The Nation state versus violent non-state actors

Express Tribune
28 August 2015
by Muhammad Ali Babakhel

Recognising the need to ban armed militias, creating deterrence for proscribed organisations to re-emerge and prohibiting the glorification of terrorist organisations in the media, were key points in the National Action Plan (NAP) that depicted the Pakistani state’s resolve to weed out violent non-state actors (VNSA). In the backdrop of the post-Cold War scenario, VNSAs have posed more threats to states than the military might of rival nations. The last three decades of the 20th century saw the nurturing of VNSAs. Consequently, the 21^st century has witnessed a dominant role for them. There is hardly a country where non-state actors don’t exist, whether they are active or dormant. Although VNSAs are a reality, states often go into denial rather than acknowledging their existence. Such denial provides further space and strength to VNSAs.

UK: Swedish Integration Police Cheif Slams Government of Pakistan for Anti Ahmadi Laws

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Expressen.se
By Sanna Wikström | August 26, 2015

The Integration Police Inspector Ulf Boström from Gothenburg slams the Pakistani government in front of the eyes of millions of Ahmadi Muslims.

He was invited as a speaker at the largest Muslim convention, Jalsa Salana, in London, and after the speech the Gothenburg Police Inspector was praised both on site and in social media.

When Ulf Boström was asked whether he was willing to speak at Jalsa Salana in London, an annual convention that is followed by millions Ahmadi Muslims, he never hesitated.
"I saw this as part of my job as a police officer, it was natural for me to say yes," he says.

Saad Aziz: The story of an educated terrorist

The Nation
25 Aug, 2015

Education is not all about collecting a degree from a prestigious institute. Instead, it steers your mind and create the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. There is a famous saying: “Learning starts from the womb of the mother”. And now scientific research has also proven this fact but in this era all such maxims are just worthless. All these learning and degrees have no importance when you interact with such an influential personality who has a strong ability to control your brain by washing it. These inspiring persons wear angelic masks covering their filthy fiendish faces. They have the ability to destroy anyone’s life no matter how strong he is both mentally and physically.

Yes I am talking about men running terrorist gangs.  

Threat of Sectarianism

Daily Dawn
Editorial

There remains a troubling disconnect between what the government claims and the reality on the ground when it comes to the state’s attempts to fight sectarianism.

On Monday, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan once again claimed that there has been significant progress in several areas of the National Action Plan and appeared to suggest that the clampdown on sectarianism is continuing.

Madressah Clean-up

Daily Dawn
Editorial

IT appears that the Punjab government has been busy cleaning up the seminaries — but away from public view.

Rana Sanaullah, the provincial law minister, says the madressahs in Punjab have somehow been purged of militant elements. He did, as a prelude to his claim, ‘admit’ to the presence earlier of 20 such seminaries whose students or faculty had been involved in terrorism, even if ‘only’ as facilitators.

What magic wand the administration waved to get such surprising results has yet to be disclosed.

The Sectarian Front

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 
From Print Edition
Editorial
Finally, words from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have confirmed the Pakistani state’s commitment to taking on sectarian outfits and private militias in the country. In a meeting of the federal cabinet on Monday, PM Sharif made good on the commitment to implement the National Action Plan in its true spirit. Dealing with the mushroom growth of sectarian outfits seems to be a key component of the way forward that the government is planning. The same words were echoed by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who concurred that the abolition of sectarianism was a primary objective, and that no one would be allowed to declare other sects as non-Muslims. While tackling this would require much more than targeting sectarian groups, these words are much appreciated. In the last five years, the targeting of Shia and Ahmadi populations increased significantly. The past few months, though, have passed without any major incident after the horrific Shikarpur attack in early January. Since then, two key Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) leaders, Malik Ishaq and Balochistan head Usman Kurd, have been killed.

Education, extremism and the elite

By Imtiaz Gul

Published: August 26, 2015

Express Tribune

Why shouldn’t young minds turn towards extremist ideologies — I’m not talking of terrorism — if they are marginalised, their basic rights grossly violated, or if they are under-paid or unemployed? What role are many private educational institutions playing in promoting extremist tendencies among young academics? Is the state attentive to this? Is education a market economy product determined by the demand and supply principle, or is it a government responsibility (as promised underArticle 25-A of the Constitution)? The state is the guarantor of the right to education, bound to provide decent livelihoods as well as protect the youth from exploitation.

Pakistan: Religious leaders condemn blasphemy arrests

"We [Christians] have already apologized to our enraged Muslim brethren for this misunderstanding and asked for forgiveness, but they have rejected our apology and pressed the police to arrest the organizers."
Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: ucanews.com
By ucanews.com | August 21, 2015

Christian men arrested for using the word 'prophet' in a personal pamphlet 
Pakistani religious leaders and rights campaigners on Aug. 21 criticized the arrests of three Christians and one Muslim over the use of the word "prophet" in a pamphlet honoring a dead minister.

Needed-- A synchronised effort to counter terrorism

By Tariq Mahmud

Published: August 25, 2015

Express Tribune

After achieving some decisive breakthroughs in the tribal areas, Operation Zarb-e-Azb is now moving on to a higher trajectory, making inroads in urban Sindh, pinning down terrorists, militants and their helping hands. The extended reach of the operation has singled out elements within state organs and political parties, which had developed a mutuality of interest with organised crime. Punjab has been no exception, with the chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Malik Ishaq, being killed along with his companions in a reported police encounter.

Virus of extremeism

MOHAMMAD ALI BABAKHEL 
Daily Dawn

THERE is hardly any organised effort to assess the causes of extremism. Certain questions need to be answered. What roles do discrimination and a class-based education system have to play in fanning extremism? What is the nexus between curriculum and extremism? How can communities — particularly women — counter extremism? How does social isolation incubate obscurantism?

Saudi Women To Vote

The Nation
August 24, 2015

News this week that women are registering to vote in elections in Saudi Arabia has generated much attention. Many are hailing this a step as a “monumental” step toward bridging the gap of gender inequality. The Kingdom is declaring this a significant milestone in progress, in accordance with the 2011 royal decree permitting women to run and vote in municipal polls to be held in December.

Pakistan's growing gender gap

RUKHSANA SHAH
Daily Dawn

In 2013, Pakistan ranked 135th out of 136 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index Report of the World Economic Forum. In 2014, eight more countries were included in the report, but Pakistan remained second last at 141 out of 142 countries. It is significant that Pakistan ranked at 112 in 2006, the first year of the report, and since then, its position has been steadily deteriorating every year.

The Dark Reality

The Nation
Editorial
August 21, 2015

It is worrisome that we are still doubting whether the Kasur Scandal was actually a case of child abuse or not.
Let’s be clear.
It was.
The HRCP-AGHS fact-finding mission, in this regard, has also made sure that all the nonsense regarding any ulterior motives of the children should come to an end.
They have received credible testimonies, indicating large-scale sexual abuse of children over many years in Husain Khanwala village of Kasur.

Taking on Terrorism

August 23, 2015
The Nation 
Saad Rasool

Terrorism, at least in the case of Pakistan, is a multi-headed dragon; one that cannot be killed with a single swing of the sword. Over the course of the last three decades, we have deluded ourselves as to how deep and entrenched the scrooge of terrorism festers in our society. Hiding behind the nomenclature of ‘sectarianism’, ‘provincialism’, ‘wahabism’, and a pristine image of noble ‘mujahideen’ fighters, we have avoided calling terrorists by their name. And for this reason, above all, this inertia towards regarding all forms of militancy as terrorism, for the past many years we have struggled to devise and implement a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that acknowledges the various heads of terrorism, and attempts to eradicate each on its own turf.

A secular vision for Pakistan

By Umair Rasheed

Published: August 23, 2015 

Express Tribune

The National Assembly of Pakistan last week passed a resolution endorsing Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s August 11 speech as the road map for the country in dealing with its minority communities. The resolution should be welcomed by every Pakistani who opposes the state’s use of religion as a marker of identity of its people and wants the state to guarantee fundamental rights (enshrined in Articles 8-28 of the Constitution) to the citizens without regard to their [religious] beliefs and practices. It demonstrates that a section of the political elite (represented to various degrees in all three major political parties) of the country is cognisant of the plight of its minority religious communities. Like Jinnah’s speech, however, this resolution may not cause a substantive change in either the position of the state vis-a-vis minority religious communities or the social, economic and political status of the majority among minority religious communities. The reason, it seems, is that the elite segment, like Jinnah, has yet to delve deeper into the economic basis of the political community it aspires for the country.

In search of Quaid's Pakistan

By Shahzad Chaudhry

Published: August 22, 2015

Express Tribune

The Pakistani intelligentsia is in a quandary in its search for Quaid’s Pakistan. To fuel this debate are his two speeches, both addressed to the Constituent Assembly, and with only a gap of two days. The one he made on August 11, 1947 is now widely quoted and freely available on the internet with numerous references. And then there is another one that was delivered on August 13, which he purportedly also made to the same Constituent Assembly and which made it to our history books and was used as a reference for decades, but lo and behold, is now lost to the digital world.

Change in attitude is a key for effective inter-religious dialogue

Pakistan Christian Post

Lahore: August 20, 2015. (Fr. Inayat Bernard + Pervez Yousaf) “Change of attitude is a key for effective inter-religious dialogue”. Hafiz Mehmood Ashrafi, the chairman of the Ulema Council of Pakistan was talking to the inter-religious gathering at the Lahore press club organized by Council for Interfaith Dialogue Pakistan (CFID) and United Religions Initiative (URI) on the eve of 68thIndependence Day of Pakistan. This prayer gathering was led by Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap (coordinator of CFID), Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi (Chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council), Fr. Pascal Paulus OP (President of Major Superiors of Pakistan) and Fr. James Chanan OP (Representative of URI, Pakistan).

Registration of blasphemy case against Christian in Gujrat violates religious freedom: PCC

Pakistan Christian Post

Karachi: August 21, 2015. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, in a statement issued here today from Central Secretariat of PCC, have strongly condemned arrest of three Christians under charges of blasphemy and terrorism by Gujrat police on publishing a flyer for worship gathering with title of “Prophet” to their deceased religious leader. The Civil Lines Police Station arrested two Christians and one Muslim owner of Printing Press on publishing and distributing a religious gathering flyer in city of Gujrat on calling a Christian leader “Prophet”.

Pakistan: Pastor Aftab and four others charged with blasphemy

Pakistan Christian Post

London: August 19, 2015. (PCP) A blasphemy case has been registered against Pastor Aftab Gill, and three other people from Nai Abadi, Bandith Road, Gujrat (Punjab). 

They have been accused of using the word "Rasool" (apostle) in relation of Pastor Gill's later father, Pastor Fazal Masih, who had established the local Biblical Church of God several years ago. 

USA: Harrisburg Harmony Walk Will Highlight Unity in Diversity

At each stop, the religious leader will share words about the value of unity among religions. People of all religions, including Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, and Sikh, and those of no specific faith are invited. 
Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | 
Source/Credit: Harmony Walk
By Web Desk | August 20, 2015

Harmony Walk, a celebration of cooperation among religions in the Harrisburg area sponsored by the InterReligious Forum of Greater Harrisburg, is planned for Sunday, September 20, 2015.

The event is held in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Peace.