Our Announcements
Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Foreign Policy on August 25th, 2010
PTT Commentary: All good deeds never go unpunished. Pakistan’s reward for providing sanctuary for 5 million Afghans during the Soviet Invasion in the 1980s is reflected in the vitriol of Mr.Spanta.
For more than two decades Pakistan hosted the largest single refugee population in the world. It was estimated that 1.1 million refugees remained in refugee camps at the start of 2003, after more than 1.5 million repatriated the previous year. In addition, an unknown but substantial number of Afghans were known to live in Pakistan’s urban areas.
It was decided by the Tripartite Commission to close three of the camps established after 11 September 2001 early in 2004. Repatriation in the previous two years had reduced the populations and the locations, without any water, made them hard to maintain.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan are not a homogeneous group. They fled to Pakistan in several waves starting with the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979. They came from different parts of Afghanistan and have various ethnic backgrounds. The last refugee wave – nearly 300,000 Afghans — reached Pakistan after the attacks of 11 September 2001.
Conditions for Afghan refugees in Pakistan differ greatly. Some still live in tents, others in mud house settlements that look like the villages they left behind. Those in the camps established after the 11 September attacks receive food assistance through the World Food Programme while all the camps receive medical and education support. In urban areas, few Afghan refugees are fully integrated and well-off. The majority of urban refugees are in slum areas of Pakistan’s major cities, barely surviving on casual labour. Understandably, the unprecedented rush of Afghans seeking to return to their country in 2002 came first and foremost from the urban areas.
Any Pakistani who has an illusion that Afghanistan is a friend of Pakistan must read this. The Afghan writer Rangin Dadfar Spanta wrote his piece for an American paper known for it’s anti-Pakistan vitriol.
With friends like these we do not need enemies…
Rangin Dadfar Spanta
Foreign Office dismisses Spanta
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Our Heroes on August 23rd, 2010
As September 6, 2010 approaches, Pakistanis should be proud that they vanquished an enemy, who came to drink a “chota peg,” in Lahore Gymkhana. Pakistani nation is unique on this earth. It is facing devastation from both the heaven and the earth. Yet, it survives. Other than a plague of locusts, Pakistani people have bravely faced an air disaster, an earthquake, a biblical flood, war from the East, war from the West, and war from within. The glaciers, the rivers, the mountains, and the skies have launched a battle against fragile bodies of Pakistan’s humanity. But, we are still there. Is there a silver lining in the black cloud, none whatsoever. As we say, “sonay pay suhaga, “we have one one the most corrupt government on this earth. It is little wonder, when the Pakistani people meekly take its corruption in a stride, nature has unleashed its own revenge against the head of the state. We may feel impotent to remove Zardari, but, nature is not impotent, it will wreak its havoc, until Pakistanis or nature get rid of this pestilence. Zardari is Bhutto’s revenge from his grave. If Pakistanis do not pay heed more revenge will follow in the shape of Bilawal Bhutto. Pakistanis did not rise against the unjustified hanging of Bhutto. Pakistanis kept silent about catching the killers of Benazir. Pakistani are now paying the piper with the like of Zardari, Fauzia Wahab, Altaf Bhai, Babar Awan, Nawaz Sharif alias “Waja,” the cowardly son of national Abaji, whose legs were shaking in front of womanizer Clinton, when contemplating exploding the A-Bomb. These hypocrites suffer from a diarheal amnesia. The forget their crimes and misdemeanors and act as if they are the saviors of Pakistan.
The fate of Pakistan lies with its Creator. No human power can destroy it. We are masters of our fate. We are captains of the ship of the nation. Are we ready to rise like Phoenix from the Ashes? Are we willing to pick up the gauntlet? Are we ready to destroy the evil beings, who brutally murdered, two young men? Are we ready to stop target killing? Are we ready to act according to the tenets of the most modern and futuristic faith, our Maker has gifted us. Our Beloved Prophet, who conveyed this message, will he recognize us as his followers? Are we going to live at Peace with the World? Or are we going to let the world push our “HOT BUTTONS,” by calling us terrorist?
Even in these cataclysmic floods of biblical proportions, our nations muddied name, prevented our flood stricken innocent from receiving global help. The sins of its leaders bring disasters on the nations. Pharoah was the apostate, but in the floods and plague how many common people perished.
Pakistan is run by a ” Coterie of Corrupt,” mainly feudals, industrialists, and business tycoons. They are the core of Pakistan’s problems. They have their svengali hold on Pakistan’s governance and economy. They have kept this nation of 170 million strong in shackles of illiteracy and ignorance. They feed a toxic mix of hope and religion, to keep the masses occupied. You see their “pups,” cavorting half drunk or snorting drugs in dark corners of shopping centers or palatial houses of Islamabad. The Zardari clan belongs to these same Waderas, and Zamindar luteras. They send their children, all expenses paid to Ivy League Colleges of America or England. These parasitic leeches feed on the carcass of Pakistan. The billions given by Pakistan are squandered by the corrupt elites of Pakistan. They have forgotten Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, and Baluchi. Their “mother tongue,” is English. They consider our rich heritage as mundane or decadent. Allama and Jinnah are too fuddy duddy for them. They have flats in London, New York , and Paris. Ironically, these noveau riche Pakistanis are frowned upon by Western societies, they so much want to gain acceptance. Let this flood wipe out the power base of the the corrupt from Pakistan. Let the flood remove the Zardaris, the Legharis, the Mazaris, the Wattoos, the Wariach, the Jakranis, the Jamalis, the Jatois, the Chaudhries of Gujrat, the Makdooms, the Qureshis, and the innumerable waderas, zamindars, and luteras and their “biraderis,” parasitically destroying Pakistan. Let us resolve to kick these scoundrels out.
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Pakistan's Hall of Shame on August 23rd, 2010
August 22, 2010
MQM Chief Altaf Hussain has called upon Pakistan
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in India on August 23rd, 2010
Apart from the humanitrian (sic) losses, Pakistan’s floods will further damage the reputation of the country’s political class and, in turn, benefit terrorist groups that have undertaken relief work feverishly. Indian strategic experts must sit up and watch the post-flood situation in Pakistan, feels security expert B Raman.
On November 12, 1970, a cyclone of devastating magnitude struck the then East Pakistan. Over 3 lakh people — majority of them Bengalis — perished and East Pakistan’s economy suffered extensive damages.
The indifference shown by the federal government, then headed by General Yahya Khan, to the plight of the Bengalis and its failure to mobilise humanitarian relief for the victims created a permanent wedge between the Bengalis of East Pakistan and the non-Bengalis of West Pakistan.
The floods set in motion the train of events that ultimately led to the separation of East Pakistan and the birth of independent Bangladesh.
Forty years later, as Pakistan faces the worst flood in 80 years, it is not without reason that an increasing number of Pakistanis with a sense of history are today asking: Is history repeating itself?
Those who rule out a repeat of 1971 have pointed out that the devastation caused by the current floods in Pakistan is not comparable to the cyclone in East Pakistan.
However, some sections have pointed out that the present political class in Pakistan has been as indifferent to the plight of the flood victims as that of 1970.
The only difference might be that the 1970 disaster took place when army was in power, however the current disaster has struck when an elected civilian government is ruling Pakistan.
According to many, the elected government in Pakistan has shown itself to be not only incompetent but also uncaring.
In fact, the international community has cared for the victims more than Pakistan’s political class.
The impact of the floods in Pakistan can have two dimensions — humanitarian and strategic.
While the humanitarian dimensions are important from the immediate and short-term point of view, the strategic dimensions could assume importance from the medium and long-term view.
The humanitarian dimensions are quantifiable and their consequences predictable, while the likely strategic dimensions are not fully visible yet, are unquantifiable and their consequences unpredictable.
The strategic dimensions of the disaster will arise from the following factors:
Indian strategic experts must carefully examine the post-flood situation in Pakistan.B Raman
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Recent News on August 23rd, 2010
A platform to support the Flood affected people of Pakistan
These politicians have no idea how to solve the problems of the country. Moreover, these secular democrats have no popular domestic support and are dependent upon the patronage of their Western masters