— Indian ICC Chief working to get Pak team banned for 3 to5 years
— Pak govt smell rat behind the match fixing drama
— Bookie emerges as RAW man, introduced to Indian cricketers by RAW
— Bookie met Pak player in South Africa at a dinner for the first time in 2009
— Aamir like young players were the basic target
— English journalist got 50,000 Pounds to organize fake sting operation for RAW
— Indian High Commission at London played key role in Bookie’s bail.

From Cherry Ferguson in London, Kapil Verma in Mumbai and Ambreen Nadeem Janjua in Islamabad

… and making money out of Pakistani misfortune

• Someone in the Zardari government is colluding with the Indians and flooding Pakistani markets with Indian produce
• Zardari govt. colluded with US to allow Afghan-India trade at Pakistan’s expense
• Whose side is the Pakistani govt. on: India’s side, America’s side, or Pakistan’s side?
• Stop benefiting Indian cotton producers at Pakistan’s expense

EDITORIAL

TheNation

Friday, 27 August 2o10.

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

LAHORE, Pakistan—For anyone still believing in Indian altruism towards Pakistan in its hour of suffering and need, a brief look at Indian actions recently will put an end to any such illusions.

If India really wanted to offer aid to Pakistan without seeking political capital from it, it would have given it through the United Nations fund. But that was never the Indian intent.

After all, India has continued to release water into Pakistan’s overflowing rivers deliberately to aggravate the flood situation. This is why India has refused to put in place a telemetry system on its dams on Kashmiri rivers as part of the Indus Waters Treaty infrastructure.

Nor is this all.

Indian opportunism knows no bounds and the Indians are already exploiting Pakistan’s misfortunes as a result of the flood devastation – especially in the agricultural sector.

Already the markets in the cities are filled with Indian vegetables and one needs to ask how these are coming in? Have we removed all restrictions on Indian trade through Wagah?
But it is not just the vegetable market India is eyeing. The Indian government has already moved to take advantage of the destruction of the bulk of Pakistan’s cotton crop as a result of the floods. Knowing that the textile industry would suffer a shortfall of local cotton, the Indian government has lifted an earlier ban on cotton export to enable India to meet the Pakistani textile industry’s anticipated demand. The ban had been in place to keep domestic prices down. Now, with a bumper cotton harvest and ample rain, Indian producers are all ready to export cotton to Pakistan in October. Apparently Pakistan has been importing cotton from India earlier also. However, the dynamics are different now with India’s suspect role of releasing water into our overflowing rivers. There is also the present Indian hostile posturing towards Pakistan and its refusal to renew the composite dialogue. Finally, there is the renewed killing of Kashmiris by Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir. As it is, our government has maintained a shameful silence on this issue and no official voice has been raised in support of the new Kashmiri intifada.

To allow Indian cotton producers to benefit from our flood disaster would be immoral and politically ridiculous since it would effectively reflect a tacit condoning of India’s hostile posture. Not only should Pakistan’s textile industry look to other cotton producers like China, the Pakistan government should make its India policy, especially in terms of trade, transparent. What exactly have we given to India in terms of trade access? At a time when India is actively seeking to undermine Pakistan on all fronts including abetting militancy within the country, especially in Balochistan, Pakistan’s government needs to stand firm against any Indian intrusion into our economic sphere – especially at the cost of the people of Pakistan’s interests.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته ،،،

جب تم نماز نہ پڑهو تو مت سوچو كہ وقت نہيں ملا.  بلكہ يہ سوچو كہ تم سے كونسى غلطى ھوئى ھے كہ الله تبارک وتعالى نے تم كو اپنے سامنے كهڑا كرنا پسند نہ كيا … اس پر غور كرو!!!

اگر توكل سيكهنا ھے تو پرندوں سے سيكهو كہ جب وه شام كو گهر واپس جاتے ہيں توان كى چونچ ميں

كل كےلئيےكوئى دانہ نہيں ھوتا.

جو ايمان اتنا كمزور ھو كہ چل كر مسجد تک نہ جائے وه بهلا قيامت كے دن جنت ميں كيسے لے كر جائيگا……. غور كريں!!!!!

ہركوئى چاہتا ھے كہ مجہے كاميابى مل جائے ليكن جب مسجد سے دن ميں 5 مرتبہ آواز آتى ھے “حي على الفلاح” – (آؤ كاميابى كى طرف) – تو اس طرف جانے كى ہم زحمت نہيں كرتے.  افسوس كہ جس چيز كو وه سارى زندگى ہر جگہ تلاش كركے بهى حاصل نہيں كرسكا وه تو خود اسے اپنے پاس بلارہى ھے …. ذرا سوچيں!!!

الله رب العزت نے فرمايا اگر ميں نے تمام باتيں قسمت ميں لكھنى ہوتيں تو ميں اپنے بندے كو دعا مانگنا نہ سيكهاتا.

كوشش كرو كہ تم دنيا ميں رھو دنيا تم ميں نہ رھے كيونكہ كشتى جب تک پانى ميں رہتى ھے خوب تيرتى ھے ليكن جب پانى كشتى ميں جاتا ھے تو وه ڈوب جاتى ھے!!!

جزاك الله

By Irfan Husain

Daily DAWN

Demonstrators who support and oppose the proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque Park51 stand with signs in front of the site in New York August 25, 2010. - Photo by Reuters.

The ongoing furore over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque shows no sign of abating after weeks of noisy controversy. In a sense, it has become a litmus test of America’s cherished freedom of worship, as well as its tolerance of other people and other faiths.

But to put things in perspective, I would like to invite readers to imagine that a group of Christians asked for approval to build a church close to the site of an iconic building in Pakistan some of their fellow-believers had destroyed, killing thousands. How would we have responded?

Actually, this scenario is so implausible as to be practically meaningless. The sad reality is that non-Muslims in Pakistan live on sufferance, and it would be unthinkable for them to even dream of expanding their places of worship, let alone constructing new ones. A few years ago, I recall writing about the trials and tribulations of Christians trying to build a church in Islamabad despite having received official permission. They were bullied by a local mullah, and found no support from the city administration. Since then, things have got worse for the minorities.

The ongoing dispute in New York is another reminder of how civilised societies treat those citizens who do not subscribe to the majority faith. Much to his credit, New York’s Mayor Bloomberg (a Jew, by the way) approved the project, despite opposition from right-wing groups. It is President Barack Obama who has been a disappointment to liberals with his equivocation over the issue: after appearing to endorse it at an iftar event for Muslim ambassadors, he backtracked swiftly in the face of shrill and expected criticism from the right.

In a controversial article that appeared recently in the Ottawa Citizen (Mischief in Manhattan; 7 August), Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah, two Muslims who live in Canada, argued that proceeding with the project is tantamount to mischief-making, an act prohibited in Islam. The authors have been attacked for their stance on the Internet, with readers accusing them of taking a reactionary line.

The truth is that the issue has become highly divisive, with over 60 per cent of Americans opposing the project. Before readers think this reflects poorly on secular attitudes in the country, please recall that there are some 30 mosques in New York. What is really giving offence is the location of the proposed Muslim community centre as it is a couple of blocks from where the Twin Towers stood before 9/11.

For weeks now, this controversy has been in the news with talking heads on TV from across the political spectrum reviling or defending the project, initially dubbed the Cordoba Initiative. Critics have attacked the name of the centre for serving as a reminder of Muslim conquests in Europe. In response, the developer has said the name has been changed to Park51.

In such an emotionally charged debate, it’s hard to be rational. Logically, the location should be immaterial: after all, there is already a mosque in the area, not far from Ground Zero. So why should another make any difference? The truth is that the 9/11 attacks continue to resonate deeply in America, so what’s the point in insisting on a project that is like a red flag to a bull?

The project is expected to cost around $100 million, and many think the bulk of the money will come from Saudi Arabia, even though the source of the funds has not been made public yet. If this is indeed so, Raza and Fatah consider this would be a slap in the face of Americans as “nine of the jihadis in the Twin Towers calamity were Saudis”. More to the point for me is that the Saudis have been funding mosques and madressahs around the world, in addition to paying for chairs for Islamic studies at major universities. Many of these have been used to project the country’s official Wahabi version of Islam that has fuelled the rising tide of extremism and jihadi fervour. Against this backdrop, the question to ask is whether we need yet one more such mosque.

Raza and Fatah ask why the $100 million can’t be put to use to help people in Darfur and Pakistan instead? This is especially relevant in the context of the floods that are devastating much of Pakistan today. My own question is about reciprocity: if the Saudis can aggressively spread their ideology abroad, why can’t other beliefs build their places of worship in Saudi Arabia?

Currently, it is illegal to build a church, synagogue or temple in the country. Even importing copies of the Bible or the Torah is forbidden. Granted, Saudi Arabia is not an example of tolerance and freedom of worship. In fact, it is one of the most benighted societies on the planet where the royal family rules with an iron hand in partnership with the clergy. Nevertheless, every time the government or individual members of the ruling House of Saud wish to fund a religious centre abroad, they should be asked to open up their country to other faiths.

Liberal Americans will respond – to their everlasting credit – that their constitutional guarantee of freedom of worship should not be hostage to mediaeval attitudes in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. Ironically, given the choice between living in a religiously ordered state or in a secular country like America, Muslims have voted with their feet in the hundreds of thousands. Most of them are happier in their adopted home, and are free to worship as they please.

This is America’s major strength, and it would be a pity if the events of 9/11 were to erode it. Despite the strong religious strand in American society, it welcomes all faiths. All the more reason, then, for everybody in this melting pot to be respectful of others.

If I am having a meal with a devout Hindu friend at a restaurant, I would not dream of ordering a steak because I am aware that for him or her, cows are sacred. While we all have certain rights, we often do not choose to exercise them so as not to cause offence. This is what living in a heterogeneous society like America entails, so if Muslims opt to live there out of their own free will, it seems to me that they would be wise not to test the limits of tolerance.

The Aug 3, 2010 issue of the Quetta based newspaper, Azadi, carried details of the 35-page document which contains 14 chapters and 85 clauses. Omar’s constitution emphasis’s that jihad should be strictly in accordance with God’s command and the sunnah (Traditions) and every mujahid should win a place in the hearts of the people. Three days later, Afghan police discovered the bodies of 10 unarmed medial aid workers who were killed in the northern province of Badakshan. Six of the slain men and women were foreign volunteers who had traveled half way across the globe to provide medical care to impoverished  Afghan villagers. The Taliban proudly claimed responsibility.

Another clause in the new constitution cites the sharia and enjoins humane treatment of captured Afghan and foreign troops. It emphasis’s that the “cutting of ear,nose and lips is strictly forbidden.” Despite this, the mutilated remains of two US marines taken prisoner in Logar province by the Taliban on July 23, 2010 were recovered five days later by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

The constitution stipulates that alleged informs and spies should not even be arrested unless they are first made aware of Islamic techniques, warned and given the opportunity to repent. Yet a few weeks earlier, a 7 year old boy was hung on charges of spying. In July this year international media outlets reported that Mulla Omar had ordered his troops to kill or capture Afghan civilians, including women, who cooperate with  ISAF.

There have been scores of similar incidents in the guise of jihad. Afghanistan bleeds but Pakistan bleeds no less. More people have died in Pakistan because of terrorist act, perpetrated by the Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) and its supporters, in 2009 than in Afghanistan. Statistics compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies reveal that 3,021 people were killed and 7,334 were injured in 2,586 terrorist attacks which included 87 suicide bombings. The tally for Afghanistan, according to a UN report, was 2,412 civilian deaths.

The preceding years were no less conspicuous by violence. In Pakistan, the writ of the state was progressively eroded in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and in other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This was largely because the military operations undertaken against the TTP during the Musharaf era were never carried through. The peace deals that were subsequently negotiated with the Taliban not only gave them the space to regroup and rearm but also enabled them to consolidate their hold on almost the entire tribal territories where they enforced their own laws, levied taxes and ran the administration.

Subsequently, Swat was virtually handed over on a silver platter to the Tehree-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi of Maulana sufi Muhammad and to his firebrand son-in-law Mulla Fazlullah of the TTP, when the PPP led government allowed the former to impose his concept of Islamic justice under the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. The punishments inflicted on ordinary people were as swift as they were brutal. The words of Maximilien de Robespeirre (1758-1794), “Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, secure and inflexible,” proved true.

The government soon realized that appeasement never pays. The TTP promptly entered Buner while their influence spread like wildfire not only in the Malakand division but also over the entire province. Flushed with success, Sufi Muhammad declared the Constitution of Pakistan un-Islamic and vowed to impose the draconian rule of the Taliban not only in the country but also beyond. Military operations in Swat began on May 8, 2009 and after its successful culmination, in South Waziristan in the third week of October.

The difference between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP is not thicker that a thin sheet of paper. Their ideology is the same and both want to impose their obscurantist interpretations of Islam on the two neighboring countries. After the Afghan Taliban had captured Mazar-e-Sharif and all but defeated the Northern Alliance in May 1997, the abrasive Mulla Razzak, who had been appointed by the Taliban as their leader north of the Hindu Kush, bluntly asked the Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan, Aziz Ahmad Khan, who happened to be in Mazar-e-Sharif at the time, when Islamabad would enforce Islam in the country.

The Afghan Taliban, the TTP and the extremist outfits in southern Punjab constitute a triangle of terror and the symbiotic relationship between them was in evidence in April this year with the abduction of two former ISI officials, Col Sultan Amir Tarar (r), alias Col Imam, and Sqn Ldr Khalid Khawaja (r) by an obscure Punjab based group with the fanciful name of Asian Tigers. The two were taken to a TTP – controlled area in North Waziristan where Khawaja was murdered in cold blood while Imam’s life was spared after intercession on his behalf by Mulla Omar. He reportedly remains in the custody of either the Afghan Taliban or their Pakistani counterpart.

Despite this, some distinguish between the Afghan and the Pakistani Taliban in the belief that the former are “Pakistan-friendly.” Even if the presumption of a friendly Afghan Taliban is true, a hidebound policy that does not take into account new realities can be disastrous. Short-term expediency is counterproductive if it impacts adversely on long-term national interests and, in this context, we must not ignore the irredentist ambitions of all Afghan groups, including the Taliban, who do not recognize the Durand Line as the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

In the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and in the tribal regions of Pakistan the effectiveness of the overwhelming firepower available to both Kabul and Islamabad is substantially reduced against an amorphous enemy that avoids set-piece battles and relies exclusively on hit and run guerrilla tactics. furthermore the adversary is able to mobilize grassroots support for which it relies on the spirited dissemination of its skewed interpretation of Islamic doctrine. Just as the state needs to permanently win back its territorial sovereignty in parts of the country previously lost to the extremists, the people of Pakistan need to reclaim their religion from the same extremists. The only way to defeat the ideology of extremist violence disguised in the garb of false religion is through the Quran which describes itself as a Book “for people who think” and states categorically “Verily, the vilest of all creatures in the sight of God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason.” The famous Egyptian-born theologian, Jalal-ud-Din-a- Suyauti, (d. 1505), who is credited with 981 works, belived that “everything is based on the Quran.” In other words, the Quran is Islam and there cannot be more precise definition of the religion.

written by: S Iftikhar Murshed

Thanks: The News

• ‘Royal’ FM’s Fundraiser Costs National Kitty Heavily
• US$20,000 at NYC hotel to raise funds for flood victims!
• Options ignored: cheaper hotels, the residences of the Pakistani Consulate
• Why Amb. Haqqani failed to convince his boss this time to donate the expense to flood victims
• Upscale hotel because the minister is a ‘blue blooded Pakistani politician’ or because he’s a foreign minister?

By: Kaswar Klasra | Published: August 25, 2010

The Nation

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD – While thousands perished and millions were forced to flee from the floods that swept Pakistan this month, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, who came to New York City with a begging bowl in hand for foreign aid, was spending thousands of dollars per night at cushy five-star hotels in the US.
‘Beggars cannot be choosers’ evidently is an adage never heard by our honorable leaders. Be it a visit to the flood victims’ camps or a trip abroad to collect aid for the badly devastated country of ours by the unprecedented flash floods. Their style and status never appears to change.
To the shock and surprise of the entire nation, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the foreign minister of this unfortunate country spent as many as $20,000 from the national kitty during his stay in a luxury hotel in New York City.

[This hotel is normally the top choice for those interested in shopping and sightseeing. Here’s how one reviewer describes the hotel: “For those travelers who prefer luxurious accommodations in the heart of one of the most exciting cities in the world, the Inter-Continental The Barclay is ideal. The Barclay is just minutes from many of the attractions that make New York City such a vibrant and unique place to visit. Located in midtown Manhattan's East Side, the hotel boasts such famous and beloved neighbors as the exclusive shops of Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Broadway theaters and New York City's bustling business district.”]
The total expenditure of Qureshi’s visit including the spending on his six-member entourage may be much more.
Interestingly, when UK Prime Minister David Cameron came to NYC to attend a meeting (Qureshi went there to attend the same meeting) recently, he stayed at the British consulate residence. Qureshi proved to be more Royal than the Royal servants of her Majesty!
According to sources, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his delegation of six assistants who were in NYC recently to beg the world for aid, stayed at Barclay Continental Hotel, one of the most expensive hotels of the city, which cost the national kitty thousands of dollars. It is pertinent to mention here that it is the same hotel where President Asif Zardari has been staying as president whenever he is in New York City.
In comparison, Pakistan Air Force  Chief Qamar Suleman forced Ambassador Hussain Haqqani to cancel a lavish dinner in his honor during his recent visit there. Ironically, following the rejection by the Air Chief, Haqqani is said to have spun the rebuff and released a story to the official APP news agency that he himself had cancelled the dinner and donated the expense to flood victims.

Interestingly, the Foreign Minister’s hotel reservation was also managed by the same ambassador, who avoided hurting his own personal relationship with his boss (Foreign Minister) by suggesting the minister save money and stay at the ambassador’s residence, or at least at a less expensive hotel.
When contacted, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the figures regarding expenditure incurred on Qureshi’s stay at the hotel were far less than those mentioned by this correspondent ($20,000).
Such stories are not new for the Pakistanis. The National Assembly was told on April 24, 2008 that President General Pervez Musharraf and his wife had spent Rs1.5 billion from the national kitty on their foreign trips during his five-year tenure.
It was Foreign Minister Qureshi who disclosed that the former president had taken at least 1,325 visitors along with him in 37 trips since February 2003-2008. Musharraf’s visit to the USA to attend the book launching ceremony of his autobiography “In the Line of Fire” turned out the most expensive trip, as it cost Rs227 million.

Likewise, President Asif Zardari and his associates were busy in spending huge money from the national kitty on their stay in luxury hotels abroad, while thousands of people here in Pakistan were facing shortage of food and safe drinking water.

This report was published by TheNation under title, ‘Royal’ FM’s fundraiser costs the national kitty heavily.

o   A US client regime In Islamabad accepts insignificant Indian aid on US prodding

o   No respect for Kashmiri blood & no thought to Indian terrorism In Balochistan

By SHIREEN M. MAZARI

Sunday, 22 August 2010.

The Nation

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The Government of Pakistan has truly shown its subservience to the United States on whose orders it chose to accept the puny amount of $5 million Indian aid for the flood relief. This money has the blood of Kashmiris on it and one wonders how our Kashmiri brethren must be feeling as they face the bullets of Indian forces every day and see us taking Indian “aid”.
Some would say that we also took Indian assistance in the 2005 Kashmir earthquake but that was different in that the Indian aid was in kind and basically the two sides of Kashmir were opened up on humanitarian grounds. Later, it transpired that most of the Indian material aid, specifically targeted for Azad Kashmir, was tarnished. But even at that time we had refused to accept India’s offer of helicopters for relief work – an offer which also had the conditionality that Indian crews would come with these copters.
But to accept money from India at a time when the Kashmiri youth have risen afresh against the Indian occupation and are being killed on a daily basis, and at a time when India is targeting Pakistan on false charges again on a regular basis, is a shame for the entire nation. Even as PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif was declaring that Pakistan did not need Western assistance, the US ordered the Pakistani leadership to meekly accept the Indian aid offer. In fact, barely had Senator Kerry departed that the Pakistanis accepted US diktat yet again. Kerry also compelled the government to target Pakistani religious charities doing a remarkable job of relief work.
Here is a country, India, with whom we have fought wars; a country that was instrumental in breaking up Pakistan; a country that continues to deny the Kashmiris their right of self-determination; and the moment the US commands, we accept a meager amount of aid from this same India. How can anyone take our position on Kashmir seriously when we are prepared to forget the people of Kashmir at the mere offer of a blood-soaked $5 million Indian loan? Certainly this reflects our total abandonment of the Kashmiri people in their hour of dire need and moral support.
What can you expect though from a government which allows its President to break all protocol and stand next to a mere Senator from the US for a press conference? This is our shame today – we have effectively become a vassal state of the US.

This column was published by TheNation. Reach Dr. Mazari at callstr@hotmail.com

… And Donates $5 Million To Victims

At least 148 Pakistani villages have been evacuated today because of the Indian action

India’s massive Baglihar Dam in occupied Kashmir is destabilizing the region.

Former president Musharraf failed to check the construction of this dam and

the incumbent Pakistani government depends on Washington for survival

and won’t risk upsetting it by raising India’s water war.

SPECIAL REPORT

Saturday, 21 August 2010.

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—While Pakistani foreign minister and his government were busy accepting Indian aid for Pakistani flood victims, New Delhi released a massive 18,000 cusec feet of water from a dam in Indian-occupied Kashmir into Pakistan, prompting fresh fears of floods in the plains of Punjab and Sindh.

On 17 Aug., Pakistani website PakNationalists.com released a report [titled, “Check Indian, Afghan Dams For Floods In Pakistan”] providing indications that minor flooding in northern Pakistan following torrential rains was worsened by India releasing water form tens of small dams that litter occupied Kashmir. These Indian dams have been full for the past two to three years.

An Afghan dam near the Pakistani border, called the Sarobi Dam, is also suspected of releasing vast amounts of water into river Kabul. The Afghan dam is run by an Indian company.

Until a week ago, on 16 Aug., Pakistan’s Meteorological Office confirmed there was no chance of flooding in the northern rivers of Ravi and Satluj.

According to a report in TheNation today, India has released 18,000 cusec of water into Ravi in the early hours of Saturday. It is not clear if the Indians gave Pakistan a 24-hour advance warning in accordance with the water treaty between the two countries. It is also not clear if the release of this amount of water is warranted considering that India has constructed a network of small- and medium-sized dams across Indian-occupied Kashmir adjoining northern Pakistan.

According to the newspaper report, ‘flood warning has been issued here to five drainages of River Ravi catchment areas in wake of possible flood due to release of water in river Ravi by India here on Saturday. As per details, India has release 18000-cusec water in river Ravi that could cause flood in five drainages of Narowal and Shaker Garh. Metrological department had predicted water level in river Ravi would remain low during next 24 hours but after release of water by India low-level flood has hit drainage Bhutsen and Basantar of River Ravi catchment area.
At least 168 villages along river Ravi have been evacuated in wake of possible flood while district administration has been red alerted in Narowal and Sialkot. The flood center in Lahore has given prior high flood warning in drainage located in Shakar Garh. More four drainages Basantar, Jhajri, Oojh and Khattar could be affected by the possible flood. Water inflow of 70,000 cusec at Shahdara could cause massive destruction.

Despite sharing rivers with Afghanistan and Indian-occupied Kashmir, no flooding has been witnessed in either Afghanistan or Indian-occupied Kashmir. Successive waves of flooding in Pakistan despite no rains for the past ten days raise a question mark on the amount of water India has released from its dozens of dams in Kashmir exploiting torrential rains and what initially started as limited flooding in northern Pakistan.

The key point here is that the initial flooding in pockets of northern Pakistan was natural but the subsequent flood waves in the absence of rain are possibly linked to opening the floodgates of Indian dams and the Indian-run Sarobi Dam in Afghanistan. The selective melting of Himalayan glaciers into Pakistan is also a point of consideration. The theory of some experts that the speed of melting at certain glaciers doubled to coincide with torrential rains is highly unlikely and does not explain the successive flood waves in River Kabul coming in from Afghanistan.

There are no Pakistani observers posted at the main Indian dam of Baglihar to check how much water India released into Pakistan during the last two weeks. Baglihar has been a point of contention between Islamabad and New Delhi since 2005. Some analysts in Pakistan have described the dam as a national security threat. The last two years have confirmed Pakistani fears when India blocked Pakistan’s share of the rivers flowing from Kashmir, turning vast agricultural lands of central Pakistani plains into

A pro-US Pakistani government is loath to raise this issue with New Delhi in order not to alienate Washington and London, the two capitals that worked for the return from exile of key figures in the incumbent Pakistani government.

On US prodding, the Pakistani government officials have been indirectly defending the Indian position by denying that India is stealing Pakistan’s water and that Pakistan’s problem is water wastage.

A Canadian Sikh Leader Says The Sikh Nation Will Stand By Kashmiris, And Wants Freedom For Sikh Homeland

By HABIB YOUSAFZAI

Saturday, 21 August 2010.

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

TORONTO, Canada—Worried Indian diplomats sneaked behind the curtains of the windows at the building of the Consulate General of India in this Canadian city as Kashmiris, Pakistanis, and Sikhs gathered across the street, drawing the attention of the Canadian media and public to an important idea whose time has come: an end to the Indian occupation of Kashmir.

World Kashmiri Diaspora Alliance held a peaceful rally in front of the Consulate General of India in Toronto to ask the world powers important questions that must be answered that must be answered:

“Should India get away with defiance of international agreements?”

and,

“Who has given India a license for the genocide of the Kashmiris and other minorities?”

The demonstrators included children, women, and the elderly. They raised slogans of protest saying, “Kashmiris demand the right to life.”

Protesters were carrying placards demanding “Indian Army: quit Kashmir”; “We demand self-determination, as agreed upon in 1948”; “India honor her pledges given at the UN”; “Stop killings & inhumane crimes in Kashmir”; “Stop state terrorism in Kashmir”; “Kashmiris demand peace & justice”.

Since June, 2010, the Kashmir Valley has been burning. A renowned Kashmiri leader Farooq Siddiqui said:

“Our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins are undergoing unwanted sufferings and uncertainties. Protests and demonstrations have been rocking Kashmir; strikes and curfews have brought the Kashmir’s life to a standstill. We would like to draw the world attention on Indian armed personnel’s presence which is more than 800,000 in the civilian population to intimidate the Kashmiris. It is horrifying to imagine more than 192,685 killings, 215,877 arrests, and 110,000 disappearances, 115,665 home demolitions, committed by Indian Forces, leaving 122,675 widows and 207,218 orphans in the last six decades. India has been committing crimes such as rapes, torture, atrocities, humiliation, dehumanization and gross human rights violations of the Kashmiris. Nobody has paid any attention to the agony of the Kashmiris for over 63 years. Despite all these atrocities, India still claims to be the world’s largest democracy.  It is evident that India’s treatment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is vastly different than its other states. “

Canadians participated in the rally. Of special significance was the participation of activists from the United Front of Sikhs, a renowned Sikh organization based in Toronto, Canada.

Sikh leader Sardar Balkar Singh, a victim of India’s terrorism and in charge of the United Front of Sikhs, announced that the Sikh nation will work together with their Kashmiri brethren in order to achieve sovereignty for both Kashmir and Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that waits to be freed from Indian occupation.

He also stressed that they were present to show solidarity with their Kashmiri brothers and fully support to their just cause. They were also carrying banners displaying “The Indian Government must cease the illegal occupation of Khalistan.”

The Sikh leader said the Sikh nation has been struggling for the sovereignty of Punjab (Khalistan), which is also occupied by the Indian Government since the day India received freedom from Britain on August 15, 1947. This was day when the Sikh nation and PUNJAB were ‘robbed’ by the deceitful Indian government masters and made the Sikhs a ’Landless Sikh Nation.” So far, India has murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent Sikhs since 1984.

Habib Yousafzai,  a member and spokesperson in Toronto for the World Kashmiri Diaspora Alliance, strongly demanded that, “The Indian democracy must honor its own words to the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir whose sovereignty is disputed as per various United Nations resolutions. Their fate should be decided by the right of Self-Determination by the people of Kashmir. The New Delhi administration, he said, must:

i.                    declare ceasefire against Kashmiri innocent peoples

ii.                 remove curfew, and

iii.               withdraw all its armed forces to let the people of Jammu and Kashmir decide their own destiny and the future for their coming generations, by a democratic verdict of referendum

Others who addressed the rally included Mr. Mohammed Aslam Rathure, Mr. Hussain Yousafzai, Mr. Mueen Hakak, Mr. G.S. Dhaliwal, Mr. Altaf Qazi, Sardar Kuljit Singh and Ms. Khaoula Siddiqi.

• Both US And PAF Are Responsible For Flood Relief Hurdles
• Aid workers confirm they can’t reach half a million victims due to a US-related security cordon
• Jacobabad cut off from the rest of the country

Pakistan Air Force arranged a hurriedly organized media tour yesterday to prove that the base is not under US control. But this does not appear to be the whole truth. Over the past eight years, PAF offered and withdrew different types of facilities to US military at the base. The Americans used the base mostly for logistical purposes and not to stage direct attacks against targets in Afghanistan or inside Pakistan’s northwestern region. But there were times when the number of US personnel at the base crossed 200, including special-forces operatives. According GlobalSecurity.org, Pakistani newspaper Daily Times claimed on 10 March 2004 that the airbase was under US control, “with an inner ring of facilities off-limits to Pakistan’s military,” according to the paper. But in August 2010, there is credible information that new special residential barracks for US personnel have been constructed. Unfortunately, Pakistan has accepted to house US personnel who will ensure the country’s doesn’t ‘misuse’ the new F-16s. So despite PAF’s – and US Embassy’s – sharp reaction, it is clear there is some merit to the statement of Federal Health Secretary Kamran Lashari that US presence at the base is preventing using the base for flood relief operations. Another related issue is the level of Pakistani involvement in CIA drone attacks inside Pakistan that have killed a huge number of innocent Pakistanis and turned Pakistani citizens against their country. [PakNationalists.com]

By: Kaswar Klasra | Published: August 20, 2010

The Nation.

WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan–The floods have not only shown the ineptitude of the Pakistan government but also the confusion that prevails within government institutions. On Wednesday the Federal Health Secretary informed a Senate Panel that Jacobabad air base was under the US control so health relief operations could not be provided.

On Thursday, the PAF through APP issued a strange press release stating that “certain sections of the print and electronic media have wrongly reported that the PAF Base Shahbaz (Jacobabad) is under the control of the US. This has been spread by uninformed people”. So was the PAF referring to Federal Health Secretary Khushnood Lashari as “uninformed? After all, it was he who gave out the information about the Base being under the US control and to a Senate Panel.
While the PAF stated that Shahbaz Base was under complete command and control of the PAF and was being used extensively for providing relief and medical care to the affected people of the area, the US embassy had already issued another interesting response to the Khshnood Lashari’s claim. On Thursday, the US press note issued from Embassy of US in Islamabad stated that Shahbaz Air Base in Jacobabad is a Pakistan Air Force Base and is commanded and operated by PAF forces. The base is home to Pakistan’s newest F-16 Block 52s, which arrived this summer. PAF personnel maintain high security standards there to ensure that the technologically advanced aircraft can be securely maintained and operated from the base. On August 18, at the request of the Pakistan government, US Air Force C-130 aircraft flew to Shahbaz Air Base from the Pakistan Air Force Base in Rawalpindi bringing urgently needed relief supplies for Jacobabad.
What was left unsaid was that it was the PAF that was denying all manner of access to the airbase because of the presence of US personnel who had come along with the Block 52 F-16s, which were delivered at this base and had US conditions attached to the delivery of the planes, including the presence of US personnel to “keep an eye” on how the planes were used by the PAF. While the PAF was responsible for the security of the base, it was the pressure from the US on security grounds that was preventing access to the base-even for Pakistanis who had been involved in carrying out building work at Shahbaz.

So, it appears that both the US military and the PAF together are responsible for the relief work hurdles as news from the ground shows that the hurdles are very much there. Hopes are fading away to provide food and clean drinking water to 500,000 to 700,000 people who have been displaced from Jacobabad, Thul, Kandhkot, Kashmore Ghouspur and Karumpur (currently camping in Dera Allah Yar) as Jacobabad was still no-go area for choppers or C-130 due to security concerns to the American personnel deployed at the Jacobabad air base, well-informed sources told TheNation on Thursday. Organisers of national and international NGOs told TheNation on condition of anonymity, when contacted on telephone, that they could not reach Jacobabad to provide food and drinking water to as many as 500,000 to 700,000 flood victims due to strict security conditions adopted for Shahbaz Air Base. Although Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman has ordered PAF to form an air bridge of relief supply for Jacobabad which has been cut off from the rest of the country and make operational an airfield near Sibi for immediate supply of relief goods to flood-hit areas in the vicinity, however, Jacobabad is still the only location in Pakistan where rescue choppers of PAF have no access to carry out relief operations.

The sources told this scribe that foreign health teams could not start their relief operations in remote areas because there are not airstrips close to several areas, including Jacobabad.
The town has been evacuated and 500,000 to 700,000 people have been affected. The people displaced from Jacobabad, Thul, Kandhkot, Kashmore, Ghouspur and Karumpur are camping in Dera Allah Yar.
Earlier, it was reported that Shahbaz Air Base was under control of American personnel who were guarding the air base while monitoring the operations of F-16s against militants and extremists in FATA and Waziristan. As one seeks to discover the reality on the ground, the flood-stricken people of this devastated area of Sindh continue to suffer.

Report published by TheNation. Newspaper’s rights are reserved.

By Air Cmdre (r) Khalid Iqbal

Like the United States, Pakistan has a long history of looking towards the military for help in case of natural disasters and hazards. This interaction of armed forces with common public, during times of distress, earns a perennial good will for the armed forces. Due to their organic characteristic of responsiveness, the armed forces are generally the first agency to reach to the suffering lot and carry out rescue operations. Hence they make the first and lasting impression on the minds of public at large.

This time around also, it was no different. The three services sprang into action immediately and rescued hundreds and thousands during marginal weather; the effort goes on, involving over 60,000 personnel, encompassing all facets of search, rescue and relief.

Massive damage to rail-road networks and washing away of bridges has made aircraft as the only choice to reach out to the large chunks of stranded population. Transport fleet of Pakistan Air Force and air arms of our Army and Navy were the first flag bearers of hope for the stranded people. Naval commandos and their boats were the only mean of contact when unrelenting torrential rains kept the aircraft from flying.

Prompt provision of a large fleet of helicopters by the Unted States has made a significant contribution in speeding up of relief operations. These days, dual rotor Chinooks symbolise the good will of United States towards the people of Pakistan, during their times of distress. USAID and other American NGO’s already present in Pakistan quickly adapted to the situation and joined the relief effort. Interim halting of drone attacks has been well received in the public; hopefully this will lead to perennial moratorium, even though undeclared. To date, USA is the largest international donor in cash and kind. This wholesome enabling approach by the United States to combat the menace of floods is earning much desired and long awaited public good will towards America.

Simultaneously with the armed forces of Pakistan and the American Chinooks, another community to reach out to the flood affectees were numerous Religious and Social Charities of Pakistan. Due to their perennial participation in the social services field, these charities have the advantage of spontaneous reach to grass root level. Their highly motivated volunteers need no formal order and onset of a calamity is itself an order for them to react.  Hence, when torrential monsoon rains flooded the country, sparking Pakistan’s worst-ever humanitarian crisis, religious and social charities moved fast, much faster than the governmental bureaucracy. These organisations are indeed our national pride. This also speaks volumes about our vibrant civil society, whose generous donations provide working capital for these charities.

Banned in Pakistan and on a UN terror list, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) is one of the numerous religious organisations which are active in providing relief to millions of survivors. This organization was instrumental in filling a void created by the inertia of the civilian government to mobilise. JuD’s newly set up welfare organisation ‘Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation’ is making invaluable contribution towards overall relief operations.

Unfounded fears are being aired that such charities are using soft power to propagate extremism in the state. It would be in the fitness of the things that social services and humanitarian activities of these charities be duly recognised instead of subjecting them to unnecessary stereotyping.

As regards required quantum of resources, the needs inevitably exceed the government’s response capacity, 14-16 million people are in urgent need of help. World community is already involved in relief work through international aid agencies, which are engaged in Pakistan in post-military operations scenario like Swat etc.   Aid agencies have food stocks and other emergency supplies but they are facing problems as to how the aid should be transported to the affectees as basic infrastructure is no more there on the ground. Hopefully, arrival of 19 additional US Naval helicopters would significantly enhance the reach of aid workers.

Nevertheless, there is a dire need to restore the infrastructure, at a fast pace, to enable continued access to the affectees. American donation of a number of prefabricated steel bridges have boosted the national effort towards early restoration of access to the stranded people.

Natural calamities are a matter of routine in Pakistan. However, the ongoing spate of floods is of a rare category. Floods were expected this summer but their magnitude was not anticipated to be of such a scale. The monsoon floods that swept across the country have destroyed homes, farms, factories and means of livelihoods for millions of people, at a pretty fast pace. The national response was not geared up to the required level. Likewise, the international response took more than usual reaction time to start cranking.

Now a major international relief operation is in its full swing. More than 160,000 people have so far received UN’s emergency shelter and relief assistance in flood affected areas of Pakistan. This organization launched an initial US$ 41 million appeal to meet the needs of people affected by the disaster. Initial programme of the United Nations aimed at helping 80,000 families. However, realising that the people of Pakistan urgently need the support of the international community at a much larger scale, the UN has launched a flash appeal for additional US$ 460 in emergency aid.

UNHCR component in Pakistan spontaneously retooled it self to flood relief operations, it is focusing its flood relief efforts mainly in Khyber Paktunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, where it is already assisting Pakistani communities and internally displaced persons due to conflict. The agency has also started its relief operations in Sindh.

Aid agencies in Pakistan are warning that unless international assistance increases substantially and soon, many more lives would be at risk. The warning comes as flood waves continue to move further south. Tents, ready to eat meals and medicines for water borne diseases are the top priority requirement.

Pakistani’s are a resilient nation blessed with vibrant civil society. In due course, it will surely overcome the effects of floods.  However, as we cope with the calamity, there is a need to put our house in order. Only a short while before the floods, the provinces were at each other’s throat on the issue of scarce water supply for irrigating the crops. And now proverbially, it is ‘water water all round, not a draught to drink’. Effects of this flood could have been mitigated to a large extent had we built adequate rain/flood water storage facilities.

It is time for the national political leadership to do an exercise in soul searching and rise to the occasion to formulate a ‘national water management policy’. It should be a bipartisan approach on the pattern of the ones adopted for the National Finance Commission Award and the landmark 18th constitutional amendment.
While living in the sophisticated 21st century, we can not leave millions of our people at the mercy of recurring natural calamities, for which preventive measures are within our reach and capacity. This event also calls for casting a fresh look at our disaster management strategy. We need to evolve a responsive and proactive disaster management organization, equipped and motivated to be the first agency to reach out to the suffering people.