An interesting discussion :) on recent afghan war

lightoftruth wrote: When will libs demand Obama pull out of Afgan instead of increasing our presence in that quagmire? What will libs do when Obama attacks Pakistan after the taliban takes it over?????

No one attacks a nuclear armed nation, & The Taliban will never take over Pakistan.

I think you are getting to much sugar in your diet Old mate, this is definately a sugar overdose post that you made.

In New Strategy, U.S. Will Defend Kabul Environs - UnitedStates.com FOREIGN* & DEFENSE - NEWS - Forums

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Deal acceptable in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan: US

By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, Feb 20: The United States has rejected the truce in Swat but US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that Washington could accept a similar agreement between the government and Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

The US rejection was conveyed by its special envoy Richard Holbrooke who called President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday evening to tell him that the Swat deal was tantamount to surrender by Pakistan.

Later, Mr Holbrooke told CNN that the Pakistani leader had assured him that the Swat deal was only an “interim arrangement” to stabilise the restive region and that he had not yet signed an agreement with the militants.

In a separate briefing on Friday, Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Poland that the United States could accept a political agreement between the Afghan government and Taliban rebels along the lines of the Swat deal.

Full story on Deal acceptable in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan: US -DAWN - Top Stories; February 21, 2009


:)

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Liberal Fascism

By Nick Cohen
IT is undeniable that the best way to have avoided complicity in the horrors of the last century would have been to have adopted the politics of Jonah Goldberg, author of Liberal Fascism.

Much can be said against moderate conservatives, but it has to be admitted that their wariness of grand designs and their willingness to place limits on the over-mighty state give them a clean record others cannot share.

Few of Goldberg’s contemporaries will grant him the same courtesy. He lives in a western culture where “smug, liberal know-nothings, sublimely confident in the truth of their ill-informed opinions” accuse him of being “a fascist and a Nazi” simply because he is a conservative. Meanwhile, the heart-throb-savant George Clooney can assert that “the liberal movement morally has stood on the right side”.

Behind the insults and the self-righteousness is the assumption that politics runs on a continuum from far left to far right. Goldberg sets out to knock down this false paradigm and show that much of what Americans call liberalism, and we call leftism, has its origins in fascism.

Liberal Fascism is not a clean blow to the jaw, but a multiple rocket launcher of a book that targets just about every liberal American hero and ideal. The title comes from H.G. Wells, the most strenuous intellectual advocate of totalitarianism on the early-20th-century British left. “I am asking for a Liberal Fascisti,” he told the Oxford Union in 1932, “for enlightened Nazis. The world is sick of parliamentary democracy. The Fascist party is Italy. The Communist is Russia. The Fascists of liberalism must carry out a parallel ambition of a far grander scale.”

Wells saw no difference between communism and fascism and Goldberg puts a compelling case that neither should we. Mussolini began as a socialist agitator. The Nazis were a national socialist party which despised bourgeois democracy and offered a comprehensive welfare state.

I agree that all totalitarianisms are essentially the same, and that far leftists combined with far rightists in the 1920s and 1930s and are doing so again now. But I had difficulties with Goldberg’s concept of totalitarian unity. Communists killed different people to fascists. If you were a peasant farmer in Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy or Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, they allowed you to live — as long as you did not cross them.

In America, flustered liberal critics have had far greater difficulty with the notion that they and their predecessors are the inheritors of ideas that began in the fascist movement. Goldberg certainly leaves them little left to be proud of as he provides an alternative history of an America that Simon Schama lacks the intellectual courage to confront.

He begins with Woodrow Wilson and shows that before Mussolini came to power, a Democratic president imposed a militarised state. When America entered the First World War, the progressives of the day used the conflict as an excuse to arrest dissidents, close newspapers and recruit tens of thousands of neighbourhood spies.

Beginning with the Black Panthers, multiculturalism has also placed racial and religious identity above all else and beyond the reach of rational argument. Fascism was a pagan movement, whose mystic tropes are repeated by new age healers, vegetarians and greens.

Repeatedly he insists that he does not want to allege that, for instance, Hillary Clinton’s admittedly sinister desire for the state to take the place of the family makes her a totalitarian, merely that her ideas come from the totalitarian movement.

Liberal Fascism is a bracing and stylish examination of political history. That it is being published at a time when Goldberg’s free market has failed and big government and charismatic presidents are on their way back in no way invalidates his work. Hard times test intellectuals and, for all its occasional false notes, Goldberg’s case survives. n

— The Guardian, London

DAWN - Editorial; February 11, 2009

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Distant planet is ‘an orbiting hell’

PARIS, Jan 28: Astronomers have observed a planet some 200 light years from Earth that, for a few hours, becomes 700 degrees Celsius hotter every time its elliptical orbit brings it close to its sun.

The scientists, in a study released on Wednesday, said they had generated the most realistic images ever captured of the exoplanet, the name given to planets outside our Solar System.

They used infrared data collected from Nasa’s space-based Spitzer telescope to gain pictures of a strange world exposed briefly to an inferno.

One image shows a thin blue crescent on the “dark” side of the planet, opposite its star, while the scorched side glows a deep, crimson red.

Known as HD80606b, the planet is a giant ball of gas that has four times the mass of Jupiter, the biggest planet of our system.

Researchers led by Gregory Laughlin of the University of California at Santa Cruz analysed data collected in November 30 hours before, during and after HD80606b’s closest approach to its star.

From the telescope’s vantage point, the planet passed behind the star — an event called a secondary eclipse — just before reaching its maximum temperature of 1,227 C (2240 F), hotter than molten lava.

It was an unexpected stroke of luck, making it possible to measure the exact temperatures of the star and the planet separately.

“This is the first time that we’ve detected weather changes in real time on a planet outside our solar system,” said Laughlin. “The results are very exciting because they give us important clues to the atmospheric properties of the planet.”

As the atmosphere heats up and expands, it produces fierce winds — moving at five kilometres per second — that flow away from the day side towards the night side.

The planet’s rotation causes the winds to curl up into large-scale storm systems that gradually peter out as temperatures cool, Laughlin said.

HD80606b swings around its sun in an elliptical orbit every 114 Earth days. It is one of about a dozen so-called “hot Jupiter” extra-solar planets which spin on their axes in such a way that the same surface is always facing their respective stars.

The photo-like images were generated by a computer programme that calculated the colour and intensity of light coming from the glowing planet.

“These images are far more realistic than anything that’s been done before for extra-solar planets,” said UCSC researcher Daniel Kasen, who developed the programme.

When closest to its star, the sunlight beating down on the planet is more than 800 times stronger than at the far end of its egg-shaped orbit.—AFPDistant planet is ‘an orbiting hell’ -DAWN - Top Stories; January 29, 2009

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Recent Israeli offensive destroys rest of the palestinian economy

By Donald Macintyre
ISRAELI forces used aerial bombing, tank shelling and armoured bulldozers to eliminate the productive capacity of some of Gaza’s most important manufacturing plants during their 22 days of military action in the Gaza Strip.

The attacks, like those which destroyed an estimated 20,000 homes leaving some residential areas resembling an earthquake zone and more than 50,000 people in temporary shelters, destroyed or severely damaged 219 factories, Palestinian industrialists say. Leaders of Gaza’s business community — who have long stayed aloof from the different Palestinian political factions — say that much of the three per cent of industry still operating after the 18-month shutdown caused by Israel’s economic siege has now been destroyed.

Chris Gunness, chief spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said that widespread destruction of “civilian economic infrastructure” was a strike “at the heart of the peace process” because “economic stability is an essential component of a durable peace.”

While the main impact of the destruction is likely to be on the already politically fraught prospects of medium to long-term reconstruction in Gaza, it will not make efforts to help Gaza’s many stricken and displaced residents any easier.

It is those humanitarian relief efforts for which the main British aid agencies are appealing for help in the advertisement so far barred by the BBC. The Unrwa is meanwhile separately pressing donors for $345m for immediate repairs to homes still standing and to its own damaged premises.

The destroyed factories include: Alweyda, the biggest Palestinian food-processing plant and the only one still operating in Gaza until the war; Abu Eida, the largest, and now flattened, ready-mixed concrete producer; and the 89-year old Al Badr flour mills, which have the biggest storage facilities anywhere in the Strip.

The owners of all three said on Saturday they were proud of their close and long-standing contact with Israeli partner firms and suppliers. Dr Yaser M Alweyda, owner and engineering director of the demolished food-processing plant estimated the total damage to his plant at $22.5m and accused Israel of wanting “to destroy the weak Palestinian economy”. He added: “They want to ensure that we will never have a state in Palestine.”

The air and ground strikes have compounded the impact of the total 18-month trade embargo, which Israel imposed in June 2007 after the civil war between Hamas and Fatah ended in the collapse of the short-lived coalition between the two rival factions and Hamas’s enforced takeover of the strip.

Amr Hamad, executive manager of the Palestinian Federation of Industries, said: “What they were not able to reach by the blockade, they have reached with their bulldozers.” He added: “Businessmen are not connected at all to Hamas and are very pragmatic and open-minded.

“They are the last layer in Palestinian society who believe in peace and the importance of the economy. They also believe that the only economic link should be with Israel,” Mr Hamad said.

Meanwhile the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, told his cabinet that with “typical moral acrobatics” the “terrorist organisations” were trying to lay the blame on Israel, and that “the State of Israel did everything in order to avoid hitting civilians.” Israel would ensure that soldiers and officers who took part in the operation would be safe from any tribunals investigating them, he said.

At the Al Badr mills in Sudaniya, north of Gaza City, owner Rashed Hamada, 55, said the company had been making wheat flour for bakeries right up until the attack on Jan 10. He strongly denied that his compound had been used by Hamas gunmen, and said it was clear the production line itself had been the target.

“It seems that the father of the commander had owned a flour mill,” he commented ironically. “He knew exactly where to hit. The Israelis .... used to encourage me to expand production here. Now they have destroyed it. I don’t understand why.”

Standing beside mangled and incinerated refrigeration vans and the burned-out ruins of his food factory and warehouses, located for ease of access to Israel between the eastern Gaza City district of Shajaia and the border 650 metres away, Dr Alweyda said that as well as the production lines, 26 vehicles had been destroyed.

The company, sole Gaza agent for Israeli milk products company Tnuva, had managed to keep biscuit production going up until the outbreak of war. The Israeli military said that it was still investigating allegations of civilian casualties and property damage.

— © The Independent
DAWN - Opinion; January 27, 2009

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Columbus' Mistake

THE next day after winning the Senate Foreign Committee’s vote, Senator Hillary Clinton while outlining her preferences said America needs the support of the world and the world needs American support.

This reminded me of a paragraph from Urdu ki akhri kitab, a book written by Ibne Insha, a short story writer and humourist. The paragraph says it all, “Earlier, there were nations in the world living in peace and harmony but Columbus discovered America. People say Columbus discovered it by mistake, if it is so it was his greatest mistake as he has departed but we are still paying for his mistake”.

H.K. NIAZI
Karachi

DAWN - Letters; January 21, 2009

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Indian ‘spy’ arrested

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 24: Law-enforcement agencies claimed on Wednesday night to have arrested a man believed to be an Indian spy and found fake identity cards and other material in his possession.

The suspect, identified as Satish Anand Shukla, is believed to have been involved in Wednesday’s bomb blast in the Bahawalpur House here.

Sources said the man was arrested after law-enforcement personnel had intercepted his cellphone calls. They said Shukla had disguised his identity.

Indian ‘spy’ arrested -DAWN - Top Stories; December 25, 2008

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UN official praises Pakistan’s cooperation

By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, Dec 23: A senior UN official has said that Pakistan has extended full cooperation in implementing UN sanctions against Jamaatud Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Richard Barrett, the Coordinator of Security Council’s Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Committee, told CNN-IBN in New York that the United Nations had received “across-the-board” cooperation from all Pakistani civil and military agencies.

The committee is responsible for monitoring sanctions imposed by the Security Council on individuals and organisations declared terrorist.

Mr Barrett said he found “very good atmosphere of cooperation” in all his dealings with officials in Pakistan, “whether it’s the government, elected officials, ministries, the intelligence services or the army”.

UN official praises Pakistan’s cooperation -DAWN - Top Stories; December 24, 2008

India must admit tht unlike india, pakistan respects decisions taken by UN ... the above excerpt shows tht UN officials r satisfied with wht pakistan has done...

wht steps has india taken to act on UN resolution on Kashmir???

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A message of tolerance to MQM

THIS is apropos of your editorial, ‘Bloodshed once more’ (Dec 2). While expressing concern about the violence in Karachi, you have correctly observed that the MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s warnings about the possible Talibanisation of this city wasn’t the right thing to do.

Also, that, undoubtedly, one of the reasons behind his warnings could be the migration to Karachi of a large number of refugees from Fata. You are also right in noting that there is no evidence that all of them are arriving here or that none of them intends to return home after things return to normality.

Perhaps this is the reason for the concern of the MQM leadership. Actually they do not want the demographic balance to shift to their disadvantage. However, they are reminded that some among them and all their elders had come to Sindh as migrants from India, a large part of the city’s populace, including my family, are ‘muhajirs’ in this sense.

Therefore, if our unfortunate brethren from a battle zone of their own country wish to find shelter with their relatives, friends or acquaintances settled in another part of the country, it is not proper for us to object to that.

Emerson had said: “It is a beautiful compensation of life that we cannot help another without being helped ourselves”. Hence, whichever way one looks at it, ultimately it will be to our own advantage (if one must view it in business terms) to help these uprooted, destitute and desperate folks, many of whom have lost their family members and relatives.

Such a selfness and humane approach will definitely increase the goodwill and tolerance between communities and lead to peace and prosperity for the city, province and country. If we can tolerate millions of folks from Bangladesh, Afgahnistan, Burma and other places, why must we turn Pakistanis away?

F. SIDDIQI
Karachi

DAWN - Letters; December 07, 2008

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Humble vs Aggressive approach

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that claims he had made a threatening telephone call to President Asif Ali Zardari over the recent terror attack on Mumbai were false and intended to divert the world’s attention from New Delhi’s case that a Pakistan-based terrorist group had planned the assault.

“I have seen several misleading stories about a hoax telephone call from me to President Zardari of Pakistan,” Mr Mukherjee said in a statement a day after the Indian foreign ministry said the affair was unworthy of comment.

“We were informed by friends from third countries that Pakistan President Zardari believed that he had received a threatening telephone call from me on Nov 28, after the attack on Mumbai. We immediately clarified to those friends, and we also made it clear to the Pakistan authorities, that I had made no such telephone call,” Mr Mukherjee said. He was commenting on a report in Dawn on Saturday, which was picked up by several Indian dailies. Mr Mukherjee said his last and only conversation with President Zardari was in Islamabad during a visit to Pakistan in May.

He said the only telephone conversation he had with a Pakistani leader since the attack on Mumbai was on the evening of Nov 28 when he spoke to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi when the visitor was addressing a press conference at the Women’s Press Club in New Delhi.

“It is, however, worrying that a neighbouring state might even consider acting on the basis of such a hoax call, try to give it credibility with other states, and confuse the public by releasing the story in part. I can only ascribe this series of events to those in Pakistan who wish to divert attention from the fact that a terrorist group operating from the Pakistani territory planned and launched a ghastly attack on Mumbai.”

The Hindu said on Sunday that, while the Indian foreign ministry had refused to comment on the hoax call, it believed “the thinking within the Indian foreign office is that such disinformation stories could only mean that Inter-Services Intelligence’s dirty tricks department is very much at work. The ISI and the army are trying to divert internal and external attention from their complicity in Mumbai terror and thereby clawing their way into public acceptability in Pakistan.” The newspaper did not quote any source for its report.

“The Indian foreign office is of the view that even to dignify such a disinformation campaign with a comment or denial would mean helping the rogue elements within the Pakistani establishment. The foreign office’s anticipation, though, is that these elements would muddy the waters and the world would see more such acts of disinformation,” it said.“New Delhi is aware that the ISI will continue to make attempts to sow misinformation to bring about a situation in which western countries would lose sight of the main issue at hand -- bringing to book the culprits responsible for the Mumbai blasts and dissuading elements from planning terror attacks -- in favour of an approach that says: ‘Okay little boys, stop fighting.’”

‘Hoax call’ claim termed diversionary -DAWN - Top Stories; December 08, 2008

this is another illustration of offensive approach! ... might is right... no proof provided whtsoever and india still keeps defaming ISI... they have a phobia, i m sure tht ignoring their local extremist elements will hurt them later on... i m not sure how long can they fool their ppl by always blaming pakistan

i still recommend pakistan to respond properly i.e. aggressively instead of being polite n down to earth...

i remember iqbal's words: "hai jurm-e-zaeefi ki saza marg-e-mafajaat"

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US urges Pakistan to cooperate with India 'or else to face the use of force :)'

US intelligence officials, while talking to the US media, confirmed India’s claim that Lashkar-i-Tayyaba was involved in the Mumbai attacks.

They said that British intelligence agents had recorded conversations between the attackers and their backers in Pakistan.

In an editorial on Tuesday, The Washington Post also backed India’s claim that the LeT was behind the attack.

“The best way to salvage Pakistani democracy, and to prevent a slide toward war between two nuclear powers, is for Islamabad to shut down LeT and similar organisations swiftly, permanently and verifiably,” the Post wrote.

Also, a Post columnist, Robert Kagan, who is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment, Washington, suggested placing the tribal belt and the areas where terrorist groups allegedly had their bases under international control.

He suggested forming an international force to invade those areas and destroy the bases. Mr Kagan urged the US to convince China and Russia not to oppose the creation of such a force if and when the proposal goes to the United States.

He acknowledged that forming such a force to invade Pakistani territories would violate the country’s sovereignty but argued that “Pakistan and other states that harbour terrorists should not take their sovereignty for granted. In the 21st century, sovereign rights need to be earned.”

At the State Department, deputy spokesman Robert Wood said: “We’re going to continue to work with India and Pakistan … and to see what we can do to prevent these types of attacks from taking place and, of course, to get to the bottom of who carried out these attacks and bring those culprits to justice.”

US urges Pakistan to cooperate with India -DAWN - Top Stories; December 03, 2008

presure building on pakistan... for no reason!!! i still think pakistan needs to be more aggressive in order to earn its sovereign rights

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Karachi braves more violence, 24 arrested

The clashes broke out on Saturday between fringe elements within the city's Urdu-speaking community and ethnic Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan.

However, political leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - the major political party in Karachi which represents many Urdu-speaking residents - and the Awami National Party (ANP) - which represents many ethnic Pashtuns - continued to condemn the violence and blame it on 'hidden elements.'

MQM minister Shoaib Bukhari told PPI that the 'involvement of hidden elements in this phenomenon can not be denied.'

According to Reuters, some commentators in Pakistan have raised the possibility of Indian instigation of the violence in Karachi as a response to last week's militant assault in Mumbai, which India has linked to Pakistan.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said he was surprised by the timing of the Karachi violence.

'The killings in Karachi erupted suddenly after the Mumbai incident,' Sharif told reporters. 'I'm surprised how it erupted all of a sudden ... I think this needs to be looked in to thoroughly, which forces are involved in it.'

For the most part, violence has remained restricted to certain areas of the city such as Orangi Town, Sohrab Goth, Malir and to a lesser extent Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

However, many residents continue to be gripped by fear as a result of widely circulated yet unverified reports of violent mutilations being conducted by the rioters.

City police chief Waseem Ahmed said four people were killed in different incidents in the early hours of Tuesday but the city had been mostly calm since then.

'There has been no major incident since the morning,' Ahmed told Reuters.

At least 47 people have been killed and over 200 injured since Saturday, according to a tally of reports from police and hospitals.

Rivals fought gun battles and burned shops and cars in several parts of the city of 15 million people over the weekend and more disturbances erupted on Monday.

DAWN.COM | Sindh | Karachi braves more violence, 24 arrested

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Indian commandos killed Jews, says Israeli rescue group -DAWN

By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, Dec 2: A private rescue group from Israel has claimed that Indian commandos inadvertently killed some of the hostages in the terror attacks in Mumbai, and the claim has evidently embarrassed both governments, news reports said on Tuesday.

“Based on what I saw, (although) I can’t identify the type of bullets in the bodies (of the victims), I don’t think the terrorists killed all the hostages, to put it gently,” Mr Haim Weingarten, head of the six-member team of Zaka voluntary organisation dealing with rescue and recovery, told The Jerusalem Post.

Press Trust of India said from Jerusalem that the claim had embarrassed the Israeli government, which is worried about its fallout on ties with the Indian government.

According to PTI, Mr Weingarten told the Post from Mumbai that all the six Jewish and Israeli hostages found dead in the Chabad House were killed by either gunshot wounds or shrapnel from grenade blasts, or both, and that he didn’t know who threw or fired the grenades that wounded the hostages.

Although lacking forensic tools to determine the time of death, Mr Weingarten was quoted as saying that his team’s observations led him to believe that “some of the hostages were killed on Wednesday (when gunmen first entered the building), some on Thursday, and some on Friday morning (during the start of the commando raid)”.

Zaka officials believe that in a final act of love, the director of the Chabad House, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, wrapped the body of his wife Rivka in a tallit (prayer shawl) before succumbing to his own wounds during the final hours of the siege, it said.

The volunteers on the scene found the bodies of Israeli grandmother Yocheved Orpaz (62) and Jewish Mexican national Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich (50) bound to one another with a phone cord.

Meanwhile, the Indian foreign ministry held a briefing “to convey the deepest condolences of the Government of India to those countries whose nationals were killed in the terrorist attack in Mumbai.” Heads of mission from these countries were present in the briefing. “They were also informed of details of the terrorist attack and the investigation so far,” the ministry said.

Possibly following the briefing, the Israeli government slammed the Zaka group for alleging that Indian commandos might have inadvertently killed one or more Jewish hostages during the Nariman House operation, saying the “irresponsible” comments could cause considerable damage to bilateral ties.
“They are causing all kinds of problems,” a senior Israeli foreign ministry official said about the six-member team of the Zaka voluntary group that flew on Thursday “on its own volition” to Mumbai for a rescue operation after the deadly terror strikes.

“They are selling all kinds of stories to journalists looking for stories, and taking credit for things they didn’t do,” the official told The Jerusalem Post. It remains a mystery why India has allowed a clearly unauthorised group from Israel to carry out its self-styled rescue at the site of a mind-boggling crime. Usually such sensitive sites are sealed off to visitors till official investigations are underway.

Commandos killed Jews, says Israeli rescue group -DAWN - Top Stories; December 03, 2008

i dont know why the world reacts so belligerently if indian forces are blamed... and at the same time the world asks pakistan to be calm and cooperating when pakistan or its departments are blamed without evidence...

i am also thinking why are such blames on indian forces called irresponsible comments, but none of the comments by the indian govt. officials have yet been labeled as 'irresponsible' by the international community???

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Indian Militancy and its Blame Game

in response to a few indians who claim india to have never played a role in insurgency???

see
"The Indian diplomat G. Parathasarathy admitted supporting terrorism in Sri Lanka. He synically recorded his confession “We have learnt our lesson” for backing the terrorist and that “India paid it price for backing the LTTE“. India has not paid a price for the atrocities committed by the LTTE. It needs to pay the price and call the dogs of war off. India is not doing that."
http://rupeenews.com/2008/07/26/india-admits-to-supporting-ltte-terroists-in-sri-lanka-pakistan-to-continue-to-help-lanka-crush-the-tamil-tigers/

and this
"In one of the biggest defeats of Indian foreign policy since it was thrown out of Sri Lanka, the Indian Intelligence services that supported the Indian based Tamil Tigers face imminent annihilation. President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka has reasons to be optimistic. The international rules of the game have changed. India in the 80s wanted to impose a Cypriot like bifurcation of Sri Lanka an Indian beached for the Tamils which would allow India influence to extend to Colombo. Nothing less than total capitulation to New Delhi was acceptable. In 2008 China is building a port in Sri Lanka. Pakistan is supply arms to the legal government of Sri Lanka that happens to be Sinhalese. These arms have had a tremendous impact on the Sri Lankan civil war, and Pakistanis will stand on the podium along with the Sri Lankan brothers and sisters to celebrate the victory of the unification of the island and defeat of Indian imperialism"

http://www.zimbio.com/pilot?ZURL=%2FWorld%2BPolitics%2Farticles%2F1466%2F911%2Btragedy%2Beverday%2BLanka%2BPakistan%2BGifts%2BIndian&URL=http%3A%2F%2Frupeenews.com%2F2008%2F06%2F18%2Fltte-was-created-by-india%2F



for those who say india have never been pakistan centric??? see
"PAKISTAN FACES A 911 every day. In the 80s, RAW, and KGB destroyed Bori Bazaar and 300 died. This week dozens were killed in the heart of the caiptal. “911″ was a tectonic event for the United States and rest of the world. The event showed the world the horrors of terror. Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangaldesh, Sikkim, China and Bhutan have been facing “911″ since 1947–the targets of Indian agression and its hegemony designs. Pakistan is portrayed the epicenter of terror, while the real terror central is New Delhi. New Dlehi has used strong arm tactics to incorporate Hydrabad, and 560 other independent states into itself. It has forced Sikkim into its union and threatens and bullies Bhutan and Bangladesh. It has unleased a full fledged civil war on Sri Lanka-supporting, arming and training the Tamil Tigers (the LTTE) and sending them to bifurcate the Buddhist island paradise called Lanka. India used the Mukti Bahni to force Dhaka away from Islamabad, and then used the Rakhi Bahni to impose a “president for life” on Bangladesh. The patriotic Bangladeshis killed Shiakh Mujibur Rehman and aboshied the “treaty of freindship” which would have incorporated Bangladesh as a province of India."
http://www.zimbio.com/World+Politics/articles/1466/911+tragedy+everday+Lanka+Pakistan+Gifts+Indian

bloody indians shld stop polluting Pakistan's image and look into ur own backyard... dude actually India has dug its own grave... they supported militants n insurgents for so long n most of them have now turned against them...
see
"Unfortunately for India, the controversial Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987 proved to be as much of a failure as India’s policy of direct intervention. The result was India’s massively assisted LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) turned on its benefactor and declared war against the Indian forces in Sri Lanka. All in all, this Indian adventure killed 60,000 men, women and children and forced the Indians to withdraw their forces without successfully completing their mission. The price has been steep for both India and Sri Lanka and even today Sri Lanka is paying the price for this Indian-initiated and RAW inspired polarised conflict. The extent of RAW’s role in this affair has been painstakingly documented by Gunaratna in his book on the Indian intervention."
http://rupeenews.com/2008/06/26/raw-the-rascal/

Currently there are militants movements going on throughout india. India has around 600 districts out of which more than 200 districts have their sepratist movements. Every year thousand of people die in india in result of clashes between these movements and indian government. None of these movement has any link to PAkistan.

india has so many terrorist movements in their homeland and still they are blaming on Pakistan without having any evidence.

india shys away from the responsibility by blaming pakistan... since this seems an easier option :)

has the indian economic growth been able to provide enough food and shelter to the ppl of india??? A Big NO!!! indian poor is poorer than pakistani poor... go check any stats...

it is just the matter of time now... indian militants will soon fight each other like hell.... they'll kill each other soon, pakistani agencies need not do anything against them...

“911″ tragedy everday for Lanka & Pakistan: Gifts from Indian RAW

PAKISTAN FACES A 911 every day. In the 80s, RAW, and KGB destroyed Bori Bazaar and 300 died. This week dozens were killed in the heart of the caiptal. “911″ was a tectonic event for the United States and rest of the world. The event showed the world the horrors of terror. Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangaldesh, Sikkim, China and Bhutan have been facing “911″ since 1947–the targets of Indian agression and its hegemony designs. Pakistan is portrayed the epicenter of terror, while the real terror central is New Delhi. New Dlehi has used strong arm tactics to incorporate Hydrabad, and 560 other independent states into itself. It has forced Sikkim into its union and threatens and bullies Bhutan and Bangladesh. It has unleased a full fledged civil war on Sri Lanka-supporting, arming and training the Tamil Tigers (the LTTE) and sending them to bifurcate the Buddhist island paradise called Lanka. India used the Mukti Bahni to force Dhaka away from Islamabad, and then used the Rakhi Bahni to impose a “president for life” on Bangladesh. The patriotic Bangladeshis killed Shiakh Mujibur Rehman and aboshied the “treaty of freindship” which would have incorporated Bangladesh as a province of India.

• Pakistan: Indian Defense Review schemes unmasked
• Indian Intelligence RAW: Recent 2008 strikes inside Pakistan
• Indian RAW attacks Marriot Hotel in Islamabad Pakistan
• India intelligence: “‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.”

Pakistan today is the target of Indian agression. Pakistan is the one that got away. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons forced India to treat after maassing 250,000 soldiers on its borders. The encroachment on Pakistan continues. India used a forged article of accession and took over Kashmir. It now claims the article of accession is lost, if it ever existed. The document shown today has wrong, incorrect dates and it would be impossible for the personalities to sign the document becuase they were not persent on the sitess to sign the document. (Read Alistair Lamb and Stanley Wolpert on this subject–also posted on http://www.rupeenews.com) Junagarh and Manvadar were Pakistani territory where the states had signed articles of accession with Pakistan. India’s agresion against Pakistan continues–it took away Kargil 9which used to be Pakistani territory ’till the 70s) and took away Siachin (which was Pakistani territory ’till the 80s) Indian Intelligence RAW: Recent 2008 strikes inside Pakistan. The Indian RAW has to be unleased and declared a terroirst outfit. It has attacked the Pakistani capital again using its proxies Bait Mehsud and the other gangs of thugs, criminals and rug barons that it supports. India intelligence: “‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.” ”China’s Israel”–Pakistan has been threatened.

India RAW attacks Marriot at Islamabad

The peaceful people of the Indus Valley have been rocked by explosions by Indian operatives. In the 80s, during the Soviet occupation of Pakistan, Indian RAW, Russian KGB and the Afghan Khad had a field day in Pakistan. While Reagan was announcing “Mr. Gorbachev bring down this wall”, the USSR wsabeing gutted from the inside out in Afghanistan. Pakistan was the frontline state. As such she bore the brunt of the Soviet and Indian sabotage. 300 people died in Bori Bazar in Karachi. Islamabad Pakistan Marriot: What was the US Marine role?

On the 23rd of December Pakistan faced its 911. Indian agents brought down the Marriott. Other bobms exploded by RAW agents and their apparatchiks in 2008 are listed below.

The incredible amount of planning based on detailed “casing” (sophisticated observation, research, and analysis of traffic patterns, routes, weaknesses and strenghts) of the target, the amount of TNT and incindiary material used, the expenses incurred on accumalating the explosives, and the sophistication and planning of the attack points to state machinery and organizations like RAW which can carry out such carnage. No FATA cave dweller has the capacity to organize, plan, and execute an attack of this magnitude. This has the fingerprints of RAW all of it

The purpose of the attacks was to:

1) Demoralize the nation

2) Take revenge for the defeats in Afghanistan

3) To hide the Kashmiri problems

4) Possibly decapitate the entire parliamentary and political leaders of the country (at the party that was happening at the spot)

Indian imperialism using RAW to destabilize all neighbors. There has been the Indian angle in Baluchistan. The Indian consulattes have been using the Baluch “nationalist” terrorists to create problems for Pakistan and malign the patriotic Pakistanis. Mr. Hamid Karzai, threatened by the “talibaan” has several times issued veiled threats against Pakistan. The Red Mosque and other related matters are part of the Indian-Afghan nexus supported by other anti-Pakistan forces which may want to threaten the government in Pakistan to relieve pressure on Kabul and Srinagar Osama Bin Laden turned against his benefactors.The explosion in Islamabad is to put pressure on Pakistan by derailing the economic progress. Already the Indians have cut off the water supplies by stealing Pakistani waters from the Chenab. RAW facts on South Asia- India fails to occupy countries.

With delusions of world power, and hallucinations of absorbing all the neighboring countries (Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh) India is trying to destabilize Pakistan. India as World Power 1 Extremist Hindus show power using the Swastika in triple entendre–as an ancient Hindu symbol, reverence for Hitler and sign of Anti-Western Indian power

An exegetical examination will show that the furtive condotierri supportive of the Mesud coterie and other mercenaries has evinced shame to India. A majority of precocious humans have clearly voiced disquisitions against the doltish and vindictive votary propagating and divisively daphenous demagogy. The world has presented copious monographs against a deleterious Neocon philosophy used as an excuse to wage The New Crusades Against Islam (TNCAI).

Indian Consulates-dens of inequity in Afghanistan supporting terror in Pakistan

Red Mosque Hostages: When Freedom Fighters turn “Terrorist”. Consistant support for the mehsud Terrroists from the 4 Indian Consulates in Afghanistan has kep the Pakistan army at bay.

Taliban Statement issued on Jan. 30th, 2008. “We have been fighting for Afghanistan’s independence against foreign aggression since 2001 [when the Taliban were ousted] and the Afghan nation has a lot of hopes resting on us. That’s why they have stood with us against the foreign military might. They are not supporting us to fight with Pakistan, but to fight against the US-led NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] forces and liberate Afghanistan,” Zabihullah Mujahid said. He said the Taliban had already issued a statement disowning Baitullah on their website (http://www.alemarah.i67.org).

However a small splinter group led by Mr. Mehsud has now turned its guns on Pakistan. Why is Mr. Bait Mehsud with his new organization “Tehrik e Taliban” now attacking Pakistan? These rhetorical questions were asked for effect.

LTTE was created by India

Indian sponsored Tamil terror in Sri Lanka continues unabated

Lanka: Indian LTTE terrorists use youth as cannon fodder

Lanka Letter: RAW THE RASCAL by Prem Raj in Columbo

Pakistan Sri Lanka growing military alliance

Growing Pakistan Sri Lanka ties

The Pakistan Afghan border map

• Singh: Achieving Peace in South Asia: Can he overcome…?
• India’s frustrated NSA blusters… “Destroy the ISI”
• India a secret player in Afghanistan: Bases—Lashkargarh, Qushila Jadid,Khahak,Hassan Killies
• Indo-Pak dispute: India building Wullar Barrage on Pak river
• BLA - A threat to international peace by Ahmad Shah Baloch: “The BLA is the creation of Indian intelligence agencies, which are trying to create instability in the areas bordering Iran and Afghanistan.”. Expose on RAW by Isha Khan of Dhaka Bangladesh

Hands off Pakistan is the slogan on the Pakistan news media. Selective amnesia of Americans. Pakistan is the most mistreated friend of America. The post Benazir era must be different. The USA has often treated Pakistan as a colony. Kissinger threatened Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto the father of Benazir said it most elequently. Pakistan first: The devastating affects of appeasing India and kowtowing to the USA. Mr. Kissinger and US policy still threatens Pakistani leaders. Perhaps Mr. Kissinger living in the 70s should face the new realities. Waving goodbye to American Hegemony.

Indian penury: The reality vs. the Bollywood marketing gloss:
India as World Power 1 Extremist Hindus show power using the Swastika in triple entendre–as an ancient Hindu symbol, reverence for Hitler and sign of Anti-Western Indian power
Superpower India Pt 2 Extremist Hindus revere Hitler and use the Swastika as the Indian flag
How long to extripate penury from india? 300 years! India’s budget– fit for a superpower

Murder of 10 million Indian girl babies:Before or right after birth. The media is silent.

Sino-Indian relationship

India Balkanizing? Naxalite insurrection widening cracks in deep cavaties
The 2nd world revolution (after Buddhism) from Nepal: Another threat to India

Pakistan is China’s “Israel”

Red Nepal: Clear and present danger to India

The Singh Doctrine Fails

The Indian RAW has to be unleased and declared a terrorist outfit. It has attacked the Pakistani capital again using its proxies Bait Mehsud and the other gangs of thugs, criminals and rug barons that it supports. India intelligence: “‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.”

Islamabad Pakistan Marriot: What was the US Marine role? The incredible amount of planning based on detailed “casing” of the target, the amount of TNT and incindiary material used, the expenses incurred on accumalating the explosives, and the sophistication and planning of the attack points to state machinery and organizations like RAW which can carry out such carnage. No FATA cave dweller has the capacity to organize, plan, and execute an attack of this magnitude. This has the fingerprints of RAW all of it. Here is a list of major RAW attacks in Pakistan since January 2008.

January 10: Twenty people, mostly policemen, killed in suicide bomb attack outside Lahore High Court.

January 14: Bomb kills 10 people at a market in Karachi.

February 9: Suicide bomber kills 25 people at an opposition election rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda.

February 11 : Nine killed in suicide bombing at an election meeting of an independent candidate in North Waziristan.

February 16 : Suicide car bomber strikes a rally of Pakistan People’s Party in the northwestern town of Parachinar, killing 37.

February 22: Roadside bomb hits wedding party in Swat, killing at least 14.

February 25: Suicide bomber kills army surgeon Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baigand seven others in Rawalpindi.

February 29 : Forty-four killed in a suicide blast in Mingorain northwest Swat valley during the funeral of three policemen killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day.

March 2: Suicide bomber kills 43 at tribal elders convention in the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel.

March 4: Two suicide bombers attack Pakistan Naval War College in Lahore, killing five people.

March 10 : Suicide truck bombings target Federal Investigation Agency building in Lahore; 26 killed.

March 15: Bomb blast at a restaurant in Islamabad kills a woman and wounds 10 others, including four FBI men.

July 2: Suicide car bomb outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad kills eight.

July 6: Fifteen killed in suicide attack on policemen during a rally to mark the anniversary of Lal Masjid raid.

August 12: Roadside bomb attack targets Pakistan Air Force bus in Peshawar, killing 13.

August 19 : Twenty-three killed in suicide attack on a hospital in northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town.

August 21: At least 78 killed in twin suicideattacks outside Pakistan’s main ordnance factory in Wah.

August 28: Nine persons, mostly policemen, killed in roadside bombing in North West Frontier Province.

September 6: Thirty people were killed and 70 injured in suicide bombing near a police check post in Peshawar.

Posted in Current Affairs, India CA, Pak CA, S. Asia History Tagged: Indian terror on RAW, Pakistan.

The article is copied from:

“911″ tragedy everday for Lanka & Pakistan: Gifts from Indian RAW - World Politics - Zimbio

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Superpower arrogance

Superpower arrogance


WHETHER it is a member of the ‘axis of evil’ or ‘a major non-Nato ally’, the Bush administration does not seem to miss an opportunity to flaunt its military prowess and the unilateralism that has been its characteristic. With the presidential election only a week away, American forces on Sunday raided a Syrian town and claimed killing eight people, including what a US military spokesman described as “one of the most prominent foreign fighter facilitators”. The raid would remind the world of the Sept 3 attack by American troops in Fata, the first to come in the wake of President Bush’s secret order, signed in July, authorising raids inside Pakistan, the ‘frontline state’ in the war on terror. The Sept 3 raid by American special forces that killed 20 people in Angoor Adda sent shock waves across Pakistan. Since then, even though an incursion by US troops has not taken place, the Pentagon has continued to launch missile attacks on suspected Taliban targets in Pakistan — 18 have been reported since September — with the casualties each time not necessarily being the militants.

Since the Iraqi invasion, American military planes have often violated Syria’s air space, and sometimes US troops have chased militants across the border. But Sunday’s raid by US commandos in four helicopters near the Syrian border city of Qaim is the first incident of its kind and must shock observers of the Middle Eastern scene. With the level of ‘Sunni insurgency’ in Iraq having come down considerably and ‘the flow’ of foreign militants from Syria to Iraq declining by America’s own reckoning, Iraq appears to be gradually returning to normality. Hence why the need for such a raid at a time when the US has almost decided to cut troop levels in Iraq and send more troops to Afghanistan’s killing fields? America has had no qualms about launching attacks on the tribal areas of Pakistan to target Al Qaeda terrorists but without consultation with Pakistan. Since after the first ground attack, the subsequent attacks have been from the air, the casualties have been massive with civilians also being killed.

It is felt that these raids — especially the Syrian one — could be the Republican administration’s last major bid to boost John McCain’s sagging electoral prospects. A renewed demonstration of the Bush administration’s ‘hard line’ to the extent of carrying out a raid on an Arab country is something the strong Zionist lobby would love, more so at a time when Israel is in the midst of a political crisis. As for Al Qaeda, any military campaigns undertaken by the US for destroying its operatives have won popular support for the presidency.

DAWN - Editorial; October 29, 2008

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Leadership not IMF is the issue

By Yousuf Nazar
PAKISTAN’S current economic meltdown is a crisis of competence if judged in light of the recent past. In the context of history, it represents a colossal failure of the establishment’s long-term foreign and economic policies.

Pakistan desperately needs $4-5bn to avoid default on its external obligations. The government is working on the multilateral institutions and the Friends of Pakistan to raise this sum within the next few weeks failing which it will go to the IMF.

The government does not want to borrow from the IMF to keep its hands relatively ‘free’ and avoid the likely political fallout from following the IMF’s prescriptions. Does Pakistan have an option? Unfortunately, no.

The World Bank has not disbursed any aid so far for this fiscal year. Its yearly aid to Pakistan is about $500-600m and is unlikely to come through now, that is, before the IMF puts its seal of approval on Pakistan’s economic plan.

The Friends of Pakistan group includes Saudi Arabia, China and the United States. Saudi Arabia has observed a meaningful silence for several months regarding Pakistan’s request to supply oil on credit. China’s commitment to help with specific projects is welcome but its ambivalence about outright cash loans is understandable given its own policy to channel foreign aid through project assistance. It did provide emergency loans to Pakistan in the past (in Dec 1996 and April 2008) but not to the tune of billions of dollars.

The People’s Party government took charge in April 2008 and put the privatisation programme on hold without making alternative funding arrangements. It did not act upon proposals from global banks to raise money from international markets at a time when market conditions were relatively stable. It kept hoping it would get the Saudi oil facility whilst the oil price shot up and the foreign exchange reserves evaporated. Capital flight ensued as the market confidence sank and business sentiment turned negative.

The government’s team of economic managers and advisers lacked the experience in international financial markets to anticipate or manage what was about to hit the economy. This writer warned on these pages of Dawn (May 30, 2008): “If the economy continues its present slide, even the US may not be able to bail Pakistan out. Its own once mighty financial giants are being rescued by Chinese and Arab investors. Pakistan’s last resort would be the IMF with its usual conditionalities and the inevitable pain they would cause. For Pakistan, the most sensible course would be to put its house in order now”. But the government devoted almost its entire attention to the judges issue and power politics as the country headed towards its worst financial crisis in a decade.

The government continued Musharraf’s Washington-centric foreign policy. Yet, in the hour of its greatest need, the US not only ditched Pakistan but a third-ranking state department official publicly humiliated its ‘friend’ by saying that the Friends of Pakistan “wouldn’t throw money on the table”. This wasn’t surprising given Condoleezza Rice’s more subtle remarks earlier on Sept 26: “We are very engaged with Pakistan, through the international financial institutions, to help Pakistan as it takes the difficult decisions that it is and must take on economic reform.” Translated: Pakistan should go to the IMF and reform its economy.While the US pressure on Pakistan to go the IMF has political undertones, it is also true that Pakistani rulers’ historic tendency to indulge in profligate spending and corruption has left them with few sympathisers despite the much trumpeted ‘geostrategic’ importance of Pakistan.

The US has historically directed most of its ‘aid’ to make Pakistan fight its wars. The aid has been primarily used for military purposes (e.g. Pakistan’s arms purchase orders in 2006 alone totalled $5.1bn) but the indirect cost of the conflicts since 1980 has been catastrophic, although some people continue to believe in the ‘benefits’ of such ‘aid’.

The ‘aid syndrome’ stymied any serious effort to reform the economy. Infrastructure investments and tax reforms were neglected because the so-called austerity programmes advocated by the multilaterals hit subsidies but not the pockets of vested interests. Oil and food subsidies played a major role in Asia and the European Union respectively in keeping the prices low because the governments had fiscal space, of which Pakistan never had much. Cutting fat in defence and establishment expenditures and taxing the rich were not high on the multilaterals’ reform agenda as the focus was usually on indirect taxes (e.g. sales tax) that inevitably hit the lower-income groups.

But what is the point in complaining about the US’s ‘real agenda’ or the IMF’s ‘conditionalities’ when the country’s leaders are unwilling to tighten their belts and undertake necessary reforms and are known to own assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars abroad? Confidence and credibility are important issues and cannot be wished away.

Today, there is hardly a major country in Asia or the Middle East that owes any debt to the IMF except Turkey and Pakistan. Turkey is the largest borrower of the IMF and accounts for about 40 per cent of its $18.3bn total lending worldwide. Pakistan owes about $1.3bn.

Turkey went to the IMF in 2001 and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002. During the last six years, Turkey’s inflation fell to single digits (though it has risen again due to higher energy and food prices) and foreign direct investment (FDI) rose, helping it to repay almost two-thirds of its loans from the IMF. Turkey still has issues (e.g. a persistent current account deficit) but AK’s economic record is one reason why it easily won the July 2007 elections.

India was nearly bankrupt in 1991 when a balance of payments crisis forced the country to pledge its gold by actually shipping 20 tonnes of it abroad. It was left with no choice but to approach the IMF. Its then finance minister Manmohan Singh recalled later: “There was a silver lining though. India launched the most sweeping economic reforms that year dismantling decades of licence raj, and didn’t ever look back although progress was fitful in the first few years.”

Pakistan can learn from the experiences of India and Turkey. They had serious problems, although their nature differed. However, their leaderships demonstrated sincerity and political acumen to undertake difficult reforms to enable their economies to recover. The reform process was led and executed by people who were highly respected for their integrity and competence. In Pakistan’s case, the real problem is not the IMF; it has been and continues to be the country’s leadership.

DAWN - Opinion; October 29, 2008

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HEC Affair

THE international scientific community is dismayed at the unfair criticism in some newspapers against the chairman of the Higher Education Commission, Prof (Dr) Attaur Rahman, for spending billions of rupees without any visible impact on quality and performance of universities and their graduates.

Those who have closely watched the development of higher education in Pakistan from outside and have been involved in the numerous programmes established by Prof Rahman in the past eight years can testify to the contrary:

the progress made was breath-taking and has put Pakistan ahead of comparable countries in numerous aspects.

To name just a few, the establishment of a free access to scientific literature by high-speed Internet for all universities, the thousands of promising young scientists who were granted PhD studies at top universities abroad, the upgrade of research equipment accessible across the country and the programme of establishing new universities of science and technology, including technology parks attracting foreign investors, prove the efficiency and the long-term benefits for the country enabled by the HEC’s chairman.

His efforts have made Pakistan a respected partner for cooperation for many countries leading in research and development, and it has to be feared that without Prof Rahman this status will be lost.

The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology has closely monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that Prof Rahman’s policy and programme is a ‘best-practice’ example for developing countries aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based economy.

Moreover, to poorly qualify the graduates of Pakistan universities is another unjustified blame: almost all of the thousands of young Pakistani university staff sent for doctorate studies to Europe’s and Asia’s top universities in the past five years have performed well at these foreign institutions, thus causing their academic supervisors to ask for further supply of PhD candidates from Pakistan.

Those who have completed their PhD and returned to Pakistan to share their knowledge with students at their home institutions are keeping close contacts to their former supervisors, creating valuable international research networks.

The impact of this programme, installed by Prof Rahman, will only be seen after some more years, and is expected to bring progress to the country, not only in terms of science and technology, but also in terms of economy. DR BERND MICHAEL RODE Chairman/European Coordinator of ASEA-UNINET

You can find this article at: 'Higher Education Commission affair'Dawn ePaper - Digital replica of Print Edition.

the international scientific com- munity is dismayed at the unfair criti- cism in some newspapers against the chairman of the higher education commission, prof (dr) attaur rahman, for spending billions of rupees without any visible impact on quality and per- formance of universities and their graduates. those who have closely watched the development of higher education in pakistan from outside and have been involved in the numerous programmes established by prof rahman in the past eight years can testify to the contrary: the progress made was breath-taking and has put pakistan ahead of compa- rable countries in numerous aspects. to name just a few, the establish- ment of a free access to scientific liter- ature by high-speed internet for all uni- versities, the thousands of promising young scientists who were granted phd studies at top universities abroad, the upgrade of research equipment acces- sible across the country and the pro- gramme of establishing new universi- ties of science and technology, includ- ing technology parks attracting foreign investors, prove the efficiency and the long-term benefits for the country ena- bled by the hec’s chairman. his efforts have made pakistan a re- spected partner for cooperation for many countries leading in research and development, and it has to be feared that without prof rahman this status will be lost. the united nations commission on science and technology has closely monitored the development in pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that prof rahman’s policy and programme is a ‘best-practice’ example for developing countries aiming at building their hu- man resources and establishing an in- novative, technology-based economy. moreover, to poorly qualify the grad- uates of pakistan universities is anoth- er unjustified blame: almost all of the thousands of young pakistani universi- ty staff sent for doctorate studies to europe’s and asia’s top universities in the past five years have performed well at these foreign institutions, thus causing their academic supervisors to ask for further supply of phd candi- dates from pakistan. those who have completed their phd and returned to pakistan to share their knowledge with students at their home institutions are keeping close contacts to their former supervisors, creating valuable international re- search networks. the impact of this programme, in- stalled by prof rahman, will only be seen after some more years, and is ex- pected to bring progress to the country, not only in terms of science and tech- nology, but also in terms of economy. dr bernd michael rode chairman/european coordinator of asea-uninet

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Prefering dunya over Fighting in Allah's Cause

9. Surah At-Taubah [The Repentance]

24. Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight ... are dearer to you than Allâh and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause , then wait until Allâh brings about His Decision (torment). And Allâh guides not the people who are Al-Fâsiqûn (the rebellious, disobedient to Allâh).

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Removing / Hiding Page Numbers from Latex document (Remove / Hide)

Getting rid of page numbers from a latex document is a tricky thing to do :) sometimes you do not want page numbers in your document but the document class or style file you are using puts page numbers...

many websites/manuals/blogs suggest the use of \thispagestyle{empty} after \maketitle tag to overwrite the style file and remove the page numbers. But some style files will still print the page numbers on all pages except the first one... if this is the case then add \pagestyle{empty} tag and the page numbers from all the pages will be removed :)... the code will look like

\maketitle
\thispagestyle{empty}
\pagestyle{empty}

this trick worked in my case where i was using ieeetr.cls as document class... i hope it works for other cases as well...

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The following things copied from comments section may also help (I thank the people who commented):

Manhoso said...

In my case using only the command \thispagestyle{empty} worked fine!

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Anonymous said...

Didn't work for me. Perhaps because of the custom header package I use.

Instead I use

\renewcommand\thepage{}

to get rid of page numbers.

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Anonymous said...

thank you anonymous, for me too worked in the scrreprt class just \renewcommand\thepage{}

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Luís de Sousa said...

That is a pretty radical solution, it not only removes the numbering, but also all the remanding style, such as headers and footers. To kill a fly you do not need a bazooka. Simply use \pagenumbering{gobble} to switch off page numbering.

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