Lost My World as Lost My Face

Pakistan has been scarred with innumerable cases of women being subjected to abuse. Many of these cases are reported, while many others go unreported. Acid burnings are amongst one of the most horrifying crimes against women in Pakistan.

Azim Mai’s husband allegedly threw acid in her face last year after she refused to sell their two boys to a man in Dubai to use as camel racers. The 35-year-old mother of five from Islamabad can no longer find work as a maid because her deeply scarred face scares potential employers.

Acid burnings are among the most horrific crimes against women in Pakistan that are now criminalized in a landmark set of laws passed by the parliament. They stand to protect millions of women from common forms of abuse in a conservative, Muslim country with a terrible history of gender inequality.

Rights activists praised the laws Tuesday while stressing their passage was just the first step, and likely not the hardest one. It could be even more difficult to get Pakistan’s corrupt and inefficient legal system to protect women’s rights that many men in this patriarchal society likely oppose.

“This is a big achievement for the women of Pakistan, civil society and the organizations that have been working for more than 30 years to get women friendly bills passed,” said Nayyar Shabana Kiyani, who has lobbied for the legislation as part of The Aurat Foundation, a women’s rights group.

“We can’t really get good results until the laws are implemented at the grassroots level,” she added.

Mistreatment of women is widespread in Pakistan, a nation of some 175 million where most people are poor, only half the adults can read and extremist ideologies, including the Taliban’s, are gaining traction.

After a very long struggle for the right s of women, ‘Acid Burning’ has been officially criminalized in Pakistan in a landmark set of laws passed by the parliament.These laws stand to protect millions of women from common forms of abuse in a gender biased country like Pakistan.

In 2010, at least 8,000 acid attacks, forced marriages and other forms of violence against women were reported, according to The Aurat Foundation. Because the group relied mostly on media reports, the figure is likely an undercount.

Women are discriminated against in other ways as well. Pakistan ranked third to last in 2011 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, only beating Chad and Yemen. The report captures the magnitude of gender-based disparities in things like health and education.

The new laws explicitly criminalized acid attacks and mandated that convicted attackers would serve a minimum sentence of 14 years that could extend to life, and pay a minimum fine of about $11,200.

Other new laws mandate a minimum prison sentence of three years for forcing a woman to marry, including to settle tribal disputes; five years for preventing a woman from inheriting property; and three years for a practice known as “marriage to the Holy Quran.”

Feudal families in rural areas of Pakistan engage in this practice so that women won’t receive marriage proposals and their share of the inheritance will stay in the family, said Farzana Bari, head of the gender studies department at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.

“This legislation addresses the patriarchal traditions that have been used against women to violate their rights,” said Bari. “People have been doing these kinds of things for so long that they don’t even think it’s unjust.

Past bills aimed at protecting women have met resistance from Islamic and other conservatives in parliament. But the latest measures were passed unanimously by both the Senate and the National Assembly and will go into effect once the president signs them.

Mai, the acid attack victim who also has three daughters, was happy with the passage of the laws but favored even harsher punishment, including for her husband, who she said was in jail awaiting trial. It was unclear whether the new laws would affect her husband’s case, since the alleged crime occurred before their passage.

The couple was living in Rahim Yar Khan, a very conservative city in Punjab province, when he attacked her for refusing to sell their children, she said. Many South Asian children have been trafficked to the Gulf to work as camel racers.

“I lost my job, I lost my face, and I have been facing hunger and poverty,” Mai said during an interview at the offices of the Acid Survivors Foundation, a charity in Islamabad treating acid attack victims. “I am happy over the passage of this bill, but I will only be satisfied when authorities throw acid in the face of my husband.”

Previously, victims had to prosecute attacks as attempted murder or disfigurement and were largely unsuccessful, said Valerie Khan, head of the Acid Survivors Foundation.

“This is a clear message that impunity will not exist anymore,” said Khan. “It’s a strong deterrent message.”

Activists said it will take more work to change people’s attitudes and get the laws implemented, but they were prepared.

“It might take another 10 to 20 years to change society’s mindset and public will,” said Kiyani from The Aurat Foundation. “That’s a challenge for both the government and civil society.”

Five Innocents Brutally Murdered without Any Charge by Forces in Pakistan-More victims of War against Terror

QUETTA: Five foreigner people were killed including three women one was seven months having a baby in fake encounter by security forces in Quetta city of Balochistan province of Pakistan . While police and other law enforcement agencies’ investigators are silent about the killing on Tuesday of five Chechen suspects, witnesses say they were unarmed, had not put up any resistance and appeared ready to surrender.

Hospital sources said on Wednesday that the three women and two men had died on the spot of multiple bullet wounds and one of the woman was killed seven month pregnant.

All the bodies were found at a picket of the Frontier Corps surrounded by barbed wires.

According to officials who tried to reconstruct the scene, the suspects had gone to the checkpoint for shelter or to surrender
when they saw a heavy contingent of law enforcement personnel who had rushed to Killi Khezi after receiving a wireless message from a police post on the Airport Road about the entry into the area of a vehicle carrying suspected foreigners.

According to sources, they had hired the vehicle in Kuchlak, for coming to Quetta with the help of two local people. They had crossed two police posts, but policemen deployed at the third one told them to accompany them to the police station near the airport. While on way to the police station, the local men and the driver forcibly offloaded a policeman accompanying them and sped away. After some time, the driver, Ataullah, stopped the vehicle and refused to take them to Quetta. The Chechens stepped off the vehicle, offered prayers in a mosque in Killi Khezi and asked local people to guide them to an address.But all of a sudden they found themselves surrounded by police and Frontier Corps personnel.The frightened Chechens moved to the nearby FC post, apparently to surrender or take refuge.” They raised their hands as a gesture of surrender but law enforcement personnel opened indiscriminate fire at them,” witness Irfan Khan alleged.

A private TV channel telecast the shooting by security personnel and an injured woman waving her hand and pleading with them to stop firing.

“An investigation is under way on the basis of information being collected from some mobile phones and a diary,” Quetta police chief Daud Junejo told Dawn on Wednesday night. He insisted that the Chechens were armed and had hurled a grenade at the checkpost.However, no other official of the security agencies involved in the firing was ready to comment on the incident.

People who witnessed the action of law enforcement personnel expressed doubts about the official claims, saying that no
suicide vests, grenades or weapons were found from the bodies. Their hands and feet were tied with ropes. They were seems innocent. They begged their lives.

“I did not see any suicide jacket or bomb strapped to the bodies,” a senior journalist who was at the place when the incident took place told .

A senior police officer who had searched the bodies also said not even a knife had been found.

“Only five passports were found in their pockets,” he added.

The statements of police and FC officials were contradictory, too. Police said the Chechens were carrying suicide jackets, while FC officials claimed that they had grenades in their hands. Another question being raised here is why the suspects were not arrested when they were injured.

“They could have been arrested alive because they were unarmed,” an officer of a law enforcement agency said.

He said the suspects could have provided useful information. The officer said he believed that security personnel opened fire out of a fear that the suspects might have been wearing suicide vests. The bodies were lying in the morgue of the Bolan Medical Complex after postmortem.

Sources said the Chechens had not crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan in the recent past and it appeared that they had come to Kuchlak from North Waziristan.

Their passports had expired two years ago, an official said.

Amanullah Kasi adds: The Balochistan National Party-M, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and Jamaat-i-Islami have called for an impartial investigation into the incident.Leaders of the parties said there were contradictions in the statements of security forces. They claimed that they had information about the arrival of terrorists intending to carry out suicide attacks, but failed to explain how the suspects had managed to reach Kuchlak, near the provincial capital.

The leaders said all vehicles were searched at the Baleli checkpoint by FC, police and Levies personnel, but the Chechens appeared to have dodged them.

They said that if the security forces’ version of the incident had been correct, the suicide vests would have blown up when police and FC personnel opened fire on the ‘terrorists’.

Residents of Kharotabad said to media that police had made illegal demands on the foreigners before carrying out the “fake encounter”.

The residents were flanked by Provincial Joint Secretary Tehrik-e-Insaaf Saifur Rehman.

“The Chechen nationals were unarmed and possessed no explosive material. They were carrying prayer books, shampoos and some cloths,” the residents said.

The postmortem report belies Quetta police’s claim that all the five foreigners, two men and three women, had died in an explosion. A medico-legal officer of the BMC Teaching Hospital said that as many as 21 bullets were found from the bodies of the deceased.

Police surgeon Dr Baqar Shah, who conducted autopsies on the five bodies, said one of the deceased women was seven moths pregnant. “Body of the 25 to 30-year-old woman bore multiple marks of wounds. We have recovered four bullets from her body that caused her instant death,” he said, adding there was no splinter wound on her body. However, the surgeon added that the other four bodies bore multiple marks of splinter wounds.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani on Friday ordered a judicial inquiry into the killing of the five Chechens, who possessed Russian passports.

However, the chief secretary advised that a judicial probe by a high court judge would cover all the aspects of the foreigner’s deaths in Quetta. The Balochistan governor has also presented a similar suggestion.

Under the Balochistan Tribunals Inquiry Ordinance 1969, Raisani has made a request to the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court for assigning the task of the judicial inquiry to a senior judge.

Human rights groups hailed the chief minister’s decision to go for a judicial probe. Human right activists questioned police and others that how come a pregnant woman, in advanced stage of pregnancy, can accompany terrorists or was involved in a terror act.

Five Innocents Brutally Murdered By Forces In Pakistan-More victims of War Against Terror

QUETTA: Five foreigner people were killed including three women one was seven months having a baby in fake encounter by security forces in Quetta city of Balochistan province of Pakistan . While police and other law enforcement agencies’ investigators are silent about the killing on Tuesday of five Chechen suspects, witnesses say they were unarmed, had not put up any resistance and appeared ready to surrender.

Hospital sources said on Wednesday that the three women and two men had died on the spot of multiple bullet wounds.

All the bodies were found at a picket of the Frontier Corps surrounded by barbed wires.

According to officials who tried to reconstruct the scene, the suspects had gone to the checkpoint for shelter or to surrender
when they saw a heavy contingent of law enforcement personnel who had rushed to Killi Khezi after receiving a wireless message from a police post on the Airport Road about the entry into the area of a vehicle carrying suspected foreigners.

According to sources, they had hired the vehicle in Kuchlak, for coming to Quetta with the help of two local people. They had crossed two police posts, but policemen deployed at the third one told them to accompany them to the police station near the airport. While on way to the police station, the local men and the driver forcibly offloaded a policeman accompanying them and sped away. After some time, the driver, Ataullah, stopped the vehicle and refused to take them to Quetta. The Chechens stepped off the vehicle, offered prayers in a mosque in Killi Khezi and asked local people to guide them to an address.But all of a sudden they found themselves surrounded by police and Frontier Corps personnel.The frightened Chechens moved to the nearby FC post, apparently to surrender or take refuge.” They raised their hands as a gesture of surrender but law enforcement personnel opened indiscriminate fire at them,” witness Irfan Khan alleged.

A private TV channel telecast the shooting by security personnel and an injured woman waving her hand and pleading with them to stop firing.

“An investigation is under way on the basis of information being collected from some mobile phones and a diary,” Quetta police chief Daud Junejo told Dawn on Wednesday night. He insisted that the Chechens were armed and had hurled a grenade at the checkpost.However, no other official of the security agencies involved in the firing was ready to comment on the incident.

People who witnessed the action of law enforcement personnel expressed doubts about the official claims, saying that no
suicide vests, grenades or weapons were found from the bodies. Their hands and feet were tied with ropes. They were seems innocent. They begged their lives.

“I did not see any suicide jacket or bomb strapped to the bodies,” a senior journalist who was at the place when the incident took place told Dawn.

A senior police officer who had searched the bodies also said not even a knife had been found.

“Only five passports were found in their pockets,” he added.

The statements of police and FC officials were contradictory, too. Police said the Chechens were carrying suicide jackets, while FC officials claimed that they had grenades in their hands. Another question being raised here is why the suspects were not arrested when they were injured.

“They could have been arrested alive because they were unarmed,” an officer of a law enforcement agency said.

He said the suspects could have provided useful information. The officer said he believed that security personnel opened fire out of a fear that the suspects might have been wearing suicide vests. The bodies were lying in the morgue of the Bolan Medical Complex after postmortem.

Sources said the Chechens had not crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan in the recent past and it appeared that they had come to Kuchlak from North Waziristan.

Their passports had expired two years ago, an official said.

Amanullah Kasi adds: The Balochistan National Party-M, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and Jamaat-i-Islami have called for an impartial investigation into the incident.Leaders of the parties said there were contradictions in the statements of security forces. They claimed that they had information about the arrival of terrorists intending to carry out suicide attacks, but failed to explain how the suspects had managed to reach Kuchlak, near the provincial capital.

The leaders said all vehicles were searched at the Baleli checkpoint by FC, police and Levies personnel, but the Chechens appeared to have dodged them.

They said that if the security forces’ version of the incident had been correct, the suicide vests would have blown up when police and FC personnel opened fire on the ‘terrorists’

Death of Osama bin Ladin

“In an intelligence driven operation, Osama Bin Ladin was killed in the surroundings of Abbotabad city of Kyber Pakhtunkhawa province in NW Pakistan in the early hours of this morning. This operation was conducted by the US forces in accordance with declared US policy that Osama bin Ladin will be eliminated in a direct action by the US forces, wherever found in the world.

Earlier today, President Obama telephoned President Zardari on the successful US operation which resulted in killing of Osama bin Ladin.

Osama bin Ladin’s death illustrates the resolve of the international community including Pakistan to fight and eliminate terrorism. It constitutes a major setback to terrorist organizations around the world.

Al-Qaeda had declared war on Pakistan. Scores of Al-Qaeda sponsored terrorist attacks resulted in deaths of thousands of innocent Pakistani men, women and children. Almost, 30,000 Pakistani civilians lost their lives in terrorist attacks in the last few years. More than 5,000 Pakistani security and armed forces officials have been martyred in Pakistan’s campaign against Al-Qaeda, other terrorist organizations and affiliates.

Pakistan has played a significant role in efforts to eliminate terrorism. We have had extremely effective intelligence sharing arrangements with several intelligence agencies including that of the US. We will continue to support international efforts against terrorism.

It is Pakistan’s stated policy that it will not allow its soil to be used in terrorist attacks against any country. Pakistan’s political leadership, parliament, state institutions and the whole nation are fully united in their resolve to eliminate terrorism

The real identification of Raymond Devis

An American National 36 years Raymond Devis US consular employee in Lahore consulate was  killed two Pakistani motorcyclist by shot his illegal weapon  in  broad daylight at public place in Lahore city of Punjab province of Pakistan on 27 Jan 2011.

Davis (whose identity was first denied and later confirmed by the US Embassy in Islamabad), and the embassy have claimed that he was hired as an employee of an US security company called Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, which was said to be located at 5100 North Lane in Orlando, Florida. Business cards for Hyperion were found on Davis by arresting officers.

Firstly, there is not and never has been any such company located at the 5100 North Lane address. It is only an empty storefront, with empty shelves along one wall and an empty counter on the opposite wall, with just a lone used Coke cup sitting on it.

His real name is Erik Prince .He is the CEO of Black water ,Zee worldwide and Dyn Crop and many other security agencies .Before holding this position he joined special services group of USA Army for 10 years and agent of CIA.He is commandoSharp shooter GPS Explosive device expert ,Directly assisting Obama for War on terror and he was given the task to select the target for Drone attacks on behalf of Pakistan Government .He was posted  in Peshawar consulate  of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province of Pakistan in 2007.

But due to this unethical and undiplomatic activities and conformed by intelligence reports of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Government declared him personanangrata and made request to Federal Government to deaf ear towards the demand of KPK Government by Federal Government the Provincial Government deport him from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.

“During the course of investigation, police retrieved photographs of some sensitive areas and defence installations from Davis’ camera,” a source told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity. “Photos of the strategic Balahisar Fort, the headquarters of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Peshawar and of Pakistan Army’s bunkers on the Eastern border with India were found in the camera,” the source added.

The police had recovered a digital camera, a Glock pistol and a phone tracker along with a charger from Davis after his arrest. The Punjab government considers Davis a security risk after the recovery of the photos of sensitive installations, said the source.

The Obama administration has been pressuring Pakistan to release Davis who, according to it, “is a member of the administrative and technical staff of the mission” and therefore enjoys diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.

Raymond Davis  employee assigned as a contract to the US Consulate in Lahore, Davis was likely not on the diplomatic list and probably did not enjoy full diplomatic immunity. He was probably considered a member of the administrative or technical staff. Protecting himself during a robbery attempt would not be considered part of his function in the country, and therefore his actions that day would not be covered under functional immunity. So determining exactly what level of immunity Davis was provided will be critical in this murder case.

NATO Defeated In Afghanistan

Amazing as it sounds, NATO, the world’s most powerful military alliance, may be losing the only war the 61-year old pact ever fought. All its soldiers, heavy bombers, tanks, helicopter gunships, armies of mercenaries, and electronic gear are being beaten by a bunch of lightly-armed Afghan farmers and mountain tribesmen. This weekend in Lisbon, NATO’s 28 members face deepening differences over the Afghanistan War as public opinion in the United States, Canada and Europe continue to turn against the conflict.

President Barack Obama again painfully showed he is not fully in charge of US foreign policy. His pledge to begin withdrawing some US troops from Afghanistan next July has been brazenly – even scornfully – contradicted by US generals and strongly opposed by resurgent Congressional Republicans. Hardly anyone believes the president’s withdrawal date. Obama is fresh from groveling before Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He pleaded with Israel’s leader to impose a short, token freeze on settlement building in exchange for a multi-billion dollar bribe from Washington of advanced US F-35 stealth warplanes, promises of UN vetoes, and raising the value of US arms stockpiled for Israel’s use to $1 billion. Rarely has a US president crawled so low. Israel will likely take Obama’s bribe, with more sweeteners, but not before rubbing his face in the dirt to show who really runs US Mideast policy and as a warning not to mess with Israel. The last US president to challenge Israel’s colonization of the West Bank, George H. W. Bush, was ousted in 1992 after one term. Obama appears to want out of the Afghan War. His final gamble of sending 30,000 more troops into the $7.5 billion monthly war has so far failed to produce the hoped-for decisive victory. But powerful pro-war groups, including the Pentagon, the arms industry and Republicans, are thwarting the weakened Obama’s attempts to wind down the war. Last year NATO member Denmark spent $415 million for its mission in Afghanistan, up from $135 million in 2007. As the nation’s total defense budget for 2009 was $3.87 billion, the Afghan war accounted for almost one-ninth of the country’s annual military spending. Denmark, which lost seven soldiers in Iraq, has already lost 31 in Afghanistan.

US, Canadian and European politicians who backed the Afghan War fear admitting the conflict was a huge waste of lives and treasure. Their political careers hang in the balance. Canada’s prime minister, who is trying to assume the former role of Britain’s Tony Blair as Washington’s most obedient ally, just announced 900 Canadian soldiers will remain in Afghanistan after his own pullout date, ostensibly for “training.” That, of course, is the new euphemism for staying on as a permanent garrison to keep the Afghan client regime in power. “Training,” as with US forces in Iraq, really means the old British Raj’s native troops under white officers. Canadian journalists who opposed continuation of the Afghan War, or exposed many of the lies that justify it, have been purged from their newspapers under pressure from the Harper government – which claims, ironically, to be fighting in Afghanistan for “democracy.” While the US heads deeper into war and debt, its European allies are fed up with what was supposed to have been a limited “police action” to eliminate al-Qaida bases. Instead, Europe got a full-scale war against Afghanistan’s Pashtun tribes raising uneasy memories of its 19th-century colonial “pacifications.” France’s new defense minister, Alain Juppé, openly called the Afghan conflict a “trap” for NATO and called for an exit strategy. He is quite right. By contrast, British Defense Chief Gen. Sir David Richards, warned, “NATO now needs to plan for a 30 or 40 year role.” In short, permanent occupation.

 

That may be the bottom line, at least for the imperial camp. Central Asia’s resources are the real reason. The US-installed Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is demanding the US scale back military operations and night raids that inflict heavy civilian casualties. Washington counters that Karzai is mentally unstable. He is marked to be overthrown once Washington can find a suitable Pashtun replacement. America’s rational for invading Afghanistan was to destroy al-Qaida. But CIA chief Leon Panetta recently admitted there were no more than 50 al-Qaida operatives left in Afghanistan. The rest – no more than few hundred – fled to Pakistan years ago. So what are 110,000 US troops and 40,000 NATO troops doing in Afghanistan? Certainly not nation-building. Most reports show Afghanistan is in worse poverty and distress than before the US invasion. While the platitudes and synthetic optimism flowed thick at Lisbon, giant US Army bulldozers, demolition teams and artillery were busy leveling wide swathes of Afghan homes around the Pashtun stronghold, Kandahar.

In 2006, US Marines conducted a similar ruthless campaign to crush the rebellious Iraqi city of Falluja. The US is using the same punitive tactics in Afghanistan and Iraq as Israel employs on the occupied West Bank: targeted assassinations, death squads, demolishing buildings and whole neighborhoods to punish and open fields of fire. In fact, the US military has often been guided by Israeli advisors in such operations. Destroying large parts of Kandahar is a sign of growing US frustration and a sense the war is being lost. It certainly won’t win hearts and minds of the locals, the stated goal of US proconsul Gen. David Petraeus.

Like the rest of the Pentagon, Petraeus is determined that the mighty US military must not be defeated by Afghan tribesmen. The humiliation would be intolerable. Defeat in Afghanistan would bring demands for major cuts in the bloated US military, a Leviathan that consumes 50% of world military spending. Washington’s so-called national security establishment (in Britain they used to be called “imperialists”) also fears failure in Afghanistan threatens to undermine the entire NATO alliance. Europe is slowly re-emerging as a world power, however fitfully and painfully. NATO has been the primary tool of US geopolitical control of Western Europe since the late 1940′s. The Japan-US security pact has played the same role in north Asia.

 

The loss of the Afghan War by the US and its reluctant allies will call into question the reason for the alliance and likely hasten Europe building an integrated military independent of US control. America’s grip on Western Europe would be ended. That is why Afghanistan so unnerves Washington’s right wingers. The defeat of Soviet armies in Afghanistan in 1989 began the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Could the same fate be in store for the American Raj

Where Pakistan Stand?

 Security has become a major problem

Security of Pakistan as well as of  the citizens has become crucial for the future of the state. It has come to pose a challenge for both the government and the people in Pakistan. Prior to the emergence of current situation, many people believed that Pakistan had to counter only the external threats .

Now the internal threat and suicide bombing too had become crucial which associate with external. Rather this demands as much vigilance as the external threat like US drones attacks, NATO air jets shelling ,bomb blast and suicide attacks as well. The security and the well-being of the country now depends how best it deals with these two threats which is very difficult to handle by Pakistani security departments without any external help.

The events that followed Sept 11, 2001 have changed the situation all over the world. Former German Chancellor Schroeder had rightly said that the world would now be different. He said it would certainly not remain the same.

The former President of Soviet Union, Mr.Gorbachev has warned Nato that they cannot get victory in Afghanistan. He said there is better for United States that USA withdraws its troops from Afghanistan. The Former President said that his country pulled his forces from Afghanistan after ten years and Afghan victory is Impossible for them and United States as well and it is time to leave this region .

Violence has hit our country hard after 9/11. Some say it is on decline but many others strongly challenge this argument. They say it is not on decline rather it is on rise. Whether it is on rise or decline, people have begun to live with it as a dreadful part of their life. All the people being aware of the menace keep thinking how best they could meet the challenge. They put forward different strategies.

On one point they all agree that the problem of security demands immediate and prompt attention of all. It appears that something has gone wrong somewhere. People do not feel themselves safe and secure as they did about ten years ago. Everybody has to be on guard. Officials or private citizens, elderly or youth, men or women now feel compelled to take precautionary measures.

The security agencies constantly advise the people to remain alert. They should report to the police if they feel suspicious about any person in the area. Similarly, they had better keep themselves away if they find anything by the roadside that might arouse their suspicion.

Some people go so far as to say that they do not know when they leave their homes whether they will be able to return or not. The common man finds his life, property and unfortunately sometime even his honor at risk.

Every corner of the country is unsafe no parks, schools, shrines, mosques where people gather for pray, education and entertainment by terrorist attacks,hundreds of people killed in these attacks. The reasons for the situation having deteriorated to such an extent are varied and many in number.

The spread of militancy practically too all parts of the country has been the main reason for giving rise to fear and insecurity. The militancy has unleashed terror in many forms. These include bomb blasts, suicidal bombing, target killing kidnapping for ransom and street violence and robberies at gun point. Bomb blasts and suicidal bombing from Khyber to Karachi have made the people think more about their safety.

Such incidents as these can make anybody become an easy target and it could occur anywhere. This fear has begun to haunt the people at homes, this nightmare should be finish. The streets in their offices and you name any other place, they feel it there.

According to reports, 87 suicide attacks took place across the country last year. Nearly 1300 people were killed in these attacks. This figure is an increase of about forty percent in comparison with the preceding year.

 The CIA operated drones have been attacking Northern tribal belt for the last more than two years killing over 2000 people. The US drones have struck tribal belt especially North West and North South Pakistan almost forty times since September 2,30 times in October 2010 killing over four hundred people, mostly innocent tribes with terrorist.

The number of suicide attacks has been on the rise during this year than 2009 . Most of these attacks have been carried out by teenagers who had under twenty. According to the report of local Urdu News channel three hundreds of teenagers have been trained to be used as suicide bombers.

The personnel of security forces have suffered heavily in such acts but neither the women nor children were spared. The educational institutions especially those in the NWFP have been attacked by militants. They have been very harsh against the schools for girls. Why? About 100 schools for girls were destroyed alone in Swat.

The militants had taken over Swat. The life there stood paralyzed. The whole world felt shocked. The place was a major attraction for tourists from home as well as abroad. But the tourists had stopped going there.

Everything had come to a halt. Pakistan had to take action. Pakistan army came to the rescue of the country. It launched operation to take back the land well known for its scenic beauty. The army succeeds in taking it back but many of its brave soldiers had to render the supreme sacrifice of their life to restore the writ of the state.

The common citizens too had to pass through agony. About two and a half million local people had to leave the area during the military operation against militants. They moved to safer place as Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) – refugees in their own country.

What more horrible situation could be there? However, it goes to the credit of the Pakistani Nation that it stood united to meet the challenge. Although these challenges were created for us after 9/11. Is it revenge or preplanned challenges?

This War mounded over the different Muslim countries. We don’t know how and where the militant come from .These militants are created for Muslims by others ,Who knows ? Life from now onwards would be new for them and thus their conduct and their attitude would also be different.

The threat to life and property has also had its effects on economic and social life of the people. The military operation also had to be conducted in North / South Waziristan. It had become the stronghold of militants and the State had to take action to restore its writ. It was launched last October 2009 and though militants have been driven out from large areas, the military operation has not ended as yet.

Action also has been taken in the Orakzai Agencyand other places of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Never before has military action ever been taken on such a large-scale in the history of FATA which stretches over a period of hundreds of years. This alone adequately describes the serious situation that prevails there. What more amply could be stated than that the United States had declared it from be the most dangerous area in the world?

 The United States is considered the sole Super Power in the world but here in this region, it too feels the threat to its security. USA  has launched drone attacks and violation in our North West areas of Pakistan territory.

Thousands of people have been killed but the United States says  do more ,do more need to be  ensure its safety and US drone attacks are  a part of their war . During these attacks innocent civilian have been killed By US Drone strikes, Air Jets and helicopters shelling and firing. NATO that came into existence to meet the threat of the former Soviet Union and its communist allies too is fully involved in Afghanistan.

NATO was set-up in 1948 to defend the Western but according to the organization itself; this has been the most difficult challenge for it. The precarious economic situation of Pakistan could be well imagined that it had been compelled to incur an expenditure of more than dollar thirty five billion to fight against terrorism. This it had to do for securing its border on the Western front.

In addition Pakistan has to bear a huge expenditure for the security of its Eastern borders. It is therefore that Pakistan should take every step it considers essential for its security on both the Eastern and Western fronts. By Saadia Sehar Haidari

Shandur Polo Festival 7th to 9th July

Shandur Polo Festival Shandur Polo Festival is going to be held on 7th to 9th July in Shandur. Shandur polo ground is located bout 3738 meter an above sea level and lies midway between Chitral and Gilgit. The most beautiful place of the world Shandure where trout fishing, mountaineering, trekking, hiking and of course, horse riding. Crystal clear lakes, snow covered mountains, alpine flowers and vast stretches of green grass, are added attractions.

This three days polo tournament will be organized by the Gilgit and Chitral polo clubs and Sarhad Corporation Tourism. The tournament will be held on Shandur Pass, the highest polo ground in the world at 3,700 meters (the pass itself is at 3,800m).Shandur create a center of attention for visitors to experience the traditional polo tournament which is being held since 1936 on annual basis in July between the teams of Chitral and Gilgit.

The festival also includes Folk music, Paragliding, dancing, bonfire and a camping village is set up. Gilgit, Chitral and Skardu have always played the game of polo closest to its original form. In the past, local Khans, Mirs and Mehtars were the patrons of the game. At times, more than 50% of the annual budget of their principalities would be spent on supporting the game.

Field polo requires two teams of 4 players. A full-size of large grass field is 300 yards long, and either 200 yards or 160 yards wide if there are side boards—these are generally 6″ high. There are tall collapsible goalposts at each end of the field spread 8 yards apart. The object of the game is to score the most goals by hitting the ball through the goal. Polo teams change direction after each goal in order to compensate for field and wind conditions. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team’s goal using a long-handled mallet.

 A polo game has periods of play, known as chukkas (also chukkers or chuckers). This term originated in 1898 and is derived from Hindi chakkar from Sanskrit chakra “circle, wheel” or duration of rounds (compare chakka). Depending on the rules of the particular tournament or league, a game may have 4, 6 or 8 chukkas; 6 chukkas or rounds are most common usually, each chukka or round is 7 minutes long, but some games are played in shorter chukkas. Between chukkas, the players switch to fresh ponies. In less competitive polo leagues, players may play only two ponies, alternating between them.

 A game first played in Persia (Iran) at dates given from the 5th century BC, or much earlier, to the 1st century AD and originated there, polo was at first a training game for cavalry units, usually the king’s guard or other elite troops. Polo found popularity in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Pakistan and the United States of America. James Gordon Bennett, Jr. organized the first polo match in the United States at Dickel’s Riding Academy at 39th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City.

During the early part of the 20th century, under the leadership of Harry Payne Whitney, polo changed to become a high-speed sport in the United States, differing from the game in England, where it involved short passes to move the ball toward the opposition’s goal. Whitney and his teammates used the fast break, sending long passes downfield to riders who had broken away from the pack at a full gallop. Polo is now an active sport in 77 countries, and although its tenure as an Olympic sport was limited to 1900–1939, in 1998 the International Olympic Committee recognized it as a sport with a bona fide international governing body, the Federation of International Polo. The World Polo Championship of Polo is held every three years by the Polo. But Shandur Polo is held every year on same dates in summer.

 Like every year, a large number of foreign and local audiences are expected and the national airlines will charter special flights for the occasion from all around the country to Chitral. An estimated 10,000 national and international people attended this event in 2009 and similar numbers are expected this year.

Establishment of festival announced the special arrangement for national and international visitors. An official of Sarhad Corporation Tourism told that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Sports, Culture & Tourism Syed Aqil Shah will request President Asif Ali Zardari and other international guests to attend the event as chief guest.

This type of events shows and proves that Pakistan is stable, moderate and peace making country and Pakistanis are peace loving people and nobody specialy outside infulance can’t bulldoze our peace.

He is alive again for new mission

Osama bin laden is animate. The original name of Osama bin laden is “Tim Ousman” under cover CIA agent .He was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1957 into a Yemeni family, Osama bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 and join CIA to fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda was started by a Jewish agent who learnt Arabic and Quran. During the Afghan conflict, Osama is also reported to have established many terrorist-training camps. Ahmad Shah Masood (Loin of Panjshir) Anti –Islam resistant leader of Afghanistan killed by Osama .After killing Masood he had cleared the road for others to enter into this region. Once again he came out from his grave and in the head line of the media. He is in the ring now. How he will appear again, again and again?

Think is there no al-Qaeda and no Osama bin laden. It is a propaganda used by super powers to destroy Islamic countries one by one. According to this statement all Muslims world and special those who are living in Asia shall ready for new assignment from first world. We don’t know what the philosophy is and psychology behind this propaganda by seculars.He is the main character of the main drama against Muslim community.

We should become in unity other wise we do not finish it easily. Because when we do unite the counter to there end will start ticking that day.

Few month before Fox News, CNN and BBC channel broadcast the footage and picture of Osama Laden on 25 Jan bin 2010?

Numerous audio and video statements purporting to be from Bin Laden have been released, but their authenticity has been continually questioned.

Bin Laden has issued around 40 statements since 9/11, and many include clear contemporaneous date references and certainly are faked.

What do you think that footage which is broadcast in Jan 2010 was new? Obviously not Osama was dead in Afghanistan on 2002 .His terrible death was confirmed by FBI’s counter-terrorism chief Dale Watson, White House, CNN and BBC in 2002 during the period of W. Bush former president of America.

But one thing in the footage which was broadcasting on the news channels was same as the footage of 2001, 2002, and 2007…….. None of them can be proven to be authentic. Certainly of them can be shown to be almost fake .

Osama is looking in the video as old as 2001.The authenticity of all of the videos is questioned by David Ray Griffin, a former theology professor and member of the 9/11 Truth Movement, which also questions mainstream, accounts of the attack on the World Trade Centre. He is operating these tapes of al-Qaeda and some other forces an interest in manipulating it to look like current tapes. It is easy to digitally manipulate voice to say anything. Everyone can change months, years, tape vowels, syllables and change it.

Mr Griffin calls it “Blackbeard: the terrorist tape”. Bin Laden’s trademark grey beard has been replaced with a neat, jet-black beard, and there are a number of frames in the video, Where Bin Laden carries on speaking but the picture of him freezes.

Its validity is questioned by the former agent of CIA. Robert Baer dismisses the suggestion of a conspiracy by Western intelligence but thinks that al-Qaeda may have faked the video.

The world has been changed into technology world. You can generate every thing easily by technology. Even you can get the universe with technology without it you can not conquered the whole world .All the super power use it for their interests.

There would be a number of people involved in this propaganda and word of it would have spread by now.

According to “MSNBC”The report that he was suffering form Diabetes, Hepatitis C, and an “untreated lung complication” and would have had to “walked unmolested” out of the craggy mountains of Afghanistan under the surveillance of “thousands” of special operations troops with at least one kidney dialysis machine in pull. The report also does not mention that electricity to power dialysis machines may be difficult to generate on the move through the mountains of Afghanistan.
There are about 30 close associates of Osama bin Laden in Al Qaeda, including his most trusted and personal bodyguards, his family members and some Taliban friends attended the funeral ceremony after his death. A volley of bullets was also fired to pay tribute to their leader.

that it was looked The Taliban source who claims to have seen Osama bin Laden’s face before burial said “pale … but calm, relaxed and confident.”

The other source claimed that bin Laden was laid to rest honorably in his last abode and his last rest place was made as per his Wahabi belief. He is buried in Tora Bora.

Osama bin Laden had no feelings of guilt before death. But he was proud that he succeeded in his mission of igniting awareness amongst Muslims about hegemonistic designs and conspiracies of “pagans” against Islam his close friends told.

Bin Laden held the view that the sacrifice of a few hundred people in Afghanistan was nothing, as those who laid their lives in creating an atmosphere of resistance will be adequately rewarded by Almighty Allah, “Taliban sources said.”

It is mystery that how the dead man alive again and moving around us. May be his soul is wondering around the world. We believe that Osama was killed by drown attacks and heavy bombardment .So what is the new propaganda against Muslims. With our economy and development disaster, our deficit and national debt skyrocketing, our infrastructure crumbling, killing of innocent civilian and our military stretched to the limits, Pakistani must ask themselves and from American’s policy makers, and realize them Osama and his agenda finished with him.

Is this one man really worth it? Especially considering the real possibility that he may already be dead? Or is it possible that the government, with the help of the mainstream media, is scaring the Pakistani people into prolonging a war that can only have one outcome – exiting Afghanistan?

Cultural Blanket

I am living in multicultural country. Pakistan is known for possessing a very rich culture. What is the culture of the people of this country? Many people in the country quite often say “we must do that since it reflects the values of our culture.” Similarly, on other occasions, they say “we must not do that because it violates the values of our culture”. The main features of the culture in Pakistan are safeguarding the honor and respect.

 Pakistan is a four provinces country with different tribes. Punjab has its own culture, Sind has its own, Baluchistan has its own and the Frontier Province has its own culture. Every culture is different form other but it possesses its own grandeur. People who are keen to learn about ancient times come here to seek further information about it .

It may appear amazing to some but its a hard fact that the culture of the people of Pakistan had existed on this land much before the creation of the country. Pakistan, as it is known today was created in the year 1947.

During this very long period, history was written and re-written. The people were compelled to think about their future and this also kept changing their priorities and hence it also had effect on the culture. History in fact has left its deep mark on the culture of Pakistan. It would be correct to say that the history had dictated its terms to the culture of the land. It is on account of history that different forms of culture could be found in Pakistan at different places Each province has a distinct culture of its own.

The people take pride in culture of their respective provinces. It does not mean in any sense that they stand divided over the matter. Rather this diversity in culture is a source of strength and pride of the people of Pakistan Thus the culture of Pakistan is most dear to the people and many of its qualities are held in the highest esteem. .  Shalwar ,Qamiz ,Suit ,Sharwani with jinnah cap for man and same for ladies but Hijaab is must for ladies in different areas in my . It is worn by people of all the four provinces. But now a day people just preference to wear just English suits in offices and Shalwar Qamiz in formally.

The people of Pakistan celebrate all Islamic events like Arabic countries in a year. Public Holiday is declared for several days on each occasion. The people throughout the length and the breadth of the country celebrate these holidays with great festivity. They wear best and new dress for the two occasions. It could be said that these two festivals are among the most features of our culture. These event are uncomplete without bangles and Hinna for ladies and Gift Eidi for Kids.The diversity in culture brings forth the magnificence everywhere and where the smell of Henna attracts elderly women and young girls in all special events alike marrageparties .There are girls who could be seen dancing with Henna’s hand at the beat of drum on the advent of weeding party and especially in spring season when their colorful stoles and dupaatas could be seen floating in the air in sheer ecstasy as they swing under the oak trees. Where the boys could be seen running behind the cutting kites on the streets as they fly in the air .Where old man sitting in his cart and busy with his tobacco pipe (Huqa or Shisha) and calling out loudly without loudspeaker to his son or daughter for helping, where kids are running and playing hide and seek in the open streets, young boys playing cricket on the narrow streets and breaking windows of houses and automobiles, where people enjoy cock, quail and dog fighting .This is beauty of my culture you can just find here. 

As sports are the real pastime and recreation for the majority of Pakistanis. Kabaddi and Kushti (indigenous wrestling), horse riding (specially tent pegging), polo, are some of the indigenous sports that are widely played all over Pakistan, but cook fighting ,dog fighting and quail fighting are special sports of inside the old cites .

People love dance when they feel happy.Folk dances are very popular all over the country in varying forms. Owing to the Islamic culture, mostly men take part in dances publicly; however female dancers too exhibit their skills in group dances and individual in the wedding parties and in special occasions. All four province have their dances and in every province have many small tribes those tribes have their own dances.Dances are “Luddi and Bhangra” are famous dances in Punjab, at the beat of big drums and are normally related to harvest season (top right), while “Khatak Dance” basically a sword dance is much popular in NWFP .Khatak dance is the reflection of the Arabs . Musical instruments like Dhol(drum), Shehnai (clairnet), sitar (three stringed instrument), sarod, alghoza (two wind piped flute) and flute are some of the widely used instruments.

My culture is full of love where lovers die for each other and sacrifice their lives for their beloved .My land is full of love stories where many lovers lie buried in the same grave for each other but still live in the hearts of people, their fables and songs people say and sing to pay tribute them. Some famous lovers whose stories are passed on from generation to generation are Heer-Ranja, Sooni-Mahiwal, Sasi-Puno, Sahiba-Mirza. Their love stories ended in tragedy. Some of them were killed by their rivals.