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Archive for December, 2017

Quaid’s Pakistan & Notes on Presidential Form of Govt.(more suited to Pakistan)  by Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

 

 

 

LETTER TO EDITOR

December 27th, 2017

Quaid’s Pakistan

While addressing a conference on “Quaid’s Pakistan” held at the National Arts Council Karachi the other day, the Chairman Senate Mr. Raza Rabbani asserted that the Quaid was for the Parliamentary form of Government and the few Presidential forms of Government that we have had brought nothing but disaster to Pakistan (words to that effect).  Leaving aside the discussion whether the Presidential Government. brought progress  or disaster to the country, let me draw the attention of your readers to the two manuscripts of the Quaid e Azam which are held in the National Archives, Islamabad and in which the Quaid on July 10th,  1947, probably for addressing some meeting had made these notes in his own hand which  make it clear that he preferred the Presidential Form of Govt. for Pakistan.  The notes read as follow:

            Future Constitution of Pakistan         

            Dangers of Parliamentary Form of Govt.

(1)             Parliamentary Form of Govt.

I__  It has worked satisfactorily in England no where else.

(2)             Presidential Form of Govt.

(more suited to Pakistan) 

For original please see page 3 of the Quaid’s notes appended below:

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

30, Westridge-1

Rawalpindi, Pakistan

E.mail[email protected]

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The Fallacy of the Civil-Military Divide By Sarosh Yakoob

The Fallacy of the Civil-Military Divide

By Sarosh Yakoob

 

 

 

“There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian, the civilian never does more than he is paid to do.” Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

 

Pakistan was given to us by Jinnah, look what we have done with it.

It is imperative for all nations of the world to seek consciousness which transcends patriotic egos. It is elemental to realise unity in a diversified way. It is about establishing a logical approach and fosters a shared consciousness in order to pinpoint the dormant indifference prevailing in the society so that it does not turn volatile.

The nature of inept institutions always breeds mistrust. The government is so driven by power and profit that it only brings chaos in the end. No set rules to follow, which result in violence and ire in society. While we realise that the red light blinks on the socio-economic indicators, it is already too late.

The system is collapsing itself, as the political elite is self-destructive, why should the military dirty their hands at this point in time, when CPEC is the biggest milestone achieved and the global Game-Changer.

Since Pakistan was created, we have seen the political elite locking horns with the military, have we ever thought that our backbone is a part of our body and we could not exist without it. It is the proof of our existence.

Take a small example of the Dawn Leaks, when the whole nation was shaken at the abrupt and unexpected decision. I am no exception; I was irritated too as to why did our army take a step back? One thing was sure that our Men of Steel did not sell out. What was the issue that made them retreat?

“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” – Douglas MacArthur

In the larger interest of the country, our armed forces do us proud as they took the blow of being ridiculed and the guts of the DG ISPR Asif Ghafoor deserve immense appreciation for holding a press conference, as they say, the show must go on. This requires immense courage.

Army always displays wisdom whereas the holders of the beacons of democracy display emotions. Nations are built on wisdom and not emotions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fallacy of the Civil-Military divide is crystal-clear. With due apologies, our government is involved in corruption, nepotism and greed. Still, the COAS kept his calm, for what? Did he recede?

“Winning the men’s confidence requires much of a commander. He must exercise care and caution, look after his men, live under the same hardships, and above all-apply self-discipline. But once he has their confidence, his men will follow him through Hell and high water.” – Erwin Rommel

The system is collapsing itself, as the political elite is self-destructive, why should the military dirty their hands at this point in time, when CPEC is the biggest milestone achieved and the global Game-Changer. Army always displays wisdom whereas the holders of the beacons of democracy display emotions. Nations are built on wisdom and not emotions. Looking at this from a different perspective, all kinds of media went berserk and lashed out vehemently. Our Media, which is owned by conglomerates, business tycoons and land mafias became intensely active.

Pakistan is on an uphill, going fast-track for the best future and right beside; we see a slide where politicians are sliding down. The Fallacy is basically not because we are not one united nation. It is because our political elite is controlled by foreign powers which have different agendas like sectarianism, loot, plunder and to sell national assets for their own interest.

We have enemies looming all around, only the resilience of our Armed Forces stand tall, taking all the blows in silence and working all the way to secure Jinnah’s Pakistan. The need of the hour is to realise and feel proud where Pakistan stands, concentrating on an individual identity, as an ensemble of being human.

So many ways, so many words to say, yet my tongue is tied, not that I will face criticism but I want the people of Pakistan to understand this Fallacy of the civil-military divide which is overblown, bloated and out of shape. There are a number of ways to express this metaphor without creating any ripples.

Let us bring a positive change to our lives, let us learn to trust our institution, and let us learn to unite… but wait a second. Is the political elite ready for this? No—when vested interests are more than being a Pakistani, things turn ugly. This paradigm shift leads to great differences in our societies for the prevalence of violence and terrorism. Yet terrorism remains to be another challenge, and extremist tendencies remain another.

We have to give a wake-up call to the nation with a holistic approach; we have to secure our boundaries and borders. We have enemies looming all around, only the resilience of our Armed Forces stand tall, taking all the blows in silence and working all the way to secure Jinnah’s Pakistan. The need of the hour is to realise and feel proud where Pakistan stands, concentrating on an individual identity, as an ensemble of being human.

Pakistan was given to us by Jinnah, now we know what to do with it.

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LETTER TO EDITOR December 28th, 2017 Benazir Murder

LETTER TO EDITOR

December 28th, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benazir Murder

 

A blame game for the ‘murder’ of Benazir Bhutto has erupted between Bilawal and Musharraf where Bilawal holds Musharraf as the murderer and Musharraf throws the blame squarely on the shoulders of Zardari.  If Musharraf was the killer why was he not tried for it by the Zardari 5 year government? There are tons and tons of evidence available which if sifted even cursorily could easily pinpoint the real culprit.  A very simple question that comes to one’s mind is, “would BB have died had she not showed up out of the roof hatch of the bulletproof vehicle?”   The most probable answer is “no” as the other five in the vehicle survived the blast.  Then who asked her to stand up and show herself out of the roof hatch?  Most certainly not Musharraf PERIOD.

 

Col.Riaz Jafri (Retd)

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
30 Westridge 1
Rawalpindi 46000
Pakistan
Tel: (051) 5158033
E.mail: [email protected]

 

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Indian Fake Boat Incident by  Sajjad Shaukat  

      Indian Fake Boat Incident

by

 Sajjad Shaukat

 

On December 31, 2014, Indian security agencies orchestrated a terror-related fake boat drama to defame Pakistan in the world. In this regard, Indian media and high officials unfolded the drama on the New Year’s eve by allegedly reporting that a Pakistani fishing boat as a Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was intercepted by Indian Coast Guards, some 356 km. off the coast of Porbandar, Gujarat. Taking a new twist which overturned Indian aspersions in accusing Pakistan, the Indian government had claimed that it had foiled another 26/11-type attack of Mumbai. 

 

As per Indian Coast Guard IG, K R Nautiyal, an operation was undertaken on a precise intelligence tip and boat was ordered to stop, but it did not comply and sped away. Propagating that Pakistani terrorists had been apprehended by the Indian Coast Guard on the high seas and, after a long chase, when warning shots had been fired, the ‘terrorists’ had blown themselves up.

 

Indian Coast Guard officials stated that nobody or debris was found due to bad weather. Moreover, it was also stated that search was on for another boat which they fear was in communication with the capsized boat. 

 

The Pakistani media said that the Indian media was playing up the incident without establishing proper links to terrorism. The incident was strongly rejected by Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, terming it as mere propaganda aimed at tarnishing Pakistan’s image. She elaborated, “Pakistan expects India to conduct a transparent probe to ascertain the facts of the boat incident while highlighting that its own investigation had shown that there was no sound evidence to substantiate India’s assertions. On the so-called terror boat incident, India has not approached Pakistan through diplomatic channels.” 

 

However, the boat incident had also stirred a controversy within India itself. Indian National Congress had stated that it has doubts on government’s version of Porbandar incident. The ruling party BJP in response had stated that Congress was lending credence to Pakistani stance. In this regard, hitting at Congress, BJP President Amit Shah asked the opposition party, whether it was fighting elections in India or Pakistan.

 

It is notable that 48 hours after the incident, the Indian officials had started portraying another version by suggesting that the boat which had left Keti Bandar, Karachi might have belonged to small-time smugglers. 

 

And it was not possible that 30 HP boat could run four state of the art Indian Coast Guard ships. The media clips showed only fire damage to the boat, whereas, in case of an explosion, as suggested by the Indians, a complete boat which was small in size, would have torn to pieces.

 

Indian officials said that wreckage and dead bodies could not be recovered due to bad weather, whereas, open source met data forecasted fair weather. The argument is supplemented by the fact that small boats do not operate in deep open waters unless the weather is clear.

Meanwhile, despite the insistence of Islamabad, no solid proof was provided by Indian authorities about the incident, and no inquiry reports were shared with local and international media. Hence, Pakistan launched a strong diplomatic protest at UNO, demanding impartial inquiry which could expose Indian fabricated story regarding the Boat episode. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nevertheless, we cannot see the event in isolation. The aim of that stereotype Indian orchestrated boat drama was to create an aura against Pakistan prior to US President Barrack Obama’s visit (25-27 Jan. 2015) to India and put pressure on Pakistan government on Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi’s bail issue and allege LeT as an organization, posing regional threats. Prior to Obama’s visit, Indian propaganda was also part of overall plan to malign Pakistan of sponsoring terrorist activities in India. New Delhi, for the last few months, was propagating conduct of terrorist activities by LeT inside India.

 

It is noteworthy that on December 13, 2001, Indian parliament was attacked by five terrorists. Without any evidence, Indian top officials and TV channels started a blame game against Pakistan by involving the banned Lashkar-e-Tayba and Pakistan’s primary intelligence agency ISI in relation to the parliament assault.

 

While, regarding the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, Indian rulers and media had again started a blame game against Pakistan, propagating that Indian Mujahideen, the banned Lashkar-e-Tayba and ISI were behind the Mumbai carnage. 

 

Availing the pretext of the parliament attack and Mumbai catastrophe, New Delhi had, twice, suspended the process of dialogue with Islamabad in wake of its highly provocative actions like the mobilization of troops. Pakistan had also taken defensive steps to meet any Indian prospective aggression or surgical strikes. But, India failed in implementing its aggressive plans, because Pakistan also possesses atomic weapons.

 

It is of particular attention that on July 19, 2013, the Indian former home ministry and ex-investigating officer Satish Verma revealed that terror-attacks in Mumbai in November 26, 2008, and assault on Indian Parliament in December 13, 2001, were carried out by the Indian government to strengthen anti-terrorism laws.

 

It has clearly proved that Indian secret agencies; particularly RAW arranged coordinated terror attacks on the Indian parliament and in Mumbai and orchestrated those dramas only to defame Pakistan in the world, but also to fulfil a number of other aims.

 

It is mentionable that during the talks between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, at Ufa, Islamabad had conveyed to New Delhi a comprehensive agenda to discuss all outstanding issues, including Kashmir as well as terrorism. But, New Delhi’s insistence to restrict the agenda for the dialogue to terrorism or cross-border terrorism only, demonstrated India’s confused policy towards Pakistan.

 

Indian foreign secretary-level talks were held in Islamabad on March 3, 2015. In this connection, Indian External Affairs Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry discussed contentious issues including Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and other bilateral issues. While, in 2014, India postponed the Secretary-level talks with Pakistan; under the pretext that during his Indian visit Sartaj Aziz met Kashmiri leaders.

In fact, a lack of seriousness on India’s part to settle all disputes, especially Kashmir issue has compelled New Delhi to follow a self-contradictory and confused strategy towards Islamabad. Hence, New Delhi earnestly found various pretexts like the parliament attack and Mumbai mayhem to cancel peace talks.

 

Particularly, on May 27, 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff in the oath-taking ceremony proved faultless, because Modi raised baseless issues like terrorism as pre-condition to advance the Pak-Indian dialogue. He said that slow pace of trial against the terrorists of the Mumbai 26/11 terror case; being held in Pakistan is the main hurdle.

 

As regards the case of cross-border terrorism, India has shown ambivalent approach which can be judged from various recent developments. In this respect, on July 27, 2015, three gunmen dressed in army uniforms killed at least seven people, including three civilians and four policemen in the Indian district of Gurdaspur, Punjab.

 

Without any investigation, Indian high officials and media began accusing Pakistan, its banned militant outfits and intelligence agencies of the Gurdaspur incident. Indian Police remarked that the attackers are from Indian-held Kashmir, and some said that they were Sikh separatists, while Indian Punjab police chief claimed that the three gunmen were Muslim, but as yet unidentified. Contradicting speculations, India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament that the gunmen came from Pakistan.

 

Khalistan Movement Chief Manmohan Singh stated that the Gurdaspur incident is “a conspiracy of Indian secret agency RAW to defame Pakistan.”

 

However, continuing false flag operations, on Setember18, 2016, India also staged the drama of the terror attack in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) at a military base in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

 

Like the previous terrorism-related events, without any investigation, Indian media, civil and military high officials started blaming LeT and ISI, saying that the militants who target the Uri base came from Pakistan’s side of Azad Kashmir. In this respect, a senior Home Ministry official and a spokesman of the Indian army allegedly said, “It is clearly a case of cross-border terror attack…the militants infiltrated across the Line of Control from Pakistan before attacking the base in Uri.”

 

The situation developed in the aftermath of the Uri base terror assault like creation of Indian war hysteria against Pakistan, mobilization of troops near the LoC, exposure of the myth of Indian surgical strikes inside Azad Kashmir, differences between Indian Prime Minister Modi and Country’s Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Sing about the ‘fake video’ of this episode, criticism Modi government inside India, continuous violations at the LoC, targeting villages of Azad Kashmir etc., and diversion of attention from the new phase of uprising in the Indian held Kashmir where Indian security forces have martyred more than 300 innocent Kashmiris since July 8, 2016, who have been protesting against the martyrdom of the young Kashmir leader Burhan Wani by the Indian security forces in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) in wake of continued sieges and prolonged curfews have clearly proved that with the help of Indian intelligence agencies, especially RAW, India has itself arranged the Uri base assault not only to defame Pakistan abroad but also to achieve a number of sinister designs.

 

Nonetheless, all these terror attacks were planned by Indian security agencies to distort the image of Pakistan and its primary intelligence agency, ISI, linking it with the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

 

India intends to obtain various hidden purposes by blaming Islamabad for terrorism. First of all, it wants to divert the attention of the international community from the involvement of RAW which has well-established its network in Afghanistan, and is fully assisting cross-border incursions and terror-activities in various regions of Pakistan through Baloch separatist elements, Jundullah, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State group (Also known as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL) including their affiliated outfits. On a number of occasions, these insurgent groups claimed responsibility for their acts of sabotage.

 

With the backing of American CIA and Israeli Mossad, New Delhi is also trying to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Recent terror attacks in various regions of Pakistan and particularly in the Balochistan province might be noted as an instance. Indian RAW has also created a heavily funded China-Pakistan and Afghanistan specific desk to target growing Pak-China-Afghanistan relations.

 

Notably, Islamabad has raised the question of Indian cross-border terrorism and RAW involvement in Pakistan at the UNO forum, with strong evidence which was also shown to the US.

 

As a matter of fact, on the basis of anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans, BJP got a land sliding victory in the Indian elections 2014. Hence, Prime Minister Modi is giving impetus to Hindu chauvinism against Pakistan and the Muslims, while implementing the agenda of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism). Under Modi rule, extremists Hindu fundamentalist outfits have intensified assaults on the Muslims and Pakistani artists, famous literary persons—members of the cricket boards etc., and even on moderate Hindus.

 

Renowned thinkers, Hobbes, Machiavelli and Morgenthau opine that sometimes, rulers act upon immoral activities like deceit, fraud and falsehood to fulfil their countries’ selfish aims. But such a sinister politics was replaced by new trends such as fair-dealings, reconciliation and economic development. Regrettably, India is still following past politics in the modern era. 

 

It is established fact that as part of an anti-Pakistan move, the BJP-led government which is continuously manipulating the double standards of the US-led Western countries in relation to New Delhi and Islamabad arranged fake boat drama to not only to defame Pakistan in the world but also to obtain Indian sinister designs against Pakistan.

 

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: The US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

 

Email: [email protected]

 

 

 

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Trump’s Hydra-headed National Security Strategy   General Mirza Aslam Beg Former COAS Pakistan

Trump’s Hydra-headed National Security Strategy

 

General Mirza Aslam Beg

Former Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan

[email protected]

 

 

“Trump’s Security Strategy is a farce because it has no National Security Strategy.  It has outbursts.” – Roger Cohen

 

Trump’s outbursts grow from his notion of America First, where he merges his existence with passion, that defines his National Security Policy:

Protect homeland way of life; promote American prosperity; persevere peace through strength; advance American influence in the world; build India as a counterweight to China.

Trump strategy flows from the above policy. It is a hydra-headed strategy, targeting Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran, China, North Korea and Pakistan in particular

Palestine. Trump celebrates the 100 years of Balfour Declaration of 1917, which is a public statement issued by the British government during World War I, announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a minority Jewish population. It read:

His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

 

              Thus Trump has wrecked the possibility of establishing the states of Palestine and Israel, bringing the whole of Middle East to a state of crisis and catastrophe. This would result in decimation and destruction of more Muslim countries like Crusade one, which began in 2001. This is now Crusade Two, “to advance American influence in the world through strength.” Therefore chances of peace in Palestine now are remote, because the Arab World has its interests diverted towards war in Syria, Iraq and Daēsh and is engaged in managing the ravages of Arab Spring, while America, who could negotiate peace, has taken sides with Israel.

Afghanistan.

America Lost the War in Afghanistan- Egged-On By Trump Business Partners in India -Trump Wants to Make Pakistan the Fall Guy for US Afghanistan Failures

 America lost the war in Afghanistan by the year 2010, when they sent Richard Armitage to me, seeking dialogue with Afghan Taliban, who were not ready to be cheated again, as in 1990 and demanded occupation forces withdrawal as the pre-condition for talks. Despite setbacks and a gradual erosion of authority, Trump continues to reinforce his defeat through various machinations such as indirect support to Daēsh in Afghanistan, thus creating very serious security dilemma to all the neighbouring countries. He is also threatening Pakistan, to contain and curb the rising power of the Afghan resistance, so that he could “build India as the counter-weight to China”, and establish Indian hegemony from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, under the Indo-Pacific Regime. The purpose is “to persevere peace through Strength.”

Iran. Since 1980, Iran has been demonized as a serious threat to the regional countries, yet Iran has emerged resilient and strong despite sanctions, embargoes and trade restrictions, compelling America to find peace with Iran, by signing the Nuclear Deal. Trump now calls this deal “the worst deal ever been negotiated” and is not ready to sign the waivers on Iran sanctions, and threatens that “the best way to lock-in the Iranian hard-liners for the two decades would be to tear up the deal.” Trump may tear-up the deal, yet he cannot shake-off the resolve and self-confidence of the Iranian people, to “struggle to persevere peace through strength.”

Trump Choose India as a Counter-weight to China

China. Trump has called China “the strategic competitor.” Instead of joining hands with China and follow their geo-economic strategy of peace through regional cooperation, he is trying to build-up the Indian counter-weight, against the rising military and economic power of China. The Indian Counter-weight, which could not contain and curb Pakistan from rising, now has been assigned the task to contain China, with “the United States locked and loaded”, in support of India. A withering superpower could do no better than this.

Trump’s Policy Focused on Containment of China

North Korea. With limited nuclear weapon delivery capability, North Korea has been able to deter America, despite possessing a stockpile of nuclear weapons, most efficient delivery system and a state of the art air defence capability. Yet America has failed to develop a strategy that could build up pressure on North Korea and is showing a kind of helplessness, expecting China to bring sanity to the North Korean leader. The state of helplessness in case of North Korea, as well as Afghanistan, exposes the hollowness of super-power America, trying to advance their influence in the world, through farce policy initiatives.

Iran-Afghanistan-China-Pakistan-Russia

Pakistan lies at the centre stage of the regional conflict syndrome. It has to tread carefully protecting its interests, through the support of the people, embodied in the elected parliament, and building blocks of regional support of Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan, under the security partnership of China and Russia. Pakistani nation shares with Iran, the will to resist and reject, pressures and threats and continues to rise with the sublime dignity of the great civilizations with whom it shares common borders.

Pakistan – Heart of Asia

Pakistan is the Heart of Asia, as late Liaquat Ali Khan reminded the nation and we have to prove to be true to this great heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superficial Emergency Session of the OIC

The Emergency Session of the OIC did not show any seriousness amongst the members of the states. Only a few heads of the State attended. There has been an erosion of unity amongst them, and the Arab world, in particular, has been in a state of disarray after the Arab Spring. Taking advantage of the regional anarchy, America and Israel have struck, which seriously “prejudices the civil and religious rights of the Muslims and other communities of Palestine”. The situation poses a big challenge to the entire Muslim World. Except for Turkey and Iran, none seem to be taking the matter seriously. The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted against Trump’s Palestine Policy, and hopefully, it would put a check to Israel’s ambition of expanding at the cost of Arab territories for Greater Israel!

 

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