Saturday, August 7, 2010
Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Go-India go back protests continue across Kashmir
Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Go-India go back protests continue across Kashmir: "Srinagar, 7 August: Defying curfew, thousands of people protested across the Valley for the seventh consecutive day Sturday against the k..."
Go-India go back protests continue across Kashmir
Srinagar, 7 August: Defying curfew, thousands of people protested across the Valley for the seventh consecutive day Sturday against the killing of unarmed civilians by Indian troops troops and police since last week. At least 37 people were injured in firng and teargas shell of paramilitary forces and SOG personnel..
CRPF, police opens fire in Sopore, injured seven persons. Press Bureau of India correspondent from North Kashmir said that 24-year-old Rameez Ahmad, son of Ghulam Nabi Reshi was among seven people injured when CRPF men and police opened fire upon a group of protesters at Warpora in Sopore. Rameez was hit by a bullet in head. The locals rushed him to Srinagar hospital in a critical condition.
Earlier, thousands of people, mainly youth after offering congregational Friday prayers at Eidgah Qadeem in Baramulla town took out a peaceful procession. Chanting vociferous pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, the people were protesting the killing of unarmed civilians by the CRPF troops and police since last week.
As the protesters dispersed peacefully, groups of youth geared up for pitched battles with the forces that were deployed in strength in the area. However, heavy rains aborted the plans of the youth.
Protests against the civilian killings were also held in Sheeri, Khwaja Bagh, Delina, Palhalan and other areas of the district.
CRPF troops and police were heavily deployed in Baramulla district to scuttle pro-freedom demonstrations. Carrying sophisticated weapons and riot gear, troops and police manned roads, streets, lanes and by lanes of the town to restrict the civilian movement. All the vital road links and Bridges connecting the volatile old town with rest of the district were cut off by forces by placing barricades and spools of barbed wire.
Thousands of men, women and children today staged demonstrations in various areas of North Kashmir Bandipore district to protest the killing of 37 innocent civilians by forces in the last one week.
Reports and eyewitnesses said that thousands of people after offering congregational Friday prayers defied a curfew and took out a peaceful demonstration from Arsaln Khan, Nadihla, Lawdara, Gamoora, Papchan, Bapora, Chek and the adjoining villages. Chanting we want freedom, Islam Zindabad Go India Go Backand anti-India slogans, the people led by 90-year-old Muslim scholar Peer Muhammad Afzal Fazili were protesting the killings of civilians by forces since last week.
When the protesters reached near Jamia Masjid Nusoo, CRPF and policemen, deployed in advance resorted to cane charge and burst numerous teargas canisters to disperse the peaceful procession.
The forces action sparked off violent clashes in the area. Angry youth pelted rocks and stones on the troops and police to give vent to their feelings. The pitched battles continued for some time in the area.
Protests and clashes were reported from Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Islamabad districts of South Kashmir.
Reports said groups of youth appeared on streets in Sogam area of Kokernag in Islamabad district this afternoon and staged demonstrations to protest the civilian killings. Besides shouting slogans in favor of freedom, the protesters pelted stones and rocks on the forces. Troops and police resorted to ariel firing when they failed to quell the demonstrators with tear smoke shells. At least four people, reports said were injured in the ding-dong clashes.
Veteran pro-freedom leader, Syed Ali Geelani today led a demonstration of hundreds of people in Hyderpora area of city outskirts.. The protesters later dispersed peacefully.
In Lal Bazar, hundreds of people after Friday prayers took out a peaceful procession. Shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, the protesters tried to march towards the old city of Nowhatta.
When the procession reached near Bota Kadal, CPRF and police burst several tear smoke shells and fired several shots in air to quell the procession. Protesters later clashed with the forces.
Peaceful protests were held in Harwan, Pampore, Hyderpora, Eidgah, Nowpora, Rainawari and other areas.
In Choun area of Budgam district, police and CRPF fired numerous tear smoke shells to break up the pro-freedom demonstrations that erupted after Friday prayers. At least three people were injured in the clashes between protesters and the forces.
Peaceful protests have also been reported from Chrar-e-Shareef and Chadura areas of the district. At least ten people were injured in renewed clashes between protesters and the forces in South Kashmir.
In South Kashmir said that hundreds of people took to streets in Shopian district this afternoon and staged pro-freedom and anti-India demonstrations. Chanting We want Freedom, Go India Go Back Salam-O-Martyrs,the protesters marched tried to march through the streets of Bon Bazar, Jamia Masjid and main Chowk.
However, CRPF troops and police fired numerous tear smoke shells to disperse the stone pelting youth. The protesters offered stiff resistance and engaged the forces in pitched battles. Troops and police fired rubber bullets when tear smoke shells failed to control the spiraling protests. At least six youth, reports said, were injured in the ding-dong clashes that continued till late evening. A teenager identified as Shakir Hussain was hit by a rubber bullet. However, his condition is said to be stable.
Reports said hundreds of men, women and children defied curfew and staged demonstrations. Shouting slogans, the protesters at Samboora and Lonepora pelted stones and rocks on the forces that were heavily deployed after the death of a youth last evening. CRPF and police fired several teargas canisters and resorted to cane charge to disperse the protesters. At least four people, reports said were injured in the clashes.
Meanwhile, the residents of Tral, Kakpora and Awantipora charged the forces of preventing them from offering congregational Friday prayers. The locals alleged that despite requests, the forces barred them from performing religious obligations.
In Jammu; Poonch, Kishtwar, Ramban and Baderwah districts, thousands of people Friday took to streets and staged a protest demonstration in Doda town. Press Bureau of India correspondent from Jammu said that after offering Friday prayers, thousands of people slogans took out a procession from Jamia Masjid Doda to register their protest against the civilian deaths in Kashmir by police and CRPF firing even as a complete shutdown was observed in the town. . Shouting pro-Azadi slogans like Chahte-Azadi, Jis Kashmir ko Khoon Se Seecha, Woh Kashmir Hamara Hai the protesters marched through the streets of Doda town before dispersing peacefully at the Doda Bus Stand today afternoon. (Writer-South Asia)
CRPF, police opens fire in Sopore, injured seven persons. Press Bureau of India correspondent from North Kashmir said that 24-year-old Rameez Ahmad, son of Ghulam Nabi Reshi was among seven people injured when CRPF men and police opened fire upon a group of protesters at Warpora in Sopore. Rameez was hit by a bullet in head. The locals rushed him to Srinagar hospital in a critical condition.
Earlier, thousands of people, mainly youth after offering congregational Friday prayers at Eidgah Qadeem in Baramulla town took out a peaceful procession. Chanting vociferous pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, the people were protesting the killing of unarmed civilians by the CRPF troops and police since last week.
As the protesters dispersed peacefully, groups of youth geared up for pitched battles with the forces that were deployed in strength in the area. However, heavy rains aborted the plans of the youth.
Protests against the civilian killings were also held in Sheeri, Khwaja Bagh, Delina, Palhalan and other areas of the district.
CRPF troops and police were heavily deployed in Baramulla district to scuttle pro-freedom demonstrations. Carrying sophisticated weapons and riot gear, troops and police manned roads, streets, lanes and by lanes of the town to restrict the civilian movement. All the vital road links and Bridges connecting the volatile old town with rest of the district were cut off by forces by placing barricades and spools of barbed wire.
Thousands of men, women and children today staged demonstrations in various areas of North Kashmir Bandipore district to protest the killing of 37 innocent civilians by forces in the last one week.
Reports and eyewitnesses said that thousands of people after offering congregational Friday prayers defied a curfew and took out a peaceful demonstration from Arsaln Khan, Nadihla, Lawdara, Gamoora, Papchan, Bapora, Chek and the adjoining villages. Chanting we want freedom, Islam Zindabad Go India Go Backand anti-India slogans, the people led by 90-year-old Muslim scholar Peer Muhammad Afzal Fazili were protesting the killings of civilians by forces since last week.
When the protesters reached near Jamia Masjid Nusoo, CRPF and policemen, deployed in advance resorted to cane charge and burst numerous teargas canisters to disperse the peaceful procession.
The forces action sparked off violent clashes in the area. Angry youth pelted rocks and stones on the troops and police to give vent to their feelings. The pitched battles continued for some time in the area.
Protests and clashes were reported from Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Islamabad districts of South Kashmir.
Reports said groups of youth appeared on streets in Sogam area of Kokernag in Islamabad district this afternoon and staged demonstrations to protest the civilian killings. Besides shouting slogans in favor of freedom, the protesters pelted stones and rocks on the forces. Troops and police resorted to ariel firing when they failed to quell the demonstrators with tear smoke shells. At least four people, reports said were injured in the ding-dong clashes.
Veteran pro-freedom leader, Syed Ali Geelani today led a demonstration of hundreds of people in Hyderpora area of city outskirts.. The protesters later dispersed peacefully.
In Lal Bazar, hundreds of people after Friday prayers took out a peaceful procession. Shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, the protesters tried to march towards the old city of Nowhatta.
When the procession reached near Bota Kadal, CPRF and police burst several tear smoke shells and fired several shots in air to quell the procession. Protesters later clashed with the forces.
Peaceful protests were held in Harwan, Pampore, Hyderpora, Eidgah, Nowpora, Rainawari and other areas.
In Choun area of Budgam district, police and CRPF fired numerous tear smoke shells to break up the pro-freedom demonstrations that erupted after Friday prayers. At least three people were injured in the clashes between protesters and the forces.
Peaceful protests have also been reported from Chrar-e-Shareef and Chadura areas of the district. At least ten people were injured in renewed clashes between protesters and the forces in South Kashmir.
In South Kashmir said that hundreds of people took to streets in Shopian district this afternoon and staged pro-freedom and anti-India demonstrations. Chanting We want Freedom, Go India Go Back Salam-O-Martyrs,the protesters marched tried to march through the streets of Bon Bazar, Jamia Masjid and main Chowk.
However, CRPF troops and police fired numerous tear smoke shells to disperse the stone pelting youth. The protesters offered stiff resistance and engaged the forces in pitched battles. Troops and police fired rubber bullets when tear smoke shells failed to control the spiraling protests. At least six youth, reports said, were injured in the ding-dong clashes that continued till late evening. A teenager identified as Shakir Hussain was hit by a rubber bullet. However, his condition is said to be stable.
Reports said hundreds of men, women and children defied curfew and staged demonstrations. Shouting slogans, the protesters at Samboora and Lonepora pelted stones and rocks on the forces that were heavily deployed after the death of a youth last evening. CRPF and police fired several teargas canisters and resorted to cane charge to disperse the protesters. At least four people, reports said were injured in the clashes.
Meanwhile, the residents of Tral, Kakpora and Awantipora charged the forces of preventing them from offering congregational Friday prayers. The locals alleged that despite requests, the forces barred them from performing religious obligations.
In Jammu; Poonch, Kishtwar, Ramban and Baderwah districts, thousands of people Friday took to streets and staged a protest demonstration in Doda town. Press Bureau of India correspondent from Jammu said that after offering Friday prayers, thousands of people slogans took out a procession from Jamia Masjid Doda to register their protest against the civilian deaths in Kashmir by police and CRPF firing even as a complete shutdown was observed in the town. . Shouting pro-Azadi slogans like Chahte-Azadi, Jis Kashmir ko Khoon Se Seecha, Woh Kashmir Hamara Hai the protesters marched through the streets of Doda town before dispersing peacefully at the Doda Bus Stand today afternoon. (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
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
Feedback
My Question: Do you think Lone Sajaad is more powerfull than Gilani ?
Write your feedback:-
Writer-South Asia
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by Tanveer Habib: I
am sorry to say that both are strong enough to be compared with each
othjer. While Sajjad is young and dynamic Geelani sahab is more
determined unchanging and sound. Both are needed by the people of
Kashmir very much. last night on CNN-IBN Sajjad sahab himself said that
it was below his dignity to speak against Geelani sahab, so why create a
divide? I was really angry with Sajjad sahab for being in the fray for
elections carried out by India but now i realise he is an asset and we
need him. I would like him to unite with Geelani sahab as soon as
possible. We need him.
Tanveer Habib, Srinagar
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Inside the White House: Letters to the President
Every day, President Obama reads ten letters from the public in order to stay in tune with world's issues and concerns. "Letters to the President" is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the process of how those ten letters make it to the President's desk from among the tens of thousands of letters, faxes, and e-mails that flood the White House each day.
You can also call or write to the President:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please include your e-mail address
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
e-mail address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please include your e-mail address
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
e-mail address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
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.
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.
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.
Why the US and India Demonize Pakistan's ISI
By Sheikh Gulzaar
 |
| Org. Logo of ISI |
Srinagar, August 5: Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence agency, or ISI as it is popularly known, is seen as their nemesis by those who have tried to undermine the security interests of the country one way or the other. It is no wonder then that in past few years the Americans unleashed a strong ISI-bashing campaign, with India following suit.
The Americans made no bones about their dislike for this agency, blaming it for working against their interests in Afghanistan. The Indians also see an ISI agent behind every rock in Kashmir and in Afghanistan where they are trying to dig their heels. They do not hesitate to pin on ISI the blame for the freedom struggle in Kashmir or for acts of terrorism by Indian extremists. Until recently the Karzai government dominated by the anti-Pakistan Northern Alliance also remained hostile to ISI.
Not too long ago, under intense American pressure the weak Zardari government made an unsuccessful attempt at neutralizing and subduing this agency in disregard to the existing sensitive regional security environment, by moving it out of the army control and placing it under the controversial and embattled Zardari loyalist interior minister - Rehman Malik. This did not succeed for a simple reason. The role of ISI as the eyes and ears of the Pakistan’s military - the bedrock of country’s security, is critical particularly at a time when the country faces multiple threats to its security.
Washington's darling in the Afghan-Soviet war
Ironically, this is the same ISI that was Washington’s darling during the 1980s when it was master minding the jihad against invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The role that ISI then played was congruent with American interests. The defeat of the Soviet Union would have meant realization of an American dream - avenging the humiliation of Vietnam. They held ISI in high esteem for its competence and professionalism and gladly funneled arms and funds to the Afghan mujahedeen through it. The ISI strategized the resistance and organized and trained the mujahedeen fighters, working in close collaboration with the CIA and the mujahedeen leaders, forcing the Soviets to retreat.
But as soon as the Americans had negotiated a quid pro quo - Russian withdrawal from South America in exchange for safe Soviet exit from Afghanistan, they disappeared in the middle of the night leaving Afghanistan in a quandary. The political turmoil that followed created chaos and instability owing to the failure of mujahedeen leadership, presenting as a result a security nightmare for Pakistan.
Taliban-US-Pakistan relations and the Indian Threat
In this chaos a group of young Afghan religious students, many of them former fighters from the resistance, calling themselves Taliban (in Pushto language Taliban means students), swept through the country with popular support to establish their rule. Interested to keep their presence alive, the Americans maintained contacts and supported them, ignoring their orthodox beliefs, their harsh rule and even the presence of Al Qaeda in their midst. This continued until it was time for the Americans to overthrow their government in order to serve the changing American interests.
While the Taliban government was in control, Pakistan too maintained friendly relations with them in the interest of keeping its western border secure, extending whatever support it could. The ISI played a role through the contacts it had developed during war against the Soviets.
In the wake of 9/11 things began to change. Having invaded Afghanistan in the name of war on terror, branding Taliban as brutes and their resistance as terrorism, the Americans wanted the Pakistan army and the ISI to join the war.
This posed a serious security concern for Pakistan. It could destabilize the Pak-Afghan border and strain relations with the Pashtun tribes on both sides of the Durand Line, the British drawn boundary that cut through the Pashtun region to divide British India and Afghanistan and which Pakistan had inherited. The fact that Pakistan’s border region, called Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is autonomous where the writ of the Pakistan Government does not prevail made matters more complex.
Pakistan’s military doctrine is based primarily on meeting the main threat from India on its eastern border while maintaining a peaceful border with Afghanistan in the west. A direct conflict with the Taliban would have forced Pakistan to divert its military assets from eastern to the western front, thus thinning out its defenses against India. This was the last thing Pakistan wanted to do because of its unfavorable ratio of 1:4 against India in terms of conventional forces. Understandably, President Musharraf was unwilling to do the American bidding.
U.S. projection of its military failures onto Pakistan
There always is a problem with powers that begin to act in imperialistic fashion. Their vision of the world becomes colored. They tend to believe that pursuit of their imperialist designs takes precedence over the national interests of those who cannot stand up to them, even if that means compromising their own national and security interests. America had also been behaving as one such imperial power and treated its smaller allies more like colonies. President Musharraf was threatened that in case of noncompliance with America’s wishes, “Pakistan would be bombed into the stone-age”. Musharraf was coerced into conceding to American demands.
Despite the state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and military hardware, the US and NATO forces failed to stop the Taliban fighters from moving back and forth into the unmarked Pak-Afghan border that passes through a treacherous mountainous region to regroup and strike on the invading foreign troops. The American commanders reacted by demanding that the Pakistan army engage these fighters and seal the border. Those with even the slightest knowledge of the area would know that the Americans were asking for the moon. This was physically impossible.
Pakistan army’s operations failed. In the process it earned a severe backlash from the local tribes who resented army’s action against their kinsmen from across the border who sought refuge in their area, as it violated the old tribal custom of providing sanctuary to any one who asked for it, even it was an enemy. The Pakistan army paid a heavy price. More soldiers died in this action than the combined number of casualties that the US and NATO troops have suffered in Afghanistan so far.
President Musharraf under advice of his army commanders and the intelligence community called off the action and resorted to persuasion instead. Through jirgas (assembly of tribal elders) effort was made for the tribesmen to voluntarily stop the influx of Taliban fighters. It didn’t succeed either. This was not to the liking of the American commanders. They blamed the ISI for working against their interests.
Washington accuses the ISI of complicity with insurgents
Washington and the American media frequently alleged that elements within ISI were maintaining contacts with the Taliban and attributed the failure of American troops in combating the Taliban to these contacts. Such allegations were also found to be part of the raw, unverified and even fabricated field reports ‘leaked’ in Afghanistan recently and splashed in the western media. The Americans have in the past also described the ISI to be out of control and demanded of the Pakistan government to purge the agency of Taliban sympathizers.
This is ridiculous. Firstly, ISI is a military organization operating under strict organizational control and discipline where officers are rotated in the normal course. It functions according to a defined mandate, unlike armed forces in some other countries and unlike the CIA which is known to be an invisible government on its own. Above all, Pakistan and its military are committed to weeding out religious extremism as a matter of state policy.
Secondly, if the American troops are so incapable of overcoming a rag tag army of Taliban and if the complicity of ISI with the Taliban can be instrumental in changing the course of the American war, then it is a sad day for America as a super power and the strength of NATO forces becomes questionable.
Thirdly, in the world of intelligence, contacts are kept even with the enemy and at all times. CIA keeps contacts within Russia and other hostile countries. Israel, the great American ally, spies on America itself. It is common for all intelligence agencies to do this in the security interests of their countries. Why then should America expect an exception to be made in case of ISI? Why should contacts that ISI developed with the mujahedeen and the Taliban earlier, and which if it does still maintain, become a source of such great concern for the American administration?
Demanding that the ISI subordinate Pakistan security to U.S. interests.
It is strange that America expects ISI to serve the American agenda instead of Pakistan’s interests first. One cannot forget that the Americans have a long history of abandonment of friends and allies and when they repeat this in Afghanistan citing their own national interest, despite their promises to the contrary, why should Pakistan be expected to be caught with pants down? Why Pakistan’s military and the intelligence agency should be expected to abdicate their duty and not do what is necessary to ensure Pakistan’s security in the long term?
It has often been argued that America expects Pakistan to be actively engaged in the Afghan war in return for the military assistance it provides. The answer is quite simple. The American establishment is doing all that needs to be done in support of its own war and not for the love of Pakistan. The war is theirs, not Pakistan’s. Pakistan should do and is doing what is necessary and feasible, without jeopardizing its own security.
As for the assistance, bulk of the $10 billion that America gave in the past and was branded as “aid” was in fact the reimbursement of expenses that Pakistan had already incurred in supporting the war effort. The rest was to meet Pakistan’s needs for operations in the border areas and for fighting terrorism that arose out of the war. The Americans still owe $35 billion to reimburse the losses Pakistan has incurred due to this war. As for the F16s that Pakistan is getting from the US, it pays for them, despite strict restrictions over their usage.
The Indian-Israeli attempt to destabilize Pakistan
While Americans had their issues with ISI, the Indians and Israelis began having their own. The agency exposed the growing Indian and Israeli confluence in Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan. This happened right under the nose of the Americans and obviously not without their knowledge and consent. India having deployed its troops in the name of infra-structure development in league with Karzai government and with American funding and having established seven consulates along the sparsely populated Pak-Afghan border was engaged in heavily bribing the influential but ignorant and susceptible tribal leaders to spread disaffection among the local tribesmen against Pakistan.
Evidence was also unearthed by ISI about how the Indians bought the loyalties of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a grouping of Pakistani tribesmen from FATA and Uzbek fighters from previous wars who settled in the region. The TTP were influenced by the same orthodox religious beliefs as the Taliban in Afghanistan and were active in propagating them in their own areas. They were recruited to launch terror activities in the urban centers of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad, and were funded, trained and equipped in Afghanistan jointly by the Indian, Israeli and Afghan intelligence agencies. A group from amongst them managed to gain control of Swat area adjoining FATA through coercion of the local population, which was later cleared by the Pakistan army after a major surgical intervention.
The ISI also laid bare strong physical evidence of Indian involvement in supporting insurgency in Balochistan by way of funding, training and equipping misguided and disgruntled Baloch elements grouped under various names including the Balochistan Liberation Army that was led by the fugitive grandson of the notable Bugti tribal chief – Akbar Bugti. His comings and goings in the Indian consulate at Kandahar and the Indian intelligence HQ in Delhi were photographed and his communications intercepted. Numerous training camps in the wilderness of Balochistan were detected where Indian trainers imparted training in guerilla warfare and the use of sophisticated weapons, which otherwise could not be available to the Baloch tribesmen. Flow of huge funds from Afghan border areas to the insurgents was detected that was traced back to the Indian consulates.
Summary and conclusion
The objective of the TTP, and behind the scene that of the Indians and the Israelis, was to make the world believe that Pakistan was under threat of capitulating to terrorist and insurgent elements who were about to take control of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. Their goal: to denuclearize Pakistan through foreign intervention.
These efforts have not succeeded. Undoubtedly, the army and the ISI played a crucial role in foiling the plots of subversion in Balochistan and the Pashtun region and exposing the foreign hands involved, including those of CIA, RAW, Mossad, RAMA, NATO and MI6. Terrorism may not yet be eliminated but Pakistan faces no existential threat.
It should be no surprise to the Americans, Indians and the Israelis if they find in ISI an adversary to reckon with. It is also not surprising that the ISI is in their perception, a rogue organization, for it has stood between them and Pakistan’s national security interests. Their frustration and ire, therefore, is understandable.(Writer-South Asia)
The Americans made no bones about their dislike for this agency, blaming it for working against their interests in Afghanistan. The Indians also see an ISI agent behind every rock in Kashmir and in Afghanistan where they are trying to dig their heels. They do not hesitate to pin on ISI the blame for the freedom struggle in Kashmir or for acts of terrorism by Indian extremists. Until recently the Karzai government dominated by the anti-Pakistan Northern Alliance also remained hostile to ISI.
Not too long ago, under intense American pressure the weak Zardari government made an unsuccessful attempt at neutralizing and subduing this agency in disregard to the existing sensitive regional security environment, by moving it out of the army control and placing it under the controversial and embattled Zardari loyalist interior minister - Rehman Malik. This did not succeed for a simple reason. The role of ISI as the eyes and ears of the Pakistan’s military - the bedrock of country’s security, is critical particularly at a time when the country faces multiple threats to its security.
Washington's darling in the Afghan-Soviet war
Ironically, this is the same ISI that was Washington’s darling during the 1980s when it was master minding the jihad against invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The role that ISI then played was congruent with American interests. The defeat of the Soviet Union would have meant realization of an American dream - avenging the humiliation of Vietnam. They held ISI in high esteem for its competence and professionalism and gladly funneled arms and funds to the Afghan mujahedeen through it. The ISI strategized the resistance and organized and trained the mujahedeen fighters, working in close collaboration with the CIA and the mujahedeen leaders, forcing the Soviets to retreat.
But as soon as the Americans had negotiated a quid pro quo - Russian withdrawal from South America in exchange for safe Soviet exit from Afghanistan, they disappeared in the middle of the night leaving Afghanistan in a quandary. The political turmoil that followed created chaos and instability owing to the failure of mujahedeen leadership, presenting as a result a security nightmare for Pakistan.
Taliban-US-Pakistan relations and the Indian Threat
In this chaos a group of young Afghan religious students, many of them former fighters from the resistance, calling themselves Taliban (in Pushto language Taliban means students), swept through the country with popular support to establish their rule. Interested to keep their presence alive, the Americans maintained contacts and supported them, ignoring their orthodox beliefs, their harsh rule and even the presence of Al Qaeda in their midst. This continued until it was time for the Americans to overthrow their government in order to serve the changing American interests.
While the Taliban government was in control, Pakistan too maintained friendly relations with them in the interest of keeping its western border secure, extending whatever support it could. The ISI played a role through the contacts it had developed during war against the Soviets.
In the wake of 9/11 things began to change. Having invaded Afghanistan in the name of war on terror, branding Taliban as brutes and their resistance as terrorism, the Americans wanted the Pakistan army and the ISI to join the war.
This posed a serious security concern for Pakistan. It could destabilize the Pak-Afghan border and strain relations with the Pashtun tribes on both sides of the Durand Line, the British drawn boundary that cut through the Pashtun region to divide British India and Afghanistan and which Pakistan had inherited. The fact that Pakistan’s border region, called Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is autonomous where the writ of the Pakistan Government does not prevail made matters more complex.
Pakistan’s military doctrine is based primarily on meeting the main threat from India on its eastern border while maintaining a peaceful border with Afghanistan in the west. A direct conflict with the Taliban would have forced Pakistan to divert its military assets from eastern to the western front, thus thinning out its defenses against India. This was the last thing Pakistan wanted to do because of its unfavorable ratio of 1:4 against India in terms of conventional forces. Understandably, President Musharraf was unwilling to do the American bidding.
U.S. projection of its military failures onto Pakistan
There always is a problem with powers that begin to act in imperialistic fashion. Their vision of the world becomes colored. They tend to believe that pursuit of their imperialist designs takes precedence over the national interests of those who cannot stand up to them, even if that means compromising their own national and security interests. America had also been behaving as one such imperial power and treated its smaller allies more like colonies. President Musharraf was threatened that in case of noncompliance with America’s wishes, “Pakistan would be bombed into the stone-age”. Musharraf was coerced into conceding to American demands.
Despite the state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and military hardware, the US and NATO forces failed to stop the Taliban fighters from moving back and forth into the unmarked Pak-Afghan border that passes through a treacherous mountainous region to regroup and strike on the invading foreign troops. The American commanders reacted by demanding that the Pakistan army engage these fighters and seal the border. Those with even the slightest knowledge of the area would know that the Americans were asking for the moon. This was physically impossible.
Pakistan army’s operations failed. In the process it earned a severe backlash from the local tribes who resented army’s action against their kinsmen from across the border who sought refuge in their area, as it violated the old tribal custom of providing sanctuary to any one who asked for it, even it was an enemy. The Pakistan army paid a heavy price. More soldiers died in this action than the combined number of casualties that the US and NATO troops have suffered in Afghanistan so far.
President Musharraf under advice of his army commanders and the intelligence community called off the action and resorted to persuasion instead. Through jirgas (assembly of tribal elders) effort was made for the tribesmen to voluntarily stop the influx of Taliban fighters. It didn’t succeed either. This was not to the liking of the American commanders. They blamed the ISI for working against their interests.
Washington accuses the ISI of complicity with insurgents
Washington and the American media frequently alleged that elements within ISI were maintaining contacts with the Taliban and attributed the failure of American troops in combating the Taliban to these contacts. Such allegations were also found to be part of the raw, unverified and even fabricated field reports ‘leaked’ in Afghanistan recently and splashed in the western media. The Americans have in the past also described the ISI to be out of control and demanded of the Pakistan government to purge the agency of Taliban sympathizers.
This is ridiculous. Firstly, ISI is a military organization operating under strict organizational control and discipline where officers are rotated in the normal course. It functions according to a defined mandate, unlike armed forces in some other countries and unlike the CIA which is known to be an invisible government on its own. Above all, Pakistan and its military are committed to weeding out religious extremism as a matter of state policy.
Secondly, if the American troops are so incapable of overcoming a rag tag army of Taliban and if the complicity of ISI with the Taliban can be instrumental in changing the course of the American war, then it is a sad day for America as a super power and the strength of NATO forces becomes questionable.
Thirdly, in the world of intelligence, contacts are kept even with the enemy and at all times. CIA keeps contacts within Russia and other hostile countries. Israel, the great American ally, spies on America itself. It is common for all intelligence agencies to do this in the security interests of their countries. Why then should America expect an exception to be made in case of ISI? Why should contacts that ISI developed with the mujahedeen and the Taliban earlier, and which if it does still maintain, become a source of such great concern for the American administration?
Demanding that the ISI subordinate Pakistan security to U.S. interests.
It is strange that America expects ISI to serve the American agenda instead of Pakistan’s interests first. One cannot forget that the Americans have a long history of abandonment of friends and allies and when they repeat this in Afghanistan citing their own national interest, despite their promises to the contrary, why should Pakistan be expected to be caught with pants down? Why Pakistan’s military and the intelligence agency should be expected to abdicate their duty and not do what is necessary to ensure Pakistan’s security in the long term?
It has often been argued that America expects Pakistan to be actively engaged in the Afghan war in return for the military assistance it provides. The answer is quite simple. The American establishment is doing all that needs to be done in support of its own war and not for the love of Pakistan. The war is theirs, not Pakistan’s. Pakistan should do and is doing what is necessary and feasible, without jeopardizing its own security.
As for the assistance, bulk of the $10 billion that America gave in the past and was branded as “aid” was in fact the reimbursement of expenses that Pakistan had already incurred in supporting the war effort. The rest was to meet Pakistan’s needs for operations in the border areas and for fighting terrorism that arose out of the war. The Americans still owe $35 billion to reimburse the losses Pakistan has incurred due to this war. As for the F16s that Pakistan is getting from the US, it pays for them, despite strict restrictions over their usage.
The Indian-Israeli attempt to destabilize Pakistan
While Americans had their issues with ISI, the Indians and Israelis began having their own. The agency exposed the growing Indian and Israeli confluence in Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan. This happened right under the nose of the Americans and obviously not without their knowledge and consent. India having deployed its troops in the name of infra-structure development in league with Karzai government and with American funding and having established seven consulates along the sparsely populated Pak-Afghan border was engaged in heavily bribing the influential but ignorant and susceptible tribal leaders to spread disaffection among the local tribesmen against Pakistan.
Evidence was also unearthed by ISI about how the Indians bought the loyalties of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a grouping of Pakistani tribesmen from FATA and Uzbek fighters from previous wars who settled in the region. The TTP were influenced by the same orthodox religious beliefs as the Taliban in Afghanistan and were active in propagating them in their own areas. They were recruited to launch terror activities in the urban centers of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad, and were funded, trained and equipped in Afghanistan jointly by the Indian, Israeli and Afghan intelligence agencies. A group from amongst them managed to gain control of Swat area adjoining FATA through coercion of the local population, which was later cleared by the Pakistan army after a major surgical intervention.
The ISI also laid bare strong physical evidence of Indian involvement in supporting insurgency in Balochistan by way of funding, training and equipping misguided and disgruntled Baloch elements grouped under various names including the Balochistan Liberation Army that was led by the fugitive grandson of the notable Bugti tribal chief – Akbar Bugti. His comings and goings in the Indian consulate at Kandahar and the Indian intelligence HQ in Delhi were photographed and his communications intercepted. Numerous training camps in the wilderness of Balochistan were detected where Indian trainers imparted training in guerilla warfare and the use of sophisticated weapons, which otherwise could not be available to the Baloch tribesmen. Flow of huge funds from Afghan border areas to the insurgents was detected that was traced back to the Indian consulates.
Summary and conclusion
The objective of the TTP, and behind the scene that of the Indians and the Israelis, was to make the world believe that Pakistan was under threat of capitulating to terrorist and insurgent elements who were about to take control of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. Their goal: to denuclearize Pakistan through foreign intervention.
These efforts have not succeeded. Undoubtedly, the army and the ISI played a crucial role in foiling the plots of subversion in Balochistan and the Pashtun region and exposing the foreign hands involved, including those of CIA, RAW, Mossad, RAMA, NATO and MI6. Terrorism may not yet be eliminated but Pakistan faces no existential threat.
It should be no surprise to the Americans, Indians and the Israelis if they find in ISI an adversary to reckon with. It is also not surprising that the ISI is in their perception, a rogue organization, for it has stood between them and Pakistan’s national security interests. Their frustration and ire, therefore, is understandable.(Writer-South Asia)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Over 100,000 people. One show of outrage. No violence in Pampore Today
By Johan Simith
Srinagar, August 04: One more youth, who was critically injured on Friday last in firing by security forces in the Chanpora locality of Srinagar , succumbed to injuries in the hospital even as mobs continued to defy curfew restrictions in the Jammu and Kashmir capital.
Iqbal Ahmad Khan (18) had received a critical bullet injury on his head during protests in Chanpora and had been admitted to the Soura Medical Institute where after an operation on Friday he had been put on the life support system.
Khan's injury had triggered protests and violence across the Valley on Friday in which so far 28 persons, mostly youth, have been killed and 180 others, including police and paramilitary personnel, wounded.
Since early Wednesday morning, loudspeaker-fitted police jeeps were making rounds in various parts of the city warning residents to stay indoors and not to violate the round-the-clock curfew, which is in force without a break since Friday.
However, mobs defied curfew restrictions in some parts of Srinagar and staged protests against the recent alleged human rights violations.
Thousands of people marched to south Kashmir's Khrew town where a peaceful rally was held in the afternoon.
Shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, people, using all modes of transport available, reached the town where seven persons, including a 17-year-old girl, were killed in Pampore on Sunday.The youngster clambered up a telecommunication tower and hoisted a green flag as onlookers shouted pro-Pakistan slogans during a protest in Pampore on today.
About 8 km south of Srinagar, the road seems to end. Hundreds of trucks, cars and motorbikes block the path. The men shout "azadi" and "Allah-u-Akbar" (God is great) in collective frenzy, Sheikh Aziz Teray Khoon Say Inqlaab Aachuka. They are all heading to Khrewa-Pampore, about 15 km from Srinagar, for the martyars memorial service.
There's no way you can proceed on the highway; so we take a detour through a dirty makeshift road past the stone quarries, the brick kilns and the shanty tenements of the Bihari labourers. There's Jhelum on one side with thick groves lining the embankment; the other side is lush with paddy fields. On the side, women sing songs saluting the 'martyrs' and kids offer free soft drinks to protestors.
But it's only when one steps into Pampore, famous for its saffron fields, that the real magnitude of the gathering becomes evident. It looks like most of Kashmir has turned up. The political mobilisation seems to have worked. Crowd estimates are always dicey — but some estimate the Pampore gathering at perhaps 1 lac. There's a sea of heads on the streets, rooftops, lanes, walls, even on telephone towers.
Over 100,000 people. One show of outrage. No violence. But there was something that hadn’t been there for a long time: pro-Pakistan slogans, Pro-Sheikh Aziz slogans.Such protest pictures should tell anyone with an unbiased opinion, that support (even military) for the people of Kashmir is not terrorism, but occupation by Indian troops, is terrorism.
Srinagar, August 04: One more youth, who was critically injured on Friday last in firing by security forces in the Chanpora locality of Srinagar , succumbed to injuries in the hospital even as mobs continued to defy curfew restrictions in the Jammu and Kashmir capital.
Iqbal Ahmad Khan (18) had received a critical bullet injury on his head during protests in Chanpora and had been admitted to the Soura Medical Institute where after an operation on Friday he had been put on the life support system.
Khan's injury had triggered protests and violence across the Valley on Friday in which so far 28 persons, mostly youth, have been killed and 180 others, including police and paramilitary personnel, wounded.
Since early Wednesday morning, loudspeaker-fitted police jeeps were making rounds in various parts of the city warning residents to stay indoors and not to violate the round-the-clock curfew, which is in force without a break since Friday.
However, mobs defied curfew restrictions in some parts of Srinagar and staged protests against the recent alleged human rights violations.
Thousands of people marched to south Kashmir's Khrew town where a peaceful rally was held in the afternoon.
Shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, people, using all modes of transport available, reached the town where seven persons, including a 17-year-old girl, were killed in Pampore on Sunday.The youngster clambered up a telecommunication tower and hoisted a green flag as onlookers shouted pro-Pakistan slogans during a protest in Pampore on today.
About 8 km south of Srinagar, the road seems to end. Hundreds of trucks, cars and motorbikes block the path. The men shout "azadi" and "Allah-u-Akbar" (God is great) in collective frenzy, Sheikh Aziz Teray Khoon Say Inqlaab Aachuka. They are all heading to Khrewa-Pampore, about 15 km from Srinagar, for the martyars memorial service.
There's no way you can proceed on the highway; so we take a detour through a dirty makeshift road past the stone quarries, the brick kilns and the shanty tenements of the Bihari labourers. There's Jhelum on one side with thick groves lining the embankment; the other side is lush with paddy fields. On the side, women sing songs saluting the 'martyrs' and kids offer free soft drinks to protestors.
But it's only when one steps into Pampore, famous for its saffron fields, that the real magnitude of the gathering becomes evident. It looks like most of Kashmir has turned up. The political mobilisation seems to have worked. Crowd estimates are always dicey — but some estimate the Pampore gathering at perhaps 1 lac. There's a sea of heads on the streets, rooftops, lanes, walls, even on telephone towers.
Over 100,000 people. One show of outrage. No violence. But there was something that hadn’t been there for a long time: pro-Pakistan slogans, Pro-Sheikh Aziz slogans.Such protest pictures should tell anyone with an unbiased opinion, that support (even military) for the people of Kashmir is not terrorism, but occupation by Indian troops, is terrorism.
“More than love for Pakistan, it is anger against India that makes people raise pro-Pakistan slogans,” explains Sheikh GULZAAR, editor of the Writer-South Asia. “Pro-Pakistani slogans are mostly raised near CRPF and army bunkers and positions. That reveals the state of mind of the slogan shouters”. (Writer-South Asia)
Medicinal values of Ginkgo biloba
 |
| Ginkgo Seed |
Srinagar, August 4: This refers to Ginkgo which is in the worldwide news. Ginkgo biloba is one of the oldest living tree species and its leaves are among the most extensively studied botanicals in use today. In Europe and the United States, Ginkgo supplements are among the best-selling herbal medications. It consistently ranks as a top medicine prescribed in France and Germany.
Ginkgo has been used in traditional medicine to treat circulatory disorders and enhance memory. Scientific studies throughout the years have found evidence to support these uses. Although not all studies agree, ginkgo may be especially effective in treating dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) and intermittent claudication (poor circulation in the legs). It also shows promise for enhancing memory in older adults. Laboratory studies have shown that ginkgo improves blood circulation by dilating blood vessels and reducing the stickiness of blood platelets. It is our prestige to have Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre-JKMPIC introduces 500 Ginkgo biloba plants . Now both its male and female plants have been cultivated. As this plant is in high demand throughout world, we can cultivate it on large scale and can make the name of your sate not only in India but all over the world.
More details about Plants, Seeds at:
http://chenabindustries.blogspot.com
Ginkgo has been used in traditional medicine to treat circulatory disorders and enhance memory. Scientific studies throughout the years have found evidence to support these uses. Although not all studies agree, ginkgo may be especially effective in treating dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) and intermittent claudication (poor circulation in the legs). It also shows promise for enhancing memory in older adults. Laboratory studies have shown that ginkgo improves blood circulation by dilating blood vessels and reducing the stickiness of blood platelets. It is our prestige to have Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre-JKMPIC introduces 500 Ginkgo biloba plants . Now both its male and female plants have been cultivated. As this plant is in high demand throughout world, we can cultivate it on large scale and can make the name of your sate not only in India but all over the world.
More details about Plants, Seeds at:
http://chenabindustries.blogspot.com
Kashmiris being detained for 'anti-national' posts on Facebook"
By: Sheikh Gulzaar /Johan Simith
Srinagar, 4 August :Protests continue in Srinagar, Kashmir, India - 28 Jul 2010 Indian police walk past burning tyres used as a barricade by Kashmiri Muslims during an anti-India protest.
Kashmiris may have become the unintended victims of David Cameron's verbal attack on Pakistan, which has encouraged the hardline Indian establishment to continue to brutalise Kashmiris in the Kashmir Valley, an open-air prison camp much like Gaza.
As a salesman determined to shift as much deadly weaponry as he could, including Hawk fighter bombers, it was not surprising that Cameron chose to ignore the suffering in Kashmir. By blaming Pakistan, Cameron not only fed India's national paranoia about Pakistan, but also shifted the focus away from Kashmir and the increasing death rate of its civilian population, which otherwise might have received some media attention.
Since May this year, when the fresh wave of protests started, nearly 50 Kashmiris have been killed, many of them teenagers. Hundreds of civilians have also been injured, which has created perpetual chaos in Kashmiri hospitals as medical supplies dwindle under prolonged curfew and an embargo on goods. Since Friday, more than two dozen people have been killed, including an eight-year-old boy Sameer Ahmed Rah, who was allegedly beaten by police. In another incident, a teenage girl, Afroza, was killed when police fired on protesters at Khrew, on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of the disputed region. At least 25 people were wounded, two of them critically, when troops resorted to indiscriminate firing and tear gas shelling in Naaman village in South Kashmir. Nearly 100 miles away, in Baramulla, Indian troops fired at another group of protesters, injuring two more youths.
During the fresh wave of protests, India has adopted an uncompromisingly militant posture towards Kashmiri civilians protesting against human rights abuses. In June, Indian home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram linked stone-throwing Kashmiri youths to members of the dreaded terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a charge that was termed as an insult by pro-Indian Kashmiri leader Mufti Sayeed, former Indian home minister and former chief minister of Kashmir. This charge of linking Kashmiri protesters to terror groups in Pakistan was seen by many Kashmiris as an Indian excuse for the continuing murder of Kashmiris.
The new Indian approach denies the civilian status of its Kashmiri victims. Earlier in June, India's home secretary, Gopal Krishna Pillai, questioned press reports that described murdered Kashmiris as innocent civilians. Responding to a particular incident in which Indian paramilitary forces were said to have killed three civilians, he said: "There is a misnomer that civilians are getting killed. They are attacking police pickets. They are unruly mobs attacking CRPF pickets. They [forces] have shown considerable restraint and killed just one person".
The latest response from the Indian Kashmiri chief minister to the growing unrest has been demand for more troops. This is ironic given the fact that Kashmir is one of the most militarised places on Earth. Although the real number of Indian troops in Kashmir is unknown, some reports suggest that the number of Indian forces in the region is 250,000.
The absence of any criticism of the growing repression has emboldened the Indian government to target the Kashmiri population with greater ferocity. When the doctors of the Government Medical College, Srinagar recently protested against growing human rights abuses, the government registered cases against them for rioting and disobedience. Earlier, many leading lawyers and human rights advocates including Mian Abdul Qayoom, president of Kashmir Bar Association, which is the main lawyers' forum, was arrested under the draconian Public Safety Act, which allows incarceration for two years without charge.
This law, along with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, that gives licence to Indian forces to kill with impunity, have been used to murder or silence thousands of Kashmiris for more than two decades. In an increasingly brutal response, the police even seized trucks of relief goods such as food and vegetables for the inhabitants of Srinagar, a city that has been under curfew for weeks at a time.
The continued focus on al-Qaida in Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan have cast a shadow over the suffering of Kashmiris, which is hardly reported in the international media. In order to contain and control unrest, the government has adopted a heavy handed approach against local journalists, stopping them from reporting the true extent of the suffering inflicted. Kashmiri journalists have been threatened, beaten up and gagged, as the paramilitary forces have refused to honour their curfew passes. In some instances, the government has refused to issue them passes at all.
As a result, many Kashmiri newspapers have had to suspend publication several times, confining them to online versions only. This has compelled a new generation of Kashmiris to articulate their frustration through social networking sites and YouTube in order to make known the torment of Kashmir. Determined to stifle any criticism, the government has now launched a new cyber war. According to the Indian news magazine Outlook India, "there are reports of Kashmiris being detained for 'anti-national' posts on Facebook".
David Cameron's statement blaming Pakistan has been seen as a vindication of a long-held Indian accusation that any unrest in Kashmir is a consequence of cross-border terrorism. As a new generation of Kashmiris take on Indian might with a few stones and their defenceless bodies, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head of the pro-Independence Kashmiri alliance, said despairingly: "First they [the Indians] said the guns came from Pakistan. Will they now say that stones come from Pakistan, too?" (Writer-South Asia)
Srinagar, 4 August :Protests continue in Srinagar, Kashmir, India - 28 Jul 2010 Indian police walk past burning tyres used as a barricade by Kashmiri Muslims during an anti-India protest.
Kashmiris may have become the unintended victims of David Cameron's verbal attack on Pakistan, which has encouraged the hardline Indian establishment to continue to brutalise Kashmiris in the Kashmir Valley, an open-air prison camp much like Gaza.
As a salesman determined to shift as much deadly weaponry as he could, including Hawk fighter bombers, it was not surprising that Cameron chose to ignore the suffering in Kashmir. By blaming Pakistan, Cameron not only fed India's national paranoia about Pakistan, but also shifted the focus away from Kashmir and the increasing death rate of its civilian population, which otherwise might have received some media attention.
Since May this year, when the fresh wave of protests started, nearly 50 Kashmiris have been killed, many of them teenagers. Hundreds of civilians have also been injured, which has created perpetual chaos in Kashmiri hospitals as medical supplies dwindle under prolonged curfew and an embargo on goods. Since Friday, more than two dozen people have been killed, including an eight-year-old boy Sameer Ahmed Rah, who was allegedly beaten by police. In another incident, a teenage girl, Afroza, was killed when police fired on protesters at Khrew, on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of the disputed region. At least 25 people were wounded, two of them critically, when troops resorted to indiscriminate firing and tear gas shelling in Naaman village in South Kashmir. Nearly 100 miles away, in Baramulla, Indian troops fired at another group of protesters, injuring two more youths.
During the fresh wave of protests, India has adopted an uncompromisingly militant posture towards Kashmiri civilians protesting against human rights abuses. In June, Indian home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram linked stone-throwing Kashmiri youths to members of the dreaded terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a charge that was termed as an insult by pro-Indian Kashmiri leader Mufti Sayeed, former Indian home minister and former chief minister of Kashmir. This charge of linking Kashmiri protesters to terror groups in Pakistan was seen by many Kashmiris as an Indian excuse for the continuing murder of Kashmiris.
The new Indian approach denies the civilian status of its Kashmiri victims. Earlier in June, India's home secretary, Gopal Krishna Pillai, questioned press reports that described murdered Kashmiris as innocent civilians. Responding to a particular incident in which Indian paramilitary forces were said to have killed three civilians, he said: "There is a misnomer that civilians are getting killed. They are attacking police pickets. They are unruly mobs attacking CRPF pickets. They [forces] have shown considerable restraint and killed just one person".
The latest response from the Indian Kashmiri chief minister to the growing unrest has been demand for more troops. This is ironic given the fact that Kashmir is one of the most militarised places on Earth. Although the real number of Indian troops in Kashmir is unknown, some reports suggest that the number of Indian forces in the region is 250,000.
The absence of any criticism of the growing repression has emboldened the Indian government to target the Kashmiri population with greater ferocity. When the doctors of the Government Medical College, Srinagar recently protested against growing human rights abuses, the government registered cases against them for rioting and disobedience. Earlier, many leading lawyers and human rights advocates including Mian Abdul Qayoom, president of Kashmir Bar Association, which is the main lawyers' forum, was arrested under the draconian Public Safety Act, which allows incarceration for two years without charge.
This law, along with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, that gives licence to Indian forces to kill with impunity, have been used to murder or silence thousands of Kashmiris for more than two decades. In an increasingly brutal response, the police even seized trucks of relief goods such as food and vegetables for the inhabitants of Srinagar, a city that has been under curfew for weeks at a time.
The continued focus on al-Qaida in Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan have cast a shadow over the suffering of Kashmiris, which is hardly reported in the international media. In order to contain and control unrest, the government has adopted a heavy handed approach against local journalists, stopping them from reporting the true extent of the suffering inflicted. Kashmiri journalists have been threatened, beaten up and gagged, as the paramilitary forces have refused to honour their curfew passes. In some instances, the government has refused to issue them passes at all.
As a result, many Kashmiri newspapers have had to suspend publication several times, confining them to online versions only. This has compelled a new generation of Kashmiris to articulate their frustration through social networking sites and YouTube in order to make known the torment of Kashmir. Determined to stifle any criticism, the government has now launched a new cyber war. According to the Indian news magazine Outlook India, "there are reports of Kashmiris being detained for 'anti-national' posts on Facebook".
David Cameron's statement blaming Pakistan has been seen as a vindication of a long-held Indian accusation that any unrest in Kashmir is a consequence of cross-border terrorism. As a new generation of Kashmiris take on Indian might with a few stones and their defenceless bodies, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head of the pro-Independence Kashmiri alliance, said despairingly: "First they [the Indians] said the guns came from Pakistan. Will they now say that stones come from Pakistan, too?" (Writer-South Asia)
Has Omar Abdullah lost his authority over Kashmir ?
Has Omar Abdullah lost his authority over Kashmir?
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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.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
e-Media is Reviving The Kashmir Freedom Moment
By: Sheikh GULZAAR
Srinagar, August 04: These days a term “New Media” is used almost everywhere. But only a few people actually know its meaning. “New Media” means to encompass the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century. Most technologies described as “new media” are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulatable, networkable, dense, compressible, and impartial.
People around the world are taking advantage of new media. It is the most effective, fastest and easiest way to communicate with other people around the world. Social networking sites like Facebook, video streaming sites like Youtube and blogs all fall into the horizon of new media.
The traditional media have been covering and reporting about the events occurring in Kashmir for years now. But for last two years, the people have started reporting events on their own, utilizing the new media. Young men using camera mobile phones are recording events all around Kashmir and sharing captured videos and pictures on sites like Youtube.
According to these men, by doing this they are gathering evidences against the Indian Army about their inhumane treatment with the innocent people. And so far they are quite successful. One of the most famous videos shared was shot by Adnan, a 15 years old boy in which aftermath events are shown of the killing of a Sheikh Abdul Aziz & others by a bullet in year 2008. The video was viewed more than 3, 50,000 times in just a few day after its upload.
By the way, this type of reporting is termed as Citizen Journalism. People of Kashmir are communicating their messages with the rest of the world utilizing digital publishing. A group of youngsters which is highly involved in these reporting term it as ‘Cyber Protest’.(Writer-South Asia)
People around the world are taking advantage of new media. It is the most effective, fastest and easiest way to communicate with other people around the world. Social networking sites like Facebook, video streaming sites like Youtube and blogs all fall into the horizon of new media.
The traditional media have been covering and reporting about the events occurring in Kashmir for years now. But for last two years, the people have started reporting events on their own, utilizing the new media. Young men using camera mobile phones are recording events all around Kashmir and sharing captured videos and pictures on sites like Youtube.
According to these men, by doing this they are gathering evidences against the Indian Army about their inhumane treatment with the innocent people. And so far they are quite successful. One of the most famous videos shared was shot by Adnan, a 15 years old boy in which aftermath events are shown of the killing of a Sheikh Abdul Aziz & others by a bullet in year 2008. The video was viewed more than 3, 50,000 times in just a few day after its upload.
By the way, this type of reporting is termed as Citizen Journalism. People of Kashmir are communicating their messages with the rest of the world utilizing digital publishing. A group of youngsters which is highly involved in these reporting term it as ‘Cyber Protest’.(Writer-South Asia)
On going freedom struggle now or never for Kashmiris: Hizb
Muzaffarabad, August 3: The Supreme Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahudin Monday has said that the current phase of resistance movement has ushered the Kashmir conflict into a now or never phase.
Syed Salahudin while addressing in a extraordinary meeting of Command Council, the Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman Ehsan Ellahi in a statement said despite Indian suppression from past 63 years, the current mass struggle has now entered into now or never mode where people irrespective of age and sex are up in arms against India.
While condemning the criminal silence of world over the killing of innocent people in the Valley by paramilitary forces and police men Hizbul Mujahideen, indigenous outfit of Kashmir said that the ongoing freedom struggle has entered into now or never stage.
Everyday dozens of people are being martyred while hundreds are injured,” Hizb chief, Syed Salahudin said,
Terming as unfortunate the recent statement by Britain Prime Minister David Cameron, the Hizb Supremo said that the Kashmir issue was basically created by the United Kingdom. “He should have taken strong note of the human rights violations and the unresolved Kashmir and impressed upon the New Delhi to resolve the issue. Thereby, he would have honoured the tenets of democracy.”
United Nations and the world human rights bodies silence on Kashmir is unfortunate,” he said, adding, incase, United Nations and the other world organizations want to take account of the real situation obtaining in the Kashmir, they should rise above the Indian propaganda and depute a team to decide for themselves as to how the innocents are being killed for raising peaceful protests due to unresolved Kashmir.(Writer-South Asia)
Syed Salahudin while addressing in a extraordinary meeting of Command Council, the Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman Ehsan Ellahi in a statement said despite Indian suppression from past 63 years, the current mass struggle has now entered into now or never mode where people irrespective of age and sex are up in arms against India.
While condemning the criminal silence of world over the killing of innocent people in the Valley by paramilitary forces and police men Hizbul Mujahideen, indigenous outfit of Kashmir said that the ongoing freedom struggle has entered into now or never stage.
Everyday dozens of people are being martyred while hundreds are injured,” Hizb chief, Syed Salahudin said,
Terming as unfortunate the recent statement by Britain Prime Minister David Cameron, the Hizb Supremo said that the Kashmir issue was basically created by the United Kingdom. “He should have taken strong note of the human rights violations and the unresolved Kashmir and impressed upon the New Delhi to resolve the issue. Thereby, he would have honoured the tenets of democracy.”
United Nations and the world human rights bodies silence on Kashmir is unfortunate,” he said, adding, incase, United Nations and the other world organizations want to take account of the real situation obtaining in the Kashmir, they should rise above the Indian propaganda and depute a team to decide for themselves as to how the innocents are being killed for raising peaceful protests due to unresolved Kashmir.(Writer-South Asia)
Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: On going freedom struggle now or never for Kashmiris: Hizb
Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: On going freedom struggle now or never for Kashmiris: Hizb: "On going freedom struggle now or never for Kashmiris: Hizb"
Thousands lost in Kashmir mass graves
Srinagar, 3 August: Hundreds & thousands of unidentified graves – believed to contain victims of
unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other abuses -
have been found in Kashmir.
Amnesty International has urged the Indian government to launch urgent investigations into the mass graves, which are thought to contain the remains of victims of human rights abuses in the context of the armed conflict that has raged in the region since 1989.
The findings appear in the report Facts under Ground, issued on 29 March by the Srinagar-based Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). The report details the existence of multiple graves which, because of their proximity to Pakistan controlled-areas, are in areas not accessible without the specific permission of the security forces. Since 2006, the graves of at least 940 people are reported to have been discovered in 18 villages in Uri district alone.
The Indian army has claimed that those found buried were armed rebels and "foreign militants" killed lawfully in armed encounters with military forces. However, the report recounts testimonies from local villagers saying that most buried were local residents hailing from the state.
The report alleges that more than 8,000 persons have gone missing in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The Indian authorities put the figure at less than 4.000, claiming that most of these went to Pakistan to join armed opposition groups.
In 2006, a state police report confirmed the deaths in custody of 331 persons, and also 111 enforced disappearances following detention since 1989.
Unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture are violations of both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, set out in treaties to which India is a state party. They also constitute international crimes.
Amnesty International has called on the Indian government to unequivocally condemn enforced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all sites of mass graves in the region are immediately carried out by forensic experts in line with the relevant UN Model Protocol.
All past and current allegations of enforced disappearances must be investigated and, where there is sufficient evidence, anyone suspected of responsibility for such crimes must be prosecuted in fair trial proceedings, with all victims granted full reparations. (Writer-South Asia)
Amnesty International has urged the Indian government to launch urgent investigations into the mass graves, which are thought to contain the remains of victims of human rights abuses in the context of the armed conflict that has raged in the region since 1989.
The findings appear in the report Facts under Ground, issued on 29 March by the Srinagar-based Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). The report details the existence of multiple graves which, because of their proximity to Pakistan controlled-areas, are in areas not accessible without the specific permission of the security forces. Since 2006, the graves of at least 940 people are reported to have been discovered in 18 villages in Uri district alone.
The Indian army has claimed that those found buried were armed rebels and "foreign militants" killed lawfully in armed encounters with military forces. However, the report recounts testimonies from local villagers saying that most buried were local residents hailing from the state.
The report alleges that more than 8,000 persons have gone missing in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The Indian authorities put the figure at less than 4.000, claiming that most of these went to Pakistan to join armed opposition groups.
In 2006, a state police report confirmed the deaths in custody of 331 persons, and also 111 enforced disappearances following detention since 1989.
Unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture are violations of both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, set out in treaties to which India is a state party. They also constitute international crimes.
Amnesty International has called on the Indian government to unequivocally condemn enforced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all sites of mass graves in the region are immediately carried out by forensic experts in line with the relevant UN Model Protocol.
All past and current allegations of enforced disappearances must be investigated and, where there is sufficient evidence, anyone suspected of responsibility for such crimes must be prosecuted in fair trial proceedings, with all victims granted full reparations. (Writer-South Asia)
Monday, August 2, 2010
Manmohan is fast becoming Jagmohan for Kashmir. Zafarul-Islam Khan
Kashmir: Act before foreign forces land in
Srinagar
The Valley today is a Kosovo-in-waiting. The government should
act now before it is too late.
By Zafarul-Islam Khan
New Delhi (2 August 2010): For the last two
months only bullets are talking in Kashmir. Dozens of lives, mostly school-going
young men and women, have succumbed to the bullets fired by the security forces
directly into their chests. Ten such victims have died within the last twenty
four hours for pelting stones and violating curfew. The central cabinet?s
security committee met last night without the attendance of even the
governor, the de facto ruler, of the state. Today the dummy chief
minister of the state was called for a meeting in Delhi and assured that direct
central rule will not be imposed on the state.
The situation in the Valley has not deteriorated
within a day or two and forces across the border alone are not responsible for
the chaos seen in the length and breadth of the Valley. Today?s chaos in the
Valley basically reflects the failure of the central government which despite
declarations and promises to the contrary, has utterly failed to negotiate with
the people who matter in Kashmir, which has thrown in the dustbin the autonomy
and self-rule proposals presented by its own trusted hands in the state.
Musharraf and even the current Pakistani government have been time and again
offering proposals to arrive at a settlement of sorts taking into account the
ground realities but visionless people in Delhi have squandered the opportunity.
The army bullets once again prove what our enemies claim that India is
interested only in the land of Kashmir and not in its people. Manmohan is fast
becoming Jagmohan for Kashmir.
The way forward is to sack the childish
government of Omar Abdullah, set free all activists and political leaders
arrested during the last few weeks, withdraw the army and allied forces from all
inhabited areas in the Valley, impose governor raj for a fixed and declared
period of six months, accept the autonomy proposal presented by the J&K
Assembly during Farooq Abdullah?s tenure in 2000, announce a general amnesty for
all militants and welcome those who crossed over into POK, hold a fair election
with none barred from contesting and monitored by foreign observers like Jimmy
Carter and representatives from the UN, EU, OIC etc and let the real winner rule
the state. Meanwhile, India must engage in a serious and purposeful dialogue
with Pakistan taking into account the various proposals offered by Musharraf and
the current government in Islamabad.
Failure to work on these lines will be fatal. The
protests in the Valley are quickly taking the shape of an intifadah
which no amount of army bullets will be able to control. Rather, these criminal
bullets and their innocent victims will invite foreign intervention. Let the
short-sighted strategists in Delhi realise that foreign intervention is no
longer a myth. A prolonged protest, wanton wholesale murder of the civilians and
children by the security forces and collapse of the dummy civil government will
be enough to pass a resolution in the UN to authorise foreign military
intervention and the small men in Delhi will not be able to prevent such forces
from landing in Srinagar. The Valley today is a Kosovo-in-waiting. Act now
before it is too late.
About the author: Zafarul-Islam Khan edits The Milli Gazette and author of
several books including Wounded Valley.
|
IRAN NEXT SUPER POWER
by Pyotr Goncharov
Srinagar: There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz (pictured) facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges.
There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz (pictured) facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges. What for? Photo courtesy AFP.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Dec 29, 2006
Iran may become one of the top 10 features of the outgoing year for a number of reasons, including its nuclear dossier and the Holocaust conference, as well as the anti-Israeli rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In short, Iran has made others view it as a regional superpower and the key player in the Middle East.
Its nuclear program remains the top issue, with good reason, because it threatens the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
If Iran implements its nuclear program in the proclaimed format, namely on the basis of its own uranium enrichment technologies, this will deal a death blow to the NPT. Iran's program will trigger the domino effect, encouraging Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to follow suit.
The bomb is not the issue, as Iran will most likely decide against creating it. But it will hover merely one step away from it, forcing Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to cover the same distance. Tehran promises to share its nuclear technology with Kuwait and Syria, which, taken together with Israel's 200 nuclear charges, will turn the region into a nuclear powder keg.
There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges. What for?
Russian nuclear experts say this number will allow Iran to produce its own nuclear fuel for 20 nuclear power units. So far, Iran plans to turn on only one unit, at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russia's technical assistance. The unit is expected to be put into operation in September 2007 and start generating electricity in November. The construction of the other 19 units is not planned so far.
On the other hand, the same experts say, given the political will, the 54,000 centrifuges can be used to create five to seven nuclear charges within two weeks at the most.
Therefore, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot issue guarantees of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, although it cannot prove its military goals either. The IAEA has questions to Tehran which it has refused to answer so far, keeping the world on nuclear tenterhooks.
The talks on Iran's nuclear program, as well as endless debates by experts, political analysts and other specialists, have turned into a cliffhanger compounded by Iran's intricate diplomatic embroidery. More than three months have passed since the UN's August 31 deadline, by which Tehran should have stopped work on its first cascade of 164 uranium enrichment centrifuges. Since then, Iran has put into operation a second cascade and announced the intention to increase the number of working centrifuges to 3,000 by March 2007.
It is certainly bluffing, as it does not have the necessary capacity for this. Yet it has played a joke on the UN Security Council no other country has dared to play before.
Ahmadinejad's statements to the effect that "Iran has made a crucial decision and is moving honorably along its chosen path," and that Tehran would consider any Security Council resolution on sanctions as a hostile move are most likely just verbal bravado, which the world has learned to regard calmly.
Tehran fears sanctions, or else why did Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, rush to Moscow shortly before the planned stopover in Moscow by U.S. President George W. Bush? Tehran thought President Bush and Vladimir Putin would discuss the Iranian nuclear dossier, and feared that Bush would convince Putin to vote for harsh sanctions against Iran. Tehran needed Russia's support, and Larijani received it. But nothing lasts forever.
Putin later said that Russia's support to Tehran was aimed at encouraging it to maintain relations with the IAEA so as to clarify the nuclear watchdog's questions and restore the world's trust in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programs. But it appears that Tehran is not willing to resume talks, at least not now.
On December 23, the UN Security Council voted on the Iranian resolution. The permanent members of the council, who form, together with Germany, a six-country group on Iran, have coordinated sanctions against Iran. The resolution proposed by the European Trio, which is negotiating with Iran on behalf of the European Union, differed radically from Russia's stand.
Moscow argued that the sanctions should cover only the areas that worry the IAEA - enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and work on all heavy water-related projects, and the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.
The Security Council heeded the Kremlin's arguments, but future developments are almost impossible to predict, especially considering the "Persian motifs" in Tehran's foreign policy. One way or another, Russia's neighbor, Iran, will continue to play a key role in the region, and this is the main result of the story with its nuclear dossier.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board. Source: RIA Novosti
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Dec 29, 2006
Iran may become one of the top 10 features of the outgoing year for a number of reasons, including its nuclear dossier and the Holocaust conference, as well as the anti-Israeli rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In short, Iran has made others view it as a regional superpower and the key player in the Middle East.
Its nuclear program remains the top issue, with good reason, because it threatens the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
If Iran implements its nuclear program in the proclaimed format, namely on the basis of its own uranium enrichment technologies, this will deal a death blow to the NPT. Iran's program will trigger the domino effect, encouraging Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to follow suit.
The bomb is not the issue, as Iran will most likely decide against creating it. But it will hover merely one step away from it, forcing Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to cover the same distance. Tehran promises to share its nuclear technology with Kuwait and Syria, which, taken together with Israel's 200 nuclear charges, will turn the region into a nuclear powder keg.
There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges. What for?
Russian nuclear experts say this number will allow Iran to produce its own nuclear fuel for 20 nuclear power units. So far, Iran plans to turn on only one unit, at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russia's technical assistance. The unit is expected to be put into operation in September 2007 and start generating electricity in November. The construction of the other 19 units is not planned so far.
On the other hand, the same experts say, given the political will, the 54,000 centrifuges can be used to create five to seven nuclear charges within two weeks at the most.
Therefore, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot issue guarantees of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, although it cannot prove its military goals either. The IAEA has questions to Tehran which it has refused to answer so far, keeping the world on nuclear tenterhooks.
The talks on Iran's nuclear program, as well as endless debates by experts, political analysts and other specialists, have turned into a cliffhanger compounded by Iran's intricate diplomatic embroidery. More than three months have passed since the UN's August 31 deadline, by which Tehran should have stopped work on its first cascade of 164 uranium enrichment centrifuges. Since then, Iran has put into operation a second cascade and announced the intention to increase the number of working centrifuges to 3,000 by March 2007.
It is certainly bluffing, as it does not have the necessary capacity for this. Yet it has played a joke on the UN Security Council no other country has dared to play before.
Ahmadinejad's statements to the effect that "Iran has made a crucial decision and is moving honorably along its chosen path," and that Tehran would consider any Security Council resolution on sanctions as a hostile move are most likely just verbal bravado, which the world has learned to regard calmly.
Tehran fears sanctions, or else why did Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, rush to Moscow shortly before the planned stopover in Moscow by U.S. President George W. Bush? Tehran thought President Bush and Vladimir Putin would discuss the Iranian nuclear dossier, and feared that Bush would convince Putin to vote for harsh sanctions against Iran. Tehran needed Russia's support, and Larijani received it. But nothing lasts forever.
Putin later said that Russia's support to Tehran was aimed at encouraging it to maintain relations with the IAEA so as to clarify the nuclear watchdog's questions and restore the world's trust in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programs. But it appears that Tehran is not willing to resume talks, at least not now.
On December 23, the UN Security Council voted on the Iranian resolution. The permanent members of the council, who form, together with Germany, a six-country group on Iran, have coordinated sanctions against Iran. The resolution proposed by the European Trio, which is negotiating with Iran on behalf of the European Union, differed radically from Russia's stand.
Moscow argued that the sanctions should cover only the areas that worry the IAEA - enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and work on all heavy water-related projects, and the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.
The Security Council heeded the Kremlin's arguments, but future developments are almost impossible to predict, especially considering the "Persian motifs" in Tehran's foreign policy. One way or another, Russia's neighbor, Iran, will continue to play a key role in the region, and this is the main result of the story with its nuclear dossier.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board. Source: RIA Novosti
The Dream of Anti-Islam Forces: India,US, UK, Russia, France, Germany
by Dr. M. Amir Ali, Ph.D.
Introduction. It is a dream of anti-Islam forces to get rid
of Islam from the face of the earth but they know the impossibility
of their dream coming true. Therefore, they have resigned themselves
to live with Islam but a modified one in the mold of Christianity, a
religion of a few private rituals. Anti-Islam forces want to redefine
Islam and they want Muslims to accept it. They have been working on
this project for the last three centuries with a lot of success. Their
last three centuries of persistent efforts has given rise to pseudo-Islamic
cults, new sects, sects redefined, and corrupted orders within Islam.
It is not a secret that various anti-Islam forces are working in tandem
and in coordination with each other to remove the Islam of the Qur'an
and Sunnah from people's lives around the world. They will tolerate
a ritualistic Islam in the mold of Christianity but not real Islam.
The question may be asked, "who are these anti-Islam forces?"
This author has written an article on this topic; for a detailed discussion,
see "ISLAM IN AMERICA: ROUGH ROAD AHEAD", published in the
MESSAGE INTERNATIONAL, February 2000. A brief introduction is given
below.
Anti-Islam forces may be divided into three groups: (a) Secular
Fundamentalists, (b) Zionists and Hindu Fundamentalists, and (c) Christian
Fundamentalists. All three work together, support each other in full
cooperation, and each group has its own area of work delineated. All
three groups put together constitute only under 4% of the American population
or under 10 million individuals. However, these people enjoy tremendous
power and sway over the people. Over 96% of the people are ignorant
believers and followers of anti-Islam forces. It is possible to break
the bond between anti-Islam leaders and their ignorant followers through
massive education by the Muslims.
Anti-Islam leaders come with titles like Dr., Rev., Prof., etc., which
carry an air of authority when they speak. However, when they speak
they give informed individuals the impression that they, perhaps, have
their doctorates and specialties in bigotry and demagoguery. A few examples
of these hate-mongers include, Dr. Robert Morey, Dr. Anis Shorroush,
Rev. Pat Robertson, Rev. Billy Graham, Prof. Sam Huntington, Prof. Daniel
Pipes and many others.
Secular Fundamentalists are those intellectuals who see religion
as irrelevant in peoples' lives but they tolerate religion if people
have private beliefs in some kind of God or gods. Some of these people
may have some loose belief in some kind of god or gods but they do not
see its relevance in the social, economic, and political lives of the
people; these may even include the clergy. They are particularly against
Islam because they perceive that this religion tries to become an established
system of life competing with secularism. Naturally, secularists try
to destroy Islam completely; they have an agenda. Secular Fundamentalists
is the largest of the three anti-Islam forces and the most powerful
because its proponents include politicians, media people, businessmen,
professors, teachers and a section of the common folk in the West. These
are the people who are running governments, UNO and its branches, banks,
multi-national corporations, think-tanks, universities, school systems,
charitable foundations, and much more. They control almost the entire
wealth of the planet earth. But Allah is more powerful. Secularists
use academically-oriented tools to create hate of Islam. These are the
generals of the anti-Islam war. These bigots and demagogues are found
among professors, specialists, gurus, academicians of universities,
and other think-tanks. It should be understood that not every Secular
Fundamentalist is an Islam hater but a majority among them are, overtly
or covertly. Islam haters use the academic media of research papers,
educational material, publication of books, publication of articles
in professional journals, and magazines. Thus, they influence the top
echelon of the society.
Zionists and Hindu Fundamentalists fear Islam for their own
protection. They perceive that the expansion of Islam will destroy their
ideologies and their political domains. These are pragmatists and their
reasoning for carrying out anti-Islam activities may be summed up as
the following:
1. The more Islam and Muslims are demonized, the better the Zionists
and Hindus look. Dehumanizing and demonizing Muslims has its own rewards.
It gives them the legitimacy to kill Muslims, bulldoze their property,
oppress them, and arrest and torture Muslim activists. How often it
is that one learns of the killing of a rat as news in the newspaper
or TV news program. However, the killing of Muslims makes no news, let
alone, the headlines. Whereas, when a single Zionist or a Hindu is hurt
or killed by a Muslim it makes resounding headlines in the West. Palestinians
in their own land, Muslims in Kashmir, and Chechens in Chechnya are
suffering but the powerful West has become mute and blind to their sufferings.
To add insult to injury, they emphatically label Muslims as being "terrorists".
A stark contrast to Western policy toward Muslims is evident in the
case where East Timuris, a Christian and animist minority in Indonesia,
burned mosques, killed dozens of Muslims, and marched in the streets.
The West stood up in their support and forced their independence upon
Indonesia. The Western double standard at play is obvious in that the
Palestinians, Kashmiris, and Mindanao Muslims have been demanding their
independence for decades and West calls them "terrorists"
and helps their oppressors. In October 2000 over 100 Arab youths were
killed by the Israelis using American taxpayer-paid guns. A large percentage
of the murdered Arabs were teen-age children but no one is questioning
Israel or blaming Israelis. When two Israeli-trained assassins who were
sent to kill Arab leaders were caught and subsequently killed, it made
headlines all over the world. Trained assassins are "peacemakers"
and children ages 6 to 16 are "terrorists". Only the ignorant
will buy this kind of distortion and there are many in the U.S. due
to myopia, laziness, indifference, laxity, and complacency of the Muslim
masses and their leaders, particularly those Muslims living in the West.
Muslims living in the West have tools and power available to them to
change the situation forever and reverse the environment from anti-Islam
to pro-Islam.
2. Israeli and Hindu Fundamentalists dehumanize Muslims and portray
them as being brute terrorists while the actual perpetrators of terror,
namely, the CIA, Israel, and India receive financial, military, technological,
and espionage aid from the U.S. administration and Congress. Reportedly,
Israel receives from the U.S. government over six billion dollars
annually in aid. That is a $1,500 reward granted annually from the
American taxpayers for every Jewish male, female, and child living in
Israel. This is the reward for colonizing Palestinian land and displacing
Palestinian people. The cycle of repression of Muslims is strengthened
using American help in the form of guns, tanks, helicopter gunships,
missiles, espionage training, intelligence information, and generous
economic aid. Muslims living in the U.S. can change this policy through
their involvement in the political process; surely, there will be a
lot of resistance against the Muslim entry but Muslims have to fight
it out and cut out their niche in the American government and exert
their influence. There are many success stories of Muslim empowerment
at the local level when they became active, for example, in Santa Clara,
CA, Bridgeview, IL, Morton Grove, IL, Brooklyn, NY, and the senatorial
race in New Jersey in addition to others. Muslims living in those areas
were able to turn the tide from anti-Islam to neutrality or pro-Islam.
The isolationism proposed by some ignorant Muslims is a recipe for a
slow suicide and is in effect a request to be subjected to the same
fate that Muslims suffered in Spain, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Kosova. As
a result of Muslim involvement, Congressman Tom Campbell (Republican,
CA) presented a bill in Congress to stop all forms of aid to Israel;
the bill was supported by only 12 congressmen but it was a first attempt.
If Muslims become active in American politics, the day when Tom Campbell's
bill is passed will not be far.
3. The Zionists and Hindus fear the increasing population of Muslims
in the U.S. They see that with the increasing Muslim population, Muslims
will eventually become politically and economically a factor and that
scares them the most. Zionist influence in America is drawn from Jewish
involvement in the political process through giving money, time, and
talent for politicians. It is estimated that for every dollar American
Jews spend on politicians, Israel receives over one thousand dollars
from the U.S. government. This process yielded them, not only money
for Israel, but opportunities of becoming politicians themselves. Now,
Jews are in the government and running the government at local and national
levels enjoying influence beyond their proportion in population (under
two percent). Jewish involvement in the political process has changed
their position, that is, from the most hated people around the 1900s
to the most powerful people in the year 2000. Actually, it took Jews
in America less than sixty years (two generations) of hard work to accumulate
the power they have. These anti-Islam forces are working as hard as
possible to keep the growth of the Muslim population in America in check
and certainly, Muslim political participation in check. They are already
spreading rumors that Muslim political participation is outright dangerous
and should not be encouraged. This group uses the media and entertainment
industry to create hate of Islam and Muslims. There are some Muslim
groups, like Hizb At-Tahrir, Tanzeem-e Islami, Tablighi Jamaat, and
others who have come out actively against Muslim political participation
thereby fulfilling the dream of anti-Islam forces. It is strange, what
happened to the commonsense, intellect, and wisdom of our sincere brothers?
In their naïveté, they are becoming enemies of Islam despite their love
and sincerity for the deen of Allah. Although their sincerity and love
of Allah is unquestionable, they are nonetheless positioning themselves
right into the opportunistic hands of anti-Islam forces.
3. Christian Fundamentalists see Islam as a world competitor
in winning the hearts and minds of the people around the world for their
respective religions. The conversion (reversion) rate to Islam is abhorrent
and terrifying for them. In addition, Christian Fundamentalists are
more Zionists than the Jews of America. This group works at the gutter
level creating lies and deception against Islam and Muslims and selling
it to the masses directly. They create hate of Islam and Muslims and
work so that Bosnia-like situations are created and the holocaust of
Muslims takes place right here in America. Their goal is to remove Islam
from the West, which includes the Americas and Europe, and they fight
Islam in the Muslim-majority countries as well. These are the foot soldiers
of the anti-Islam movement. The Christian Fundamentalists attack Islamic
aqeedah, practices, history, and civilizations; they distort everything
Islamic and misrepresent it to their listeners and readers. These people
use Christian TV and radio, publish books for common people, as well
as brochures, tracks, and pamphlets. Furthermore, their leaders with
the title "Dr." appear live in churches and deliver talks
filled with bigotry against Islam and Muslims. While Muslims are ignorant
of these activities and oblivious to whatever is going on around them,
by the time they find the results, it will be too late to do anything
about it. It will be Bosnia right here in America. Those Muslims who
are against reaching out to the non-Muslim population are fulfilling
the dreams of anti-Islam forces. Again, this author finds Tablighi Jamaat
is openly guilty of opposing the reaching out to non-Muslims. This author
has experienced a lot of antipathy from these people during his travels
from New York to California for the purpose of mobilizing the Muslim
population to perform outreach work.
Muslims themselves contribute to islamophobia but this is not due to
spite for Islam but rather to their own ignorance of Islam but this
is not the topic of this paper. This author has written an article on
this topic that is unpublished but privately circulated. The solution
to the problem of anti-Islam forces is the education of Muslims and
American masses about Islam and Muslims and thus pulling the rug from
under the feet of the anti-Islam forces, that is, denying them an audience
who would believe them. The Muslim mission is like a bicycle that has
two wheels. A monocycle is incapable of going very far or fast enough.
One wheel of the bicycle is the education and reform of the Muslims
and the other wheel is outreach to the non-Muslims, both tasks must
be done simultaneously. The policy of the Tablighi Jamaat, which consists
of going on a monocycle, has no evidence in the Qur'an or the Sunnah.
They will be able to contribute many sheep to the herd but will not
contribute to bringing out leaders who will lead the Muslim Ummah, restore
dignity to Islam and Muslims, and establish the rule of Allah in
this earthly life.
The Dreams: Anti-Islam forces would love to see a modified Islam
that would include the following:
1. Removal of Jihad from Islamic teachings. This is the scariest
part of Islamic teachings that a fighter is a ghazi or shaheed;
it is win-win situation for a Muslim mujahid. The West is willing
to support any kind of Islam that does not have Jihad in the meaning
of qital in its theology. A mushrik values two things
most, his life and his property, the things that a true Muslim cares
the least about in the Way of Allah. Remind yourself of the Hadith of
wahn, the disease that will destroy Muslims and will render them
subjects of their enemies. They welcome Qadiyanis, Tablighi Jamaat,
Sufis, and similar other groups. These Muslim groups, by their opposition
or silence about Jihad in the meaning of qital, are fulfilling
the dream of the enemies of Islam. Qital is a part of Islam
but it is relevant only in its place and time; it is not for everywhere
nor for every time there is opposition to Islam. Muslims have a duty
to attempt and exhaust all peaceful means before resorting to qital.
On the other hand, those who incite to qital for every Muslim
problem are also fulfilling the dreams of their enemies because this
gives them an opportunity to project Islam as advocating terrorism and
war.
2. Removal of politics as a part of Islam. There are two things
under this topic: (a) Separation of politics and "religion",
which is the fundamental dogma of secularism, and (b) discouraging Muslims
from political participation in the West, which is a wish and a dream
so that Muslims do not gain power and do not disturb the power of the
Zionists and Christian Fundamentalists. The separation of politics from
religion is rooted in the brutal rule of the Catholic Church over Europe
lasting over one thousand years in the name of religion. Secularists
see Islam in the mold of Catholicism, which is foolishness on their
part and those Muslims who support them.
Political participation of Muslims in America is hated by anti-Islam
forces because this will change the status quo and Muslims will
begin to gain political power in the U.S. They love the movements of
Qadiyanis, Tablighi Jamaat, Sufis, Hizb At-Tahrir, Tanzeem-e-Islami,
and similar groups who agree with the enemies of Islam in maintaining
the status quo through their opposition to political participation.
These groups (anti-political participation Muslims) make the dreams
of the anti-Islam forces come true. If Muslims become active in politics
in an organized manner the power of the Zionists and Christian Fundamentalists
will dissipate in time and Muslims may gain the position of dictating
their policies domestically as well as globally. Please do not tell
me that allowing the enemies of Islam to realize their dreams against
Islam is part of the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet(S).
The absence of Muslims from politics leaves the field wide open for
the enemies of Islam to work freely without any resistance and obstruction.
3. Removal of Islamic Economics. Here again there are two things:
(a) Separation of economics of the country from religion, in this case
Islamic teachings, and (b) Preclusion of the Muslim establishment of
economic institutions based on Islamic economics. It terrifies these
people that the Muslims should become successful in their economic endeavors
because that will be the end of the capitalist economy which supports
the exploitation of the weak and the ignorant and greed is a virtue.
An interest-based economy is un-Islamic whereas a capitalist economy
is interest-based. Capitalism is rooted on the exploitation of the needs
and ignorance of the people. Islam makes it Haram. In addition, trading
in alcoholic liquors, swine products, gambling, and prostitution are
Haram in Islam. Islamic economics will demolish the entire structure
built upon capitalism. Tablighi Jamaat and Sufis are fulfilling the
dreams of anti-Islam forces by adopting silence in this area and that
is not the Sunnah of the Prophet(S). Anti-Islam forces would like to
see either the Muslims casting away the principle of Islamic economics
or adopting silence as the above- mentioned Muslim groups have done.
4. Modified Muslim social life. Anti-Islam Forces would like
to see that Muslims drop Hijab and objections to the free mixing of
genders. They would love to see that Muslims begin dancing the way it
is done in the Western culture and adopted by many eastern societies,
including some westernized "Muslims". They hate to see educated
Muslim women wearing hijab and staying away from westernized social
parties. On the other hand, they love to ridicule those Muslim women
who are closeted in their homes and, if they go out at all, they wear
complete covering (burqa or abaiya or chador). Rejecters of Hadith is
the group that has adopted a western-style social life and this pleases
the West. On the other hand, Tablighi Jamaat has become extremely oppressive
of their women by denying them the opportunities of education and intellectual
growth. Tablighis even preclude their women from going to the masajid
and listening to the speeches of their own scholars. They do not understand
that the first five or six years of a child shape his/her personality,
this is the period he/she spends with the mother. The mother is the
first teacher of a child and builds up the personality of that child.
An oppressed, ignorant, frustrated, and angry mother is going to become
selfish, living day by day for the security of her food and shelter
till her last day comes. This kind of mother is going to raise a child
in her mold: selfish, angry, frustrated, ignorant, and with no ambition
for excellence or a vision for himself, his family, or his people. Conversely,
a mother who is educated, Islamically informed in the Qur'an and Sunnah,
happy, and a visionary with leadership qualities, will raise children
who are educated, happy, and visionary leaders. For a thousand years,
Muslims have oppressed their women, kept them ignorant, and suppressed
and as a result, we have raised a whole Ummah that is selfish, ignorant
of Islam, mediocre in their profession, short-sighted, devoid of vision
for their people, and lacking in leadership qualities. The whole Muslim
world is ruled by such selfish brutes who are able to become brute dictators
with the help of the West but cannot lead because their ignorant mothers
did not train them for such tasks. Tablighi Jamaat and the likes of
them want to maintain this sorry state of affairs for the Muslim Ummah
and are happy with keeping the reins of world power in the hands of
anti-Islam forces. No wonder these people can obtain visas to any country
in the West whereas many good Muslims are black-listed or quietly denied
entry and if they enter somehow, they are arrested and jailed under
one pretext or another.
5. Opposition to Outreach to non-Muslims. Da'wah to non-Muslims
is a duty of all Muslims because this promotes and propagates Islam.
Anti-Islam forces hate this activity of Muslims most because the spread
of Islam and any rise in the influence of Muslims is contrary to their
wishes and designs. Anti-Islam forces love Tablighi Jamaat and Sufis
who do not reach out to the non-Muslims to convey the message. Naturally,
the members of these Muslim groups are able to obtain visas easily to
countries all over the world. By opposing or adopting silence against
Da'wat ila-Allah to non-Muslims is fulfilling the dreams of anti-Islam
forces. Hizb At-Tahrir is quite vocal in their slogan of "Khilafa
is the solution" but they have no workable plan to bring it about,
not even in the Muslim-majority countries. I would like to see their
plan to establish Khilafa in places where Muslims are living as 2% of
the population such as in the United States. The West is not the place
for raising emotional slogans of "Khilafa is the solution"
and hyping up a few young people with fiery speeches. If their speeches
are for establishing Khilafa in one or more of the Muslim-majority countries,
they should go to those target countries and work there. All these people
do is create more problems and obstacles for those who have plans to
bring about a change in the West, as much as is possible, without any
bloodshed.
6. Stop forbidding evil. Islamic teaching is Amr bil-ma'roof
wa nahi 'an al-munkar meaning enjoining good and forbidding evil. Forbidding
evil is, in essence, reminding people to abstain from their evil deeds,
which they may take as criticism. From a secular point of view, evil
must be defined by law; whatever is divinely defined as evil is not
necessarily an evil. For example, drinking liquors, gambling, fornication,
and homosexuality are acceptable norms in the West and they should not
be labeled as "evil". From the western point of view, Tablighi
Jamaat is a wonderful group of Muslims because they have taken out nahi
‘an al-munkar and replaced it with sukoot 'an al-munkar meaning
silence about evil. Tablighi Jamaat is fulfilling the dreams of anti-Islam
forces. In the secular culture, all evils that are not defined by law
as crimes are wonderful, creative acts. Nudity is creativity, pornography
is creativity, homosexuality is an alternate life-style, adultery is
consensual adult creativity, and now here comes another imaginative
act, incest is creativity. Tablighi Jamaat prefers to adopt silence
on all these matters rather than reminding the society about these evils
and work to remove them from the society. The Muslims of Tablighi Jamaat
and Sufis are wonderful, moderate Muslims loved by Daniel Pipes and
Sam Huntington.
7. Stop studying and living by the Qur'an and Sunnah. It is
becoming common knowledge among informed Westerners that those Muslims
who study Qur'an and Sunnah and try to live by them are catalysts of
change within the Muslim Ummah. Such people earn the wrath of the West,
they are awarded titles such as Wahabi and Fundamentalist extremists,
and are the targets against whom the West subsidizes movements. This
author has heard many times from Sufi leaders that the goal of their
lives is to fight to remove "Wahabism", a non-existent ghost.
Sufis do not work for the goal of their lives as being that of earning
the pleasure of Allah but rather gain the pleasure and good graces of
the enemies of Allah through their fight against Wahabism. The term
"Wahabism" was coined by the British in the 1820s to destroy
the reform movement of the Shahidayn in India through sowing hate and
dissension within the Muslim Ummah and in this the British were very
successful. The people who call mankind to the Qur'an and Sunnah are
bringing meaningful change in the Muslim societies worldwide and this
upsets the West. The true revival of Islam among the Muslims is possible
only through the Qur'an and Sunnah. Only rote recitation of the Qur'an
rather than studying keeps Muslims tame. Tablighi Jamaat and Sufis are
fulfilling the dreams of the West from within by discouraging study
of the Qur'an and Sunnah. The West would love to see Muslims blindly
follow a leader who does not call people to study the Qur'an and Sunnah
but follow him blindly. According to Tablighi Jamaat and Sufis, asking
proof from the Qur'an and Sunnah is a taboo. Such religious leaders
can be bought and sold to the highest bidder thus controlling people
becomes easier. People who are ignorant and follow like sheep in a herd
are much easier to control than those who seek knowledge from the Qur'an
and Sunnah rather than hearsay opinions.
With respect to Muslim-majority countries, the West has the following
dreams in addition to the above-mentioned points.
Israeli Resolution. In the early 1970s the government of Israel
passed a resolution to keep all Arab (Muslim-majority) countries, singly
or any combination thereof, weaker than the State of Israel. This resolution
was adopted by the Democratic Party in total and a slightly weaker version
was adopted by the Republicans. It is obvious that these American political
parties have joined the enemies of Islam and Muslims and they are pursuing
the following strategies.
8. Educational and technological backwardness and mediocrity.
It is the earnest hope of the West that Muslims not become educated
or technologically advanced but remain mediocre in their work and professions.
Research and development and excellence should remain within the circle
of non-Muslim people. Muslims should only be consumers of development
and production of the non-Muslim world. Fortunately for the West, there
are Muslim groups that promote mediocrity, consumerism, and staying
in the masajid as much as possible - the West loves it.
The West is trying to keep Muslim-majority countries in the column
of net importers of consumer-finished products and exporters of raw
material so that they remain dependent upon industrially advanced non-Muslim
countries for finished products and purchasers of raw material. The
West is trying as much as possible to keep Muslim societies backward
in education, technology, and industrial products whether heavy industry
or consumer products. As long back as 1973 when King Faisal stopped
selling oil to the U.S., Henry Kissinger reportedly told Saudis that
they may drink oil when they get hungry because the U.S. would not sell
them wheat. The U.S. government wants to keep every Muslim-majority
country at bay with that kind of threat. Muslims cannot change such
stupid policies of the U.S. government until they get involved and rise
upward through the ladder of power. Get involved and gain influence.
Muslims need not beg but demand and dictate after removing anti-Islam
forces from the position of power. It can be done and it should be done.
For the Muslims, the rise to power in America is not going to be a bed
of roses.
9. Denying military technology. The West would not mind if
Muslim majority countries have a police force with a few sticks and
guns to kill their own people and to keep them as herds of sheep who
stay in line and remain loyal to the puppets of the West. The peace
process between the Israelis and Palestinians showed their real intent.
The deal was that the Palestinian police would be given a few simple
guns to keep the Palestinian population under control and for use against
their own people. A credible force of defense against an enemy is not
allowed for any Muslim-majority country. When Iraq developed a credible
force, it was bombed to the stone age. The West has been conspiring
with Israel, India, and Russia to bomb Pakistan to the stone age, as
soon as possible. India and Israel can develop nuclear bombs but the
same technology is denied to Pakistan and Iraq. Israel, India, and China
can develop their own missiles and airplanes but Pakistan and Iran are
not to develop these technologies. Those who oppose Muslim participation
in American politics want the status quo, that is, keeping Muslim countries
weak and maintaining the hegemony of the West, Israel, Russia, and India
over Muslim- majority countries. Only through involvement will Muslims
be able to change the policies of the West. Muslims should have the
vision of becoming the government of the West and pursue it with tunnel
vision.
10. Globalization. This is the tool, which is being sold to
Muslim countries to stunt Muslim culture and replace it with western
culture. Dr. S.M. Kureshi of Pakistan has written a book under the title,
"WESTERN FUNDAMENTALISM IN ACTION"; it is worth reading.
It appears that "globalization" was developed to stunt the
resurgence of true Islam and the rising aspirations of Muslims to regain
their past glory of being the world power to which others would have
to reckon with. Globalization includes maintaining the hegemony of the
West in all areas of life, particularly, cultural hegemony. Some Islamic
movements are trying to remove the bad influences of the Western culture
and replace them with true Islamic norms, lost gradually under the colonial
rule of Europe. The West is using all tools available to her to implement
globalization. Unless Muslims reach the policy-making chambers, they
will have no control over such hazardous movements. Those Muslims who
oppose Muslim involvement in U.S. politics essentially want to give
free rein to the West in their implementation of globalization. For
whom are these people working in their ignorance? Are they working for
Islam or anti-Islam forces? You decide!
During the last fifty years two persons were most influential in the
formulation of American foreign policy. During the Eisenhower era, John
Foster Dulles, then Secretary of State, formulated the policy that was
Capitalism-centered; it was anti-Communism and anti-Islam. When it was
suggested to him to work with Islamic movements to destroy Communism,
he rejected the idea saying that Communism was a daughter of the West
whereas Islam was an alien. During the Nixon era, Henry Kissinger, an
immigrant Jew from Europe, maneuvered himself into the position of Secretary
of State. Kissinger's policy was Zionism and Israel-centered and, naturally,
it was anti-Islam, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab. Perhaps, it was Kissinger
who inspired Israel to pass the resolution of keeping the Arab (Muslim)
world weaker than Israel so that American political parties could adopt
in their planks. He developed or contributed to the policy of dividing
the world into regions of influence (hegemony) with the U.S. on top,
like on the top of a totem pole. He chose Israel to be the masters of
the Middle East, from Morocco to Iran. India was chosen to be the master
of South Asian countries and Japan was selected to rule over the Far
East. He chose the Republic of South Africa (then a white, racist regime
and an ally of Israel) to be the master of sub-Sahara Africa. The same
policy is being followed by the U.S. government and Europe in the year
2000. Kissinger engineered the implementation of Dulles' plan of breaking
Pakistan into two pieces. Kissinger planned further break of Pakistan
into four pieces and his policy is being followed by the successive
U.S. governments. Muslims must get into the power and put a stop to
such anti-Muslim policies. Globalization is the extension of the same
old policies of Dulles and Kissinger. Only through involvement, will
the Muslims be able to change these corrupt and racist policies.
In conclusion, it is an earnest appeal to our beloved brothers
in Islam who associate themselves with Tablighi Jamaat, Hizb At-Tahrir,
and those who agree with these parties to re-examine their policies
and strategies. The founders of these movements were sincere and good
people but their policies and strategies were developed during the colonial
period. Had they been living in our time, traveled in the West, this
author is sure that they would have changed. They would have never agreed
to fulfill the dreams of anti-Islam forces the way their perceived followers
are intent on doing. Besides, many of these policy and strategy issues
are not a matter of Shari'ah but rather a matter of Ijtehad. Let us
work together to change the world by bringing justice and equity as
we have learned it from the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
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