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Karachi will live ON and Pakistan will hold its ground

No Matter how hard they try, no matter whatever they do to cause damage, our cities will always shine, we will always stand united and emerge swiftly out of any situation. On this occasion, we wish to send a clear message that we are NOT afraid, we understand who our enemies and traitors are, we are watching them closely and we will counter them with full force, we realize what the reality is and we will not be deceived and that the Patriots of Pakistan will hold their ground firmly no matter what, we will stand together, we will defend our country at any cost and work for it under all circumstances  and we will RISE, Pakistan is destined to RISE against all odds Insha’Allah.

Pakistan Hamesha Zinda-o-Paindabaad,

Aquib Moin | Team PKKH

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Ibn-e-Qasim

Make no mistake, this is not just a routine suicide attack that took place in Karachi on M.A. Jinnah road at the symbolic procession of Karachi’s Shia community. Pieces of Human flesh blew up at 4:13 PM, there was a cloud of smoke and fire covering the sky, people were rushing to the hospitals, ambulances screaming on the roads, it was a complete carnage, but the worst was yet to come, as this article is being written, thousands of shops, dozens of markets in the financial hub of Karachi are still engulfed with fire, the loss is beyond imagination, outrageous fire is increasing every passing second, Businessmen, shopkeepers have rushed to save their goods and stocks from burning, but mostly to no use. These lines are being written before the Sun has risen after an evening of death and destruction but the dawn of hope is destined to follow no matter how dark is the night.

Zaid Hamid Lecture at Superior University

American Army’s frustration in chasing Taliban

‘You Have The Watches, We Have The Time’

Can Mr. Zardari survive the challenge?

Saleem Shehzad
Asia Times

The PPPP government has been given a deadline of December to clip the wings of the president and some of his ministers. What will happen if Mr. Zardari doesn’t accept the dedline and continues to fight the establishment, the parliament, the Supreme Court and Civil Society in Pakistan? That is the $1 million question. For now Mr. Gilani and Mr. Zardari seem to have come out swinging.

President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to go for direct public contact in order to restore his damaged image resulting from resurrection of corruption allegations against him after the demise of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

An open declaration of war by Zardari, now what?

Shaheen Sehbai

NAUDERO: Hearing President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday was a painful experience. All, including the diehard PPP jiyalas, were stunned. Their co-chairman had just declared war on every institution, without telling them who were the enemies, what they were doing and why. It was aptly described by a journalist on Facebook as Zardari’s farewell address.

It was an outburst of a beleaguered man who could not hold it any further, yet it was not impromptu. He thundered, made sarcastic digs, portrayed himself as the biggest victim (although just one year ago he was the biggest beneficiary, politically and financially), positioned himself as the ultimate fighter and launched the pre-emptive first strike after weeks and months of thinking. His words were very calculated and measured, prepared by speechwriters and advisers.

Unfortunately his words confirmed many conspiracy theories, which until now were considered and attacked as mere media speculation and uneducated guesses of some antagonists. For instance, he confirmed that there was a serious ongoing confrontation between him and the Pakistan Army and all attempts by the Generals to resolve the situation had failed. The recent meetings of top Generals with Zardari, PM Gilani and others can now be seen in this context. These meetings, it is now obvious, did not produce any positive outcome.

An address by a frightened man: Mushahid Hussain

ISLAMABAD: Mushahid Hussain (Secretary General, PML-Q) on Sunday dubbed the address of President Asif Ali Zardari a speech of a confused, frightened and angry person who sees enemies all around within Pakistan and outside.

“President Zardari tries to present himself as a victim rather than an accused, and it did not look like a presidential speech but partisan speech of a person who was under lot of pressure and under siege,” said Mushahid Hussain Syed.

He added there was no mention of vital issues like National Reconciliation Ordinance, corruption, governanceand rule of law. “I think this speech was made only to boost the morale of his party men but at the same time it directly hit the forces outside Pakistan,” he added.

He said last year at the same place and on the same occasion President Zardari had said that he knew the assassins of Benazir Bhutto but this time he did not refer to this issue.

The US military is exhausted

Sarah Lazare

The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered eight brutal years of occupation.

It is also a harsh blow to the US soldiers facing imminent deployment.

As Barack Obama, the US president, gears up for a further escalation that will bring the total number of troops in Afghanistan to over 100,000, he faces a military force that has been exhausted and overextended by fighting two wars.

Many from within the ranks are openly declaring that they have had enough, allying with anti-war veterans and activists in calling for an end to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some active duty soldiers publicly refusing to deploy.

This growing movement of military refusers is a voice of sanity in a country slipping deeper into unending war.

Youm-e-Iqbal Special Part 2

part 1

Americans To Land Only In Islamabad

By: Zulqarnain Haider
THE NATION

ISLAMABAD – Now Americans can land only on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed International Airport, Islamabad, as Government has banned other airports of the country for them. A reliable source informed TheNation that unusual activities of Americans in Pakistan have forced the Government to take this decision and the arrest of five US nationals from Sargodha also played a key role in it.

Intelligence agencies have been reporting about increasing anger and agony against Americans among the general public, as the US nationals don’t abide by the laws. On many occasions, US nationals publicly didn’t abide the law of the state, as four times in Lahore and six times in Islamabad they were stopped on various police checkpoints and illegal weapons were recovered from them, but still they were allowed to move freely. This raised many questions about the integrity of Pakistan, and political parties, civil society and media were openly protesting against this discrimination.

BrassTacks : The Real Quaid-e-Azam

In this Special Episode of Brasstacks Mr. Zaid Hamid pays tribute to the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and puts an end to the baseless propaganda that Jinnah wanted a secular state.

BrassTacks : Youm-e-Iqbal Special Part 1

Iqbal Day program was recorded on Iqbal Day but wasn’t aired, Finally aired on 25th of December 2009, on Quaid-e-Azam Birth Day. Guests included are Dr. Israr Ahmad, Dr. Javed Iqbal and Mr. Zaid Hamid

A Leader of Men

Malaika Khalid

The poetic dream of Allama Iqbal caught the imagination of the Muslims of Sub Continent under the dynamic leadership of Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who embarked upon the task of giving it a concrete shape of ideals and dreams. He structured and organized the comprehensive campaign for Pakistan, his audacious, adventurous, creativeness crystallized Dr. Muhammad Iqbal’s inspiration of Pakistan. The imagination and thought provoking message of Allama Iqbal was interpreted into realization when Baba-e-Quam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said:

“We are a nation, with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of value and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and traditions, aptitudes and ambitions, in short, we have distinctive outlook on and of life”.

Mr. Jinnah determined and toiled, aimed and struggled. He attained the aims and accomplished the goal he had set before him. He was a man of strong will power, determination as well as had a lofty character. He worked day and night and never bent down even to the greatest temptation. His friends and adversaries both appreciated and respected him. It was he who shaped the Pakistan Movement in tough resistance by Hindus as well as British, and therefore got a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Sub Continent.

The Passion of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

“Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which, we hope other will share with us. Pakistan is proud of her youth, particularly the students, who are nation builders of tomorrow. They must fully equip themselves by discipline, education, and training for the arduous task lying ahead of them“

Inspiration from The Great Quaid

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“The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow,’ but because you have advantage of learning the knowledge. You students, equipped as you are, you can, if you will, abandon irresponsibility and take to seriousness, then you can bring the senile, who are not following the right course, to the right course”

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“I particularly appeal to our intelligentsia and Muslim students to come forward and rise to the occasion. You have performed wonders in the past. You are still capable of repeating the history. You are not lacking in the great qualities and virtues in comparison with the other nations. Only you have to be fully conscious of that fact and to act with courage, faith and unity”

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“If we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor… you are free- you are free to go to your temples mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state… in due course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to Muslims- not in a religious sense for that is the personal faith of an individual- but in a political sense as citizens of one state”

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“My message to you all is of hope, courage and confidence. Let us mobilize all our resources in a systematic and organized way and tackle the grave issues that confront us with grim determination and discipline worthy of a great nation”

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“You have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of Islamic democracy, Islamic social justice and the equality of manhood in your own native soil. With faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve”

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“We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice. We will thereby be fulfilling our mission as Muslims and giving to humanity the message of peace which alone can save it and secure the welfare, happiness and prosperity of mankind”

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Jinnah: The Legend

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: An exceptional life, A charismatic personality, A saviour, A true leader…..

PKKH Quaid’s Day Special

PKKH Exclusive

Sumayya Chawla | Team PKKH

Jinnah: The Man of the Hour

Much has been written about our Quaid, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, about the amazing leadership qualities that he possessed and the determination and strength with which he fought for the attainment of an independent State for the Muslims of the subcontinent. His personality and his grace won the admiration of friends and foes alike.

However, there is a section of Pakistani society that deems Jinnah irrelevant to the present day Pakistan and does not miss any opportunity to belittle the impact that this great man had on humanity. There is a reason for this charade; Jinnah is a threat to the self-proclaimed ‘democratically elected’ leaders of Pakistan who are steeped in corruption and nepotism.  In the Pakistan of today, we see political parties loyal to ‘Quaid-e-Awams’, each focusing on their own particular mantra or slogan, each waving their own flag. The one leader who united us, who taught us the meaning of dignity and courage, is missing not only from the walls of the President House, but also from the hearts and minds of the sheeple who blindly follow these so called leaders. This particular section of society seems to think that Pakistan was created for the elite. The concern that Jinnah had for the Muslim Ummah, the very community that Pakistan was created for, has been set aside and the poor and downtrodden who in the words of Allama Iqbal were encouraged by Angels to ‘shake the foundations of society’ , have been forgotten.  While the Pakistani elite continue to grow stronger through political alliances and inter-marriages, common Pakistanis are struggling to break away from this stranglehold.

Kashmiris call for International probe after India rape cover-up

Ahmed Quraishi

The report of the pro-Indian government of Kashmir claimed that the two women – a 17-year-old and her 22-year-old sister-in-law – died by drowning, and not rape and murder at the hands of Indian occupation soldiers. The events of Dec. 15, 2009, mark another Kashmiri uprising against oppressive Indian rule. This is embarrassing for New Delhi and its allies in Washington and London, especially Pakistan cannot be blamed for this and after the move by China to stop treating Kashmiris as Indian citizens and World Bank’s decision to decline treating Kashmir as Indian territory.

Thousands of angry Kashmiris took to the streets on Dec. 15, a day after federal police investigating the deaths of two women said they “drowned” and were not raped and killed, triggering claims of a cover-up.

The deaths of Neelofar Jan, 22, and her sister-in-law, 17-year-old Asiya Jan, in May had sparked protests in the disputed Himalayan region. Locals said they had been sexually abused and killed by the security forces.

Four police officers were later arrested on charges of suppressing and destroying evidence in the case. The officers were freed in September, a move that further angered residents.

World Bank: Kashmir is not Indian territory

DM Monitoring

World Bank refuses to accept Kashmir as Indian Territory

—Says ‘NO’ to release funds to India for project in disputed region

NEW DELHI, India—The World Bank has refused to accept Indian Occupied Kashmir as an integral part of India and has rather insisted upon a disclaimer from the Jammu and Kashmir government that funding for a project will not be seen as recognition of India’s territorial claim on the state.
The agency has put a ‘disclaimer clause’ for bankrolling a key project in the disputed state which indicates that funding of projects in disputed areas should not be used to endorse territorial claims.

“If you have a query on World Bank’s decision on J&K, Ask Prabhu now”. This has been communicated to New Delhi by the occupying state government which wants the World Bank-funded Rs 740 crore ‘Participatory Watershed Management Project’ to be completed.

Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s Forest Minister Mian Altaf Ahmad, along with MPs from the state met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee recently in New Delhi to discuss the issue.

Jammu and Kashmir’s occupying government wants the New Delhi to settle issue with the World Bank, which has refused to fund more projects in the state, treating it as disputed territory between India and Pakistan. Ahmad said the World Bank had raised the disclaimer issue last year after assessment of the project which was then at the funding stage.

US may be funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight

Walter Pincus, The Washington Post

A House oversight subcommittee said Wednesday that it has begun a wide-ranging investigation into allegations that private security companies hired to protect Defense Department convoys in Afghanistan are paying off warlords and the Taliban to ensure safe passage.

“If shown to be true, it would mean that the United States is unintentionally engaged in a vast protection racket and, as such, may be indirectly funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight,” said Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.), chairman of the House oversight subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs.

Two weeks ago, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described the same situation before a Senate committee while discussing the truck convoys that bring supplies into landlocked Afghanistan. “You offload a ship in Karachi [Pakistan]. And by the time whatever it is — you know, muffins for our soldiers’ breakfast or anti-IED equipment — gets to where we’re headed, it goes through a lot of hands,” she said. “And one of the major sources of funding for the Taliban is the protection money.”

US faces harsh reality with Islamabad

Anne Gearan

Analysis: Hard reality as U.S. pushes Pakistan. Washington’s diplomatic dance with Islamabad has limits in terror fight.

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan will not go as far as Washington wants, and there’s nothing the U.S. can do about it: That’s the sobering reality as the U.S. tries to persuade a hesitant Pakistan to finish off the fight against terrorists.

Expand the current assault against the Taliban? Pakistan has made clear that will happen only on its own terms. U.S. officials acknowledge that so far they haven’t won the argument that militants who target America are enemies of Pakistan, too.

The U.S. has offered Pakistan $7.5 billion in military aid and broader cooperation with the armed forces. The assistance is intended to help Pakistan speed up its fight not only against internal militants, but also against al-Qaida and Taliban leaders hiding near the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistanis are deeply suspicious of America’s power and motives, making it difficult for their leaders to accede to Washington’s pressure in public, lest they look like U.S. puppets.

PAF gets mid-air refueller aircraft

Dawn

The first air-to-air refueller aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force has arrived, a PAF spokesman said on Saturday. Three more refueller aircraft are expected to be delivered to Pakistan by mid-2010, the spokesman said, adding that PAF’s overall potential in terms of its effectiveness to defend the airspace would be enhanced by virtue of its capability to refuel air defence aircraft in air.

Pakistan needs a good Leader: Babar

The Nation

Babar Ali, a prominent Pakistani businessman and philanthropist, citing leadership as Pakistan’s biggest problem has said, “Nobody is bothered about the masses.” What is most urgently needed, he told The New York Times, is “a good leader who will not think of himself first.”  Babar Ali’s comments were carried in the course of his profile carried by the newspaper on Saturday, noting that as two decades older than Pakistan, he has witnessed every turn in its tumultuous history. “Now, at 83, he feels he has earned the right to give it a bit of advice,” The Times correspondent, Sabrina Tavernise, wrote from Lahore.

ISI clearance mandatory for visit to Pak, foreigners told

In a major policy decision, the government has made it mandatory for the Pakistani missions abroad to issue visas to foreigners intending to visit Pakistan only after their clearance from the country’s top intelligence agency ISI.

Well-placed government sources told TheNation on Friday that the move had come after thorough deliberations and in view of the security situation in the country. Sources privy to these developments maintained that the decision had been taken after reports of undesired activities of some foreigners especially, the Americans and foreign journalists.  According to the informed sources, the intelligence agencies have taken serious notice of the objectionable activities of some foreign journalists in Gilgit-Baltistan during the recent elections.

Indian lawyer exposes how Indian Police creates fake terrorists with fake Pak links

Ahmed Quraishi

After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the American-British [Am-Brit] media highlighted how Indian police had arrested two Indian Muslims who had links to the Kashmiri group Lashkar Tayyiba. But the Am-Brit media goes silent when the truth comes out and it turns out that Indian military intelligence is involved in creating fake terrorists and blaming them on Pakistan.

NEW DELHI, India—The Indian police authorities and the officials of India’s notorious intelligence agency RAW are known for creating fake terrorists with fake links to Pakistan. Ajmal Kasab & company were not the first in this exercise. RAW and Indian police are practicing this art for years now. In a recent development, a daring Indian lawyer exposed one such drama and proved how the Indian police and RAW officials frame innocent people to prove them to be terrorists from Pakistan.

According to details, criminal lawyer M. S. Khan succeeded in proving the innocence of two Indian men who were alleged to be associates of a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba divisional commander.

Accused Mumbai Gunman Recants

NY Times

A Pakistani man who confessed in court to being one of the gunmen in the terrorist attacks on Mumbai last year recanted on Friday, saying the Indian police had framed him. A gunman, who was later identified as Mohammed Ajmal Kasab at the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai in November 2008.

It was the latest flip-flop from the suspect, Ajmal Kasab, who made a dramatic and detailed confession in July, explaining his role as one of 10 Pakistanis who attacked two luxury hotels, a busy train station and a Jewish center, killing more than 160 people over three days in November 2008. Photographs and security tape show him and a partner firing at commuters at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and dozens of witnesses have identified him. Nine of the attackers were killed in battles with the police.