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Archive for category ISLAMOPHOBIA

The Western Arrogance and the War at Doorsteps by Dr Firoz Mahboob Kamal

The Western Arrogance and the War at Doorsteps

Dr Firoz Mahboob Kamal

 

The hate campaign

The killings at Charlie Hebdo had sent powerful shock waves all over the West. Now the security threats and fear run very high everywhere. It seems that not only the hateful Islamophobic cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo, but also the politicians and the security officers of the West have turned pathologically paranoid. Even an unattended bag in a railway or underground station is enough to paralyse the traffic system in London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Rome and other cities of the West for hours. Now the governments are planning to check every internet mail of every individual. Hence nothing is private for any man or woman. The western imperialists used to take their wars of occupation and plunder to foreign lands; hence their homes were safe. But now the war has arrived to their doorsteps. They have withdrawn troops from Algeria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali and other third world countries, but the war is not leaving them. Now they are taking full war preparation to save their own streets. The French President François Hollande has announced that he will deploy 10,500 soldiers all over France to fight the Islamists. Former French President Sarkozi declared “war of civilisation” in response to attack on freedom. Thus, the whole western world is quickly turning into a huge and hot war zone.
 
War never starts all on a sudden. Like a disease, it has its own ongoing moral, ideological and social pathology. War needs ideological ignition in people’s psyche. Such a job is done by the ideological warriors. In the past, the war mongering crusaders did that job massively against the Muslims. Hence so-called the holy war (the crusade) could sustain for more than hundred years. Nurturing such hatred has been a classic political art and part of the genocidal warfare in Europe. So in comparison to other people in other continents, the Europeans made distinctive history of cruelty in ethnic cleansing worldwide. Hence Jews in Europe and Muslims in Spain are not the only victims of European. The Red Indians and Incas in America, the Aborigines in Australia and the Maoris in New Zealand met the same fate. In modern times, Hitler and his cronies, the colonialists and the imperialists did the same crime but the scientific skill. The killings of more than 75 million in two World Wars indeed draw the pathological roots from the past. Now the same old disease shows signs of violent remission. The job has now been taken over by the Islamophobic columnists, cartoonist, writers, warlords, the defence industry and the politicians. The West has now great number of such venomous people in their midst. And now the target is Islam and its prophet. Hence the crusade that was started by George W Bush in 2001 now gets enough fuel for its robust sustenance.
Malicious hatred against the target people is indeed the requisite precursor for a brutal war. The German politician, writer and the press nurtured such hatred against the Jews before the World War II. Hitler was not a lone performer; he had a huge army of collaborators in that crime. Hence killing of 6 million Jews on an industrial scale became morally acceptable to the German. Now the tide is running against the Muslims. And the now shows the same readiness to endorse the most heinous crime against Muslims. Wit moral death does, people can’t see crime as crime. The symptoms of such moral death of the West are now quite manifest. For example, Gaza and Kobani are bombed to rubbles by Israel and the US. More than 2000 innocent children, women and men are slaughtered in Gaza. Bombs were dropped even on the UN run schools. But the US and her European partners are not ready to consider such Israeli brutalities as war crimes. The US didn’t allow the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning such crime. With the same moral death, the US could drop 2 atom bombs in cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and now financing and patronising Israeli barbarity with its all brutal dimension. They do not like that such crimes should go to the International Criminal Courts for the prosecution.
 

The double standard

The abuse of freedom

download-2-2In the west, all are not equal to enjoy the same liberty. They have given full liberty to magazines like Charlie Hebdo to cross all limits to spread pornographic slander against Islam’s great prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Western leaders also announce their full solidarity with those slanderers by chanting “je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie). But they don’t allow others to chant “je suis Palestinian” (I am Palestinian). Hence the British MP Mr David Ward from East Bradford got wide condemnation for expressing his strong anger at the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Paris march on 11/01/15 and sending a twitter message “je suis Palestinian” (I am Palestinian). He was condemned not only by the Israeli Ambassador at London and but also by the Islamophobic British media and the British politicians. He is the only exceptional member of the British Parliament who could announce, “If I was in Gaza, I would have fired rocket to Israel.” For such moral stance at the time of Israel’s Gaza bombing, he was rebuked by the British Prime Minister and other political leaders of both Tory and Labour parties. He was forced by his party’s parliamentary whip to withdraw the original statement. Such hypocrisy in the British politics is not hidden, rather broadly practised to support its own illegal creation of Israel!

 
The Western leaders have given the full impunity to the Israeli warlords to commit whatever crimes they wish against the Palestinians. The US, the UK, France and other Western countries exercised the same unfettered liberty in killing Muslims in million in Algeria, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other occupied countries. Millions of Palestinians are driven out of their homes and forced to live in refugee camps for more than 60 years. Does it need to be saint to condemn such crimes? But the West’s moral conscience stands fully insensitive to such horrific crimes; hence they never condemned these as war crimes. Rather they punish those who condemn and protest against such brutalities. They label them as Islamic extremists. The French black comedian Diendonne didn’t take any weapon in hand to kill anyone. He only exercised freedom of speech to protest against the Israeli brutalities in the occupied Palestine. For that, he has been put in prisons. Whereas the newspapers and magazines like Charlie Hebdo of Paris, London’s Daily Mail and Daily Sun and many others of Europe enjoy full liberty to inject more venom to the western psyche.
 

The state-sponsored slander

Charlie Hebdo recently published its post-attack first edition with another slanderous cartoon against the prophet Muhammad (peace upon him) on the cover page. It is indeed a state-sponsored million-copy edition to rub more salt on the wounded psyche of the Muslims. Printing satirical cartoon is not the only staple of Charlie Hebdo. It is not neutral either –as it claims. It is conducting an ugly and continuous propaganda war against Islam’s core teachings like sharia, jihad and khilafa. Its toxic slander against Islam’s greatest prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) knows no moral or ethical limit. Publishing most pornographic vulgar cartoon against this great man of the human history is in fact the main passion of the cartoonists. 
Those who chanted “je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), they too, made their massage louder. They announced unequivocally that like the dead cartoonists, they too rejoice such pornographic ridicule against Islam’s prophet. Toxic cartoons are being used as weapon of ideological war against Islam and its iconic characters. Can a man with little respect for this great prophet spread such venomous filth? By publishing such pornographic slanders, these cartoonists didn’t exercise freedom of expression. In fact, they exercised freedom of abuse. How a Muslim can support Charlie Hebdo? A Muslim must be an obedient follower of Muhammad (peace be upon him) in all aspects of his life. He must love him more than his own life. It is a Divine requirement. Hence ridiculing the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is indeed ridiculing every Muslim. Hence, such vulgar bigotry and poisonous slander can only draw a country to an unending blood-letting war. France with its 6.5 million strong Muslims is indeed moving fast to such a war. How a country can deserve any peace or tranquillity with such slanderous posture against 6.5 Muslims? It shows signs that the war will not remain confined within the French boundary. In neighbouring Belgium, two Muslims are killed on 16/1/15, and many more are arrested. France government too has proven to be  very prompt to add more fuel to the fire. The French parliament voted by 488 votes to one to launch military campaign against Islamic State. The French aircraft carrier has already moved nearer to the Syrian shore of the Mediterranean to facilitate the US air strikes against Islamic State. It is reported that about 3 thousand European Muslims have already joined the Islamic State to fight the ongoing war in Syria and Iraq. Many more thousands of these jihadists are prevented from joining the Islamic State by imposing strict travel restriction in the border outposts and the airports. Now France has opened new frontiers for these enthusiastic Islamist warriors on its own soil.

 

Solidarity with the hate campaign

Charlie Hebdo is not alone in its ugly hate campaign against Islam and its prophet (peace be upon him). The western leaders displayed their full solidarity with it. More than 40 heads of states marched in the streets of Paris on 11/01/15 to show such solidarity. The western leaders talk about fighting war for protecting western values and culture. But what is western value and culture? Do the Muslims need any lecture to learn the western values and culture? Didn’t they display those values and culture during the last several centuries all over the world? Is it not the values and culture of military aggression, occupation, colonisation, imperialism, ethnic cleansing, slave-trading, genocide, World Wars, gas chambers, dropping of atom bombs, waterboarding, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Gharib, Sabra, Satilla and Gaza? They killed 75 million people only in two World Wars! Who else can match their brutality? Their war machines are still not withdrawn from their army bases in the Muslim lands.
The western leaders talk about fighting terrorism. Do the Muslims need any lecture to understand terrorism too? The Muslims are the worst victims of terrorism since the advent of Western colonialism in their countries. Most of the Muslim lands were occupied and millions lost lives by the hand of these terrorists. Only in Palestine, more than 4 million people are made homeless by these terrorists –fully sponsored by the West’s money, weapons and diplomacy. Terrorising people with lethal weapons for political and military gains is no more a crime of a few thugs. It is the sophisticated war tactics of the super powers. These state terrorists of the West are the real threat against the world peace. They are charged with deep hatred against Islam, Islam’s prophet and the common Muslims. Hence they could easily show their solidarity with the hate mongering cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo.
The military occupation of Muslim lands, the plunder of its resources and de-Islamisation of its people are the main objectives of the anti-Muslim state terrorists. Such imperialist objectives are so much integrated in the imperialists’ culture and values that even most barbaric manifestation of the state terrorism like war for occupation, destruction of cities, cleansing of native population received not only the popular support, but also get voluntary participation of the people for its prolonged continuation. This is why the quick occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan gave a huge boost to President George W Bush’s popularity in the USA. Only his utter failure to enforce the US grip in those occupied lands and numerous body bags of the US soldiers brought his disgrace –and not the occupation itself. The US people didn’t expect such disgrace of their citizens in any foreign land. Due to the same western mind-set, Israel –one of the most barbaric countries in human history and the West’s ugly colonial legacy, enjoy so much support in the West. For the same reason, 4 million people marched in the street of Paris to support Charlie Hebdo’s hate campaign against the prophet of Islam (peace be umpon him) and the Islamists. Indeed, here lies the main problem of the west. The anti-Islamic hatred is indeed embedded in their mind-set. Hence for any peace, they do not need more wars, rather needs a 180 degree paradigm shift in their mind-set. They need more home works to change their understanding about Islam and Muslims. The current state of poisonous hatred against Islam and Muslims could only generate more Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, more Abu Gharib, more Guantanamo Bay, more water boarding and more torture cells. In such milieu of abuse, the jihadists will enjoy fertile breeding grounds. The US and its ally have spent several trillion of dollars in wars and war industries. They fought war for 13 years in Afghanistan and for 8 years in Iraq. At the end, they couldn’t win any war, rather returned back with humiliation. The month-long bombing by the US, the UK, the French, the Australian and the Jordanian bombers couldn’t bring any victory for the coalition forces even in a small town of Kobani. If they think that few thousands Kurd secularist mercenaries or Shia militias will do their war against the Islamists, they are indeed living in fools’ paradise!
 

Fake humanity

The leaders of the Western countries talk a lot about humanity and higher moral values. But there exist monumental evidences to prove such claim fake. Creation of Israel on an illegally occupied land by the colonial West and their continual support for its land grabbing genocidal war are enough to prove that. What a disgrace, the original resident of the Palestine are driven out of their ancestral homes to make space for houses for the European and American Jews! The Palestinian refugees are denied access to their own land. There exists no international institution where they can seek justice. The UN Security Council itself is under the occupation of the usurper imperialists. It has given recognition to creation of such illegal state on illegally occupied land. What an irony, any effort to reclaim the occupied land is labelled as terrorism! The leaders of these countries showed silence in remembrance of the dead cartoonist of Charlie Hebdo. The Western imperialists have killed more than a million people in Iraq and Afghanistan in their recent wars of occupation. But, did they observe a single moment of silence in memory of those dead souls? France herself killed 1.5 million Algerians in its war of occupation in the sixties. Did they pay any homage to those innocent people who were brutally killed there? The crime of these innocent Algerians was nothing else but the genuine demand for freedom from the colonial rule. Recently the Christians killed thousands of Muslims in Central African Republic. Where is the solidarity of the Western leaders with those innocent victims of the genocide? Since the victims are Muslims, didn’t they deserve any respect and sympathy?  They chanted chorus “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie). What does that mean? Do they say that like the abusive Charlie Hebdo, I am also an equal abuser and hater of the prophet of Islam (peace be upon him).  They are not ready to retreat an inch from that abusive path. They showed full solidarity not only with Charlie Hebdo, but also continue to show full solidarity with the brutal Israeli killers. Hence the butcher of Gaza -the Israeli PM was cordially welcomed in their midst. Only due to such crippling moral disease, they could sponsor the illegal creation of Israel in occupied land of the Palestinian
Mr Gerald Biard, the chief editor of Charlie Hebda who was on holiday when the attacks occurred wrote, “Charlie is an atheist paper, is accomplishing more miracles than all saints and prophets.” (The Guardian 14/01/15). What is that miracle that the editor claims for? Of course, they made a history. About 4 million Europeans chanted the chorus “je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) only in Paris; many more millions did the same in other parts of Europe. But it is not a miracle. It is the disease of Europe. It is the ugliest solidarity with the virulent hate campaigners. It is indeed the recipe of further holocaust. The West could commit so many ugly crimes in the past only because of such moral ill health. They could kill more than 75 million only in two World Wars. They could also kill many more million in post-World Wars regional wars as occurred in Korea, Vietnam Afghanistan and Iraq.  About 2 hundred thousand were slaughtered in their own backyard in Bosnia. But how many Europeans came out to the street to condemn those crimes? How many Europeans marched in the street chanting “je suis Bosnian” (I am Bosnian)? How many said “je suis Palestine (I am Palestine). The Whole Muslim population were ethnically cleansed from Spain. The European people never came to street to show solidarity with those ill-fated victims of the wars of ethnic cleansing. Such ethnic or religious cleansing never happened against the non-Muslims even in Islam’s heart lands like Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine; more than 10-15% of the population in these heart lands remain non-Muslim even during last 1400 years’ Muslim rule. In Lebanon it is more than 30-35%. But the ethnic annihilation in Europe during so-called Holy Roman Empire was complete that the percentage of non-Christian in Europe was not even 00.001%. The same happened after the Christian victory against the Muslims in Spain. In the name of religion, such crime never happened in a Muslim country. The Muslims never had any phobia against non-Muslims, and neither had the non-Muslims against Muslims in those Muslim lands. But now, along with the Muslims, the Christians too, are leaving these Muslim countries. The US invasion and its massive bombing campaign have made the Muslim countries most unsafe for everybody. The bombs do not see the faith, only see the targets.

The abuse of freedom

Some of the cartoonists claimed that they are not against Islam; they are only against the extremist ideologies of Islam. They argue that they make satire only of prophet (peace be upon him)’s character, not of Islam. It is a sheer lie and ridicule. The prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the embodiment of Islam’s core belief and ideologies. He showed his followers how to practise full package of Islam. Can anyone separate the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)’s character from the ideology of Islam? Establishing Islamic state, continuing dawa (propagation), practising full sharia, launching jihad, encouraging people to embrace martyrdom, implementing shura (counselling), hadud (sharia judgments) and levying jijiya on non-Muslims were the parts of his life. These are his ideologies. Hence ridiculing the prophet’s character is nothing else than ridiculing the ideologies of Islam. Did any newspaper in any Muslim country ever showed such abusive attitude against the great prophet like Jesus Christ (Allah’s blessing be on him) or Moses (Allah’s blessing be on him too)?

The Western leaders claim that they are fighting terrorism. But the truth is otherwise. The Muslims are the worst victims of state terrorism. About 3 thousand people were killed in 9/11. But the US has killed more than million as a result of the war.  Very recently on 16/01/15, the US bombers killed more than 50 civilians in Iraq. (RT TV). What can be more terrorism than this? Both in the past and in the present, the Muslims became the worst victims of state terrorism in Algeria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, India, Egypt, Syria, Myanmar, Central Africa and Sri Lanka? Terrorism is no more a crime of a few thugs. It is now the full-scale warfare of the arrogant military powers to control the world politics in their own hand. The US war in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israeli war in Gaza, Egyptian Army’s manslaughter in Cairo, Alexandra and other cities are indeed the worst terrorist acts that one can perceive. Non-state terrorist can’t think of terrorism of such magnitude.

 

The only option

Wolves can’t enjoy safe haven even in caves. They too need protection to escape the imminent extinction. The same is true with the imperialists. They have done enough crimes all over the world. They have taken genocidal wars to the distant corners of the world. They have dropped atom bombs, napalm bombs, cluster bombs, chemical bombs, missiles and drones on the head of the weak. Now the war stands at their front doors. After spending a trillions of dollar, the US and its ally didn’t expect such a fate. Hence they are filled with extreme anger and frustration. Anger of the innocent victims has all reached to the explosion level. Further killing or torturing those who are already ready to embrace martyrdom is not going to solve the problem. Even an average European understands this new reality. The march of about 4 million Europeans in Paris is indeed the demonstration of such fear. It has little to do with the little known vulgar Charlie Hebdo. It is not to show the solidarity with the 12 people who are killed in the attacks. While 6 million Jews were incinerated in gas chambers, no one marched in the street of a European city to show solidarity with the victims. In fact, the Europeans didn’t face any war at their doorsteps from the Jews at that time. But now the situation is different. They sense war looming in their midst.
Now in the West, there exists only one option to have a peaceful co-existence of Muslims and the non-Muslims. It is not possible to do the same ethnic cleansing again on the European soil –as was done in Spain in 15th century. Now more than 20 million Muslims live in Europe; 6.5 million only in France. May be, some xenophobic far-rightists may still prefer that genocidal route. But the only feasible option stands otherwise. Instead of abusing 1.5 billion Muslims for their fundamental beliefs, they must reconcile with them. Sharia, khilafa, jijiya and hadud are not issues in the West. But those basics must be allowed to be practised in Muslim majority countries – as were practised in all Muslim countries till the West’s colonial occupation. The West must not create blockade against the resurrection of Islam’s most crucial political institution like khilafa. Such blockade will make the war inevitable.
Like the deformed Christian or the Jews, the Muslims do not enjoy such option to be deformed or reformed. Such deformation or reformation is nothing else than deviation from the siratul mustaqeem  -hence direct route to hellfire. Since the prophet of the Islam (peace be upon him) was the fundamentalist believer and practitioner of the Qur’anic Islam, every Muslim must try to be the Islamic fundamentalist of the same degree. It is not a choice, but an obligation. The West must reconcile with the Muslims’ such core belief. Otherwise the clash of civilisation is unavoidable. But it appears that the West has deliberately taken the route of hostility with the prophet’s Islam. They have already declared their solidarity with the hate campaigner against Islam’s great prophet (peace be upon him). “Je suis Charlie” is indeed the war cry of such hostility.
In Islam, practising sharia is a binding obligation. Whoever ignores this obligation is severely condemned with three derogatory labels from Allah Suhhana Wa Ta’ala: he is a kafir, zalem and fasik. The Holy Qur’an reveals: “Whoever does not make judicial judgement according to the revealed laws (sharia) is a kafir (disbeliever) … a zalem (oppressor) ..and a fasik (sinner). (Sura Maida: verse 44, 45 and 47). Hence, there is no room for the secular laws and judiciary in a Muslim country.  The presence of Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Hindus, atheist, polytheists and the followers of other beliefs is not new under the Muslim rule. It has a history of more than 14 hundred years. In those days, the believers of other faiths could understand the Muslims’ religious obligation; hence these non-Muslim compatriots never put any hindrance against the implementation of sharia, khilafa, shura, hadud and other Islamic fundamentals. Even in countries where the Muslims were in minority like India and Spain, they didn’t protest against the practice of sharia either. Instead of any interference in the Muslims’ religious affairs, they opted for peaceful co-existence.
 

The arrogance

But such wisdom of the past does not exist in contemporary Western leaders. Their economic, military and technological might made them arrogant as well as incompatible with the Muslims’ beliefs and practice. The Western powers are putting obstacles against implementation of sharia even in countries where more than 90% people are Muslims. As if the sharia is their own domestic issue! After the occupation of Afghanistan, the German Foreign Minister declared in Public that sharia will not be allowed to return back to Afghanistan. Is it not a blatant interference in Muslims’ internal affairs? Where is freedom of the Afghan people to decide their own law? The US president Obama labelled sharia as medieval barbarity. What a sheer arrogance? Can a Muslim surrender to such anti-Islamic arrogance?  
The West’s stubborn hostility against Islam’s fundamental belief is indeed the cause of current impasse. They have already launched a civilizational war against the Muslims to stop them practising prophet’s Islam. They want Muslims to be fully de-Islamised and deformed from the Qur’anic Islam. They find it the only option to peacefully co-exist with the Muslims. Hence demand for Islam’s reformation cum deformation is very high in the Western camp. The tyrant rulers and the secularist intellectuals of the Muslim countries have already taken that enemy route. Hence they are equally inimical against sharia and khilafa like the non-Muslims. Many of them like Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, Iraqi and Irani Shia, the Egyptian military, Bangladeshi secularists, the Pakistani Army have already joined their rank to kill the Islamists. The Western leaders must understand that the original Islam has nothing to reconcile with the corrupt beliefs of the Egyptian, Saudi, Qatari, Bahraini, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or other secularist tyrants of the Muslim world. By making coalition with these de-Islamised despots, the West is not going to gain anything in their war against Islam. Rather, such alliance would only re-inforce their image as the enemies of Islam. Such an approach will only add more fuel to the ongoing war. 18/01/15

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Enemy in the apparel of partner

Enemy in the apparel of partner

Brig.Gen(R)Asif Haroon Raja

Pakistan Army

 

Al-Qaeda as a terrorist organization was hardly known in Pakistan till the US declared openly that 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre were undertaken by Al-Qaeda. The group known as Al-Qaeda was organized by Osama bin Laden (OBL) who was simply an ordinary Jihadi volunteer from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with traces of Yemeni background having passion for participating in Islamic Jihad against Russian occupational forces in Afghanistan.

 

OBL was indoctrinated by CIA experts to choose Islamic Jihad as the main purpose of his life. He cooperated with CIA in their efforts to launch operations against Soviets in Afghanistan and till then was a pious warrior enjoying respect and prestige among US planners. But no sooner Russia was defeated in Afghanistan, US strategic priorities shifted having divergent goals and so was the respect for the Jihadi elements in Afghanistan. They termed them as the non-state actors dangerous for the world peace. US officials especially CIA started treating them with contempt and derision.

 

US invasion of Iraq in August 1990 led OBL to readjust his mindset and realign the direction of its outfit ‘Al-Qaeda’. The rift between US and OBL led to fateful event of 9/11. The US images-8invaded Afghanistan and occupied it with its full wherewithal and military weight but failed to make correct moves to apprehend OBL. Hence, OBL took advantage of faulty US policies through a method of exploitation. He used emotional appeal and urged the Muslim world to oppose US who is an occupational force in Afghanistan like the Russians and hence must be fought against. He also found his sympathizers in Pakistan who bought his message. Presence of OBL and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan was due to flawed US policies.

 

One of the major tasks assigned to the US led coalition in Afghanistan was to kill and capture Al-Qaeda leaders operating inside Afghanistan and some parts of Pakistan. Al-Qaeda had virtually turned into a perilous outfit capable of inflicting serious losses to coalition forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan took some difficult strategic decisions and offered full cooperation to capture the world most dangerous and treacherous terrorists associated with Al-Qaeda.

 

Pak Army deployed its sizeable force to be engaged in anti-terrorist operations. Pakistan Army and paramilitary forces prepared plans to conduct operations against Al-Qaeda elements in the most sensitive and volatile region of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where powerful armies of Great Britain and Soviet Russia were once defeated at the hands of tribal lashkars.

 

Pakistani government’s decision to provide support and make efforts to capture Al-Qaeda terrorists, earned Pakistan a very harsh backlash of terrorists associated with Al-Qaeda. They turned against the State of Pakistan and targeted its security forces, high officials, key communicators, and civil society including innocent women/children, peace loving people busy in their business or prayers in the mosques. Pakistani support and efforts, however, proved fruitful and many key commanders of Al-Qaeda were apprehended or killed during operation.

 

None can deny that it could not have been possible to break the backbone of Al-Qaeda without the significant support offered by Pakistan and efforts made by ISI to apprehend the Al-Qaeda elements. Since Pakistani authorities had taken a strategic and historical decision to cooperate with US led coalition to fight the menace of terrorism, therefore, their top priority was to locate and apprehend OBL. Unfortunately OBL found sympathizers inside Pakistani soil and succeeded in having a facility to covertly live inside Pakistan. The killing / apprehension of OBL would have been a rejoicing event for both Pakistan and USA, but the US preferred to create an atmosphere of mistrust and betrayal for reasons best known to it.

 

The US and western public opinion builders and international media leveled serious allegations against Pakistan. This also created political and institutional turmoil inside Pakistan spreading divisive themes among civil military leadership and agitating the civil society to raise the questions of violation of sovereignty of Pakistan by US raiders. Had Pakistani officials / ISI known about the presence of OBL inside Pakistan they would have reacted positively to apprehend / kill him to save such a chaos which led to lingering court probes.

 

Pakistan as a responsible country was cooperating in US led war on terrorism and had shown substantial results by killing and apprehending vital Al-Qaeda terrorists. It was not an option for Pakistan to hide OBL (as alleged by USA and others) and get embarrassed. At no stage any hint about possibility of OBL hiding in urban centre was given by the US despite the fact that most high profile al-Qaeda leaders were arrested by Pak agencies in urban areas. Pak agencies had nabbed Khalid Sheikh, Abu Faraj al-Libbi, Abu Zubedah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Umar Patek and scores of others involved in plotting 9/11 from cities. It was only when a piece of information about one named Sheikh Ahmed El-Kuwaiti was given by the ISI in 2010 that the CIA shifted its gaze from western border towards Haripur, Abbottabad, Peshawar region.          

 

CIA wanted to take all the credit for hunting OBL without any support from any other agency. The arrangement enabled them to claim the assured invincibility of USA’s military might and professional competence of CIA. Hence, CIA deliberately sidelined ISI in their scheme to hound OBL alone. No doubt at tactical level US led coalition forces in Afghanistan had suffered stunning setbacks due to intelligence failure and poor performance of tactical commanders, hence, they preferred marginalizing ISI and acted selfishly. In their short sightedness and high motivating pulse to claim full credit of OBL killing, they forgot the actual consequences.

 

As the world witnessed later on, the outcome of such uncaring attitude proved risky, edgy and nervous, as Pakistan and its spy agency was not only blamed openly for supporting the terrorists but also made responsible for hiding OBL inside Pakistan. The US leadership created an environment of mistrust and cynicism having lasting scars, thus destroying the spirit of coalition to collectively fight the menace of terrorism.

 

The US found it difficult to accept its greediness for having sidelined its vital ally in Global War on Terror (GWOT), but failed to realize that it will not work for the cause. Blame game played by US leaders / field commanders helped them to cover up their failures in GWOT, but overall loss / defeat in the effort against terrorism has not been realized. The US leadership was so staggered with the information of a high value target like OBL in Pakistan that they forgot all the norms of diplomacy and the hard fact that Pakistan was not a foe and had rendered immense sacrifices in fighting the US imposed GWOT. Pentagon ordered the Navy SEALs to violate the sovereignty of Pakistan by crossing the border and go for the stealth attack. This was totally unlawful and illegitimate.

 

Former CJSC Admiral Mike Mullen informed Gen Ashfaq Kayani after the helicopters had reached Bagram air base. Gen Kayani in turn informed President Zardari and Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar. By the time F-16s were made airborne, or the Quick Reaction Force in Abbottabad and ISI detachment commander reached the spot, raiders had flown back to safety.

The egoist US leaders bereft of good judgment failed to realize that in the international politics such actions amount to intimidation of other independent States and that the reaction might be very perilous. Fortunately Pakistani side kept their cool despite internal tumult and nothing happened. On the other hand, the US leadership left no stone unturned in converting the crisis into a world war scenario.

 

Although OBL’s burial in the Arabian Sea fulfilled the desire of OBL wanting not to be buried in the ground, al-Qaeda members felt angered over the way his body was secretly disposed off. To avenge his death, their wrath fell upon people of Pakistan.

The US posing to be a strategic ally stabbed Pakistan in the back. People of Pakistan, government officials, Pak Army and ISI were at grave pains when they found that they have been misled, misinformed and betrayed by their own allies especially USA and its spy agency CIA who not only violated the sovereignty of Pakistan by intruding into its territory without permission but also for creating a situation in which Pakistan stood blameworthy and culpable for hiding OBL inside Pakistan. Public opinion went against Pakistan and there was an internal turmoil leading to serious political instability the impact of which still goes unabated. No doubt US action proved that a foe in the garb of a friend bashed its ally badly.

 

Failing to discredit the Army and ISI and in pressurizing Pakistan to launch an operation in North Waziristan, CIA-NATO punished Pak military by launching a murderous helicopters attack on a check post at Salala on November 26, 2011 and also heating up western border with the help of runaway Fazlullah. Pakistan that had been quietly taking the barbs and insults for years could take no more and reacted by closing Shamsi airbase from where drones were launched, suspended military and intelligence cooperation, refused to attend Bonn conference and above all, closed NATO supply lines.

 

Pakistan reopened the supply routes and restored relations when Washington apologized and promised to treat Pakistan as an ally. The US swallowed the bitter pill since northern network was too expensive to carry heavy military stores from Afghanistan. More so, Pakistan was seen as the only country that could help in easing the pains of risky drawdown in the face of impasse on talks between the US and Afghans Taliban.

 

Finding that no breakthrough has been achieved on peace talks with Taliban after Doha fiasco in June 2013, Karzai’s somersault on signing Bilateral Security Agreement, allowing the US military to leave behind a residual force after 2014, and most disturbingly Pakistan making visible progress in talks with TTP, another attempt was made by USA to shame ISI by reincarnating the ghost of OBL through a fictitious story appearing in NY Times dated 19 March that ex ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha had known about presence of OBL in Abbottabad.

 

The invention was based on the book ‘The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan 2001-2014’ authored by British journalist Carlotta Gall. She further claimed that Gen Musharraf and his top commanders were aware of al-Qaeda’s plan to assassinate Ms Benazir Bhutto. She quoted Gen Ziauddin Butt having confided in her that Gen Musharraf had arranged the hideout of OBL in Abbottabad. Ziauddin, who holds Musharraf in low esteem since he had put him in solitary confinement for two years in October 1999 and dismissed from service, said he was misunderstood and Carlotta misquoted him. He added that he had been misquoted by western media several times to advance their agenda. Pak media, ever-ready to promote western themes to embarrass military establishment, added fuel to fire by playing up New York Times story.

 

Recently, Paul Craig Roberts has debunked claims made by Obama that members of US Navy SEALs team had killed OBL and SEALs team claiming that they had killed him. He claimed that OBL had died due to renal failure in Tora Bora caves in December 2001. He argues that no one can survive renal failure for over a decade and that no dialyses machine was found in the Abbottabad compound. He adds; “No one among the crew of the ship or any eye-witness corroborated the news of OBL body’s burial at sea”. He further adds that 25 members of the SEALs team that supposedly took part in the raid died mysteriously in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. In his view, they were bumped off to keep the cooked up story credible. It may be recalled that Paul Craig had earlier on challenged the veracity of 9/11 terror attacks asserting it was a false flag operation to kill, maim and dispossess millions of Muslims in seven countries, none having any connection with 9/11.          

 

One wonders, how long the west would keep playing with the ghost of OBL about whom there have been dozens of articles published in western print media that OBL for all practical purposes was a half-dead man after he escaped from Tora Bora caves in December 2001. With three wives (Khairee, Shareeja and Amal) and eleven children, the seriously ailing OBL wanted to lead a quiet life and die peacefully. He had died much earlier owing to his kidney disease. It is widely believed that purpose behind May 2 attack was to bolster Obama’s chances of re-election. Carlotta gimmicks were meant to publicize her book. She however, gave an opportunity to CIA to denigrate its rival ISI, which has foiled its dangerous agenda against Pakistan.

 

December 16, 2014 episode was planned in Afghanistan and was surely the handiwork of RAW and Afghan Intelligence to disparage Operation Zarb-e-Azb and cause pain to Pakistan. If the US doesn’t feel any qualm in tracking and killing OBL and Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, why can’t it nab or kill Fazlullah and Omar Khurasani, or restrain RAW/Afghan CDS from undertaking cross border missions inside Pakistan?     

 

The writer is a retired Brig, defence analyst, columnist, author of five books, Director Measac Research Centre and Member Board Thinkers Forum Pakistan. [email protected]

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Why stop at Isis when we could bomb the whole Muslim world? ​by George Monbiot

 

 

 

 

Why stop at Isis when we could bomb the whole Muslim world?

 

 

 

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Humanitarian arguments, if consistently applied, could be used to flatten the entire Middle East

 

George Monbiot

The Guardian,

30 September 2014

 

​’Now we have a new target, and a new reason to dispense mercy from the sky, with similar prospects of success.’ Photograph: ASAP/ECPAD/Corbis

 

Let’s bomb the Muslim world – all of it – to save the lives of its people. Surely this is the only consistent moral course? Why stop at Islamic State (ISIS), when the Syrian government has murdered and tortured so many? This, after all, was last year’s moral imperative. What’s changed?

 

How about blasting the Shia militias in Iraq? One of them selected 40 people from the streets of Baghdad in June and murdered them for being Sunnis. Another massacred 68 people at a mosque in August. They now talk openly of “cleansing” and “erasure” once Isis has been defeated. As a senior Shia politician warns, “we are in the process of creating Shia al-Qaida radical groups equal in their radicalisation to the Sunni Qaida”.

 

What humanitarian principle instructs you to stop there? In Gaza this year, 2,100 Palestinians were massacred: including people taking shelter in schools and hospitals. Surely these atrocities demand an air war against Israel? And what’s the moral basis for refusing to liquidate Iran? Mohsen Amir-Aslani was hanged there last week for making “innovations in the religion” (suggesting that the story of Jonah in the Qur’an was symbolic rather than literal). Surely that should inspire humanitarian action from above? Pakistan is crying out for friendly bombs: an elderly British man, Mohammed Asghar, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, is, like other blasphemers, awaiting execution there after claiming to be a holy prophet. One of his prison guards has already shot him in the back.

 

Is there not an urgent duty to blow up Saudi Arabia? It has beheaded 59 people so far this year, for offences that include adultery, sorcery and witchcraft. It has long presented a far greater threat to the west than ISIS now poses. In 2009 Hillary Clinton warned in a secret memo that “Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban … and other terrorist groups”. In July, the former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, revealed that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, until recently the head of Saudi intelligence, told him: “The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when it will be literally ‘God help the Shia’. More than a billion Sunnis have simply had enough of them.” Saudi support for extreme Sunni militias in Syria during Bandar’s tenure is widely blamed for the rapid rise of ISIS. Why take out the subsidiary and spare the headquarters?

 

The humanitarian arguments aired in parliament last week, if consistently applied, could be used to flatten the entire Middle East and west Asia. By this means you could end all human suffering, liberating the people of these regions from the vale of tears in which they live. Perhaps this is the plan: Barack Obama has now bombed seven largely Muslim countries, in each case citing a moral imperative. The result, as you can see in Libya, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan,Yemen, Somalia and Syria, has been the eradication of jihadi groups, of conflict, chaos, murder, oppression and torture. Evil has been driven from the face of the Earth by the destroying angels of the west.

 

Now we have a new target, and a new reason to dispense mercy from the sky, with similar prospects of success. Yes, the agenda and practices of ISIS are disgusting. It murders and tortures, terrorises and threatens. As Obama says, it is a “network of death”. But it’s one of many networks of death. Worse still, a western crusade appears to be exactly what ISIS wants. Already Obama’s bombings have brought ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, a rival militia affiliated to al-Qaida, together. More than 6,000 fighters have joined Isis since the bombardment began. They dangled the heads of their victims in front of the cameras as bait for war planes. And our governments were stupid enough to take it.

 

And if the bombing succeeds? If – and it’s a big if – it manages to tilt the balance against Isis, what then? Then we’ll start hearing once more about Shia death squads and the moral imperative to destroy them too – and any civilians who happen to get in the way. The targets change; the policy doesn’t. Never mind the question, the answer is bombs. In the name of peace and the preservation of life, our governments wage perpetual war.

 

While the bombs fall, our (Western) states befriend and defend other networks of death. The US government still refuses – despite Obama’s promise – to release the 28 redacted pages from the joint congressional inquiry into 9/11which document Saudi Arabian complicity in the US attack. In the UK, in 2004 the Serious Fraud Office began investigating allegations of massive bribes paid by the British weapons company BAE to Saudi ministers and middlemen. Just as crucial evidence was about to be released, Tony Blair intervened to stop the investigation. The biggest alleged beneficiary was Prince Bandar. The SFO was investigating a claim that, with the approval of the British government, he received £1bn in secret payments from BAE.

 

And still it is said to go on. Last week’s Private Eye, drawing on a dossier of recordings and emails, alleges that a British company has paid £300m in bribes to facilitate weapons sales to the Saudi national guard. When a whistleblower in the company reported these payments to the British Ministry of Defence, instead of taking action it alerted his bosses. He had to flee the country to avoid being thrown into a Saudi jail.

 

There are no good solutions that military intervention by the UK or the US can engineer. There are political solutions in which our governments could play a minor role: supporting the development of effective states that don’t rely on murder and militias, building civic institutions that don’t depend on terror, helping to create safe passage and aid for people at risk. Oh, and ceasing to protect, sponsor and arm selected networks of death. Whenever our armed forces have bombed or invaded Muslim nations, they have made life worse for those who live there. The regions in which our governments have intervened most are those that suffer most from terrorism and war. That is neither coincidental nor surprising.

 

Yet our (Western) politicians affect to learn nothing. Insisting that more killing will magically resolve deep-rooted conflicts, they scatter bombs like fairy dust.

 

A fully referenced version of this article can be found at monbiot.com

 

George Monbiot is the author of the bestselling books The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order and Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain, as well as the investigative travel books Poisoned Arrows, Amazon Watershed and No Man’s Land. His latest book is Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the ­Frontiers of Rewilding
Reference George Monbiot

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NGOs – Non Government Organizations or The No Good Organizations by Dr. Kausar Talat

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NGOs – Non Government Organizations or

The No Good Organizations

An analysis of NGOs modus operandi and their influence
by
Dr. Kausar Talat
positivPakistan.org
[email protected]
[email protected]

 

 

Foreign Intelligence Agents Embedded in NGOs, Modern Trojan Horse To Infiltrate & Destroy Cultures & Religions

 

 

According to James Petra (1999), professor of Sociology at Binghamton University New York,
NGOs are not “non-governmental” organizations as they receive funds from abroad, work as private
sub-contractors to local governments and/or are subsidized by corporate funded private foundations
that keep close working relations with the state. Frequently NGOs openly collaborate with
governmental agencies at home or overseas. These NGOs, accountable to local people but to overseas
donors who “review” and “oversee” NGO’s performance according to their own criteria and interests as
is the recent case in Ukraine and Turkey. What is NGO in reality? How do they operate and function?
What is the purpose of its existence? How do they control and how effective they are?
A noble concept started in the 19th century, recognized by UN in 1950s appears to have grown
out of control. These self-appointed organizations are answerable to no constituency. Unelected, unselected,
ignorant of local sensitivities and cultural realities, an NGO often confront democratically
chosen authorities as well as those who voted them into office. Some even go as far as against the local
judiciary and national arm forces of the country – institutions responsible for national integrity. NGOs
such as International Crisis Group have openly interfered on behalf of the non-state characters in
Macedonia while advising open confrontation in Pakistan and Egypt. Such encroachment on state
sovereignty allows NGOs to get involved from local issues to domestic affairs and into foreign affairs of
the host country. They serve as self-appointed witnesses, judges, jury and executioner all rolled into
one. Recent behavior of the GEO TV, Jang and DAWN newspapers of media house in Pakistan is a classic
example.
Recent chaos in Pakistani society can be associated with the sudden surge of NGOs involvement
in Pakistani regional and provincial politics, especially from Britain and Scandinavian countries that
speaks to the negative effects on areas of education within the country. Over the last decade after 9/11, 2
NGOs in Pakistan have “fragmented the local education system, undermined local control of education,
and contributed to increased social inequality and division in society. Most NGOs operating in Pakistan
functions as a state agency within the state under the protection of their represented government
embassies. After denying for years, in the education sector both TCF – The Citizen Foundation and HDF
have proudly acknowledged on their web-site, collaboration with British government to teach and
promote English as language in a country that is suffering with 20 hours of load shedding daily – as if
English is the panacea of all problems in Pakistan. Most of these NGOs with an uncoordinated agenda,
create parallel projects undermining local education system, and takes away the governments’ ability to
maintain control over their own education sector. Readers must note here that from China, to
Indonesia and Malaysia to Germany, Poland and Russia – all have made remarkable progress in
educating their masses in their national language. Pakistan is the only country that delivers its
education in a foreign language.
Regardless of their cause or modus operandi, all NGOs are top-heavy with entrenched and well
paid, drawing perks and benefits of elite status bureaucracies (Ask NGOs for audited reports and that what
percentage is spent on their administration). The bulk of the income of most non-governmental organizations,
comes from – foreign governments and foundations associated with some western think tanks. In fact,
many NGOs serve as official contractors for foreign governments as did the Black Water during the
massive earthquake in northern Pakistan. A construction company using Black Water trained agents
provided help to US agencies in mapping the terrain in Kashmir while acting as charity organization
collaborating with Pakistani diaspora in USA. NGOs normally serve as long arms of their sponsoring
states – gathering intelligence, burnishing their image, and promoting their interest. There is a revolving
door between the staff of NGOs and government bureaucracies the world over making it difficult to
track the organizers.
Today there are millions of NGOs registered around the world, specifically in poor countries
under the auspices of charity organizations, policy institutions or disguised as think tanks, educators, or
even under the cover of UNO, IMF, World Bank and so on. According to Dr. Sam Vaknin in his book
Magnificent Self Love – “in critical and politically sensitive regions of the world, multiple NGOs are
receiving over 3-5 billion US dollars in funding from international financial institutions, Euro-US-Japanese
governmental agencies and local governments for various projects, from women empowerment to teach
English.” In Pakistan, eighty-seven percent of the NGOs are involved in the education sector subsidized
and supported by numerous foreign governments, specifically Scandinavian and British governments.
Most of these NGOs are assaulting Pakistan’s ideology and cultural base, challenging independence and 3
integrity of the country and its Islamic values in the name of enlightened progress and education.
Current tussle between People and GEO media house in Pakistan started when Inter-Services
Intelligence Chief General Zaheerul Islam told British ambassador bluntly not to try changing the
Pakistan ideology. British delegation was meeting the general on how to help Pakistan when they
boasted funding to GEO.

In fact he NGOs world-wide have become the latest vehicle for upward mobility (also emphasized
in O level curriculum of Pakistan) for the ambitious and already entrenched and well to do elite classes.
They are busy bodies, preachers, critics, do-gooders, and professional altruists, self-appointed, and not
answerable to any constituency. These NGOs are the parasites who feed off natural and man-made
disasters, mismanagement of the government, corruption, conflict, and strife (as in Pakistan and
exclusively in Muslim countries) all supported and directed by their sponsors to impose their agenda.
These NGO’s are the silent WMDs – Weapon of Mass Disruption – launched through social media at
will for the sole purpose of disrupting harmony in the society by increasing chaos and creating mass
hysteria about every little negative happening. Such is the case of GEO, JUNG and DAWN media houses
in Pakistan. Irony is that they are under the regulation of PEMRA a government monitoring and
regulatory authority confirming the influence of such NGOs over local governments. This influence and
strength are drawn through foreign funds via respective embassies. Mass protest in Turkey and Ukraine
as shown and promoted on western media is another classical example of the effectiveness of these
WMD attacks. NGOs wherever they exist also appear to have contradictory roles in local politics of the
host country. On one hand they criticize dictatorships and human rights violations. While on the other
hand they compete with radical socio-political and religious groups, attempting to hi-jack popular
movements; such as ‘Arab spring’ in Egypt with downfall of President Morsi, reforms in Turkey, clothing
workers in Bangladesh and other movements in the Middle East. NGOs normally flourish during three
situations either in real or through manipulated events.
First as a safe haven for dissident intellectuals pursuing the issue of human rights violations and
organizing “survival strategies” for victims. These humanitarian NGOs however, are careful not to
denounce the role of foreign entities and embassies involve with the local perpetrators of human rights
violations and political vengeance such as hanging of opposition leaders in Bangladesh and events in
Ukraine. Nevertheless the same NGOs are very vocal in other cases such as the case of Dr. Shakeel Afridi
in Pakistan guilty of espionage according to the law.
Second, the funding of the NGOs can be considered as kind of buying insurance by foreign
governments so in case the incumbent reactionaries falter. Such as the case in Egypt where US 4
sponsored NGOs activated social WMD creating artificial shortage of bread, water and petroleum – basic
needs of a common citizen – controlled by the Egyptian army but blaming the government of President
Morsi an elected representative. This was also the case with the “critical” NGOs that appeared during
the Marcos regime in the Philippines, the Pinochet regime in Chile, the Park dictatorship in Korea, and
most recently in Turkey against Tayyap Erdogan.
The third circumstance in which number of NGOs emerges and multiplies is during economic
crises provoked by free-market capitalism under the dictate of IMF and World Banks such as in Pakistan
where the situation is going to get worse in coming months along with the power crisis. It is interesting
to note here that in a country where 12-18 hours of load shedding is normal, where the industry shuts
down because of lack of electricity causing unemployment and poverty, Britain and other western
countries are more concerned with teaching English to the masses instead of assisting the government
with power generation locally.

In financial or economic hardships and during natural disasters, when the local industry comes
to a halt due to lack of capitalor energy, the jobs disappear and purchasing power of the common man
decline. In that case, as happening currently in South Asia, second job becomes a necessity. Who would
be the second job holder? Of course the wife, and the daughter, or the mother within the family to
mitigate family financial hardships disturbing the traditional family structure. Not so surprisingly these
NGOs suddenly than also become job placement agencies and consultancy disguising as a safety net for
the middle class. This safety net is further extended to potentially downwardly mobile intellectuals who
are willing to carry on the collaborative policies of NGOs, their sponsors, and agenda of other
international institutions as influencers in the society as Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who collaborated with CIA in
alleged killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan or the most-recent incidence of attack on a journalist in
Pakistan. The middle-class society that used to not have much but also no one used to starve within
either, suddenly faces disruption of the families, the foundation of social fabric and harmony of the
society (WMD effects). Similarly during the on-going “war on terror “(man-made disaster) millions are
displaced in the north- west frontier of Pakistan losing their jobs. As the population displacement
spreads poverty to important swaths of the population, the very same NGOs becomes protagonist
engaging in preventative actions focusing on “survival strategies.” These NGOs while organizing soup
kitchens do not encourage mass demonstrations against food hoarders, corrupt regimes or western
policies that are the cause of all the disruption and damage to their society as it is happening in Khyber
Pakthun Khawa province of Pakistan or in Egypt.5
Majority of NGOs are proponents of Western values – women’s lib, Gay and Lesbian rights,
freedom of press and media, equality, etc. etc. Not every society finds this liberal menu palatable. The
arrival of NGOs often provokes social polarization and cultural clashes. Traditionalists in Bangladesh and
India, nationalists in Macedonia, religious zealots in Israel, Pakistan and Afghanistan clash with the
security forces everywhere. The British government spent well over 30 million dollars annually into
“Proshika,” a Bangladeshi NGO. It started as a women’s education outfit and ended up as restive and
aggressive women political lobby group with budget to rival many ministries in this impoverished
Muslim and patriarchal country. The British foreign office finances a host of NGOs – including the
fiercely ‘independent’ Global Witness – in troubled spots such as Angola and other African countries.
Most NGOs in place like Sudan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and in Africa have become the preferred
venue for Western aid – both humanitarian and financial. According to Red Cross more money goes
through NGOs than through World Bank. Their iron grip on food, medicine, education and unlimited
funds in case of Pakistan rendered them an alternative government imposing their values and ideologies
on poor masses. Even local businessmen, politicians, journalists and media houses (“Aman ki Asha”
operated by Jung newspaper and GEO TV in Pakistan) form NGOs to plug into Western largesse. In the
process, they award themselves with commercial advertising contracts, perks, and preferred access to
Western goods and credits.
Therefore the author appeal to the readers to think twice before putting hand in their pocket
and thinking that they are helping the poor of the world. One must think about the after effects of
NGOs – establishing schools or clinics – the effects of such projects with respect to social norm,
culture, religion and heritage of the country. One must ask the motivation and incentive that his
education assistance so generously provided to the nation. Every citizen must question the teaching and
promoting English over national language, it’s after effects on individual and society.
Having said that the author acknowledge that all fingers are not equal and so the same does not
applies to NGO’s such as Green Peace and Oxfam, and many others though politically motivated some
time. However one must be cautious and careful when asked to donate for education, human rights and
to alleviate poverty in the third world. In last 60 years so much money has been given by gracious
people that if spent wisely and for the sole purpose of which it was collected, we would have erased
illiteracy and poverty from this face of earth.
Finally, let me redefine NGO’s in the modified words of Jessica Mathews of Foreign Affairs
magazine (1997) – NGO are special interest groups that are designed and used as 
extensions of the normal foreign policy instrument of certain Western countries and
groups of countries. Unselected, unelected self- appointed altruists, with no constituency
and accountability, answerable to no-one, financed and controlled by foreign entities
with specific agenda. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated very correctly at the 43rd Munich
Conference on Security Policy in 2007, that these NGOs “are formally independent but they are
purposefully financed and therefore under control.” So all NGOs must be registered as Foreign Agents,
in the country of their operation.
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Iceland set to get first mosque

Iceland set to get first mosque

Iceland set to get first mosque

Muslim Association of Iceland chairman Ibrahim Sverrir Agnarsson told Visir said that they are in the final stages of commencing the mosque.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Muslims in Iceland are set to begin building the country’s first ever mosque next week in the city of Reykjavik, after the City Council granted a plot for the project last year.

Muslim Association of Iceland chairman Ibrahim Sverrir Agnarsson told Visir said that they are in the final stages of commencing the mosque for the island’s 1,200 Muslims in a joint project with the Islamic Cultural Center of Iceland.

However, some have already expressed their opposition to the 8,600-square-foot mosque, with one Facebook group called Stop the Islamization of Iceland already calling for the project to be halted. Last fall, three pigs heads and the bloodied pages of the Quran were dumped on the plot of where the mosque is to be built.

Sveinbjorg Birna Sveinbjorsdottir of the Icelandic Progressive Party has called for an “open a discussion and a vote on the building of the mosque” in a bid to revoke the decision.

However, Iceland-Palestine Association leader Salmann Tamimi told Vice this would be unfair. “As there is no referendum on churches, we don’t accept referendum on other praying buildings,” he said, adding that there should be “no referendum on human rights.”

A prayer hall, a community center, a library, and a 30-foot-high minaret will be included in the mosque, which is expected to cost $3.3 million to complete.

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