or its economy, it can still use nuclear weapons.

More updates: India is a strategic partner, Pakistan is also a partner, both should reduce tensions: Russia
Dmitry Peskov added that "India is our strategic partner. Pakistan is also our partner. We value relations with Islamabad and Delhi."

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Dry fruit prices spike after supply from Kashmir, Afghanistan & third countries

Pistachio prices have increased nearly 20% since India closed the Attari-Wagah border after the April 22  attack near Pahalgam in Kashmir. Along with pistachio, India imports nearly 90% of dried figs and heeng it consumes, 50% of saffron, dried apricots and munakka from Afghanistan via the land route through Pakistan.  
Pine nut cultivation in Kashmir

Following the Pahalgam attack, the Attari-Wagah border closure disrupted dry fruit trade from Afghanistan to India, possibly causing a 20–35% price hike due to restrictions.
Despite years of war and internal conflict, Afghanistan remains the largest source of dry fruits for India. The Federation of Grocers and Dry Fruit Traders said, "After the closure of the Attari-Wagah border on April 22, no truck carrying dry fruits is coming to Attari from Kandahar in Afghanistan. On the Pakistani side, there are about 200 trucks parked at the Wagah border, which are not being allowed to enter India.

Ferula-Heeng Kashmir
Asafoetida-Ferula asafetida-Heeng is a spice that is an integral part of the Indian cuisine. It is a natural medicine and a go-to home remedy for digestion-related problems. A recent project by the JKMPIC has given Kashmir a chance to taste the spice cultivated in its own land. The JKMPIC has planted 5000 saplings of ferula asafoetida in 2019.
Ferula asafetida Kashmir
There are about 100 trucks carrying 35 to 40 tonnes of dry fruits from Afghanistan to Pakistan at the Attari border in India, which mainly come from Kandahar in Afghanistan, and some come from Kabul, but due to the closure of the border by Pakistan, they are now unable to enter India. About 90 per cent of the dry fruits arrive in January and February, as there are no storage facilities in Afghanistan.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

5th February 2025-Kashmir Solidarity Day

5th February 2025-Kashmir Solidarity Day

The people of Pakistan and Kashmiris around the world commemorate 5th February each year as Kashmir Solidarity Day. They reiterate their persistent support and send a loud and clear message to the world that Kashmiris are not alone in their struggle against the occupying forces.

As notified vide Cabinet Division's circular No.10-01/2024-Min-II dated 23rd December, 2024, Wednesday the 5th February 2025 shall be a public holiday throughout the country on the occasion of "Kashmir Solidarity Day."

Pakistan will take Hamas’ help for terrorist attacks in Kashmir: VHP

New Delhi, Feb 6: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesperson Vinod Bansal on Thursday claimed that Pakistan will now take the help of Hamas for terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The VHP leader shared on social media platform ‘X’ that on Wednesday, Hamas commander Khaled al-Qaddoumi and other Pakistani terrorists were spotted during a rally in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

He further claimed that Pakistan’s Intelligence agency ISI is playing an important role in this “terrorist alliance”.

Slamming the Hamas sympathisers and “radical Muslims” in India, who have been raking up the Gaza issue, raising ‘Palestine Zindabad’ slogans in Parliament and shedding tears for global terrorists, he questioned their silence on the issue.

“Will they not utter a single word over this issue?” he said, adding “Shouldn’t they protest against terrorism as they did in support of Gaza.”

He said: “Now all these anti-India elements have been exposed once again.”

Bansal’s remark came after Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders, and senior Hamas representatives, took part in Pakistan’s propaganda exercise recently.

The rally indicates Pakistan’s involvement with terrorist organisations to fuel unrest in the region.

Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently shared that after the abrogation of Article 370, terror incidents in J&K have reduced by 70 per cent.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Hope Taliban will deliver good governance following Islamic principles in Afghanistan: Farooq Abdullah “They should try to develop friendly relations with every country,” the National Conference chief told reporters in Srinagar.

A day after the Taliban unveiled the interim government in Afghanistan, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said he hoped the militant group would “deliver good governance” in accordance with “Islamic principles”. He also urged the country’s new leaders to respect human rights.
“They should try to develop friendly relations with every country,” the National Conference chief told reporters in Srinagar. “They should ensure to protect the human rights of their citizens and give them a just and honourable government under the Islamic rules.”
The Taliban on Tuesday announced that they had appointed Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the ‘acting’ Prime Minister in the new Afghan government, with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Mullah Abdus Salam being his deputies.

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Coronavirus India update

 Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Gujarat extends partial lockdown for 3 more days, says CM Vijay Rupani.

Coronavirus India News Live Updates: India's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 2,78,719 with a record 4,329 fresh fatalities, while the single day rise in coronavirus cases stood at 2.63 lakh, the lowest in 28 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The country reported 2,63,533 new cases in a span of 24 hours, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases
 to 2,52,28,996, the data updated at 8 am showed. A total of 2,59,170 cases were reported in a span of 24 hours on April 20. The active cases further reduced to 33,53,765  comprising 13.29 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 85.60  per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,15,96,512, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.10 per cent, the data stated.

Sunday, July 5, 2020

India-China: 'More dangerous than before'

India-China: 'More dangerous than before'

Why has the peace been kept?'
'Basically because there is a balance.'
'Maybe they think that balance has changed.'
'If that is the cause, then I think what we have done, matching their build-up, etc, it is giving a good account of ourselves in the face-offs.' 

More info:-

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Coronavirus in Kashmir...Lates update

SRINAGAR:  At least 43 Indians returning home from Pakistan and kept in isolation by authorities in Amritsar include14 students from Kashmir studying in Pakistan, according to a local news agency CNS.

They were driven to a drug rehabilitation centre, where they were screened.
Kashmiri students were asked to return home after Pakistan closed its educational institutions due to the virus outbreak.

Besides, 14 Kashmiris, there were 29 crew members of a broadcasting team who had gone to cover the Pakistan Super League, who entered India through Attari border in Amritsar on Thursday Morning.
“The group was handed over to us on Thursday morning,” Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal was quoted saying. “After conducting their medical checkup, they have been isolated for the next 24 hours. They will be tested again and their reports will be sent to the higher authorities. The decision of their release will be taken up by the state government on Friday. Till now, all of them have been asymptomatic.”

Before they were permitted to enter India, there was a lot of drama at Attari, the news agency reported. The students were exited from Pakistan and the Indian immigration officials delayed the permission to enter by at least a day. After their families and the media reported the case to the authorities, they were finally permitted in.

Pakistan has reported two death and 454 have tested positive for the Coronavirus. Islamabad has closed all the educational institutions to prevent the spread of the virus and asked Kashmiri students to go home for the time being.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Syed Ali Shah Geelani,Jamat-e-Islami,Hizbul Mujahideen,ISI, Pakistan

New Delhi helps Geelani to uproot NC in J&K Geelani active supporters of PDP

More details : http://cnskashmir.com/new-delhi-helps-geelani-to-uproot-nc-in-jk-geelani-active-supporters-of-pdp/

 

 

New Delhi helps Geelani to uproot NC in J&K Geelani active supporters of PDP

mustafa-slide-14-11-2012Srinagar, Oct 30, CNS: National Conference legislator and former Minister, Dr Shiekh Mustafa KamalWednesday accused New Delhi for harbouring Syed Ali Geelani to weaken NC in Jammu and Kashmir.
    “Not only Pakistan but New Delhi is also providing monetary assistance to Geelani and other like-minded separatist leaders to uproot National Conference form the political map of the State,” Kamal told Srinagar based news agency CNS adding that people have lost faith in Geelani.
    Kamal alleged that Geelani was released to persuade people especially the supporters of Jamat-e-Islami to caste vote in favour of Peoples Democratic Party candidates in forthcoming Parliament and Assembly Elections.
    “Geelani and Company will now visit NC bastions to enforce election boycott and would urge upon Jamat-e-Islami supporters and leaders to help PDP during elections,” he said.
    He said that PDP and Jamat-e-Islami are hand in glove while Geelani is playing a key role in strengthening their bond. “They should know that they can’t uproot NC as it is the only party in Jammu and Kashmir which has a strong base. Geelani, Jamat-e-Islami or PDP will never succeed in their designs.
    National Conference Additional General Secretary lashed out at Hurriyat leaders and said that they are playing negative politics to digest the funds which they receive both from India and Pakistan.
    “What these Hurriyat leaders could do for people when they are themselves scattered and disintegrated. If their agenda is one, then why they have opened their shops separately. The fact is that they fill up their coffers and befool fool,” Kamal said adding people of Kashmir should try to find out the reasons why these separatist leaders are not ready to share the same dais.
    Kamal reiterated that Geelani was not arrested by the Government but sometime authorities imposed restrictions on his movement to avoid untoward incidents. (CNS)
- See more at: http://cnskashmir.com/new-delhi-helps-geelani-to-uproot-nc-in-jk-geelani-active-supporters-of-pdp/#sthash.udqEMwhh.dpuf

New Delhi helps Geelani to uproot NC in J&K Geelani active supporters of PDP

mustafa-slide-14-11-2012Srinagar, Oct 30, CNS: National Conference legislator and former Minister, Dr Shiekh Mustafa KamalWednesday accused New Delhi for harbouring Syed Ali Geelani to weaken NC in Jammu and Kashmir.
    “Not only Pakistan but New Delhi is also providing monetary assistance to Geelani and other like-minded separatist leaders to uproot National Conference form the political map of the State,” Kamal told Srinagar based news agency CNS adding that people have lost faith in Geelani.
    Kamal alleged that Geelani was released to persuade people especially the supporters of Jamat-e-Islami to caste vote in favour of Peoples Democratic Party candidates in forthcoming Parliament and Assembly Elections.
    “Geelani and Company will now visit NC bastions to enforce election boycott and would urge upon Jamat-e-Islami supporters and leaders to help PDP during elections,” he said.
    He said that PDP and Jamat-e-Islami are hand in glove while Geelani is playing a key role in strengthening their bond. “They should know that they can’t uproot NC as it is the only party in Jammu and Kashmir which has a strong base. Geelani, Jamat-e-Islami or PDP will never succeed in their designs.
    National Conference Additional General Secretary lashed out at Hurriyat leaders and said that they are playing negative politics to digest the funds which they receive both from India and Pakistan.
    “What these Hurriyat leaders could do for people when they are themselves scattered and disintegrated. If their agenda is one, then why they have opened their shops separately. The fact is that they fill up their coffers and befool fool,” Kamal said adding people of Kashmir should try to find out the reasons why these separatist leaders are not ready to share the same dais.
    Kamal reiterated that Geelani was not arrested by the Government but sometime authorities imposed restrictions on his movement to avoid untoward incidents. (CNS)
- See more at: http://cnskashmir.com/new-delhi-helps-geelani-to-uproot-nc-in-jk-geelani-active-supporters-of-pdp/#sthash.udqEMwhh.dpuf

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Iran’s missile systems are for the defense of Muslim nations: Majlis Speaker

JAKARTA - Iran will use its domestically manufactured missile systems to defend itself and other Muslim nations if they are threatened, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has said, reports Tehran Times.

“We do not hide our defensive advancement and (we) have designed advanced missile systems… Israel and the U.S. should know that if they want to act violently toward Muslims, we will stand in their way,” Larijani told students at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to the school of the late Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic, Muslims should possess enough defensive strength to use against other countries in case they attack, he noted.

Commenting on the popular uprisings in Middle Eastern and North African nations, he said the people of these countries can no longer tolerate their dictatorial governments, which are subservient to the West.

The United States and other Western countries cannot manipulate these uprisings, he said, adding that they should know that the more they pressure these regional nations, the more determined their people will become, he opined.

Iran, Indonesia issue joint statement
Iran and Indonesia have issued a joint statement calling on every country to respect every other country’s rights and to avoid interfering in other countries’ internal affairs.

The statement was issued during a meeting between Larijani and Indonesian Parliament Speaker Marzuki Alie in Jakarta on Thursday.

The statement also condemned all interference, including military intervention, in other countries.

The two parliament speakers underscored the importance of respecting the legitimate right of the people of the Middle East and North Africa to determine their political destiny.

Larijani and Alie also expressed their support for an agreement between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah to form an interim unity government.

They also called on all countries to recognize Palestine as an independent state. In addition, part of the statement reads that the Iranian and Indonesian parliament speakers believe that cooperation on economic, trade, energy, tourism, and infrastructure projects can be increased through the expansion of interactions between the two countries’ parliaments.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Pak will respond if drone strikes don’t stop: ISI chief

Islamabad, May 223 The ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha has warned the US that Pakistan will be "forced to respond" if it does not stop drone strikes in the country's tribal belt, according to a media report today.

Pasha, who faced tremendous criticism after the May 2 US raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad, made Pakistan's stand clear during a meeting yesterday between visiting CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell and senior ISI officials.

The ISI chief took a firm stance with the US on drone strikes, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.

"We will be forced to respond if you do not come up with a strategy that stops the drone strikes," Pasha reportedly told Morell.

Pasha also described a recent incursion by NATO helicopters into Pakistani airspace as a "shock" for defence cooperation between the US and Pakistan.

Morrell also met operational leaders of the ISI and members of the spy agency's recently set-up counter-terrorism division.

Both sides reportedly discussed a way forward that will involve the US stopping drone strikes and expanding joint operations against militants.

Relations between the CIA and ISI were strained even before the May 2 unilateral American raid that killed bin Laden.

The ISI repeated the demand during yesterday's meetings, with Pakistani officials asking the US to provide a list of names of people employed by the CIA or other US intelligence agencies, The Express Tribune reported.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Osama brings China, Pakistan, US closer

Lavetra cashmerina
Srinagar, 21 May: US Navy SEALs launched a secret operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden which, the US says, is a victory in its war on terroris, reports China Daily 05/20/2011

The killing of bin Laden, however, has made many people question the legality of the US' unilateral action in Pakistan, Pakistani "support networks" for the Al-Qaida leader, and future US-Pakistani partnership in the fight against terrorism.

While discussing the reported row between the US and Pakistan, some US media outlets have unnecessarily dragged China into the debate. They have even speculated about China's reaction to bin Laden's death. 
 
Quoting Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Jiang Yu's statement, one US newspaper said that China initially welcomed bin Laden's death as a positive development but later went "out of its way to praise Islamabad for its anti-terrorist stance". The report concluded that the tension between the US and Pakistan had offered "Beijing a chance to wean its oldest regional ally off its dependence on US security assistance".


To begin with, Jiang's defense of Pakistan has nothing to do with Washington's doubts over Islamabad's commitment in the hunt for bin Laden. Jiang's affirmative reply to a question about whether Beijing believed Islamabad's claim that it didn't have prior knowledge of the US operation shows China's consistent stance on Pakistan. And that should not be interpreted as China's attempt to dissuade Pakistan from supporting the US in its war on terrorism.



Indeed, China and Pakistan have enjoyed an "all-weather" friendship for six decades, and the death of bin Laden will not change that. China is aware of the dangers of extremism and Talibanization spreading across Pakistan, but it appreciates Pakistan's determination to combat terrorists and militants and recognizes the sacrifice Islamabad has made in the war on terrorism.

Sino-Pakistani friendship reflects China's "good neighborhood" policy. It's this policy that has strengthened China's ties with all its neighbors, including countries in South Asia.

As a country facing terrorist threats itself, China has worked and coordinated with the US, which is leading the war on terrorism. Since 2001, Beijing and Washington have cooperated in anti-terrorism activities, even though they have somewhat different views on the concept of "terrorism" and the approach that the anti-terrorist strategy should take.
The US lays more emphasis on military raids and strategic operations, whereas China prefers economic development, which Chinese people believe is the only way terrorism can be eradicated from the roots. But China and the US both want a stable and moderate Pakistan.

In the post-bin Laden era, Sino-Pakistani cooperation in the fight against terrorism will continue. Washington, on its part, is likely to continue its cooperation with Islamabad, because terrorism has not died with bin Laden and the US still needs Pakistan's logistical and military support in its campaign against Al-Qaida and Taliban.

US Senator John Kerry was in Islamabad a couple of days ago to try to restore the "damaged" US-Pakistani relations. And US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Islamabad soon to reassure Pakistan of her country's commitments.

So instead of creating a gulf in relations, the death of bin Laden has offered a chance to Pakistan, the US and China to work together to combat terrorism. After all, the three countries' anti-terrorism mission is still very much on.
The author is an associate professor at Peking University's School of International Studies.(Writer-South Asia)





Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Pakistan criticizes US raid on Osama bin Laden

By NAHAL TOOSI and ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan criticized the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden as an "unauthorized unilateral action," laying bare the strains the operation has put on an already rocky alliance.

U.S. legislators along with the leaders of Britain and France questioned how the Pakistani government could not have known the al-Qaida leader was living in a garrison town less than a two-hour drive from the capital and had apparently lived there for years.

"I find it hard to believe that the presence of a person or individual such as bin Laden in a large compound in a relatively small town ... could go completely unnoticed," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters in Paris.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also demanded that Pakistani leaders explain how bin Laden had lived undetected in Abbottabad. But in a nod to the complexities of dealing with a nuclear-armed, unstable country that is crucial to success in the war in Afghanistan, Cameron said having "a massive row" with Islamabad over the issue would not be in Britain's interest.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. is committed to cooperating with Pakistan.

"We don't know who if anybody in the government was aware that bin Laden or a high-value target was living in the compound. It's logical to assume he had a supporting network. What constituted that network remains to be seen," Carney said.

"It's a big country and a big government and we have to be very focused and careful about how we do this because it is an important relationship."

A day after U.S. commandos killed the al-Qaida leader following a 10-year manhunt, new details emerged Tuesday from Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency and bin Laden's neighbors in Abbottabad.

Residents said they sensed something was odd about the walled three-story house, even though bin Laden and his family rarely ventured outside and most neighbors were not aware that foreigners were living there.
"That house was obviously a suspicious one," said Jahangir Khan, who was buying a newspaper in Abbottabad. "Either it was a complete failure of our intelligence agencies or they were involved in this affair."
Neighbors said two men would routinely emerge from the compound to run errands or occasionally attend a neighborhood gathering, such as a funeral. Both"men were tall, fair skinned and bearded.

"People were skeptical in this neighborhood about this place and these guys," said Mashood Khan, a 45-year-old farmer. "They used to gossip, say they were smugglers or drug dealers. People would complain that even with such a big house they didn't invite the poor or distribute charity."

U.S. officials have suggested Pakistani officials may have known where bin Laden was living and members of Congress have seized on those suspicions to call for the U.S. to consider cutting billions of aid to Pakistan if it turns out to be true.

Western officials have long regarded Pakistani security forces with suspicion, especially when it comes to links with militants fighting in Afghanistan. Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly said she suspected that some members of Pakistan's government knew where bin Laden was hiding.

However, within Pakistan criticism has been focused on the U.S. breaching the country's sovereignty. The Obama administration has said it did not inform the Pakistanis in advance of the operation against bin Laden, for fear they would tip off the targets.

A strongly worded Pakistani government statement warned the U.S. not to launch similar operations in the future. It rejected suggestions that officials knew where bin Laden was.

Still, there were other revelations that pointed to prior knowledge that the compound was linked to al-Qaida.
Pakistani intelligence agencies hunting for a top al-Qaida operative raided the house in 2003, according to a senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the spy agency's policy.

The house was just being built at the time of the raid by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, and Abu Faraj al-Libi, al-Qaida's No. 3, was not there, said the officer.

U.S. officials have said al-Libi once lived in the house and that information from him played a role in tracking the al-Qaida chief down. Al-Libi was arrested by Pakistani police after a shootouô in 2005 and he was later handed over to U.S. authorities.

The Pakistani officer said he didn't know why bin Laden would choose a house that already had been compromised.

He also insisted the ISI would have captured bin Laden if it had known he was there, and pushed back at international criticism of the agency.

"Look at our track record given the issues we have faced, the lack of funds. We have killed or captured hundreds" of extremists), said the officer. "All of a sudden one failure makes us incompetent and 10 years of effort is overlooked."

Al-Qaida has been responsible for score of bloody attacks inside Pakistan, so on the face of it would seem strange for Islamabad to be sheltering bin Laden. Critics of Pakistan say that by keeping him on the run, Islamabad was ensuring that U.S. aid and weapons to the country kept flowing.

The Pakistani government said that since 2009 the ISI has shared information about the compound with the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies, and that intelligence indicating foreigners were in the Abbottabad area continued until mid-April.

In an essay published Tuesday by The Washington Post, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari denied suggestions his country's security forces may have sheltered bin Laden, and said their cooperation with the United States helped pinpoint him.

The raid followed months of deteriorating relations between the CIA and Pakistan's intelligence service. Those strains came to a head in late January after a CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistanis in what Washington said was self-defense.

In a statement, the Pakistani government said "this event of unauthorized unilateral action cannot be taken as a rule."

"The government of Pakistan further affirms that such an event shall not serve as a future precedent for any state, including the U.S.," it said, calling such actions a "threat to international peace and security."

The statement may be partly motivated by domestic concerns. The government and army has come under criticism following the raid by those who have accused the government of allowing Washington to violate the country's sovereignty. Islamabad has also been angered at the suspicions it had been sheltering bin Laden.
-----
Associated Press writers Chris Brummitt, Munir Ahmed and Asif Shahzad contributed to this report from Islamabad.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Ram Navmi celebrations at Barbarshah Mandir He Ram ke wajood pe Hindostan ko naaz/Ahl-e-nazar samajhtey hein usko Imam-e-Hind! : He Ram ke wajood pe Hindostan ko naaz/Ahl-e-nazar samajhtey hein usko Imam-e-Hind! Dr. Alama Iqbal, the poet of the East, has written a wonderful and ...

Srinagar, Apr 13: Ram Navmi was Tuesday celebrated with fervor and enthusiasm at Shri Ram Ji Mandir at Barbar Shah in the City while later the devotees carried out a procession which culminated at Lal Chowk.

The Hindu Welfare Society of Kashmir organized the nine daylong celebrations at the Mandir.
 “The welfare society also organized a special Puja Havan (Maha Yagiya) as mark of the birthday of Lord Shri Ram Ji. This nocturnal Puja started at 8:00 PM and continued till afternoon at 2:00 PM,” said Publicity Secretary and Spokesman of  Hindu Welfare Society Kashmir, Chuni Lal adding that the Puja was started by Kashinath of Achan Pulwama, Pandit AK Bhat and others.

Hundreds and thousands of devotees thronged the Mandir, where they recited Hindu Bhajans and prayed for peace and prosperity.
 
Later, the devotees carried out a procession. Dancing and chanting sermons, the devotees marched towards Lal Chowk, where the procession culminated.

Giving details about the celebrations Chuni Lal said: “Ram Navami is a celebration of nine days, which starts from 1st Navratra.”
 He said during the festival the devotees don’t eat any non vegetarian stuff.
 “During these days we never every eat non – vegetarian stuff like eggs, meat, fish etc,” he added.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Why America loves Israel and hates Iran





[Photo by www.sodahead.com/]
By A. Faizur Rahman 

By announcing fresh sanctions against Iran the UN Security Council has once again displayed a kind of motivated obstinacy which makes one suspect that it is not really serious about establishing peace in the region. But then the UN rarely exudes neutrality. It has always been subservient to American interests, particularly the pro-Israel US foreign policy that has kept West Asia on the boil ever since the creation of the Zionist state.

On the face of it, it may appear strange that the US-controlled Security Council should let go of the historic opportunity offered by the Turkish-Brazilian initiative to amicably resolve the Iran imbroglio. But West Asia watchers know that US response to Iran’s nuclear program cannot be seen in isolation because it is dictated by the US-Israeli relationship which again is not a mere political alliance but a symbiotic bond firmly secured by Judeo-Christian theology.

An analysis of the U.S. political scene would reveal that it is the Evangelical Right, also known as the Christian Zionists, led by extremist televangelists such as John Hagee, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who, along with the Jewish lobby, call the shots, in so far as the U.S. Middle East policy is concerned. It must, however, be said that mainstream Christianity (including the Catholic Church) does not identify itself with the fanatical beliefs of Evangelical Right such as those discussed below.

In a recent article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz titled Why Christian Zionists really support Israel Hagee wrote; “Our support for Israel starts with God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible, but it does not end there. Christian Zionists recognize that we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Jewish people. As I have stressed to my Christian audiences for years: If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there would be no Christianity.” (http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/why-christian-zionists-really-suppor...).

By “God’s promises” Hagee is actually referring to the deliberate misrepresentations of certain biblical verses. One such verse promises Prophet Abraham and his descendants the land “from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). In another one God offers to give Abraham and his “seed” after him the entire land of Canaan (Palestine) “for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). It may be noted here that according to the Old Testament the Arabs and the Jews are the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael and Isaac respectively which, hypothetically speaking, makes them the joint owners of the “promised land.”

But for obvious reasons the Zionists and their Christian supporters do not recognise Ishmael as the legitimate son of Abraham as he was born to a “slave woman” named Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah, the first wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac (Genesis 16:1-6). This divide was further aggravated by St.Paul who advised the Christians saying, “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way [Ishmael] persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit [Isaac]. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’” (Galatians 4:28-31).

It is therefore the belief of the Christians Zionists that the occupation of all Arab lands by the Jews (in fulfillment of the prophesy in Genesis 15:18), after driving out the children of the “slave woman”, is a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ and Armageddon, the biblical concept of the last battle between the Good and the Evil before the day of Judgment (Ezekiel 38-39). It is in this context that the US attitude to Iran must be seen and understood, and once again John Hagee personifies this extremist mindset. In his provocative book Jerusalem Countdown Hagee advocates a war on Iran saying; “The rise of terrorism in our world and the emerging crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Iran are part of a much bigger picture – that of God’s plan for the future of Israel and the entire world. We are going to discover we are facing a countdown in the Middle East – the Jerusalem Countdown, a battle such as the world has never seen or will ever see again.”

But what many Israelis are unaware of is that the Zionist Christians are not exactly honest in their support for their country. They have their own hidden religious agenda according to which, Jesus in his second mission will convert all the Jews to Christianity, and therefore, to hasten this process all must be done to help the Jews take over the Arab lands between Nile and Euphrates. This belief is based on a statement in Mathew 23:39 in which Jesus is quoted as saying, “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” As Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience at that time the Zionist Christians interpret this statement as having one meaning: for Jesus to make a second appearance all Jews must be converted to Christianity.

No wonder Hagee was forced to clarify in his aforementioned article that, “I am not at all surprised that many in the Jewish community are skeptical of Christian support for Israel. Some worry that our efforts are motivated by a desire to convert Jews. Others posit that our Zionism is tied to an effort to speed the second coming of Jesus. Both of these allegations are flat wrong. All we ask of our Jewish friends is that they get to know us before they judge us harshly on the basis of myths such as these.”

It is a strange paradox that, on the one hand we have the Christian Zionists supporting Israel with financial, moral and military aid in the dogmatic hope of one day converting all the Jews to Christianity, and on the other, we see the cunning Zionists - who never accepted Jesus as their Messiah - successfully manipulating the Christian Right using their own Bible to further their diabolical expansionist agenda. The ultimate victims of this unholy scheming between two Machiavellian religious groups are the innocent Palestinians who have been rendered refugees in their own homeland.

(The author is the Secretary General of Forum for the Promotion of Moderate Thought Among Muslims. He may be reached at faizz@rocketmail.com).

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Why Kashmiris observe October 27 as Black Day!

by M Raza Malik
Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the globe observe October 27 as Black Day and consider it as the blackest day in the history of Kashmir. This is the Day when India landed its army in Jammu and Kashmir, in total disregard to the Indian Independence Act and Partition Plan in 1947.

In order to change the demographic composition of the territory, Indian troops, the forces of Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh, and Hindu extremists massacred over three hundred thousand Kashmiri Muslims within a period of two months.

The Indian Independence Act and Partition Plan of 1947 had stated that the Indian British Colony would be divided into two sovereign states, India, with Hindu-majority areas, and Pakistan, with the Muslim-majority areas of Western provinces and east Bengal.

India by landing its Army in Jammu and Kashmir violated the guidelines set for deciding the future of Hyderabad, Junagarh and Kashmir, three of the independent Princely States at that time, which were given the choice to either accede to Pakistan or India, considering the geographical situation and communal demography. It forcibly occupied the Hyderabad and Junagarh, which had Hindus in majority but their rulers were Muslims. Kashmir was a Muslim-majority state and had a natural tendency to accede to Pakistan, but its Hindu ruler destroyed the future of Kashmiri people by announcing its accession to India under a controversial accession document (Instrument of Accession). Many neutral observers deny the existence of such document with the argument that had it been there Indian government had made it public either officially or at any international forum.

It is a historical fact that if the partition was done on the principles of Justice then India had no land route to enter into Jammu and Kashmir but the so-called Boundary Commission, headed by British Barrister, Cyril Radcliff, that demarcated partition line, under a conspiracy split Gurdaspur, a Muslim majority area, and handed it over to India, providing it terrestrial access to the territory.

Right from the day one, the people of Kashmir did not accept India's illegal occupation and started an armed struggle with the total support of public in 1948, which forced India to approach the UN Security Council to seek help of the World Body to settle the dispute. The UN Security Council through its successive resolutions nullified Indian invasion and occupation of Kashmir. It also approved a ceasefire, demarcation of the ceasefire line, demilitarization of the state and a free and impartial plebiscite to be conducted under the supervision of the World Body. Although the ceasefire and demarcation of the ceasefire line was implemented while demilitarization of the occupied territory and a free and impartial plebiscite under UN supervision remain unimplemented till date. As a result of the demarcation, about 139,000 square kilometers area of Jammu and Kashmir remained with India while 83,807 square kilometers constituted the territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian rulers promised before the UN to resolve the dispute and provide the people of Kashmir with their basic right of self-determination, but later backed away from their commitments. India has been putting peace, security and stability of the entire South Asia at stake by demonstrating continued rigidity and stubbornness and not responding positively to the efforts made by the international community to settle the Kashmir dispute during the last more than six decades.

Disappointed at the failure of all the efforts aimed at resolving the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the people of occupied Kashmir launched a massive uprising in 1989 to secure their right to self-determination. This movement gathered momentum with the passage of time and pushed the Indian authorities to wall, forcing them to sit around the negotiation table with Pakistan in January 2004. The talks process continued till it was hampered after Mumbai attacks on November 26, 2008, when India without any substantive evidence laid the responsibility of these attacks on Pakistan and its intelligence agencies. However, Prime Ministers of the two countries, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh after a meeting at Sharm El-Sheikh, on July 16, 2009, in a joint statement declared to resume the composite dialogue process to resolve all outstanding issues.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan demonstrated considerable flexibility in the dialogue process by floating various proposals including demilitarization, self-governance and joint-management to settle the conflict over Kashmir, but India's intransigent approach continued to remain the biggest hurdle in making successful any effort made in this regard. The ground situation in the occupied territory remains unchanged, as the confidence building measures and the dialogue process could not provide Kashmiri people respite from the Indian state terrorism.

India has exhausted all its resources and means but has not been able to deter Kashmiris from continuing their liberation struggle. It has given a free hand to its troops and police to subject peaceful protesters to brute force. Over 70 people were killed only within a period of two months in 2008 when Indian police personnel resorted to indiscriminate firing to break up demonstrators in Kashmir. The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was placed under house arrest for two months to prevent him from addressing public gatherings. Liberation leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Masarat Alam Butt and Muhammad Saleem Nunnaji have been booked under the infamous draconian law, Public Safety Act to keep them away from the people. The troops have been setting new records of human rights violations by killing innocent people, arresting youth, disgracing and harassing women and setting residential houses afire with impunity.

The troops have killed over ninety-two thousand Kashmiris, widowed more than twenty five thousand women, orphaned more than one hundred thousand children and molested or gang-raped around ten thousand Kashmiri women during the past 20 years. The whereabouts of thousands of innocent Kashmiris, disappeared in the custody of troops, are yet to be made known while hundreds of unnamed graves have been discovered in the occupied territory, which are believed to be of disappeared Kashmiris. This whole mayhem is being carried out with the protection of draconian laws, by virtue of which any person can be killed or put behind the bars without any accountability.

The All Parties Hurriyet Conference sources made a shocking revelation recently that in line with a new scheme, Indian troops were killing innocent Kashmiri youth in fake encounters in the areas near the Line of Control after arresting them from different parts of the occupied territory. According to the APHC sources through these killings India wanted to mislead the international community by propagating that Kashmiri youth were trying to enter Indian occupied Kashmir after crossing over the Line of Control.
The Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Asia Watch and other international humanitarian organizations in their regular reports over the unabated rights abuses in the occupied territory have been raising their concern. Even the European Union Parliament during its session in Strasbourg on July 10, 2008 unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the Indian Government to urgently conduct an independent and impartial probe into the issue of discovery of mass graves in the territory. It also strongly condemned unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and other human rights abuses, which have been taking place at the hands of the occupation troops in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989.

It was yet another exposition of India's callousness that the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on India's Independence Day, this year, tried to hoodwink the international community by stating that the elections in Kashmir had rendered the freedom element irrelevant. To protest this unrealistic statement Kashmiri people observed crippling strike on August 22. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi while addressing a meeting of Kashmiri leaders on September 4, 2009 in Islamabad categorically emphasized that the elections in Indian occupied Kashmir could not be a substitute of Kashmiris' right to self-determination. He reaffirmed his country's moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmir liberation movement. The mammoth anti-India protest demonstrations, participated by millions of people in Indian occupied Kashmir, last year, should be taken as Kashmiris' referendum against the Indian illegal occupation of their soil.

These are the reasons that why Kashmiris observe October 27 as Black Day. The observance is intended to send a loud and clear message to the international community to take cognizance of the miseries of Kashmiri people, help stop human rights violations in the occupied territory and play its role in bringing about a solution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with Kashmiris' aspirations. It is also aimed at calling upon India to read writing on the wall, accept the ground realities and come forward with a realistic approach to settle the dispute for the larger interest of the people of the region.

(The writer is working as Senior Editor at Kashmir Media Service, Islamabad, and can be reached at razamalik849@yahoo.com) 

Saturday, October 23, 2010

IRAN to US: It’s No Pride to Possess 5,000 Bombs!

New York, 23 October: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again stole the limelight when he warned that passing tougher UN sanctions against Iran would shut off all chances for diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States and would not prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear program. Speaking at a news conference in New York on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad added that it was “no pride” to the US to confess of possessing 5000 bombs.
 
“Experience has proven that sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad told reporters at a hotel across from UN headquarters, where a month-long nuclear treaty conference was in its second day. “While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either,” he said. “It seems to us that the structure of the Security Council is undemocratic and unjust, and is unable to bring about security. ... This Security Council will completely lose its legitimacy.”
 
Ahmadinejad called the US disclosures Monday about its previously secretive nuclear arsenal “a positive step forward,” but one that still raises questions. “It's no pride to possess 5,000 bombs,” he said. “Now, how can you have the trust of a government that announces 5,000 bombs after 60 years?”
 
Ahmadinejad argued any new sanctions would mean that US President Barack Obama had given up on his campaign to engage Iran diplomatically.
 
“We feel that the US government will be damaged, more than us, by those sanctions,” he said. “It's very clear that if the United States starts another sanctions (regime) against Iran, it means that it's the end of Mr. Obama's effort. It means Mr. Obama's submission. It means no change will occur.”
 
Concerning a possible Israeli attack, Ahmadinejad said that Israel would pay a heavy price if it attacked Lebanon or Syria which he said are capable of bringing the Zionist entity “to its knees.”
 
“Israel can't do anything against Iran … However, as far as Palestine's Gaza, Lebanon and Syria are concerned, we will fully defend them and support them,” Ahmadinejad said. “Lebanon and Syria are already capable of confronting Israel to bring it to its knees,” he added.
 
The Iranian president reminded reporters that the Zionist regime was defeated by Hezbollah alone. “It is obvious that it would face the worst defeat if” it attacked Lebanon and Syria. He called Israel a militaristic state imposed on the Middle East by the West and said it would self-destruct if it launched any new wars in the region.
 
Arab countries sought also to turn attention to Israel on Tuesday as delegates from 189 countries debated how to stem the spread of nuclear weapons. On the second day of the month-long meeting at the United Nations, Arab countries reiterated calls for a nuclear-free Middle East with criticism of Israel's unacknowledged nuclear arsenal and failure to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
 
Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh expressed frustration at the lack of progress on implementing a nuclear-free Middle East, a goal that was declared in a resolution of a previous meeting of NPT signatories. He said that Israel's failure to sign the NPT and allow international monitoring of its nuclear program "renders the NPT a source of instability in the Middle East."
 
Egypt has proposed that this 2010 NPT conference back a plan calling for the start of negotiations next year on such a Mideast zone. The proposal may become a major debating point in the month-long session.
 
However, the Israeli UN mission declined to comment on the specifics of the conference, but told The Associated Press that Israel's stance on nonproliferation continues to be that an accepted political solution for comprehensive peace in the Middle East should first be reached.
 
“WHERE IS BUSH TODAY AND WHERE ARE WE?”
 
In an interview with the Boston Globe on Tuesday Ahmadinejad urged Obama to avoid siding with more hawkish voices in the US against Iran. "He should be very careful not to get entrapped in the web laid by radicals around him," he said. "If he can't resolve the impasse with Iran, do you think he can resolve the problems with Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine?" Ahmadinejad asked, adding that sanctions "will mean the end of his opportunity to improve world affairs."
 
“Mr. Bush used to pass resolutions against us. Where did it go? Where did it take him? Where are we today and where is he today? Iran is still advancing, and he is gone,” Ahmadinejad stated.
 
Ahmadinejad also told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he and Barack Obama would have to refrain from "acting too hastily" if the two sides are to reach agreement on the impasse. "For example, the resolution presented to the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] against Iran in the presence of Mr Obama was a very negative, hasty action that had very negative repercussions in Iran," he said. He was referring to a November 2009 resolution adopted by the UN nuclear agency that criticized Iran for defying a UN Security Council ban on nuclear enrichment. The resolution also rebuked Tehran for secretly building a uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. "The resolution was not based on any legal or lawful framework but surely a politicized act ... It reduced public confidence in the negotiation process in Iran."
 
The NPT is formally reviewed every five years at a meeting of treaty members — which include all the world's nations except India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, all of which either have confirmed or are believed to have nuclear weapons.