Thursday, April 18, 2013


The lighter side of: Musharraf on the run

Published: April 18, 2013
File photo of Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: AFP
As former president Pervez Musharraf ran for his Chak Shahzad residence following an Islamabad High Court judge issuing arrest orders for him, Twitter saw a flurry of activity.
Given his successful escape from arrest, most tweets were critical of the one-time dictator, and jokes flew in fast and heavy.
Some of the top tweets are below:

 
Dekho dekho kon bhaga. Commando bhaga, commando bhaga. Go @geonews_urdu Democracy one, Dictatorship zero!
 
All that exercise paid off. Musharraf ran out of the courtroom as fast as Usain Bolt. 
 
Pakistan have never done well chasing.
 
Has anyone checked if Musharraf is at Mocca?
 
House Arrest? His farmhouse is the size of a whole province. Esa house arrest hum sab ko milay..
 
Not very long ago General Mush was telling us he never lead from behind. Now we know, he escapes from 'behind'!
 
Real commandos don't run.
 
U bet! "@filter_c: To give Pervez Musharraf some credit, at least he had an exit strategy this time around. Unlike Kargil."
 
Speaking of awkward moments, those who 'Liked' Musharraf's fan page on facebook in bulk. Marwa dya na!
 
Awkward moment for all present and former members of PML-Q
 
Musharraf has clearly taken the running for president, the wrong way.
 
And so Mushi took the slogan "Go Musharraf Go" too Literally, albeit very late
Pakistan's Musharraf flees court after judges order his arrest

Fugitive: IHC declares Musharraf’s escape ‘criminal act’

Published: April 18, 2013
Former president Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: AFP



 (Reuters) - Former President Pervez Musharraf fled a courtroom on Thursday after judges ordered his arrest to answer allegations he committed treason in 2007, an ignominious retreat for a man who once dominated Pakistan and had hoped to revive his political fortunes.

Pakistani television broadcast footage of Musharraf dashing from Islamabad High Court in a black SUV as several lawyers made half-hearted attempts to pursue his vehicle - a scene that would have been unthinkable when Musharraf was at the height of his powers.

It was another blow to his hopes of resurrecting his political career after election officers barred him from standing at next month's general elections, in part due to the various legal challenges he faces. The bid had garnered widespread popular scorn.
Musharraf retreated to a farm in an exclusive residential estate on the outskirts of Islamabad where police set up a cordon restricting access to the area. It was unclear whether the officers were preparing to detain him.
As police moved to seal off access, Mohammad Amjad, Musharraf's spokesman, called a news conference to announce that his lawyers would petition the Supreme Court on Friday to withdraw the order.
"We will file an appeal against the arrest order in the Supreme Court tomorrow," Amjad said. He added that Musharraf was "composed and in good spirits".
The high court's order pushed Pakistan's increasingly audacious judiciary into uncharted territory, challenging a long-standing, unwritten rule that the top ranks of the army, which ruled Pakistan for decades, are untouchable.
Despite Taliban death threats and a host of legal challenges, Musharraf returned from almost four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai last month in the hope of winning a seat in the National Assembly at the May 11 polls.
But his arrival has placed him at the mercy of judges whose memories are still raw of the showdown in 2007 when he sacked the chief justice, placed his colleagues under house arrest, and lawyers fought running battles with police.
On Thursday, a judge ordered his arrest in connection with allegations he committed treason when he declared emergency rule during his 2007 confrontation with the judges, a move his opponents believe violated the constitution.
HUMILIATING SPECTACLE
Judges piled more pressure on Musharraf later on Thursday when they summoned the head of Islamabad police to explain how he was able to flee the court without being detained.
Some commentators believe that it is unlikely Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and resigned in 2008, will be arrested since the military would be unlikely to tolerate such a humiliating spectacle for a retired chief.
"I don't think the military establishment would support any move against him," said Mehdi Hasan, a newspaper columnist.
The military made no immediate comment on the arrest order.
Although Musharraf's legal battles have provided an electrifying sideshow in the election race, he commands scant popular support and the outcome of the drama is unlikely to have much impact on the final results.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, is seen as the frontrunner to become prime minister.
Pakistan's military has ruled the nation for more than half of its 66-year history, through coups or from behind the scenes. It sets foreign and security policy even when civilian administrations are in power.
Pakistan's judiciary has, however, taken an increasingly assertive stance in recent years in confrontations with both the government and the army, and the arrest order against a former army chief is sure to rankle some in the military.
Musharraf's decision to return has mystified many Pakistanis, with commentators questioning whether he misjudged the degree of popular support he might be able to muster.
Musharraf faces charges of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before she was assassinated in late 2007.
He also faces accusations in connection with the death of a separatist leader in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. He denies any wrongdoing.
(Additional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari and Matthew Green; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sonya Hepinstall)

Monday, March 25, 2013


I won’t back down, says Musharraf
24th March 2013


IN THE face of mounting adversity from the Taleban which has threatened to ‘send him to hell’, an emotional but happy former president Pervez Musharraf landed at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport shortly after 1pm local time. His happiness, however, was shortlived as he was asked to remain at the airport lounge for four hours before he was taken to an undisclosed location by security agencies.

A large crowd of supporters numbering 1,000 patiently waited outside, chanting slogans and throwing rose petals to celebrate his return after four years. The wait was worth it for many when he emerged from the building, albeit for a ten minutes to address them before he was whisked away by security personnel only to return to the lounge where he opened up to Khaleej Times reporter. “Yes, I feel emotional and nostalgic. I’m happy to be back in Pakistan,” he said. The eyes looked weary and the stress appeared to be taking its toll on the once proud general. His confidence seemed to ebb and he didn’t fancy his chances when speaking of polls in May. “Chances are 50:50,” he said sans emotion. The delay was making him restless and he didn’t seem prepared for this stalemate inside the airport.
Supporters outside chanted “Long Live Musharraf” and “Pakistan First”. Many boys scurried about wearing ‘Pakistan First’ T-shirts emblazoned with his picture.
Musharraf may have been low in confidence but the combative side resurfaced when he said: “Where are those who used to say I would never come back? I am not scared by anyone except Allah the Almighty.”
“I have been asked to come back and save our Pakistan, even at the risk of my life. I want to tell all those who are making such threats that I have been blessed by Allah the Almighty,” he said.
The former president had been granted bail in advance to avoid being arrested upon his return, but he could be detained at a later date.
During the flight which took one hour and 30 minutes, Musharraf walked the length of the plane’s aisle talking to his 200 supporters from Dubai and the 100-strong media contingent.
The mood of party workers who travelled with the general was upbeat. Many had flown from Europe and the US to accompany their leader. They chanted slogans for the All Pakistan Muslim League and taunted those who dismissed his legitimacy to return home, leave alone contest elections.
‘Who is Nawaz Sharif?’
Earlier in the day, Musharraf had said at Dubai airport that he was ‘tense’ because he taking at ‘plunge into the unknown’.
 “One-third majority is a leap in the dark. Anyone who expects more than this lacks leadership,” he said. “It’s a plunge into the unknown.” He said he had support from all over the country. “People are coming even from Balochistan to support me,” he said, adding that their support had given him the strength to carry on.
When asked about his political opponents, Musharraf dismissed it in his trademark style and said: “Who is Nawaz Sharif?”
A senior party worker said they hoped to see a throng as strong as that of the rally held in Lahore on March 23 by chief of Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf Imran Khan.
The former president said that his mother was old (94) and though she understood that he was returning to Pakistan, she did not understand the reasons for his visit.
His wife Sehba did not accompany him to Dubai airport. “I do not want her to come with me. She can join me later,” he said.
The campaign team
Party sources said the Pakistan government had not confirmed his security posse yet and they were making their own arrangements. “We are concerned about his safety and we are taking no chances,” said a party official who preferred to remain anonymous.
“We expect massive gatherings wherever Musharraf decides to hold rallies,” said Mohammad Altaf Shahid, APML president for UK and Europe.
“As a former president of Pakistan, he should be provided security,” he said.
Sources said Musharraf was expected to remain for a few days in Karachi to resolve his legal issues and would then go to Islamabad. Concerns about a dispersed base of party followers and supporters were brushed aside by the former president’s team.
“That is just an impression that has been given to weaken the party ranks,” they said.
Naeem Tahir, senior vice-president of the party and a media adviser said the former president has mass backing. “He has a lot of support...people are praying for him.” He said that the youth were also a major source of support for the former president.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

Friday, March 15, 2013

India Ranks Lower Than Pakistan on Gender Equality

Pakistan better than India on UNDP gender inequality index

Published: March 15, 2013
Pakistan and neighbouring countries on the Gender Inequality Index from UNDP's Human Development Report 2013.

Pakistan ranked 123 on the gender inequality index of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2013 Human Development Report. Pakistan finished better on the gender front than stronger economies such as India (132) and Egypt (126), even though it ranks lower in the overall Human Development Index (HDI).

According to the report, the gender inequality index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market.
India ranks 132 out of 187 countries on the gender inequality index – lower than Pakistan (123), according to the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report 2013.

The report said all  countries in South Asia, with the exception of Afghanistan, were a better place for women than India, with Sri Lanka (75) topping them all. Nepal ranked 102nd and Bangladesh 111th.
The annual U.N. report assesses how well countries world-wide are performing on human development indicators like health, education and income.

The gender inequality index measures the loss in a country’s progress and human development because of gender inequality in three sectors: reproductive health, women empowerment and labor market participation.

The report notes that “gender inequality is especially tragic not only because it excludes women from basic social opportunities, but also because it gravely imperils the life prospects of future generations.”

India ranks low partly because of its skewed sex ratio, with only 914 females every 100 males, according to Indian government data. Indian families often prefer boys to girls, and female feticide is tragically common.

The UNDP study says that only 29% of Indian women above the age of 15 in 2011 were a part of the country’s labor force, compared to 80.7% men. In Parliament, only 10.9% of lawmakers are women, while in Pakistan 21.1% are women.

In United States which ranks 42nd on the list, 57.5% women and 70.1% men are a part of the labor force. China fared even better, landing 35th.

India also fares badly on education and health for women.

Only 26.6% women above 25 years received a secondary education in 2010, compared to 50.4% of men. Pakistan scored even lower, with 18.3% of women having received secondary education compared to 43.1% of men.

In the U.S., 94.7% women have received a secondary education – a figure slightly higher than for men (94.3%). In China, this figure was 54.8% for women and 70.4% for men.

In India, 200 women died every 100,000 childbirths, says the report. In China, the number was considerably lower (37 deaths) and in the U.S. even lower than that (21.)

Women’s issues in India have been in the limelight since the December gang rape and death of a young woman.

After the incident, widespread protests asking for stronger laws and protection for women took place around the country. Women activists point to the bias against women in India, and say that the patriarchal mindset in India needs to change

After the incident, a committee set up to look into the issue of women safety suggested massive overhauls to existing laws for crime against women. The proposed laws need Parliament’s approval.

Overall, the report hails India’s economic progress, but points at slow improvements on the human development front. On the human development index, India ranks 136 out of 187 countries mentioned in the study.

India has made strides in reducing poverty by cash transfer and employment guaranteed programs for the poor, the report says. The report praises measures like the Right to Education Act, which reserves seats for the underprivileged in all schools in the country.
But the report mentions that huge income inequalities, gender inequality and the caste divide remain major issues.

Value index
The value index provides an indicator of the depth of participation in global markets. More than four-fifths of these developing countries increased their trade to output ratio between 1990 and 2012.
In the HDI value index, Pakistan has been recognised to have shown “substantial improvement”.
The report states, “among the exceptions in the subgroup that also made substantial improvement in HDI value are Indonesia, Pakistan and Venezuela, three large countries that are considered global players in world markets, exporting or importing from at least 80 economies”.

Multidimensional Poverty
The report reveals that in South Asia, the highest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) value is in Bangladesh (0.292 with data for 2007), followed by Pakistan (0.264 with data for 2007) and Nepal (0.217 with data for 2011).
The proportion of the population living in multidimensional poverty is 58% in Bangladesh, 49% in Pakistan and 44% in Nepal, and the intensity of deprivation is 50% in Bangladesh, 53% in Pakistan and 49% in Nepal.
When compared to Pakistan a larger proportion of the population lives in multidimensional poverty in Bangladesh. However the intensity of deprivation is higher in Pakistan.
Overall rank
Overall, Pakistan ranked a low 146 out of the 185 countries on the HDI.
Norway ranked highest on the HDI at number one, while Niger ranked lowest.

Comments

We shouldn’t benchmark against India .

India is an outlier which still has a huge problem with selective abortion .
For God’s sake , they have 112 boys vs 100 girl sex ratio in the world – this is like the
worst in the world .


Saying that Pakistan fares better or worse than India in some index is ridiculous. Is India the benchmark we need to meet? If you want to compare yourself to anyone then compare with the best.

lol they are talking about sex ratio not women freedom index .pakistan women are way behind than indian women in litteracy rate ,women freedom index ,jobs and mortality rate
Pakistan has 105 vs 100, which is the same as UK.

Please compare Pakistan to some country better than us, otherwise the standard of nothing will never improve. India is not the benchmark for anything.

India has a long way to go in gender equality.
However, the definition of gender equality is different in India than in the west. This means, we need to change the mindset to change the very definition of gender equality in India.

Completing its tenure, National Assembly makes history

Published: March 15, 2013
Group photo of the National Assembly of Pakistan upon completion of their five year term. PHOTO: APP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: Thursday 14th March 2103 saw a new page being written in the country’s history. The 50th National Assembly conducted its last session — becoming the first in the country’s history to complete a full term in office, dissolving in a low-key session that paves the way for elections.

The first sitting was held on March 17, 2008 when the members took oath.

Pakistan Parliament Becomes the 1st Assembly to Complete Tenure

Pakistan's parliament made history Thursday by becoming the first national assembly in the country's history to complete a full term in office, dissolving in a low-key session that paves the way for elections.
"The session that started on February 18, 2013 has prorogued on completion of its business," said Yasmeen Rehman, lawmaker for the main ruling Pakistan People's Party, reading out a letter from President Asif Ali Zardari.
She wished those present the best of luck before adding: "I pray that Allah gives us success and that democracy should continue and the next parliament should also complete its term."
Rehman stood in for the national assembly speaker, who was not present. Very few lawmakers attended what was the last session of Pakistan's 13th national assembly, consisting mostly of farewell speeches. Later, PPP lawmaker Yasmeen Rehman, reading out a letter from President Asif Ali Zardari, said, “I pray that Allah gives us success and that democracy should continue and the next Parliament should also complete its term.”

Moreover, the incumbent National Assembly was addressed twice by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and once by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The sitting National Assembly also witnessed two prime ministers, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and RajaPervaiz Ashraf.
Pakistan is due to go to the polls to elect a new parliament by the middle of May, but a date has yet to be set. Ruling and opposition politicians are still negotiating the make-up of a caretaker administration which is set to replace the government within days.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

کراچی لٹریچر فیسٹیول خوبصورت یادوں کیساتھ اختتام پذیر

عمیر علی انجم  پير 18 فروری 2013
 

کراچی لٹریچر فیسٹیول کے آخری روزکتب میلے میں خواتین کتابوں کا مطالعہ کر رہی ہیں۔ فوٹو: ایکسپریس

کراچی: کراچی لٹریچر فیسٹیول  اپنی خوبصورت یادوں کے ساتھ اختتام پذیر ہوگیا۔
آکسفورڈ یونیورسٹی پریس کے زیر اہتمام کراچی کے مقامی ہوٹل میں چوتھے لٹریچر فیسٹیول کا اہتمام کیا گیا جس کا آغاز جمعے کو ہوا اور یہ  اتوار کی شام اپنے اختتام کو پہنچ گیا، فیسٹیول میں غالب،منٹو،فیض،کی شخصیات اور فن پر گفتگوکی گئی جبکہ امریکا اور پاکستان کے سیاسی حالات ،پاکستان اور روسی حکومت کے درمیان تعلقات،سمیت پاکستان میں موجودہ ڈرامہ ،تھیٹراورفلم کی صورت حال کے حوالے سے سیشن منعقد کیے گئے، فیسٹیول میں مختلف موضوعات پر
لکھی جانے والی کتابوں کی تقاریب کا اہتمام بھی کیا گیا۔

کے علاوہ 50سے زائد کتابوں کے اسٹال لگائے گئے،بچوں کے لیے خصوصی پتلی تماشہ اور چلڈرن فیسٹیول بھی ہواجس میں نئے لکھنے والوں نے اپنے سینئرزکو اپنا کلام پیش کیا، فیسٹیول کے دوسرے روز محفل مشاعرہ کا بھی اہتمام کیا گیا، کراچی لٹریچر فیسٹیول کے تیسرے روز کا آغازتاریخ اور ہمارے مسائل کے عنوان سے منعقدہ سیشن سے ہوا، اس سیشن میں ڈاکٹر مبارک علی اور ڈاکٹر جعفرنے اپنے خیالات کا اظہارکرتے ہوئے کہاکہ پاکستان ہمیشہ سے عجیب و غریب مسائل کا شکار رہا ہے، جب مشرقی پاکستان کے ساتھ زیادتیاں جاری تھیں تو فوج بھی اس کا حصہ تھی، آج بلوچستان بھی انھیں مسائل کا شکار ہے۔
دوسرا سیشن کلاسیکل ادب پرہوا جس میں زہرہ نگاہ نے ،میر تقی میر،سودا،درد اور دیگر استاد شعرا کے اشعار سنائے، اس موقع پر انتظار حسین نے کہا کہ میں زہرہ نگاہ کو 45سال سے جانتا ہوں مگر آج ان کا نیا رنگ دیکھ کر خوشی ہوئی، فیسٹیول کے تیسرے سیشن میں فلسطینی رائٹر ابولیش کے ساتھ ایک تقریب منعقد ہوئی جس میں انھوں نے اپنے خیالات کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ فلسطینیوں کو ان کی آزادی سے محروم رکھا گیا ہے،مگر ہم صبر کا دامن نہیں چھوڑیں گے،فیسٹیول کے چوتھے سیشن میں منٹو کے حوالے سے گفتگوکی گئی اور بھارتی اسکالر شمیم حنفی کی کتاب پورا منٹو کی تقریب بھی منعقد ہوئی، اس موقع پر شمیم حنفی نے کہا کہ منٹو کے ساتھ بہت برا سلوک کیا گیا، پبلیشر نے ان کی ان تحریروں کو عوام تک پہنچایا جس میں جنسیات اور ہجرت کا تذکرہ تھا جبکہ منٹو کے ہاں اس زیادہ معیاری کام موجود ہے۔

فیسٹیول کے تیسرے روز معروف شاعر امجد اسلام امجد،معروف ڈرامہ ڈائریکٹرضیا محی الدین، افسانہ نگارعبداللہ حسین کے ساتھ شامیں منائی گئیں جبکہ بچوں کیلیے خصوصی پروگرامز کا بھی اہتمام کیا گیا، کراچی لٹریچر فیسٹیول کی اختتامی تقریب سے اکسفورڈ یونیورسٹی پریس کی مینجنگ ڈائریکٹر امینہ سید نے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ہمیں امید نہیں تھی کہ بارش اور کراچی کے خراب حالات کے باوجود یہ فیسٹیول اتنا کامیاب ہوجائے گا،برطانوی سیاست دان، صحافی اور براڈ کاسٹر جارج گیلووے نے بھی اپنے خیالات کا اظہار کیا،کراچی لٹریچر فیسٹیول کے تیسرے روز متحدہ قومی مومنٹ کے رہنما ڈاکٹر فاروق ستار،رضاہارون،شیخ افضل، پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے رہنماتاج حیدر،چیف الیکشن کمیشن فخرالدین جی ابراہیم،قیصر بنگالی،محتسب اعلی سندھ اسداشرف ملک،شرف الدین میمن سمیت شہر کی اہم سیاسی ،ادبی ،سماجی اورثقافتی شخصیات نے شرکت کی۔

Monday, February 18, 2013

اردو ون کو ’’جعلی‘‘ لائسنس دینے کی تحقیقات کی ہدایت

 
سینیٹ قائمہ کمیٹی برائے اطلاعات کے اجلاس میں بھارتی ڈراموں کو اجازت دینے پر گرماگرم بحث
اسلام آ باد: سینیٹ کی قائمہ کمیٹی برائے اطلاعات ونشریات کا اجلاس گزشتہ روز چیئرمین کامل علی آغا کی صدارت میں یہاں ہوا ۔
جس میں ارکان سینیٹر پرویز رشید، سید ظفر علی شاہ، سعید غنی، سینیٹر فریحہ، سینیٹر سیدہ، وفاقی سیکریٹری اطلاعات آغا ندیم، چیئرمین پیمرا اور ڈائریکٹر جنرل (لائسنسنگ) اشفاق جمانی نے شرکت کی۔ پیمرا کے نئے چیئرمین چودھری رشید احمد نے ادارے کی کارکردگی اور افعال کار پر تفصیلی بریفنگ دی۔ اجلاس میں پیمرا کے قوانین بالخصوص دبئی سے اپ لنک ہونے والے غیرملکی چینلوں لائٹ ایشیا اور اردو ون کو نشریات کی اجازت دینے پر گرما گرم بحث کی گئی۔
یونائیٹڈ پروڈیوسرز ایسوسی ایشن کے نمائندے آصف رضا میر نے جب بھارتی اور دیگر غیرملکی پروگراموں سے پاکستانی اداکاروں اور پروڈیوسروں کے کیریئر کو لاحق خدشات کا ذکر کیا تو کمیٹی نے اس پر تشویش کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے چیئرمین پیمرا کو ہدایت کی کہ وہ پیمرا آرڈیننس میں ترامیم کی سفارشات پیش کریں تاکہ ملکی ڈرامہ انڈسٹری کو درپیش مسائل اور بے قاعدگیوں کا سدباب کیا جاسکے۔ اس موقع پر ڈائریکٹر جنرل (لائسنسنگ) اشفاق جمانی نے اچانک کہا کہ پیمرا نے غیرقانونی طور پر اور مطلوبہ منظوری کے بغیر اردو ون چینل کو براڈکاسٹنگ کی اجازت دی۔ انھوں نے یہ دعویٰ بھی کیا کہ اس چینل کو جاری کیا گیا لائسنس ’’جعلی اور غیرقانونی‘‘ ہے۔ چیئرمین پیمرا نے اپنے ادارے کے ڈی جی کو ہدایت کی کہ وہ اتنے وثوق سے بات نہ کریں۔

تاہم کمیٹی کے ارکان کے سوالات پر اشفاق جمانی نے اپنے ریمارکس کا اعادہ کیا اور دوسری مرتبہ دعویٰ کیا کہ اردو ون کا لائسنس ’’جعلی‘‘ ہے۔ اس پر کمیٹی نے ڈی جی لائسنسنگ کے تشویشناک دعوے کی انکوائری کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا اور چیئرمین پیمرا کو ہدایت کی کہ وہ الزامات کی تفصیلی تحقیقات کرائیں۔ ارکان کمیٹی کا نکتہ نظر یہ تھا کہ پیمرا پاکستان میں پیمرا ایکٹ نافذ کرنے میں ناکام رہا ہے۔ انھوں نے اس بات پر بھی ناراضگی کا اظہار کیا کہ بھارتی حکومت نے پاکستانی چینلوں کو مساویانہ طور پر ڈائریکٹ ٹو ہوم اور کیبل سسٹم تک رسائی کی اجازت نہیں دی۔
اس کے علاوہ بھارتی وزارت اطلاعات و نشریات نے بھی پاکستانی ٹی وی پروگراموں کو بھارت میں چلنے کی اجازت نہیں دی۔ دوسری طرف پیمرا بھارتی چینلوں کی پاکستان بھر میں نمائش کے معاملے پر خاموش تماشائی کا کردار ادا کررہا ہے۔ علاوہ ازیں پیمرا ان ڈراموں میں بے حیائی کے مناظر روکنے میں بھی ناکام رہا ہے۔

Pakistan military intelligence under fire for failing to prevent Quetta bombing

Inter-Services Intelligence agency too 'scared' to tackle growing terror campaign against Hazara minority, governor says
Shia Muslims in Lahore
Shia Muslims in Lahore take to the streets to protest against Saturday's bombing in Quetta, which killed 85 people. Photograph: Rahat Dar/EPA
 

Pakistan's all-powerful military intelligence services have been on the receiving end of unusually harsh public criticism for being "scared to take action" against militant groups in the wake of a bomb attack that killed 85 members of the Hazara ethnic minority.


A senior politician and the country's highest-profile television journalist have lashed out at the military Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency (ISI) after Saturday's mass killings in the troubled city of Quetta, which sparked countrywide protests.

Hamid Mir, who present's Pakistan's most popular news show, said the ISI had ignored a tide of sectarian bloodshed after deliberately creating "private death squads" to fight a war against separatists in the country's troubled Baluchistan province.


Mir's remarks came after the governor of Baluchistan said the huge blast in a crowded market showed a "failure of our intelligence agencies".

The security forces are either "scared or cannot take action against" militant groups, governor Zulfiqar Magsi said.

Human rights groups that have previously dared to make similar claims – usually couched in far more diplomatic language – have been vilified by the army.

Mir spoke out, both to the Guardian and in a column in the country's biggest Urdu language newspaper, amid continued outrage over the bombing, which used nearly a tonne of explosives hidden in a water tanker.
Demonstrations took place across the country on Monday in protest at the attack, which was claimed by the banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Karachi was almost completely shut down by a one-day strike.

Nadeem Paracha, a columnist for the Dawn newspaper, said a "sense of horror and tragedy is being felt by all Pakistanis … It's very noticeable that this is the first time the people are not just blaming the government, but asking what exactly the intelligence agencies that are paid millions of rupees up to?"

Quetta's Hazara community, which is overwhelmingly drawn from the minority Shia sect of Islam, mounted a powerful protest by ignoring the Islamic burial custom of quickly burying the dead. Community leaders vowed the bodies of 71 victims would remain on public display in a prayer hall until their demands for action were met.


"We want concrete actions," said Abdul Khaliq Hazara, the president of the Hazara Democratic party said. "They are killing our women, our young people and even young children aged three to five."

It was the second time in five weeks that the Hazaras had taken the drastic step. In January, nearly 100 victims of a vicious double bombing at a snooker hall were laid out on the streets. The prime minister responded by flying to Quetta and sacking the provincial government.

But rule by a governor directly appointed by Islamabad has not been able to stop what has been termed a "Shia genocide" in Pakistan. Many Shias are demanding the army take direct control of Baluchistan, something critics of military policy in the province say misses the point.

"The fact is that the military and paramilitary forces have been in control of the province all the time," said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director of Human Rights Watch.

"When protesters demand army rule in Quetta in effect what they are doing is calling the army's bluff, asking it to take responsibility for what it has in fact been in charge of all along."

But it is criticism from popular journalists like Mir, who was once thought to be close to the army, that will most sting the ISI.

"Some of these people who go by the name of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are part of the same private death squads created by the security agencies against Baluch militants," Mir told the Guardian hours before he prepared to repeat his claims on his hugely popular programme Capital Talk.

"Yes, sometimes they oblige the security agencies by taking action against the Baluch militants, but on the other hand they quietly organise their own actions against the Shia community.

"Every Pakistani is aware that this is a complete failure by the intelligence agencies. Now we want to know, what action has the governor of the province, or the president, or the army chief, taken against these failed intelligence operators?"

Violence by Sunni fundamentalists against Shias, who they regard as apostates, is a growing problem in Pakistan. There have been attacks in every major city and murderous ambushes of buses carrying Shia passengers in the mountainous north.

The outlook for Quetta's 500,000 Hazaras is especially bleak. As an ethnic group, they have distinctive features that make them easy to target and also speak a dialect of Persian.

Pakistani artist Bani Abidi on fantasy of heroes, nations, war – picture feast

Artist Bani Abidi takes aim at the historical narratives and cultural memories of South Asia.

Running from 5 December 2012 to 5 January 2013 at Experimenter in Kolkata, India, an exhibition called “Then It Was Moulded Anew” brings together three recent projects by Pakistani-born photographer and video artist Bani Abidi. Exhibited for the first time in India, the work is a reflection on how memory, delusion and power can collide in artistic production.

Bani Abidi, image from 'Proposal for a Man in the Sea', 2012, photographic installation, suite of 26 works. Image courtesy Experimenter.

Power and authority

Through the works on show in “Then It Was Moulded Anew“, Bani Abidi exposes what she sees as the self-conscious construction of historical narrative that underpins contemporary South Asian politics. The three projects contained in the exhibition examine the relationship between power and cultural production, showing how the deliberate manipulation of political commemoration and historical depictions can influence the fragile fabric of social life.
According to the exhibition press release (PDF download),

Power, which manifests itself at all levels of human society, is mostly insidious, frequently ridiculous, sometimes overt, largely pompous and rarely, intelligent. Bani Abidi’s work in the past few years has been inspired by the conceptual and visual vocabulary of authority and power. Having lived in a country where the forces of class, caste and feudalism define most social relations, Abidi’s works reflect these complexities through a sense of poignant satire.

The fictional video work Death at a 30 Degree Angle is set in the New Delhi studio of real-life monumental sculptor Ram Sutar, an artist who is known for his portraiture works of Indian politicians and national heroes. The video questions the idea of monumental sculpture, how the authoritarian desire to monumentalise oneself may ultimately give way to public ridicule and scorn when viewed through the critical lens of history.
One of the brightest civilization of south Asia, Persia (note that Iran is also often considered as located in west Asia), was Indo-european – from the Indo-iranian branch. Most of south Asia is nowadays speaking Indo-european languages from the Indo-iranian branch (comprising three branches : Indo-aryan, Nuristani and Iranian).
The name “Iran” itself is etymologically derived from “Aryanam” meaning “(land) of the Aryans” (source), “Aryan” being generally the name associated with the people thought to be the original Indo-iranian speakers (the term is also used as an ethnic designation in several inscriptions and Darius I, the famous Persian emperor was referring to his Aryan lineage in a well-known inscription at Naqsh-e rustam :
I am Darius the Great King, King of Kings, King of countries containing all kinds of men, King in this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenian, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage.” (source)).
Achaemenid Empire during Darius I
Achaemenid Empire during Darius the great
It is quite likely that this language family was brought from central Asia in south Asia by nomadic pastotalist populations that later became the Scythian peoples, for the ones that remained in central Asia (and Sakas, Alans (which left an Indo-iranian language in the Caucasus, the Ossetic language) and Sarmatians, all nomadic warriors speaking Indo-iranian languages related to the Old Persian language (and indeed, old Indo-iranian roots are found up to Finland, and also in the languages of the east of Caucasus or in Slavic as well (like in Russian, in words such as bog (“god”, related to old Persian baga and Sanskrit bhag (-as)), sobaka (“dog”, probably from Iranic spaka), budit’ – a Russian verb meaning “to wake up”, “to awake” – that is related to the Indo-aryan word Buddha (“the awakened one”), and other words))).
Scythia and Parthia around 100 BCE
Scythia and Parthia around 100 BCE
As we have seen, all the area of central Asia, Afghanistan and the north-east of Iran (and probably south Siberia when this region became part of the Andronovo archaeological horizon, during bronze age, or when the Sakas ruled this region) was speaking Indo-iranian languages * during bronze age **, a group of languages that quite likely spread further in south Asia also during this time period of bronze and then Iron age.
The ethnogenesis of the Indo-iranian branch of the Indo-european family is surmised to have probably occured in the Andronovo culture, an antique culture of Central Asia [pastmists : specifically close to the Urals; some scholars believe that the proto-Indo-iranian language can be tracked up to Russia (generally, specifically the Abashevo culture), thus explaining the early Indo-iranian words in Finno-Ugric languages (such as Finnish) [a few examples of old Indo-iranian roots in Finno-ugric languages]], during bronze age. The Andronovo archaeological horizon is an ensemble of cultures whose traits match well what we could expect to find in early Indo-iranian cultures (as an example of this, the Sintashta site)), according to many specialists. It seems that this population was largely of Europoid type ***  (something apparently confirmed by the DNA tests on the ancient human remains of this region, as we will see in the article about Central Asia).
* also known as the Aryan languages (a famous Kushan King was indeed referring to the local language of Bactria (basically, what is now south Tajikistan and east and north Afghanistan) as the “Aryan language”, in one of his writings (source)). In this context it is also interesting to remind that during the Achaemenid rule, the Arya or Aryana satrapy (a region of the Persian empire) was located mostly in Afghanistan.
** the time of origin of the Indo-iranian language family can probably be tracked back roughly to the 2,500 BCE – 2,000 BCE period at most. Earlier dates seem unlikely given how close were Avestan (early Iranian language) and Sanskrit (early Indo-aryan language) to each other (Vedic Sanskrit is often thought to have been maybe in use in the 1,700 BC-1,100 BC period and Avestan maybe around 1,000 BC, more or less).
Old Iranian hymn translated in Sanskrit
This translation of an old Avestan hymn in Sanskrit (in italics) shows how close these ancient languages were.
*** references about the Andronovo morphological type : “The origin of the indo-iranians, vol. 3″ by Elena E. Kuz’mina – Chapter 11 : Verification of the hypothesis – Anthropological evidence.
Here are a few significative phenotypes found in these regions :
Iran :
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Mayor of Tehran
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf), Mayor of Tehran
Ayatollah Yazdi (Iran)
Ayatollah Yazdi, former minister of justice of Iran
Ali Larijani, chairman of the Iranian parliament
Ali Larijani, chairman of the Iranian parliament
Mohammad Reza Golzar, Iranian actor and musician
Mohammad Reza Golzar, Iranian actor and musician
Iranian woman
Iranian woman
Old Iranian man
Old Iranian man
Little iranian girl
Little Iranian girl
Little peasant girl from Khorasan (Iran)
Little peasant girl from Khorasan (Iran)
Little Qashaqii girl from Iran
Little Qashaqii girl from Iran
Young Iranian girl from Ar-panah
Young Iranian girl from Ar-panah
Young Iranian schoolgirl
Young Iranian schoolgirl
Afghanistan :
Afghan child from the Uzbek community
Afghan child from the Uzbek community
Little girl from Herat, Afghanistan, not far from the Iranian border
Little girl from Herat, Afghanistan, not too far from the Iranian border
Little child from Afghanistan
Little child from Afghanistan
Afghan man with very blue eyes
Blue-eyed Afghan man from Herat, a city not far from the north-east Iran border
Young Afghan from a refugee camp in Iran
Young Afghan from a refugee camp in Iran
Little Afghan girl
Little Afghan girl
Picture of an Afghan boy from a refugee camp in Semnan, Iran
Picture of an Afghan boy from a refugee camp in Semnan, Iran
Hazara girl from Central Afghanistan
Hazara girl from Central Afghanistan
Hazara children, Afghanistan
Hazara children, Afghanistan
Young Hazara boy
Young Hazara boy (Afghanistan)
Young Afghans
Young Afghans
The words of Zoroaster (a.k.a. Zarathustra), the famous Persian sage, described the place of origin of the Aryans (Aryanam Vaejah) in terms that led some historians to believe he was maybe referring to a place in central Asia (excerpt from “The Cambridge ancient history by John Boardman).
Individuals with Europoids features, though rather rare, are findable in these regions as well, like in all the regions where Indo-european languages have been spoken or are currently spoken. It can probably be seen as a legacy of bronze age migrations from central Asia, (and originally from the north-east of the black sea, according to the Kurgan theory). The admixture estimates of these populations (such as for instance the Pathans/Pashtuns or even the Sindhis) do have indeed a non-negligible amount of genetic sequences apparently identified as “European” (even if it is of course clearly minoritary in their overall genotype (Example of such estimates (look at the dark blue component | source: metspalu et al. 2011))).
Little Pashtun girl from the Tribal area
Little Pashtun girl from the Tribal area
Pashtun man from Afghanistan
Pashtun man from Afghanistan. It seems that the term “Pakhta” in the RigVeda is a reference to the ancestors of the Pashtuns (a.k.a. Pakhtuns or Pathans), hinting to the ancient existence of this ethnical group in this region.
In the eastern part of Afghanistan, in a region named Nuristan (formerly known as Kafiristan), Europoid phenotypes are not that rare. The Nuristani (previously known as Kalasha before their conversion to Islam in 1895) are a people living in a very remote and isolated mountainous region of east Afghanistan, in the Hindu-Kush mountains. They maintained their very old pre-islamic traditions, believed to be derived from the antique Indo-iranian traditions of yore, and were polytheistic before being conquered and islamized in the end of the 19th century. They are speaking in a specific branch of Indo-iranian language family (sometimes perceived as having evolved from an archaic branch of the family (i.e. spawned from a different branch than proto-iranian or proto-indo-aryan within the indo-iranian family, even if some see a bigger proximity and more similitudes of this language family with Indo-aryan languages (interestingly some expressions have a direct link with rigvedic terms: e.g. in the Kati language, “earthquake” is said indriç (to be compared with indra-iṣṭi (“strike” from Indra)) and dewutr “fairy” is related to vedic Sanskrit deva-putrī “daughter of god”)).
Little Kalasha girl (Afghanistan)
Little Nuristani girl (Afghanistan)
Kalasha boy from eastern Afghanistan
Nuristani boy from eastern Afghanistan
Little Nuristani girl (Afghanistan)
Little Nuristani girl (1971)
Nursitani girl (notice the tattoo reminding of the Hindu Tilak/bindi)
Nuristani girl (notice the tattoo reminescent of the Hindu Tilak/bindi)
Nuristani schoolgirl (Afghanistan)
Nuristani schoolgirl (eastern Afghanistan)
Nuristani Girl of Afghanistan
Nuristani Girl of Afghanistan (the tattoo resembles the Hindu bindi (or tilaka))
Little girls from Nuristan
Little girls from Nuristan
It is interesting to note that the regions where the Europoid phenotypes are the most frequent are also the most isolated places where population movements and mixing was much rarer.
Some people believe these Europoid phenotypes are actually the results of rapes by the USSR army during the invasion of Afghanistan that took place from 1979 to 1989. It is very unlikely for several reasons : a/ It’s already difficult to imagine the Russian army changing the face of Nuristan (especially such an isolated and difficult to access mountainous region), in 10 years – especially since it was a region it didn’t control – but b/ there are photographs of Nuristani from before the Russian invasion such as this one from 1971 (8 years before the invasion) , c/ Europoid phenotypes are found way further in Asia (north-west China, India, north Pakistan, etc…) that in the area the USSR troopers operated, even though they are not frequent, d/ We know by archeological findings and ancient DNA that individuals with such characteristics existed deep into Asia (and it seems confirmed by a few Mummies as well) not so far from these regions (more will be said about this in the next articles), and e/ We have ancient writings that confirms that such features are found in these regions for a long time. For instance, a Chinese buddhist monk from the 7th century AD describes the population of a kingdom in what is probably nowadays either south Tajikistan or north-eastern Afghanistan where most of the people had blue eyes (source : Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World | the excerpt can be found there in searching “Ta-mo-si-tie-ti“)
Kurdistan : The Kurds are a people located partly in Turkey, north Syria, north of Iraq and north-western Iran and speaking an Iranic language. They are generally associated with the antique Medes, an ancient “Persian” people having likely brought the ancestor of the Kurdish language in this region. Haplogroup Y-DNA R1a1a is found at a low frequency in west Asia, except among the Kurds where this male lineage reaches apparently between 10-25% of the local male population, obviously in accordance with the theory presented on this blog.
Here are a few examples of europoid phenotypes found among the Kurdish population :
Kurdish boys from northern Syria
Two Kurdish boys from northern Syria
Little Kurdish boy
Little Kurdish boy
Little Kurdish child
Little Kurdish child
Kurds
Kurds

Central Asia

June 21, 2010

There was a time, well before the Turkic population movements, when central Asia was speaking Indo-european languages. During antiquity, Indo-iranian languages were once spoken by populations from the east of Europe up to the Altai mountains of south Siberia (Scythians, Sakas and Sarmatians were such peoples) and down to south Asia.
Nevertheless, prior to this situation, another kind of Indo-european language was apparently present in Asia.
Girl from Kazakhstan
In central Asia, blue eyes can also sometimes be found in the population.
The first (supposedly) Indo-european migration eastwards (from its ancestral home of Ukraine and south Russia) we find tracks of, occured right before 3,500 BC and gave birth to the Afanasevo culture, whose extent was from Kazakhstan to south Siberia and Mongolia. It is likely that the population of the Afanasevo culture was speaking a language that was the ancestor of the Tocharian language (see the Xinjiang article for more details).
Turkmen Girl
Young woman from Turkmenistan
Woman from Central Asia
Woman from Central Asia with Europoid characteristics.
The ancient DNA and the archeology reveal hints of this ancient past. A 2004 study expose the nature of the bronze age population (in this study the samples are precisely from 1,300 BC to 400 AD) of Kazakhstan :
“Unravelling migrations in the steppe: mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient central Asians” (Lalueza-fox et al, 2004 – source)
“The distribution of east and west Eurasian lineages through time in the region is concordant with the available archaeological information: prior to the (…) seventh century BC, all Kazakh samples belong to European lineages; while later an arrival of east Eurasian sequences that coexisted with the previous west Eurasian genetic substratum can be detected. The presence of an ancient genetic substratum of European origin in West Asia may be related to the discovery of ancient mummies with European features in Xinjiang and to the existence of an extinct Indo-European language, Tocharian”
[...]
Most of the retrieved sequences (n = 21, 78%) belong to European (or west Eurasian) mtDNA haplogroups (HV, H, T, I, U and W haplogroups).”
[...]

Haplogroups present in modern Kazakhs, such as B, F, C, Z, D, R, J and Y [Pastmists : almost all typically east-Asian], were not observed in the prehistoric Kazakhs [Pastmists : here, the earliest samples are from the bronze age]. By contrast, two haplogroups observed among the ancient samples, W and I, have not yet been found among modern Kazakhs. The results also indicate that there is an excess of west Eurasian haplogroups in comparison with those currently found (notably haplogroups H and U). However, this may be attributed to the overrepresentation of the earlier temporal period with only west Eurasian haplogroups. The observed absence of east Eurasian sequences prior to the eighth to seventh century BC suggests an earlier prehistoric expansion of peoples containing west Eurasian sequences into Asia, that probably went further east, into present-day China. This expansion may be related to the discovery of mummies that contain European features and west Eurasian mtDNA sequences in the Tarim basin, China, as well as the relict Indo-European Tocharian.”
Kyrgyz man
Kyrgyz man with very blue eyes.
South Siberia was also once populated mostly by Europoid populations, likely speaking the ancestor of the Tocharian language, in what is known as the Afanasevo culture, appearing as early as 3,500 BC roughly mirroring the supposed Indo-european population movements into the north of Europe at the same time (the similar dates of these population movements, both east and west, probably explain the resemblances between Tocharian, the easternmost Indo-european language, and the westernmost Indo-european languages, found in Europe - Indo-iranian language being likely spread by a later population movement spreading the satem innovation (see below) now overwhelmingly present in Asia but not in the tocharian language). Both these migrations have their origin in the north of the black sea, in the srednij stog and yamnaya cultures of Ukraine and south Russia, a relation hinted in archeology, even more clearly in Asia. In its easternmost known extent, the Afanasevo culture reached the west of Mongolia.
Tracks of these ancient (supposedly) Indo-european migrations can be found in archeology but also in the ancient DNA.
“Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people” (Keyser et al, 2009 – source)
“To help unravel some of the early Eurasian steppe migration movements, we determined the Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial haplotypes and haplogroups of 26 ancient human specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area dated from between the middle of the second millennium BC. to the fourth century AD. In order to go further in the search of the geographic origin and physical traits of these south Siberian specimens, we also typed phenotype-informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. Our autosomal, Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal that whereas few specimens seem to be related matrilineally or patrilineally, nearly all subjects belong to haplogroup R1a1-M17 which is thought to mark the eastward migration of the early Indo-Europeans. Our results also confirm that at the Bronze and Iron Ages, south Siberia was a region of overwhelmingly predominant European settlement, suggesting an eastward migration of Kurgan people across the Russo-Kazakh steppe. Finally, our data indicate that at the Bronze and Iron Age timeframe, south Siberians were blue (or green)-eyed, fair-skinned and light-haired people and that they might have played a role in the early development of the Tarim Basin civilization [i.e. in Xinjiang, northwest China]. To the best of our knowledge, no equivalent molecular analysis has been undertaken so far. “
The study also reveals that during bronze age,90% ofthe mtDNA haplogroups (female lineages) – such as U2, U4, U5a1, T1, T3, T4, H5a, H6, HV, K and I – were west Eurasian/Europoid (and 67% during iron age).
Several of these mtDNA genetic signatures have an exact match in Europe (like for instance mtDNA haplogroup I4 and T1 who are frequently found in the north and north-east of Europe (in the case of T1, the Baltic area is apparently where its frequency is the highest; this very haplotype was also found in ancient DNA from the ancient remains of Kazakhstan (Lalueza-fox et al. 2004) and Xinjiang (Gao et al. 2008)), the U5a1 haplotype is found in north-west Europe, the specific U2e haplotype was found nowadays in an east European individual and in only one Uyghur, the K2b haplotype was found in only two individuals, two Europeans (one Austrian and one Hungarian) and the precise U4 haplotypes of the study were found mostly in the north, the east, the north-east and the south-east of Europe and in the Volga-Ural area  as well (but also a few in the Altai region up to the Baikal area), etc…).
The fact that the male lineage, the haplogroup Y-DNA R1a1a, was associated almost exclusively with such west Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups in the female lineages, in the oldest analyzed period, clearly points to a migration from eastern Europe, especially considering archeology which support this view, as the Afanasevo culture had several similarities with the Yamna culture of the north of the black sea. It is also mentionned that at least 60% of the tested ancient individuals had light hair and blue or green eyes.
Most ancient south Siberian remains tested in 2008 study match  those of european individuals
On this picture, one can see that most of the ancient remains of south Siberian individuals whose DNA have been tested in 2008 can be classified among the Europeans, as for pigmentation-related loci (a locus is a location in the DNA).
Interestingly, the oldest mummies from the Tarim basin of Xinjiang (north-western China), among the 2,000 BCE Xiaohe people, were also all R1a1a (and with a few mtDNA lineages having matches in modern Europe, as far as Iceland and Great Britain) (source).
The Europoid haplogroups, though rather rare in Mongolia, are findable there (sources here and here). This is also illustrated by the ancient DNA.
“A western Eurasian male is found in 2000-year-old elite Xiongnu cemetery in Northeast Mongolia” (source)
“We analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNP), and autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) of three skeletons found in a 2,000-year-old Xiongnu elite cemetery in Duurlig Nars of Northeast Mongolia.
“The DNA analyses revealed that one subject was an ancient male skeleton with maternal U2e1 [pastmists: U2e is the European subgroup of U2, an ancient Eurasian mtDNA haplogroup (An haplogroup whose ultimate paleolithical origin is probably India). A more than 30,000 years old man found at Kostenki, south Russia, was found to be U2] and paternal R1a1 haplogroups. This is the first genetic evidence that a male of distinctive Indo-European lineages (R1a1) was present in the Xiongnu of Mongolia
Oirat Mongol man
Oirat Mongol, an ethnical group found in Mongolia, China and Russia. Blue eyes and light hair are sometimes found in these Asian lands even if rarely.
Mongol girl
Little blue-eyed blond Mongol girl
Oirat Mongol girl
Oirat Mongolian girl from the west of Mongolia
The human remains also reveal the change in the population of the Altai :
According to paleoanthropological data, the Caucasoid (in respect of its morphological features) population predominated in the steppes of the Altai–Sayan region during the Neolithic [Pastmists : here, apparently at least starting with the Chalcolithic time], Bronze, and partly early Iron Ages [1–3]. At that time the Mongoloid component was observed only in few cases. However, beginning from the early Iron Age, the presence of this component has been increasing, and becoming prevalent in modern times. Thus, dynamics of the anthropological composition of the Altai–Sayan populations can be characterized by definitely directed replacement of the Caucasoid component by the Mongoloid one.” (excerpt from « Origin of Caucasoid-Specific Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in the Ethnic Groups of the Altai–Sayan Region » (Derenko et al. 2002) | source )
The study « Moleculargenetic analysis of Wanggu remains, inner Mongolia, China » (Yuqin Fu et al. 2006) [source] also reveals a “Caucasoid” input in the ancient Wanggu tribe :
“Recently, we discovered human remains of the Wanggu tribe in the Chengbozi cemetery in the Siziwang Banner of Inner Mongolia, China. [...] Our results show that the genetic structure of the Wanggu tribe in the Jin-Yuan period is a complex matriline, containing admixture from both Asian and European populations.”
In 2004, the study “Different Matrilineal Contributions to Genetic Structure of Ethnic Groups in the Silk Road Region in China” (Yao et al, 2004) estimated the west eurasian input among the Mongolian maternal lineages to 14.3 % (source in PDF format).
It’s also interesting to note that a study on the Eurasian cattle revealed that the Mongolian cattle is partially derived from the European cattle (source : “Genetic diversity and structure in Bos Taurus and bos Indicus populations analyzed by SNP markers”), which reminds of similar conclusions found about the Japanese cattle (see the Xinjiang article for more details). In this context it is also interesting to mention that the Turkic öküz (meaning ox in English (same ancestral root), a word also akin to Sanskrit ukṣán) resembles Tocharian B okso.
Let’s add, to seal the case, a  new study ( “Brief Communication: Two-Rooted Lower Canines—A European Trait and Sensitive Indicator of Admixture Across Eurasia”, Christine Lee and G. Richard Scott, American Journal of Physical Anthropology (2011), DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21585 | source ) showing a basically European-specific dental trait, absent in east Asia, but particularly present among Afanasevo, Scythian, Uyghur populations and even in the Ordos (*) region in northern China, as a marker of ancient bronze age (presumed Indo-european) migrations :
The presence of the two-rooted canines in East Asia may provide some clue as to the eastward migration of new populations into China and Mongolia. The largest numbers of individuals with this trait are concentrated along the western and northern frontiers of China and Mongolia. Archaeological excavations support the large scale movement of people into this area during the Bronze age (ca. 2200 BCE–400 BCE). Burial artifacts and settlement patterns suggest cultural and technological ties to the Afanasevo culture in Siberia, which in turn is linked archaeologically, linguistically, and genetically with the Indo-European Tocharian populations that appear to have migrated to the Tarim Basin ca. 4,000 years ago (Ma and Sun, 1992; Ma and Wang, 1992; Mallory and Mair, 2000; Romgard, 2008; Keyser et al., 2009; Li et al., 2010).”
(*) This seems to be confirmed by archaeology (source): According to Lebedynsky, the people represented in archaeological finds tend to display Europoïd features, and are thought to be of Scythian affinity. The weapons, found in tombs throughout the steppes of the Ordos, are very close to those of the Scythians, especially the Sakas.
As for the main Indo-european group of the Indo-european language family in Asia, the Indo-iranians, their ancestors supposedly migrated from the north of the black sea probably becoming the proto-indo-iranians in the region going from Russia up to the north west of Kazakhstan roughly between 2,500 BC to 2,000 BC (explaining the presence of very early Indo-iranian loanwords in Finno-ugric languages (such as Finnish) and east Caucasian languages), spreading progressively up to south Siberia and south of central Asia leaving their tracks in an archaeological horizon named the Andronovo culture, supposedly giving ultimately birth to the Scythian/Saka population.
Ukok mummy
Mummy of a scytho-siberian individual from Tuva, a Russian republic located north of the west of Mongolia.
It must be noted that the oldest written tracks of Indo-iranian language are not found in south Asia but in northern Syria, in a kingdom named Mitanni, in inscriptions dated around 1,400 BC. All the kings of this realm had Indo-aryan throne names, even when they had Hurrian names before being crowned and their capital was named Waššukanni which derives from old Indic vasu-khani (literally “wealth mine”).
The Mitanni inscriptions are in Hurrian, a non-indo-european language (whose ultimate origin is thought to be either Caucasus or Armenia), but indo-iranian terms linked to horses and chariots (and Indo-Aryan divinities as well) are found in these texts.
Given the fact that the oldest found tracks of chariot and horse-riding are found near the south of the Urals (examples about early chariots : Sintashta site (also here) | Saratov site) and in the north of central Asia, it can be surmised that their use was spread by Indo-iranians in Anatolia, west Asia and south Asia.
The current location of Indo-aryan languages (India) and the bronze age tracks of it — Mitanni kingdom in north Syria, or also for instance the Indo-aryan name of a governor of Qiltu near Jerusalem, in Palestine, named suardata (apparently from Indo-aryan svàr-data: “gift from the sun” [svàr in Sanskrit, and its Indo-european cousins; a word having quite likely an etymological relation with the name of the Slavic deity Svarog (father of a solar deity) or for instance the Russian verb svarit' ("to burn", "to cook")]) during roughly the same time (there are also possibly some tracks of borrowed Indo-aryan words in the Kassite dynasty in Babylonia –  could spontaneously lead us to see the source of Indo-aryan languages in west Asia but as previously stated,  many words from the Indo-iranian language family – sometimes from the proto-indo-iranian or at least at a very early stage of Indo-iranian – can be found in the Finno-ugric languages (languages such as Finnish, Estonian or Saami) and languages from the eastern Caucasus rather supports a different place of origin (the fact that these loanwords have been entering these Finno-ugric languages * at diverse stages of evolution of the Indo-iranian language confirm that the Finno-ugric populations have been in close  contact with Indo-iranian-speaking populations for many centuries, and the fact that some of these loanwords seem to pertain to the proto-Indo-iranian stage supports the idea that these loanwords aren’t just a legacy of the Scythian and Sarmatian populations. It does support the theory of a homeland of the original Indo-iranians actually in the Russia **-northwest Kazakhstan region). Even in Ugric languages, some words are clearly closer to the Indo-aryan language family than to the Iranic one (e.g. Hungarian tehén (cow) is closer to Sanskrit dhenu- (see Punjabi dhen) than to Avestan dainu (Vedic Sanskrit (earliest known Indo-aryan language) and Avestan (earliest known Iranic language) were still quite close from each others (it is said that these two languages were definitely closer than Italian and Spanish are to each others)). Interestingly, Hungarian szekér (“chariot”) would be derived from an Indo-aryan *śaka-ra.)
* A few examples (among many others) of Indo-iranian roots in Finno-ugric languages that can be found in “The indo-aryan controversy” by Edwin Bryant and Laurie Patton: 
Mordvin sazor (younger sister), Udmurt sazer (younger sister) — Sanskrit svasar (sister)
Komi sur, Udmurt sura (beer) — Sanskrit surā- (intoxicating drink)
Finnish and Ostya udar (udder) — Sanskrit udhar (udder)
Finnish marras (dead) — Sanskrit mṛtas (dead)
Finnish muru (crumb), Mansi mur, mor- (crumble) — Sanskrit mur (crumble), Saka murr (crumble), Ossetian mur- (crumb)
Hungarian tei (milk) — Hindi dhai (actually dahi), Kashmiri dai (soured milk)
Finnish sarvi (horn), Mordvin suro, Komi and Udmurt sur, Mari sur — Ossetian sarv, Avestan sru, srva (and sanskrit śṛṇga-)
Mansi mant (bucket) — Sanskrit mantha, manthana, Pali mantha
Finnish vasa, Ostya vasik, Mansi vasir, Hungarian üszo (bull) — Old Iranian vasa, Ossetian waes, Sanskrit vatsa (calf) (and Sanskrit vṛṣa (bull))
and so on.
** It should be mentionned that the Abashevo culture in Russia, is seen as a possible source for the proto-indo-iranian language and indeed the Abashevo culture was influential in the Sintashta site where are seen the oldest known expression of Indo-iranian-like rituals, according to many specialists.

“In 1370 BC a treaty between the king of Mitanni, Mattiwaza (old reading Kurtiwaza), and the Hittite king, Suppiluliumas, was concluded and there is an oath guaranteed by a series of gods including such Indo-aryan divinities as Indra, Mithra, Varuna and Nasatya. In the 14th century BC in the hittite city of Bogazkoy (pastmists: in this time named Hattusa) a trainer from the land of the Mitanni named Kikkuli composed a treatise on horse training where he employed numerous Indo-Aryan terms (Thieme 1960; Mayhofer 1966; 1974; Kemmenhuber 1968). The first time the Indo-aryans appeared in the Near East dates, however, from the 17th century BC when the Hurrians (non-Indo-European) came from north-east Anatolia and founded the Mitanni kingdom. It was dominated by Indo-Aryans who had brought chariots, blood-horses, and the skills of horse-training. The names of Mitanni kings known from documents of the Tel-Amarna [Tell el-amarna] archive in Egypt and from the cuneiform texts and seals of the Near East are Indo-Aryan. The Indo-Aryans formed elite charioteer squadrons (Yankoska 1979; 1981; 1987). Judging by the descriptions of their dress and weapons, which included a hood, a bow, and a quiver with shaft-hole arrows (Zaccani 1978), the Aryans had come to Mitanni from the steppes. None of those features were known in the near East but had analogues only in the steppes. This is an elite dominance migration pattern: The dominance is secured by the introduction of new chariot battle tactics. The dominant group was presumably small and soon assimilated.”
The origin of the indo-iranians, volume 3 p. 322, by Elena E. Kuz’mina
Seemingly confirming this theory, many of the words meaning “horse” throughout west Asia during antiquity seem derived from the satem form of the Indo-european root designating the horse (*ekwos), pointing again towards the Indo-iranians (speaking a satem Indo-european language in which horse was said asva) as the spreaders of mounted horses and chariotry in this region during bronze age (like for instance: Hurrianessi“, Akkadiansissu” and several others. Among them, quite revealing are the Hittite word “azu(wa)“, the Luwian assuwa and the Ugariticssw” which are extremely close to the Indo-iranian word and seem to clearly be a loanword from this language family. The rise of the Hittites (an Indo-european Anatolian people (i.e. from modern day Turkey) whose language isn’t a satem language), that was posterior to the rise of the Mitanni (that were also their direct neighbors), owed much to an efficient use of chariotry.
The specialists generally consider satem a later innovation well after the proto-indo-european language which was centum-like. This conforts the idea that the horse was introduced and domesticated late in west Asia and the Near East, apparently disproving the theory that the Indo-european languages appeared in either Asia minor or the Middle-East, as the stem for “horse” was omnipresent in basically all the Indo-european languages and, as such, obviously already part of the proto-indo-european language from which almost all the known Indo-european languages are derived (with maybe the exception of the Anatolian languages that could be derived from an earlier stage) while the horse was basically absent until the last part of bronze age in most of west Asia (regions such as the middle or near-East and most of Asia minor).
Cultures supposedly at the origin of the Indo-iranians witin the Kurgan theory context.
Cultures supposedly at the origin of the spread of the Indo-iranian language family within the Kurgan theory context.
In south Asia, the Gandhara graves culture of Swat Valley in northern Pakistan seems to represent the advance of these Indo-iranians in south Asia, also importing the horse in these lands.
A comparison between the burial rites of the bronze age Andronovo culture and the bronze age Swat culture (a.k.a. Gandhara grave culture)
A comparison between the burial rites of the bronze age Andronovo culture (central Asia and south Siberia) and the bronze age Swat culture (north Pakistan). In the latter case, the Swat culture, also known as the Gandhara grave culture, it is a change in the local tradition. (picture from “The origins of the Indo-iranians” by Elena E. Kuz’mina)
Some phenotypes of current south Asia seem to keep the track of this ancient migration from Central Asia occuring during bronze age (more of such pictures to be found on this blog here and here) :
Kalasha woman from north pakistan
Young Kalash woman from the Chitral district of north-western Pakistan
The famous Afghan girl with piercing green eyes.
Sharbat Gula, the famous Afghan girl whose picture was on the cover of the National Geographic.
Little girl from Afghanistan
Little girl from Afghanistan
Afghan father and his son
Afghans from the village of Deh-e Hazara
Wakhi girl (Afghanistan)
Wakhi girl from the extreme east of Afghanistan, a region located between the south of Tajikistan, the west of China and the north of Pakistan
Afghan kids
Afghan kids in Jalalabad (Afghanistan)
Afghan children
Afghan children from Panjshir
Little Afghan girl from the Hazarajat region of Afghanistan
Little Hazara girl (Afghanistan)
North Pakistanese girl (maybe Nuristani)
Young girl from the north of Pakistan
South Asian man from north Pakistan with an Europoid appearance.
Man from the north of Pakistan
Paksitanese little boy
Pashtun boy from Pakistan
Man from Chitral (north of Pakistan)
Man from the Chitral district (North Pakistan)
Young teen from northern Pakistan, south Asia
A teenager from northern Pakistan
Little Indian girl from the north of India
Little Indian girl (India)
Indian boy from the north of India
Indian boy from the Himachal Pradesh, north of India
Nowadays, the west Eurasian haplogroups are still found in the central Asian (and south Siberian, like the Altaians) populations even though they are mixed with numerous east Asian haplogroups.
This map from a september 2010 study, In the heartland of Eurasia: the multilocus genetic landscape of Central Asian populations (Martinez-Cruz et al. 2010 ; European Journal of Human Genetics , (8 September 2010) | doi:10.1038/ejhg.2010.153), describe the origin of the populations having contributed to the Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan modern populations (also showing the differences within the different linguistic families, Turkic or Indo-iranian) :
Origin of the populations having contributed to the Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan gene pool.
Origin of the populations having contributed to the Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan modern populations
Like in the east of Afghanistan and the north of Pakistan, Tajikistan, a region speaking an Indo-iranian language related to Persian, is known to harbor a certain number of Europoid individuals in its autochthonous population.
Young Tajik boys in Tajikistan
Young Tajik boys
Tajik boy
Tajik boy
Two little Tajik boys
Two Tajik boys, in south Tajikistan
“In fact, it’s in the more eastern variants of the Andronovo civilization – notably in the Bishkent culture, in the south of Tajikistan – that a probable expression of indo-iranian rituals is visible in the archeological clues. In the Tulkhar cemetery, the sepultures of the males have a little rectangular hearths that quite remind of the altar-hearth (ahavaniya) of the first indo-aryan priests while the tombs of the females have got little circular hearths that evoke the garha-patya (always associated with women) in the indo-aryan home.
Even if a few points are still quite controversial, the fundamentally indo-iranian identity of the bronze age steppic cultures is seen as almost certain.”
From “In search of the Indo-europeans. Language, archeology and myth”, J. P. Mallory
Tajik children in Pamir
Two little children in the Vanj region, Tajikistan
Young Tajik girls
Young Tajik girls from the Vanj district in the Pamir mountains
Tajik women
Tajik women
It must be noted that the oldest tracks of Indo-iranian language are not found in south Asia butin northern Syria, in a kingdom named Mitanni, in inscriptions dated around 1,400 BC.
The Mitanni inscriptions are in Hurrian, a non-indo-european language (whose origin is thought tobe Armenia or Caucasus – verif), but indo-iranian terms linked to horses and chariots (and Indo-Aryan divinities as well) are found in these texts.
Given that the oldest found tracks of chariot and horse-riding are found near south of the Urals(Sintashta site | Saratov site) and in the north of central Asia, it can be surmised that theiruse was spread by Indo-iranians in Anatolia, west Asia and south Asia. Such a location for theorigin of Indo-iranian is supported by the fact that many words from the Indo-iranian languagefamily, sometimes from a very early stage of Indo-iranian can be found in Finno-ugric languagesand languages from the eastern Caucasus.
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