100 years of empowering international women

Figures released to coincide with the 100th annual International Women's Day (IWD) show there is still a considerable gender pay gap across the globe.

Being a woman in Pakistan

Society, especially Pakistani society, thrives on gossip and slander. While urban socialites love talking of women’s emancipation and rights in general, they often fail to see the rigid mindsets within their own circle. Back biting and slander are not viewed as vices or sins in our society where every other person likes to preach. In fact, people feel they have a right to comment, criticize and judge especially if an issue or circumstance pertains to a woman.

Try to make it work

As long as a woman continues to be the sufferering victim (bechari) in any situation, people are satisfied. They may sympathize with her and pity her for being so unfortunate. However, if she takes charge of her life and makes decisions to alleviate her suffering, then she is perceived as negative person. For instance, if a woman decides to take a divorce from her abusive husband, then people start speculating if it is wise of her to go to court – supposedly where few honest people are seen. How will this decision affect the future of her daughters? Will they face problems in getting marriage proposals or not? Without any in-depth knowledge or understanding of the situation, relatives and acquaintances give their verdict:

She should try harder to make her marriage work.

They are unaware of the negative psychological and emotional impact the dysfunctional family life has on the woman and her children. If the woman does not choose to share all the private, painful details of her marital problems then their verdict is final.

Taboos and remarriage

When a divorced woman decides to get married again, the situation almost always gets worse – especially if she is marrying by choice. People blame her for the first unhappy marriage. They raise questions about her character

How can she have found someone so quickly? Was she having an affair during her first marriage? How must her poor kids feel?

She is seen and projected as selfish and clever, perhaps even wicked. On the other hand, a second marriage is seen as the most natural thing for a man in a similar situation.

Single modern woman

Even single women who chooses to ignore the demands of our society and do as they please with their lives – work where they want to, marry when they want to, date etc. – are described as rebellious, too modern, incapable of having a family life and so on.

No matter what the situation, some people do not merely discuss what a woman is doing -they judge it. Despite being wholly unconnected, they offer their ill-informed advice and opinions in order to discourage the woman from making a decision that will help her be free and happy.

Unfortunately it is women who are the biggest critics of women – those who believe they know how to make their relationships or other things work better; those who are unhappy and restricted themselves but not strong enough to take a stand; bored housewives; those who resent the happiness of others and those who merely love to gossip.

Colombo Surprise: Pakistan win by 11 runs

World Cup: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 11 runs

Despite a gloomy morning, all roads in the Sri Lankan capital led to the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday. With one of the most high-profile World Cup clashes between the Asian rivals to be played at the home of Lankan cricket, it wasn’t a surprise.

More than a victory for the home team, what the fans awaited was an intense battle between the boys in blue and those in green.

Even though Pakistan were playing away from their home, with Sri Lanka being their adopted home for the tournament, the crowd lent solid support to Shahid Afridi’s men. It was evident in the rousing cheer at the end of

Pakistan’s national anthem prior to the match. But as the afternoon wore on, the near-packed crowd changed its stand, making it more difficult for the visitors’ batsmen.

Solid Total
Considering the adverse support from the stands and a quality bowling attack despite the absence of Lasith Malinga, one would say that Pakistan did a decent job to put on 277 for seven at the end of the stipulated 50 o

vers after Afridi had elected to bat.

Crowd support
Later in the night, it was indeed surprising to see the crowds clinging on to their seats even after the Lankan slide started in the middle overs after Afridi struck with his spin bowling. Probably, they were living on the hope of the home side pulling off an improbable victory on a wicket that was getting slower with every passing over.

While the crowds were hoping for a miracle, the Lankan dressing room was hoping that Chamara Silva, who had skipped the opening tie due to the demise of his elder sister, would do it for them, and more importantly, for his beloved sibling.

But by the time Silva started timing the ball sweetly, it was a little too late. With the asking rate surging into double digits and wickets falling regularly at the other end, thanks to Shahid Afridi's another dream spell

, the inevitable had to happen.

Too much to get

As a result, when Silva was stumped by Kamran Akmal, who had an off day behind the stumps, off Abdur Rehman in the 47th over, Sri Lanka needed 44 runs off 23 balls with just two wickets remaining.

Soon after that, when the Pakistani team huddled to celebrate their 11-run victory after Muttiah Muralitharan managed a single off Umar Gul, they deserved all the applause that the sporting Premadasa spectators gave them.

Anyone out there

who still thinks Pakistan are not dangerous contenders for the World Cup? With tremendous poise and skill in the middle overs, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younus Khan propelled Pakistan, who were on a tricky 105 for 2 in the 21st over, to a strong 277, before Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akthar produced bits of magic to derail the

chase. Chamara Silva threatened to pull off a thrilling heist with a flurry of boundaries, and Nuwan Kulasekara made one heroic last-ditch effort to reduce the equation to 18 runs from the final over. Umar Gul, however, held his nerve to steer Pakistan home and end a mesmeric exhibition of high-quality cricket in Colombo.

• Davis faces possible execution if convicted
• Thousands rally and call for his head
  
• 
  

Pakistan today put an American spy charged with killing two Pakistanis on trial, despite U.S. demands for his release, complicating a case that is straining a relationship crucial to ending the war in Afghanistan.

Raymond Davis, a former U.S. special forces officer, says he acted in self-defence when he shot the men on a busy street in the eastern city of Lahore last month.

He has been charged with double-murder and faces possible execution. Washington says he has diplomatic immunity and must be repatriated.

Today, thousands of Islamists turned out in Lahore and Karachi to chant slogans calling for him to receive the death penalty.

The killings, and Davis's recently revealed CIA links, have inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan, where Washington's already-uneasy alliance with the government is seen as hegemony by many ordinary Pakistanis.

Conflicting accounts about the identity of the victims - Davis and a police report indicate they were armed robbers; Pakistani media and some officials portray them as innocent - have also given President Ali Asif Zardari's unpopular government little choice but to go through the courts.

Davis's trial was held inside Kot Lakhpat jail, where he has been detained since February 11 amid extremely tight security.

Protesters have burned effigies of Davis and U.S. flags since details of the killings became public, sparking concerns about his safety.

As Violence Engulfs Libya, Yemen, Bahrain Qaddafi Promises War

Extremism may spread in the Middle East, causing Arab states to “fall to pieces,” following a wave of discontent in the region.

Look at the situation in the Middle East and the Arab world. It is quite possible that complicated events will take place including fanatics coming to power. It will mean fires for decades and a further spread of extremism.

Uprisings have toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, with demonstrations spreading to Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Algeria. Violence intensified in Libya yesterday as the government attacked protesters and rebels claimed control of the second- biggest city, Benghazi.

Toward the end of a rambling and apparently off-the-cuff speech late on Sunday, Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, whose father has ruled Libya for 42 years, took an abrupt departure from the script of blame-shifting and promise-making that the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia had followed days before their forced resignations. Rather than offering appeasement or excuses, he pledged, in language as apocalyptic as it was frighteningly believable, to go to war against the protesters.

"We will not lose one inch of this land," he warned. "We will flight to the last man and woman and bullet." His father, he said is "leading the battle" and will hold on to power "by any means necessary." He echoed the same vague, hollow promises made by Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali, adding, in the dramatic and menacing flair his father has honed for decades, a threat. "We will tomorrow create a new Libya. We can agree on a new national anthem, new flag, new Libya. Or be prepared for civil war."

What began in Libya as a national protest movement quickly escalated in the country's east, where Qaddafi's hold is weaker, to all-out battle. After days of bloody fighting, the protesters appear to have ousted government forces entirely and seized control of Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. Security forces have consolidated in the capital, Tripoli, where, after days of relative calm due to the heavy police presence and undeclared state of martial law, protesters are taking to the streets en mass. Qaddafi's show of force, silently backed by a long history of unflinching crackdowns, does not look to have deterred the increasingly enraged demonstrators. The regime as well as the protesters are rapidly escalating the fighting in Tripoli, which both sides appear to believe will be the site of a decisive battle for Libya.

Already, fragmentary but credible reports from Tripoli claim that security forces are firing indiscriminately into the crowds gathering in Green Square. Terrified eyewitnesses say that Toyota Land Cruisers carrying armed men, believed to be mercenaries from Sub-Saharan Africa, are strafing protesters in drive-by shootings. Military planes are circling over the city in an implicit threat of what has become the greatest immediate fear in Libya: that Qaddafi will order his air force to massacre civilians. Early reports that the planes have made strafing runs on the crowd may be false; such an attack would be difficult to the point of unfeasible in a city as dense as Tripoli, and protesters may simply be hearing ground-based machine gun fire. On Monday afternoon, at least two Libyan jet fighters requested emergency landing at Malta; Al Jazeera reports the pilots are requesting to defect after refusing orders to bomb protesters in Benghazi. These early reports have yet to be confirmed and may turn out to be false. But whether or not the air force attacks, what seems significant is that many protesters believe it could or that it already has, yet press on anyway in what they fully expect to be all-out war with the regime.

A matter of honour?

Sixty-three years of Pakistan’s pent-up ‘honour’, sovereignty, ‘ghairat’, ‘hammiat’ and ‘izzat’, have finally been shaken out of deep slumber by a single American. So what if we do not know his real name, why we gave him a visa, or what he actually does for a living. What we do know is that, when not performing his supposedly technical and administrative duties, his favourite pastimes are photography, transmitters, military installations and militant Talibans. He is also reckless with his Glock pistol and killed two inquisitive motorcyclists who were getting unduly nosy about his suspicious hobbies. Understandably, there is much distress, anguish and anger amongst the people, whose dignity and self-esteem have, once again, been badly bruised and trampled. The government, on the other hand, caught between the dilemma of displeasing Americans or displeasing its own people, will soon find a suitable ‘formula’ that any dependent and debt-ridden government must discover on such occasions.
The case of Raymond Davis is not an issue of national honour. It is an issue of law and must be dealt with accordingly. Statements from Pakistani leaders such as “the issue of killing two Pakistani citizens in Lahore in broad daylight by a US embassy employee has become a matter of national respect”, not just narrow but also camouflage the scope of what constitutes our national honour. Let us look at a number of situations to see how lopsided and superficial concepts of honour contribute to the voice of irrationality and intolerance in our society.
Of course, Raymond Davis was carrying an illegal weapon in his car. But is it not a fact that a large majority of our ruling elite, the powerful and the influential of this country, not just carry illegal weapons but also publicly display them in broad daylight? Why has this bigger issue never become a matter of our national honour? We all know that an American has killed two Pakistanis and he must be punished. But what happened to the Pakistanis who buried alive five women in Balochistan, who raped Mukhtaran Mai in front of her entire village or who burnt alive the Christians of the Gojra village? None of them have received punishments, while those who condoned these acts ended up becoming federal ministers. How come the state, the clergy and even the civil society was happy paying lip service and did not consider these issues a matter of national honour?
Visas, to some 500 Americans of the Raymond Davis category, were issued by the government of Pakistan, knowing full well that they will be engaged in shady activities. Are we not ourselves responsible for creating this problem? Where had our honour disappeared at that time? Will we not question the presence of these 500 agents or will we wait for a repeat of Raymond Davis and then invoke our sleepy national honour as an instrument of damage control?
From what Veena Malik wore in India to how Salmaan Taseer was killed in Islamabad, the preaching brigade will be the first to come out with (often misleading) interpretations of honour. Could one ask them as to what honour was at stake when they refused to say the final prayers for Salmaan Taseer, knowing that he had not committed blasphemy? Where had the national honour of Pakistan disappeared when the Imam of Mohabbat Khan Mosque in Peshawar announced a cash reward for killing Aasia Bibi, and the state decided to sheepishly look the other way?
The Higher Education Commission has confirmed that 57 lawmakers have made it to the parliament on the basis of fraudulent degrees. Another 298 refused to submit their degrees — presumably to avoid public humiliation. Was it honourable for the compromised Election Commission and the Higher Education Commission to sleep over this matter and let Pakistan be ruled by fraudulent parliamentarians? The message conveyed to the people of Pakistan is that Raymond Davis’s forging a wrong name for himself is a violation of our national honour. Three hundred parliamentarians doing the same to their degrees is not.
Our honour is not compromised when we accumulate a debt of $55 billion, which has largely facilitated an obscenely rich elite to become even richer, but failed to provide a pair of slippers or clean drinking water to the millions of impoverished. How can we not see any relationship between our obsessive begging, our continued dependency on foreign loans and the disdain with which we are viewed by other nations? How come this is not considered the number one item on our list of ‘national honour’?
How do we cope with our honour when we have 62 million Pakistanis who live below the poverty line, their women abused, their children deprived and their men awaiting a meaningful livelihood? Surely, there is something terribly wrong with our sense of honour when we remain oblivious to the presence of 8,000 ghost schools (in one province only) just because the children who go to these schools belong to a class that has no place in our already-preoccupied imagination.
It is non-productive, self-defeating and dangerous for modern nations to cling to feudal and fake concepts of ‘honour’. We need to come to some common understanding of where our honour lies. It lies in building a tolerant and peaceful society that provides a decent quality of life and equal economic opportunity to all citizens. It lies in creating a society that can push its ruling class towards greater accountability, ethical behaviour, austerity and better performance. It lies in protecting its women, children and minorities and providing easy, equal and efficient justice to all. On all these counts, we have failed miserably. So let us pause for a moment and rediscover and redefine what we mean when we say, ‘it is a matter of our honour’.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2011.

Raymond Davis said to be CIA operative

Raymond Davis 'was acting head of CIA in Pakistan'
A US intelligence agent arrested after shooting dead two men was the acting head of the CIA in Pakistan and had been gathering intelligence for drone attacks, according to intelligence sources.

Raymond Davis, a 36-year-old former special forces soldier, had taken command after the CIA station chief's cover was blown, according to reports.
American officials insist he is entitled to diplomatic immunity and that he be released immediately.
Davis has been held for almost a month in a Lahore prison while a court decides his status.
The case has provoked a surge in anti-American hostility and spawned a wave of conspiracy theories.

Reports have revealed that Raymond Davis, the employee of the United States Pakistan embassy who was jailed for killing two Pakistani citizens, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.

On Tuesday foreign media, as well as U.S. media that had earlier been requested by the Obama administration not to reveal any details of the case, said that Mr. Davis was involved in covert CIA operations aimed at intelligence-gathering and surveillance on “militant groups deep inside the country.”

Quoting American government officials the New York Times said that Mr. Davis was a retired Special Forces soldier who had formerly served as a CIA contractor, including time at Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm that is now called Xe Services.

According to sources, Mr. Davis’ visa described his job as a “regional affairs officer,” said to be a frequently used job description for CIA-related officials. As per his visa application Mr. Davis was reported to have held a U.S. diplomatic passport and was classified as “administrative and technical staff,” a category that is said to “typically [grant] diplomatic immunity to its holder.”

Mr. Davis was arrested on January 27 after he fatally shot two men on a motorcycle in a bustling Lahore neighbourhood. According to the account of the incident put out by U.S. officials Mr. Davis was driving alone an isolated area and pulled over at a busy traffic intersection.

At that point two Pakistani men with weapons allegedly got off from their motorcycles and approached Mr. Davis, who killed them with his Glock pistol in what was described as “an act of self-defence against armed robbers,” the New York Times reported.

However the Pakistan’s The Daily Times published a different account of events based on the Lahore Police Department’s crime report, in which it said that Mr. Davis admitted to the police that he shot the two men, stepped out of the car to take photographs of them, and then called the U.S. consulate in Lahore for assistance.

Further the Daily Times story suggested that the victims had been “shot several times in the back, a detail that some Pakistani officials say proves the killings were murder.” The report also suggested that after the shooting Mr. Davis climbed back in his car and sought to escape but was “overpowered” at a traffic junction nearby.

The incident has since sparked a diplomatic crisis, with CIA Director Leon Panetta, Chief of Army Staff Mike Mullen and even U.S. President Barack Obama making pleas for Mr. Davis’ release.

Yet public opinion in Pakistan has primarily comprised anger against the U.S. so-called “secret war” in the country, including the highly unpopular drone strikes in the border area near Afghanistan. Recent days have witnessed “hundreds of Pakistanis” participating in street protests and calling for Mr. Davis to face trial, reports said.

..............................

Many Pakistanis have questioned whether Davis was really the victim of an attempted robbery – as he told police – and exactly why he was driving around Lahore with a Glock handgun in a rented car.

This week it emerged that he was employed by the CIA and that he was engaged in an undercover operation.

On Tuesday The Nation newspaper, which has close links to Pakistan's military establishment, claimed one of his main tasks was to keep the CIA network intact in the tribal agencies, where al-Qaeda-linked militants maintain bases, and that he was familiar with their local languages.

Pakistan authorities say they recovered items including a make-up kit, long-range radio, a GPRS system and a camera containing photographs of sensitive locations.

Telephone records suggest he was in contact with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Pakistan Taliban in South Waziristan.

Even Pakistan's spies say they had no idea what Davis was doing in Lahore.

A senior intelligence source told The Daily Telegraph he was unknown to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate and was operating outside the normal agreements between the two countries.

"We want the US to come clean on what exactly he was up to," he said.

American officials initially said Mr Davis worked for the US consulate in Lahore before claiming he worked for the embassy in Islamabad, and was entitled to full immunity.

However, The New York Times on Monday reported that Davis was part of a CIA operation tracking Islamist extremists in eastern Pakistan, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, the virulently anti-Indian group blamed for the bloody 2008 siege of Mumbai.

Opposition politicians and relatives of Davis's victims said the government should address suspicions that he also worked for Xe, a US security firm formerly known as Blackwater.

"Davis deserves no pardon ... We knew from day one that he was working for the CIA and Blackwater," said Mohammad Waseem, brother of Mohammad Faheem.

Dhaka hosts 'Dhamaka' World Cup ceremony

'Shiv Sena to decide if Pakistan can play final in Mumbai'

The opening ceremony of the World Cup got under way Thursday with the captains of the 14 competing teams paraded through Dhaka’s historic Bangabandhu Stadium in colourfully draped rickshaws.

Protected by a sheet of bullet-proof glass, Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina watched as home skipper Shakib Al Hasan received a rapturous welcome from the packed arena as he arrived at the rear of the unusual parade.

The two-hour event, in which Ricky Ponting, captain of defending champions Australia, led the sparkling three-wheeled procession, saw 3,500 performers putting on a show reflecting Indian, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi culture.

Indian singer Sonu Nigam and Bangladesh-based Runa Laila as well as veteran Canadian rocker Bryan Adams were the headline acts.

“I hope that the games will be memorable and exciting,” said Sheikh Hasina.

“It gives me great pleasure to declare the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup open.”

Dhaka has been spruced up for the World Cup as it seeks to take advantage of a prime opportunity to rebrand a country often known only for devastating floods and cyclones.

The impoverished South Asian nation has spent more than $100 million to tidy up for the tournament it co-hosts with India and Sri Lanka, looking at the showpiece as the biggest event since independence in 1971.

Beggars have been paid to stay off roads, hawkers have been evicted from overcrowded pavements and buildings given a new coat of paint. Efforts have even been made to reduce the infamous traffic jams in the bustling capital.

Even though Bangladesh hosts just eight of the 49 matches at two venues, in Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong, the entire nation is in the grip of cricket fever.

“The World Cup has given us a great opportunity to show the world, particularly the global press, that we are not only a country of floods, cyclones or natural disasters,” said Ramendu Majumdar, a top branding expert.

The 10th World Cup, which runs for six weeks, starts on Saturday when Bangladesh tackle favourites India.

The right-wing Shiv Sena on Thursday declared that party chief Bal Thackeray will decide if Pakistan can play in Mumbai if the team makes it to the final of World Cup 2011.

According to a report published in The Hindu, party leader Manohar Joshi has said that the Shiv Sena chief will make the final decision of allowing the Pakistani team to play in Mumbai.

“You all know Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s views. If the Pakistan team reaches the final (scheduled in Mumbai), whether to allow them to play, the Sena chief will decide”

The statement comes after Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi had said that a Pakistan-India World Cup final would be ideal.

“We’re going through a very tough situation,” said Afridi. “But I’m very happy because we’re trying to rebuild the team and keep the morale high.

“We all know how important the World Cup is for our country. The message for other teams is that no one should underestimate us.”

The final is scheduled to be held on April 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The stadium is also the site of the 1991 pitch defacement by Shiv Sena activists in protest of a proposed one-day series between India and Pakistan.

Raymond Davis: US Blackmails Pakistan

Kashmir Watch, Feb 16 Controversial debate continues between Pakistan and the United States in connection with the arrest of American national, Raymond Davis who is an under-cover secret agent of American CIA, and has become a symbol of anti-American resentment in Pakistan because of the dreadful murder of two innocent Pakistanis in Lahore and subsequent suicide by the wife of one of his victims. Like other US high officials, even President Barack Obama urged Pakistan on February 15 this year to free Raymond as he has diplomatic immunity under the Geneva Convention. Meanwhile, the visiting Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, while addressing a press conference in Lahore pointed out that issue of “Davis has nothing to do with local courts as diplomats enjoy immunity…we cannot allow that one incident can break the strong relationship between the two countries.” On the other side, legal experts in Pakistan opine that Raymond Davis is a murderer who has no diplomatic immunity. Many Pakistanis are suspicious about Davis, who was arrested with loaded weapons, a GPS satellite tracking device, photographs of Pakistan’s defence installations and tribal areas, while American authorities are still silent about his role in Pakistan. It is notable that the former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has stated that he was dropped from the new cabinet owing to his principled position on the question of diplomatic immunity to the killer, and he adopted a stance, seen by majority of people. Some sources confirms that Raymond Davis has visited Pakistan twice under the cover of diplomatic status, and this time he came with changed name to conceal his identity. However, Davis is killer and is an agent of CIA, while Washington is blackmailing Islamabad by applying coercive diplomacy. In this respect, on the one hand, US high officials say that on the issue of Davis, America will not break relations with Pakistan; while on the other, they continue pressure on Islamabad for his immediate release. The issue of Raymond Davis is not new one as past history of Pak-US ties prove that America has always blackmailed Pakistan on various occasions. In this context, it is of particular attention that in the aftermath of the November 26 catastrophe of Mumbai, Washington, while tilting towards India had blackmailed Islamabad. Setting aside the ground realties that Pakistan, itself, has been the major victim of terrorism, which has been bearing multiple losses in combating this menace since 9/11, with the support of the US, Indian blame game against Islamabad, continued during exchange of information between the two neighbouring countries regarding Mumbai mayhem. While, rejecting Pakistan’s stand that its government or any official agency was not involved in the Mumbai attacks, presenting one after another list of bogus evidence, New Delhi wanted to make Islamabad accept all other Indian demands since our rulers admitted on February 12, 2009 that Ajmal Kasab is Pakistani national and Mumbai terror-attacks were “partially planned in Pakistan. In fact, being a responsible state actor, Islamabad’s admission which had emboldened New Delhi was forced by the US-led some western countries which have continuously been blackmailing Pakistan by insisting upon our government to “do more” against the militancy in the tribal areas by ignoring internal backlash and sacrifices of our security forces during war on terror�while paying no attention to the Lahore-terror attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team including other similar terror-incidents. In that context, India wanted to avail the Mumbai tragedy in increasing further pressure on Pakistan with the help of America in order to force Islamabad to confess that all the terrorists responsible for Mumbai attacks came from Pakistan. In that respect, US former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Milliband who had visited India and Pakistan stressed upon Islamabad to take actions against the banned Jamaatud Dawa and the already banned Lashkar-i-Tayba. Speaking in Indian tune, they had also said that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai events came from Pakistan. In that connection, Ameria had played a key role in getting passed a resolution through the UN Security Council which added Pakistan-based Jamaatud Dawa and four of its leaders to the list of Al Qaeda-related terrorists. Without any doubt, this similar approach by the US and India show that these states are in collusion to destabilize and ‘denuclearise’ Pakistan through blackmailing diplomacy as demands on Pakistan to take action against the Jamaatud Dawa and its related welfare organistions including admission regarding the departure of the Mumbai culprits from our soil were forced. And Islamabad accepted these false allegations as our country was facing serious internal and external challenges of grave nature. In the recent past, IMF decided to sanction loan to Pakistan after American green signal. Past experience proves that economic dependence on foreign countries always brings political dependence in its wake. While, at that critical juncture, our country had been facing precarious financial problem, US-led some western allies compelled Pakistan to accept some Indian false demands. Hollowness of New Delhi’s allegations and forced admission of Islamabad could be gauged from the fact that on February 27, 2009, Pakistan’s Naval Chief of Staff Admiral Nuaman Bashir remarked that he had no proof that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks used Pakistani waters to reach India. The statement of our naval chief coupled with American duress makes it quite clear that Mumbai mayhem was pre-planned by the Indian intelligence agency, RAW to further distort the image of Pakistan in the comity of nations. Another example of blackmailing is that the US is emphasising Islamabad to to take action against the militants of North Waziristan. It also continuous drone attacks on Pakistan’s soil without bothering for the sovereignty of the country. Inaction of the US-led west over Hindu terrorism and such duplicity undoubtedly indicates that America and major European states have their common interest in India. Hence, they blindly support New Delhi’s shrewd diplomacy against Islamabad. These major countries only tolerate Pakistan owing to its role as a frontline state against terrorism, otherwise, they leave no stone unturned in blackmailing our country so as to harm our interests. In this respect, forced demands on Pakistan regarding Mumbai mayhem entailing accusation of cross-border terrorism either in Afghanistan or the Indian-held Kashmir are also part of this blackmailing practice. In fact, we are living in an unequal world order. The prevalent global system tends to give a greater political and economic leverage to the affluent developed nations who could safeguard their interests at the cost of the weaker countries. Whenever, any controversy arises on the controversial issues, the UN Security Council enforces the doctrine of collective security against the small states, while the five big powers protect their interests by using veto. This shows discrimination between the powerful and the weaker. In this context, it is notable that in 2001, UN had permitted the United States to attack Afghanistan under the cover of right of self-defence. In case of the Indian occupied Kashmir, the issue still remains unresolved as UN resolutions regarding the plebiscite were never implemented because Washington and some western powers support the illegitimate stand of India due to their collective interests. Particularly, in economic context, the world order reflects greater disparities as the flow of capital and credit system is also dominated by the United States and other developed countries�the consequent result is an increase in the activities of the Multinationals which have shattered the economies of the poor developing states. Besides, international financial institutions like I.M.F and World Bank are under the control of the US and its partners who protect their interests by blackmailing the governments of the small states through financial pressure. In these terms, US-led countries especially blackmail Pakistan directly or indirectly. In sense of Hobbes, Machiavelli and Morgenthau, a renowned strategic thinker, Thomas Schelling remarks about the US, “coercion to be an effective tool of foreign policy.” Kissinger also endorses politics of bargaining and pressure through threats, coercion and even violence as essential elements of the American diplomacy. In this regard, diplomacy itself becomes the real tool of blackmailing. Returning to our earlier discussion, Raymond Davis is a murderer, but the US blackmails Pakistan for his release as the latter depends upon Washington for military and economic aid in wake of multi-faceted problems. America should remember that it also depends upon Pakistan which is a frontline state of the US war on terror, and without Islamabad’s support the sole superpower cannot win this ‘different war’ against terrorism. Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations.

Raymond Davis: US Blackmails Pakistan

Kashmir Watch, Feb 16 Controversial debate continues between Pakistan and the United States in connection with the arrest of American national, Raymond Davis who is an under-cover secret agent of American CIA, and has become a symbol of anti-American resentment in Pakistan because of the dreadful murder of two innocent Pakistanis in Lahore and subsequent suicide by the wife of one of his victims. Like other US high officials, even President Barack Obama urged Pakistan on February 15 this year to free Raymond as he has diplomatic immunity under the Geneva Convention. Meanwhile, the visiting Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, while addressing a press conference in Lahore pointed out that issue of “Davis has nothing to do with local courts as diplomats enjoy immunity…we cannot allow that one incident can break the strong relationship between the two countries.” On the other side, legal experts in Pakistan opine that Raymond Davis is a murderer who has no diplomatic immunity. Many Pakistanis are suspicious about Davis, who was arrested with loaded weapons, a GPS satellite tracking device, photographs of Pakistan’s defence installations and tribal areas, while American authorities are still silent about his role in Pakistan. It is notable that the former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has stated that he was dropped from the new cabinet owing to his principled position on the question of diplomatic immunity to the killer, and he adopted a stance, seen by majority of people. Some sources confirms that Raymond Davis has visited Pakistan twice under the cover of diplomatic status, and this time he came with changed name to conceal his identity. However, Davis is killer and is an agent of CIA, while Washington is blackmailing Islamabad by applying coercive diplomacy. In this respect, on the one hand, US high officials say that on the issue of Davis, America will not break relations with Pakistan; while on the other, they continue pressure on Islamabad for his immediate release. The issue of Raymond Davis is not new one as past history of Pak-US ties prove that America has always blackmailed Pakistan on various occasions. In this context, it is of particular attention that in the aftermath of the November 26 catastrophe of Mumbai, Washington, while tilting towards India had blackmailed Islamabad. Setting aside the ground realties that Pakistan, itself, has been the major victim of terrorism, which has been bearing multiple losses in combating this menace since 9/11, with the support of the US, Indian blame game against Islamabad, continued during exchange of information between the two neighbouring countries regarding Mumbai mayhem. While, rejecting Pakistan’s stand that its government or any official agency was not involved in the Mumbai attacks, presenting one after another list of bogus evidence, New Delhi wanted to make Islamabad accept all other Indian demands since our rulers admitted on February 12, 2009 that Ajmal Kasab is Pakistani national and Mumbai terror-attacks were “partially planned in Pakistan. In fact, being a responsible state actor, Islamabad’s admission which had emboldened New Delhi was forced by the US-led some western countries which have continuously been blackmailing Pakistan by insisting upon our government to “do more” against the militancy in the tribal areas by ignoring internal backlash and sacrifices of our security forces during war on terror�while paying no attention to the Lahore-terror attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team including other similar terror-incidents. In that context, India wanted to avail the Mumbai tragedy in increasing further pressure on Pakistan with the help of America in order to force Islamabad to confess that all the terrorists responsible for Mumbai attacks came from Pakistan. In that respect, US former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Milliband who had visited India and Pakistan stressed upon Islamabad to take actions against the banned Jamaatud Dawa and the already banned Lashkar-i-Tayba. Speaking in Indian tune, they had also said that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai events came from Pakistan. In that connection, Ameria had played a key role in getting passed a resolution through the UN Security Council which added Pakistan-based Jamaatud Dawa and four of its leaders to the list of Al Qaeda-related terrorists. Without any doubt, this similar approach by the US and India show that these states are in collusion to destabilize and ‘denuclearise’ Pakistan through blackmailing diplomacy as demands on Pakistan to take action against the Jamaatud Dawa and its related welfare organistions including admission regarding the departure of the Mumbai culprits from our soil were forced. And Islamabad accepted these false allegations as our country was facing serious internal and external challenges of grave nature. In the recent past, IMF decided to sanction loan to Pakistan after American green signal. Past experience proves that economic dependence on foreign countries always brings political dependence in its wake. While, at that critical juncture, our country had been facing precarious financial problem, US-led some western allies compelled Pakistan to accept some Indian false demands. Hollowness of New Delhi’s allegations and forced admission of Islamabad could be gauged from the fact that on February 27, 2009, Pakistan’s Naval Chief of Staff Admiral Nuaman Bashir remarked that he had no proof that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks used Pakistani waters to reach India. The statement of our naval chief coupled with American duress makes it quite clear that Mumbai mayhem was pre-planned by the Indian intelligence agency, RAW to further distort the image of Pakistan in the comity of nations. Another example of blackmailing is that the US is emphasising Islamabad to to take action against the militants of North Waziristan. It also continuous drone attacks on Pakistan’s soil without bothering for the sovereignty of the country. Inaction of the US-led west over Hindu terrorism and such duplicity undoubtedly indicates that America and major European states have their common interest in India. Hence, they blindly support New Delhi’s shrewd diplomacy against Islamabad. These major countries only tolerate Pakistan owing to its role as a frontline state against terrorism, otherwise, they leave no stone unturned in blackmailing our country so as to harm our interests. In this respect, forced demands on Pakistan regarding Mumbai mayhem entailing accusation of cross-border terrorism either in Afghanistan or the Indian-held Kashmir are also part of this blackmailing practice. In fact, we are living in an unequal world order. The prevalent global system tends to give a greater political and economic leverage to the affluent developed nations who could safeguard their interests at the cost of the weaker countries. Whenever, any controversy arises on the controversial issues, the UN Security Council enforces the doctrine of collective security against the small states, while the five big powers protect their interests by using veto. This shows discrimination between the powerful and the weaker. In this context, it is notable that in 2001, UN had permitted the United States to attack Afghanistan under the cover of right of self-defence. In case of the Indian occupied Kashmir, the issue still remains unresolved as UN resolutions regarding the plebiscite were never implemented because Washington and some western powers support the illegitimate stand of India due to their collective interests. Particularly, in economic context, the world order reflects greater disparities as the flow of capital and credit system is also dominated by the United States and other developed countries�the consequent result is an increase in the activities of the Multinationals which have shattered the economies of the poor developing states. Besides, international financial institutions like I.M.F and World Bank are under the control of the US and its partners who protect their interests by blackmailing the governments of the small states through financial pressure. In these terms, US-led countries especially blackmail Pakistan directly or indirectly. In sense of Hobbes, Machiavelli and Morgenthau, a renowned strategic thinker, Thomas Schelling remarks about the US, “coercion to be an effective tool of foreign policy.” Kissinger also endorses politics of bargaining and pressure through threats, coercion and even violence as essential elements of the American diplomacy. In this regard, diplomacy itself becomes the real tool of blackmailing. Returning to our earlier discussion, Raymond Davis is a murderer, but the US blackmails Pakistan for his release as the latter depends upon Washington for military and economic aid in wake of multi-faceted problems. America should remember that it also depends upon Pakistan which is a frontline state of the US war on terror, and without Islamabad’s support the sole superpower cannot win this ‘different war’ against terrorism. Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations.