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PakISTan-BagLadeSh-SrI Lanka
Asian Voice - Saturday 27th August 2011
Now, Pakistani following Anna’s footsteps IN focus Islamabad: Taking a cue from Anna Hazare, a 68year-old Pakistani businessman is set to go on hunger strike in Islamabad from Sep 12 to declare war on endemic corruption in his country. Expressing his admiration for Hazare, Jehangeeer Akhtar complained that corruption was a far more serious disease in Pakistan. Activist Akhtar wants the Pakistan parliament to pass an anti-corruption law - like what India is now planning. 'I demand that an anticorruption bill be presented in the National Assembly,' said Akhtar, who has closely followed the anti-corruption war in India. He said the Pakistani bill should be on the lines of what gets passed in India's parliament. 'Corruption in Pakistan is more than in India... bahut zyada (much more),' Akhtar said
Jehangeeer Akhtar
in a telephonic interview from Islamabad where he runs a photography business. It is not the first time Akhtar will be taking up cudgels for a cause. 'I once sat on a hunger strike for 22 days for the sake of traders in Islamabad,' he recalled. It was about tenants being forcibly vacated. On another occasion, he went on hunger strike for eight days. Stating that his family does not interfere in his decisions, Akhtar said he was 'very determined' to stage the hunger strike. Apart from corruption, another issue he wants to highlight during his
hunger strike is Pakistan's soaring defence budget because of 'the mindset that the stability of Pakistan is endangered due to India'. 'A group of politicians propagate such mindset. The politicians are answerable ... on which front are we in danger?' Pakistan has hiked defence allocation to Rs.495 billion in a total budget of Rs.2,504 billion (around $30 billion) for 2011-12. 'Is it not true that we started the 1965 war and lost East Pakistan in 1971 due to our follies?,' he asked. That's not all. He also wants every district in Pakistan to be provided with infrastructure for education from primary to the intermediate levels with hostels. Akhtar says he is for a stronger Lokpal Bill for India -- a demand being made by Hazare and his team.
Army not running Pakistan’s foreign policy: Hina Rabbani Khar Islamabad: Claiming that the army does not run Pakistan's foreign policy, foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said the military's intentions towards India have been "overrated" and there is a need to break away from this perception. "We sometimes overrate the role of the military and overrate their intentions especially when it comes to India... Let's not be burdened by our history. Let's move forward. I think Pakistan has learnt its lessons," said 34-yearold Khar, the youngest and first woman foreign minister of the country. Khar made the remarks during an interview with Newsweek magazine's
Sharif for fresh polls in Pakistan Islamabad: Pakistan's former premier Nawaz Sharif called for fresh parliamentary elections to be held immediately in Pakistan, saying this was the only option to solve the country's problems. Sharif said the government has disappointed the people and a fresh mandate is necessary now. This is the first time that Sharif has called for fresh polls, though other leaders of his PML-N party have often said that the country's problems, including corruption and the perceived inefficiency of the Pakistan People's Party-led government, can only be resolved through mid-term elections. The two-time premier and PML-N president told Geo News channel that he had advised President Asif Ali Zardari four months ago to hold fresh elections.
Pakistan edition when she was asked about the role of the Pakistan Army and the ISI's historical ties with militant groups, especially those fighting in Jammu and Kashmir. She contended that Pakistan's foreign policy was not dictated by the army, which was one of the institutions "taken on board" while making decisions on key issues.
"The army does not run our foreign policy," she said. "They (the army) are important stakeholders and not an outside force, so we should stop viewing them as such. After all the institutions are taken on board, a view emerges, and that is the government's view, which is Pakistan's view," she said. Referring to her visit to New Delhi last month for talks with her Indian counterpart S M Krishna, Khar said: "The dialogue process with India should be uninterrupted and uninterruptible, and the environment we found there was exceptionally healthy. That to me was the biggest confidencebuilding measure."
'Indian public kah rahi hai tho hona chahiye (Indians are asking, so it should happen).' He wants the Indian government to listen to the voice of Indians. After seeing pictures of large numbers of Indians across the country rally in support of Hazare, Akhtar is convinced that the Gandhian has emerged as a hero. According to him, there is widespread anger in Pakistan against corruption. A Transparency International Pakistan official said corruption was the root cause of poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, shortage of electricity, and poor governance in Pakistan. Burney’s plans Meanwhile, Pakistani human rights and civil rights activist Ansar Burney has announced plans to kick off a massive Anna Hazare-style anticorruption campaign in Pakistan after Eid.
Attack on British Council in Kabul kills 10 Kabul: At least 10 people were killed from two suicide attacks on a British compound in Kabul and the ensuing gunbattle between insurgents and security troops last week. Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says at least two policemen were also wounded in the attack, which came as Afghans mark Independence Day from Britain in 1919. Sediqqi says one suicide bomber first detonated a car laden with explosives outside the British Council in the western part of Kabul. A second bomber penetrated inside the complex and set off an explosives vest. The blasts set off a five-hour-long gunbattle between Afghan security forces and insurgents.
LeT continues to plot attacks against India: US Washington: Warning that LeT has the ability to “severely disrupt already delicate” regional relations, the US has said the Pakistan-based terror outfit responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks remained active in Kashmir and continued to target India along with groups like JeM and HuM. The US State Department, in its annual report on terrorism, voiced concern over continued presence of terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan. “Despite international condemnation for its November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) continued to plan regional operations from within Pakistan. While the Government of Pakistan has banned LeT, the United States continued to urge further action against this group and its front organisations,” the State Department said.
“The potential for WMD trafficking and proliferation remained of concern in Pakistan due to the porous borders and the difficult security situation. Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance (EXBS) has enabled Pakistani officials to gain expertise in properly classifying items of proliferation concern and learn about export licensing best practices,” it said. The report also said that several outlawed Pakistan-based terror groups remained active in Kashmir and continued to target India and plan attacks on it. Prominent among these terror groups are Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaishe-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat ul-Mujahideen (HuM), which are having hundreds of armed supporters in Kashmir. LeT, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 2001, is
one of the largest and most proficient of the traditionally Kashmir-focused militant groups. “It has the ability to severely disrupt already delicate regional relation,” the report said. Fewer terror victims in India: US report India experienced lesser number of deaths due to extremism last year, but still it remains one of the most terrorism-afflicted nations in the world, a US report said. “The loss of nearly 1,900 lives (civilian, security forces, and terrorists) still made India one of the world's most terrorism-afflicted countries. “Sustained violence in Kashmir over a six-month period and attempted infiltrations from Pakistan across the LoC remained serious concerns for the Indian government,” the annual State Department Country Report on Terrorism for 2010 stated.
40 killed in Pakistan mosque bombing
Islamabad: At least 40 people were killed and 85 wounded in a suicide attack on a mosque in northwest Pakistan, a government official said. Local administrator Fazal Khan says there’s some evidence it was a suicide attack. Some 300 people were at the mosque for prayers when the bomb exploded in Ghundi village of the Khyber region. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban and other insurgents have attacked scores of targets in the area, which lies along the Afghan border.
Boy forgets to feed dog, beaten to death Islamabad: A Pakistani woman clubbed to death her 12-year-old servant for not serving a meal to her dog. Sadia Asif, a resident of Val'ncia Town, beat Taqi Usman to death after he failed to serve food to her pet. She had asked Usman to feed the dog before going to market a few days ago, an investigator said. She was arrested after Usman's relatives filed a complaint.
Strike grinds Karachi city to a halt Karachi: Pakistan's largest city ground to a halt on Tuesday, with most residents staying off the streets after a political party called a strike to protest the deaths of at least 96 people killed in Karachi in the past week. Businesses, schools and government offices were closed, while public buses and taxis stayed off the road. The strike, called by the city's most powerful political party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, came as police found the bodies of 10 more people. Karachi, a teeming southern city of some 18 million people, has a long history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence, and much of the violence is blamed on gangs allegedly linked to the main political parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
Terrorist tag for Haqqani kingpin Washington: The US last week slapped sanctions on Sangeen Zadran, a commander of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network and designated him as a foreign terrorist. The Haqqani Network, a Taliban-affiliated group of militants that operates from Pakistan's restive North Waziristan Agency in the federally administered tribal areas, has been at the forefront of insurgent activities in Afghanistan. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton designated Zadran, the shadow governor of Afghanistan's Paktika province and a commander of Haqqani network, a foreign terrorist and slapped sanctions on him.
Zardari seeks probe into attack on journalist Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has sought an inquiry report on the attack on a journalist in Peshawar. Hazrat Khan, bureau chief of Pashtochannel AVT Khyber, was attacked by unknown assailants when he was returning from hospital on Monday after inquiring about the health of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Sardar Hussain Babak who was hurt in an ambush. The assailants first manhandled and then threw stones and bricks at him Zardari condemned the attack and sought an inquiry report from the authorities concerned, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.
Sri Lanka introduces mumps vaccine Colombo: Sri Lanka Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry said the national immunization program and the immunization schedule will be changed from October 1. The Epidemiology Unit for the first time will include mumps vaccine in the immunization program and introduce the Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine (MMRV) into the program. Earlier immunization against only measles and rubella was provided with the MR vaccine.
Dhaka to hand over Ulfa leader Chetia to India Dhaka: “The government wants to bring him back, the people of Assam also want it that way. So definitely, the prospects of the peace process have brightened.” Gogoi was reacting to media reports quoting Bangladesh home minister Sahara Khatun as saying that the legal process has already been initiated to hand Chetia over to India. India is understood to have handed over a list of 50 Indians who are believed to be in hiding or in detention in Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka ruling party to file nominations for LG polls
Colombo: Sri Lanka's ruling party United People's freedom Alliance (UPFA) has made all necessary arrangements to hand in the nominations for upcoming elections of 23 local government bodies, party's General Secretary Minister Susil Premajayantha said. Minister Premajayantha has said that the inking of nominations commenced on Sunday and many of them have been completed already.Arrangements have been made to file the nominations at the respective places from Tuesday, he has said adding that signing of nominations for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) will also take place.