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Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Foreign Policy on October 11th, 2010
Four months after the U.S. ordered its troops into Afghanistan to remove the Taliban regime, China and Pakistan joined hands to break ground in building a Deep Sea Port on the Arabian Sea. The project was sited in an obscure fishing village of Gwadar in Pakistan’s western province of Baluchistan, bordering Afghanistan to the northwest and Iran to the southwest. Gwadar is nautically bounded by the Persian Gulf in the west and the Gulf of Oman in the southwest.
Although the Gwadar Port project has been under study since May 2001, the U.S. entr
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on October 11th, 2010
LETTER TO EDITOR
October 9th, 2010
War on Terror
NATO supplies are to be resumed after suspension of more than a week. Karachi to Kandhar and Kabul are long routes to be protected effectively all along. Many Pakistanis
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Environment on October 8th, 2010
A frightening opinion about Pakistan and Pakistanis: (Pls do go to the web-site and leave your comments)
Nature has many ways of thinning out the herd, especially in places like Pakistan where reckless overpopulation has created hordes of simplistic people with a mean average IQ of 81, that then, unable to create a higher civilization from what they have inherited, consume and savage the wildlife and landscape.
http://www.amerika.org/politics/pakistan-flood/
Pakistan floods, a self inflated natural disaster
Aug 10th, 2010 by Robert Martin.
We have been seeing in the news recently about the Pakistan floods and how evil nature is harming the poor, innocent Pakistani people, here
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on October 8th, 2010
A Report from the Flood Affected Area
October 5th, 2010
Admiral Fasih Bukhari (Retd) former CNS & President PESA (Pakistan Ex Servicemen Association) not to be confused with PESS [Pakistan Ex Servicemen Society headed by General Faiz Ali Chishti (Retd)], who just got back after a couple of days relief work in Swat and Malakand area with Brig. Mahmud, Capt. Babur, technicians,and support staff, writes:
Affected knew the itinerary and were waiting road side to welcome and thank our people, (specially Brig. Mahmud who has inspired all of us into greater action. He has been there almost continuously!). Many said they did not need further help with food and household goods, and asked that relief goods be given to more deserving communities. Their honesty and gratitude was touching.
Medical supplies and household goods, that Brig, Mahmud had collected and packed, were distributed; and another water purification plant handed over for installation.
Interaction with community leaders and Army led to an appraisal of further needs. The task is now to:
—help with economic revival e.g. marketing cottage produce (woolen shawls and clothing) at best rates in major cities. We identified exit point in Islampur, near Mingora. Will identify retail outlets in Pindi/Islbd. Need suggestions for outlets in other cities.
—find jobs for still a few outstanding applicants, in Pindi/Islbd/Kchi/Lhr
—agriculture revival through our partnership and support to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and University of Malakand, where PESA/PARC have been allowed to set up and man a Temporary co-ordination office.
—financial support for 37 Division (Pak army) plan to set up 57 small village hydel power stations (mostly within 2 to 5 lac range each)
—more water purification plants (3 X 40,000 gallons/day already donated including one for 1000 girls orphanage/school at Saidu).
Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association is mobilized specially in the north and is undertaking whatever work that we can do or support financially. We are asking for help. Material support can be sent to Brig. Mahmud (0300-5234824). We have our account in which we are receiving all donations. The details are:-
Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association
Askari Bank Limited
Askari Plaza, The Mall, Rawalpindi
Account No:- 0001-11-012-3906-7
All are requested to widely disseminate this PESA call for help.
We were happy to see the results and commitment of the Army. Earlier they had helped airlift affected people and deliver our supplies to inaccessible areas. They have re-built bridges (some still in progress) and are supporting all relief agencies in whatever way they can.
Accessibility has greatly improved. There were no visible signs of Taliban, or support for Taliban. PESA support for the IDPs of the SWAT/Malakand area and our work with the Army on the ground since then, and after the floods, is paying off in terms of winning hearts and minds. We need to continue supporting the long term rehabilitation effort.
I must mention here that the people were praising Al Khidmat Foundation for their very commendable work in the area; specially for providing food and relief from day one.
I am getting calls from two communities in Dubair and Khandiar (Kohistan) for clean water and rehabilitation of homes. Just haven’t got enough manpower on the ground (specially in that area), or money. If there is another group already in that area, who can help, readers are requested to please inform me (0312-2364725) or Brig. Mahmud. (0300-5234824).
Awaiting update from south Punjab. Capt. Babur is going down there this week.
We have not been able to get Ex Servicemen in Karachi/lower Sind to mobilize sufficiently. Would appreciate volunteers coming forward from amongst readers in that area.
Fasih Bokhari
Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Recent News on October 7th, 2010
Pakistan is a country where two young boys are lynched before a thrilled mob, where a law minister becomes law unto himself, where the custodians of law turn lawbreakers, where an eminent journalist is blindfolded, kidnapped, brutalized, and molested. It is a country where the rulers and the power wielders have no other penchant but to amass ill-gotten money. Should we still nurse a hope that this nation has a glorious destiny and a magnificent future?
Can we, by any stretch of imagination, console, cajole, or beguile ourselves that the flowering of a civil society is around the corner and sooner the people would bask in the modern comforts, enjoy a sublime life, and savor civil liberties.
While poor Pakistanis, majority being Muslims, suffer unspeakable indignities and stacks of miseries day and day out, their heathen and infidel counterparts in far off lands lead a style of life that can be rated as half of what one would find in the paradise: the eternal blissful abode. For those who die, and pass severe tests of morality and ideal conduct would be eligible to enter that idyllic place narrated to be symbolic of all the luxuries one can think of and whose enticing glimpses have been narrated in the scriptures.
Pakistan is in the midst of a multiplicity of crises and turmoils that make one wonder what ails this land so chronically and so endemically. Who is going to stem the burgeoning rot that is constantly caving into the foundations of Pakistan as a viable state? We are all struck with extreme despondency that aggravates as the time passes. I am rather stunned and mentally non-plused to witness the ugly row between the bar and the bench.
The most cherished and sublime form of government called democracy, has visited Pakistan after almost a decade of quasi-military rule. Yet the people are so much disgusted and upset with it that they yearn for the military to snatch the reins of the government again. All the political parties now in power must be forced to leave the power echelons for the conduct unworthy of the leadership that they were obligated to provide.
A nation is groping in darkness. People have been trying to find outlets in a maze of confusing routes and puzzling labyrinths of a mystifying jungle full of hazards and unforeseen dangers. The national unity has remained elusive all these 63 years of Pakistan