Pakistan names new spymaster

STRINGER/REUTERS - Lt. Gen. Zaheer ul-Islam, at right, will lead Pakistan’s spy agency, replacing Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who had been in charge since 2008.

Pakistan appoints new spy chief

Pakistan appointed a new head of intelligence on Friday, injecting some uncertainty in America's dealings with an agency crucial to its hopes of negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban and keeping pressure on al-Qaida.

Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam replaces Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who had been in the post since 2008 and was due to retire on March 18th. The scion of a military family who is currently army commander in the city of Karachi, Islam was considered a likely man for the job.

Islam, who between 2008 and 2010 was the deputy head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, will be a major player in any Pakistani efforts to get the Afghan Taliban to enter peace negotiations to end the war. ISI agents helped build up the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s, and its leaders are believed to be based in Pakistan. The ISI is considered to have some influence over them.

While there remain doubts over its loyalty, the ISI also works closely with the CIA in tracking and capturing members of al-Qaida, which retains a global command and training center close to the Afghan border.

Relations between Washington and the United States have been strained since the U.S.raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year and have all but collapsed since November, when American troops mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops on the Afghan border. Intelligence cooperation between them has continued despite the tensions, officials from both nations have said.

The ISI falls under the control of the army, which sets policy in consultation with the elected government.

As such, the appointment of Islam is not expected to immediately, or significantly, change Pakistani policy, but having a new man at the helm inevitably brings a measure of uncertainty in American dealings with the spy agency. The current head of the army, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, is due to retire in October 2013.

"There is now a variable. Except for his close relations, who knows what he believes in? When he comes under stress, how will he react?" said Moeed Pirzada, a political commentator.

A U.S. official said Islam had traveled to America during his career to attend U.S. military sponsored training programs, and was familiar with his American counterparts.

"It would not be a surprise to see a brief transition period as the new head of the ISI gets up to speed, but that shouldn't have much impact on counter terrorism cooperation," said the official, speaking anonymously to talk about intelligence matters.

Islam has also served as head of the ISI's internal security wing, which deals with militants and counterintelligence. As army chief in Karachi, he would have intimate knowledge of the militant groups in the city, which has been frequently hit by terrorist attacks since 2001.

Pasha headed the spy service during a tumultuous time, especially after the bin Laden raid in May.

Abroad, bin Laden's presence in the military town of Abbottabad only heightened suspicions that elements of the ISI may have been protecting him. At home, the military establishment was criticized for failing to track him down, as well as not preventing the unilateral American airborne raid.

Shuja Nawaz, the director of the South Asia Center at the U.S.-based Atlantic Council, said the change of ISI chief "wouldn't makes a great deal of difference" in Pakistani policy.

"Instructions will continue to come from the army chief. However, there are always the personal likes and dislikes of the individual who takes over the ISI because the army chief is not supervising every micro detail," he said, speaking before Islam's appointment was announced.

Militants attacked ISI offices several times over the last four years, and Pasha had to ramp up the agency's fight against them. During his tenure, the CIA dramatically expanded its drone strike program against militants along the Afghan border, allegedly with the support of the ISI.

Earlier Friday, an American missile attack killed 12 militants in South Waziristan, a rugged militant stronghold where the Pakistani army has staged offensives in the past, intelligence officials said. The attack was the eighth this year, which represents a drop in frequency over the past two years. In 2011, there were an average of two strikes a week.

The strikes, which began in earnest in 2008, have killed scores of militants, including foreign al-Qaida members involved in plotting attacks on the West. Their tempo increased in 2010, when they hit militants widely seen as being proxies of the Pakistani army, causing friction between the U.S and Pakistan.

Also Friday, an al-Qaida video released on the Internet confirmed the death of militant commander Badr Mansoor in a missile attack in February. Mansoor was believed to be behind many of the suicide attacks inside Pakistan in recent years, and so his death could be cited by supporters of the campaign in Washington and Islamabad as an example of how drone attacks benefit both countries.

Mansoor was from Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, and moved to North Waziristan in 2008, where he led a faction of some 230 fighters, local insurgents have said. The enlistment of Punjabis in the Pakistani Taliban has been a serious concern for the government, because it makes it easier for the militants to export violence from the border to the heart of the country, where most Punjabis live.

Colorful Wishes To Holi Festival

Holi is the colorful Indian festival mostly celebrated by Hindu people in North India. It is also known as festival of colors. Celebrating Holi is somewhat different from all other festival and it is full of excitement, enthusiasm and fun making festival. Color powders are taking foremost role in Holi and definitely no holi without colors. People celebrate the whole day with much pump and jollity by spreading color powders with family, friends, colleagues and neighbors.

Originally Holi was considered to be the festival to celebrate good harvests and richness of the land. There has some stories behind Holi, Some says it is remembrance for the sacrifice of Holika who burnt herself on fire in this day. Celebration of Holi festival is characterized by performing Holi puja as per Hindu tradition. Dhuleti, which falls day after Holi Puja, is considering being the actual festival of colors. Children and youngsters vie with each other use fast and sticky colors to celebrate Holi

It’s the way to spend enjoyable time with our family, loved ones and have fun playing with colored powder, water balloons and sprinklers and the time to come together and extend joy and happiness all around. Wish this holi in colorful manner to make some colors to your related ones. Color the hearts of your loved ones with warm holi greetings, holi sms and smiling holy wishes. Our heartiest holy wishes to everyone.

 Tarana, age 12, as she stands screaming, surrounded by the bodies of men, women and children who were just killed by a suicide bomber who detonated a bomb during a religious ceremony in Kabul on December 6, 2011.More than 70 people lost their lives in all, and at least nine other members of Tarana's family were wounded. The blast has prompted fears that Afghanistan could see the sort of sectarian violence that has pitched Shiite against Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Pakistan. 

Afghan demonstrators show copies of Korans allegedly set alight by US soldiers, during a protest against Koran desecration at the gate of Bagram Air Base, on February 21, 2012. The copies of the burnt Korans and Islamic religious texts were obtained by Afghan workers contracted to work inside Bagram air base, and presented to demonstrators gathered outside the military installation.(Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images) # 

Censor wanted for Pakistan's internet

Part of move for government to control more TV

Blocked YouTube in 2008 because of 'anti-Islamic' movies

PAKISTAN is advertising for companies to install an internet filtering system that could block up to 50 million web addresses, alarming free speech activists who fear current censorship could become much more widespread.

Internet access for Pakistan's some 20 million web users is less restricted than in many countries in Asia and the Arab world, though some pornographic sites and those seen as insulting to Islam are blocked. Others related to separatist activities or army criticism have also been, or continue to be, censored.

Few nations have so publicly revealed their plans to censor the web as Pakistan is doing, however. Last month, the government took out newspaper and web advertisements asking for companies or institutions to develop the national filtering and blocking system.

Like in many Asian countries where pornographic materials are banned, Pakistan currently tries to block adult websites. It also seeks to censor what it sees as "blasphemous" content toward Islam, as other Muslim nations do.

In 2008, the government blocked YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies on the site; in 2010, it blocked Facebook for two weeks amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Economists, politicians and business executives typically spend their lives striving for the same goal – bringing prosperity to their communities. Why? The answer appears simple. More money buys more options and security, which, ultimately, leads to greater happiness.

But a new study challenges the wisdom of this thinking.

The research team, led by Dr. Evelyn Bromet, a professor of psychiatry at State University of New York at Stony Brook, interviewed 89,000 people in a 18 countries, from very poor places to the world's most developed economies. Using a standard set of questions known as the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview, they attempted  to gauge the prevalence of depression. Their findings: Citizens of wealthier countries are more likely to be depressed. Overall, 15 percent of people in the wealthy countries surveyed experience depression, compared to 11 percent in the low and middle-income countries.

The researchers aren't sure why but offer several possible explanations, including less family and community support and higher expectations in wealthy countries and a reluctance of people in lower-income countries to admit to depression.

India named world's most depressed nation

Overall, one in seven people (15 per cent) in high-income countries is likely to get depression over their lifetime, compared with one in nine (11 per cent) in middle- and low-income countries.

But there are exceptions to the rule. India recorded the highest rate of major depression in the world, at 36 per cent. It is going through unprecedented social and economic change, which often brings depression in its wake. The global study, based on interviews with 89,000 people, shows that women are twice as likely to suffer depression as men.

Stripping Nobel Prize From Muslim Dr. Abdus Salam

It is a shame that many of the Pakistani people I have been interacting have bought the government-fed idea that Ahmadiyya Muslims are not Muslims.

Shame on them, they have not only lost political freedom, they have lost their minds as well. As a Muslim, I am disappointed that Pakistan has deprived the Muslim world of a Nobel Laureate, indeed the late Dr. Abdus Salam is the only Nobel Laureate of Pakistan and they don't list him as a Muslim, and have gone one to erase the word Muslim from his headstone. What a shame! He was the pride of Pakistan and yet no minister or high government official attended his funeral. I wish he lived in America; he would have gotten all the due respect he deserved.

Yet the same Muslims daily recite that God alone is the Master of the Day of Judgment, and he alone is judge of our faith 17 to 51 times a day. What for? Sir Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the great poet scholar philosopher probably wrote this poem to these folks, "tujhe kya milega namaz mein?" (What is there for you in that prayer if you don't mean it?)

We simply cannot stereotype the whole population based on a few intolerant judgmental men out there. Just like the good for nothing silent majority of Jews, Christians, Muslims or Hindus; and Americans, Indians or Chinese, the Pakistani Muslim majority is another good for nothing lot who don't have the balls to speak up. We must encourage the good people to start speaking up and bring about a positive change where no Pakistani has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other Pakistani.

They did not have the freedom to sign the Asia Bibi Petition; did not have the guts to step forward to do the funeral prayers for Governor Taseer who wanted to end the misapplied blasphemy laws, and they did not have the nerve to speak up on most issues and put up with the Zardari government.

What has happened to this community that is suppose to value Justice above all else? They listen to the stories of the Prophet and the Caliphs, how they stood up for the rights of Jews, Christians and others even against their own kith and kin. A Muslim cannot be prejudiced and judgmental. How many of us qualify to be a Muslim?

This week witnesses Dr. Salam's 85th birthday. May Allah bless him for his pioneering research in "theoretical elementary particle physics" benefiting the humanity; may Allah give courage to the Pakistani people to stand up for justice for every Pakistani in the footsteps of the Prophet and the rightly guided caliphs, and treat every Pakistani on an equal footing regardless of his or her religion, belief or denomination.

The New Colony - Balochistan

Posted: 02/28/2012 10:28 am

The people of Balochistan have the right to self-determination and their own sovereignty, according to the United States House of Representatives Committee on foreign affairs.

The reasoning behind this article is to question the motives of any Western power to support the Baloch independence cause. Not for a moment am I going to excuse the heinous crimes committed by the Pakistani military in Balochistan.

The Americans do not care for the freedom of the Baloch people. If the chair of the committee, Representative Dana Rohrabacher, really cared about freedom he would have spoken up for many other people around the world a long time ago.

WikiLeaks released cables on Rohrabacher's trip to Honduras where Rohrabacher promoted business after a military coup had disposed the democratically elected president and installedPorfirio Lobo, a candidate backed by the military and the oligarchy. A quick look at Rohrabacher's campaign funding tells you that he is a good friend of big business and therefore it should come as no surprise that Balochistan is rich in natural gas, coal and uranium. But it is not just big business backers that drive Rohrabacher; he is also ideologically driven. The Republican representative voted against supporting democratic institutions in Pakistan but voted for cooperating with India as a nuclear power. An ardent believer of free market economics, he is also opposed to the expansion of the influence of China and has spoken vociferously against communism. His views on Iran are very clear. Rohrabacher supports a potential strike by Israel against Iran -- it is worth noting that the Balochistan region also crosses over into Iran.

Another 'expert' witness, Ralph Peters, a retired US Lieutenant Colonel, was eager to give his biased opinion. As far back as 2006, he had drawn up maps of Pakistan with Balochistan as a separate state. In 2008 in an article for the New York Post he wrote that, "Pakistan suffers from a flawed founding vision: Islam has not been enough to unite Sindhis and Punjabis, Baluchis and Pashtuns." He is an expert for Fox News, that bastion of 'fair and balanced' reporting, and on there he ranted that Jullian Assange should be assassinated for being a 'cyber-terrorist'. Can Peter's opinions really be taken seriously and can we blame Pakistanis for thinking that he has an ulterior motive here?

Dr. Hossein Bor, an American Baloch, sounded like a colonial servant as he pimped himself out to Rohrabacher. Attempting to appeal to the US for support for the independence of Balochistan he cited the rich natural resources of Balochistan, the Iranian oil pipeline, Afghan Taliban and the Gwadar port. It seems that some in the Baloch freedom movement are happy to be used as US proxies to achieve their freedom. When asked about the Baloch people and the West he replied, "they have welcomed US support with open arms." He also stated that if Balochistan became independent that they would provide the US with military bases in Gwadar and went on to say that Balochistan "is the most strategically important piece of land in the world." Dr. Bor spoke more like an American hawk than an expert witness, and also warned of the dangers of China's naval base in Gwadar. He was there to sell the cause of Baloch nationalism to the US and did it through scaremongering about China and talking to the hawks about US strategic interests.

Freedom for the Baloch people is not the primary concern for the US, but countering China is. The Chinese government has invested heavily in the Gwadar port in Balochistan. The port city will be connected to the Karakoram highway, which connects Pakistan and China, and that China has been helping Pakistan to widen. The Gwadar port gives China access to the Arabian Sea, strategically close to the Gulf through which 30% of the world's oil is shipped. Having China so close to the Strait of Hormuz and access to the shortest route to Central Asia states via Afghanistan makes the US nervous. In a U.S. Department of Defence report the port was referred to as being part of the 'String of Pearls' initiative, which sees China strategically placing itself in locations to ensure its energy security. Where do the Balochs and Pakistanis fit into all of this? They are but pawns in the new Great Game being played out by the US.

Pakistan Vs. Balochistan

Posted: 02/15/2012 3:08 pm

Pakistan has further accelerated violence against its ethnic Baloch minority following an unprecedentedhearing of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs which voiced deep concern over the appalling human rights violations allegedly committed by the army in the country's largest province of Balochistan. While Pakistan's foreign office, the embassy in Washington, D.C. and the National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution which "strongly condemned" the hearing by terming it "blatant interference" of the United States into its 'internal matters,' rogue intelligence agencies linked to the godlike military have chosen a ruthless path to vent retribution. 

On Feb. 13, the bullet-riddled dead body of Sangat Sana Baloch, 27, a prominent leader of the secular Baloch Republican Party (BRP), was dumped in a desolate southern district of Balochistan. The young leader had 'disappeared' on Dec. 7, 2009, from a town 50 kilometers away from Quetta, the capital of the gas and gold-rich Balochistan. Considering the pattern of the young leader's mysterious disappearance which matched with hundreds of previously documented similar cases, Sana's party pointed fingers at Pakistan's infamous Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the secret wing of the army, and its affiliates, for killing the opposition leader. 

Sana had been shot 30 times to the head and chest by his captors, family members said. 

"This is Islamabad's reaction to the congressional hearing in Washington which highlighted Pakistan's crimes against the Baloch," says Abdul Qadir Baloch, vice chairman of the Voice for the Missing Baloch Persons, a community-based organization comprising of the family members of hundreds of missing activists. The 60-year old-former bank employee joined the campaign after his own 35-year-old son Jalil Reki, BRP's central information secretary, was whisked away by, he alleges, the spymasters on Feb. 13, 2009. 

The BRP demands a separate homeland for the Baloch people.

After two year's disappearance, Reki's tortured dead body was eventually thrown on the roadside after Mr. Baloch snubbed official threats to give up the movement seeking the release of the missing persons. 

There were no official charges against Mr. Baloch's son, nor was the latter ever produced before a court of law in these two years to legally defend himself. Pakistan's judiciary lacks the teeth to bite army agents who abuse their official powers. 

In a June 2011 report, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent nonpartisan rights watchdog, said the enforced disappearances had created an "acute climate of fear" amongst the civilians and had contributed to the growing alienation of the people from the state and hatred towards the security forces and intelligence agencies under the control of the Pakistan military.

"Young men between 16 to 25 years of age were being particularly targeted. Many of them were either students or unemployed youth. Some of the incidents indicated random picking up of young men, for example, from picnic spots and markets," reported the HRCP after conducting extensive field research in the conflict-stricken province. 

Pakistani authorities have remained engaged since 2004 in brutally suppressing an indigenous uprising, led by the native Balochs, which calls for an end to exploitation and manipulation of their mineral wealth by the dominant Punjabis. What began as a mere demand for maximum internal autonomy until recently, brutal state violence has taken the movement to a point of no-return where the irreconcilable young Balochs seek absolute independence. 

The Congressional sub-committee hearing flabbergasted Pakistan by fully backing the Baloch right to self-determination arguing that people had a right to liberate themselves from abusive governments such as Pakistan's vis-a-vis the Baloch. 

"Balochistan deserves our attention because it is a turbulent land marked by human rights violations committed by regimes that are hostile to America's interests and values," said GOP Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who chaired the hearing which was attended by another four Congressmen.

In the aftermath of the hearing, which spotted the loopholes in Pakistan's justice and governance system, Islamabad -- Washington's inconsistent ally in the war on terror -- has not made any promises to work with the international community to steadily halt arbitrary disappearances, torture and targeted killings of political opponents. Instead, diplomats, politicians and even the media in Pakistan have joined hands in calling brutalities against the Baloch as "Pakistan's internal matter." 

Ironically, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Pakistan's leader of the opposition, moved a resolution in the parliament on Feb. 13 against the hearing where Human Rights Watch and the Amnesty International representatives also testified and confirmed the misuse of state power against innocent civilians. 

Describing the congressional hearing as "totally unacceptable" and "ill-informed," the Pakistani parliament urged the U.S. Administration to play "a more proactive role" to discourage such events in the future. 

"This House strongly condemns the blatant interference in Pakistan's internal affairs evidenced by U.S. Congressional Foreign Relations Sub-Committee hearing on Balochistan on 8th February, 2012... the holding of such a hearing... cannot but jeopardize the healing process and further inflame public opinion against the U.S. by adding to the prevailing sense of mistrust and suspicion regarding U.S. intentions towards Pakistan," the resolution warned. 

Despite Pakistan's condemnation of the congressional hearing, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan,Cameron Munter, has repeatedly expressed concern over human rights issues in Balochistan. 

"There is no doubt that people in Balochistan are facing human rights abuses," he said in a freshinterview with a Pakistani newspaper. "U.S. administration should take up the 'alarming issue' [of Balochistan] with Pakistani leaders. This is an important issue for us to be discussing with the Pakistani government."

Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan Director at the Asia Division of the Human Rights Watch, who also testified on Feb. 8, takes a blunt position against Pakistan's objections. He says certain human rights violations, such as torture, do not fall in the category of nations' "internal matter." According to him, Pakistan, in spite of being a signatory of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention Against Torture, is not fulfilling its obligations in Balochistan. 

"We do not subscribe to the argument that criticizing human rights abusers is interference in internal affairs," he says, "Torture is a very serious crime which falls under universal jurisdiction ... any act of torture or torturer can be held accountable anywhere in the world."

Mr. Hasan warns Islamabad, "You can't kill your own people and then call it an internal affair. As long as there is no reaction on the part of the Pakistani government to our reports and recommendations, we will continue to highlight human rights abuses because this is our job and mandate."

While the Congressional hearing has helped to bring the Balochistan conflict in spotlight, it has also increased the risk of more state-sponsored violence and torture against the Balochs. Seen in the backdrop of the post-hearing killings, the future in Balochistan looks bloody and murky. The congressional event and official expression of deep concern have, unfortunately, generated false but extremely unrealistic expectations among the Baloch youth who have hastily concluded that the U.S. has probably made up its mind to support their "freedom struggle" against Pakistan. 

Given the complicated and unmanageable relationship the United States has had with Pakistan, it is clear that Washington enjoys very limited influence on Pakistan. For instance, it has failed to press Pakistan to act like a responsible partner in the War on Terror by cutting links with Islamic terrorist groups. Therefore, it is too naive to hope that the U.S. can truly play a crucial role in ending human rights violations in Balochistan. 

Having said that, the U.S. congressional committee, which began the hearing, should now take more responsibility by advancing this initiative to its logical destination by discussing the issue with a broader community of policymakers, defenders of democracy and human rights activists. Dropping the Balochistan issue by the U.S. Congress will remarkably hurt the Baloch who will bear the brunt of what Georgetown University's C. Christine Fair billed as a "congressional stunt." 

The Obama administration should not suffice with expressing 'concern' over the situation in Balochistan. With the testimonies provided by the HRW and Amnesty International, the administration should seriously see what it can do, considering its own limited influence on Pakistan, to stop rights violations and help find out a peaceful political solution to the Balochistan imbroglio. 

The administration must not ignore the Baloch because they matter in the region due to their geo-strategic position. After all, they are a secular people surrounded by three countries -- Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- with a staunch inclination toward radical Islam. By weakening the secular Balochs, Pakistan wants to convert Balochistan into a rich soil and a breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalists from all over the world.