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Archive for category Politics

Pakistan: Leaders or Criminals

Pakistan: Leaders or Criminals

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By Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.

 

 

 

 

 

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[At least 55 people were killed and more than 150 injured in a lethal suicide attack on the Pakistan side of Wagah border. Photo courtesy Times of India.]

Leaders with No accountability and No Shame

Pakistan is in ruins. The nation and its iinstitutions, law and justice, commerce, thinking hubs, political governance all appear dysfunctional and self-contradictory. Eroding freedom of thought and action speaks of the missing accountability of the political elite. The nation is fast becoming a victim of the US planned blue-print being used in Iraq. Vengeful sectarian killings and dismantling of economic, political and moral infrastructures is used to incapacitate the nation by its own sadistic rulers. All fighting against each other to end the very existence by collective madness. The paid Pakistani political and security agents are instrumental in carrying out heinous crimes. Increasingly, and without any logical redress, common citizens are the targets of the political cruelty. No wonder, once conditions favorable to cruelty are ote:established, it spreads like frightening wildfire. The governance demonstrates a dead-ended political conscience at the expense of the interests of the people. After a decade-old American entrapment in the bogus war on terrorism, the country has lost the energy and capacity to deal with any major problem of security or national unity. The foreign agenda is focused on breaking the moral and spiritual lifelines of the Pakistani nation by its own agents of influence. There are no brave and proactive politicians to stop the continuing political stagnation. The nation faces colossal disaster day in and day out but nobody is held accountable for the crimes. The Generals are convenient spectators and Nawaz Sharif is happy, the herd is politically manageable to complete his inherently fraudulent term of office as prime minister.

Pakistan is in ruins. The nation and its institutions, law and justice, commerce, thinking hubs, political governance all appear dysfunctional and self-contradictory. Eroding freedom of thought and action speaks of the missing accountability of the political elite. The nation is fast becoming a victim of the US planned blue-print being used in Iraq. Vengeful sectarian killings and dismantling of economic, political and moral infrastructures is used to incapacitate the nation by its own sadistic rulers. All fighting against each other to end the very existence by collective madness. The paid Pakistani political and security agents are instrumental in carrying out heinous crimes. Increasingly, and without any logical redress, common citizens are the targets of the political cruelty. No wonder, once conditions favorable to cruelty are established, it spreads like frightening wildfire. The governance demonstrates a dead-ended political conscience at the expense of the interests of the people. After a decade-old American entrapment in the bogus war on terrorism, the country has lost the energy and capacity to deal with any major problem of security or national unity. The foreign agenda is focused on breaking the moral and spiritual lifelines of the Pakistani nation by its own agents of influence. There are no brave and proactive politicians to stop the continuing political stagnation. The nation faces colossal disaster day in and day out but nobody is held accountable for the crimes. The Generals are convenient spectators and Nawaz Sharif is happy, the herd is politically manageable to complete his inherently fraudulent term of office as prime minister.
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Daily blood baths of civilians go unabated, adding to the statistical record for lack of adequate security. The latest cold blooded murder of 55 innocent people at Wagha border and 150 or so injured adds nothing new to grieving citizens belief that Pakistan is governed by most inept, incompetent and corrupt people ever witnessed by an informed nation. No politicians assume responsibility for the protection and safeguard of life and property of ordinary Pakistanis. There is an obvious disconnect between the people and the political rulers constantly hated and feared by the masses. The conflicting time zones are widening in which ordinary people suffer versus the ruling elite breathe as daily civilian casualties continue to rise because of the Taliban attacks and targeted massacres of ordinary citizens. Whose failure is it, and who should be held accountable? Is the Pakistani security apparatus so incompetent and ill equipped that it cannot ensure public safety? Given the lack of accountability and lack of shame, there is nothing to prevent these political criminals from repeating their crimes. So the killings of the innocent civilians go unabated. Strange as it is, opposition activists raising voices against the Sharif regime are conveniently arrested and jailed, but not the Sharif brethren who kill the citizens at random and implement planned massacres. Those facilitating crimes against the people occupy positions of political leadership and even law and justice cannot question them. They are abetted by the political class, committed the greatest heist in history.
Assuming political power in Pakistan means supporting the king’s men of oligarchy. Nobody could dare to challenge their supremacy in the annals of public affairs. For almost three months thousands of people across wide spectrum of Pakistani society, were raising voices of REASON in Islamabad to imagine political change and to have the Sharif brothers held accountable for politically geared killings and death squads against peaceful demonstrators. The inaction contributes to the downfall of the country to obscurity and insanity often irreversible in time and space. This week, at Wagah international border, 55 civilians were cold bloodedly massacred by a group of Taliban. Reportedly 100 or more were critically injured. Sharif and military security officials have proven to be a failure to console the people in situation of emergencies and moments of pain and anguish.

A ‘Failed State’ or Quagmire of Political Insanity

Pakistan lives in self-inflicted turmoil of political and military intrigues – all deceiving all – all trying to gain their foothold in power either by attracting foreign interventions or creating catastrophic political hazards to dismantle the fabric of the originally Muslim nation. The stage actors want power and use it as a divine right of absolutism against the interests of the coerced masses. This set the stage for the gradual decadence of the meaning and purpose of the Pakistan Freedom Movement. The worst emerged when ZA Bhutto and General Yahya Khan refused to transfer power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the majority East Pakistani leader after the 1971 national elections. They managed to kill several thousands of Pakistanis on both sides to retain power and ended up in humiliating surrender to India. Both betrayed the nation and both escaped the accountability. ZA Bhutto emerged as an absolute illegitimate leader of defeated Pakistan assuming the role of Martial Law administrator, President and later Prime Minister. Another military coup by General Zia ul-Haq got the US-other Western nation involved in military intervention to oust the Communist USSR from occupying neighboring Afghanistan and evolution of jihadist – Taliban struggle. In August 1988, Ms. Bhutto and her mother were reportedly responsible for the plane crash of General Zia ul Haq and Killings of 12 Generals and hundreds of others civilians including foreign diplomats. Subsequently, Ms. Bhutto and her mother were not charged with killings of so many precious lives but embraced as the first female PM. She was dismissed twice as corruption that knew no bound. Ms. Bhutto and Asif Zardari stole millions of dollars from Pakistan and were indicted by Swiss court on money laundering schemes. The $60. Million were never recovered by the national treasury. A crime-riddled political culture flourished in which these monsters floated freely. Nawaz Sharif was also dismissed twice on corruption charges. In 1999, he conspired to hijack a PIA incoming flight from SriLanka to Karachi in which the then COAS General Pervez Musharaf and 250 or more civilian passengers were traveling. Sharif had the plan to send the plane to India or to get it crashed. A military coup ousted Sharif and was tried on terrorism charges in a court law and exiled. General Musharaf and his colleagues traded-in Pakistan’s national interest including the nuclear program, and hundreds of innocent Pakistanis sold to populate infamous Guantanmo Bay terror prison in return for cash payments by George W. Bush. Musharaf lived in a $1.4 million newly bought mansion in London under British police 24/7 protection before returning to Pakistan. “Do Pakistanis have any sense of honor?” asked one British journalist of the Daily Telegraph. Would any honorable nation or country allow such criminals to reemerge as political leaders?
Pakistan Needs Educated and Intelligent Leaders to Cure the Political Curse
To imagine a progressive country, educated Pakistanis living abroad could be resourceful to transfer their knowledge and experiences for the good of the country and to strive for a Navigational Change. But how? Hold your breath! An American neurologist of Pakistani origin goes back passionately to serve the people. His clinic in Satellite town- Rawalpindi offers highly specialized systematic health care services to fellow Pakistanis. Even treats those who cannot pay the fee or medication bill. Thousands line up and day and night go to this clinic. The doctor starts getting warning messages from local ‘ghundas’ (rascals) asking for protection money. The doctor continues to work and informs the police. They too want their share of the protection money and do nothing. He complains to higher civic authorities upon getting death threats but nobody listens and does anything to ensure the safety of the doctor and clinic. One day hundred of patients get big surprise when they see the rampaged clinic and the doctor is nowhere to be seen. Lufhtansa Germany Airline flies to Lahore but does not change its crew over there. The fear of kidnappers demanding money haunts them all the time. What a Shame…. What a Shame … What a DISGRACE to a conscientious Pakistani that leaders of Pakistan’s Government cannot extend sense of security to a reputable international airline. No sensible person or global citizen will ever invest or travel to a country at the crossroads of daily bloodbaths, corruption and political gangsterism. Is this prevalent fact hard to grasp to any responsible person in Pakistan? Tourism is a lifeline to any developing nation like Pakistan. During the summer of 2013 under PM Sharif, 10 international tourists were cold blooded murdered by Taliban group near the K2 mountainous region. Is Pakistan that naïve and hopeless in security that it cannot protect the international tourists? Farzana Parveen would have liked to know why she was stoned to death right where law and justice were supposedly administered to have protected her at the Lahore High Court compound. Police were watching the horrifying killing. “Farzana Parveen Stoning Shames Pakistan.” (Asia Times: 6/2/2014). The terrifying scene portrayed in the global news media showed hundreds of spectators witnessing the most horrifying crime to human nature, not in darkness but in broad daylight, and right where freedom, human dignity, and honor of the citizens should have been protected – the Lahore High Court compound with police in attendance. It is incredibly shameful to be a Pakistani and to watch this inhuman atrocity out of the nowhere. Why the police did not offer protection to Farzana? Farzana’s soul must be wondering, why did society not protect her against this draconian act of violence? Where are the concerned citizens who claim to be believers – the Muslims who day and night talk about Islam as being the faith and value of their society? The Sharif brother’s investigation revealed nothing to hold the criminal responsible. In June, Karachi International Airport (“Pakistan in Quest of Political Change.” Uncommon Thought Journal, USA: 6/18/2014), was on flame under Talibans attacks. It was a devastating blow to the international image and security of Pakistan. Nobody resigned or was held responsible for failing to protect the airport. Could Sharif and the few complacent Generals assure the global community that Pakistan is a safe place to travel, study, visit and do business? If not, why not? The bogus assemblies, time killing discussions, Sharif and the few Generals are the people embedded with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things. They are part of the problem, not solution and have NO SENSE of the freedom, honor and dignity of the nation. There was no “peace process” between Pakistan and Taliban and there is no peace. Only the absence of peace, and the gnawing want for it, the desperation of the vanquished clearly visible on the mindset of public horizon.
There is a frightening trend of crime explosion across the nation. Daily killings of the civilians go unabated and unchecked by the security agencies. The blame game is centered on Talibans – the creation of the Bhutto family and the Generals. For almost two decades, Pakistan’s capacity for change has been badly fractured and its moral, intellectual and political consciousness derailed and undermined by the few. Bruce Riedel, one of President Obama’s advisors on Pakistan and the War on Terrorism (“Battle for the Soul of Pakistan” 1/4/2013, Brookings Institute and Centre for Middle East Policy), recently described the Pakistani rulers-both civilian and military:Pakistanis cannot be trusted as they play dubious role, cheat and become double agents in War on Terror” and warns that: “The changes in Pakistan are unlikely to come peacefully and will have major implications for India and America. The stakes are huge in the most dangerous country in the world.”
Pakistan’s worst enemies are those who are unable to listen to voices of reason and peaceful activism for political change. The ruling elite and the people live in a conflicting time zone being unable to understand the meaning and essence of the Pakistan’s Freedom Movement. Pakistan faces multiple chronic problems which could undermine its future. To all concerned and thinking Pakistanis, the country needs a Navigational Change or we could end up losing our national freedom. What is the cure to the current problems? There is no magic pill to deal with all critical situations except a comprehensive new systematic approach for ‘Anew Pakistan.’ Few decades earlier, in “Pakistan: Enigma of Change” (Media Monitor Network, USA) and “Revisiting Pakistan Enigma of Change”, this author offered proactive vision for planned political change to evolve new institutions and new-age educated leadership for a sustainable future. For too long, the masses have experienced tormenting pains and political cruelty. Nawaz Sharif and his brother must be tried in a court of law for the killings of 14 civilians and injuring 80 peaceful activists at Minhaj al Quran Academy Lahore and stolen wealth. Despite evidence, the FIR against Sharif was not registered by police. Nawaz Sharif has no political integrity and must step down or take leave of absence. There is substantial evidence for the 2013 election rigging by the election commission members. Sharif would need a powerful jolt as criminals do not exit voluntarily from powerhouses. It will provide a logical breathing space for a planned and workable remedy to a highly critical political crisis and to enhance a sustainable Change goal. A new Government of National Unity should be formed under a non-partisan and non political leader of moral and intellectual integrity for a period of two years; a New Constitution should be framed with new public institutions under leadership of new generation of educated people; and then a new election could give meaning and clarity to the purpose of democracy and to transform the ideals of a progressive legitimate functional democracy. The Need is desperate for the Pakistani nation to think critically and see the Mirror and stand firm in raising voices of reason for accountability and political change. The people must ponder at past misconceptions and errors of judgments and to bring 21st century’s educated, proactive and intelligent young people into political leadership role and to safeguard the national interest, freedom of the nation and its future.

Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: Global Peace and Conflict Management: Man and Humanity in Search of New Thinking. Lambert Publishing Germany, May 2012.

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Gambling against Armageddon by Amb.Munir Akram, former Pakistan ambassador to the UN

Gambling against Armageddon

By

Munir Akram, former Pakistan ambassador to the UN | 

 

IN an opinion piece last year, Henry Kissinger observed that over the next couple of decades a nuclear war was likely to take place between India and Pakistan. The nuclear factor was in play in four major and one minor India-Pakistan crises: in 1987, 1990, 1998, 1999 and 2002.
 
In 1987, when an Indian army chief launched the Brasstacks military exercises along Pakistan’s exposed desert borders, Pakistan responded by deploying its forces in the north where India was vulnerable. Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s agreement to a mutual stand-down no doubt also took into account the informal threat from Islamabad to bomb India’s nuclear reactors in case Pakistan was attacked. (After the crisis ended, the Pakistan-India agreement not to attack each other’s nuclear facilities was jointly formulated in one day.)
 
In January 1990, when the anti-Indian insurgency erupted in Kashmir and India threatened Pakistan, a conflict was forestalled by US intervention. The US acted when it learnt that Pakistan had begun to arm its nuclear-capable aircraft.

The operation of mutual deterrence between India and Pakistan is being eroded.


armageddon21During the night of 26-27 May 1998 — the night before Pakistan conducted its nuclear explosions in response to India’s tests — Pakistani radar detected unidentified aircraft flying towards its territory. Islamabad issued warnings of instant retaliation to India and relayed these to the US and Israel. This may have been a false alarm; but it illustrates the danger of accidental conflict in the absence of real-time communications.
During the 1999 Kargil war, the nuclear dimension was implicit, given that the crisis occurred a year after the India-Pakistan nuclear tests.
 
During the 2002 general mobilisation by India and Pakistan, the director general of the Pakistan Armed Forces Special Plans Division enunciated its nuclear ‘doctrine’ in a news interview. The ‘doctrine’ envisaged that Pakistan would use nuclear weapons if: it was being militarily overwhelmed; its nuclear or strategic weapons or facilities were attacked; and it was subjected to an enemy blockade.
 
The projection of this doctrine, including at a UN news conference by this writer in July 2002, sparked a fall in the Indian Stock Exchange, the evacuation of foreign personnel and embassy families from New Delhi and a demarche by Indian business leaders to prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and reportedly led to the Indian agreement for a mutual drawback of forces.
 
The operation of mutual deterrence displayed in 2002, however, is being eroded by several developments.
 
One, the conventional military balance is becoming progressively unfavourable to Pakistan. India is engaged in a major arms build-up. It is the world’s largest arms importer today. It is deploying advanced and offensive land, air and sea weapons systems. Pakistan’s conventional capabilities may not prove sufficient to deter or halt an Indian attack.
 
Two, India has adopted the Cold Start doctrine envisaging a rapid strike against Pakistan. This would prevent Pakistan from mobilising its conventional defence and thus lower the threshold at which Pakistan may have to rely on nuclear deterrence.
 
Three, Pakistan has had to deploy over 150,000 troops on the western border due to its involvement in the cross-border counterterrorism campaign in Afghanistan, reducing its conventional defence capacity against India.
 
Four, the acquisition of foreign nuclear plants and fuel, made possible by the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, will enable India to enlarge its nuclear weapons stockpile significantly. To maintain nuclear balance, Pakistan has accelerated production of fissile materials. Both nuclear arsenals are now large and growing.
 
Five, given its growing conventional disadvantage, and India’s pre-emptive war fighting doctrine, Pakistan has been obliged to deploy a larger number of nuclear-capable missiles, including so-called ‘theatre’ or tactical nuclear-capable missiles. The nuclear ‘threshold’ is now much lower.
 
Six, the Kashmir dispute — once described by former US president Bill Clinton as a nuclear flashpoint — continues to fester. Another insurgency is likely to erupt, certainly if the Bharatiya Janata Party government goes ahead with its platform promise to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian constitution (which accords special status to Jammu & Kashmir). A renewed Kashmiri insurgency will evoke Indian accusations against Pakistan and unleash another Indo-Pakistan crisis.
 
Seven, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has obviously decided to adopt an aggressive posture towards Pakistan, no doubt to appeal to his hard-line Hindu constituency. The recent ceasefire violations along the Line of Control are an ominous indication of such belligerency.
 
Eight, India is reportedly involved in supporting the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Baloch Liberation Army to destabilise Pakistan internally.
 
Nine, India has terminated the ‘composite dialogue’ with Pakistan. Its precondition for talks — an “absence of violence” — is impossible for Pakistan to meet.
 
Ten, the US and other major powers evince little interest in addressing the combustible mix of live disputes, terrorist threats, conventional arms imbalance and nuclear weapons in South Asia.
 
During the parallel dialogue initiated by the US with Pakistan and India following their 1998 nuclear explosions, Pakistan proposed a ‘strategic restraint regime’ with India which would include mechanisms to resolve disputes, including Kashmir; preserve a conventional arms balance and promote mutual nuclear and missile restraint.
India rejected the concept of a mutual restraint regime.
 
The US at first agreed to consider Pakistan’s proposal. However, as their talks with India transitioned from restricting India’s nuclear programme to building a “strategic partnership” (against China), the Americans de-hyphenated policy towards Pakistan and India, opened the doors to building India’s conventional and nuclear capabilities and disavowed any interest in the Kashmir dispute. Currently, Indian belligerence is bolstered by US pressure on Pakistan to halt fissile material production and reverse the deployment of theatre nuclear-capable missiles.
 
If a South Asian Armageddon is to be prevented, it is essential to build a structure of stable deterrence between India and Pakistan and find ways to deal with Kashmir and other outstanding disputes. Reviving consideration of a strategic restraint regime would be a good place to start.
 
The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador to the UN.

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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
ktalat@blogspot.com
Kausar.talat@gmail.com

 

 

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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CORRUPTION BY NAWAZ SHARIF: The Untold Wealth of Ishaq Dar(Theft Thru Politics) by: Sabena Siddiqi

The Untold Wealth of Ishaq Dar

While thousands of Pakistanis are homeless and starving,Pakistan’s Finance Minister is running A Gang of Looters & Thieves.Robbing the Nation of All its Income and Depleting The Foreign Exchange Reserves Through Theft.

 

 

 

 

 

The Untold Wealth of Ishaq Dar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ishaq Dar is highly regarded for his financial expertise and has twice served as federal minister for finance, economic affairs, revenue and statistics. Considered a PML-N stalwart, he has headed the party’s international affairs office since 2002. Apart from being elected an MNA thrice, Dar has been elected Senator three times along with being appointed as PML-N’s parliamentary leader in the upper house each time.

In February 2014 in Dubai on an official visit as Finance Minister of Pakistan again, he said “We inherited three bad ‘Es’ — bad economy, energy and extremism — from the previous government but we have managed to control the situation within seven months since we took over last year.”

He announced that Pakistan was open for business once again but it seems more likely he was expanding his own business. Surreptitiously, on the sidelines, Ishaq Dar has built himself a business empire, reportedly managed by his two sons Hasnain Dar and Ali Dar. HDS Tower in Cluster F of Jumeirah Lakes Tower is only one of the 34 story buildings that belong to the mighty HDS Group. Several other buildings in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Business Bay and International City, like the HDS Sunstar Towers, are also owned by the millionaire brothers.

The owners of HDS Group, Ali Dar and Hasnain Dar manage everything perfectly for Ishaq Dar. It’s worth mentioning here that the elder son Ali Dar is also the son-in-law of Mian Nawaz Sharif. Real estate business and development is the main concentration of the HDS group, moreover owning various commercial and residential towers in JLT, Business Bay and Central Business District of International City in Dubai.

The HDS Group flagship project has 2 million sq feet built up area and is currently under construction in the Burj Khalifa area, this project alone is a millions of dirhams worth. Such projects make this group one of the foremost property developers in UAE.  The group even survived the economic downfall of 2008 .

Reportedly, Bahria Town Dubai office is located at the top floor of JLT Business Towers owned by HDS. It is rumored that some space has also been kept free for a future office for Asif Ali Zardari, ex President of Pakistan. Recently, Ishaq Dar introduced his sons to the ruling family and top authorities of UAE for propagation of future business interests on an official visit there.

Here is a list of the main assets owned by HDS Group:

1.HDS Tower, a 39 storey commercial and retail tower located in the F cluster of Jumeirah Lakes Towers was constructed in 2008, the tower consists of small, medium and large apartments and offices. Its monetary worth is billions of dirhams.

2.HDS Business Centre, it was completed in 2011, its grand lobby is its main highlight and is one of the finest in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, it is beautifully designed with the best granite and marble finishes and its current market value is billions of dirhams.

3.HDS Sunstar 1 and 2 is a 10 storey residential building in the central business district of International City, Dubai.Luxury rooftop swimming pools and gymnasium assured rental of the 120 apartments within a month of its completion, this project is also priced at billions of dollars.

4.Sobha Ivory 1 and 2 is in the heart of Business Bay, UAE s prime business location. This property has easy access from Sheikh Zayed Road and is one of the most wanted business addresses in Dubai.

5.Take a Break is a semi serviced coffee shop on the ground floor of HDS Tower in Jumeirah Lakes Towers launched in December 2011.

6.HDS Mini Golf was launced in the end of 2013, the chief guest was H.E .Ahmed bin Sulayman. It is an entertainment hotspot located at Lake Level of HDS Business Tower in cluster M of Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

7.HDS Owners Association Management Company is a licensed facilities management company.

8.HDS Rent a Car is one of the first rent a car companies in the Middle East to launch the exotic Lamborghini Avebtador LP 700 and the 2013 Mercedes Benz G63 in the rent a car industry .They also provide the finest Rolls Royce Phantom, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, May Bech, ,Mercedes Benz and BMW. The uniqueness of the car rental company lies in its array of niche car manufacturers and models of cars unavailable to the market. HDS Rent a Car owns the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, Mercedes Benz SLS 63 AMG Gullwing, apart from the more economy cars such as Peugeots and Renaults. Some of the many exotic, luxury and SUVs in the lineup are the the Ferrari Berlinetta F12 and the McLaren F1.

The owners are offering such exotic services in Dubai, which even the local Emiratis fail to afford. Ishaq Dar made hundreds of real estate transactions with Madhu Bhindari, an Indian billionaire entrepreneur, who is on a run from Dubai, after losing 150 million dirhams in the 2008 crisis. However, the finance minister’s buildings and investments are still earning him a hefty income.

A Pakistani real estate agent related how a lot of Pakistani bureaucrats and politicians have properties worth millions in Dubai. “The son of a serving government officer from Sindh government invested a huge amount of money in real estate here in 2008, and I carried out transactions for him,” the agent claimed.

“Where are these politicians getting the money from?” asked a Pakistani in Dubai, who came to know that the building he lived in is owned by Ali and Hasnain Dar’s HDS Group.

“If they have billions of dollars and so much money, why is it not in Pakistan?

These politicians talk about the welfare of Pakistani people, but all they can think about is themselves!”

Director Swiss Bank had stated some years back that Pakistan has around 97 billion dollars only in Swiss Banks. But the reality is that Pakistani politicians and businessmen have much more than 97 billion dollars outside Swiss Banks, invested in various countries and financial centres like Dubai. According to the Swiss Bank director, if the money is spent on Pakistan and its people, then Pakistan could have a tax free budget for next 30 years, it could create 60 million jobs, could carpet four lanes road from any village to Islamabad, provide endless power supply, every citizen could get a Rs. 20,000 salary for the next 60 years and there would be no need to take loans from IMF or the World Bank.

 

Reference

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A Few Good Men By Brig® Mehboob Qadir

A Few Good Men 

By

Brig® Mehboob Qadir

 

 

 

 

george-washington-a-few-good-men

Communities, societies and nations come together and grow, fertilized by largely unspoken benevolence by men of strong and at times exceptional strength of character and noble motivation.Whichever strand of life they opt to pick up, they tend to excel in extending universal benevolence and magnetize their followers to their cause in a remarkable manner. Muslims are proud of the comprehensively qualitative and a lasting change the Holy Prophet brought about in the lives of his followers. For Hindus Ram and Sita are the epitome of superlative human virtues deserving unqualified reverence since thousands of years, so is Gautam Budh. Nelson Mandella , Mother Tressa , Sattar Edhi and numerous others like them across the globe are respected and emulated for their invaluable selfless public service.

It was not their power, armies or treasures which endeared them to people but their humanity, boundless benevolence and humility that worked magic into people’s hearts.If conquests, state power and money mattered ,Attila,Xerxes,Alexander, and Chengiz would have been idolized. Instead they are despised for their plunder, massacres and immense human sufferings that they caused. Of all the Sultans of Delhi it is freak Sher Shah Suri who is remembered with respect for his great public service works like construction of Grand Trunk Road, a country wide network of protected motels for travelersand traders,postal system and ingenious permanent land settlement record which still is the basis of official reference in India and Pakistan. Emperor Akbar ,the great Moghul finds a fond reference across the entire religious spectrum in the Sub continent and beyond to his rule, not for his glorious court but for his inspired patronage of interfaith harmony and egalitarian almost secular state practices which went a long way to peacefully homogenize his multi religious subjects; a truly crowning achievement. British Indian railways, thousands of miles of irrigation canals and their admirable penchant for reducing all possible official interventions to rules and regulations so as to administer with justice amongst their Indian subjects, were great acts of genuine public service.

With the advent of 21st Century the parameters of statecraft and public dealing have undergone a dramatic change.Globalization, borderless communications and powerful but multifarious platforms for expression of opinion open to people have forced a paradigm shift in the leadership style. While Czars and Hapsburgs could not be copied in the 20th Century, similarly autocrats and military dictators are out of fashion in the current century. Public reaction to a leadership indiscretion or insensitivity has become swift and unstoppable these days. It can neither be wished away nor muzzled into silence therefore in most countries such an outcry is being addressed in earnest. However in islands of indifference like North Africa , Middle East and South Asia when suppressed it explodess into uncontrolled violence making horrible examples of men like Qaddafi and Hosni Mubarak.Recollect how Bangla Desh broke away because of our just such an insensitivity.Those who refuse to learn from history relearn at their own dear cost along with the wrath of history as a craggy rock in their twig baskets.

Devastating floods have become a frequent feature in Pakistan.This year it was the third in the last four years, and not the flash one. Leaving that controversy alone,one has hardly seen any constructive response to Justice MansoorAli Shah’s Flood Commission Report which followed the last floods.It contained commendable recommendations about how to prevent human and material losses due to ravages of floods besides other measures.The point to understand is that throwing out wads of money and flour sacks from helicopters and photo sessions at the edges of flood exposes victims to indignity and moral injuries .One has to risk one’s life , ride a rocking boat in the raging flood waters to those helplessly marooned on pylons,trees and rooftops to save and show real solidarity.Our wretched people can not subsist on empty talk and vague undertakings.It may be prestigious to have broad motorways, metrobus and impressive flyovers in major cities but unfortunately their utility tends to be exclusive and does not sit well with the terrible lack of basic civic amenities and abject poverty of the vast majority of underprivileged population living in villages and rural areas of our country.What is also to be understood is that this practice is causing a rapid migration from the rural to the urban centers and might bring about yet another crisis linked to resultant shortage of food production in the rural areas and exploding crime rate in the cities.This massive internal relocation can seriously stress state resources and jeopardize our fragile social framework.

It was time to focus on real public service initiatives even though they may not be as glamorous or sensational. To begin with a comprehensive review of flood protection needs must be undertaken to prevent loss of life and property due to future floods.Larger ,stronger and well sited flood protection embankments must be constructed as a part of national emergency.Had that been done the ugly controversy of Bhivana bridge-Ramzan Sugar Mills would not have erupted, nor millions of acres of crops alongwith thousands of villages swept into nothingness and hundreds of precious lives lost.We need to seriously set up a network of education, health, transportation, link roads , electricity and small food preservation industries in our rural areas. Relocate justice infrastructure closer to the villages and small market towns for speedy disposal of cases.Make the system efficient, their performance auditable and provide generous budget allocations.

It is a matter of sensitivity and priorities at the political leadership level. Then there is always the ever present oppression of the circumstances forcing their hand. Announcement of ten million rupees for the family of a Police constable killed in a traffic accident in Lahore just as the Punjab Police ranks were increasingly refusing to crack down on protesters, is understandable. A dutiful hero of a sort had to be created in a hurry.There are also the vivid images of a soldier trying to revive an infant just rescued over the edge of his boat, troops swimming up to desperate men, women and children to save their lives from drowning. This time the Army and Navy did not really wait to be called up. Realizing the perils of the imminent flood they were already there poised to help fellow men as much as they could. Then there has been the superlative sense of duty shown by late Naib Subedar Inab Gul who along with his Army rescue team saved twenty two lives but lost his in the process near Sher Shah Embankment on 14th September.A genuine act of heroism in which he died in the line of duty but has gone lamentably unsung.

Few might know that many trees in the world are planted by squirrels who bury nuts and then forget where they hid them.Lets bury few nuts of goodness and benevolence and hope that seeds will take root and grow into tall shady trees where footsore ,weather beaten travelers might rest for a while and go their distant ways. Wolves are majestic and awesome but are feared and not revered.A conscious choice must be made whether to follow the noble example of a humble squirrel or that of the regal but savage wolf.Selfless public service is the key, decide how one wants to be remembered.

Email:clay.potter@hotmail.com 

                  

 

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