50 Recreation Centres for Senior citizens in Delhi

Delhi Government funds 50 recreation centres for senior citizens and are planning to start 50 more. We tried to find out the condition of those centers and if there is need to open more such center. Moreover, isn't recreation a luxury when a large section of poor old people do not even have a place to live or food to eat.

By Mohd. Reyaz and Ranish Hangloo for AJK MCRC

Reconstructive surgery for LAPs

Due to intensive leprosy elimination programme, rate of leprosy is now less than one per thousand people. India still has a long way to go in rehabilitating those already affected. The Government of India introduced reconstructive surgery in 2008.

By Mohd. Reyaz and Karishma Karki for AJK MCRC

India Social Media Study 2009

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

India Social Media Study 2009

View more documents from Preeti Anand.

EID Mubarak

The moon has been sighted. As far as my memory goes, this year the announcement for EID on 29th day was very smoothly, and very early. For the first time, it seems all places and all communities will celebrate Eid on same day in India on 21 September.

Happy EID to alllll!!!!!

On encounter anniversary: doubts and gloom

September 19 brought back gloom in the minds of residents of the Batla House locality in Delhi. One year has passed since the infamous Delhi encounter that was conducted days after serial blasts in the capital.
Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group, a lose association of teachers of the University formed in the backdrop of the last year encounter, brought a mashal march (torchlight rally) on the eve of the encounter anniversary along with other students organizations. Academicians, students and several civil right activists participated in the march. Newly elected MLA of the Okhla Assembly Aisf Mohammad Khan, who was also present, said that he has been raising the issue of independent enquiry and will continue to do so on all platforms.
The demand for independent judicial enquiry again reverberated and many compared it to the Ishrat Jahan case of Gujarat, where judicial probe has now questioned the role of the police involved in the 2004 encounter.
Other than the march organized by Jamia teachers, the locality at large seemed to have put the issue aside and move ahead though suspicion against police still looms high The market in the Batla House is gushing with crowd and locals are busy shopping for Eid. In the last Assembly elections the issue of encounter was high on the agenda. But in the last week concluded by election, it was not as prominent.
Meanwhile, several other groups, including main Opposition BJP, has put up posters of “Martyr” Mohan Chand Sharma, the Police officer who lost his life in the operation, at several places in the city glorifying the ‘fight against terrorism’ and his ‘sacrifice’.
There is no real progress in the case yet. Those who have been arrested in connection are still languishing in several jails. A report by National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has already given a clean chit to the operation and remarked that ‘there is no need of further enquiry’. The Delhi High Court has accordingly denied any further enquiry in the matter. Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), a NGO led Shabnam Hashmi, has filed a petition in the Apex Court against HC order requesting for judicial enquiry.
“People raise questions because they have doubts. If the government and the police has nothing to hide, why are they shying away from enquiry”, asks Afroz Alam Sahil who sought information’s under Right to Information (RTI) Act from several bodies including Delhi Police, NHRC and the hospital where postmortem of the deceased were conducted. He has been “denied” information in a “clear mockery of the RTI”, he adds.
Protest march was also organized in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, the alleged ‘hub’ of terrorism. Atif and Sajid, killed in the conspirators killed in the operation, were also from the same place. Magsay award winner Sandeep Pandey, who too reiterated the demand for an enquiry, led the protest.

Social and political and choices based on religion and ethnicity?

The idealist in me says that the race and religion one is born in is not in his control. Moreover, faith is personal and one must not judge a person based on his faith and ideology. But the bitter truth of life is that a child, in most cases, is born with many identities and no matter what he thinks or does, it becomes very difficult for him to come out of that closet. You are born as Bihari/Mallu/Bong, and as Hindu/Muslim/Jew, and as Chinki/ Parsee/Pashtun/Baluch/Kashmiri (apologies for some unparliamentary terms). You may stop speaking a language, settle in an alien country, but your identities remain with you.

The situation in most cases is not very simple as more often than seldom one has several loyalties. Thus a Kashmiri can be Muslim or Pandit. Muslims in Pakistan (and many other countries) can be Shia or Sunni. They can again be Punjabi, the dominating class in that country, or Baluch minority. Thus not one but many characteristics define us. Which one loyalty is dominant, taking over others again depend on a variety of factors- situations on the ground, causes and aims. ‘Religion was effectively manipulated as a cultural marker and mobilized as a standard for ethnic exclusion of other groups with little regard to the fragile multi-ethnic tapestry’. (Alexander Mirescu of New York University).

Even in India’s struggle for freedom, scholars played on religious sentiments urging them towards extreme nationalism. Thus while Bankim Chandra Chatterjee hailed his countrymen to stand up against ‘demons’ to save Mother India, many Muslim scholars went to the extent of declaring Jihad for the cause. The ethnic cleansing by Nazis that led to Holocaust was also an extreme for of ethnic nationalism.

Ethnicity, religion, ideologies bind one into a ‘social group’ and inculcates ‘we’ feeling. It’s what Durkheim would call “collective conscience” or Marx’s “class consciousness”.
So rooted, the notion addresses the “we ness” of a group, stressing the similarities or shared attributes around which group members coalesce. People on street may deny all such studies and believe in what Mary Waters (American sociologist) calls individual’s willingness to remain closed in an identity or move out of it.

Our politicians understand the meaning of “we” factor and they exploit it to the best of their greed. Thus for years politics in north India has been dominated by Mandal and Kamandal.

I won’t pass value judgment and declare one as ‘backward thinking’ (that I am sure many in hush hush do) whose political and social identity is moulded by his ethnic, religious or cultural identity. This is something that I might not like to be, but sadly that’s how it is. And that’s how I am.

Think before thou speak you holy masters

Do you know who this couple is??? Well they are, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and his wife Princess Amira al-Tawee on their recent visit to Bulgaria. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)

Nothing wrong with the picture! But if mullahs or Islamic scholars (pardon me for the disrespect) did not know that are from teh royal family, they are sure to issue fatwas. Prince, without beared but moustache and no veil for the beautiful princess.

I am not against veil or keeping beared. But I only beleive that these are personal choices and one may be groomed into it, but should never be forced into it.

My problem is only with those religious leaders, who would give fatwa when it suits them.

Obama to Netanyahu – Only rhetoric

Much was being talked and written about the 'historic' speeches of the two leaders. Both failed to live up to their expectations

Mohammad Reyaz Hardnews Delhi

The world and Muslims in particular, were expecting to hear of some policy change on American relations to the Muslim world when US President Barack Hussein Obama delivered his 'historic' speech at Cairo. His intentions appear to be good, clearly much ahead of his predecessors. But, he doesn't seem to have pleased even 'liberals' very much, except maybe close US allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Keeping his audience in mind, Obama quoted from the Quran on more than three occasions and gave references to the 'good times' when Muslims and Christians lived together peacefully. He recognised the mistrust that exists in both camps and seemed resolved to draw up a sustaining armistice between the West and the Muslim world.

He did not directly condemn the US attack on Iraq, but spoke of the indifference, unlike the attack on Afghanistan where his country and the world were united against State-sponsored terrorism. He believed though that the world and "Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein". But, he smartly seemed to gloss over the fact that there have been thousands of civilian casualties and deaths of innocents still continue in Iraq. He, however, remembered that those expeditions were at the cost of able US "soldiers".

His condemnation of western 'liberal' governments, who prohibit Muslim men and women from wearing clothes of their choice and practise religion freely, in the name of equality and freedom, is commendable. He promised to make necessary amendments in the US law to allow American Muslims to donate in charity (zakat) freely.

The high point of the speech was Obama's resolve to solve the Middle East crisis by making Israel and Palestine coexist amicably. He declared, "Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements... And Israel must also live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society."

After Obama's June 4 speech and continuous pressure on the Israeli government, peace brokers in the region were expecting some change in Israel's policy against Palestine. Israel seemed to have softened its stance as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began his foreign policy address at Bar Ilan University on June 14, 2009. "Peace has always been our objective," he said. He declared that he was willing to talk to Arab leaders and was ready to go to "Damascus, Riyadh, Beirut - to meet anytime and anywhere".

But he put forth three preconditions - "recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and a demilitarised Palestinian State" and an undivided Jerusalem to remain with Israel.

Although Israel seems to have flinched a bit, no one actually seemed very pleased with the much-anticipated speech. Netanyahu is being chided from both sides of the political spectrum. Almost entire Europe has said that it is just one small step forward and a lot more needs to be done. Not only are Israeli opposition parties criticising him, his ally, Habayit Hayehudi Party, told the media that it would "reconsider its future" in the coalition. The Palestinian Authority (PA), on the other hand, is aghast at the "prerequisites".

A spokesperson of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told the media: "Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralysed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions." Although all praise for the American efforts, PA is accusing Netanyahu of "sabotaging" the peace process.

Much is being talked and written about the two 'historic' speeches, both of which were given at universities. But they have failed to live up to expectations, at least as of now. Efforts by Obama's government is appreciable though. It's almost like a Shakespearean 'much ado about nothing', or just a few things.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces defeat if election not rigged, say Iranian experts

Ian Black in Tehran
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 June 2009

Iranians go to the polls tomorrow to elect a president after an acrimonious and volatile election campaign that has polarised the country and unleashed mass opposition to the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In the absence of reliable independent opinion polls, experts predicted today that Mir Hossein Mousavi, the moderate "green" candidate, would probably beat the controversial incumbent so long as the result was not rigged.

Saeed Lalyaz, a respected political commentator, said he believed Mousavi now commanded the support of 55-60% across the country and warned of a possible crackdown on the opposition if Ahmadinejad were re-elected.

"I worry about the impact of any announcement that Ahmadinejad wins in the first round," said Lalyaz. "Whoever wins, these people on the streets will not go home easily. If Ahmadinejad is president for a second time I worry about another Tiananmen Square experience."

Ominously, as three weeks of often passionate campaigning drew to a close, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRG) warned that any attempt at a popular "revolution" would be crushed.

Underlining the unprecedented scale of public interest in the election, it was reported that more than 10m text messages had been sent on Tuesday alone, apparently reflecting intense efforts to get the vote out and avoid the risk of mass abstentions.

The regime is also encouraging mass participation. "The people of Iran will choose someone who will resist the bullying of those who are arrogant and defend Iran's interest in the world," said a statement from the Basij militia.

The candidate who takes more than 50% becomes president automatically. If none does tomorrow, a second run-off round will be held next Friday. Two other candidates, reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi and Mohsen Rezaei, another conservative, would drop out if that happened.

Ahmadinejad was reportedly losing support to Rezaei, a former IRG commander, and elements of the military were said to be backing Mousavi, who has pledged to increase personal freedoms. A victory for the former prime minister could improve relations with the west, though big policy changes are unlikely.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/11/iran-president-election-mahmoud-ahmadinejad

In love? Think before you let him keep your picture

Laura Bashraheel, Arab News

While cases of women being blackmailed by men are still on the rise in Saudi Arabia, opinions vary as to whether women should be punished for giving personal or explicit images of themselves to men.

The police and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice often arrest men who blackmail women into giving them money or sex by threatening to publish their images on the Internet. The occurrence of women blackmailing men is, however, very rare.

The organization that is oft contacted by blackmail victims is the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Although Saudi culture forbids relationships between the sexes, men and women still secretly form relations. It is the clandestine nature of such relations that some men take advantage of. Fearing a scandal, women allow themselves to be manipulated and blackmailed.

In some cases, victims were in relationships with their blackmailers and willingly parted with images. In other cases, women were not in relationships and were targeted. The question arises whether women who willingly part with their pictures should also be punished. Some feel they should, others disagree.

“It depends on the case. But it all goes back to the man’s sleaziness. The man should be punished and the woman shouldn’t,” said Mohammed Essam, 27, who works for a private company in Jeddah.

Mohannad Ibrahim, however, said that women should be punished slightly, as they give men the opportunity to blackmail them. “Girls have to wake up. They should never give their photos or any material that would lead to them getting blackmailed,” Ibrahim said.

He also believes such relationships bring disgrace to women and their families. “If the girl did not give the photo in the first place, nothing would have happened,” he added. “She has to bear some of the responsibility because she is part of the mistake,” he said, adding that the punishment should not be harsh, perhaps memorizing parts of the Holy Qur’an or some type of community work.

Hadeel Al-Ahmed mentioned how Islam is lenient and how it protected the rights of men and women in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Al-Ahmed told the story of a young man who asked permission from the Prophet to commit adultery at which the Prophet responded: “Do you accept it for your mother or your sister?” The young man replied no and the Prophet responded saying that others also do not accept it for their mothers and sisters.

Bank worker Mai Al-Hilabi, 26, said a woman should not be punished, as the experience is a bad enough punishment. “The man is the villain here and even if she gave him her photos it was just because she trusted him and loved him,” she said.

Ibrahim Al-Zamzami, a Makkah-based lawyer, has handled several cases of women being blackmailed. “I had a case in which a man promised to marry a woman. He told her that he wanted her picture because he wanted to show it to his mother,” Al-Zamzami said.

He added that then the man began blackmailing the woman and demanded SR5,000. “The woman reported the man to the police and he is now in prison,” he said.

Al-Zamzami said that women are victims in 95 percent of cases and that they are rarely the blackmailers.

He also told a story of a driver who took a passenger’s pictures from a mobile camera while she went into a shop. “He then started blackmailing her. After a while she complained to the police. The man was arrested and is now in prison,” he added.

Al-Zamzami explained that women’s photos are private. “Women are emotional and men know that this is what they need to manipulate to get what they want,” he said, advising women to guard their photos.

“Women have to be aware. Parents also need to keep a watch on their daughters. There should be trust, but this should go hand in hand with some sort of monitoring,” he added.

Speaking about the punishment blackmailers receive, Al-Zamzami said, “In most cases, as a personal right, men are sentenced to pay back the money they took from their victims. As for the judicial right, the offender is usually sentenced to a couple of months or years in prison and lashes. It depends on the case,” he added.

“Women should not trust men,” said Hanaa Abdul Aziz, 30. “If he really wanted her, he would approach her parents and ask for her hand in marriage,” she said, adding that Saudi society is “a male dominated society.”

“A mother should always speak to her daughter and advise her on what’s appropriate and what’s not,” she said.

In a recent case, commission members in the Eastern Province arrested a 23-year-old man for trying to blackmail a 20-year-old woman by threatening to publish her pictures on the Net. The woman contacted the commission after the man demanded SR200,000 from her. She had already given him SR60,000.

In another case, commission members in Makkah came to the aid of a 40-year-old woman who was being blackmailed by a young man. The woman complained to the commission saying the man threatened to post her pictures on the Internet unless she paid him large sums of money.

The commission set up a sting operation whereby the woman agreed to pay whatever the youth demanded. When he showed up, commission members arrested him.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=123441&d=10&m=6&y=2009

The difficulty of being Mushirul Hasan

(photograph from The Hindu Archeive)


Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times, 7 June


The first time most of us heard of Mushirul Hasan was in 1992. Asked whether he supported the ban on The Satanic Verses, Hasan said that while he found the book deeply offensive, he did not believe in banning books.

So, despite his own response to The Satanic Verses, he could not support the ban. To most of us, this might have seemed like the perfect liberal Muslim response. He had registered his own sense of outrage as a Muslim but had argued that the principle of freedom of speech was more important.

But a large section of the Muslim community took violent exception to his statements. Students at Jamia Millia Islamia University declared that he was a traitor to Islam. Politicians got in on the act. Mushir was assaulted. He received threatening phone calls. And Jamia said that it could not guarantee his safety.

So, for the next five years he sat at home, shunned by elements in his own community, largely ignored by liberals, and still the object of derision and hatred from fundamentalists.

Hasan had options. He could have recanted. He could have apologised. But he stubbornly refused to do either. I asked him last week, when we met for a light lunch, whether he had ever been tempted to take the easy way out. After all, what did it matter what he thought? The ban on The Satanic Verses had been in place for years before he made his statement and has remained ever since. Even the BJP government did not withdraw it. So did it really matter what a history professor at Jamia thought? Surely, it would have been easy enough to make some conciliatory noises and to get back to work?

He looked at me in astonishment. Recant? Apologise? But why? There were his views and he had always lived by them.

It would be tempting to see Mushirul Hasan as a poster boy for liberal Islam, as the sort of Muslim that the BJP loves, as a sort of Arif Mohammad Khan-like figure. But the reality is far more complex. Eventually, Hasan did resume his old life as The Satanic Verses controversy faded. For the last five years he has been Vice Chancellor of Jamia. And in that role, he has frequently been criticised by the BJP. He has been attacked for being too nice to Arjun Singh. He has been vilified for offering to pay the legal fees of those students involved in the Batla House encounter. And BJP spokesmen have painted him as a stooge of the fundamentalists, a man who believes in the ghettoisation of Muslims.

Now, as his term at Jamia ends and there is talk of a second term given the terrific job he’s done, some of his old fundamentalist enemies are back in action. Why is he opposing moves to turn Jamia into a minority institution? Why has he appointed so many Hindus? Why is a building named after his father? Why has he opened a college of dentistry? And even, why is Hasan, a Shia, in charge of an institution that should be run by Sunnis?

I told Hasan, as he picked at his Thai prawn curry, that I thought that his current situation captured some of the complexity of the position that liberal Muslims find themselves in these days. Many in their community regard them as not being Muslim enough. And others regard them as being too Muslim.

And Hasan is your classic old-style, liberal Muslim intellectual. His father, a noted historian (the proposal to name the building after him, by the way, predated Mushir’s term as Vice Chancellor and was part of the Jamia tradition of naming buildings after distinguished faculty members), was a card-carrying member of the Communist party.

Mushir was brought up in a largely secular environment, went up to Cambridge and researched Indian nationalism. His reading led him to the conclusion that the Two Nation theory had very little to do with the welfare of sub-continental Muslims, and much more to do with the belief of a Muslim elite that it would lose in influence to the Congress elite. As a consequence of his research, he moved away from his father’s politics and embraced the views of Nehru and Gandhi. He began to believe that the best hope for India lay in a secular polity with a strong bias towards the poor and disadvantaged. Unlike many others who had made the shift towards the Nehruvian consensus — and unlike the Communists, certainly — Mushir developed a strong liberal streak with a suspicion of arbitrary government action and a belief in personal freedom.

Of how many of us can it be said that almost everything that has happened in our lives stems directly from our beliefs? And yet, this is precisely what seems to have happened in Hasan’s case. The Satanic Verses controversy — perhaps the turning point in his life — was a result of his beliefs. So was his attitude to Jamia — which famously, had opposed the Two Nation theory in the 1940s — which he treated as an open institution not a communal ghetto. And so, I suppose, are the recent controversies that the BJP focuses on.

I asked him about the Batla House encounter. He says he really has no idea what happened. He wasn’t there and even later, when politicians visited the area, he refused to accompany them. But he will say that he is distressed by the conditions in the Batla House area. There are no milk booths, there is no Modern Bazaar; it is almost as though the institutions and facilities of the local government do not exist. He says that when Sheila Dikshit visited Jamia, he told her that the area was bound to be infested with criminals if the state regarded it as outside of its purview. To her credit, he says, Dikshit saw the point immediately and offered a healing touch.

What about the charge that he took an aggressive anti-police stand and hired lawyers for those students arrested in that case?

Nonsense, he says. Jamia has a fund that can be used to pay for students’ expenses in cases of crisis or emergency, for example, medical problems or legal hassles. What he said was that students could claim legal expenses from this fund just as they claim doctors’ fees. To allow students the funds required for legal representation is hardly the same as organising their defence or finding lawyers for them. It is a position that is entirely in keeping with his own belief in individual freedom versus the might of the state or the mob.

His critics argue that this is too black and white an explanation, that Mushir’s position was much greyer than he now makes it out to be. But he responds by saying that if he had come out openly against the police, and said that the encounter was false, he would have been a hero to the fundamentalists. So his position was actually reasonable and moderate.

Does Mushir find himself in a strange place, reviled by Islamic fundamentalists and Hindutva advocates alike?

He says it is not so simple. It is possible, he thinks, to overstate the influence of fundamentalists in his community. The trouble is that the political establishment listens too much to the extremists and too little to be moderates.

He gives the example of the Shah Bano case in the 1980s when Rajiv Gandhi was told that he had to listen to the fundamentalists because they were the ones who really represented India’s Muslims. In fact, he says, these fundamentalists have all faded and their influence has been shown to be illusory. Who cares about the Shahi Imam these days? Muslims have been seen beyond the fundamentalists and the extremists.

He reckons that politicians make a huge mistake by approaching the Muslim community through social and religious issues. In the end, he argues, Muslims want the same thing as all other Indians: jobs, security, prosperity, better living standards, low prices, access to health and sanitation etc.

He concedes that there was a danger of radicalisation when Muslims all over the world took extreme stands but argues that the threat has largely passed with the election of President Barack Obama who Muslims do not perceive as being hostile to Islam.

History, he suggests, is on the side of the liberal Muslims who opposed the Two Nation theory. Look at India’s progress since Independence. And look at Pakistan today.

What about the fundamentalists who oppose his continuance at Jamia, then? Well yes, he says, it is not in his case that the fundamentalists have vanished; only that they do not represent the vast majority of India’s Muslims. They make a lot of noise. They know how to get into the papers and how to manipulate the media. But they remain a tiny minority.

As we drank our coffees, I asked him the key question. Is he offering all these opinions because he thinks that fundamentalist opposition will cost him the second term at Jamia that he clearly deserves?

No, he responded at once. Vice Chancellors will come and go. But there’s been something disturbing about the sudden flurry of stories against him in the media of late. So many of them are without any foundation at all, and some are clearly libellous.

It’s not the job that’s really important. It’s his reputation.


http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=cacabfe9-6d01-49d8-a5b6-e3c496986dbf

Villagers angered by mosque blast attack Taliban

Monday, 08 Jun, 2009, The Dawn

Two Taliban commanders and their four fighters were killed in an armed action taken by a tribal Lashkar in the Doog Darra area of Upper Dir district in Paksitan on Sunday.

(According to AP news agency 11 militants were killed in the attack.)

The Lashkar was formed in Hayagay Sharqi, and was supported by people of Hayagay Gharbi, Doon, Kilot and Miana Doog villages, after the suicide attack on a local mosque during Friday prayers that killed over 30 people, including several children.

The Lashkar stormed Taliban bunkers in Doog Darra, Salam Bekay, Ghazigay, Shatkas, Panaghar and Maluk Khwar and torched about 20 houses of people who harboured militants.

People from several other villages joined the Lashkar to expel Taliban from their area.

According to local people, both sides were using heavy weapons in fierce clashes between the Lashkar and the Taliban.

Sources said the village force was attacking Taliban positions in Shatkas, Miana and Doog Bala.

Meanwhile, people of Maluk Khwar and Panaghar villages, who were active supporters

of the militants, also parted ways with them after the mosque blast and announced support for the tribal Lashkar and vowed to evict militants from the area.

Doog Darra area, it may be mentioned, was attacked by planes in the third week of May.

Two men of the Lashkar identified as Shah Khalid and Mohammad Ayaz were injured in Sunday’s clash.

The militants, holed up in their stronghold of Shatkas and Gazigay, were putting up stiff resistance, the sources said.

Agencies add: The incident underscored a swing in the national mood towards a more anti-Taliban stance, a shift that comes as suicide attacks have surged and the military wages an offensive in the Swat valley.

DCO Atif-ur-Rehman said some 400 villagers formed a Lashkar and attacked five villages in Doog Darra area.

The militia has occupied three of the villages since Saturday and is trying to push the Taliban out of the other two.

The government has encouraged local people to set up militias to oust Taliban fighters.

‘It is something very positive that tribesmen are standing against the militants. It will discourage the miscreants,’ Mr Rehman said.

He said around 200 militants were putting up stiff resistance in their strongholds surrounded by the villagers.

‘We will send security forces, maybe artillery too, if the villagers ask for reinforcement,’ he said.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/12-tribesmen-avenge-mosque-blast-attack-taliban--bi-01

Former militant renounces extremism

Sunday, 07 Jun, 2009, The Dawn

Ten years ago, Maajid Nawaz came to Pakistan to recruit for an extremist group intent on a global Islamic state. Now he's on a different mission — to steer youth away from militancy.



Nawaz's message is one rarely heard in Pakistan, where the response to extremism has been overwhelmingly military, with little attempt to try to rehabilitate insurgents or keep young people from turning to militancy in the first place.


In speeches to thousands of university students across the country, Nawaz emphasized the urgent need to renounce radicalism.


‘We must reclaim Islam,’ the British citizen of Pakistani descent told some 100 students on a campus close to the capital last month. ‘We must reclaim Pakistan.’


While Pakistan has poured troops and weaponry into its fight against the Taliban and other extremist groups, it has adopted few of the softer measures aimed at dissuading militancy. And critics say that is a major weakness in Pakistan's strategy against terrorism.


‘There is no country where such a program is more important than in Pakistan,’ said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert who chaired the first international conference on militant rehabilitation in Singapore in February.


‘In parallel with the kinetic fight to catch and kill terrorists, there needs to be a parallel policy to fight the ideology.’


There are signs Pakistan is considering such a program. Senior officials recently went to Saudi Arabia to study the effort there, considered the world's most comprehensive. Egypt pioneered the idea of militant rehabilitation in the 1990s, and Yemen, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia have also followed suit.


The programs involve counseling by moderate clerics and former extremists. Militants who renounce their old ways can receive financial support or help finding a job. Parallel programs in schools and mosques are aimed at young people.


A former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Saad Iqbal Madni, said he would welcome such a program in Pakistan.


‘If I had a little support, I could tell them that killing innocent people is not from Islam,’ said Madni, who was freed last year. Madni, who was never charged, denied engaging in violence, but said he would have credibility with fellow Pakistanis.


The results from such soft tactics have varied, said Christopher Boucek, who recently published a report on the Saudi program for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.


Indonesia has persuaded prominent terrorists to disavow violence and counsel others to do the same. But 23 of 117 Saudis who returned from Guantanamo and passed through the Saudi system have been re-arrested or are on the government's most-wanted terrorist list, said Boucek.


Shazadi Beg, a London-based human rights lawyer who has studied the need for such programs in Pakistan, said they are important because most militant recruits are young men with a limited understanding of Islam and no other way to earn a living.


A further complication is that for years the Pakistani government actively sponsored extremists to use as proxies in Afghanistan and Kashmir, a territory claimed by both Pakistan and India.


‘In Saudi, you're dealing with relatively small groups, but in Pakistan the jails are full with these sorts of detainees,’ said Mohammed Amir Rana, a terrorism expert at the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. ‘The problem is the number of people the government wants to be rehabilitated.’


Most of Pakistan's 180 million people follow a moderate form of Islam influenced by local traditions, but hard-liners have made significant inroads since the 1980s. Anger at the US invasion of Afghanistan and support for a succession of Pakistani leaders seen as corrupt and illegitimate have swelled their ranks.


Another problem, said Pakistani lawmaker Mushahid Hussain, is that Pakistan is late to realize how serious a threat militants pose. Bureaucratic inertia is strong, he says, along with an aversion to new ideas and a state of denial.


‘Unless (the programs) start, we don't know how successful they will be,’ Hussain said. ‘It is not a battle of bombs and bullets. It is a battle of ideas.’


Nazar, the extremist turned inspirational speaker, used to belong to Hizb ut-Tahrir, which claims to have hundreds of thousands of members around the world working on establishing an Islamic caliphate. The group pledges nonviolence, but Nawaz alleges that in some countries — including nuclear-armed Pakistan — a key strategy was to foment a military coup.


Pakistan has formally banned the group, as have several other Muslim countries, but authorities are not really enforcing the ban. Its members take part in demonstrations, hold public meetings and hand out leaflets largely unobstructed.


In 1999, Hizb ut-Tahrir paid for Nawaz to go to Pakistan, ostensibly as a student, to recruit members. He traveled all over the country doing so.


Later, he went to Egypt, where he was imprisoned for four years for recruiting for the group. He met other radicals, studied Islamic texts in jail and gradually changed his opinions, he said. He now believes that Islam calls for the separation of the faith and politics.


Imran Yousafzai, deputy spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan, said he was aware of Nawaz's activities in Pakistan.


‘I heard he was once an active member in Pakistan,’ he said. ‘I am sad to say that he is now working against Islam.’


During his recent appearances on college campuses, some students questioned why Nawaz was ‘attacking’ Islam and not US foreign policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan. One hard-liner, whom Nawaz accuses of being a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, punched him in the face after a talk in the eastern city of Lahore.


Nawaz said he hopes to start a network of moderate Pakistani Muslims to speak out against extremism. He gets a salary as director of the Quilliam Foundation, a mainstream think tank that challenges extremism and promotes pluralism, and is partly funded by the British government.


Pervez Hoodbhoy, a university lecturer and vocal critic of militancy, said students responded positively to Nawaz but that he did not expect to see ‘any movement building up behind him.’


‘It is a great job he is doing and it's important that people hear him, he said. ‘But it wasn't a life-changing experience.’


http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/08-We-must-reclaim-Islam-ts-01

Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia: Survey

TOI, 3 Jun

Singapore's civil servants are the most efficient among their Asian peers, a business survey on 12 economies released on Wednesday
showed, but they tend to clam up unhelpfully when things go wrong.

India's "suffocating bureaucracy" was ranked the least-efficient by the survey, which said working with the country's civil servants was a "slow and painful" process.

"They are a power centre in their own right at both the national and state levels, and are extremely resistant to reform that affects them or the way they go about their duties," the report said.

Singapore was ranked first for a third time in a poll of 1,274 expatriates working in 12 North and South Asian nations on the efficiency of bureaucrats in those countries. The poll was last held in 2007.

"During normal times, when the system is not stress-tested, it operates very well," Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy said in a 12-page report of Singapore's bureaucracy.

"However, during difficult times - or when mistakes are made that reflect badly on the system - there is a tendency among bureaucrats to circle the wagons in ways that lack transparency and make accountability difficult," the report said.

Thailand, despite four years of on-off street protests and a year of dysfunctional government was ranked third.

"For all the country's troubles -- or perhaps because of them -- respondents to our survey were impressed with the way Thai civil servants have been carrying out their duties," PERC said.

It said state offices associated with corruption presented the most difficulties for Thai citizens and foreigners.

PERC managing director Bob Broadfoot told Reuters that the controversy around huge investment losses by Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek was a good example of how things could become less transparent in the island-state.

The Singapore government has come under fire from lawmakers and its citizens over several investment losses, particular its exit from Bank of America which resulted in a loss of over $3 billion, according to Reuters calculation.

The survey ranked Hong Kong second. China, which has been campaigning to fight corruption in its bureaucracy and improve efficiency in the civil service, was ranked 9th in the 2009 poll, two places down from 2007.

Ranking by most efficient to least efficient economies: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Indonesia and India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indian-bureaucracy-worst-in-Asia-Survey/articleshow/4612918.cms

S Asia hunger 'at 40-year high'

A UN report says hunger in South Asia has reached its highest level in 40 years because of food and fuel price rises and the global economic downturn.

The report by the UN children's fund, Unicef, says that 100 million more people in the region are going hungry compared with two years ago.

It names the worst affected areas as Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The report says South Asia's governments need to urgently increase social spending to meet the challenge.

It says that climate change and urbanisation also need tackling.

Poverty trap

According to the World Bank, three quarters of the population in South Asia - almost 1.2 billion people - live on less than $2 (£1.2) a day. And more than 400m people in the region are now chronically hungry.

The report focused on the impact the economic crisis had on women and children, saying they are the people most vulnerable during a downturn.

"We are on the verge of a crisis," Aniruddha Bonnerjee, a Unicef consultant said.

The report cites a number of factors for and symptoms of the sharp rise in people living in hunger and poverty:

•Declining wages at home
•A drop in remittances from abroad
•Poor women often go without food to feed their families
•Children can be pulled out of school and sent to work
•High prices have forced people to borrow money at high interest
•Income is spent on food but not on other essentials
'Worst affected'



Millions of South Asian people live on less than $2 a day
Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the worst affected but even the region's economic giant, India, has suffered because of job losses and lower remittances from Indians living abroad.

Unicef says the region's governments need to increase spending on food, health care and education to alleviate the crisis.

But it acknowledges that the economic slowdown means there is less money to spend.

It said that it was important for the two biggest countries in South Asia, India and Pakistan, to reduce their defence budgets to allow for increased social spending.

Governments of the region can also use fiscal stimulus programmes and aid from abroad to expand the provision of basic social services in fields like health and education, it says, while funding training programmes - especially for young people.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8079698.stm

Love marriage takes life of newly wed youth in Pak

Waseem Shamsi ,02 Jun, 2009 , The Dawn


The body of a youth was found on Monday in Sher Ali Minor near village Sultan Gabol in the Sindh province of Pakistan while his wife went missing.

They had married of their own will two months ago.

Irfan Rajput, son of Shafiq Shaheen Rajput, had married Khush Bakht, daughter of late Noor Ahmed Gabol, secretly. She is the resident of village Sultan Gabol, district Ghotki in Sindh, and a student of MBBS (second year) in Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College, Sukkur.

It was due to her education that Khush Bakht was living with relatives in Barrage Colony, Sukkur, while Irfan worked with a photographer there.

They fell in love and married on March 26 in a civil court of Nawabshah, according to sources.

Irfan Rajput prepared a CD of their marriage as an evidence of their marriage.

The sources said Irfan Rajput owed some money to the photographer. When he failed to pay back money after repeated demands, the photographer in anger gave a copy of the CD of their marriage to the girl’s relatives.

The sources said that after coming to know about their marriage, the relatives confined Khush Bakht to the house.

When Irfan Rajput got information of her confinement, he filed a petition in the Sukkur district and sessions court on May 15, stating that their lives were in danger and requested the court to provide them protection.

He also named 15 relatives of the girl in that connection.

District and Sessions Judge Abdul Ghani Soomro ordered police to recover the girl.

The police raided the house where the girl was confined and produced her in the court.

The girl gave a statement in favour of Irfan and the court allowed them to live as husband and wife.

Later, the couple moved to Karachi where they were living together.

A couple of days ago, the girl’s brother Dr Jameel Gabol visited the couple in Karachi and brought them to their native village Sultan Gabol.

According to the sources, Irfan Rajput was put to death late on Sunday night and his body was thrown into Sher Ali Minor near the village while Khush Bakht went missing after her husband’s death.

When contacted, Ghotki DPO Jawed Jiskani told this reporter that after recovering the body of Irfan Rajput, police had raided the village and arrested seven close relatives of the girl. He refused to disclose the names of suspects.

However, the DPO was of the view that the girl had not been killed. Police had not found any evidence of her killing, the DPO said.

However, no case was registered till filing of this report.

The sources also said that five days ago, Dr Jameel Gabol with the help of a relative, ASI Nadeem Gabol (presently posted at ‘B’ section police station Sukkur in investigation cell), through one Mahar (whose name could not be ascertained), had registered an FIR with Bagarji police against Irfan and his brother Mohsin Rajput.

Acting on the FIR, the police arrested Mohsin Rajput, produced him in a court that sent him to central jail-II Sukkur on judicial remand.

According to the sources, ASI Nadeem Gabol played a key role in the murder of Irfan Rajput because he had taken Irfan to village Sultan Gabol on the pretext of reconciling him with girl’s relatives.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/04-love-marriage-takes-life-of-newly-wed-youth-qs-04

Pakistan court frees charity chief linked to Mumbai attack

Al Jazeera

A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the leader of an Islamic charity held in connection with last year's attack on the Indian city of Mumbai.

A lawyer for Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said on Monday that the Lahore High Court had ruled there was no reason to hold his client.

"The court has ordered that the detention of Hafiz Saeed was a violation of the constitution and the law of this country," AK Dogar, the lawyer, said.

"Today's verdict shows that sovereignty lies in Almighty Allah," he told supporters waiting outside the court.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa has been accused of being a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba network, which is thought to have been behind last November's attack on Mumbai, in which about 170 people were killed.

India was "unhappy" with Saeed's release.

Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's interior minister, said: "We are unhappy that Pakistan does not show the degree of seriousness and commitment that it should to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime."

House arrest

Saeed was among four people put under house arrest late last year and questioned in connection with the attacks, which India has said were carried out by fighters based in Pakistan.

His detention came after a UN Security Council committee added him and Jamaat-ud-Dawa to a list of people and organisations linked to al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

He founded Lashkar-e-Taiba in 1989 but reportedly abandoned the group when it was outlawed in Pakistan after India alleged it was behind a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa is one of Pakistan's biggest charities and is known across the country for its relief work after the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.

'Relief organisation'

A spokesman for Saeed said the court order proved the charity had no links to groups such as al-Qaeda.

"The government has been defeated. Our innocence has been proven," Yahya Mujahid, the charity's spokesman, said.

"Ours is a relief organisation. The decision has proved that we have nothing to do with terrorism. We were on right path and it has been proved ... Nothing has been proved against us."

Pakistani investigators have acknowledged the co-ordinated attacks in India's financial capital were launched and partly planned from Pakistan's soil, and that the man suspected of being the sole surviving attacker was Pakistani.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/06/2009626454864385.html

Pak Army takes ‘complete control’ over Mingora, Swat

By Iftikhar A. Khan, The Dawn, 30 May 2009

Operation Rahe Rast made a significant progress with the security forces completely securing control of Mingora city, destroying various training centres of terrorists and killing important militant commanders, the military said.

Briefing reporters about the progress of the operation, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the security forces were expecting stiff resistance in Mingora, but the militants started fleeing the area as they came close of being besieged.

Security Forces have successfully secured Nawagai and Najigram. He said securing Mingora was a big success as the large city having two istrategic heights including Saidu and Kamber has transportation links with Malakand, Buner and Shangla.

At Nawagai a large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered. The people of Mingora have started exposing militants who were trying to pose as citizens.

He said 25 miltants including local commanders (Abu Saeed Misbah ud Din and Sultan Khan) were killed and three were apprehended in various areas of operation, while one soldier laid down his life and four were injured including one civilian driver during an exchange of fire.

In Peochar, the training centres of known militant commanders including commander Lal Din, Said Jalil, Mian Said Liaq were searched and destroyed, including the training base of Maulana Fazlullah.

He said the security forces have commenced operations towards Kalam, Gulibagh and secured the area upto Kedam (3 km north of Bahrain).

A soldier and a civilian driver were killed and two soldiers were injured from an improvised explosive device (IED) near Chamtalai.

During search and clearance operations, miltants attacked troops at Drushkhela and Asharai, in which local commander Sultan Khan was killed after retaliatory firing.

About Dir, he said during a search operation at Kambar Bazar, six miscreants were killed.

He said that upon recieving information about the presence of militants at Kulal Dheri, a raid was conducted and 10 militants killed.

Referring to the relief activities by Army at Mingora, he said a team of 21 doctors with sufficient medicines have reached Mingora for re-establishing civil hospital Mingora.

Gas has been restored upto Mingora City. A sufficient number of mobile generators have been provided to run the water pumping stations. Repair work on the restoration of electricity in Mingora has started. He said that it will take at least two weeks to fully restore it.

The military spokesman said the weapons recovered from militant strongholds included weaponry of American, Russian and Indian origin.

General Athar Abbas said so far 1217 militants have been killed while 79 including foreign nationals have been apprehended. He said 81 security personnel have so far laid down their lives while 250 sustained injuries.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/12-swat-main-town-almost-secured--bi-03

Civilians suffer in war against Taliban

Moabullah dragged the dead in his wheelbarrow for burial behind a girl's school. There were about 30 bodies, he says, many blown apart in fighting between the Pakistan army and Taliban militants in the Swat Valley.

As Pakistan fights to take back the valley and other parts of the northwest, residents fleeing the fighting are pouring into hospitals and refugee camps. Many, like Moabullah, are telling their stories to anyone who will listen.

Taken together, their accounts — along with those of aid workers and hospital staff — suggest significant civilian casualties, mostly as a result of aerial raids by an army more equipped for conventional war with India than guerrilla warfare with the Taliban.

The Associated Press conducted more than 150 interviews in refugee camps from Mardan to Swabi, at hospitals and basic health units as well as into the battle zone in Buner to seek a picture of the plight of civilians amid the combat.

No independent tallies of the dead have been conducted. Aid groups like the international Red Cross and US-based Human Rights Watch say such a task is impossible until they are able to enter most parts of the roughly 4,000-square-mile area of fighting — about four times the size of Hawaii.

But the very perception among villagers of the causes of widespread killings, injuries and damage to homes could undermine popular support needed for the US-backed Pakistan army campaign and possibly generate sympathy for the insurgency.

'Civilian casualties are much higher than those of either the army or the Taliban,' said Ali Bakt, speaking at a hospital in the northwestern capital of Peshawar after fleeing the Taliban mountain stronghold of Peochar.

He said both sides were firing mortar shells — an inaccurate weapon that often hits targets other than the intended one.

Yusuf, a 21-year-old man who fled the fighting in Buner, said he supported the military operation but was fed up with the civilian casualties.

'It's good to take action against the Taliban, but there is a problem for civilians,' said Yusuf, who like many in the Pakistani frontier region offers only one name. He recalled the killings of 10 people whose bodies could not be recovered for three days because of the fighting.

The army is not releasing tolls of civilian casualties, but insists they are minimal and that it is doing everything possible to avoid causing them.

'In our judgment there are very few casualties,' military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas said, emphasizing the main targets are militant training camps and their mountain hide-outs. 'But even if we are fighting in a populated area, we are using precision strikes.'

At a government-run hospital in the town of Mardan just south of the Swat Valley, Moabullah gave his account of the carnage.

'I myself put the bodies in the wheelbarrow and took them to a graveyard behind a girls' school,' Moabullah said as he held the hand of his dehydrated nine-year-old son, Abu Bakr, who was lying in a rancid-smelling bed.

Intravenous drips from makeshift poles were nourishing the thin boy and, in the next bed, an elderly gentleman who appeared to be malnourished and barely breathing.

The old man's nephew, Nawab Ali, said they fled their homes in the Swat Valley's main city of Mingora on May 22, defying an army-imposed curfew. They had run out of food, and water supplies were low.

'People were coming on foot. We had just reached near the village of Abwa when the army fired on us. Six people were killed and seven others hurt. I saw this myself,' Ali said. 'The army was trying to hit the Taliban but hit civilians trying to flee instead.'

Four women were killed including the mother of a four-month-old baby, whose grandfather carried him to safety, according to Ali.

The AP interviews suggest that many casualties occurred after residents defied the curfew to flee their homes, often out of desperation because of little food, water or medical aid. Most villagers blamed the casualties on government aerial assaults and missile attacks. They said they were either caught in the crossfire or targeted for defying the curfew.

But villagers also recounted, particularly in Mingora, Taliban refusing to allow people to leave because the militants wanted to use the civilians as human shields, according to Ali Dayan Hasan, Human Rights Watch's Pakistan representative.

Hasan said he had a report that militants slit the throat of one man after he said he told soldiers there were no Taliban in his village. The Taliban didn't believe his account of what he'd said to the army.

The army launched its offensive to oust the Taliban nearly a month ago after a peace deal soured and Taliban streamed out of their Swat Valley stronghold to take over neighbouring regions. So far, the fighting has caused 1.5 million people to flee.

The military claims to have killed more than 1,000 Taliban fighters, a figure that cannot be independently verified, and says more than 50 soldiers have also died.

The International Committee for the Red Cross said it fears the fighting has taken a high toll on civilians but that verification is impossible in most parts of the battle zone. In areas it has been able to enter like Dagar in Buner the Red Cross has treated 240 war wounded, said spokesman Sebastian Brack.

In the emergency room at The Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, a dirt-smeared admission ledger indicates the majority of the wounded were from Swat, Dargai, Buner and Dir, where the heaviest fighting has taken place.

In one week the hospital received more than 50 victims including a three-year-old, two 13-year-olds and a 10-year-old from Swat.

Most, like sweets salesman Saddar Ali of the Shah Deri area in Swat, had shrapnel wounds while fleeing in defiance of the curfew. Four relatives carried Ali into the emergency room. He was then laid gently on a stretcher covered with a hot, sticky, brown plastic sheet.

Khan Maluk, 50, said most of the sun-baked mud homes in Fizaqat, not far from Mingora, were destroyed in blistering shelling.

‘One of my relatives died and the security guard was killed,’ he said as he watched over his mentally handicapped son, who had an arm wound. The young man rocked back and forth, crying and moaning as his father spoke.

Lying on a bed, his head propped up by a handful of rags, 20-year-old Saddam Hussein — the name is not that unusual in the Muslim world — said he too was wounded when he defied the curfew.

His family had fled their Kalam home in the Swat Valley during a previous army operation against the militants, then returned within days of a peace accord last month. When the new fighting broke out, Hussein, a day labourer, packed up and left, hoping to find work.

Left behind and trapped in their home were his mother, brothers and sisters.

‘It's been eight days now since I have heard from my family. The last phone call I received, they said they had nothing to eat and to send them something,’ he said. ‘Since then I have had no contact.’

In another small hospital room, more than eight patients crowded into four beds.

Jahan, a middle-aged woman wrapped in a pale green chador, said jets bombed Pir Aman Qilla, just next door to her village in Takhtabund.

‘I could see 10 houses were destroyed,’ Jahan said. ‘But we couldn't leave our homes. We couldn't find the dead.’

A patient at the Mardan hospital, Ziaullah Khan, said he heard aircraft overhead in the Buner town of Pir Baba after fleeing his Mingora home.

‘Then we came under fire,’ Khan said. ‘We were using a back road. Five vehicles were hit. One van had 15 people from one family in it. But our van was still running. We had to leave. We couldn't stop.’

The stories were similar at a dusty, wind-swept refugee camp on the edge of Mardan.

Hayat Khan, of Odigram village in the Swat Valley, said he lost his niece to the fighting: ‘In front of me, two or three were killed by the army,’ he said.

Fazlur Rahman, who fled from Dir, said ‘350 homes in our village was destroyed. You can decide from that how many are dead, and the others can't move because of the curfew.’

Another refugee, Sirajuddin, said he fled Gumbatmera village in the Swat Valley on May 20 after military jets pounded the area, destroying a large number of homes.

‘I am a local and I know who is there and who was in the houses. For some 24 days it has been going on. I went to seven funerals in two days and one time we all ran away because of the jets. What I know is that in the destroyed houses there are people who are dead. But we can't get to them.’

Afzal, a 65-year-old wearing a beard dyed bright red with henna, said he saw soldiers fire shells at two vehicles that were defying the curfew to harvest wheat.

‘Maybe they thought they were Taliban,’ he said. ‘We don't know about army or Taliban — but we know lots of civilians are dying.’

The Dawn, 27 May
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/civilians+suffer+in+war+against+taliban

Suicide attacks are un-Islamic: Ulema

By Syed Irfan Raza in The Dawn


Leading Ulema of the country declared on Sunday that suicide attacks and beheading of people were ‘un-Islamic’ acts and said that militants in Swat and Fata were pursuing the agenda of Pakistan’s enemies.

The edict was issued at a convention of Ulema and Mashaikh from different parts of the country. This is the first time that prominent Ulema and religious scholars, mostly belonging to the Sunni school of thought, have denounced the Taliban and their inhuman acts in such a categorical manner.

A unanimous resolution adopted at the convention said: ‘The assassination of Ulema should be stopped and sacred places, including shrines, should be cleared of extremists. Suicide attacks and beheading is Haram’.

The convention also condemned the killing of innocent people in the US drone attacks and urged the government to raise the issue at the United Nations.

The Ulema said the US drone strikes were challenging the country’s sovereignty. ‘The government must take effective measures to force the US to halt these strikes.’

They supported the military operation in Swat and other parts of Malakand and declared it a ‘war for Pakistan’s integrity and sovereignty’. The elements engaged in creating a state within the state must be crushed, they added.

The convention also adopted a resolution backing the all-parties conference convened by the prime minister. Maulana Sahibzada Fazal Karim, a leader of Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan, said in his address that those trying to harm the integrity of Pakistan should be severely dealt with.

He and other Ulema stressed the need for forging unity against militancy. Some of them expressed readiness to form their own Lashkar against the Taliban if security forces needed their help to eradicate terrorists from the troubled areas.

‘We played our role during the independence movement and we will protect the country and foil every design of the enemy,’ Sahibzada Karim said, adding that the operation in Swat was the need of the hour because some sections of society were forcing people to accept their brand of Islam.

‘These elements kill those who opposed them,’ he said. The JUP leader also vowed to enforce Sharia in the country. He said a number of agencies were working against the integrity of Pakistan and were trying to destabilise its economy.

‘These agencies were pouring millions of dollars and large quantities of weapons into areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,’ he said.

Ruet-i-Hilal Committee chairman Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman criticised the establishment for patronising the militants for almost three decades. ‘We are now harvesting the crop we sowed three decades ago.’

He said the practice to surrender before the gun should end and called for a decisive offensive against the militants. Mufti Muneeb said those who were fighting in the name of Sharia must first abide by Islamic laws.

He said the Taliban were even slaughtering children. ‘This is contrary to the teachings of Islam which calls for protecting people who are not involved in battle,’ he said.

‘If the Taliban have any respect for Islamic values, they should give up bloodshed because it was harming national integrity,’ the Mufti said.

The Ulema also called on the Organisation of Islamic Conference to come forward to help the displaced people of Swat and other parts of Malakand. Dr Sarfaraz Naeemi called upon Ulema to forge unity in their ranks against the conspiracies of the Taliban, Sufi Mohammad and enemies of the country.

He urged the government to reject the US agenda of controlling Madaris. Sarwat Ejaz Qadri said the Taliban had tarnished the image of Islam across the world. ‘All Muslims should stand up against them.’

Haji Hanif Tayyab said security forces were fighting the militants to save the country. He called for trying Sufi Mohammad for mutiny.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/12-suicide-attacks-are-un-islamic-ulema--bi-10

Shaving for survival?

By Shyema in The Dawn, Pakistan on 05 18th, 2009

Latest reports claim that the Taliban are shaving off their beards to escape the operation in Swat. The Taliban have maintained that the beards are a sign of being a devoted and true Muslim. Perhaps that is why the Afghani Taliban had gone to the extent of measuring the beards of normal citizens out on the streets of Kabul. Perhaps that is why beard trimmers have been jailed by the ‘religious police’. Perhaps that is also why the Taliban have vandalised barber shops in Buner and threatened barbers to stop cutting hair and trimming beards. So why bring in the razors now?

Already listed as the modern-day barbarians, these men have now taken to shaving off their supposed ‘identity’ in order to escape without being noticed by the Pakistan military. Clever tactic but is it worth shedding off their religious beliefs for? Or do their beliefs allow them to go clean shaven if it’s about the question of their survival? If that is the case then they are no different than the society they target – double standards persist either way.

How come the rules have not been relaxed then if a woman is dying and has a doctor at hand but one who can’t do much to save her because he is a man? Women have died of curable ailments just because male doctors were not allowed to touch them. Does that not come into the debate of survival? Or are women exempted from this exemption list?

The government and NGOs are having a hard time keeping track of the displaced people because now they don’t know who could be a militant and who is a refugee. Are beards the only thing that can determine a refugee from a militant? If so, then the military has an even bigger task ahead of themselves.

http://dawntravelshow.com/dblog/2009/05/18/shaving-for-survival

A 'Ban' smoked away

By karishma Karki, Anubhooti Panda and Mohd. Reyaz

Prachi Dutt (name changed) was 10 years old when she tried smoking for the first time. Since then, ‘let me try it once’ has became a habit. Today, eleven years later, she cannot stop smoking even on her college campus, although the university has been declared a smoke- free zone.

Like Prachi, there are many others who openly flout this ban in various colleges and universities across Delhi. And they seem to have no qualms about it.

Rahul (name changed), a student of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) said, he is sure he would not be caught because he is certain authorities don’t care. “Everyone smokes openly here; even the staff and professors indulge in it. And no one says anything, neither the guards, nor the administration.”

Anand Kumar, a guard at the university concurs. “Students do smoke in the campus. But they hide the cigarette when they see us,” he said.

Apam Kharingpam, an Assistant Professor at the same university believes that smoking zones should be created at various places in the universities, just as in restaurants and airports. “The government earns a lot of money from chain smokers like me. So, I think it is hypocrisy on the part of the government to ban it in certain places and to sell it at others.”

Though the law is being openly defied by many, authorities seem to be sitting pretty after installing hoardings and banners everywhere. Professor Gurmeet Singh, the Proctor of Delhi University says, “We conduct regular classes and awareness campaigns to sensitise the students. More than going behind the students with a stick in our hand, we believe in educating them. We conducted a survey after we started the campaign. And the results show that 23 percent of the students have quit smoking after the campaign was started.”

But going by the number the people who smoke in the campuses, the ground realities seem very different. Monika Arora, Director of Hriday, a NGO working with students against smoking, questions the validity of the claim. “I don’t know how scientifically proven that survey is.”

She, however, agrees that the government and the administration are doing their best to spread awareness about the no-smoking campaign. “Change cannot be brought overnight. But going by the no-smoking hoardings and banners that have come up in the city, it appears that University administration and the government are putting in a sincere effort.”

A possible reason why the students are taking the ban lightly could be that the authorities have not been harsh while implementing it. Though the ban has been in place for quite some time now, there have been no strict actions as of yet in these universities.

Mukesh Ranjan, Assistant to Proctor of JMI says, “I am aware that the university is a smoke free zone. But I have got no official instruction yet on as to how to go about implementing the ban.”

Gurmeet Singh says, “A student can be fined Rs.200 if caught smoking in the campus. But there have been no fines as of yet because we do not want it to be a punitive effort. We want the students to understand for themselves.”

Whether the students understand or not, the fact remains that personal choices of a few are putting the health of thousands at risk. And the open defiance of the law by the educated masses goes on to prove that it is high time that stricter measures are taken so that bans like these are effectively implemented.

Quick facts

• India is the second largest producer of tobacco in the world.
• 25 crore population in India are regular tobacco users.
• Tobacco worth Rs 24,000 corers is sold annually.
• The government has to spend Rs 27,000 corers annually on free health services to offset the harm caused by it
• Every 30 seconds, one person in India dies of diseases related to tobacco or gutkha.
• Every two seconds, 1 Indian child tries tobacco for the first time.
• 4 million children below the age of 15 years use tobacco regularly.

Sources: Data compiled from the Ministry of Health and Women Welfare, Government of India, American Cancer Society, National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), The World Health Survey, 2003.

Kathak Mahatosav-Showcasing the classic Indian culture

A week long Kathak festival, held at various places across Delhi ended on 29 March. The festival was organized by the Kathak Kendra, a wing of the Sangeet Natak Academy. The festival was a treat for its patrons and was a showcase of India’s culture to the MTV generation that is perhaps not much interested in this rich tradition of cultural expression.

Artists from various cities such as Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata participated in this Mahaotsav (festival) that was dedicated to late Rohini Bhate ji, the great Kathak exponent. The entry was free and all shows were houseful. The crowd cheered equally for the young disciples and their elder gurus.

Many foreign tourists had also dropped in to have a glimpse of the classic Indian art form. Tanya a cultural enthusiast from Russia said that she felt ‘rejuvenated’ after the performance and even showed her interests in learning the fusion of Kathak and Sufi.

What was saddening though was the lack of sponsors despite a heavy footfall. Sangita Chattejee, a trained Kahtak Dancer lamented on the disinterest of the corporate world.

Geetanjali Lal, the great Kathak exponent herself and a Kathak trainer at the Kathak Kendra, had no complaints though. “The Government allocates enough funds to organise festivals and to train people. So we don’t face any real problem”, she clarifies. She also expressed her happiness on the successful accomplishment of the festival.

Simply Spice!

   By Kriti Gupta and Mohd. Reyaz

                                        

Al Bake is an eating joint in New Friends Colony Market (NFC) that has become an institution in the city of Delhi. Its main serving is minced chicken rolled in bread called shawarmas. While, traditionally a Lebanese concept, the shawarmas at NFC have been Indianised and are a rage in the capital.
                                         
Ten years ago, Ishrat Beg came to India with her husband from the Gulf. While she was excited about leaving Saudi Arabia, she realized that the one thing she would miss was the shawarmas. They had become a part of her daily diet. Not willing to give up her addiction, she decided to start a small food place where they would sell shawarmas rolls.
                                           
On the first day they sold two rolls. Now, they have a daily footfall of over 200 people. The family has opened two more joints in the same market. From husband, wife and the two sons working to make ends meet; Today, they hire 30 employees and offer a variety of cuisines – Chinese, Mughlai and so on.

                                           

Their main connoisseurs are young people. Students at Al-Bake came from far and wide. A group of three young people came especially from Faridabad just to enjoy the rolls. Hogging on the food, they said, “We could spend all day here. We really like the food.”

                                        

                                               

                                  
Mrs. Beg says that the student population keeps the joint running, “Our main focus therefore, is good food, low prices and basic hygiene.” The food is good indeed as can be seen by the number of people present at any given time.
                                              
The prices attract the youth. But hygiene is a different matter altogether. The kitchens are cleaned daily. The establishment tries as much as possible to improve the conditions under which food is prepared.

                                     
But the preparation process itself seems to be dirty. Dry, cut meat lying around on floors, cockroaches and so on are easily visible. Young people say that since ‘the food is cooked and so completely delicious’, they don’t mind. They swish away flies with the dismissive wave of a hand.

Irrespective, people seem to come in large numbers to enjoy the delectable taste of the shawarma rolls. And Mrs. Beg can boast of starting with nothing and becoming a successful thriving entrepreneur!

A second chance at life

Five year old Ramu was always
laughed at, but he himself
could never even smile. That
was till 'The Smile Train', a global
charity committed to giving smiles
to those who have never known one,
came to his help. Ramu had cleft lip,
and thanks to the charitable organisation,
he has got another lease of
life.
Cleft is one of the most unfortunate of
all birth defects, for it is one of those few
deformities that can be corrected with
proper medical intervention and surgical
treatment at the right time, but yet isn't in
most cases. Due to lack of awareness and
poverty 50% of clefts remain untreated,
although it is not as expensive as most people
might think, about Rs 8000.

“Indian parents pay
more attention to
the correction of
deformities of girl"
child

The Smile Train has over 160 centres
across the nation and provides financial
support to poor cleft children. Satish Kalra,
the Regional Director-South Asia of the
Smile Train says, "Smile Train does much
more than offer free surgeries. We actively
promote the training and development of
medical professionals, sponsor all the other
rehab services cleft kids need after surgery.
And also carry out a lot of awareness generation
activities through partner hospitals,
state governments, voluntary organizations
and others".
A cleft is a sub-division in the body's
natural structure, formed before birth.
Though exact cause of it is still unknown, a
cleft lip or palate leads to speech defect,
breathing problems, distorted face and psycho-
social stigma. For Dr. Harsh Jain, a maxillofacial
surgeon, in countries like India,
cleft is more of a socio-economic problem
than medical.
Superstitions often mislead people to
believe that cleft is a form of punishment
from god for our sins and is hence a bad
omen. Children with clefts become the
objects of ridicule and are treated as 'virtual'
outcasts. In the past, children with cleft,
often girls, were either killed or abandoned
after their birth. But things have improved a
lot now. Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh, director
and chief of plastic surgery at G.S. Memorial
Plastic Surgery Hospital & Trauma Centre in
Banaras affirms, "The average age at surgery
for girls in my hospital is one year less
compared to that for male patients. Indian
parents pay more attention to the correction
of deformities of girl child". Dr Singh
operated on Pinki, the girl who featured in
the Oscar winning documentary 'Smile
Pinki'.
Till a decade ago, corrective plastic surgery
was expensive, but things got much
better after the arrival of Smile Train in
2000. Dr. Vimala Rajan, a consultant plastic
surgeon at Max and Apollo Hospitals confirms,
"Earlier I used to perform surgery
even for poor in the Moolchand Hospital.
But now, most of my patients are elites
from the country or from abroad. The Smile
Train is really doing a great job".
Though most common of all birth
defects, the government does not even
recognises clefts as a disability. Everyone
associated with the cause hopes that 'Smile
Pinki' would help create awareness, especially
amongst poor and help children with
clefts or those cured in integrating with the
society, thus giving them a second chance
at life. Dr. Kumar wishes that it creates
“awareness about the plight and problem
of cleft patients and also about the fact that
it can be treated by plastic surgery and
other associated treatment.”