Archive for July, 2009

South Waziristan Agency (SWA) total area is 2556 sq miles and its population s

3,07514. Wazirs and Mehsuds are the major tribes in (SWA) and both have never

enjoyed cozy relations. None accept interference of the other in its territory.

South Waziristan Scouts (SWS) have soldiers from both the clans. Both are

conservative Suni Muslims and tied to tribal customs and traditions; they are

fiercely independent and egalitarian. Pashtunwali is as dear to them as Quran.

Wazirs decision making is relatively imprudent and motivated by economic

considerations. They have however proven to be relatively more disciplined and good

soldiers. Mehsuds are more prudent and are better educated with greater clout in

civil and military bureaucracies. As soldiers they are found to be abrasive,

hot-headed and difficult to handle.

It is a recorded fact of history that insurgency originates and flourishes in areas suffering from prolonged injustices, deprivation and dejection. Historically, mostly disgruntled or greedy persons desirous of uplifting their fortunes through shortcuts, or those with some social or political standing having been victimized by state authorities genuinely or unjustly and vying to settle scores with their oppressors decide to pick up arms against the state.

If the footage shown on the Geo TV is to be believed then one has to admire the nerves, the cool confidence and the calm composure of the lady MPA while presenting the allegedly ‘stolen’ credit card and affixing her signatures on the bill on making the purchases.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The appointment of a middle-ranking officer of the DMG as ambassador to France has been projected in some circles as a tussle between the Foreign Service of Pakistan and the DMG. It is not. The fact that Jehanzeb Khan belongs to the DMG is incidental. He could just as well have been from any other service group or from none at all. No one from the DMG, with the exception of former interior secretary Tasneem Noorani, has publicly sought to justify the appointment, apart from – not surprisingly – the man himself.

In August 1953, under the code name OPERATION AJAX, the United States’ CIA and the British MI6 executed a bloody coup against Mohammad Mossadegh’s democratic government in Iran after PM Mossadegh nationalised the Iranian Oil Industry.