Pakistan – Page 15

Is it a crime to possess or wear clothing with national insignia of a neighbouring South Asian Country?: An Open Letter to Secretary General of SAARC

November 10, 2014 by Nasheman

To:
H.E. Arjun Bahadur Thapa,
Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
SAARC Secretariat,  Tridevi Marg,  P.O. Box 4222,  Kathmandu,  Nepal
saarc@saarc-sec.org

Your excellency,

I write to draw your attention to the recent filing of a police complaint against 10 young boys in the Kushinagar area located in the province of Uttar Pradesh in India on grounds of wearing the Tee shirts of the Pakistan Cricket Team. [see a news report in the Indian Media posted below] It is indeed astonishing that citizen’s of SAARC member states cannot take the risk of wearing clothing bearing insignia from national sports teams of another SAARC member state. In a similar incident in March 2014 some 60 odd students in a university in India were charged with sedition and faced expulsion from their university for cheering the Pakistan Team in cricket match broadcast on TV [http://tinyurl.com/mq2mz2x]. After all the SAARC member states are signatories to a common charter and a whole set of regional agreements that are meant to promote regional cooperation and mutual understanding and incidents like these clearly run counter to these commitments. What is wrong in reading books, seeing films, watching and appreciating sports events, being able to access handicrafts or clothing from countries that are members of SAARC. Why should these banal things which are lived and accepted as normal in other parts of the world be considered inimical to National interests of SAARC states?

Usually people would write a letter like this directly to the authorities concerning the country of wrongdoing, but I choose to write to you most of all, since you hold the fort for SAARC.

This may seem an extra-ordinary request concerning events in a particular SAARC member state but I would like to ask you to kindly take up this matter formally with the Govt of India and also with all member states of SAARC to ensure that the act of purchase or possession of commonly available sports goods bearing national insignia of SAARC member states should not become grounds of filing police complaints in any SAARC country against citizens of SAARC member states. Sir, please dont hold your horses on this even if it means creating a precedent, if not for anything else, you owe it to the tax payers in South Asia’s member states that fund the SAARC secretariat. However symbolic an initiative from you regarding this matter it would render a signal service to citizens of SAARC member states.

Yours sincerely,

Harsh Kapoor [as concerned South Asian]

Copies to:

Mr Akhilesh Yadav Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, 5, Kalidas Marg Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India cmup@nic.in
People’s SAARC Regional Secrerariat, Kathmandu, Nepal peoplesaarc@yahoo.com
South Asians for Human Rights 345/18 Kuruppu Road (17/7 Kuruppu Lane), Colombo 08, Sri Lanka sahr@southasianrights.org
Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal & Asha Hans Co-Chairpersons, Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace & Democracy – India pipfpd.india@gmail.com
Mr John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council of India john.dayal@gmail.com

UP police register case against 10 boys for wearing T-shirts of Pakistan cricket team

Written by Muzamil Jaleel | New Delhi | Posted: November 8, 2014 | The Indian Express

The Uttar Pradesh Police have registered a case against 10 boys in Kushinagar district for wearing T-shirts of the Pakistani cricket team during a Muharran procession. The boys have been charged for acting “prejudicial to national integration and causing communal disharmony”, sources said.

The sources said the boys, said to be aged under 12, were part of the Muharram procession in Kalyan Chapad Chotta, a village under the jurisdiction of the Kubersthan police station. They were playing with sticks, a tradition during Muharram processions especially in this region of Uttar Pradesh in which groups of boys exhibit their skills.

Sources said the police have named five boys in their case while the other five are yet to be named.

When contacted, SP Kushinagar Lalit Kumar Singh said “an FIR has been lodged but nobody has been arrested”. He did not want to explain as to why the case was registered.

Kushinagar DM Lokesh M told The Indian Express that it was a small issue and the district administration is trying to sort it out. “These children were wearing those T-shirts and once it was pointed out, they removed it immediately,” he said. He said the police have not given him any report yet. He said that Kushinagar district is communally sensitive.

The family members of the boys were not ready to speak because of fear. A police team had already visited the village for investigation.

A village elder, Liyaqat Ali, said this case has created tension in the village. “These are foolish children. They are 11-, 12-year-old children. They had bought these T-shirts from a shop and the elders had no idea about it,” he said. “If the police had an objection to this, they should have explained this to the children. What was the need to register a case,” he said. “The police case has created tension in the village. We are unable to understand as to why police filed a case of sedition against these children.”

A local social activist, Shakir Ali, however, said the issue was being unnecessarily exaggerated. “These T-shirts are readily available with a local sports shop. A group of boys had picked these T-shirts so that they could wear them during the stick playing tradition during the Muharram procession,” he said. “They had done it without knowing that it would get them into trouble. Once someone pointed it out, they removed it immediately.” He said there is a lot of fear among the Muslim population in the village after this incident, especially after police filed the case. “How is wearing a T-shirt of a country that is readily available in a store here seditious?’’ he asked.

Sources said activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini burnt Pakistani flags at different places especially at Padrona Subash Chowk in the district on Wednesday and sought action against the boys.

PILER condemns killing of brick kiln workers in Kot Radha Kishan in Pakistan

November 6, 2014 by Nasheman

Karachi: Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research has vehemently condemned the brutal killing and then burning of bodies of Shahzad and Shama, the worker couple in Kot Radha Kishan Punjab.

In a statement here Wednesday, the PILER Chief Executive Karamat Ali demanded the provincial government of Punjab to arrest the owner and other responsible staff and try them in Anti-Terrorism court.

In a recent addition to the rapidly rising list of attacks on religious minorities, the Christian couple was reported to be beaten and their bodies were put in a burning brick kiln in Kot Radha Kishan area of Punjab on November 4. The couple was alleged of desecrating the Holy Quran however some news reports contradicted the allegation by claiming that there was some dispute between the couple and the kiln owner.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also reported rise in attacks against minorities groups during the last year and mentioned 2013 as one of the darkest years for the Christian community in Pakistan. Attacks on churches, Christian populations and forced conversions are some of the highlights of the year.

The case of Kot Radha kishan appears to be another outcome of blasphemy law, which has already resulted in many innocent deaths in the past. Any call for the review of this law has always been replied with threats, attacks and at most, death. None of the governments had a courage to revisit this law. Salman Taseer, former Governor of Punjab (2008-2011), had labeled the blasphemy law as ‘black law’ and soon after, he was killed by his own gunmen. The killer is now behind tge bars but was reported to have been inciting the fellow prisoners and even those on duty to kill the blasphemy convicts in the jail. Despite a number of reports which appeared in media recently, no action was taken by the jail authorities or the government of Punjab.

Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its recent landmark verdict in a suo motu case has directed government to form a National Council for minorities’ rights with the mandate to tailor policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities’ rights. Also following the kidnappings of Hindu community members in Sindh, National Assembly had agreed to form a fact-finding committee on attacks against minorities. Any progress on both the mentioned reports never appeared anywhere.

Pakistan win first test series against Australia in 20 years

November 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan achieved their first series win over Australia in 20 years with a thumping 356-run win in the second Test here today, taking the two-match series 2-0.

The elusive win lifts Pakistan to number three in International Cricket Council’s Test rankings behind number one South Africa and Australia.

Spinners Zulfiqar Babar (5-120) and Yasir Shah (3-44) rocked Australia once again for 246 in the second innings soon after lunch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Pakistan won the first Test by 221 runs in Dubai.

Pakistan had taken a big step forward after scoring a mammoth 570-6 declared in their first innings and getting a 309-run lead by dismissing Australia for 261. That never allowed Australia to stage a comeback and avoid series defeat for the first time since losing 1-0 in Pakistan in 1994.

The defeat was Australia’s third worst in all Test cricket behind their 675 run loss against England in Brisbane in 1928 and by 408 against the West Indies at Adelaide in 1980.

In contrast Pakistan registered their biggest win in terms of runs, beating their 341-run victory over India at Karachi in 2006.

Pakistan had to fight hard in the morning session as Steven Smith defied Pakistan during his resolute knock of 97, but once Smith departed, leg-before by Shah, Australia lost their last four wickets for the addition of just eight runs.

Smith added an invaluable 107 for the fifth wicket with Mitchell Marsh, who fell after scoring 47.

Smith missed a sharp turner from Shah who also bowled Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc to finish with 12 wickets in the series. Babar had Nathan Lyon caught for his second fifth wicket haul, following up his first in the first Test in Dubai.

Babar finished with 14 wickets in the series as Pakistan did not miss ace spinner Saeed Ajmal’s absence who is suspended due to illegal bowling action. Before lunch Smith batted resolutely, using his feet against the spinners during his 204-ball knock and hitting a dozen boundaries.

Smith reached his eighth Test fifty with two boundaries off spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who failed to add to his three wickets on Sunday.

Marsh, who top-scored with 87 in Australia’s first innings, played Pakistan’s pace-cum spin attack confidently and he and Smith added 55 runs in the first hour.

But Mohammad Hafeez provided the breakthrough when he had Marsh caught by Asad Shafiq off an uppish flick. His 130-ball innings included six boundaries. Hafeez finished with 2-38.

The win is also special for skipper Misbah-ul Haq who equalled the most wins record by a Pakistani captain with 14. Imran Khan and Javed Miandad also won 14 Tests as captains.

Misbah set the world record for the fastest half-century and equalled the feat of fastest century in all Test cricket during his 101 not out on Sunday, capping a memorable Test match.

(AFP)

India ready for nuclear no-first-use agreements

October 22, 2014 by Nasheman

by Arul Louis

New York: Reiterating its traditional policy of not using nuclear weapons first and not targeting non-nuclear weapons nations, India has offered to enter into agreements incorporating the two principles while ruling out joining the non-proliferation treaty.

“As a responsible nuclear power India has a policy of credible minimum deterrence based on a No First Use posture and non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states,” Ambassador D.B. Venkatesh Varma said Monday. “We are prepared to convert these into bilateral or multilateral legally binding arrangements.”

Varma, the Indian Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, was speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly Committee on Disarmament and International Peace.

While New Delhi is “unwavering in its commitment to universal, non-discriminatory, verifiable nuclear disarmament”, he said, “there is no question of India joining the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) as a non-nuclear weapon state.” That would require New Delhi unilaterally giving up its nuclear weapons.

On another matter impacting the restriction of nuclear weapons, Varma offered New Delhi’s qualified support to the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) negotiations.

“Without prejudice to the priority we attach to nuclear disarmament, we support the negotiation in the Conference on Disarmament of an FMCT that meets India’s national security interests,” he said.

Such a treaty would stop the making of materials that could be used in nuclear weapons.

Reintroducing a draft resolution on a Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear Weapons, he criticised countries with nuclear weapons coverage that have repeatedly voted against the proposed measure since it was first introduced in 1982.

Varma expressed “regret that a sizeable minority of member states – some of them nuclear weapon states, some with nuclear weapons stationed on their soil and others with alliance partnerships underwritten by policies of first use of nuclear weapons – have voted against this resolution”.

And, “for reasons that are difficult to understand, some member states which are today in the forefront of efforts to highlight the humanitarian impact of use of nuclear weapons have also voted against this resolution”.

Reflecting the concern of the international community to the dangers from terrorists, Varma said India will be introducing again a draft resolution on “measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction”.

Participating in the debate, Pakistan called for the development of an international non-proliferation system “through policies that are equitable, criteria-based and non-discriminatory”.

In what may be seen as an indirect criticism directed at India, Yasar Ammar, a third secretary in Pakistan’s UN mission, said, “There should be no exceptionalism or preferential treatment driven by motivations of power and profit.”

The US has an agreement with India on civilian cooperation in nuclear field and because New Delhi has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it required a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an international body that deals with trade in nuclear materials and technology.

Pakistan wants a similar agreement with the US, which has been cool to it because of Islamabad’s record of transferring nuclear technology.

India has the support of the US, Russia, Britain, and France for joining the NSG. Pakistan opposes India’s membership if it is not extended to it also.

(IANS)

Upholding blasphemy death sentence against Asia Bibi 'a grave injustice': Amnesty International

October 20, 2014 by Nasheman

A Pakistani court’s decision to uphold the death sentence against a Christian woman convicted on blasphemy charges is a grave injustice, Amnesty International said.

The Lahore High Court today rejected the appeal against the death sentence imposed on Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a Muslim woman.

“This is a grave injustice. Asia Bibi should never have been convicted in the first place – still less sentenced to death – and the fact that she could pay with her life for an argument is sickening,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director.

“There were serious concerns about the fairness of Asia Bibi’s trial, and her mental and physical health has reportedly deteriorated badly during the years she has spent in almost total isolation on death row. She should be released immediately and the conviction should be quashed.”

Asia Bibi’s lawyer said after today’s verdict that he will file an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The story does not end here

An editorial in Pakistan’s The Nation opines that the, “courts in Pakistan must start recognising the fallibility of sworn testimonies. Asia Bibi was convicted on the basis of the testimony of a cleric and other women in the village, even though charges should also be leveled against her accusers for first marginalizing her and then using courts to settle their personal scores against a mother of five. The lack of proper investigative techniques means that evidence is often doctored, and witnesses coerced for personal or ideological reasons in order to spin the case one way or another.”

The Daily Times writes that,”the story does not end here as a series of violent events ensued from this case and continue to haunt us, with some high profile figures like Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti — the then Punjab governor and the federal minister of minorities respectively — having lost their lives for standing up for the victim and voicing against the abusive use of the blasphemy law. The fact that attempts to repeal it have been thwarted, with some paying for it with their lives or receiving life threats, logic demands alternate ways to provide justice. Is there any law that can save a person who has been falsely accused? And is there is any punishment for the one who falsely accuses someone? Or will the clouds of such travesties of justice permanently loom over our heads? One can find plenty of cases where witch-hunts, vigilante mobs, land grabs and assassinations have been carried out under the umbrella of this law.

The Gojra, Badami Bagh, Gujranwala incidents, the recent killing of one blasphemy accused and wounding of another in Adiala Jail and many other similar events are blatantly scars on the face of our history and no one accused of blasphemy, rightly or wrongly, is safe. It is more than shameful for this increasingly intolerant and bigoted society that the perpetrators behind such heinous crimes are treated as heroes while the principles of justice stand paralysed. Parliament needs to take steps to save society from an incremental breakdown of justice because of the blasphemy law while providing safeguards for the falsely accused, whose number is growing, to our permanent shame and ignominy.”

Only 4% of drone victims in Pakistan named as Al-Qaeda members

October 18, 2014 by Nasheman

CIA drones targeted but missed al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in this strike in 2006 (AFP/Getty)

– by Jack Serle, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

As the number of US drone strikes in Pakistan hits 400, research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism finds that fewer than 4% of the people killed have been identified by available records as named members of al Qaeda. This calls in to question US Secretary of State John Kerry’s claim last year that only “confirmed terrorist targets at the highest level” were fired at.

The Bureau’s Naming the Dead project has gathered the names and, where possible, the details of people killed by CIA drones in Pakistan since June 2004. On October 11 an attack brought the total number of drone strikes in Pakistan up to 400.

The names of the dead have been collected over a year of research in and outside Pakistan, using a multitude of sources. These include both Pakistani government records leaked to the Bureau, and hundreds of open source reports in English, Pashtun and Urdu.

Naming the Dead has also drawn on field investigations conducted by the Bureau’s researchers in Pakistan and other organisations, including Amnesty International, Reprieve and the Centre for Civilians in Conflict.

Only 704 of the 2,379 dead have been identified, and only 295 of these were reported to be members of some kind of armed group. Few corroborating details were available for those who were just described as militants. More than a third of them were not designated a rank, and almost 30% are not even linked to a specific group. Only 84 are identified as members of al Qaeda – less than 4% of the total number of people killed.

These findings “demonstrate the continuing complete lack of transparency surrounding US drone operations,” said Mustafa Qadri, Pakistan researcher for Amnesty International.

Pakistan drone strike deaths in numbers
Total killed	2,379
Total identified as militants	295
Total named as al Qaeda	84
Total named	704

When asked for a comment on the Bureau’s investigation, US National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that strikes were only carried out when there was “near-certainty” that no civilians would be killed.

“The death of innocent civilians is something that the U.S. Government seeks to avoid if at all possible. In those rare instances in which it appears non-combatants may have been killed or injured, after-action reviews have been conducted to determine why, and to ensure that we are taking the most effective steps to minimise such risk to non-combatants in the future,” said Hayden.

“Associated forces”

The Obama administration’s stated legal justification for such strikes is based partly on the right to self-defence in response to an imminent threat. This has proved controversial as leaked documents show the US believes determining if a terrorist is an imminent threat “does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on US persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.”

The legal basis for the strikes also stems from the Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (Aumf) – a law signed by Congress three days after the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks. It gives the president the right to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against those behind the attacks on the US, wherever they are.

The text of Aumf does not name any particular group. But the president, in a major foreign policy speech in May 2013, said this includes “al Qaeda, the Taliban and its associated forces”.

Nek Mohammed speaks at a Jirga three weeks before he died in a CIA drone strike (Reuters/Kamran Wazir)

It is not clear who is deemed to be “associated” with the Taliban. Hayden told the Bureau that “an associated force is an organised armed group that has entered the fight alongside al Qaeda and is a co-belligerent with al Qaeda in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.”

The CIA itself does not seem to know the affiliation of everyone they kill. Secret CIA documents recording the identity, rank and affiliation of people targeted and killed in strikes between 2006 to 2008 and 2010 to 2011 were leaked to the McClatchy news agency in April 2013. They identified hundreds of those killed as simply Afghan or Pakistani fighters, or as “unknown”.

Determining the affiliation even of those deemed to be “Taliban” is problematic. The movement has two branches: one, the Afghan Taliban, is fighting US and allied forces, and trying to re-establish the ousted Taliban government of Mullah Omar in Kabul. The other, the Pakistani Taliban or the TTP, is mainly focused on toppling the Pakistani state, putting an end to democracy and establishing a theocracy based on extreme ideology. Although the US did not designate the TTP as a foreign terrorist organisation until September 2010, the group and its precursors are known to have worked with the Afghan Taliban.

According to media reports, the choice of targets has not always reflected the priorities of the US alone. In April last year the McClatchy news agency reported the US used its drones to kill militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas in exchange for Pakistani help in targeting al Qaeda members.

Three days before the McClatchy report, the New York Times revealed the first known US drone strike in Pakistan, on June 17 2004, was part of a secret deal with Pakistan to gain access to its airspace. The CIA agreed to kill the target, Nek Mohammed, in exchange for permission for its drones to go after the US’s enemies.

The “butcher of Swat”

Senior militants have been killed in the CIA’s 10-year drone campaign in Pakistan. But as the Bureau’s work indicates, it is far from clear that they constitute the only or even the majority of people killed in these strikes.

“Judging by the sheer volume of strikes and the reliable estimates of total casualties, it is very unlikely that the majority of victims are senior commanders,” says Amnesty’s Qadri.

The Bureau has only found 111 of those killed in Pakistan since 2004 described as a senior commander of any armed group – just 5% of the total. Research by the New America Foundation estimated the proportion of senior commanders to be even lower, at just 2%.

Waliur Rehman talks to the Associated Press less than two years before his death (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mahsud)

Among them are men linked to serious crimes. Men such as Ibne Amin, known as the “butcher of Swat” for the barbaric treatment he and his men meted out on the residents of the Swat valley in 2008 and 2009.

Others include Abu Khabab al Masri, an al Qaeda chemical weapons expert. Drones also killed Hakimullah and Baitullah Mehsud, and Wali Ur Rehman – all senior leaders of the TTP.

There are 73 more people recorded in Naming the Dead who are described as mid-ranking members of armed groups. However someone’s rank is not necessarily a reliable guide to their importance in the organisation.

“I think it really depends on what they are,” Rez Jan, a senior Pakistan analyst at the American Enterprise Institute think tank told the Bureau. “You can be a mid-level guy who is involved in [improvised explosive device] production or training in bomb making or planting, or combat techniques and have a fairly lethal impact in that manner.”

Rashid Rauf, a British citizen killed in a November 2008 drone strike in Pakistan, is one al Qaeda member who appears to have had an impact despite not rising to the organisation’s highest echelons.

He acted as a point of contact between the perpetrators of the July 7 2005 attacks on the London Underground and their al Qaeda controllers. He also filled a similar role linking al Qaeda central with the men planning to bring down several airliners flying from London to the US in the 2006 “liquid bomb plot”.

The Bureau has only been able to establish information about the alleged roles of just 21 of those killed. Even this mostly consists of basic descriptions such as “logistician” or “the equivalent of a colonel.”

Note: This story contains a clarification. 4% of people who have been killed by CIA drone strikes have been named and positively identified as members of al Qaeda by available records. Of the drone strike victims who have been named, 12% are identified as al Qaeda.

Nobel Peace Prize for an Indian and Pakistani does have to do with global politics: Arundhati Roy

October 14, 2014 by Nasheman

On the Lauran Flanders show, Arundhati Roy was asked her views on the Nobel peace prize:

Arundhati Roy:

“Look, it’s a difficult thing to talk about because Malala is a brave girl and I think she has now started speaking out against US invasions and bombings that are going on.

“But certainly… as an individual, it is very difficult to resist great powers trying to co-opt you and, trying to use you in certain ways, and she’s only a kid, you know, and she cannot be faulted at all for what she did, but certainly the great game is going on, you know.

“And, of course, the idea of an Indian and a Pakistani being given…sharing the Nobel prize does have to do with global politics and it does have to do with the fact that until the 1990s, Pakistan and America were allies. Now, with all the trouble in Pakistan, the US is trying to step back from that marsh and look for firmer ground, in India.

“So we are at the receiving end of the kiss of death, if you like, and so both the begums now, Pakistan and India, have to be in the sheikh’s harem. You know, they have to be both be…

“I am not…this should not be taken as if I am criticising the individuals at all, but when the great game is at play, then they pick out people…all of us, I am aware of… at least you have to be aware of it…”

Walls instead of Bridges: Kashmir's chance destroyed by Media

October 13, 2014 by Nasheman

– by Special Correspondent, Nasheman

Srinagar: On 7th September, 2014 Kashmir witnessed the worst disaster of the century when the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir got submerged. Rajbagh, Shivpura, Indra Nagar, Jawahar Nagar and Bemina were the worst hit. Water levels rose upto 18 feet in these areas. People were shocked and unable to understand how to save their life. But as we say life has its own ways, people started marching towards these areas and tried to rescue people and bring them out of these submerged houses.

In the state government, except the Chief Minister & DGP everyone else was trying to save himself and his family. I reached Srinagar airport on 5th September and on the same day on directions of Home Ministry two NDRF teams had reached Srinagar airport. Mubashir Bukhari, Dy. SP JK police was briefing them about the situation. NDRF was clueless about the topography of the area and in Kashmir we still don’t have Google maps updated so you can understand how tough it would have been for this police officer to brief them. But anyhow NDRF teams were sent to the destination.

On 7th September when water started entering Srinagar city, locals, NDRF teams and some J&K policemen started rescue operation. On the morning of 8th September, we saw big fleet of helicopters of IAF pressed in the rescue operation. Whenever there is any natural calamity, I have never seen that rescue operations are done by government only, in most of the cases, during rescue operation locals do more work than government machinery and same happened in Kashmir..

Air Force, Army did tremendous job in rescuing people. I Saw army without any hesitation taking people in their vehicles and people also getting into these vehicles without any hesitation. This was the Kashmir which I had seen in my childhood when army and public were friends, though after 1990 everything changed. Till 9th of September everything was going on peacefully but on 10th I again saw anti army voices raising especially in non flood hit areas. I was wondering what happened suddenly, why are people against the army? Why are people saying army is rescuing only non-Kashmiris? Then I realised the battery of journalists who had come with IAF fleet were just showing rescue operation of army and not of the locals. Unfortunately, these reporters were just showing the interviews of only those people who were from outside, this reporting gave the impression that government is only trying to rescue non Kashmiris which was not true. Though few channels did commendable job by taking messages of people stranded in the flood to their families but all these efforts were wasted by some editors for reasons well known to them. This was the time when media could have played the constructive role and tried to narrow down the gap between localities and Army.

Worst was when few channels started playing visuals of stone pelting on security forces in 2010 and rescue operation. I didn’t understand what they were trying to tell people of Kashmir by showing these pictures. Didn’t the media spoil the work done by army and IAF and didn’t this reportage allow people to raise questions.

There were lot of stories which these journalists could have done. Boat owners taking thousands for few kilometers. Thieves trying to sneak in these submerged houses and some heroic jobs of local people.

I am a journalist and fortunately or unfortunately i was in Kashmir during these floods and witnessed as how some media reportage not only spoilt the work done by government but widened the gap between Kashmiris and the government.

Nobel Prize for Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, signal to India and Pakistan to make peace?

October 11, 2014 by Nasheman

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls’ right to education, and Indian children’s right activist Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Malala, aged 17, becomes the youngest Nobel Prize winner by far, and is the second Pakistani to win it, after Physicist Dr. Abdus Salam, who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to electroweak unification.

Satyarthi, 60, and Yousafzai were picked for their struggle against the oppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

“The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism,” said Thorbjoern Jagland, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after campaigning for more access to education for girls and has since become recognisable worldwide.

Unable to return to Pakistan after her recovery, Yousafzai moved to Britain, setting up the Malala Fund and supporting local education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.

Satyarthi, who gave up a career as an electrical engineer in 1980 to campaign against child labour, has headed various forms of peaceful protests and demonstrations, focusing on the exploitation of children for financial gain.

“It’s an honour to all those children still suffering in slavery, bonded labour and trafficking,” Satyarthi told CNN-IBN after learning he won the prize.

In a recent editorial, Satyarthi said that data from non-government organizations indicated that child labourers could number 60 million in India or 6 percent of the total population.

“Children are employed not just because of parental poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, failure of development and education programmes, but quite essentially due to the fact that employers benefit immensely from child labour as children come across as the cheapest option, sometimes working even for free,” he wrote.

Children are employed illegally and companies use the financial gain to bribe officials, creating a vicious cycle, he argued.

Yousafzai last year addressed the U.N. Youth Assembly in an event Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called “Malala Day”. This year she travelled to Nigeria to demand the release of 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

“To the girls of Nigeria and across Africa, and all over the world, I want to say: don’t let anyone tell you that you are weaker than or less than anything,” she said in a speech.

“You are not less than a boy,” Yousafzai said. “You are not less than a child from a richer or more powerful country. You are the future of your country. You are going to build it strong. It is you who can lead the charge.”

The award comes at a time when hostilies have broken out between India and Pakistan and the recongnition is being seen as a highly symbolic push to end a decades-old rivalry between the two nuclear-armed coutries.

Signalling a larger intent behind jointly awarding the prize, the Nobel Committee said it “regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism.”

For her part, Malala did not miss the significance of the moment, paying tribute to her co-winner anti-child labour activist Satyarthi and inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to celebrate their joint win.

(With input from agencies)

India and Pakistan must immediately stop ceasefire violations: PIPFPD, Aaghaz-e-Dosti

October 9, 2014 by Nasheman

New Delhi: While both India and Pakistan continue to accuse and shell each other of violating ceasefire agreement, killing more than 18 innocent civilians and injuring about 60 till date, civil society initiatives from both sides have reprimanded political forces and media for “worsening the situation” and have appealed both countries to restore peace and harmony.

Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and Aaghaz-e-Dosti, have appealed to both India and Pakistan to immediately stop ceasefire violations.

Since October 1, there has been an exchange of fire on the Indo-Pak border. It is not clear, who had started the ceasefire violation, but as usual, both countries claim to be only responding.

Terming the violation as a “matter of grave concern”, the New Delhi based PIPFPD, accused both the nations of resorting to ‘border nationalism’ to boil political temperature among the people. There are elections round the corner in key Indian states including Jammu and Kashmir and the political turmoil in Pakistan.

The Forum said that wars and military actions have yielded nothing but death, destruction and misery for the people of ‘divided’ Jammu and Kashmir. “The experience shows that the dispute will not be resolved through use of military means and can only be resolved through political dialogue based on mutual trust.”

“We call upon the governments of India and Pakistan to allow the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play an active role in monitoring the ceasefire. UNMOGIP is meant to supervise ceasefire line established under Karachi Agreement in 1949. Joint monitoring of the border is the best option in the prevailing situation. It is required at this point that a team of UNMOGIP brings out a status report after visiting affected areas on both sides of the border.”

Far away from the international border the waters of the Indian Ocean and the fishing activity their have been severely impacted by the increased number of orchestrated arrest of fishermen by India and Pakistan. In last one week Pakistan has caught 22 Indian boats and arrested around 125 Indian fishermen. Indian authorities have also arrested six Pakistani fishermen and one boat. This goes on to prove that the tension on the border is directly impacting fishing communities of both the countries.

Aaghaz-e-Dosti, a joint initiative of India-based Mission Bhartiyam and Pakistan-based The Catalyst – TC, reminded that this is not first time when such violations are happening, and said, “we must know that for both the countries, peace is of utmost importance and also our common need is to being focused on development rather than spending huge money of taxes for arms and ammunition. We also see that how through reducing such tensions, both of us can save billions of rupees and can divert this amount for development. We believe that any dispute can be resolved only by talk and mutual negotiation and agreements and not with violence. Any war like situation will only benefit arms manufacturing companies and will be harmful for both the countries, their development and their people.”

The organisation cautioned saying, “by such news of ceasefire violation, people become provoked, they also express their anger, but at the same time, we also view it as our right to know about the correct situation and the reasons responsible for it. We all have the right to know it because it is our money that is being spent and result in the loss of lives. Also, since such instances affect us, our society and harmony between our countries, we must be concerned about this and we must have the right to know the situation in detail.”

Both organisations appealed to both India and Pakistan to urgently stop ceasefire violations and implement ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit, and asked the media to stop using the event as another opportunity to “proliferate hatred for the sake of their TRPs”

They said that “restoration of dialogue and peace talks at the highest level alone can bring back normalcy and peace to the thousands of suffering people, living in border areas and also the fisher people who have been a casualty to this increased hostility.”