Pakistan Link
VOL. 25/9 - 8 Jumadal-ula 1436 H PAGE 6
White House Summit to Fight Violent Extremism DG ISI Arrives in US on Official Visit
Islamabad: Director General Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar left for USA Wednesday to hold talks with top US intelligence officials on regional security, Afghanistan and counter terrorism. “During the visit he will meet his counterparts and discuss issues related to intelligence,” an ISPR spokesman said. According to sources, Gen Rizwan will meet senior officials at the National Security Council (NSC) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief John O. Brennan. “DG ISI proceeded to USA for an official visit. During the visit he will meet his counterparts and discuss issues related to intelligence,” said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). This is the first visit by General Akhtar to the US after he became the head of ISI last year. During his stay in the US he will be discussing the security situation in the country as well as
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Indian Foreign Secretary to Visit Pakistan in March
The Largest Circulated Pakistani-American Newspaper in North America
Friday, February 27, 2015
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What Pakistan’s History Means for Its Future
Pakistani Boat Controversy Was a Drama
Economic Growth Breeds Optimism
“Moody’s and other international ratings agencies have changed Pakistan’s credit rating to positive,” Ambassador Jilani told an audience of Delaware business and political leaders
Delaware: Jalil Abbas Jilani, Paki-
stan’s ambassador to the United States, said his nation’s economic growth is poised to exceed the rate forecasted by credit and financial agencies, including the International
Monetary Fund. During an appearance in Delaware, he credited foreign investment as the reason for Pakistan’s improved fiscal health. “Moody’s and other international ratings agencies have changed Pakistan’s
credit rating to positive,” he told an audience of Delaware business and political leaders. “That is something that is wonderful because our inflation rate, which was 11 and 12 percent at one point, AMBASSADOR, P29
Rep Ed Royce Inaugurates Community Hall in LA
Islamabad: Pakistan-India foreign
secretary level talks are expected to resume in the first week of March 2015 in Islamabad, senior diplomats from both sides told Dawn. They are in touch over the expected visit and are also finalizing the agenda of the talks in Islamabad. “The Indian government has communicated to Pakistan that Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is expected to visit Islamabad in the first week of March to meet his Pakistani counterpart,” a senior Pakistani diplomat, who wished not to be named, told Dawn. He however said no exact date has been shared but it was hoped that the final date would also be communicated soon. A senior Indian diplomat told Dawn that S. Jaishankar is likely to arrive in Islamabad in the first week of March. However, sources said that S Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Dhaka on March 2 and Islamabad
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Congressman Ed Royce inaugurates the Community Hall established by the Consulate General of Pakistan, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA: Over 100 members and supporters of the Pakistani community attended the inaugural of the Community Hall at the Consulate General of Pakistan, Los Angeles, on Saturday, February 21st, 2015.
US & Canada $1.00
This is the first time in history, since the inception of the Consulate, that a multipurpose community hall has been created for the PakistaniAmerican community in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. The hall is available for community related
events, such as business meetings, art exhibitions, film screenings, association meetings, receptions, community gatherings, etc. The facility, along with required seating arrangements, will be provided HALL, P19
Periodical postage paid at Newport Beach, CA and additional mailing offices
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www.PakistanLink.com Pakistan Can Avail WB’s $2Bn Development Funding Islamabad: After a lapse of three years, Pakistan has qualified to avail the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) funding worth $2 billion for the next four fiscal years (2015-19), a top WB official said. “Pakistan is now maintaining foreign exchange reserves of more than 2.5 months of projected imports and has also satisfied other criteria of World Bank under the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS),” WB Country Director Rachid Benmessaoud said on Wednesday. Benmessaoud disclosed this to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while discussing matters relating to a road map of the country’s development in the coming years. An official announcement said that Benmessoud formally informed the government on behalf of the World Bank that Pakistan had again become eligible for availing the IBRD funding after a lapse of three years. The IBRD funding facility FUNDING, P29
Larger SC Bench Suggested to Hear 21 Amendment Case Islamabad: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday suggested the formation of larger bench for the hearing of petitions filed against the 21st Constitutional Amendment and referred the matter to the chief justice of Pakistan. The three-member bench of the top court headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and comprising of Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Musheer Alam heard identical petitions filed by different bar councils, including Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). During the hearing, Hamid Khan appeared before the court and pleaded for the speedy trial of the petitions while declaring the issue to be of high significance. On this point, the court rejected the plea taken by Hamid Khan and remarked the “chief justice of Pakistan has the discretionary powers for constituting a larger bench” and added that a BENCH, P29
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OPINION
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any commentators assume Islamophobia grew as a result of 9/11, but some of us were already grappling with this notion years earlier. In the early 1990s, I had the privilege of being the Muslim commissioner on the Runnymede Trust in London for the study of anti-Semitism with other distinguished figures such as Lord Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, and Senior Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger.
I learned a great deal about prejudice against the Jews and realized how much of it was familiar territory for a Muslim. They too faced, for example, negative stereotypes, especially in the media. I believed strongly that such consistent stereotypes could encourage violence against the minority, especially one as vulnerable as the Muslims. As a member of the commission, I actively advocated another such commission to examine prejudice and hatred against Muslims. When the commission was formed – the first of its kind – I was asked to join it as commissioner. The Commission produced an influential report called Islamophobia: A Challenge for us All (1997). The report popularized the term Islamophobia to mean hatred or fear of things Islamic. Since then the concept has been widely used to describe prejudice against Muslims, especially with regard to the increasing immigration to Europe from the Muslim world. Yet, after 9/11, it is widely recognized that Islamophobia grew exponentially and the gap that already existed between Muslims and nonMuslims grew wider. Recent events have contributed to this growing fear and mistrust of the Muslims, both in the Muslim and non-Muslim world. In August 2014 in Syria, for example, when James Foley, the American journalist, was brutally beheaded by a masked man with a British accent, there was media frenzy and negative focus on the Muslims of Europe as a whole. In some senses, it appeared that it was déjà vu. But this was a substantially changed situation with new players. The media was now talking of European Muslims as a whole being the threat – a Trojan horse. The media discussed ‘Jihadi John’; earlier they had talked of ‘Jihadi Jane.’ The media was reporting that several thousand European Muslims were involved in the battles raging in Syria and Iraq. Of these, the British government claimed some 400 were from Britain. From the Prime Minister of Britain down to ordinary journalists and scholars, many were asking how to turn ‘Jihadi John’ into ‘Malleable Mustafa’ and ‘Jihadi Jane’ into ‘Loyal Leila.’ Now, after the tragic attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Islamophobia is like a raging fire across Europe. There are numerous reports of attacks on mosques, on Muslims, and the police picking up Muslim suspects for alleged links to terrorism. In the media, we are seeing evidence of the same misunderstanding and mistrust surrounding Islam and Muslims.
The problem was that these major issues could not be addressed without some knowledge of the Muslim community – its definition of its own identity, its leadership patterns, its religious and political players, the role of the imams, the position of mothers and women in the family in influencing the young men, and the community’s relations with government and the broader public. While few people had the answers, these were precisely the questions which needed to be addressed. In order to combat this misunderstanding and provide answers to many questions being asked in the media and elsewhere, I had embarked on an ambitious project to examine relations between the West and the Muslim world after 9/11. This has resulted in a quartet of studies, published by the Brookings
Europe. It is an up-to-date study of the Muslim community in Europe in the context of its impact on the world, the impact of the history on today, and the contemporary challenges facing Europe and its Muslim population. Because the study is based on fieldwork conducted in the community, it is as authentic as possible and because it aims to present a holistic picture of the Muslim community throughout the continent, it is able to juxtapose the whole range and diversity of Muslims, from the north of Great Britain down to Greece on the borders with Turkey. It is precisely this diversity of the community and the method that has been employed to study it that is reflected in the findings of Journey into Europe and allows us to draw broad conclusions suggesting certain principles of social organization and action.
We could not escape the conclusion at the end of the project that Europe faces a huge challenge in dealing with its Muslim citizens with fairness, compassion and wisdom. Muslims are here to stay. They cannot be wished away. Yet there is disturbing evidence in certain places of a failure to understand and therefore effectively resolve the problems of the Muslim community Institution Press, and includes: Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (2007); Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam (2010); The Thistle and the Drone: How America’s War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam (2013); and my current project, Journey into Europe: Islam, Immigration, and Empire. This quartet of books has relied upon extensive fieldwork in the Muslim world, the United States, and Europe with a team of young Muslim and non-Muslim scholars in order to understand the reality of the experience and views of Muslims. We interviewed thousands of people overall – from presidents, prime ministers, archbishops, grand muftis and chief rabbis to professors, taxi drivers and unemployed illegal immigrants. We examined the perceptions, and often misperceptions, many people had about the ‘other’ and what they saw as the major challenges towards promoting better relations between these two civilizations. Only through this ‘on the ground’ research can we truly understand how to effectively create harmony for Muslims in Western society and positively engage with states and societies across the Muslim world. The relevance and urgency of this current project studying the Muslims of Europe has been underlined by the recent tragic events in
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The Muslims of Europe today, as we discovered in our fieldwork, fall into three broad sociological categories: indigenous or native (like the majority of Bosnians); immigrants (many coming to the land of their former colonial masters – North Africans to France, South Asians to Britain; Germany is the exception as it invited ‘guest workers’ mainly from Turkey, a country that it did not colonize); and converts (especially the young seeking answers to their spiritual dilemmas). From a historical perspective, the interaction between Europe and the world of Islam falls into three distinct phases: Muslims have been in Europe since 711, beginning with their entrance into Spain. They ruled for hundreds of years in a period known as the Golden Age of Andalusia where Jews, Muslims, and Christians were able to live together and create a prosperous, innovative society that produced art, architecture and scholarship. This time is described by the Spanish word la convivencia or co-existence. A similar kind of society, though under Christian rulers, can be found in Sicily under Norman rule. This phase ended in 1492 with the fall of Granada, the last independent Muslim kingdom, and the eventual expulsion of Muslims (and Jews) from the Iberian Peninsula. The second phase starts around
the 15th century in southeastern Europe with the clashes between European Christians and the Ottoman Empire, where the Ottomans ruled until the 20th century. Ideas of Islam as alien and predatory were established in European minds as a result of this phase, which too often overshadows the first phase. The third phase starts when European countries colonize Muslim lands in the 19th and 20th centuries and immigrants arrive in Europe to work and find better lives from the second half of the 20th century onwards. The second and third generation of Muslims is now coming of age in Europe, yet finding themselves lost between two different cultures – that of their parents or grandparents and that of their European country of birth. They are not quite accepted by either, and this alienation, combined with the lack of effective leadership in the community, creates an identity crisis for the youth. The growing and widespread sense of Islamophobia discussed above only antagonizes and further drives these vulnerable generations away from the mainstream. There are many issues around them that create debate, controversy, anger and even hatred in the majority population. Issues of ‘terror’ (such as the savage beheading of Foley), Sharia and the hijab are broadly associated with Islam. There is a general perception that Muslim leadership has not been up to the job and the community is adrift. This raises several conceptual questions that we set out to explore. We could not escape the conclusion at the end of the project that Europe faces a huge challenge in dealing with its Muslim citizens with fairness, compassion and wisdom. Muslims are here to stay. They cannot be wished away. Yet there is disturbing evidence in certain places of a failure to understand and therefore effectively resolve the problems of the Muslim community. While interfaith initiatives need to be encouraged, in themselves they do not have the capacity to effect great change in respect to the position of the minority in a community or how it is perceived by the majority. Too often, well-educated religious leaders talk to each other and the conversation remains at their level, making little impact on the larger community. The other community at home and at work remains a mystery. Governments need to promote education through conferences, supporting scholarship, and other concrete measures to foster understanding between communities. They need to make
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OPINION
P6 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
The White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism n By Anila Ali American Muslim Women’s Empowerment Council Irvine, CA
I
t was an honor for a Muslim American woman to be invited to the White House to attend the historic Summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). It was even more humbling to have been chosen by law enforcement departments of Homeland Security, LAPD-Counter Terrorism, Sheriff ’s Department and LA Human Rights Commission to be a speaker on the panel to present the LA Pilot Model on Countering Violent Extremism and talk about our community engagement efforts and advocate for multicultural education for Muslims in schools at the White House Summit with the President and the Vice President. The strength of the relationships the agencies have built with Muslims of SoCal was self-evident as LA was chosen to present its best practices to the rest of the United States and indeed, the world. Building trust with the Muslims has been a part of the work that the law enforcement, FBI and LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing has been doing for many years now. Law Enforcement has engaged with the Muslims and an overwhelming majority of Muslims have embraced their efforts and collaborated with them on many community-building, service-oriented, empowerment
Vice President Joe Biden addresses the gathering (left). The author, Anila Ali, actively participates in the prceedings
programs. The American Muslim Women’s Empowerment Council was founded in partnership with the LAPD to ensure the inclusion of women in every aspect of American life and to encourage their civic participation. The LA model that we shared is based on engagement - collaboration - and partnerships. It promotes this engagement through academic institutions, strengthening community-based organizations which in turn build resilient communities. The model includes local and federal government agencies and promotes understanding through dialogue and engagement. It is based on the premise that the Muslim community shares with law enforcement - strong communities and trusting relationships will be the best defense against extremism.
F m
As an educator, my ideas centered around inclusive education curriculums including tolerance for Muslims in a post-9/11 classroom to ensure that young Muslims are not marginalized. These efforts, if continued, will serve as a catalyst for integrating Muslim communities into the American fabric. The message that resonated with me was when the Vice President said, “Violent Extremism is not just a Muslim problem, it is an American problem.” President Obama went further to state that “it is also a global problem.” We are Americans and we are strong and we know that Qur’an states that if you kill one human life, it is as if you killed an entire humanity. However, there are areas of concern that Muslims must be cognizant of - extremists are recruit-
H
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ing our children along with others. The fact that ISIS uses the word “Islamic” in its name associates it with Islam, the flag has the Shahadah - so we are in denial when we say they are not using Islam and our some radical terrorists. That is not how they are recruiting. We know ISIS and ISL are not Muslims - that message needs to be further elaborated to dispel incorrect notions using the same verses from the Qur’an they use to recruit and misguide people. Some people that I have spoken to who seemed conflicted have expressed the idea of one Muslim “Ummah” “caliphate” is alluring to them. Young people, who may be unhappy with political conflicts around the world will be susceptible to radical theories. We, as Americans, Muslims, and parents must keep a vigilant eye on our
children and not hesitate to have a dialogue on issues. We must remind them of their rich South Asian cultural heritage and the fact that Muslims of South Asia lived in peace and coexisted for hundreds of years with non-Muslims and harbored no hatred for any religion. It is these very stories from their parents and their parents that will truly guide them toward the Islam that they were born into - a religion of peace and tolerance. The effort of the government to bring all partnership in countering violent extremism together under one roof, The White House, is testament that Muslim American are included in policy making, they are included and looked upon as partners in defeating the evil ideology and existence of the terrorists. SUMMIT, P26
OPINION n By Dr Mohammad Taqi
“
Florida
Nowhere, nowhere at all, does a trace of blood remain;
Nothing on the assassin’s hands, nails or clothes; The dagger’s lips, the knifepoint, no redness disclose, No spot upon the ground, on the roof no stain Nowhere, nowhere at all, does a trace of blood remain” — The Trace of Blood by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, translation by Dr Sarvat Rahman. Peshawar was soaked in blood yet again this past Friday. The target once again was the beleaguered Shia community. The worshippers at the Imamia mosque in Peshawar’s Hayatabad suburb were attacked by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) jihadists using Kalashnikov rifles and suicide vests. Over 20 Shias perished in as many minutes, most of them from the Kurram tribal agency and the Hangu region. Among the fallen was Arif Tirmizi whose brother, the muchloved Dr Asim Hussain Tirmizi, had been mowed down at his clinic in Hayatabad last month. The volunteers guarding the mosque are said to have resisted the terrorists but were outgunned. A horrifying video captured on the mobile phone of a survivor shows one of the most barbaric episodes perpetrated on the Shias with bursts of automatic fire being discharged and two suicide bombers blowing themselves up one after another. The clip, however, also shows one of the most valiant acts
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P7
No Trace of Shia Blood
of resistance against the TTP when a congregation member, Abbas Ali, got up and grabbed one of the suicide bombers by his throat, preventing him from exploding his vest. Abbas, who was then gunned down by another jihadist, was from the ShakhDaulat Khel twin villages in the Kurram Agency. Traces of Shia blood are splattered all over the Imamia mosque but not a single federal government representative or a military official has bothered to visit the site yet. According to media reports, government and military officials have instead ordered the Turi and Bangash tribesmen of the Kurram Agency to disarm. The predominantly Shia Pashtuns of Upper Kurram Agency are perhaps the only tribal entity that has successfully fought off the Taliban and their allies since at least 2007. They could not have done it without their arms, especially when the federal government, assorted political parties and the military left them blockaded for three years. The Kurramis had to take the arduous Parachinar-Khost-Gardez-KabulJalalabad route to reach Peshawar when the Taliban besieged them. The Kurrmay-wal — as they like to call themselves — survived through qaumi wasla (the tribe’s arms cache), local produce, minuscule remittances from expatriate relatives, medicines bought in Afghanistan and, above all, sheer willpower to withstand the Taliban offensive till an accord was signed in February 2011. The Pakistani security establishment had pushed then, as it is doing now, for the Turis and Bangash to give up the
qaumi wasla without even lifting a finger to help them with their security. According to a newspaper report, the FATA secretary for law and order, Mr Shakeel Qadir, said that the tribes would not be allowed to keep
to disarm, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province schoolteachers are being trained by the military to use automatic weapons! Without their weaponry the residents of Upper Kurram would become sitting ducks. Given the ferocity of the previous onslaught
The irony is that while the Kurramis are asked to disarm, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province schoolteachers are being trained by the military to use automatic weapons! Without their weaponry the residents of Upper Kurram would become sitting ducks. Given the ferocity of the previous onslaught against the Turis and Bangash, there is no way that they could have defended themselves without heavy weapon heavy weapons while a tribal elder stated that “a junior commissioned officer conveyed a message of the colonel commandant of the Kurram militia to the people to hand over every type of heavy weapons and ammunition immediately.” The irony is that while the Kurramis are asked
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against the Turis and Bangash, there is no way that they could have defended themselves without heavy weapons. Not that one considers the militarization of the populace desirable but the Shia Pashtuns of Kurram have been left high and dry by the state for almost a decade now.
In fact, elements from the establishment had pushed upon Parachinar individuals like Eid Nazar Mangal of a rabidly anti-Shia sectarian outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). Over the last five years, I have discussed in this column in detail the evolution of the conflict in Kurram and the Pakistani establishment’s designs to relocate its jihadist assets, including the Jalaluddin Haqqani network, to the west and northwest Kurram Agency. Pakistani officialdom’s loud proclamation to the contrary notwithstanding, nothing seems to have changed since. That we have yet to see a single Haqqani network terrorist apprehended by the Pakistani security agencies does not exactly inspire confidence in their assertions that the distinction between the so-called ‘good’ and ‘bad’ jihadists has been jettisoned. Former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf had made what was dubbed then a landmark decision in January 2002, ostensibly banning assorted jihadist groups including the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT). Thirteen years on, however, General Musharraf has stated in an interview to the Guardian that “the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate cultivated the Taliban after 2001 because Karzai’s government was dominated by non-Pashtuns, the country’s largest ethnic group, and officials who were thought to favor India.” The world has the luxury to wait another 13 years to find out the veracity of Pakistan’s present claims to have abandoned jihadism as a tool of its foreign policy but the Pashtun tribes of Kurram face an existential BLOOD, P26
OPINION
P8 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
What Pakistan’s History Means for Its Future n By Syeda Abida Hussain
T
Jhang, Pakistan
he story of Pakistan is the story of missed opportunity. As I began to write about the history of this land, I could not help feeling a sense of an intertwining of personal and national destiny in what was necessarily an account of my own missed opportunities, and those of my country, making me record an anecdotal account of events as l experienced them over the last forty years. The narrative that l have recorded may have interest for people living in Pakistan, the Pakistani Diaspora, and among foreigners who follow and seek to understand South Asian issues.
My political journey started during the Z. A. Bhutto years, when Pakistan had been truncated, after the loss of East Pakistan. Bhutto struggled to modernize Pakistan on the one hand, while sinking it into a quagmire of controversies on the other, during the course of his five years in power. His unquestionable brilliance made him not just the voice of the downtrodden in our country but also the spokesman of the entire Muslim world. However, the Establishment in Pakistan blamed him for the loss of East Pakistan, which eventually led him to the gallows. His successor in power
General Zia ul Haq, failed to prevent us from becoming embroiled in conflict in Afghanistan, which, had it been avoided, may have spared us from becoming entangled in religious conflicts and controversies that continue to engulf us right up until today. With the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of Zia ul Haq, after eleven years in power, Pakistan obtained the gift of democracy, personified by Bhutto’s glamorous daughter Benazir, while our now wary Establishment anointed Nawaz Sharif as a counter. The pendulum of power swung, twice over, between these two young leaders after roughly every two and a half years, which came to represent Pakistan’s lost decade. During this period, democracy appeared to fail and economic failure seemed to rise, alongside of a creeping religious extremism, which started in Zia’s time but which, both Benazir, as well as Nawaz, did not succeed in reigning in. Ousted by General Parvez Musharaf, Nawaz became recipient of hospitality from the House of Saud at Jeddah, while Benazir selfexiled to Dubai, allowing Musharaf a free hand to steer Pakistan out of stormy waters. But Musharaf, according to many, was simply not the stuff that able helms men are made of. When asked his opinion about the General who had assumed power in Pakistan, George W. Bush, who a year later was elected President of the United States, said, “I
don’t know the guy’s name, but I know he is on our side.” Post- 9/11, Musharraf became a crucial US ally, yet he failed to serve American as well as Pakistani interests
adequately. Religious extremism increased greatly and the War on Terror came to be hopelessly bogged down. Musharraf, by and large, relinquished power leaving Pakistan
in a worse state than when he had assumed his role as dictator, nine years earlier. Almost from the outset in my country, State power has been exercised in a manner that ultimately served to erode it. Greater caution and lesser commitment to power as an end in itself might have helped reduce our involvement in the ‘Great Game’ that has been played to the North West of our country, where extremism and militancy have loomed large on the landscape. As a result thereof we came to be immersed in an intolerant version of religion, with our credo, which stands for peace, almost reversing as it encountered increasing levels of violence, and brutality. In the face of depressing realities, most Pakistanis nonetheless remain committed to the goal of achieving a balanced State, which enshrines the values for which our country was created. We may have suffered power failure in our past but our future holds promise, in view of our vibrant and well-informed younger generation, who are better prepared as they appear on the anvil of moving into positions of decision making and power. (Syeda Abida Hussain is a politician, agriculturist, and diplomat. She has the distinction of being the first woman to chair the District Council of Jhang; and the first woman to be popularly elected as Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. She served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States from 1991 to 1994)
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OPINION
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9
Tradition, Reform and Modernism in the Emergence of Pakistan- Part 1 of 6 n By Professor Nazeer Ahmed CA
A
n important element in the emergence of Pakistan was the confluence of traditional and reformist Islam. Modernist elements were largely absent. The one person, who alone could have provided a modernist thrust, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, passed away soon after partition. Pakistan was launched into the post-WWII world with the tensions between tradition, reform and modernism pulling it in different directions. These tensions continue to exist within a largely tribal, feudal structure in parts of Pakistan and explain many of the difficulties facing it today.
It is useful to define our terminology at the outset. Traditional Islam has different meanings in different parts of the Islamic world. In the context of the subcontinent, it is the spiritual Islam that was introduced by the Awliya and the Sufi Shaikhs. It has a heavy content of Persian and Central Asian cultural influences. This is the Islam of Khwaja Moeenuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi of the Punjab and Shaikh Abdul Qader Jeelani of Baghdad. Reform, in the context of the subcontinent has two branches. The first one aims to remove the accretion of medieval practices in Sufism and emphasizes the Sunnah of the Prophet. The reformist Sufi tareeqas belong to this category. There is a second, concomitant reform movement that repudiates tasawwuf altogether and aims to bring Muslim practices in line with what is transmitted through Hadith and the kitabi schools. The Wahhabi and Nadwa schools belong to this category. By contrast, modern Islam has its vision on the future. It sees Islam as a continual spiritual renewal in an expanding universe. It considers history to be an unceasing struggle of man within the bounds established by divine command. It seeks a dynamic presence in a shrinking globe that is guided by science, technology and increasing interactions across civilizational interfaces. A genuine modern Islam, embracing both spirituality and technology, is yet to emerge.
n By Salahuddin Haider Karachi, Pakistan
W
hile the Sharif government is battling against terrorism, and in blocking through constitutional amendments the decadeold practice of horse trading in elections, a silent but powerful under-current has begun to build yet another pressure on it---a mounting public desire to see General Pervez Musharrash back in power in Pakistan.
This may appear a fantasy but ground realities are not too difficult to understand. Realizing that poor governance, and failure to attend to public welfare problems, has begun to turn the tide against the present administration, the former military ruler has launched himself in a new mold. Instead of sitting silent at his army colony house in Karachi, he has been now regularly giving TV interviews and delivering speeches to highlight the need for a change. Whether he can, or would return to power, is a difficult question. He does not wish to answer it clearly. “I have left it to destiny,” says he but
Islam in Pakistan is a product of Sufism, as it is in much of the subcontinent. Pakistan became a possibility when traditional Sufi Islam in the Punjab shifted its allegiance from an inclusive, traditional, rural based political system to the promise of an exclusive, reformist, urban political system. The internal tensions that continue to tear at the Pakistan body politic are a result of the interactions between tradition, reform and modernism. In this series of articles, I will briefly survey how the influence of traditional Sufi Islam in the Punjab was pivotal in the critical events leading to partition. Geography defines history. Pakistan is separated from Afghanistan by more than 1500 miles of a sinuous border running through hilly, picturesque terrain. The Khyber Pass has been the historic route for the influx of traders, scholars and conquerors from Central Asia and the Middle East into the Indo-Gangetic plains. The Aryans in ancient times, Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, Chengiz Khan in the thirteenth century CE, and the Moguls in the sixteenth century CE took this route to India. To the south the desolate Makran desert straddles Baluchistan on the Pakistan-Iran border. It extends deep into the province of Sindh and yields unwillingly to the delta of the great Indus River. It was this desert that
Alexander attempted to cross on his way back from India in 334 BC. Many a Greek soldier died from thirst and disease. The unmerciful desert did not spare the life of Alexander who fell ill and died near Babylon in 334 CE. To the north, the Silk Road to China winds through the mountains in Gilgit. Ancient caravans plied this perilous route carrying silk and pottery from China and returning with ivory, spices, gold and Buddhist manuscripts from India. The road, expanded and widened in modern times, serves as a vital link between Pakistan and China. Modern Pakistan sits astride the intersection of three axes. The first one connects the Indian subcontinent with Iran and the Middle East. The second one connects India with Central Asia. The third connects India with China. Thus Pakistan lies at the confluence of three civilizations: the Vedic Hindu civilization of India, the Islamic Persian civilization of Iran and Central Asia, and the Buddhist-Islamic civilization of western China. The discovery of oil in the twentieth century also puts it on the major oil pipeline routes leading from the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. Summarily, a geographic definition of Pakistan is that it is the interface between Islamic Persia, Buddhist western China and Vedic India. Geographically, the area west of
the Indus River is a continuation of the Central Asia plateau on which Iran, Afghanistan and the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan are located. The Indus and its five tributaries, Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Ravi and Beas irrigate the fertile plains of Punjab. The Kabul River brings in the waters from melting snows in the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan. To the south, the Makran desert from Iran stretches into Baluchistan and Sindh and is interrupted only by the delta of the great Indus River. Topographically, Sindh forms a part of the deserts surrounding the Persian Gulf region. The NW Frontier is an extension of the hills of Afghanistan, and the Punjab is the beginning of the great Indian plains. The history of Pakistan reflects this strategic location. In the eighth century, as the Arab Empire extended westward into Spain and eastward into western China, the province of Sindh came into the Islamic orbit through an accident of history. By the year 700 CE Baluchistan was a part of the Umayyad Empire and Sindh was a border state between India and the Arab Empire. The littoral people of the Gulf carried on a brisk trade in spices, ivory and perfumes. Security on the high seas was poor and the treasures aboard the ships were a frequent target of pirates. Legend has it that it was one of these acts of piracy that brought the Arab armies to India. In the year 707 a merchant ship belonging to an Iraqi merchant was attacked by Indian pirates. The crew and the passengers aboard the ship were carried off to Sindh where they were imprisoned by the Raja of Daibul. Iraq was a province of the Omayyad Empire and the governor of the province Hajjaj bin Yusuf wrote to the Raja asking him to free the prisoners. The Raja refused. The irate Hajjaj sent a continent of troops under Ubaidulla bin Binham to free the prisoners. Ubaidulla was defeated and killed by forces of the Raja. Hajjaj was determined that an act of piracy against a ship belonging to the Umayyad realm should not go unpunished. The exotic land of Sindh with its fabled wealth was an added attraction for the Arabs. Hajjaj assembled a seasoned cavalry of 7000 horsemen and dispatched it under the command of Mohammed bin Qasim. (To be continued next week)
Is Musharraf Gaining Ground? makes no secret of his desire to be back in authority. ”If I can do anything for my country, I will be too happy to serve my people”. His remarks can easily be deciphered. Managing the affairs of the country for almost 9 years, the 74-year old military commando fell victim to Machiavellian machinations. His decision to demolish a mosque in Islamabad, called the “ Red Mosque” or “ Lal Masjid” in local parlance, became controversial, but which proved right as the time passed by. The holy place was full of Taliban, armed with latest weapons, which in Musharraf ’s mind was a potent threat to the capital city. A second incident for which the ex-ruler came under severe criticism was the killing of eminent politician and Baloch tribal chieftain, Nawab Akbar Bugti. Impartial enquiries into the matter sifted facts from fiction. It became evident after a couple of years that Bugti or his supporters had been instrumental in blowing up gas pipelines, emanating from his native land of Dera Bugti, but, instead of feeding his own province, was supplied mainly to industries and domestic consumers in the Punjab heartland. Musharraf tried to pacify him and sent two of his colonels to his hideout in the remote mountainous area. A blast in the cave killed Bugti as well as the army men.
His quarrel with the former supreme court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry too was the brainchild of the then spy master, General Kayani, and the Chaudhry brothers---Shujaat and Pervez Elahie-- of Gujrat, plus his own hand-picked prime minister Shaukat Aziz. They all deserted him when the crunch came to face the mounting public agitation and Musharraf was forced to shake hands with staunch opponent Benazir Bhutto after talks in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. All these calculations backfired with disastrous consequences for the former head of State. Musharraf had actually chosen an eminent parliamentarian of his time, Akhtar Humayun, son of a four-star general, who
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died later in the plane crash of 1988 along with the then President General Ziaul Haq, but faced resistance from the two Chaudhrys. The two cunning leaders from upper Punjab also got inducted a mediocre, low level officer Tariq Aziz as his principal secretary. He too betrayed him in the end. Musharraf and Benazir had reached an agreement to be president and prime minister respectively. The agreement was honoured by Zardari also, but he was forced to remove Musharraf under persistent pressure from Nawaz Sharif, for being a signatory to a co-existence treaty, finalized in London. Public image of Musharraf stands enormously boosted because his insistence to be ruthless with the Taliban and other terrorists, and tighten screws on the mushroom growth of seminaries has now been reluctantly accepted by the Sharif administration. In the southern Sindh province, 17 such seminaries have already been closed, and a number of those managing it, arrested. Similar action has been taken at army’s insistence in the Punjab province also. Both these decisions have been severely criticized by politico-religious groups. The unanimity between Sharif ’s party and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, plus a number of his coali-
tion partners is thus threatened. Sharif ’s position is further compromised because of his decision to ban horse trading for election to the Parliament’s upper house, the Senate. These elections, due on March 5, may now be by show of hands instead of secret balloting. The Government’s success in amending the Constitution depends heavily on the cooperation from the Peoples Party of Zardari. Whether they will join hands once again to bring the 22nd amendment to the Constitution remains to be seen. The moot point here is whether PPP would allow its rivals to gain a majority in the Senate and elect its own chairman. Will Zardari agree to it is a big poser now. He himself or his party may not like their strength to be affected in the Senate but it has its own limitations for failing to muster enough votes in the Punjab Assembly, which is now going to be a decisive factor. All these and a number of other factors, like severe inflation, and a likely upward review of fuel prices, plus the government’s inability to provide relief to the common man, have combined to destroy the image of the Sharif-led administration. The general public now regards Musharraf a much better choice, and has begun to treat him as their savior.
OPINION
P10 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Re-incarnating Dara Shikoh, a Great Moghul n By Ghazala Akbar London, UK
Paradise is where no Mullah resides May no one pay heed to his Fatwas In a street where a Mullah resides No wise man is ever found Shams Tabrizi? Mirza Ghalib? Guess again. This irreverent verse is attributed to Dara Shikoh, a forgotten prince of Indian history, a great Mughal who never ruled. Dara who? Precisely. Our fascination with the Mughals is ubiquitous. We name our children, streets and even the odd restaurant after them; we display their portraits, ape their costumes and jewellery. We enjoy the music, the dances and cuisine. We visit their splendid tombs, we picnic in their gardens, we pray in their mosques - but shamefully - scholars and history buffs excepted, our critical appraisal or interest in their reign is limited to, or influenced by maudlin, gossipy, celluloid representations of their romantic entanglements. The all-time favourite is the legend of Anarkali, an aspiring dancing-girl whose defiant love for Prince Saleem earns her the Emperor Akbar’s wrath and a cruel death. We admire the upwardly-mobile Nur Jehan ruling imperiously from behind-the-lattice- screen, while her spouse Jahangir, overdoses on opium and alcohol. We grieve for the fecund Mumtaz Mahal dying (not unsurprisingly) in the midst of her fourteenth pregnancy; we approve wholeheartedly of Shahjahan’s extravagance in constructing a monument to their love. Their talented daughter, the poetess Jahan Ara, is another sad case of thwarted desire. Denied married bliss (a potential spouse could claim the throne!) she expends her energies in creative works, or consoling her heart-broken father in his dotage. As for the octogenarian poet, Bahadur Shah Zafar, he arouses our uttermost empathy. We are moved to tears at his fate as the ‘last’ Mughal and his death in impoverished exile. Such is our ire at his British captors, he has now been elevated as a ‘hero’ of the first War of Independence, 1857. And Prince Dara? Poor unfortunate, headless Dara barely gets a mention. He is relegated to an ‘also-ran’, a loser in a four-way succession race for the Peacock throne in which his brothers, Aurangzeb, Murad Baksh and Shah Shuja also figure. The course of Indian history is peppered with ifs and maybes -- but in the current climate of clashing fundamentalisms, rival nationalist narratives and state-sponsored historical revisionism, there is none as intriguing as the one big question: what if Dara Shikoh, had ascended the throne in 1658 instead of his brother Aurangzeb? For Dara -- like his great grandfather Akbar (1552-1605) -- was streets ahead of his times and contemporaries in matters of religion. In an era when Europe was riven with dissension between Catholics and Protestants, both men advocated religious fusion, pluralism and tolerance. While Akbar had tried (unsuccessfully) into forging a
‘new’ State religion, Dara was more circumspect. His measured approach lay within the scope of Sufi Islam and the belief that there are as many different paths to the divine as there are seekers. Deeply interested in spiritual matters, intellectual and artistic pursuits, Dara had turned the Mughal court into an arena for religious debate. He read widely. He engaged with holy men -- Sufis, Hindus and Sikhs asking questions, continually searching and seeking answers. He funded and collaborated with Sanskrit scholars in the first Persian translation of the Upanishads. He authored several treatises, most notably the ‘Majma ul Bahrain’ (mingling of two seas) in which he sought commonalities between Islam and Hinduism. He even went so far as to speculate that the ‘hidden book’ referred to in the first verse of the Holy Qur’an might refer to the Upanishads.
Jahan Ara put under house arrest. History, as they say, is about winners, not losers. Consequently it is Aurangzeb that is remembered -- respected or reviled -- depending on your view. From a purely popular Muslim perspective, he is a pious, devout, austere, militarily astute emperor whose long reign advanced Mughal power and the cause of Indian Islam to its farthest reaches, north and south. As an example of his simplicity, textbooks inform us he stitched and sold caps for his own expenses! His misdeeds are suppressed. Viewed from the prism of Indian nationalists, Aurangzeb is the arch villain, second only to the 10th century invader Mahmud Ghazni in infamy. He is loathed as a cruel religious bigot who wantonly destroyed temples, re-imposed punitive taxes and discriminated against Hindus and Sikhs. Such is his reputation that during the destruction
valid. We have to accept that there were antagonisms deep-rooted in historical events; that these were further exacerbated during Aurangzeb’s reign and then exploited by British colonists and indigenous political and religious leaders. In a recent article, geo-political analyst Robert Kaplan sums it aptly: ‘…there is an intimacy to IndiaPakistan relationships inflamed by a religious element. Pakistan is the incarnation of all Muslim invasions that have assaulted Hindu North India throughout history.’ Was the cause then of peaceful religious co-existence and evolution of cultural syncretism irreparably harmed by the accession of Aurangzeb? Could a reign of Dara Shikoh have significantly changed the course of South Asian history? These speculative questions came to mind as I watched a riveting historical drama, ‘Dara’ currently playing to wide acclaim at the National
The story of Dara needs a wider global audience. The epic struggle between him and Aurangzeb isn’t just a mere family quarrel, a sibling rivalry for power and glory. Their clash is of 21st century relevance, an in-house battle for the soul of Islam. It mirrors the conflict raging in every Muslim household today and the wider Islamic world. How do we practice the faith: fundamentalist, literalist, supremacist as represented by Aurangzeb or adaptive, interpretative and pluralist as personified by Dara? Dara’s eclectic views annoyed the conservative establishment but they weren’t shocking in themselves to disqualify him as a contender for the throne. Even after he had been defeated militarily, humiliated and paraded on a filthy, injured elephant through the Delhi streets, he managed to arouse public sympathy. Alarmed at this turn of events, Aurangzeb with the help of the Ulema arraigned Dara for apostasy. His writings were then cleverly used as evidence of his ‘blasphemy’ and partiality towards Hinduism. Dara was found guilty and put to death, his severed head brought to Shahjahan on a platter. His teenage son Sipihr who had witnessed his father’s execution suffered the classic Mughal punishment for errant Princes: pousta, a highly toxic concoction of narcotics that eventually wastes the body. The other two claimants Murad and Shuja were outgunned, outsmarted and eliminated while their father and sister
of the Bamiyan Buddha by the Taliban, it was repeatedly stated (without evidence) that Aurangzeb had commanded his artillery to do the same! While it is true that Aurangzeb has been vilified in history -- the ‘bare facts’ of his forty-nine year reign often subjectively and selectively presented -- there can be no denying that out of all of India’s Muslim rulers none has generated more controversy among successive generations than Aurangzeb. A common thread among Imperial and Indian historians alike is that Aurangzeb’s cultural and religious policies alienated his non-Muslim subjects, triggered a series of rebellions, caused a melt-down of central authority and created a deep religious divide culminating in the bloody partition of India 240 years after his death. The notion that Partition was caused solely by British policies of ‘divide and rule’ is only partially
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Theatre in London. Written originally in Urdu by the Pakistani playwright Shahid Nadeem, it has been translated and adapted in English by Tania Ronder and directed by Nadia Hall. Kudos to the National Theatre for this edifying, thought-provoking production. Performed by a cast of mostly British Asians ‘Dara’ is a visual treat with splendid sets, costumes and live music evoking 17th century Mughal grandeur. Clichéd as it may sound, it’s almost like a Mughal miniature come to life. The action moves backward and forward in time to create historical and social context -- and -- barring a few confusing moments, it works reasonably well. The trial scene of Dara -- the twisted accusations of his Qazi inquisitor and Dara’s impassioned defence are worth the price of admission alone! ‘Who cares which door you open to enter the light’ he says despairingly. In recent years there have
been other well-meaning attempts to excavate and narrate the story of Dara: most notably ‘The trial of Dara Shikoh’ by the scholar Akbar S. Ahmed and ‘Dara, a play in verse’ by Rajmohan Gandhi, the historian grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Given our penchant for celluloid history, hopefully a probing, politically-correct cinematic treatment will also follow. The story of Dara needs a wider global audience. The epic struggle between him and Aurangzeb isn’t just a mere family quarrel, a sibling rivalry for power and glory. Their clash is of 21st century relevance, an in-house battle for the soul of Islam. It mirrors the conflict raging in every Muslim household today and the wider Islamic world. How do we practice the faith: fundamentalist, literalist, supremacist as represented by Aurangzeb or adaptive, interpretative and pluralist as personified by Dara? With considerable hindsight, the noted historian Abraham Eraly (The Mughal Throne) writes: ‘We do not know what dreams Dara had for India but they certainly would not have been the same as the dreams of Aurangzeb; India was at the crossroads in the mid 17th century; it had the potential of moving forward with Dara or of turning back to medievalism with Aurangzeb. But India’s destiny lay with Auranzeb.’ Alas we will never know whether Dara would have ruled wisely or well. As for the historical verdict on Aurangzeb, the jury is still out. In our contemporary world, however, we are victims and witnesses of attempts by ‘Wannabe Aurangzebs,’ to create their distorted versions of 7th century utopias. Perhaps it is now time to forget Aurangzeb’s controversial legacy and banish his ghost. It is time to resuscitate and re-incarnate the spirit of his brother Dara, a truly Great Moghul. We cannot change the course of history, but we need not repeat it. TWAIN FROM P4
efforts to find positive ways for the Muslim communities to feel they are valued citizens through ensuring educational and employment opportunities. It is vital to create an effective process of mutual understanding and dialogue. With dialogue comes knowledge and understanding of each other. However, more than political measures are required to create a cohesive society. The dignity of the Muslim populations must be restored. The increasingly open attacks against the Muslim population, their religion, and their culture push them further and further away from nonMuslims and feed anger which too often encourages violence. The earlier Runnymede report on anti-Semitism has something important to teach us: the enactment of laws which protect a minority from attacks on its faith and community is the first crucial step in tackling religious hatred. The Muslim community too needs to be similarly protected. (Professor Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University, Washington, DC and author of The Thistle and the Drone: How America’s War on Terror became a Global War on Tribal Islam)
PAKISTAN
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P11
Pakistan Braces for a Long and Deadly War in Tribal Areas on Afghan Border
Pakistan Army oficers and jawans advance in the combat area
Rawalpindi: When 10 Pakistani soldiers tried to dislodge Taliban militants from a madrassa near the Afghan border this summer, their advance was crippled by relentless gunfire. Within minutes, two soldiers were dead, and Imran Ali had so many bullets in his legs he couldn’t tell whether they were still attached. For 22 agonizing hours, Ali said, he curled up on the floor waiting for other soldiers to fight their way in to rescue him. After he was finally flown to safety, his left leg was amputated at the knee, and he became another victim of the Pakistani army’s latest offensive against militants in the restive tribal area of North Waziristan. “I received so many bullets, I still can’t figure them all out,” Ali, 25, recalled recently at a military rehabilitation hospital in this city. “But this is for the survival of the country, and God willing, we are going to win this war.” Ali is among nearly 800 Pakistani troops who have been wounded since the military launched its North Waziristan operation in June. Two hundred nineteen have been killed, adding to a toll of about 4,400 Pakistani troops who have lost their lives battling militants in northwestern Pakistan since 2002. That’s nearly twice as many troops as the United States lost in the same period in neighboring Afghanistan. Now, two months after the Pakistani Taliban slaughtered 150 students and teachers at an army-run school in the city of Peshawar, military leaders are assessing just how much more blood will be spilled. Despite the growing resolve of Pakistani soldiers in their fight against extremism, military leaders here remain worried about diverting too many troops from their traditional mission of defending the eastern border with arch-foe India. But those concerns are tempered by fears that militants are evolving into smaller and more erratic groups that will be testing Pakistani forces for years — and perhaps decades. In a recent interview, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said he hopes the bulk of the fighting in North Waziristan will be over within “a few months.” But a senior Pakistani military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media, said current plans call for keeping as many as 170,000 soldiers — almost one-third of the entire force — near the Afghan border through at least 2019. Such an extended presence
would allow the military to safeguard recent gains in North Waziristan, which has long served as a base for al-Qaeda, while still being able to quickly respond to emerging threats, including efforts by Islamic State militants to gain a foothold in the region. “We are now basically fighting for the defense of the subcontinent,” the official said. “It’s not only for Pakistan; it’s for all of South Asia. With the withdrawal of NATO from Afghanistan, the entire burden has fallen on Pakistan.” Some analysts and US officials are skeptical, however, that the Pakistani army can stomach a prolonged fight against militants, some of whom were nurtured by Pakistani defense and intelligence agencies as bulwarks against India and might still be viewed as assets. Other analysts say that even if the military fights stoutly, it is unclear whether it can win. “This is a mission that may well be beyond their capability,” said Jonah Blank, a Pakistan expert at the Rand Corp. “The US, after 13 years in Afghanistan, has not been able to put the Taliban out of business . . . and that is the most powerful military the world has ever seen. So it may be unrealistic to expect that the Pakistani military could eliminate the Taliban or even reduce it to a bare-bones operation.” Asif, the defense minister, said skeptics need to give the military time, perhaps two years, to prove its resolve. “This is a menace the world has to face, and it’s not only in Pakistan,” Asif said. “The Middle East, North Africa, Europe — there are so many conflict areas, and the world has to take care of it and come to grips with it.” Shaukat Qadir, a retired Pakistani army brigadier, said soldiers were deeply affected by the Taliban assault on the school in Peshawar. After years of half-hearted efforts to combat militant groups, Pakistani troops and commanders finally “feel this war is worth fighting,” Qadir said. “You have to fight your own people, but nonetheless, they now know it needs to be done,” said Qadir, adding that troops are energized by the humble, hands-on leadership style of Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Raheel Sharif. That resolve was evident at the Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to Islamabad, the capital. On a recent visit to one ward, a dozen
soldiers in crisp blue hospital gowns, many of them missing limbs, were seen sitting up in their beds. “I am very much hopeful that, yes, things are getting better, and we will win this war,” said Muhammad Rafiq, 19, who lost a foot when he stepped on a bomb in the tribal area of South Waziristan, where troops are also deployed. “We are very much into it, and the whole nation is now into it.” The injured soldiers said they were surprised, however, to be battling an enemy far different from the one they had expected to meet when they enlisted. “All of the thinking of India being the enemy for this country, I felt it, too, when I joined the army,” said Talat Mehmood, 30, who lost his right leg while fighting in South Waziristan two years ago. “But this new enemy is equally dangerous, equally dreadful, and needs to be taken care of.” As more troops are injured, they often show up here at the rehabilitation hospital. Considered Pakistan’s version of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., the hospital opened in 2005. It recently expanded from 100 to 150 beds to treat an influx of wounded soldiers, officials said. During past Pakistani military conflicts, injured soldiers were fitted with wooden prostheses that wobbled under use. Now, in a basement workshop at the hospital, technicians sculpt temporary plaster prosthetics by hand. The hospital increasingly provides patients with flexible plastic and metal prosthetics common in the West. It is also branching out to offer speech therapy as well as occupational and traumatic brain--injury therapy. “We are trying to say to these soldiers who have been injured that they can remain a useful part of society,” said Col. Khalid Siddiqui, a specialist at the hospital. But Maj. Gen. Akhtar Waheed, who heads the hospital, said it might be decades before the army truly recovers from its battle against militants. He noted that Pakistan, a country that is intensely proud of its armed forces, provides lifetime care to wounded soldiers. “This population is 19, 20, 25 years old, and they have to live another 40 or 50 years,” Waheed said. “Once you have sacrificed for your country, even if it’s an injury to their fingertip, we have to take care of them.”
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Army Increasing Cooperation with CIA after Peshawar Massacre Islamabad: The Pakistan Army is once again cooperating with the US on drone strikes, a renowned expert on the country’s military tells the Bureau in the latest edition of Drone News. Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, an Islamabad-based independent political and defense analyst, told Owen Bennett-Jones that there had been a shift in attitude among Pakistan’s rulers, who had until recently been opposed to the CIA’s covert war in their country. The change happened following a change in the leadership of the Pakistan Army, Siddiqa said, a shift galvanized by the December 2014 Taliban attack on a military high school in Peshawar. Siddiqa said that the Peshawar attack had made the Pakistani military “much more conscientious… in cooperating with the Americans, talking to them and saying: ‘Look, we have a common problem here. And as long as you also target the Taliban that are bothering us we’ll kind of give you the intelligence to help you with the drone attacks.’” This new attitude has not prevented the Pakistani army from protecting and supporting specific militant groups however, Siddiqa said. In the podcast, Owen Bennett-Jones suggested that Pakistan’s drones policy had returned to a situation similar to that which existed under General Pervez Musharraf at
the start of the decade-long campaign – a tacit agreement between the US and Pakistan, a compromise allowing the strikes. Siddiqa agreed but argued that the current informal arrangement was “better” than before with the army now willing to give more concessions to the Afghan and US governments. This episode of Drone News also featured an interview with Dr Humeria Iqtidar, a politics lecture at King’s College London, who believes Pakistan has “tended to proceed with this assumption that [Pashtuns] are somehow primitive people”. “In the last certainly five to six years we see an increasing trend in conflating Pashtun, Taliban, tribal – all into one category,” she told the Bureau. She said this was running over into the broader violence afflicting Pakistan’s urban centers including Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, which “is being explained by the presence of these Pashtun/ Tribal/Taliban”. Iqtidar also told the Bureau that the Pakistan military was not as much of a cohesive, monolithic entity a was generally thought. She pointed to a disconnect between the top brass and the soldiers “who have actually gone out to fight what they thought was a just war”. Among the foot-soldiers, she said “there is immense cynicism and there is immense despair”.
Operation Is against All Militant Groups, COAS Tells US Islamabad: A US congressional delegation was assured on Wednesday that Pakistan had no favorites and operation Zarb-iAzb was against all militants groups in North Waziristan. Talking to the visiting US congressional delegation led by Senator Jack Reed — a ranking member of the Senate’s Armed Services committee — at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, Army Chief Gen Raheel said that Tehreeki-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) network and other militants groups have been completely dismantled in North Waziristan and a large area has been cleared. During the meeting, security situation along the Pak-Afghan border also came under discussion and the US delegation was told that PakAfghan forces are conducting coordinated operations against militant hideouts and significant progress has been made in such operations. Gen Raheel also took the US delegation into confidence over his latest trip to Kabul and told Senator Jack Reed that cooperation between Islamabad and Kabul is growing in regard to security and countering terrorism. The security situation in Afghanistan also came under discussion during the meeting. The US senator appreciated
Pakistan’s role in counter-terrorism efforts and assured full cooperation with Pakistan. Following the Peshawar school carnage that left more than a hundred students dead, Gen Raheel Sharif had earlier met with the US military leadership to discuss bilateral defense cooperation and the overall regional security situation with special emphasis on Afghanistan. The Centcom chief had lauded the sacrifices rendered by the Pakistan Army in the war against terror and operational gains in Zarb-i-Azb, which have resulted in an effective destruction of terrorist networks. The Army chief also visited Kabul to demand action against hideouts of Pakistani militants in Kunar and other areas. During Gen Raheel’s meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, both the leaders had pledged support to each other in their fight against terrorism and had vowed to restrict the use of their soil against each other, said a statement by the ISPR. Both countries had also agreed to continue the ongoing operation against militants in their respective countries, the statement added. In a previous visit to Kabul, Gen Raheel sought handover of Mullah Fazlullah who is wanted for terrorism cases in Pakistan.
PAKISTAN
P12 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Russia-Pakistan Deal May Lead to More Sales
Visitors look at a PAC JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat aircraft at an exhibition in Karachi on December 3, 2014
Islamabad: A deal enabling Pakistan to directly import Russian engines for the JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter will improve the program and may lead to more Russian-made parts for the aircraft, analysts say. News broke over the weekend that Pakistan would directly import the Klimov RD-93 engines from Russia rather than via China, which reportedly also supports the deal. Kaiser Tufail, an analyst and former air commodore, said he believes the deal is significant on cost and political grounds. “I think a direct deal with Russia for supply of the engines basically removes the Chinese middleman, resulting in cheaper procurement cost. It is also reflective of a thaw in what has been a frosty relationship with Russia over the past several decades,” he said. Considering the JF-17 is a Sino-Pakistani project, Tufail said: “China’s approval of direct procurement from Russia is also significant, and can be seen as trilateral cooperation between the three countries, in which Pakistan enjoys a pivotal position.” Engine availability has always been a source of speculation for the
JF-17 program — initially the lack of a Western-made power plant — and whether Moscow would continue to supply the RD-93, forcing Pakistan to look for an alternative. An alternative does exist in the Chinese Guizhou WS-13, but analysts do not consider it yet to have matured. With the guaranteed availability of the RD-93, the only issue is whether a more powerful, and perhaps thrust-vectoring, variant may be adopted at a future date. The European EJ200 is also being offered, but for potential customers such as Saudi Arabia. Brian Cloughley, analyst and former Australia defense attache to Islamabad, said, “I think there is already examination of the means of upgrading the JF-17 in many ways, and it would be surprising if this did not include more powerful engines, and certainly an improved version of the RD-93 would be a sensible choice.” Cloughley said financing may be an issue, but it’s something he believed politics will overcome. “As usual, it all comes down to cost — but Russia is cutting the price of its exported defense material in order to acquire and lock-in markets.” Cloughley also highlighted
a perennial fear of sanctions for Pakistan that still shapes its policies. “This is yet another blowback effect of sanctions, and it may cost the West considerably in the long term.” However, Tufail questioned the need for the JF-17 needing a replacement engine. “I believe it is a premature idea, as the current RD-93 is powerful enough, providing a thrustto-weight ratio of almost 1:1,” said Tufail. “So far the engine has performed flawlessly, both from an operational and maintenance point of view, its relatively low [time between overhaul] notwithstanding. When the PAF eventually decides to replace the current engine, it would likely be on the TBO factor,” he added. Tufail explained that under present circumstances, the JF-17 may not be suited to a more powerful engine. “It also needs to be understood that any thrust increase in an aircraft that is not amply endowed with a large internal fuel quantity is not a feasible option. The RD-93 is, therefore, likely to continue on the current version of the JF-17 for the foreseeable future,” Tufail said. Cloughley felt the engine deal could lead to further Russian involvement in the JF-17. “I have no doubt that Moscow and Islamabad are looking at all sorts of equipment, and it would make sense for Pakistan to make deals — providing they are acceptable to China.” The engine deal could eventually lead to weapons deals, Tufail said. “Over a long term, Russian weapons would surely come under consideration, but I believe for the time being, we won’t get into retrofits,” he said. Tufail added: “These are effortintensive for they need time to iron out the interface glitches. For the next 5-7 years, the PAF would like the weapon system to mature, though I am sure studies of Russian weapons integration would surely get underway during this period.”
Pakistani Boat Controversy Was a Drama: FO Islamabad: Foreign Office (FO) spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said Friday that Pakistan had made it clear that none if its boats went missing as claimed by Indian officials. “It has been proven from the contradictory statements issued by top Indian officials that the boat issue was a drama that has now been exposed,” said Aslam. Earlier on Wednesday, India’s Deputy Inspector General of the Coast Guard denied reports which said that he had admitted ordering for a Pakistani boat to be blown up in the Arabian Sea on New Year’s eve. The claim was in sharp contrast to New Delhi’s official position which had been adamant that the boat had ‘suspected terror links’ and that the crew had committed suicide by setting the vessel on fire. Coast Guard DIG B.K. Loshali later issued a rejoinder which rejected the media report terming it as ‘not factual’ and denied making any such claim. Responding to a question about Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan, the spokes-
woman made it clear that all outstanding issues between the two countries would be discussed when he visits Islamabad. However, Aslam added that no dates for the foreign secretary’s visit had been finalized. She added that Pakistan was committed to having a meaningful dialogue with India and had never backtracked. Regarding the Samjhota Express incident which left 68 people (mostly Pakistanis) dead and its investiga-
tion, Aslam said Indian authorities had never shared any enquiry reports with Islamabad. The train was carrying 757 passengers, including 553 Pakistanis, from New Delhi to Lahore via Attari when it was targeted by two low-intensity improvised explosive devices which caused the carriages to explode near the Shiva village in India’s Panipat District. She added that in view of the anniversary (February 18) of this tragic incident, Pakistan once again demanded of the Indian government to share complete investigation with the government of Pakistan. Responding to a question regarding reports of resumption of dialogue between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government, Aslam said Pakistan was ready to play the role of a facilitator. However, the reconciliation process between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban should be owned and led by Afghanistan. Regarding the return of refugees to Afghanistan, the spokeswoman said a high-level Afghan BOAT, P29
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Terror Wave Sparks Rare Criticism of Saudi Arabia Islamabad: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long enjoyed close relations, but Islamabad’s new-found resolve for fighting the root causes of extremism has seen the Gulf state come in for rare criticism. The two countries, both with majority Sunni Muslim populations, are bound together by shared Islamic religious ties, financial aid from oil-rich Saudi and Pakistani military assistance to the Kingdom. But a Taliban massacre at a school that killed more than 150 people in December, mostly children, has led the government to crack down on militants and talk of bringing religious seminaries under tighter control. Now the country’s media and even government ministers have begun to question whether support from Saudi Arabia for seminaries, known as madrassas, is fuelling violent extremism — bringing tension to the relationship for the first time. Last week, the Saudi embassy issued a statement saying that all its donations to seminaries had government clearance, after a minister accused the Riyadh government of creating instability across the Muslim world. The Pakistani foreign ministry responded by saying that funding by private individuals through “informal channels” would also be scrutinized closely to try to choke off funding for terror groups. While the statement avoided mentioning Saudi Arabia specifically, it was widely interpreted as a rebuke. Away from the seminaries, there has also been widespread criticism of the decision to allow Saudi royals to hunt the rare houbara bustard, prized in the Middle East for its supposed aphrodisiac properties, in the southern provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan. Officials granted permission to hunt the bird, which is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of threatened species, in defiance of a court order, prompting allegations that the government prized its lucrative ties to Riyadh over its own wildlife. Donors in Saudi Arabia have long been accused of quietly funding terror groups sympathetic to the kingdom’s hardline version of Sunni Islam. Leaked diplomatic cables by then-US secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009 said Saudi Arabian donors were “the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide”. The cable cited the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Pakistan’s Sunni Muslim sectarian militants Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as examples of where funds were being channeled. Linked to the funding is Saudi Arabia’s long geostrategic struggle with Iran, the key Shia Muslim power in the region. Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s current prime minister, enjoys particularly close ties with the Saudi royal family, which hosted him during his almost decade-long exile from Pakistan following his ouster by then military ruler Pevez Musharraf. And last year the government said it had received a $1.5 billion “gift “from a friendly Muslim nation, widely thought by experts to be a loan from Saudi Arabia. But Najmuddin Sheikh, a former
foreign secretary and ambassador, said the December attack on an army school in Peshawar, which left 153 people dead including 134 children, had opened the door for criticism. “This has been triggered by Peshawar and a strong feeling that much of the terrorism that is here is being financed by outside countries,” he said. “Countries like Kuwait, UAE and Qatar must also do much more at home to curtail this.” But, he added, any efforts to cut back on foreign funding for extremist seminaries must go hand in hand with similar efforts at home. He said that would include the state dropping its links with proxy groups that have historically been used by the military establishment to further strategic goals in Afghanistan and Indian-held Kashmir. “Our fund collection within Pakistan remains unimpeded. If you want more from abroad you need to do more at home,” he said. A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed. “We didn’t need the Saudis to radicalize us, we have geared ourselves to that,” he said. And while the current mood may be critical of Riyadh, the official said in the long run the relationship was too important and too beneficial to jeopardize. “There is no change in policy. Both the Sharif government and the military are very much on board with Saudis. Actual policy is not likely to change,” he said.
Govt. Says Terrorists’ Trial by Military Courts Is No Violation of Rights Islamabad: The federal government
urged the Supreme Court on Monday to respect its decision of trying terrorists in military courts because these had been set up under the 21st Amendment in consultation with all political parties. The courts were created in accordance with the procedure established by law to try the accused, said a 43-page rejoinder submitted by the government a day before the hearing by the apex court of a set of 13 petitions challenging the 21st Amendment. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa submitted its reply on Feb 11 and the other three provinces on Monday. All the provincial governments supported the amendment and almost endorsed the points highlighted by the federal government in its reply to the challenges. Since Chief Justice Nasir-ulMulk, who was heading a three-judge bench seized with the matter, is indisposed, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali will preside over the court on Tuesday. In its reply, which many believe was written more in a passionate way than in legal terms, the federal government mainly focused on the petition filed by the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA). The reply was drafted by Additional Attorney General Mohammad Waqar Rana and submitted on behalf of Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt. It requested the apex court to dismiss the challenges because COURTS, P29
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Islamic State Poses “Serious Threat” to the Country: Foreign Secretary
“We welcome the head of Syrian Daish Group Abu Bakkar Al Bagdadi and pay him tributes,” says the graffiti in Urdu language in various parts of Bannu district
Islamabad: The foreign office broke
its silence on Monday regarding the Islamic State’s (IS) activities inside Pakistan, admitting that the radical group posed a “serious threat” to the country. Speaking to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee at Parliament House, Foreign Secretary Azaz Ahmed Chaudhry acknowledged IS was indeed a real concern, while simultaneously assuring those present that the government would take all steps necessary to counter the threat. “Under UN resolutions, Pakistan is firmly against extremist organizations like ISIL [IS] and is taking all actions to counter them”, Chaudhry told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. He disclosed that after Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched in North Waziristan, some extremist elements tried to emerge on the IS platform, but their efforts were countered. “There is concern in the Gulf and other Muslim countries about ISIL”, the foreign secretary noted. IS arrests, ongoing activity: Leaflets calling for support for IS were seen in parts of Northwest Pakistan, while pro-IS slogans have appeared on walls in several cities. In January this year, security forces had arrested a man they believed was the commander of IS in the country as well as two accomplices involved in recruiting and sending fighters to Syria. Intelligence sources, who had spoken to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the man, Yousaf al-Salafi, was arrested in Lahore and confessed
during interrogation that he represented IS. Rifts among the Taliban and disputes about the future of the insurgency have contributed to the rise of IS’s popularity but security sources believe there are no operational links yet between IS and South Asia. Disgruntled former Taliban commanders have formed the so-called Khorasan chapter — an umbrella IS group covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other South Asian countries — in recent months but have not been involved in any fighting. Their leader, Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai, a former Pakistani Taliban commander, appeared in a video this month urging people in the region to join the group. In Afghanistan, one militant commander said many have turned to IS, or Daish as it is also known, because they are frustrated at the lack of leadership by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Afghan Taliban chief who has not been seen in public for years. “Look, we have been fighting for years but we don’t have an inch of land in our possession in Afghanistan,” said the senior commander, who spoke from the Afghan province of Kunar. “On the other hand, Daish, within limited time, captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria and established Sharia. This is what is being discussed all the time in our circles. “We have serious doubts about whether he (Omar) is alive at all ... Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is visible and is leading his people,” the commander said, referring to the IS leader.
Pakistan-India Peace Clinic Set up in Karachi Islamabad: Two leading hospitals of Pakistan and India have established a ‘peace clinic’ by conducting a joint surgery procedure at the combined liver ward unit for pretransplant and post-transplant care in Karachi city, experts from the two countries said. Speaking at a press conference at the Dr Ziauddin Hospital, the experts said that the Ziauddin and the Apollo Hospital of India had started joint surgery procedures and established a combined liver ward unit at the Pakistani hospital in Karachi on a platform they called a ‘peace clinic’. Prof Anupam Sibal, group director of the Apollo Hospital and renowned paediatric liver transplant surgeon, spoke on the occasion about
the combined kidney and liver transplantation unit that was established in collaboration by the two hospitals. He said that they would use the expertise of Indian doctors to treat Pakistani patients. “I am thankful to our Pakistani friends for giving us the opportunity to utilize our expertise for the benefit of the people of Pakistan,” he added. The media was informed that the Pakistan-India peace clinic had the primary goal of treating kidney and liver transplant patients in Pakistan. Earlier, physical check-ups of liver transplant cases for paediatric patients by Prof Anupam Sibal and online adult check-up by CLINIC, P29
Elements of TTP on board: Multiple Pakistani Taliban commanders and three lesser cadres from the Afghan Taliban have pledged their support. In January, an online video was released showing former militants of the Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group. The video shows former TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid along with dozens of other militants in a wooded area. The SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based terrorism monitor, said the video was released by the Islamic State group on Twitter and jihadi forums. Govt in a state of denial about Daesh? The government apparently remains in a state of denial regarding a massive threat posed by the Middle Eastern terrorist group Daesh (Islamic State), which recently announced its set-up for Pakistan and Afghanistan, claims another report. With the group’s leadership for the region going to a Pakistani and exTTP men getting a lion’s share in the 12 top positions, it is clear that the IS plans to focus on the country as part of its ‘expansion into Khorasan’ strategy. Besides the sectarian angle, Daesh appears attractive for young religious militants because of the territory it controls and the financial resources it possesses. Weakening of the TTP because of desertions and military action has also provided a conducive environment for the IS to establish a base here. Security analyst Zahid Hussain sees the naming of the group’s hierarchy here as a sign of its emergence. Amir Rana, who heads the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (Pips), an Islamabad-based think tank specializing in security issues, said the move to accept allegiance of militants from here was a “strategic decision” by Daesh after which all factions would have to join hands and pool resources. The formation of a formal structure, he said, needed to be taken as a serious threat. Both Mr Hussain and Mr Rana said the terrorist group Jundullah’s acceptance of responsibility of the bomb attack in an Imambargah at Shikarpur underscored the seriousness of the threat. Jundullah was one of the first groups in the country to have pledged allegiance to the IS chief. Besides fears of the sectarian front heating up once Daesh launches its activities here, analysts are worried that a turf war between it, Taliban and Al Qaeda would also begin.
Reuters’ Bureau Chief Found Dead in Islamabad
Islamabad: Pakistan and Afghan-
istan bureau chief for Reuters, Maria Golovnina, was found dead at her residence located in Sector F-8 in Islamabad on Monday, according to the police. The police said that Golovnina, a Russian reporter, went to office and came back in the afternoon as she was not feeling well. Initial information revealed that she was feeling heavy headed and dropped on the floor after vomiting, the police said. “We are saddened to announce that Maria Golovnina, Reuters Bureau Chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, passed away on Monday. She was 34. Maria fell unconscious in the Islamabad bureau. An ambulance arrived quickly and she was rushed to Kulsum International Hospital, but medical teams were unable to save her. Maria was a superb journalist with a long and varied career at Reuters. A fluent Japanese and Russian speaker, she joined Reuters in Tokyo in 2001 and subsequently worked in postings around the world including London, Singapore, Moscow, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2013, Maria became Bureau Chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and led her team through an impressive run of exclusives and insights. Her talents, energy and can-do spirit will be sorely missed,” said a statement released by Reuters on Golovnina’s death. Dr Ayesha Ishani, the spokesperson for Pakistan Institute of
Medical Sciences (PIMS), said that she was brought dead to the hospital. Before that she was taken to a private hospital where she was pronounced dead. She further said that it was too early to get to the cause of death. Contrary to the police version, the spokesperson said that Golovnina was found dead from the washroom of her office, adding that the body was recovered after breaking the door. Post-mortem report will reveal the real cause of death, she said. Golovnina’s husband had initially refused PIMS administration to carry out a post-mortem but then later gave permission for the hospital to carry out one. Dr Ishani further said her post-mortem is underway and being carried out by medico-legal officers Dr Nasreen Butt and Dr Furukh Kamal. “The body has been brought to PIMS so that it can be kept it in the mortuary,” she added. Golovnina had been working with Reuters as the news agency’s bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan for the past year-and-ahalf. According to her colleagues, the Russian journalist fell unconscious and was rushed to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where she was officially pronounced dead. Meanwhile, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid expressed his grief over the sad demise of Golovnina.
Lal Masjid Denies Nisar’s Claim of Written Apology on APS Remarks
Islamabad: A Lal Masjid spokes-
person denied on Monday a government claim that chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz issued a written apology to the capital city police over his implied defense of the Dec 16 attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar. Spokesperson Hafiz Ehtisham Ahmed told DawnNews that Maulana Abdul Aziz has not submitted any written apology to the police and rejected the claim made by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan that Aziz had tendered a written apology as “baseless”. “It is a baseless story that there is a written apology...Was there a case against him regarding his [APS] remarks in the police? Then why
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should he submit an apology to the police?” the spokesperson said.
Ehtisham said that Maulana Aziz had apologized on a private news channel a day or two after making the statement about the APS attack, and added, “There is no need for another apology after that.” “Maulana Aziz clearly said that the attack on APS Peshawar was a grave tragedy and such incidents should not happen in the future. Does this statement by him not count as condemnation?” said the spokesperson. He claimed that Maulana Aziz has repeatedly condemned the incident. “Maulana Aziz appeared on a private TV and apologized for what he had said in his initial interview.” Ehtisham said that after REMARKS, P29
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Haram Ingredients in Most of Imported Food Items and Technology had put responsibility on the Ministry of Commerce and the provincial governments. She said a majority of the members called for immediately banning the products. However, the committee decided to hear from the officials concerned before recommending any action.
Imran Refutes Allegation of Misuse of Party Funds
NA-122 Case Lawyers Told to Come up with Final Arguments
Islamabad:
A senior government official stunned members of a National Assembly committee on Monday when he told them that most of imported packed food items being sold in the country contained haram ingredients. The Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Mian Ijaz, presented a list of 19 such items containing haram ingredients. He said the ministry had no mandate to stop the sale of such products. The products are: two brands of Chicken Tonight (imported from Holland), Bubblicious (UK), Chupa Bubble (Holland), Pascual Yogikids (Spain), three brands of Skittle Fruit (UK), Picnic Chicken (USA), Slima Soup (UK), Knorr Chicken Soup (France), Cup A Soup (UK), Tulip Chicken (Denmark), Rice Chicken Broccoli (USA), Pasta Chicken Broccoli (USA), Pasta Creamy Chicken (US), Heinz Dinner Chicken (England), Jell-O (US) and Pop Trats (USA). The items, according to the ministry’s data, contain ingredients like white and red wine, gelatine and E120 (animal-based food colour). Some of the food items containing chicken have been placed in the list due to “doubts” about the “slaughtering mechanism” since “stunning is prohibited” in Islam. Some other products have been placed in the list due to lack of “proper source or traceability to ascertain the Halal/ Haram status”. The members were told that the ministry intended to see establishment of a Pakistan Halal Authority through an act of parliament to promote imports and exports and interprovincial trade and commerce in
halal items and processes. A draft of the bill seeking establishment of the authority has been forwarded to the cabinet and the Council of Common Interests for approval, after which the ministry will be in a position to ensure that edibles containing haram ingredients are not sold in the country. The ministry’s officials had been called by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Science and Technology headed by Tariq Bashir Cheema of the PML-Q for a briefing on a notice moved by JUI-F MNA Shahida Akhtar and other party members in the assembly in November last year regarding “the sale and purchase of prohibited edible items in the country”. The NA speaker had referred the matter to the committee after the JUI-F members, including the party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, had called upon the government to ban such items. The committee members were informed that food had become a provincial subject after the passage of the 18th Constitution Amendment and it was the responsibility of the provincial governments to evolve a foolproof mechanism to check the sale of haram products. After the refusal of the ministry officials to take responsibility for the sale of haram-imported foodstuff, the committee members decided to hold another meeting with the officials concerned of the provincial governments on Thursday. Talking to Dawn after the committee’s meeting, Shahida Akhtar said it seemed that no one was ready to take responsibility for the sale of “prohibited” imported food items. She said the Ministry of Science
Lahore: The election tribunal on Monday directed lawyers of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan to come up with final arguments on an application of the latter seeking verification of the NA-122 electors’ thumb impressions through Nadra. Representing Mr Khan, Advocate Anees Hashmi argued that an inspection held by a local commission revealed a lot of discrepancies in the record. He said the forensic verification of thumb impressions through Nadra was necessary to know the validity and fate of the unauthorized ballot papers used during the polling. The counsel further argued that perusal of the record showed that the alleged rigging was pre-planned and not a result of negligence of the polling staff. Barrister Asjad Saeed, the speaker’s counsel, opposed the plea and said the verification of the thumb impressions at this stage would be a waste of time and money. Quoting a media advertisement by Nadra, the counsel said all CNIC numbers issued until 2005 could not be used for verification of mobile phone SIMs as new thumb impressions have to be taken for the verification. This fact alone showed that thumb impressions taken for CNICs until 2005 could not be used CASE, P29
Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-i-
Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has refuted as baseless allegations of misuse and embezzlement of party funds. Appearing before the Election Commission as counsel for the PTI chief on Monday, Advocate Shoaib Shaheen initially said the primary question was whether the ECP had the jurisdiction to adjudge the case. But when the commission insisted that he respond to the charge, he said the PTI’s founding member and former vice president Akbar S. Babar had acted mala fide when he levelled the allegation. He said Mr Babar had been charge-sheeted and expelled from the party in 2011 and this was the only reason for the petition filed with the commission. Mr Babar had filed the petition in November, calling for an investigation into “financial malpractices
in the party” and seeking accountability of those responsible. He had accused PTI leaders of disregarding and violating the Political Parties Order 2002. He attached ‘documentary evidence’ with the petition, including a copy of an audit of the party’s funds and receipts of donations received from abroad. Advocate Shaheen sought copies of an amended petition filed and asked for time to go through it and submit a reply. The ECP asked the counsel for Mr Babar, Ahmad Hasan Rana, to provide a copy of the petition to Mr Shaheen and adjourned the hearing till March 3. It asked Mr Khan’s counsel to come well prepared on the next date of hearing and submit a statement. Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, ECP Member from Punjab retired Justice Riaz Kiani and Balochistan Member retired Justice Fazalur Rahman heard the case. The members from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not present. Talking later to reporters, Mr Babar accused the PTI of using delaying tactics. He said on one hand the PTI criticised the PML-N for seeking stay orders from high courts to delay the proceedings of election tribunals, on the other it was employing the same tactics to delay the proceedings in this case. If the PTI had nothing to hide, it should offer the ECP to order investigations into its accounts, he said. He claimed that PTI finance PTI, P29
Job opportunity at the Consulate General of Pakistan, Los Angeles Position: Consular Assistant Job Description: Duties involve office job as well as outside activities as per requirement at odd hours during the weekend. Qualific Qualification: (i) Graduate degree (ii) Proficiency in use of Microsoft Office and Excel. Good linguistic and inter personnel skills. Apply along with resume and copy of legal status document and color photograph. Two references may be provided. Address: 10700 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 211, Los Angeles CA-90025 E-mail: apstocg@gmail.com Fax: 310-441-9256 Preference will be given to those candidates who reside in close proximity to the Consulate.
Last date for receiving the application is Febr uar y 05, 2015. www.PakistanLink.com
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Community Activist Sultan Ahmad Competing for Cerritos City Council and Deserves Our Support Show your support. Vote for Sultan Ahmad on Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Sultan Ahmed, an active member of the Muslim community of Southern California since 1988 has a great passion to serve the community he belongs to. He has an excellent record of community service over the years. Sultan Ahmad wants to serve on the Cerritos City Council. The Elections are scheduled for March 3, 2015. All the respected brothers and sisters living in Cerritos are requested to please cast your vote in his favor and get him elected. Your kind cooperation and great help will be greatly appreciated. Who is Sultan Ahmed? I first came to this county in 1988, seeking a better life and pursuing the American dream. I completed my education at Ashwood University and received a MBA in Finance. Since then, I have been blessed with success in my professional career and now own my own business right here in Cerritos. More than ten years ago, my wife and I chose Cerritos as the place to raise our two children. Our daughter and son have both attended Cerritos public schools, and my wife and I continue to support local education. I love Cerritos, this community has meant so much to me and my family. That’s why I have a passion for community service - it’s my way of giving back. I am a member of the Cerritos Chamber of Commerce, and Vice Chair of the Let Freedom Ring Commission for the city of Cerritos. I am also involved in other organizations serving the business community at large. I am also a supporter of local sports, and have been a leader in the Pegasus Cricket Club of California. Because of my work with locally elected officials, I have been encouraged to run for public office myself. The only reason I have considered such an endeavor is to increase my service to our community. Public service is about us, and it should never be about me. I have made the decision to run for public office after first gaining the support of my wife and family, and if I have the opportunity to serve, this is how I will continue. First finding agreement, and then moving forward. www.PakistanLink.com
WOMENS WORLD
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 - PAKISTAN LINK
WOMEN
P18 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
By: M. Shirazi
H
ave you ever thought where fashion trends emerge from? If you are thinking from the runways of fashion weeks/shows then you are absolutely correct. Yes, it is in these fashion weeks or shows that all the latest trends in clothes, shoes, accessories etc are showcased. And of course the credit goes to the designers who put in all their creative juices to get the latest trends on the ramp. Wondering what we are talking about? Well, recently, Riwayat ltd hosted its 7th Pakistan Fashion week 2015 in London, which was a two-day event. Riwayat's journey has been a rich one so far. Since 2011, the team including Adnan Ansari, Chris East, Huma Tahir and Saheba, have showcased more than 40 top designers from sub-continent. The two-day event focused on latest trends in Asian designer-wear including contemporary, formals and bridals. The
high point of the event was the collections showcased by our ace designers, who represented Pakistani craftsmanship and culture at its best. The designers who presented their collection included Sonya Batla, Honey Waqar, Rang Ja, Aijazz Aslam, Cocktail, Kamdani, Moazzam Abbasi, Sahar Atif, Lajwanti, Goal by Fauzia Hammad, Ahsan Khan (mens wear designer from UK) and many more. Also jewellery brands from India had participated in the event. During the event, designer Sonya Batla showcased her latest 'Manora' collection which she created in collaborations with artist Nazia Khan. The visual experience of history and architecture of Manora Island captured on fabrics in form of prints were brought to life in interesting, breathtaking and creative silhouettes. Designer Sahar Atif of Saai presented 'The Sultanate' - a collection depicting the centuries old legacy of Islamic art, architecture and crafts. And our very own designer,
Moazzam Abbasi's collection for Pakistan fashion week London 2015 was simple yet elegant. His designs were mainly in lace, net and crochet and he worked with hues of ivory and creams. Flowy silhouettes gave this collection an edge of being simple, wearable and fashionable. The fashion extravaganza, managed by Tehmina Khaled of Take II, was hosted by renowned BBC anchor Atika. The fashion shows saw some of Asia's most famous models like Fauzia, Eshal and Sadaf who walked the ramp flaunting designer outfits. Make-up and styling was done by Saima Khan which gelled well with the overall theme of the event. And the choreography of the event was managed by Hajra. Wait there's more! The two days exhibition was also a part of the fashion week which gave an opportunity to the designers to sell their products to their Asian buyers in UK. Kudos to the team for putting up such a successful show!
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n this cutthroat world of fashion, the best designer is one who can easily translate runway creativity into wearable fashion and the dynamic duo Sana Safinaz have always managed to successfully do so. Hence, it's no surprise that their protégé Mohsin Ali, who recently showed for the brand at Fashion Pakistan Week, is following in their footsteps. Mohsin's edgy and elaborate collection has now taken over the international red carpet straight from the local runway. Actress Ainy Jaffri, the voice behind the fierce Jia aka Burka Avenger, was recently spotted at the International Emmy Kids Awards sporting this breathtaking, jungleprinted ensemble from Mohsin's collection. Ainy plays it fashionably smart by keeping the accessories to a bare minimum and letting the 'wild' print do all the talking. She pairs it up with a classic REMA leather chain bag and loose but tamed locks. The team of the popular animated series may have missed out on the Emmy but Ainy looks every bit the winner in this printed beauty.
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COMMUNITY
Community Link
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P19
Friday, February 27, 2015
VOL. 25/9 PAGE 21
Vigil for Chapel Hill Shooting Victims in Sacramento
8 Jumadal-ula 1436 H
PAGE PAGE 25 17
egum PAGE 22
Women’s Role in Islam Explained to American Students
Moin Khan Called Back from Australia
For news, updated round the clock, visit
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Glimpses of the inaugural ceremony. Pictures by Anwar Khawaja HALL FROM P1
by the Consul General free of charge, subject to availability and prior coordination with the Consulate. The inaugural event was the introduction of this new facility to the community. The event was co-hosted by COPAA, with Congressman Ed Royce honored as the chief guest. What prompted this change at the Consulate has a lot to do with the vision of the new Consul General, Mr Hamid Asghar Khan. When
asked about the motivation behind the creation of the community hall, Mr Khan remarked, “I felt it essential to provide the vibrant Pakistani Diaspora with an elegant, neutral platform that they can use to create synergy for enhanced interactions, business opportunities and engagements. This hall is the second office for all Pakistanis on the west coast.” The hall is to be seen as an extension of the Pakistani-American community, and will make the Consulate a
vibrant, cultural place for people to come together. The event began with Zohreen Adamjee, a Fox 5 San Diego reporter (and one of the only PakistaniAmerican TV reporters in California), introducing the event and welcoming guests. Adnan Khan and Council Member Ali Sajjad Taj spoke about the event in succession, after which Mr Qamar Abbas Khokar and Mr Hamid Asghar Khan were both in-
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troduced as the new Head of Chancery and the new Consul General, respectively. After a few words from MK and Congressman Ed Royce, a few noteworthy plaques were presented, with some special mentions: 1. Arif Mansuri to Congressman Ed Royce on behalf of Pakistan Link/Urdu Link, Safeer-e-Pakistan, and Pakistani-American Chamber of Commerce. 2. Waqar Ali Khan to Consul General on behalf of Pakistan Link/
Urdu Link, Safeer-e-Pakistan, and Pakistani-American Chamber of Commerce. 3. Arshad Kazmi to Congressman Ed Royce: illuminated Declaration of Independence. 4. Zafar Abbas to Consul General: Portrait of Consul General. Following this presentation, the ribbon was cut, officially inaugurating the new Chancery. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres were served in the visa
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P20 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Glimpses of the inaugural ceremony
hall. Community members’ reactions were in line with the Consulate’s objectives of creating a space where connections will be forged between members of the community. Shaheen Awan, a notable entrepreneur in the community, stated, “We
were honored to be invited to this historical event. As members of the Pakistani community we were lacking a platform where we could hold important meetings and events, and this community hall is a perfect place. Credit goes to the honorable
CG Hamid Khan as this was his vision, and a great way of bringing the community closer.” Hussain Rokerya, a long-standing community member and entrepreneur, notes that “in a very short time frame, the Consul General has
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accomplished what no other CG in Los Angeles has; he has created a center point for community activities and a place where the average Pakistani-American can feel at home.” The CG has already hosted two other noteworthy events at the Con-
sulate during his time here: the Vigil in honor of the victims of the Peshawar attacks, the Interfaith Consul, and now the Community Hall Inaugural. We hope to see more events in conjunction with the community in the near future. - Danya Akbar
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FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P21
Vigil for Chapel Hill Shooting Victims Held in Sacramento
There are many problem areas to explore before we can find solutions but we have to find them
n By Ras H. Siddiqui Sacramento: Out of the many vigils held all over the United States to remember three young Arab-Americans killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on February 10th, one was held at the west steps of the California State Capitol building in Sacramento, California on February 13th. This remembrance was organized by CAIR-Sacramento Valley and co-hosted by the American Muslim Voice Foundation and COSVIO, an umbrella organization of Islamic organizations from the region. Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19 are no longer with us. They were murdered (possibly) by an “extremist-atheist” named Craig Stephen Hicks, 46 and we are being told that a lingering “parking space issue” caused this lone gunman to snap and basically execute the three, two of whom were just beginning their lives as newlyweds and as aspiring dentists. The fact that the three were Muslims and the two women wore the Hijab iden-
tifying them as such has not been overlooked. In a world where ISIS is beheading the Islamic faith on a weekly basis, one cannot ignore this added concern because Islamophobia is a part of our reality today. After evening Magrib prayers a number of speakers took the opportunity to address the approximately 300 people in attendance. They included host Basim Elkarra, Executive Director of CAIR-SV; co-hosts Irfan Haq of COSVIO and Khalid Saeed, National President of the American Muslim Voice Foundation; Reverend Kevin Ross, Minister of Unity of Sacramento; Victoria Harris from Assemblymember Kevin McCarty’s office; David Mendel, President of Jewish Voice for Peace; Al Rojas, Vice President of Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LACLAA) and Cesar Chavez March Committee; Kerri Asbury, Chair of Democratic Party of Sacramento County; Amar Shergill, Sikh Community, ; Maheen Ahmed of CAIR-SV(who presented a prayer for the deceased); Terry Schanz, Vice Chair of Democratic Party of Sacramento County and
Brother Kevin Carter, a social justice activist. All the speakers were articulate and stood together in concern and condemnation of the killing of these three young Americans. Yes, they were as American as one can be but with additional sub-identities of Arab and Muslim. South-Asians who are often mistaken for what some in this country think what “the enemy” must look like, even if they are Sikhs, have experienced targeting before, like in Wisconsin just a couple of years ago (2012) when a temple was attacked and people killed. At that time I had written “Nobody can really always protect us from a person with mental problems and a gun. But the targeting and victimization of the Sikh community in particular should be a matter of concern for all Americans. We all need to help to stop violence or the distant thunder like this one from Wisconsin will put more lives in jeopardy.” Many people from the Middle East look “white” to us as did these three young victims in Chapel Hill. The only point of separation here was the Hijab worn by the two
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young women. And that makes it a matter of additional concern. President Obama was somewhat late in sharing his thoughts on this issue but what he finally said in a statement made a great deal of sense. His full released statement is reproduced here in full as he stated: “Yesterday, the FBI opened an inquiry into the brutal and outrageous murders of Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Deah Shaddy Barakat, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In addition to the ongoing investigation by local authorities, the FBI is taking steps to determine whether federal laws were violated. No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship. Michelle and I offer our condolences to the victims’ loved ones. As we saw with the overwhelming presence at the funeral of these young Americans, we are all one American family. Whenever anyone is taken from us before their time, we remember how they lived their lives – and the words of one of the victims should inspire
the way we live ours. “Growing up in America has been such a blessing,” Yusor said recently. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. There’s so many different people from so many different places, of different backgrounds and religions – but here, we’re all one.” Thank you Mr President. But it appears that all of us here in America have our work cut out for us no matter what our race, religion, national origin, gender or orientation. We need to keep America free from prejudice. On behalf of Muslims, organizations like CAIR, American Muslim Voice or COSVIO (as in this case here) are helping to raise this awareness, which is not possible without the help of the atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Asians, and the Black and Latino communities. There are many problem areas to explore before we can find solutions but we have to find them. Mental illness may have been the prime cause of this murderous episode but the question is whether the negative imagery which VIGIL, P29
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P22 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Women’s Role in Islam Explained to Students of American University n By Shanté Fencl
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American University Washington, DC
n the midst of unimaginable events taking place throughout the world in the name of religion, three women travelled to American University’s School of International Service on February 20th to speak to Ambassador Akbar Ahmed’s undergraduate class, Researching Islam.
The course is designed to give students first-hand experience of encountering Muslims apart from the information they get from the media. In addition to having students go out and conduct their own research, Ambassador Ahmed gives lectures on various topics and often invites an appropriate speaker relevant to the subject like the three Muslim women who discussed the role of women in Islam. The women, Wardella Doschek, Fife O’Connor, and Samia Mustafa, were from different backgrounds, both Americans and Arabs. Professor Ahmed introduced them as his friends and colleagues. Wardella Doschek converted to Islam in 2003. Since her conversion, Wardella has been active in the Muslim community of Washington, DC serving as the current secretary of the Muslim Women’s Association (MWA). Wardella, along with fellow MWA member and board advisor Fife O’Connor and close friend Samia Mustafa, shared their unique stories with us. Due to the extensive media coverage of oppression of Muslim women, the need for such a discussion is more crucial now than ever before. Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University and the former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK, began the discussion by sharing his poem “To My Mother,” in which Ambassador Ahmed pays homage to his mother and her impact on his life. Through this heartfelt poem, the class was able to see that women in Islam are held in high esteem, a reality that is often missing from the media portrayal of Muslim practice. Historic names such as Khadija the Great were used as proof that women in Islam are not only permitted to have a voice in matters such as business, scholarship, and marriage, but are also encouraged through Islam to be innovative
(Left) The speakers with Professor Akbar Ahmed and Shanté Fencl, the author (extreme right). Right: Students take notes as one of the speakers addresses them
thinkers and leaders in the community. Wardella Doschek began her story with the words of the Shahada, “La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah.” After a long spiritual journey, she spoke these words in 2003 in front of her computer. In order to explain to the class her journey to Islam, she took the students back to her childhood. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a German- American family. She was baptized as a Lutheran Christian at a young age, but found she was skeptical of the religion by the time she reached college. Wardella spent a great deal of time thinking about religion, and even briefly considered herself atheist before realizing she craved God’s presence in her life. She consulted a Rabbi to learn more about Judaism, but then put her religious uncertainties aside as she completed her doctorate in Physical Chemistry, married and moved to Washington, DC to work and raised her family. As her life progressed, Wardella began to follow what she thought of as her “own religion,” the tenants of which were: there is only one God, it is impossible to know God’s nature, and prayer should be a time to praise because God knows all. Years passed before Wardella found herself at a lunch table with a Christian friend. A bible verse came up in conversation that Wardella went back to locate in scripture. Her friend encouraged her to keep reading for she may find other passages that would be useful in her life. This was the beginning of a new religious chap-
California Muslim Groups Express Concerns about Stereotyping Anaheim, CA: According to a press
release, the Greater Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) February 24 announced that the member organizations of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and the Muslim Student Association of the West Coast (MSA West) voted to oppose the narrow scope of the federal government’s new Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program. On February 21, members of the Shura Council voted in favor of a motion to oppose the CVE initiative based on the position and concerns outlined in the recent statement by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO). Expressing concern that the current government-led program targets and furthers stereotypes Muslims, MSA West released a statement against the CVE initiative, with 27 Muslim Student Associations of West Coast universities as signatories. The statement, titled “Muslim Student Associations Across CA Against Federal Government’s Countering Violent Extremist Programs,” read in part: “As leaders of our MSAs, and ad-
vocates for social equity and protection of civil liberties for all Americans, we firmly stand in opposition to the Countering Violent Extremism programs to ensure that our American Muslim community is not mistreated and that our youth are able to live their lives free from fear of surveillance, racial and religious profiling, and as strong, active members of their communities.” “We note the consensus of Muslim institutions and Muslim student leaders across the state in expressing concerns about the narrow scope of the federal government CVE program,” said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. “The best approach to accomplish the goals of any countering violent extremism program is to build trust and treat the community as a partner, not as a collection of potential suspects.” Ayloush said that CAIR-LA, along with other local organizations serving American Muslim communities, previously issued a statement outlining their grave concerns about the proposed CVE program. Many Muslim organizations GROUPS, P29
ter in Wardella’s life. As she looked into the Bible, Wardella also thought of reading the Qur’an and thought to consult the one Muslim she had most contact with, her daughter’s friend Tamir. As the two spoke of Qur’an, Islam, and the five pillars, Wardella began to see parallels between Islam and her own personal religion. She went to the library and read Islam Today by Akbar Ahmed and was touched by the way he described a religion that was portrayed in such a violent way. The book made such a deep impression that years after she converted she brought a copy of the book to the class to show it to us. Wardella described the feeling as “being a woman among all men my whole life then suddenly meeting a group of women.” Shortly after, Wardella took her Shahada and consulted Tamir for help in learning her prayers in Arabic. As she recounted this new chapter in her life with the class, Wardella introduced the other women who came to Ambassador Ahmed’s discussion that day, the first of whom was Samia Mustafa, Tamir’s mother. Samia’s family became a second family for Wardella in her quest for knowledge through Islam. Samia even brought a set of cassettes reciting all of Qur’an back from Cairo to aid Wardella in her studies. Fife O’Connor was also present with her dear friend Wardella. The three women went on to take questions from the class. Many students wanted to know how Islam had changed Wardella’s life as a woman. She responded
by describing how liberating it is to dress conservatively. She admitted to dressing in a non-modest fashion before converting and now feels more beautiful than ever by dressing to please God. Fife O’Connor was asked her opinion on Muslim women travelling to be a part of terrorist groups around the world. After much thought, Fife responded by explaining that she was also confused on the subject, but added that the Islam she knows would not support any of these groups. “When one part of the community is suffering, it is all suffering.” Fife explained. Immediately following the discussion, news broke of the young Muslim girls travelling from the UK to join ISIS. Thanks to the panel Ambassador Ahmed provided for our class and the priceless insight the women presented us with, I was pleased to think of Wardella, Samia, and Fife as representatives of women in Islam rather than associate violence and oppression with the demographic. This style of dialogue between religions proved to be valuable not only for myself, but for the entire class present that day. I will never forget the life lessons the women taught me and I thank them for fighting a battle against stereotyping every day. They cannot, however, remain in this battle alone. It will take the efforts of us all to see change, and I am proud to study amongst other young people dedicated to ending this battle. (Shanté Fencl is a sophomore studying international relations at American University’s School of International Service.)
Chicago-area Imam Faces Civil Suit Chicago: A prominent religious
scholar and longtime head of a suburban Chicago school has been charged with sexually abusing a 23-year-old woman who worked at the school, authorities said last Tuesday. A civil suit filed hours later accuses him of abusing that employee and three students. Mohammad Abdullah Saleem, 75, who founded the school in Elgin, called Institute of Islamic Education, is charged with felony criminal sexual abuse. Prosecutors say that he abused the woman, an administrative assistant at the time, in a series of escalating incidents over months. The civil suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses Saleem of abusing that employee, as well as three other females when they were students at the school. Lawyer Steven Denny said that over decades, Saleem abused the trust accorded to him as a religious leader who was widely respected in close-knit Muslim communities. “This place was ripe for abuse,” Denny told a news conference.
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Defense attorney Thomas Glasgow said he talked to his client about the Elgin charges and that he “categorically denies the allegations.” No one answered the phone Tuesday at the school, which has students from grades six through 12 and is located 25 miles northwest of Chicago. Saleem was arrested last Sunday, the Elgin Police Department said. Police said they started investigating after the woman contacted authorities in December. During Tuesday’s bond hearing, prosecutors alleged that a month after the woman started working at the school in September 2012, Saleem started removing the religious veil from her face and came into her office to hug her. Over several months, prosecutors said, he would molest her and eventually tried to kiss her. Last April, according to prosecutors, he locked the doors of the woman’s office and sexually abused her. Prosecutors say they collected evidence, including evidence found
on the woman’s clothing. Saleem’s bond was set at $250,000 and he was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim, any members of her family or anyone under the age of 18. Glasgow said he expected Saleem to post bond and be released later Tuesday. The judge also ordered Saleem to surrender his passport. The next court date is March 10. At the news conference announcing the civil suit, statements from alleged victims — none of whom were identified — were read. The 23-year-old woman, referred to as Jane Doe No. 1 in the lawsuit, called on Muslims to address questions of sexual abuse more openly. She said, “I will no longer stay silent.” Muslim activists in Chicago said the legal action presents an opportunity to address an issue that was typically kept in the shadows. Nadiah Mohajir, director of HEART Women and Girls, which raises awareness about sexual abuse in the Muslim community, called Saleem’s arrest “a wake-up call.”
COMMENTARY
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P23
I Am Not Charlie
n By Nayyer Ali MD
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ast month two French brothers of Algerian descent attacked the offices of a satirical French magazine called “Charlie Hebdo”. They murdered 11 people there, including several elderly cartoonists that had worked there for years. Charlie Hebdo is a relatively small magazine, unknown to most outside of France, and usually sells only about 60,000 copies per issue. It has a reputation for lampooning all sorts of targets, and it has often gone after Islam by its depictions of the Prophet.
While most Americans, and even most Muslims in Muslim countries, have never heard of the magazine, it had attracted the attention of the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda, known as AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula). This group is only very loosely affiliated with the original Al-Qaeda created by Osama Bin Laden, which for the most part has ceased to exist, but Al-Qaeda as a brand, is still a very potent name. Any Salafi Sunni extremist can basically designate himself as part of AlQaeda as there is no formal “membership application” so to speak. Back in March of 2013 AQAP released a “hit list” of targets in its magazine “Inspire”. On the list was was Stephane Charbonnier, the editor in chief of Charlie Hebdo. The two French brothers, Said and Charif Kouachi, have unclear links to AQAP. There is evidence that one of them traveled to Yemen in 2011, and there are claims that AQAP sent
the brothers 20,000 dollars to facilitate attacks. After the attack, one of AQAP’s leaders, Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari, claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that AQAP had directed the operation. It’s still not clear if there is much truth to that or not. What is known about the brothers is that they had a very hard life. Raised in a poor immigrant neighborhood, their father died when they were young, and their mother, who already had five children, turned to prostitution out of desperation. The two brothers found her dead one day when they were 10 and 12 years old in their flat apparently of a drug overdose. The orphans were sent to an orphanage, and were not religious as adolescents. In 2003 they became more radicalized after the US invasion of Iraq, and ended up in prison for planning to go to fight in Iraq against the US. Two years in one of France’s toughest prisons completed their radicalization, partly because they came under the spell of an alQaeda member that had been sent to France by Osama Bin Laden and arrested. Eventually their path led to the murders in January. The reactions to the Charlie Hebdo killings have been contradictory. It is notable that one of the dead was a French-Algerian Mustapha Ourrad, who worked as a copy editor at the magazine. Another was a Muslim police officer, Ahmed Merabet. Their deaths attracted little attention. A massive demonstration was held in Paris, where many used the slogan “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) as a statement of solidarity with the murdered and as an endorsement of free speech as a
n By Dr S. Amjad Hussain
A
Toledo, Ohio
civil society depends on the generosity of its citizens for the support and strengthening of its basic fabric. Charitable giving adds to the beauty and durability of the warp and weft of this fabric.
Americans, considered the most generous people in the world, give away 240 billion dollars a year to charitable causes and a full 75% comes not from big corporations or foundations but from individual donors. About 86% of all American households share their blessings with others. America is not a monolith but a sum total of its numerous ethnic groups. Among this mosaic is a relatively small group, 500,000 by some conservative estimates, who lead the pack in charitable giving. They are the Pakistani-Americans. There is a general assumption that immigrants in general and recent arrivals in particular tend not to give as much or as often as the established ethnic groups. This assumption also considers Pakistanis as more clannish, more inward looking and thus not inclined to share their money with others in the society. Not true, says Professor Adil Najam, the director of Pardee Center for the Study of Long Range Future at Boston University. Professor Najam shared the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace with Mr Al Gore and the scientists who served on Mr Gore’s International Climate Council. Recently Dr Najam discussed the findings of an extensive survey of Pakistani expatriates in the US that was published in his 2006 book Portrait Of A Giving Community: Philanthropy by the Pakistani-American Diaspora (Published by Global Equity Institute of the Asia Center at Harvard University). Taking the colors and hues from the pallet of his methodical and extensive research
concept. But what Charlie Hebdo was doing had little to do with defending free speech in my opinion. It takes real courage to publish something that the majority of your society despises or rejects, but that was not
nial. So from a purist standpoint the freedom of speech issue is not credible. In general, what gives satire its punch and value is that it afflicts the powerful and corrupt and speaks for the weak and the powerless. The Muslims of France are not the pow-
What is interesting is that no matter how outrageous or anti-Jewish or anti-Christian the rhetoric Muslim extremists engage in, no Muslims ever actually attack the Torah or the Gospels or the Hebrew Prophets or Jesus. In fact, Muslims revere all these as aspects of God’s message. Why some non-Muslims believe that free speech is advanced by mocking the Qur’an or the Prophet is not something I understand what Charlie Hebdo did. In addition, while suggesting that Muslims be tolerant of any and all attacks on their religion, many European countries place limits on anti-Semitic speech or criminalize Holocaust de-
erful, they are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. If Europeans or Americans or anyone, including other Muslims, want to criticize the Saudis or the Iranian clerics, or mock Bin Laden
Who Says Pakistanis Are a Cheap Bunch?
Professor Najam paints a flattering picture of Pakistanis in America. There are approximately half-million Pakistanis in America who give away 250 million dollars in cash and kind every year in charity. In addition they contribute more than 43 million hours of volunteer work which, when translated in monetary terms, come to $750 million making the total giving at an impressive $1 billion. Forty percent of this giving goes to charities in Pakistan and an additional 20% to Pakistani causes in this country. Forty percent is donated to causes that have no connection with Pakistan.
In the post 9/11 climate while support of causes in Pakistan have declined due to fear of sending money abroad and a relative lack of clarity about restrictions on foreign remittances. The most striking findings however is that Pakistani Americans give 3.5% of estimated household income to charity whereas the national average in America is 3.1%. And yet, the researchers found, Pakistani Americans suffer from what Dr. Najam calls a misplaced sense of philanthropic inferiority. Somehow Pakistanis believe that they do not give as much as some other ethnic communities in America. They also think
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or ISIS or Hamas, I say more power to them. In most cases I would join them as I share a very negative view of many of those sorts of things. We all know there are huge problems in the Muslim world that need to be fixed, and a free press shining a light on those problems is part of the solution. But when people shift from attacking particular Muslims, or particular interpretations or practices of Islam, to attacking the Qur’an or mocking the Prophet, I don’t get the point of that. What is interesting is that no matter how outrageous or anti-Jewish or anti-Christian the rhetoric Muslim extremists engage in, no Muslims ever actually attack the Torah or the Gospels or the Hebrew Prophets or Jesus. In fact, Muslims revere all these as aspects of God’s message. Why some nonMuslims believe that free speech is advanced by mocking the Qur’an or the Prophet is not something I understand. In 2012, Stephane Charbonnier defended his attacks on Islam by saying that “we have to carry on until Islam has been rendered as banal as Catholicism.” If his goal was to help Muslims develop a more enlightened and tolerant understanding of their religion, one compatible with modernity, democracy, and gender equality, I share that goal, I just don’t think his methods added anything at all to the process. They just strike me as gratuitous attacks on a weak minority in France. In fact, in 2009, Charbonnier fired one of his columnists on rather vague charges of writing something anti-Semitic. Meanwhile, France arrested 54 people for verbally supporting the attacks, and sentenced 12 of them to jail terms. So much for principle.
that people living in Pakistan give proportionally more to charities than they do. The study also found some interesting idiosyncrasies. Most Pakistanis giving, for example, has a faith-based motivation. Pakistanis tend to give to individuals in need rather than to charitable organizations. This, in part is, the result of their general distrust of charitable organizations here in the US but particularly in Pakistan. Though they do appreciate and trust faith-based charitable organizations they still prefer to give to individuals and not to organizations. They just have no confidence in Pakistani government or the myriad Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) to use their donated money wisely and prudently. It is a shame that because of historic distrust of the government and NGO’s, Pakistani Americans are not helping institution building in their native land. Giving to individuals and families in need is a commendable trait that is gratifying in short term. One can see the results immediately and in real time. But future directions of a country or people are set not by feeding a hungry person but by building and nurturing institutions. I met Dr Adil Najam in Detroit where he spoke at a fund-raiser for Human Development Foundation. The Foundation, based in Chicago, works in Pakistan to ameliorate poverty by improving literacy, providing micro credit, vocational training for women etc in rural and so-called backward areas of the country. In one evening the group, true to Dr Najam’s research, raised $250,000. Philanthropy is an attitude that is not dependent on the amount of wealth one has. People give because they want to spread the blessings around for the greater good of the society and humanity. Pakistani Americans, to their credit, are trendsetters in this arena. (This article appeared in Pakistan Link a couple of years back and is being repeated in view of its inspirational contents.)
COMMENTARY
P24 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Iqbal’s Concept of ‘Khudi’
n By Dr. Zafar M. Iqbal TCCI, Chicago, IL
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f I were to define Iqbal, I’d say he was a scholar-philosopher-visionary who also wrote poetry, largely in Persian and, to a lesser extent, in Urdu. Besides his works in Persian and Urdu, Iqbal wrote, in English, two books on philosophy apart from many important statements and letters on various literary, socio-political, cultural and religious issues of his time, all of which accumulated in ten books. To describe him only as a great Urdu poet-philosopher is to ignore and deny him the best he produced in other languages, i.e., Persian and English. I cannot let him be disenfranchised of what he did do: inspire generations after him, on what he wrote and elaborated, among other things, on ‘khudi’ and its global philosophical appeal.
We cannot ignore the fact that out of some 12,000 verses Iqbal wrote, about 7,000 (or over 58%) were in Persian, rest in Urdu. About Urdu and Persian, Iqbal said: “Garche Urdu dar uzūbat shakar ast Lék Pārsī-am ze Hindi shīrīntar ast” Translation:”Even though in sweetness, Urdu is sugar (but) My Persian is sweeter than Hindi [Urdu].” Although his first book was in Urdu, “Ilm-ul-Iqthisad” (‘The Knowledge of Economics’), and appeared in 1903, his first poetic work was in Persian, Asrar-e-Khudi (1915). This was followed by Rumuz-e-BayKhudi (1917), Payam-e-Mashriq (1923), after which he went back and forth between these two languages: Bang-e-Dara (1924), his first set of Urdu poetry, after which Zabur-e-Ajam (1927) and Javid Nama (1932) in Persian, and then to Urdu (Baale-Jibreel, 1935 and Zarb-e-Kalim, 1936) and then back to Persian (Awam-e-Sharq, 1936 and Armughan-e-Hijaz, 1938, published posthumously), mostly in Persian, some in Urdu. He also wrote two books in English: First, “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia” (1908), his PhD thesis from University of Munich, in which he discussed Islamic Sufism, besides the continuity of Persian thought. Second, “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam” (1930), based on Iqbal’s six lectures delivered in Madras, Hyderabad and Aligarh, at the request of` Madras Muslim Association (with the 7th chapter, “Is Religion Possible?” added in 1934 from the Oxford Edition). These lectures, densely philosophical for an Indian audience (in my opinion), were also translated into Urdu by Syed Nazir Niazi. Few philosophical concepts in Urdu literature have received as much critical atten-
tion and analysis as ‘Khudi’, one of the main themes Iqbal introduced in Asrar-e-Khudi. On the term ‘Khudi’, Iqbal had an intensive internal debate, and still, he was not totally satisfied with his choice, as he admits in one of his notes kept at Iqbal Academy, Karachi and included in ‘Thoughts and Reflections of Iqbal,” edited by Syed Abdul Vahid. In a note he dictated to Nazir Niazi more than two decades later (1937 summer), Iqbal described the process by which he “most reluctantly” chose ‘khudi’. He admits that “[f]rom a literary point of view it has many shortcomings and ethically it is generally used in a bad sense both in Urdu and Persian.” He mentions that “other words for the metaphysical fact of the ‘I’ are equally bad, e.g., Ana, Shakhs, Nufs, Ana-nawath. What is needed is a colorless word for self, ego, having no ethical significance. As far as I know there is no such word in either Urdu or Persian. The word ‘Mun’ in Persian is equally bad. However, considering the requirements of verse, I thought that the word ‘khudi’ was the most suitable.” Elaborating on ‘khudi’, he says, it is used in Persian “in the simple sense of self, i.e., to say the colorless fact of the ‘I’. Thus metaphysically the word ‘khudi’ is used in the sense of that indescribable feeling of ‘I’, which forms the basis of uniqueness of each individual. Metaphysically, it does not convey any ethical significance for those who cannot get rid of its ethical significance.” To emphasize the point he refers to what he said in Zuboor-e-Ajam: “Guraf-thum ain kay sharaab Khudi bay-tha-luq usth / badurd kwaish na-gur zaher ma ba-durman usth.” (“The wine of egohood is no doubt
Heads We Lose
n By Nadeem F. Paracha
W
hat an outrage it was to lose our first game to India in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. We should have won. We should always win against India because we are a better side. It would have been (kind of) okay had we gone down fighting and had India been outstanding. But India was not outstanding. India is never outstanding. It’s only outstanding at home, not outside it, and especially not in Australia. One can suggest that our record in Australia hasn’t been all that outstanding either but being a more outstanding team than India we should have outclassed India in Adelaide on that not very outstanding day. But, alas, this was not to be and the Pakistan nation was left to face humiliation, depression, outrage, anger and some very rude tweets. So let’s get to the heart of what caused this.
bitter, but do look to thy disease and take my poison for the sake of thy health”: Translator unspecified.”) Then, he describes what the term ‘Khudi’ means to him: “Ethically the word ‘Khudi’ means (as used by me [Iqbal]) self-reliance, self-respect, self-confidence, self-preservation, even self-assertion when such a thing is necessary, in the interests of life and the power stick to the truth, justice, duty, etc., etc., even in the face of death. Such behavior is moral in my opinion because it helps in the integration of the forces of the Ego, thus hardening it, as against the forces of disintegration and dissolution; practically the metaphysical Ego is the bearer of two main rights that is the right to life and freedom as determined by the Divine Law.” Iqbal views ‘Khudi’ in a larger context and thinks it rests on two basic points: (a) “Personality is the central fact of the universe.” In the Old Testament, this is referred to as ‘I Am’, while in the Qur’an it is mentioned in Sura “Hashr” (59: 24-25): “Hoo Allah ul-lazi la illa-ha illah howa ulmalekul khudoosus salaam-mul, momaynul mohaiminul azizul jabbar-ul muthakabbir, subhaanul lahi ammayush-raykoon. Hoowal lahul, khaliq-ul, baari-ul, moo-sua-wayro lahul usma-ul husna yousub-bayho lahu mafis-samawaa-thay wull arzay wa hoowull aziz-ul-Hakeem” It is in this context, Iqbal asks us to consider this statement from Asrar-e-Khudi : “The ego is the root of all existence.” (b) “Personality, ‘I Am’,” is the central fact in the constitution of man. In the Qur’an it is not only referred to as “za-eef ’,” “kofoor,” and “jo-hool,” sometimes, referring
to the human weaknesses and its less than ideal image, but also as “the bearer of Divine trust,” implying all is not lost or “hopeless” for the man, despite his “shortcomings.” Iqbal says this “slender ‘I’,” which can be dissolved by smallest shocks can also “achieve permanence” if he adopts “a certain mode of life.” It has both “the quality of growth’ and of “corruption”; it can expand by absorbing the elements of the universe of which it is an insignificant part, as well as “the power of absorbing the attributes of God and thus attain “the vice-regency of God on earth” through obedience and self-control. Here, Iqbal clarifies the fundamental difference between ‘khudi’ and Nietzsche’s three-stage metamorphosis. Iqbal points out that Nietzsche does not believe in ‘khudi’. To Nietzsche, the ‘I’ is “a fiction,” and agreeing with Kant’s ‘Critique of Pure Reason’, concludes that “God, immortality and freedom are mere fictions though useful for practical purposes. But the other point is the ‘inner experience’ which says that “I” is “an indubitable fact... In this respect,” Iqbal thinks, “[Gottfried] Leibnitz is near to truth than either Kant or Nietzsche.” He also makes a clear distinction between “self-negation” which he ‘condemns’ and “self-denial” which “in the moral sense is a source of strength to the ego. In ‘self-negation’, he sees “forms of conduct which lead to the extinction of the ‘I’ as a metaphysical force, for its extinction would mean its dissolution, its incapacity for personal immortality.” To him, the extinction of the ‘I’ is not consistent with the ideals of Islamic Mysticism, in which ‘fana’ means “not extinction” of the ‘I’ but “complete surrender of the human ego to the Divine Ego,” that is, “baqa” - a stage beyond “fana” - a stage which, to Iqbal, “is the highest stage of self-affirmation.” Aware of the comparisons made at that time between his view and that of the German philosopher, Nietzsche, Iqbal offers this contrast: “When I say ‘Be as hard as the diamond’, I do not mean as Nietzsche does, callousness or pitilessness. What I mean is the integration of the elements of the ego so that it may be able to obstruct the forces of destruction in its means towards personal immortality.” Or, the ‘Self ’ progressing through self-realization, self-knowledge to the stages of ‘Ithaa-uth’ (obeying the law) and Zabth-e-Nufs’ (self control) to become the ‘vice-regent’ of Allah(niyabat-e-Alahi). [In memory of my father who once tried (rather unsuccessfully) to make me understand what Allama Iqbal meant by ‘Khudi’. I could have used his scholarship and comments while writing this piece. Sadly, too late now!] (To be continued)
First, the selectors should never have picked Misbah as captain. He’s already 41 years old. He was always 41. In fact, I believe he was born 41. Yes, he was the only Pakistani batsman who scored runs in that fateful game against India, but what good did that do? Yes, he’s been our leading batsman for over four years, but what good did that do? Yes, last year he became the most successful Test captain of Pakistan, but what good did that do? It did nothing for Pakistan cricket. Nor did it do anything good for the Pakistan Ideology, the Pakistan economy, or for the faith of millions of pious Pakistanis. Only Imran Khan looked good at 41. What a dude! Secondly, why was Younas Khan sent in to open? He’s been playing his cricket like one plays volleyball on the beach. He should be dropped. Physically. From a balcony. But why blame the players when
something more sinister is taking place in the ICC and the PCB. Recently former Pakistan batsman, captain and pious lad, Mohammad Yousuf (formerly Julian Ted D’souza Jr.), suggested that Pakistan were made to lose a game against Ireland during the 2007 World Cup when the organizers secretly prepared an extremely green and boun-
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cy pitch for the match. We all know about the battery of terrifying, quick and crafty fast bowlers that Ireland has and they were given a pitch that was perfect for fast bowling. The idea was to cause a Pakistan batting collapse and injure its two leading and most pious batsmen at the time, Yousuf and Inzimam. The plan succeeded and Pakistan were bounced out from a tournament that they were destined to win because we were an outstanding team and very pious too — something that was later destroyed by the current PCB set-up and that 41-yearold liberal fascist, Misbahul Haq. So, yes, it can now safely be suggested that had the PCB and ICC not been colluding again to see Pakistan chucked out early from this year’s World Cup event as well, we would have won the game against India. We are outstanding enough to outstand
them outstandingly. But you see, a Pakistan win in that match would have meant lesser corporate sponsorships and thus less money for the ICC and the PCB. So, Pakistan was made to lose. And this is how: it all started by selecting an aged man to lead Pakistan. This created a generation gap between him and the young players, such as Shahid Afridi, Younas Khan, coach Waqar Younas and Urdu author, Mustansar Hussain Tarar. The generation gap created a communication gap. Like, for example, at a team dinner the night before the game against the Hindus (and one bad Muslim), Misbah asked Irfan to pass the tomato ketchup. Waqar interrupted to say, ‘You mean tomaato ketchup?’ ‘No,’ said Misbah, ‘I meant tomato ketchup.’ Waqar insisted it was tomaato until Irfan called a waiter and asked him to get Misbah some ‘tamaater ki chatni …’ So, when the skipper, the HEADS, P26
SPORTS
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 - PAKISTAN LINK
SPORTS
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P25
Moin Khan Called Back From Australia: PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan
BRISBANE: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan announced recently chief selector Moin Khan had been called back from Australia following his visit to a casino in Brisbane. "We have decided to call Moin Khan back," Shahryar said, while speaking to the media. "Moin is being recalled immediately so he can explain his position himself and by that time we will have a proper investigation report." The PCB chairman added, "I spoke to Moin and he said he went to
the casino and regrets the visit but he was there with his wife and a friend's wife." Further, he added Naveed Cheema will replace Moin Khan as the chief selector for the time being. Earlier, Moin apologised for visiting a casino in Brisbane during his stay with the cricket team for the World Cup. As per the report probing the presence of Moin at the casino, the chief selector regrets his actions. The report was presented by Pakistan Cricket Board's team manager
Naveed Akram Cheema to PCB chairman Shahryar Khan. Cheema told the PCB chairman that Moin admitted he went to the casino but only to have dinner. "Moin Khan is not staying with the team and it is difficult for us to monitor his moves so for now we have to believe what he says," Cheema was quoted as telling Shahryar Khan. PCB Chairperson Shaharyar Khan had confirmed that the board had initiated an inquiry against Khan's presence in the casino and also sought an explanation on the matter. Khan was spotted in the casino by a Pakistani couple ahead of the Pakistan-West Indies World Cup match in Christchurh, New Zealand. Khan was reportedly not seen during the team's last practice session. The PCB chief said that there was no further need for Khan to remain in New Zealand and that he should come back to Pakistan. Sources have also said that the national team are not happy with the chief selector's behaviour. Many cricket fans took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the Khan's appearance at the casino. J
Double-Ton Chris Gayle Leads Windies Past Zimbabwe CANBERRA: Chris Gayle smashed the highest ever individual World Cup score of 215 as West Indies beat Zimbabwe by 73 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method in Canberra recently. Gayle, who might have been given out lbw before he had scored, brought up his first double century in 226 one-day internationals off just 138 balls including nine fours and 16 sixes. The 35-year-old Jamaica left-hander's innings surpassed the previous World Cup best of 188 not out by South Africa's Gary Kirsten against the United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi in 1996. It was also only the fifth double century in all ODI cricket and the first by a non-Indian, with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat. Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who scored a century himself, also set a new partnership record for any ODI wicket, surpassing the 331 shared by India's Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar against New Zealand at Hyderabad (Deccan) in 1999. Their unbroken stand of 371 took
the West Indies to a huge total of 372 for two at Canberra's Manuka Oval. -Chris Gayle (215) hit the first double century in World Cup history and took 138 balls to reach the milestone. -Gayle bettered South African Gary Kirsten's 188 not out in the 1996 World Cup match against United Arab Emirates to post the highest individual score in the tournament's history. -The 35-year-old hit 16 sixes to match the record for most sixes in an ODI innings, also shared by India's Rohit Sharma and South Africa's AB de Villiers. -Gayle featured in a 372-run stand with Marlon Samuels, highest partnership for any wicket in one-day international cricket. -Gayle's 215 placed him third in the list of highest individual ODI scores -- behind the Indian duo of Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag (219). -Gayle became the fourth player and only non-Indian to register an ODI double century. -He also became the only batsman to hit a century in Twenty20 Internationals, double century in ODIs and triple century in tests. J
Motivating The Men: Meeting Lightens Mood in Camp Ahead of Crunch Ties
KARACHI: After two back-to-back defeats to begin their World Cup campaign, it cannot get much worse for Pakistan, and the team management, sensing that heads have slumped after those demoralising defeats, called the players in for an emergency meeting in place of the scheduled training session. The main purpose of cancelling the session and conducting the meeting was to give players a day off from their recent physical rigours so that they could relax and discuss what has been going wrong for them in the mega event. According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media director Agha Akbar, who also attended the meeting, it turned out to be an inspired decision as the mood in the camp is noticeably less tense. Akbar explained that Cheema began with a rather wholesome pep talk before opening the floor, encouraging everyone to speak their mind. He also communicated PCB
Chairman Shaharyar Khan's message that, no matter what, the board is completely behind the team and wants them to shake off all negativity and go out there and perform without any pressure whatsoever. "We have been unlucky but look at South Africa, look at England. India beat favourites South Africa far more convincingly than they defeated us and the two sides are more familiar with these conditions than we are," Misbah said during the meeting. "We need our luck to turn and while it will surely do so, we have to concentrate on the next game for it to materialise and we need to approach it with energy, optimism and a sense of responsibility." Agha further revealed that Waqar Younis took a pledge from the boys that they will give their all to the team's cause from here on in. "We have to go in there with intent, foster a sense of togetherness; whatever fine-tuning we need to do, we shall in the next few days," stressed Waqar.
Mushtaq Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood and Yasir Shah also shared their varied experiences. By the time the hour-long session ended, Pakistan seemed to be mentally ready to conquer their demons, but whether they can do so on the pitch still remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Shaharyar said that he has spoken to all stakeholders of the Pakistan team, including team manager Naveed Akram Cheema, head coach Waqar, skipper Misbah and chief selector Moin Khan, about the defeats. The PCB boss stated that the whole team is sad about the losses as they understand that they have let down the country and its fans. "All stakeholders have told me that they have tried to motivate the team by sharing examples of the 1992 winning campaign, as even then we were struggling to qualify for the knockout stages. The group has firm belief that they will win the remaining matches," said Shaharyar. J
Time to Repay Worcestershire for Their Support: Ajmal LONDON: Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal will return for a third spell with Worcestershire, the English county announced Tuesday. The 37-year-old was recently cleared to bowl again after undergoing remedial work on his action.
However, he failed to satisfy doubts about the legality of his deliveries in time for the ongoing World Cup and withdrew from Pakistan's squad for the showpiece tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Ajmal played a key, if controver-
sial, role in Worcestershire's promotion to the First Division of the County Championship last season by taking wickets with an action subsequently found to contravene the rulebook. He intends to be back at the Midlands club's New Road headquarters by early July at the latest, with his early season availability dependent on his selection, and viability, of Pakistan's tour of Bangladesh. "I am proud to be part of Worcestershire County Cricket Club and delighted to be coming back for a third spell," Ajmal said in a club statement. "I've had this difficult spell of my career with my action, but I knew I would come through it and have had the support not only of Pakistan but also Worcestershire throughout. "Worcestershire have all the time stood by me, and I can assure them I will repay the faith they have shown in me." J
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England Beats Scotland By 119 Runs CHRISTCHURCH: Moeen Ali made 128 and took two wickets as England hauled its Cricket World Cup campaign back onto the rails after two demoralizing losses with a 119-run win over Scotland. After losing to Australia by 111 runs and to New Zealand by eight wickets, England entered the match against second-tier Scotland shaken, apprehensive and desperate for a win to lessen the threat of an early tournament exit. It used as its inspiration for the match the story of the host city Christchurch which has been substantially rebuilt since being devastated by an earthquake four years ago. England adopted the motif of rebuilding, laying a foundation with Ali's 172-run opening partnership with Ian Bell (54), reaching 303-8, and it added structure in bowling out Scotland for 184. Second-tier team Scotland smelt blood and was equally determined to increase England's discomfort, even to beat a top-eight nation for the first time. But Ali and Ian Bell (54) steadied nerves and quieted Scotland's challenge in a 172-run opening partnership which spanned 30 overs and was England's largest for the first wicket in a World Cup match. Despite the sound platform set by Ali and Bell, England showed its recent tendency to lose its way.
It stumbled from 172-1 on Bell's dismissal to 203-4, losing Ali, Gary Ballance (10) and Joe Root (1) in the space of 10 balls, Ballance and Root in the first six balls of the batting powerplay. James Taylor and Eoin Morgan put on 49 for the fifth wicket to mount a recovery before Taylor (17) was brilliantly stumped by Matt Cross, standing up to the medium pace of Josh Davey. Morgan was out for 46 and England stumbled again, sneaking past 300 in the final over in which it lost two wickets. Ali scored throughout the first 30 overs at exactly twice the rate of Bell, he was 108 when his opening partner was out for 54, and set the early pace and tone of England's innings. His century, from 91 balls, was his second in 20 one-day internationals and he went on to post his highest score, 10 more than his previous best. Ali has looked vulnerable against good pace bowling in bouncy conditions but was more composed against Scotland's medium pacers. He hit 12 fours and five sixes, 78 runs from boundaries, to give England's innings the sound platform it needed and which lessened the seriousness of another middle order failure. England came into the match under pressure and heavy criticism fans and media. J
COMMENTARY
P26 – PAKISTAN LINK – FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Traditional IRA or Roth IRA? Reasons to Take the Roth IRA Plunge n By Saghir Aslam Rawalpindi, Pakistan (The following information is provided solely to educate the Muslim community about investing and financial planning. It is hoped that the Ummah will benefit from this effort through greater financial empowerment, enabling the community to live in security and dignity and fulfill their religious and moral obligations towards charitable activities) Congress gave investors a gift in 1997, in the form of the Roth individual retirement account. But many folks haven’t even taken off the wrapping paper on this great gift. Many people feel it is too good to be true. People worry Congress will take the benefits away. That’s unlikely. It would be so politically unpopular. Financial advisors that I regularly speak to are split in the middle. Half of the advisors say that Congress will take this great gift back while others disagree. I personally have decided to go with it. Read on and decide what is best for you. Still on the fence? Maybe you will change your mind after considering the benefits. The tax savings are just the beginning. The Roth IRA also eliminates a fistful of accounting headaches, while offering some great financial flexibility. Consider: Tap your IRA early Traditional IRAs have always meant a trade-off. On the one hand, you get tax-deferred growth and, if you qualify, a tax deduction as well. But you also typically can’t touch the money before age 59 ½ without incurring taxes and a 10% penalty. And even after age 59 ½, you still have to pay income taxes on all taxable withdrawals. The Roth is a different animal. There is no initial tax deduction. Instead, all withdrawals after age 59 ½ are taxfree, assuming the Roth has been open for five years. But here’s the real surprise: Even before age 59 ½, you can pull out everything except the account’s investment earnings and avoid all taxes and penalties. For instance, SUMMIT FROM P6
However, the most important message that the Muslims received was that the West is not at war with Islam; that there is no clash of civilizations - and that America is a nation of immigrants and Muslims are free to practice their faith just like any other American. The affirmation of this truth is self-evident that Muslims are allowed to open mosques, wear hijab if they wish or wear a beard, and that right is protected under the article 1 of the Bill of Rights: The Summit included a roundtable discussion with Vice President Biden and all departments of governments, law enforcement and community members representing the pilot models, Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis. The discussion was open and inclusive of all perspectives. The Vice President was extremely receptive to the ideas and showed a genuine concern to ensure the inclusion of Muslim in dialogue on countering violent extremism. It was heartwarming to hear, “Countering extremism is not a Muslim problem - it is an American problem.” These golden words of wisdom resonate but we as Muslims must unite and join hands in countering the evil narrative of the terrorists. We must send out positive messages and promote only positive images. Any speech inciting hate for any group, religious, cultural, or law enforcement can be muffled with our narratives. I shared the Facebook page with the Vice President: Million American Muslim March Against Violent Extremism and how Muslims are now realizing that evil ideology cannot be fought with
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suppose you put away $2,000 a year in a Roth for 10 years. You can pull out the accumulated $20,000 at any time and owe Uncle Sam nothing. Doesn’t that sound great? It sure sounds terrific to me. What if you convert your existing IRA to a Roth? Sure, that triggers a big tax bill on the taxable amount converted. But if you will need cash to pay for, say, early retirement, it could be a smart move, because you can pull out the sum converted before age 59 ½. To avoid penalties, however, you have to wait until five years after the conversion. But ideally, you should leave your money in your Roth for as long as possible. It’s not just tax-deferred but tax-free also. That’s the beauty. So why would you withdraw the money, instead allow it to grow tax-free. (To be continued) (Saghir A. Aslam only explains strategies and formulas that he has been using. He is merely providing information, and NO ADVICE is given. Mr Aslam does not endorse or recommend any broker, brokerage firm, or any investment at all, nor does he suggest that anyone will earn a profit when or if they purchase stocks, bonds or any other investments. All stocks or investment vehicles mentioned are for illustrative purposes only. Mr Aslam is not an attorney, accountant, real estate broker, stockbroker, investment advisor, or certified financial planner. Mr Aslam does not have anything for sale.)
guns alone. It needs the VOICE - the voice of the mother, the father, the teenager, the grandparent, telling their stories. With 2.5 million Muslims in the US, surely, a million positive tweets about Islam, our culture and our love for our country are not impossible. #ReclaimIslam Like my Facebook Page: Million American muslims March Against Violent Extremism Follow me on Twitter: @anilaali BLOOD FROM P7
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threat due to both their Shia faith and the geostrategic location of their abode. The Pakistani Shias at large are likely to remain a target as the government’s spreadsheet counterterrorism that churns out fuzzy numbers about the potential terrorists nabbed while the madrassa (seminary) networks, which have apostatized the Shias and prepared the ground for exterminating them en masse, remain untouched. As the military prepares for its Pakistan Day parade next month, 41 seminaries in and around Islamabad have been ordered shut lest terrorists use them as a bridgehead for an attack on the parade. If the seminaries are such an obvious threat to the military parade, how could they be good for the population at large? In all likelihood, the TTP attackers that massacred the Shias at the Hayatabad mosque had taken sanctuary at some local seminarymosque complex just like the Army Public School Peshawar attackers had done. Chances are that like the umpteen attacks on the Shias before, the
government and the military will not bother to bring the enablers of the Peshawar attack to book either; the massacre at the Imamia mosque too will end up as Faiz once said: “This orphan blood for long cried out hopelessly, None had the time to listen, nor thought of going to see, No plaintiff, no witness, the page was quickly turned. It was the blood of the lowly, to the earth it returned!” (The writer can be reached at mazdaki@me.com and he tweets @ mazdaki) HEADS FROM P24
coach and the team should have been discussing strategy for the all-important game, they were discussing tomato, ‘tamaato’ and tamaater. However, more diabolic and disconcerting is another fact: the PCB has been gradually infiltrated by men who have no interest in uplifting Pakistan cricket. In fact, it is always good for their business interests if Pakistan actually loses. And these men are not just selfish and greedy profiteers. Reports now confirm that the PCB has been infiltrated by closet members of the Illuminati, the Freemasons Society and the Church of Scientology. Some guys who helped fake the 1969 Apollo moon-landing too are said to be at the helm of affairs in the PCB and the ICC. And they are the ones who made sure that Saeed Ajmal is wrongly reported for illegal bowling action and then not sent to Australia with the team even after he corrected his action and took 172 wickets in HEADS, P29
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Exchange Rates for Currency Notes* Countries
USA UK S.Arabia Japan Euro UAE
Buying Rs.
Selling Rs.
101.30 156.74 27.01 0.8532 114.96 27.58
101.50 157.05 27.06 0.8549 115.19 27.63
(*25 February, 2015) US VISA AVAILABILITY IN MARCH 2015 For Pakistan, Bangladesh & India Compiled by Hasan Chishti FAMILY SPONSORED PREFERENCES
Pakistan/Bangladesh
India
st
1 Unmarried sons & daughters of U.S. Citizens
August 1, 2007
August 1, 2007
2-A Spouses and unmarried children of permanent residents
June 22, 2013
June 22, 2013
2-B Unmarried sons & daughters (21 years of age or older) of permanent residents
July 8, 2008
July 8, 2008
3rd Married sons & daughters of US citizens Jan., 22, 2004 4
th
Brothers & sisters of adult U.S. citizens
May 15, 2002
Jan., 22, 2004 May 15, 2002
EMPLOYMENT BASED CATEGORY 1st Priority workers
Current
Current
2nd Members of the professions holding advanced degree or persons of exceptional ability
Current
Jan., 1, 2007
3rd Skilled workers Other workers
June, 1, 2014 June, 1, 2014
Jan., 1, 2004 Jan., 1, 2004
4th Certain special immigrants Certain religious workers
Current Current
Current Current
5th Employment creation Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs
Current
Current
UNLIMITED FAMILY-BASED Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens (IR): The spouse, widow(er) and unmarried children under 21 of a U.S citizen, and the parent of a U.S. citizen who is 21 or older. Returning Residents (SB): Immigrants who lived in the United States previously as lawful permanent residents and are returning to live in the U.S. after a temporary visit of more than one year abroad.
RELIGION
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P27
Issues and Questions
Prayers with Pictures in the Room, Madhahib and Unity
Gems from the Holy Qur’an
n By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi Q. Are we allowed to pray in a room where there are pictures and photographs? A. As long as the pictures and photographs are not in front of you towards the direction of Qiblah and they do not distract you from your concentration in your Salah, you are allowed to pray in that room. But if the pictures are towards the direction of Qiblah, then they should be removed from there or you should find another room for prayer. Q. How and why did the four Madhahib - the Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali - emerge and evolve? Why do Muslims follow one school in one country and another school in another country? Why this lack of uniformity? A. As long as the Prophet peace be upon him - was with the Ummah, he was the Imam. Muslims followed the Qur’an and the explanations of the Prophet - peace be upon him. Whenever they needed any explanation they went to the Prophet and he either waited for the divine revelation in order to answer them, or gave them his own answers according to the authority that Allah gave him. We, however, know that the Prophet - peace be upon him also allowed sometimes the variety of opinions among his Sahabah in certain matters. After the Prophet’s departure from this earth, his Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa’ al-Rashidun) were the leaders of the Ummah. Unlike the Prophet, they were not the recipients of Divine revelation (wahy), but they had the full authority to interpret the Shari’ah in their time. Their knowledge, piety and religious authority made the people to go back to them for any final decision. The Caliphs used to consult many Sahabah, but then whatever decision they would make, theirs was the final word. In other words, we can say that there was only one Madh’hab during the time of al-Khulafa’ al-Rashidun. They kept the unity and uniformity of the Ummah. We know that when Muslims differed on the readings of the Qur’an, the Caliph Uthman may Allah be pleased with him - sent
From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) (Recently, a media talk show host, well known for his anti-Muslim bias, saw it fit to make scornful remarks against the Qur’an on TV. In these columns, selections from this Holy Book will be published, so that unacquainted readers of the Pakistan Link may be able to judge for themselves.)
his authorized copy to all provinces and removed all other copies of the Qur’an from circulation and burned them. Thus he was able to keep the unity of the Ummah. However, with the emergence of the Umayyad rule, the situation changed. The Umayyad caliphs did not have the same religious authority as the previous Khulafa’. Some of them deviated from the true path of Islam. Many jurists and scholars used to avoid them and they began their teachings independently in their own locations. The great Sahabah and their followers (tabi’un) went to different areas and taught and preached to their local people. There was no central authority that could unite all the opinions at that time. The Islamic State was expanding. This set a trend for the development of various schools of interpretations under various able scholars and jurists. The Hadith was also not fully collected. So there were two main trends among the early jurists: those who relied on Hadith only, while there were others who frequently used Qiyas and Ra’y. This situation continues throughout the Umayyad period. After the Umayyad (661-750 CE) came the Abbasids. They were also not the ideal caliphs like alKhulafa’ al-Rashidun, but in comparison to the Umayyads, they were more supportive of Islamic law and its scholars. During their time vari-
ous scholars were encouraged to write books on Islamic laws. They also patronized the collection of early Fatwas. The Caliphs encouraged religious discussions and debates. Various scholars had the opportunity to debate their positions with others. Due to more discussions and debates, some people changed their opinions. Some schools were eliminated and others merged into major schools. Thus four major schools of Fiqh came about. The crystallization of four major Madhahib of Islamic Fiqh came about by the 3rd century of Hijrah or the 9th century of the common era, before this there were about twenty different Madhahib. Once the Madhahib became established in different areas, the local teacher used them to teach the Shari’ah to their students. The local courts applied the decisions and Fatwas of their local jurists. Thus in a natural way the Madhahib spread in different areas. Although we do not have uniformity among Muslims at this time, we should still try to unite them with tolerance and broadmindedness. We should unite them as much as possible. I am pleased to see that the fanatical loyalty to a particular Madh’hab among Muslims is decreasing, alhamdulillah. Now Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali and even Ja’fari pray together and work together. We read each other’s books and attend the Islamic conferences together. In America this is happening much more than in any other place. I hope this trend will continue and our unity as well as the unity of the whole Ummah will increase, by the Grace and Mercy of Allah. Ameen. Q. I am a new Muslim with a question concerning Jesus. What happened on the day of cru-
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cifixion? My (Muslim) husband doesn’t explain it so I could understand. He mentioned someone else took his place. Can you fill me in so that I could spread the right message to others when asked. A. There is a great deal written on this subject by the commentators of the Qur’an and many other Muslim writers. This is not the place to go in any detail about this subject. You may read some good Qur’anic commentaries such as Yusuf Ali’s translation and commentary or Maulana Maududi’s Towards Understanding the Qur’an and other writings on this subject. Briefly, let me tell you that Allah in the Qur’an (Surah al-Nisa’ 4:157-8) says “And concerning their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s Messenger.’ They killed him not, nor crucified, but it appeared so to them. Indeed those who disagree concerning it are in doubt about it. They have no (true) knowledge about it except that they follow conjecture. Surely they did not kill him. But Allah did take him up unto Himself. Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.” Thus according to Allah’s testimony in the Qur’an, the crucifixion did not take place and Jesus was not killed or died on the cross. In the Gospel of Luke it is also written: “And he (Jesus) withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup (meaning death) from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him…” (Luke 22:41-43) Some Muslim scholars (such as Ibn Taymiyah in his book al-Jawab al-Sahih) have expressed that Jesus - peace be upon him - prayed to Allah to remove the cup of death from him. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala who loved and cared for Jesus did not refuse his prayer. It is Allah’s way that He accepts the prayers of His Prophets and Messengers. Thus Allah accepted Jesus’ prayer and willed what Jesus himself willed. Allah saved Jesus - peace be upon him - from the pain and agony of death on the cross. He sent His angels to strengthen him (i.e., to support him and to give him the assurance that Allah would save him), and then they took him away from those who tried to kill him. The crowd, however, became RELIGION, P29
About the translator: Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after his conversion to Islam travelled and worked throughout the Muslim world, from North Africa to as far East as Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. After years of devoted study he became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur’an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category. Chapter 22, Verses 39 - 41 Permission [to fight] is given to those against whom war is being wrongfully waged – and, verily, God indeed has the power to succour them-: those who have been driven from their homelands against all right for no other reason than their saying, “Our Sustainer is God!” For, if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, [all] monasteries and churches and synagogues and mosques – in [all of] which God’s name is abundantly extolled –would surely have been destroyed [ere now]. And God will most certainly succour him who succours His cause: for, verily, God is most powerful, almighty, [well aware of] those who, [even] if We firmly establish them on earth, remain constant in prayer, and give in charity, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong: but with God rests the final outcome of all events. Chapter 22, Verses 67 – 68 Unto every community have We appointed [different] ways of worship, which they ought to observe. Hence [O believer,] do not let those [who follow ways other than thine] draw thee into disputes on this score, but summon [them all] unto thy Sustainer: for, behold, thou art indeed on the right way, and if they try to argue with thee, say [only]: “God knows best what you are doing.” Chapter 22, Verse 73 O men! A parable is set forth [herewith]; hearken, then, to it! Behold, those beings whom you invoke instead of God cannot create [as much as] a fly, even were they to join all their forces to that end! And if a fly robs them of anything, they GEMS, P29
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PAKISTAN HEADS FROM P26
two first-class games in Rawalpindi. Ajmal knew it was the Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Church of Scientology and the guys who faked the Apollo moon-landings that were keeping him out, but he preferred not to take their names because that would have completely ended his career. He just said, ‘I wasn’t ready yet …’, to which many skeptics replied, ‘Lifafah’, meaning that he’d received an envelope full of bribe money from either CIA or RAW or PCB or ICC or PMLN or PPP or MQM or Microsoft. People who are raising all these questions know their cricket well. Thus they are correct to suggest that had Ajmal been in the side on that fateful day in Adelaide, Pakistan would have won. And that too, by at least four goals. - DAWN REMARKS FROM P13
giving these statements there is no need left for any further apology to police or any other state security institution. Nisar’s claim: Chaudhry Nisar had said on Friday that Maulana Abdul Aziz has submitted a written apology to police. The minister was talking to journalists after concluding a three-day visit to Washington. Asked why Islamabad was reluctant to arrest the Lal Masjid cleric, Khan said the government was careful, not reluctant. “It is not difficult to arrest him. But we want to keep our focus on the ongoing operation against militants,” he said. “Any other action at this stage will create a diversion and benefit the militants.” The minister recalled that after the Lal Masjid operation in 2007, the Musharraf government was forced to bring Maulana Aziz back from his village and provide him special security. “We do not want to take a decision that we have to review later,” he said. Senior Civil Judge Saqib Jawad had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz while hearing a case filed by civil society members. During the hearing, the investigation officer of the case requested the court to issue an arrest warrant for Abdul Aziz for investigation, based on a First Information Report that was previously registered against the cleric at Aabpara Police Station. Maulana Abdul Aziz had earlier refused to condemn the massacre of students and teachers in a terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar. CLINIC FROM P13
Dr Subhash Gupta were conducted along with a joint team of doctors and medical staff from the two hospitals. BOAT FROM 12
delegation was expected to visit Islamabad soon to discuss the matter with Pakistani officials. She added that under an agreement, Afghan refugees are supposed to return by the end of 2015. Aslam rejected the European Union’s human rights concerns over death sentences and made it clear that Pakistan was executing only those criminals who had been convicted in terrorism cases. “The executions are not a violation of any international law,” remarked Aslam. She expressed ignorance when
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 – PAKISTAN LINK – P29 asked as to whether the EU had sought access to proceedings at the military courts in Pakistan and said that these courts came into being by an Act of Parliament. COURTS FROM P12
they had no merit and for the sake of all those who had sacrificed their lives in the war against terrorism, for the sake of children (who died in the Peshawar school attack) and for the sake of the future of the country. The people have spoken through their elected representatives.
GROUPS FROM P22
are concerned that countering extremism programs that only focus on Muslim communities ignore the real threat of extremists in other communities while increasing negative public sentiment toward American Muslims as a whole. Ayloush noted that CAIR recently issued a brief on the White House’s CVE initiative outlining community concerns about the program. AMBASSADOR FROM P1
some media outlets, individuals and beneficiaries of continuously engage in is making such violence against Muslims too easy? And on the other hand, groups like the Islamic State and Boko Haram are doing maximum damage to our religion for which we have no answer except condemnation. To succeed against this menace, both sides of this problem need our immediate and undivided attention. This was the third vigil held at this venue in the past two months. It started with our stand against terrorism after children were killed in Peshawar, Pakistan. That was followed by the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. And now Chapel Hill, which makes one wonder if violence is not getting closer to home.
has come down to 4 percent. Foreign economic investment has tremendously helped our country.” Jilani’s comments were at a luncheon at the University and Whilst Club in Wilmington. The event was sponsored by the Delaware Lahore Delhi Partnership for Peace. New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon and Tunde Durosomo, of the Wilmington Mayor’s Office, were among the attendees. Durosomo, a senior advisor in the Wilmington Office of Economic Development, presented Jillani with a key to the city. The ambassador said the Pakistani economy grew 3 percent in 2012 and 2013 and 4.2 percent last year. He noted that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are forecasting 5.5 percent growth for 2015. Jilani added that other organizations have noticed Pakistan’s economic growth and have touted financial opportunities within the country. The Japanese External Trade Organization rated Pakistan the second most important destination for foreign investment and Goldman Sachs predicted the country will have the 18th largest economy by 2050, Jillani claimed. However, the ambassador forecasted the country will achieve that ranking before 2050 because it has become such a popular destination for foreign dollars. Investors from other countries, including the United States, are fueling that growth, Jilani said. He added the foreign investment has spurred Pakistan’s oil and gas, agriculture, and automotive industries. “The kind of dialogue we are having with the United Sates is a wonderful dialogue,” he continued. “There has been very good cooperation.” On March 10 and 11, Pakistan is scheduled to host more than 200 business leaders from various American corporations. He said the meeting, in Islamabad, will focus creating joint ventures between Pakistani and US companies in a wide variety of industries, including oil and gas, healthcare and agriculture. - Jeff Mordock, The News Journal. Picture courtesy Suchat Pederson/The News Journal
RELIGION FROM P27
ISI FROM P1
PTI FROM P15
secretary Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan had offered after the hearing to settle the matter through a Jirga. He said the offer was an attempt to settle the matter through ‘Muk Muka (compromise)’, which the PTI alleged was the PML-N’s method of politics. He said the PTI had been transformed into a party of hypocrites as known corrupt individuals were being patronised while those who demanded transparency and accountability in the party were being shunned. He said the PTI chairman should resign for supervising what he termed rigged party elections, along with all the office-bearers ‘illegally’ elected and nominated after October last year. CASE FROM P15
to identify persons from whom such thumb impressions were obtained. He added the inability of Nadra to undertake this exercise was again highlighted in proceedings of the parliamentary committee in the National Assembly during several meetings. VIGIL FROM P21
confused and some of them thought that they killed Jesus - peace be upon him. Allah has informed us that this indeed did not happen. There were many groups among early followers of Jesus who also believed that Jesus was saved from the death on the cross. They did not believe that he was crucified. However, slowly the doctrine of crucifixion (and with it the doctrines of redemption and atonement) became the orthodox doctrine and the Church condemned other positions. The Qur’an took the early and the true position in this matter. The Qur’an has emphasized both the humanity of Jesus as well as his greatness as a Messenger of Allah. GEMS FROM P27
cannot [even] rescue it from him! Weak indeed is the seeker, and week the sought!
the counterterrorism efforts and operations taking place in the country. During his visit he will also suggest improved relations between the two countries after years of friction on several issues. The United States has acknowledged the efficacy of Pakistan’s extensive operation against militants in their northwestern stronghold, with both American
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military leaders and experts saying the Pakistani offensive along the Afghan border has disrupted the Haqqani network – a development that has had a positive bearing on the security situation in Afghanistan. Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had also recently visited the US where he held talks with top military and civilian officials. FUNDING FROM P1
was suspended in March 2012 because at that time Pakistan could not fulfill the required conditions regarding macro-economic stability. Benmessoud appreciated Pakistan’s continuous improvement in the macro-economic indicators, including significant growth in FBR revenue as well as GDP, low inflation, cut in budget deficit and improvement in foreign exchange reserves position of the country. These positives, Benmessoud said, played a pivotal role in the restoration of the IBRD funding facility. SECRETARY FROM P1
may come next in his itinerary. Pakistan and India, who have fought two of their three wars over disputed Muslim-majority Kashmir, have recently traded blame for an upsurge in firing and shelling which started in October last year. BENCH FROM P1
three-member bench of the top court has no authority to direct the instant formation of a larger bench. Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali remarked: “The petitions against 18th Amendment were pending with the top court.” He added that the petitions against the 21st Amendment raised the same objections and questions and so after hearing the petitions the apex court would issue a judgment. The top court expressed dissatisfaction over the non-compliance of the court orders by the Advocate General Islamabad. Advocate General Islamabad Mian Abdul Rauf requested the apex court for sanction of three more days for the submission of a reply. The court granted the time and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan while suggesting the formation of a larger bench to hear the petitions filed against the adaptation of 21st amendment that provides a shield to the formation of military courts in the country.
3 Arrested in New York City for Allegedly Conspiring to Support ISIS New York: Three New York City resi-
dents -- two with Uzbekistan citizenship, and one a citizen of Kazakhstan -- plotted to travel to Syria to join ISIS militants and ‘wage jihad,’ the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. One of the defendants also offered to kill the president of the United States if ordered to do so, the criminal complaint alleged. The men were identified in the complaint as Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Uzbekistan; Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Kazakhstan; and Abror Habibov, 30, a resident of Brooklyn and a citizen of Uzbekistan. Federal prosecutors say two of the men came to the attention of law enforcement last summer after they expressed online support for the groups. Hilofatnews.com was an Uzbek-language website that called for readers to join the terror group, the complaint said. Authorities were able to link Juraboev to the post, the complaint said. In August, federal agents met with Juraboev and he spoke of his hopes of fighting with the terror group in Iraq or Syria, the complaint said. He also allegedly mentioned to the agents that he hoped to harm President Obama because of ‘Allah.’ “Juraboev added that he would also plant a bomb on Coney Island if he was ordered to do so by ISIS,” the feds charge. Saidakhmetov was arrested early Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he tried to board a plane headed to Istanbul, authorities said. Juraboev had plane tickets for March 29 and Habibov helped fund Saidakhmetov’s trip, the complaint said. Authorities have a recorded conversation where Saidakhmetov expressed interest in joining the US military, the complaint said. He allegedly said he could offer information to Islamic militants or open fire on American troops to kill as many as possible. According to the complaint, Saidakhmetov was recorded in January saying, “I will just go and buy a machine gun, AK-47, go out and shoot all police.” The two had hopes of joining the terror group and--if their travel plans were dashed-- had intentions to commit terror in the US, the complaint said.
ENTERTAINMENT
ENTERTAINMENT P30 – PAKISTAN LINK &– LIFESTYLE FEBRUARY 27, 2015
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 - PAKISTAN LINK
currently be seen with her in another drama on Hum TV's Alvida. I am not getting married to Waqar Zaka: Sanam Jung
T
alk shows that are divided into seasons normally return after a wait of a year or six months - but Hum Sitaray's Tonite With HSY debuted its second season within two months of airing season one's last episode. Hosted by designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY), the comeback featured two actors-the uber handsome Imran Abbas and the vivacious Sanam Jung. Keeping last season's lightheartedness intact, the show remained entertaining and some of its previous segments - 'Love them or hate' and 'Ajnabi Kon Ho Tum' - were replaced by new ones. It's rather telling that HSY chose Imran Abbas, associated with Bollywood after his debut stint with Bipasha Basu in Creature 3D, as his first guest of the season. In season one Fawad Khan was HSY's first guest, after which his popularity in Bollywood skyrocketed - is HSY the lucky charm? I was offered Ram-Leela: Imran Abbas Speaking of Creature 3D Imran revealed that he had in the past been offered bigger films like Ram-Leela and Aashiqui 2 but due to some contract issues he couldn't commit to them and said that he had also gone to Bushra Ansari for advice on this matter. Although Creature 3D didn't shine at the box office, it did decently enough. Imran is already waiting for his next Bollywood release, Jan Nisar, a film set in the era after the struggle for independence in 1857, which will be directed by director Muzaffar Ali famed for Umrao Jaan, and will soon be leaving for India for the shooting of the film. Imran, who is known for his interest in poetry also shared that he grew up watching great poets like Parveen Shakir, Ahmed Faraz and Josh Maliabadi at mushairas at his house and is a poet himself, but forgets his couplets because of poor memory. Appearing with Sanam Jung in Dil-e-Muztar, which was a first for Sanam, Imran added that initially he didn't want to work with her because of her 'anglicised Urdu'. However, later Imran realised that she was a talented actor and he can
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Keeping the buoyancy of the show alive, Sanam Jung entered and, being a morning show host herself, steered the show's latter half. The actor shared interesting tidbits about her life like her experience of going out shopping clad in a burqa, her habit of collecting gold and even the importance of her father's role in her life. While Imran has been in the industry for quite some time, Sanam is still a new face and ended up in the industry by pure coincidence. When asked about her plans to marry, Sanam finally revealed that she would in fact be getting married. However, the lucky guy happens to be a pilot and not reality TV show host Waqar Zaka, whom she is rumoured to be associated with. Imran said that Sanam, who isn't fond of stardom, is clear about her approach to Bollywood and would not choose to appear in
just any film purely for the sake of being associated with Bollywood. The most interesting part, perhaps, was when HSY switched places with the guests, with Sanam being the first to get a go at hosting. With HSY as a guest, the show took a turn when Sanam casually asked him about his shaved head. While all were expecting a fun retort, HSY recounted an accident he had at 18, after which he struggled with a phase of visual impairment as well as severe hair loss due to his injuries. Although the show was fun to watch, segments from season one, especially 'Love Them or Don't', were better at unveiling celebrity gossip and were missed. But with many guests set to appear like Urwa Hocane, Sanam Saeed and Junaid Khan, there's hope that season two will keep the interest alive.
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