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Islamabad, Dec 13 (Pak Destiny) As Iftikhar Chaudhry is no more heading the apex court, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an order to retrain any person standing within the premises of this Court and its Registries, whether a litigant, a lawyer or from any other occupation including media, “from amplifying the spoken words of any Judge or circulating such words until the ruling on this petition.”
Petitioner Shahid Orakzai requested the Supreme Court to enforce Article 19 by declaring that the spoken word of a Judge during the Court proceeding shall not be instantly amplified or broadcast instruct the federation to ensure that the spoken word of the Judge during Court proceedings is not spread as alarm or warning or affect the interest of any party to the proceedings.
Former CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry’s “maulajat-style dialogues” used be broadcast by media creating an impression that there had been a ‘fight’ in the court going on. –Pak Destiny
Posted by admin in NUCLEAR SAFETY on January 10th, 2014
January 10, 2014 – Updated 355 PKT
From Web Edition
ISLAMABAD: India has been ranked below Pakistan and China in the list of countries with weak nuclear material security in the world. This has been revealed by a US-based think-tank in its index, the 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security.
India has been ranked 23rd out of 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials. According to credible media reports, India received 41 out of 100 points, which is an improvement by one point from the 2012 score.
For comparison, China received 64 points and has been ranked at the 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points stands at the 22nd place.
India and these countries are included in the list of 25 countries with one kilogram or more of these materials, which also includes all other nuclear-armed states.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative claimed this improvement reflects India’s first contribution to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund. “Overall, however, India’s score remains low.” This is due to a number of factors including weak regulations that are written as guidance rather than as requirements; increasing quantities of weapons-usable nuclear materials for both civilian and military use and gaps in its regulatory structure such as lack of an independent regulatory agency.
External risk factors, such as high levels of corruption, which undermine the confidence in implementation or enforcement of security measures and also increase the risk that officials, may contribute (even unwittingly) to the theft of nuclear material are also among the factors, it added.
Both India and China improved their scores since 2012 by one point by contributing to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund, which supports the implementation of nuclear security activities, the report said.India scored higher than China on the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 related to nuclear security issues.
China, however, scored higher in a number of areas, including the existence of an independent regulatory agency; having invited a peer review of its nuclear security arrangements; and having strong regulations for control and accounting of materials.
Pakistan received 46 out of 100 possible points compared to India’s 41, the report said, adding that both the countries improved their scores since 2012. Pakistan improved its score by publishing new regulations for the physical protection of nuclear facilities.
India scored higher than Pakistan on international legal commitments because India has adopted all the relevant treaties whereas Pakistan has not.
Pakistan, however, scored higher in a number of areas, including the existence of an independent regulatory agency; having invited peer review of its nuclear security arrangements and having security and other personnel with access to nuclear materials subjected to additional vetting.
In addition, Pakistan has an operational Centre of Excellence, whereas the foundation stone for India’s COE, the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, was laid on January 3, 2014, it said.
In its report, the NTI said India was briefed on the index, along with other countries. “Unfortunately, India did not use the opportunity to review and confirm the data, a process through which governments can choose to provide responses to one, some, or all questions depending on their sensitivities and help ensure the accuracy of the data,” it said.
“Out of the 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials, 17 (more than two-thirds) responded to the data review and confirmation request (including nuclear-weapons states such as France, the UK, and the US),” the report said.
The NTI recommended that India’s nuclear materials security conditions could be improved by strengthening its laws and regulations for mitigating the insider threat, for the control and accounting of nuclear materials, and for the physical security of materials during transport.
“India’s existing regulations could be strengthened by taking a more prescriptive approach to security measures, as most countries already do, rather than simply recommending security measures,” it said.
India’s nuclear materials security conditions could also be improved by completing the establishment of an independent nuclear regulatory agency, in fulfillment of a commitment made at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, it said.
“Because the potential for theft increases with higher quantities of materials, the NTI Index report recommends that states commit to no net increases of weapons-usable materials and to using existing materials before producing new materials. India’s continuing production of weapons-usable nuclear materials means that it is increasing, not decreasing, its stocks,” it said.
Nuclear Terrorism in India?
Most of us don’t spend a lot of time focusing on terrorism in India. You might not have even heard of the Indian Mujahideen or “IM”. As you might have guessed from the name, it’s an Islamist extremist outfit bent on teaching those Hindus a thing or two. According to The Times of India, one of IM’s leaders was intent on detonating a nuclear weapon in Surat.
Bhatkal was arrested on August 27 in Pokhra, Nepal and has been constantly questioned by the NIA, Intelligence Bureau and police of several states. TOI has accessed the interrogation report.
Bhatkal told the interrogators that he had asked his Pakistan-based boss, Riyaz Bhatkal, over phone whether the latter could arrange a small “nuclear bomb”. According to him, Riyaz responded, “Anything can be arranged in Pakistan”.
“Riyaz told me Muslims would also die in that (nuclear bomb blast), to which I said that we would paste posters in mosques asking every Muslim to quietly evacuate their families from the city,” Yasin said, according to the report.
Posted by admin in Our Hearts Bleed on January 10th, 2014
KARACHI: CID Police suffered a major blow as SP Chaudhry Aslam and two other policemen were martyred while 11 more sustained injuries in a blast in the Essa Nagri area near the Lyari Expressway.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Mohamand Agency claimed responsibility for the attack.
DIG Munir Sheikh said the bomb was a planted device and according to reports over 20-25 kilograms of explosives were used. Two police mobiles which were part of Aslam’s convoy were damaged in the blast.
The DIG further said that Aslam’s regular vehicle was being repaired; however the vehicle he was traveling in at the time of the blast was also bullet-proof.
Initially it was reported that the blast was a suicide attack and the bombers had arrived at the site in a yellow cab.
Condemning the attack, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said the attack was being investigated.
CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy said the attack will not dampen the morale of Sindh police and the operation against the terrorists would continue.
Meanwhile, CID anti-extremism cell In-charge Raja Umar Khattab said: “Tehreek-e-Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were and still are a threat.”
He vowed to continue the mission of Chaudhry Aslam.
Reactions
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and called Chaudhry Aslam a brave officer, saying his sacrifice would not go to waste.
PPP Patron-in-Chief, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted: “Shaheed Chaudary Aslam had been threatened & attacked B4. He didn’t back down. He died a brave man. Shame on cowards.”
MQM chief Altaf Hussain called for the immediate arrest of terrorists behind the attack. He added that terrorist activity in a major city like Karachi was a great cause of concern.
The attack was also condemned by PTI chairman Imran Khan who placed responsibility on authorities in Sindh.
Chaudhry Aslam, was seen as one of Pakistan’s toughest police officers. He survived several attacks on his life, including a suicide attack on his residence in September 2011 in which almost eight people were killed
Starting his career as an ASI in 1984, Muhammad Aslam Khan, commonly known as Chaudhry Aslam, was serving as the Superintendent Police (SP) of the Central Investigation Department (CID). He had served as a station house officer (SHO) at a number of police stations in the metropolis.
He originally hailed from Manshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaudhry was added in front of his name due to his role in the Karachi operation. In 2010, Khan was appointed as a head of the Investigation Wing of the CID. Earlier, he also headed the Lyari Task Force (LTF) to uproot gangsters from Lyari.
Posted by admin in Our Hearts Bleed on January 10th, 2014
The words do not flow now, there are no cutting comments or quotes, no wit, and even less wisdom. There is only a deep sorrow, and an even deeper rage. It flows like fire through dull veins to a heart thought to have been numbed, a heart that desperately wants to be numbed.
So the words that follow will not be tempered and measured. They will not be weighed and balanced. And this is because we live in a land where a young child, Aitezaz Hussain, had to give his life fighting a scourge that our own leaders bend over backwards in an attempt to appease. There is sorrow and rage because a nation that can produce such lions does not deserve to be led by such lambs.
For those just now attending this bitter wake, Aitezaz was a 13-year-old-boy whostopped a suicide bomber from entering his classroom. Arriving late for school, he was punished by not being allowed to attend the morning assembly. Standing outside the gate, he saw a man trying to enter. He saw the detonator of his suicide vest; he saw a split second chance and saved countless lives with a courage few of us can match. Had he not been there, had he not done what he did, dozens, maybe hundreds of children would have lost their lives in a flash of fire, their bodies torn apart by cruel, blind shrapnel.
And as their hearts would stop beating, the souls of those who loved them would also dim and die. It would remain unanswered, the question of what may have been. It would be deafening, the absent echo of laughter through a house. It would be unbearable, the waiting for a child who would never return, would never grow up, never live and never love.
Instead, there is only one family that will have to bear this burden; only one mother who will never welcome her son home. It’s still one too many. And there are many such homes across the length and breadth of this blighted land. Homes where despair lives in empty rooms, where the silence is of the grave.
From what the family says, they stand tall. In this moment of darkness, they hold onto the belief that their child did not die in vain, that he made the greatest sacrifice possible, that his blood bought life by stopping a beast who walked with and worshipped nothing but death. But for how long? The world will move on, the focus – what little there is of it – will shift and they will be left alone in empty rooms, waiting for a voice that will never be heard again.
We don’t need more Aitzazs’. Not one or one million. What we need is to be worthy of the one we lost. What we need is for those who claim to lead us to show the courage that this boy did. Perhaps, that is too much to ask from those who roll out apologies and obfuscations with such unerring regularity, but stammer and shake when it comes to naming those responsible for mass murder.
Those who can pray for and praise killers before the blood of their victims has even dried. We need those men and women who can look Aitzaz’s family in the eye, hold them in their arms and tell them – in all honesty – that their son did not die in vain.
And until you can do that, dear leaders, keep your hollow words to yourselves. Leave us to our silence.
Posted by admin in "Jihadi" Outfits of Terrorism, 4TH GENERATION US WAR AGAINST PAKISTAN, BRAVE DAUGHTER OF PAKISTAN MALALA, CIA SUBVERSION IN PAKISTAN, STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM BY INDIA, TARGET PAKISTAN:4TH GENERATION WARFARE, TERRORISM FROM KARZAI SUPPORTED TALIBAN, TERRORISM IN KARACHI, TERRORIST TALIBAN on January 9th, 2014
Flashpoints of Terrorism in Pakistan
By
Sabena Siddiqui
Strategic Thinker & Defence Analyst on Pakistan & Global Affairs,
Distinguished Opinion Leader,
Pakistan Think Tank
Terrorism in Pakistan has multi -ethnic , multicultural and
multi-lingual patterns .
Punjabis are the largest ethnic group 44.15%, Pashtuns 15.42%, Sindhis
14.1%, Seraikis 10.53 %, Muhajirs 7.57% ,Baluchis 3.57 % and Others
4.66%
8 million Muhajirs arrived from India in 1947 and 1.7 million Afghan
refugees came later making this one of the largest refugee populations
in the world .
English is the official language, Urdu national and Punjabi , Sindhi
Pashto and Baluchi are regional languages .
Pakistan has 95% Muslim population ,75% Sunni and 25% Shia , the
second largest Shia population in the world after Iran .
1.85% are Hindus and 1.6% are Christians , Pakistani society is
largely hierarchial.
Such diversity results in conflicts created by four types of terrorist
groups : language based , sectarian ,race based and religious .
Muhajirs from India settled in Karachi did not want the shifting of
capital from Karachi to Islamabad which resulted in a loss of
bureaucratic power ,jobs , housing and transport .
Consequently they have been blamed for demanding a separate state ,
province or complete control of city government in Karachi and
Hyderabad .
Grievances between Shias and Sunnis date back to the early period of
Islam , Deobandis allege that Shias use abusive la nguage against some
of the Prophet pbuh s companions and wish that the Shias be declared
non Muslim .
They are considered Muslims everywhere including Saudi Arabia ,even
the Darululoom Deoband, the Deoband founding madrassa considers Shias
as Muslim.
Their Fatwa says that if a person prefers Hazrat Ali but does not
believe the other Shia beliefs then he is not Kafir .
Balochistan is less economically developed and has less civil and
military representation , they allege lack of provincial autonomy and
lesser resources from the federal government.
They have minimum population and maximum area and resources are
distributed according to population .
Some groups propose secession from Pakistan, Baluchis are 3.57% of the
total Pakistani population .
Religious militancy in Pakistan is varied , they demand enforcement of
Sharia like that by the Afghan Taliban .
There is nothing in the laws of Pakistan which contradicts Islamic law
and most Pakistanis prefer a modern life than be fundamentalist .
There are numerous absolute interpretations of Islam .
Terrorism here today is the result of five factors both internal and external .
1. General Zia conducted a coup d etat and ended Bhuttos government in 1977 .
Al Zulfiqar came into being after Bhutto s execution and committed
terrorist crimes like hijacking .
Zia also formed the MQM , a language based party of refugees from
India to break the strength of Bhutto s PPP .
MQM s inception and evolution brought about violence , this single
factor alone was responsible for 90% of the terrorism in urban Sindh
and 40% in the country .
2. General Zia enforced some new Islamic laws to legitimize his dictatorship .
One of these was the Zakat and Usher Ordinance 1980 .
Meanwhile , the Iranian revolution took place and influenced the
Pakistani Shia community to demand exemption from this new tax based
on Sunni law .
As Shias became more forceful , Zia helped form the Sipah e Sahaba ,
an anti Shia Deobandi organisation . It got funded by both Iraq and
Saudi Arabia and formed splinter groups like the Lashkar e Jhangvi .
30% of terrorism is caused by these sectarian groups so about 70% of
terrorism in Pakistan is sectarian or language based .
3. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and the US and the Saudis
invested 6 billion dollars to train the fighters to overthrow the
Soviets .Madrassas proliferated to produce the requisite fighters and
Kalashnikovs were handed to them .Zia was in a strong position against
the Peoples Party and Shias .
4. The Soviets were defeated in 1989 and the US neglected the fighters
it helped train and the fighters felt over confident after defeating
tge Soviet Union and ultimately challenged the US .
5. The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 with Pakistani assistance and
this created Arab Mujahideen and Taliban enemies for Pakistan .
Drone attacks on Pakistani territory further created a backlash
against Pakistan .
India established four consulates and an embassy in tiny Afghanistan
and started creating problems in Balochistan province of Pakistan .
Weapons used by TTP against Pakistan army in Swat were all US made
which US says were stolen in Afghanistan .
The US also got worried about the building of Gwadar port by China in
Pakistans Baluchistan province , it felt this might decrease US
importance in the region .
These were the main triggers of terrorism, the provincial capitals
were particularly volatile as those were the government power base
.Terrorists felt they wreaked more destruction there , got more media
coverage , more targets and more hiding places .
Other main areas of conflict were places like Dera Bugti ,Kohlu and
Sibi with gas fields and grudges against the federal government .
Southern Punjab. , Jhang and Faisalabad also were the focus of
terrorist activity due to sectarian conflict .
Swat ,D.I Khan and South and North Waziristan had some local conflict .
Karachi became a case study for terrorism with perceptible levels in
1990 attaining a
peak in 1995 with 616 incidents .
Karachi has a higher terrorism percentage than what is due to it in
population 10% and area 3530 square km 0.44%.
Terrorism in Karachi is more frequent because of its demographic
composition and being metropolitan and a provincial capital .
Terrorism here has more symbolic and theatrical value .
Karachi is also unique in being the only source of conflict in Sindh
because of its socioeconomic conditions and demographic changes .
It had a population of 400000 in 1947 which was 18,00,00,000 in 2009.
Population increased because it was the first national capital , only
seaport ,first international airport ,industrial base ,financial hub
and home to millions of migrants from India ,Afghanistan and Pathans
from KP and Punjabis from Punjab .
Karachi has very unusual demographics , capital of Sindh yet only 7.22
%Sindhis .Ninety three percent population comprises of immigrants
48.52% Muhajir , 13.94% Punjabi,Pashto 11.42%, Balochi 4.34%, Saraiki
2.11 % and others 12.44%.
Karachi is the largest Pashtun city in the country ,more Baluchis in
Karachi than in Baluchistan and it is the sixth largest Punjabi town .
The politics of Sindh province has many conflicts : Sindhi v Muhajir ,
Muhajir v Punjabi, Muhajir v Muhajir and Muhajir v Pathan .
Also most of the MQM are Shias and most Pathans Deobandi .
It is also a very young population .In 1987 , 36% of the population
was between age 14 and 30. 71% of them were literate while overall
Karachi literacy is 55% and overall Pakistan figure is 26.17%.
22% were graduates and the amenities were not sufficient for the
rising population .
Housing conflicts turn into ethnic rivalry and transport problem
accentuates it .
The first ethnic vi olence was Muhajir v Pathan in 1987 when a Muhajir
college girl was killed in an accident by a Pathan van driver .
Weapons were cheap and widely available , a pistol could be bought for
3000 rupees $40 dollars and a Kalashnikov for 16 thousand rupees $188
dollars .
The MQM split into two factions amid intense violence in 1993 and 1994 .
Main target types were private citizens, private property and
businesses as they are soft targets with no defense or deterrence .
They are in large numbers , and once attacked , more likely to compel
government to give in to terrorist demands .
Data also shows that police are the the target in 10% incidents in
Pakistan and rest of the world , they come in as the first line of
response and so they are targeted .
Military , civil administration and educational institutions , music
and barber shops closely follow as targets , these are attempts to
destabilise the state .
Another dimension of analysis is the efficacy of weapons employed as
per casualties , suicide attacks killed and wounded 42 people per
attack , explosives 9.4 , firearms 4.3 and projectiles 7.3 .
From 1987 to 1990 explosives were mostly used , from 1991 till 1997
firearms were more frequent and from 1998 till 2007 explosives were
more common .
Explosives are difficult to obtain and require more organisation so it
is deduced that usually a foreign hand is behind it . Explosives are
also mostly used to destabilise the government .
Suicide attacks are most damaging and they started in 1995
infrequently till 2001 , after this they spiralled and there were 56
attacks in 2007. Throughout the world there were 188 suicide attacks
from 1980 till 2001 but Pakistan had 56 in a single year .
Usually the strategic goal is to reclaim homeland but in Pakistan ,
there is no foreign occupation .
Suicide attacks took place also as a reaction to the government
operation on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July 2007. 8 attacks
before the operation and 48 afterwards , most probably the foreign
jihadis brought the technique .Arab clerics preached in favour of
suicide attacks while the underworld provided funding and bombers were
found locally .
Terrorism in Pakistan is an extreme reaction to political and economic
grievances and ethnic / religious issues , vested interests provide
backup .
The US led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq brought changes in
terrorism patterns in Pakistan .There was an increase in suicide
attacks against government institutions .
Attacks now are more frequent in KP and Baluchistan ,sectarian and
language based incident decreased but ethnic incidents increased as
militants multiplied .
This definite geographic shift in terrorism is post US invasion of
Afghanistan , the area of conflict is now the west of Pakistan .
The possibility remains that sponsorship of this terrorism post 9/11
may be from India ,the US or Iran , the implications may be policy
related .
These ethnic ,political and religious conflicts are endemic to
Pakistan and despite them life went on as normal unless internal or
external parties used them to further their own interests .
The conflicts resulted from socioeconomic grievances ,issues of
provincial autonomy and demographic changes ,these conflicts turned
unto sectarian, ethno-linguistic, ethni-secessionist and religious
motives for terrorism .
Places such as Baluchistan , South Punjab ,Waziristan and Karachi were
badly affected .
Communism and Capitalism have also played their part since Pakistan
came into being, geo-strategic politics of this region has brought
about many battles between the two.
India feels encircled and intimidated by Chinese presence near its
waters,Gwadar is also an alternative to Dubai and Iran’s new port
Chabahar.
Therefore , US, India and Iran find Gwadar a threat and terrorism in
Baluchistan is closely linked to this factor .
Kalashnikov culture developed in Pakistan as a direct consequence of
the Afghan war , US bought Chinese weapons to supply the Mujahideen
and half of these got sold in the local market .
Terrorism is cyclical in essence , todays events are a harbinger for
what transpires tomorrow.
The cycles are reflective of the immediate past as terrorists prepare, plan and the government is caught unawares .
The basis for terrorism remains and terrorists return with a new agenda .
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