Sunday, February 12, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
فعالان مدنی بامیان خواستار محاکمه عاملان کشتار حادثه افشار شدند
فعالان مدنی و شماری از ساکنان ولایت بامیان در مرکز افغانستان در یک راهپیمایی خواستار محاکمه عاملان قتل عام افشار کابل شده اند.
حادثه افشار ۱۹ سال قبل و در زمان جنگهای داخلی میان گروه های مجاهدین در کابل اتفاق افتاد.
برگزارکنندگان این راهپیمایی کشتار در جریان جنگهای گروهی در محله افشار در غرب کابل را "قتل عام" خوانده و از نهادهای عدلی و سازمان های حقوق بشری خواسته اند که آن را به عنوان اقدامی ضد بشری محکوم کنند......Continue Reading.....
حادثه افشار ۱۹ سال قبل و در زمان جنگهای داخلی میان گروه های مجاهدین در کابل اتفاق افتاد.
برگزارکنندگان این راهپیمایی کشتار در جریان جنگهای گروهی در محله افشار در غرب کابل را "قتل عام" خوانده و از نهادهای عدلی و سازمان های حقوق بشری خواسته اند که آن را به عنوان اقدامی ضد بشری محکوم کنند......Continue Reading.....
Friday, February 10, 2012
Dripping with blood; Too many disagreements in Pakistan are fatal
Nor is secessionism the only cause of violence. Last October a bus outside Quetta was held up by gunmen on motorcycles and 13 of the passengers shot dead. The previous month 26 people had been killed when travelling on a bus to Shia holy sites in Iran. They were ethnic-Hazara Shias, of whom, according to Human Rights Watch, a research and lobby group, over 300 have been killed by Sunni extremist groups since 2008....Continue Reading...
Thursday, February 9, 2012
HRW urges US to pressure Pak govt on Balochistan situation
* Report holds government agencies, like ISI, IB, FC, police responsible for violence in province
By Manzoor Qadir
ISLAMABAD: Human Rights Watch, an NGO keeping a watch on gross human rights violations in Balochistan, has asked the United States to take action against the crimes taking place in the province.
The crimes include extra-judicial killings, torture, illegal detention, disappearances and forced displacement.
In a detailed report complied by HRW Pakistan Director Ali Dayan Hasan, it has been recommended that the US government press Pakistan to take all necessary measures to end the violations and fully investigate and prosecute all those responsible for the crimes.
The report states that many government agencies such as the ISI, IB, Frontier Corps, police and other such groups are responsible for many of the violations and demands the government take action and warn the culpable agencies.
The report further suggests that US should urge the government to suspend police and military assistance and cooperation programmes with the Frontier Corps, police, and Pakistan Army units based in Balochistan until military and civilian authorities fully investigate and take appropriate action against those committing the crimes.
The report wants Pakistan to implement effective mechanisms in place to ensure that no security unit funded or trained by the US is responsible for human rights violations and that adequate vetting and oversight mechanisms are in place to help deter abuses in the future.
The HRW further recommends that the US urge the Pakistan government to investigate alleged human rights abuses committed by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and other banned groups and hold those responsible to account, particularly those who have committed serious crimes in Balochistan such as the killings of several Shias.
It also demands that the Pakistan government take urgent measures to protect members of the Shia community and other vulnerable groups in Balochistan and across Pakistan and that the US government should also urge Baloch nationalist groups to cease attacks and threats against all civilians, particularly non-Baloch residents of the province.
Widespread fear of harassment, discrimination and killings has prompted some Shia community members living in Balochistan to consider leaving the country, even by illegal means.
Human rights groups say over 600 Hazaras have been killed since 2000. Media reports speak of dozens recently killed in attacks on the community in Quetta and in other parts of the province.
HRW states that their research indicates that at least 275 Shias have been killed in sectarian attacks in Balochistan alone since 2008.
The group has also urged the government to act against those illegally ferrying people out of the country in exchange for large sums of money.
The report further states that the government should take appropriate disciplinary action against group members who order or participate in attacks on civilians.
The HRW, in the report, discusses the political, economic, geographical and demographical aspects of the province in details. It reveales that the province has historically had a tense relationship with the federal government, due to issues of provincial autonomy, control of mineral resources and exploration, and a strong sense of deprivation and exploitation.
The Human Rights Watch also interviewed teachers, government officials, journalists, non-governmental organisations, and school children, who described attacks on Balochistan’s educational facilities, teaching personnel, and students as part of broader political, religious, and cultural division.
Daily Times
By Manzoor Qadir
ISLAMABAD: Human Rights Watch, an NGO keeping a watch on gross human rights violations in Balochistan, has asked the United States to take action against the crimes taking place in the province.
The crimes include extra-judicial killings, torture, illegal detention, disappearances and forced displacement.
In a detailed report complied by HRW Pakistan Director Ali Dayan Hasan, it has been recommended that the US government press Pakistan to take all necessary measures to end the violations and fully investigate and prosecute all those responsible for the crimes.
The report states that many government agencies such as the ISI, IB, Frontier Corps, police and other such groups are responsible for many of the violations and demands the government take action and warn the culpable agencies.
The report further suggests that US should urge the government to suspend police and military assistance and cooperation programmes with the Frontier Corps, police, and Pakistan Army units based in Balochistan until military and civilian authorities fully investigate and take appropriate action against those committing the crimes.
The report wants Pakistan to implement effective mechanisms in place to ensure that no security unit funded or trained by the US is responsible for human rights violations and that adequate vetting and oversight mechanisms are in place to help deter abuses in the future.
The HRW further recommends that the US urge the Pakistan government to investigate alleged human rights abuses committed by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and other banned groups and hold those responsible to account, particularly those who have committed serious crimes in Balochistan such as the killings of several Shias.
It also demands that the Pakistan government take urgent measures to protect members of the Shia community and other vulnerable groups in Balochistan and across Pakistan and that the US government should also urge Baloch nationalist groups to cease attacks and threats against all civilians, particularly non-Baloch residents of the province.
Widespread fear of harassment, discrimination and killings has prompted some Shia community members living in Balochistan to consider leaving the country, even by illegal means.
Human rights groups say over 600 Hazaras have been killed since 2000. Media reports speak of dozens recently killed in attacks on the community in Quetta and in other parts of the province.
HRW states that their research indicates that at least 275 Shias have been killed in sectarian attacks in Balochistan alone since 2008.
The group has also urged the government to act against those illegally ferrying people out of the country in exchange for large sums of money.
The report further states that the government should take appropriate disciplinary action against group members who order or participate in attacks on civilians.
The HRW, in the report, discusses the political, economic, geographical and demographical aspects of the province in details. It reveales that the province has historically had a tense relationship with the federal government, due to issues of provincial autonomy, control of mineral resources and exploration, and a strong sense of deprivation and exploitation.
The Human Rights Watch also interviewed teachers, government officials, journalists, non-governmental organisations, and school children, who described attacks on Balochistan’s educational facilities, teaching personnel, and students as part of broader political, religious, and cultural division.
Daily Times
Genocides without a distinct label
Kamila Hyat
Thursday, February 09, 2012
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor
When genocides take place in countries, or regions within them, we usually have one group of people murdering another – either as some form of ‘ethnic cleansing’, or on the basis of religious belief. A combination of these factors has of course also taken place, and there is absolutely no evidence at this point that our world is becoming a more civilised place with such events continuing unabated around the world.
In the 1994 Rwandan civil war, as the Hutu and Tootsi tribes clashed, some 800,000 people died; some estimates put the toll higher. The death of over six million European Jews in the purges of World War II remains a reminder of man’s irrationality and brutality. The after-effects of those killings continue in some ways at least to shape the modern world and events within it.
But at least, through the years, these awful massacres have been discussed, debated and condemned at length. Trials have been held and the culprits, in some cases, brought to justice. The same also holds true for other acts of similar mass murders in the world – whether they took place in Uganda, Cambodia or a long time ago in Australia and North America.
In our country we have a situation that might be leading to genocide. The complication is that it does not involve a specific group or community. So many different kinds of murders go on that it is becoming harder and harder to keep track of the question of whom is killing who.
Since the mid 1990s thousands of Shia Muslims have died in targeted killings and bombings of various kinds. The process continues today. As a result, many have already fled the country including some of our top professionals. This attempt to wipe out an entire community on the basis of their specific beliefs has drawn too little official attention or a serious attempt to bring it to an end.
There are of course other kinds of killings on everywhere. The shootings based on ethnicity in Karachi have become a reality which erupts from time to time, leaving the city belching bouts of smoke like an unstable volcano. The threat of violence never lives far away from that city.
The same is becoming truer for Quetta, a city where, for many years, groups of all kinds co-existed with little tension and trouble.
The Hazara community is yet another target of frenzied violence. According to leaders representing the group, whose origins are mysterious but seem to lie in Central Asia, at least 600 people of Hazara have been murdered since 2000. The process appears to be gaining speed and ferocity. Given that the Hazara population of Pakistan is near "600,000" to "700,000" (Corrected) this is a very large death toll.
The danger of acceleration lies ahead, and is tied in to the possibility of a return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The people of Hazara have in the past been a victim of these extremists on both ethnic and sectarian grounds.
While everyone appears to know which groups in our country are responsible for targeting this particular the community, nothing has been done to stop them or to put an end to the victimisation of the Hazaras. Their voice has not been heard; few seem even to have noticed what is happening.
Nor has the other killing of other ethnic and religious minorities in the country, who face persecution and death in different forms, drawn the concern that would have been expected.
In other words we have multiple acts of genocide happening in our country. Our cities have become killing fields where fewer and fewer feel safe. Aside from the traditional kind of genocide involving communities pitched against each other, we also have the mass killing of women with hundreds, perhaps thousands, killed each year as a result of ‘honour’ killings or for other reasons. This too counts as genocide of some kind.
We need to do more to at least lift the lid on the degree of violence which exists in the country. The silence has been too long and too deep. The government has time and time again failed to act and as a result the problem has worsened. Successive regimes have done nothing to end the flow of hatred which has continued to claim more and more lives and branched into many different forms with various groups targeting others.
Even the state has not remained uninvolved. International human rights watchdog bodies have blamed the killing and torture of nationalists in Balochistan on our own agencies. In such a situation it becomes even harder to find justice and discover precisely where the truth lies. To complicate matters nationalists too have even responsible for ethnic murders in their province, going ruthlessly after teachers and others from different provinces – even though they may have lived in Balochistan for generations.
The problem seems to be growing worse and worse. Certainly, no end is in sight. The generation growing up lives with this intolerance in all its different waves. From time to time a huge tidal wave sweeps up and claims scores of lives. At other times, smaller ripples kill in ones or twos.
As this goes on our media, many of our people and commentators who analyse events everywhere remain fixated on political happenings of various kinds. These include the court cases which grow more and more muddled and the murky political scene which lies all around us.
It is true of course that this reality makes it possible for the reign of death to continue with any restrictions. But somehow, we need to find a way to end these killings and to ensure that deliberate acts intended to wipe out certain portions of people from our country are no longer allowed to continue.
This can happen only if stern action is taken against the perpetrators and a climate is created through a variety of different means to build harmony and mutual understanding among the ranks that we seem to have lost over the past few decades.
This has been possible in some countries, it can probably be enforced her as well. We must make it possible in our own without a further loss of time. We have already waited too long, adding to the suffering of so many people everywhere. Our indifference to genocide is unforgivable.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com
THE NEWS
Thursday, February 09, 2012
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor
When genocides take place in countries, or regions within them, we usually have one group of people murdering another – either as some form of ‘ethnic cleansing’, or on the basis of religious belief. A combination of these factors has of course also taken place, and there is absolutely no evidence at this point that our world is becoming a more civilised place with such events continuing unabated around the world.
In the 1994 Rwandan civil war, as the Hutu and Tootsi tribes clashed, some 800,000 people died; some estimates put the toll higher. The death of over six million European Jews in the purges of World War II remains a reminder of man’s irrationality and brutality. The after-effects of those killings continue in some ways at least to shape the modern world and events within it.
But at least, through the years, these awful massacres have been discussed, debated and condemned at length. Trials have been held and the culprits, in some cases, brought to justice. The same also holds true for other acts of similar mass murders in the world – whether they took place in Uganda, Cambodia or a long time ago in Australia and North America.
In our country we have a situation that might be leading to genocide. The complication is that it does not involve a specific group or community. So many different kinds of murders go on that it is becoming harder and harder to keep track of the question of whom is killing who.
Since the mid 1990s thousands of Shia Muslims have died in targeted killings and bombings of various kinds. The process continues today. As a result, many have already fled the country including some of our top professionals. This attempt to wipe out an entire community on the basis of their specific beliefs has drawn too little official attention or a serious attempt to bring it to an end.
There are of course other kinds of killings on everywhere. The shootings based on ethnicity in Karachi have become a reality which erupts from time to time, leaving the city belching bouts of smoke like an unstable volcano. The threat of violence never lives far away from that city.
The same is becoming truer for Quetta, a city where, for many years, groups of all kinds co-existed with little tension and trouble.
The Hazara community is yet another target of frenzied violence. According to leaders representing the group, whose origins are mysterious but seem to lie in Central Asia, at least 600 people of Hazara have been murdered since 2000. The process appears to be gaining speed and ferocity. Given that the Hazara population of Pakistan is near "600,000" to "700,000" (Corrected) this is a very large death toll.
The danger of acceleration lies ahead, and is tied in to the possibility of a return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The people of Hazara have in the past been a victim of these extremists on both ethnic and sectarian grounds.
While everyone appears to know which groups in our country are responsible for targeting this particular the community, nothing has been done to stop them or to put an end to the victimisation of the Hazaras. Their voice has not been heard; few seem even to have noticed what is happening.
Nor has the other killing of other ethnic and religious minorities in the country, who face persecution and death in different forms, drawn the concern that would have been expected.
In other words we have multiple acts of genocide happening in our country. Our cities have become killing fields where fewer and fewer feel safe. Aside from the traditional kind of genocide involving communities pitched against each other, we also have the mass killing of women with hundreds, perhaps thousands, killed each year as a result of ‘honour’ killings or for other reasons. This too counts as genocide of some kind.
We need to do more to at least lift the lid on the degree of violence which exists in the country. The silence has been too long and too deep. The government has time and time again failed to act and as a result the problem has worsened. Successive regimes have done nothing to end the flow of hatred which has continued to claim more and more lives and branched into many different forms with various groups targeting others.
Even the state has not remained uninvolved. International human rights watchdog bodies have blamed the killing and torture of nationalists in Balochistan on our own agencies. In such a situation it becomes even harder to find justice and discover precisely where the truth lies. To complicate matters nationalists too have even responsible for ethnic murders in their province, going ruthlessly after teachers and others from different provinces – even though they may have lived in Balochistan for generations.
The problem seems to be growing worse and worse. Certainly, no end is in sight. The generation growing up lives with this intolerance in all its different waves. From time to time a huge tidal wave sweeps up and claims scores of lives. At other times, smaller ripples kill in ones or twos.
As this goes on our media, many of our people and commentators who analyse events everywhere remain fixated on political happenings of various kinds. These include the court cases which grow more and more muddled and the murky political scene which lies all around us.
It is true of course that this reality makes it possible for the reign of death to continue with any restrictions. But somehow, we need to find a way to end these killings and to ensure that deliberate acts intended to wipe out certain portions of people from our country are no longer allowed to continue.
This can happen only if stern action is taken against the perpetrators and a climate is created through a variety of different means to build harmony and mutual understanding among the ranks that we seem to have lost over the past few decades.
This has been possible in some countries, it can probably be enforced her as well. We must make it possible in our own without a further loss of time. We have already waited too long, adding to the suffering of so many people everywhere. Our indifference to genocide is unforgivable.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com
THE NEWS
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Heavy snowfall worsens traffic mess in Kabul
2012-01-25 21:21:04
by Abdul Haleem, Yangtze Yan
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The continued snowfall over the past days has worsened the traffic chaos, especially in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
"You can see the long queue of people who have been waiting for one hour for a bus to go home but no bus is available," Mohammad Arif, a Kabul resident, told Xinhua on Tuesday evening, pointing to the flocks of people waiting at a bus stop in downtown Kabul.
Standing and shaking in the freezing weather, the 40-year-old Arif shouted in anger and despair that "no bus is ever coming to take people."
But when a minibus did arrive, Arif still didn't succeed in grabbing a seat in the fight with a group of equally desperate home goers.
Over the past two weeks, the major parts of Afghanistan including the capital city have experienced heavy snowfall. More than 40 people have lost their lives in avalanches and cold spell in the northeastern Badakhshan province, according to officials, while some roads leading to central Daikundi's provincial capital Nili have been blocked due to snow.
"I have been waiting for more than one hour but no bus, taxi or private car is available," said another Kabul resident Haroon, 35.
The temperature had dived to minus 13 degrees centigrade, forcing many drivers to stay at home to avoid accidents on the icy and congested roads.
Normally, few public buses are roaming in Kabul with over 4 million residents. There is no subway in the capital city to transport commuters.
However, some 400,000 vehicles, mostly private cars, are driven on the bumpy roads in Kabul, with a considerable number of private cars working as taxi.
The private car owners prefer to stay at home though they are more needed in heavy snowfall and freezing weather.
"I do not want to make accident and plunge myself into trouble, " Mohammed Sediq, a driver of a private corolla, told Xinhua, adding that driving in slippery streets is risky.
English.news.cn
by Abdul Haleem, Yangtze Yan
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The continued snowfall over the past days has worsened the traffic chaos, especially in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
"You can see the long queue of people who have been waiting for one hour for a bus to go home but no bus is available," Mohammad Arif, a Kabul resident, told Xinhua on Tuesday evening, pointing to the flocks of people waiting at a bus stop in downtown Kabul.
Standing and shaking in the freezing weather, the 40-year-old Arif shouted in anger and despair that "no bus is ever coming to take people."
But when a minibus did arrive, Arif still didn't succeed in grabbing a seat in the fight with a group of equally desperate home goers.
Over the past two weeks, the major parts of Afghanistan including the capital city have experienced heavy snowfall. More than 40 people have lost their lives in avalanches and cold spell in the northeastern Badakhshan province, according to officials, while some roads leading to central Daikundi's provincial capital Nili have been blocked due to snow.
"I have been waiting for more than one hour but no bus, taxi or private car is available," said another Kabul resident Haroon, 35.
The temperature had dived to minus 13 degrees centigrade, forcing many drivers to stay at home to avoid accidents on the icy and congested roads.
Normally, few public buses are roaming in Kabul with over 4 million residents. There is no subway in the capital city to transport commuters.
However, some 400,000 vehicles, mostly private cars, are driven on the bumpy roads in Kabul, with a considerable number of private cars working as taxi.
The private car owners prefer to stay at home though they are more needed in heavy snowfall and freezing weather.
"I do not want to make accident and plunge myself into trouble, " Mohammed Sediq, a driver of a private corolla, told Xinhua, adding that driving in slippery streets is risky.
English.news.cn
The banned outfit
Rafia Zakaria | Opinion | From the Newspaper
IT has been a decade of bans and lists. As the world of terror revealed itself to be more and more amorphous, nation states have fought back collecting the names, identifying the leaders and eliminating the followers of terror groups.
There are lists of banned organisations in Pakistan and lists of people not permitted in America. Along with lists there are typologies and profiles; the richer the nation, the more detailed the conjured portraits of terror.
In one of the latest episodes revolving around terror and terrorists, Malik Ishaq, leader of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, was recently released from detention from Kot Lakhpat jail.
A few days later, he attended a rally in Multan organised by the Difa-i-Pakistan Council, seen as a new motley coalition of groups such as the Jamaat-i-Islami, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (formerly known as Sipah-i-Sahaba), Maulana Samiul Haq’s faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and others.
Malik Ishaq was not the only freed terrorist present at the rally. Also in attendance was Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, head of the Jamaatud Dawa. Under the new rhetorical flourish of ‘defending Pakistan’ each emerged in public, untouched by previous sins committed under old names.
The massacre of Shia Hazaras in Mastung and the horrific attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team that left this country humiliated all seemed to be forgotten in view of the latest indignities imposed by the United States, the desecration of Muslim corpses by ‘infidel’ soldiers and the absolving magic of a new patriotic name.
The name game — the coining of new names as one agenda for hatred morphs into another — and the painstaking tracing of genealogies of terror by American experts has become such a well-oiled cycle that both ends follow practised sequences enacted with well-rehearsed outrage.
As per this worn script, two days after the rally the US ambassador to Pakistan reportedly warned that aid disbursements to Pakistan would be ceased unless action was taken against the two individuals.
Also as per the stage instructions, Pakistani heads nodded and made responsive motions, yet the curtain fell on January with no conclusions and no catharsis.
Adequate room was left by all involved for sequels that capitalise on the same plotlines with mildly altered angles and slight variations of dialogue. There are many critiques of course: everything written on either side of this issue; the inadequate denunciation and pursuit of terror on one end, the imperialist overreach and illegality of secret wars and surreptitious killings on the other.
Neither is able or willing to see the new pathology spawned by the entrenchment of these roles. Pakistanis and Americans as well as their respective governments are unable to see terror except in the limited shades of this scripted tragedy.
The challenges of labelling terror as endemic and the terrorist as a criminal, his pursuit and apprehension as an act of law enforcement rather than war-mongering at the American end rest on two issues.
First is the fact that the American criminal justice system rests on the precept of innocence until guilt has been established in a court of law and robust scepticism towards pre-emptive punishment even in situations where individuals pose a significant risk of future criminal activity.
Because the core of the ongoing war on terror is largely pre-emptive, there is resistance to the prosecution of alleged terrorists in American criminal courts or as the passage of the National Defence Authorisation Act reveals, the creation of a parallel system that permits acts such as indefinite detention that would otherwise be deemed unconstitutional.
The second factor has been the United States’ long-standing reticence to join the International Criminal Court, established in 2002 through the Rome Statute to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The first creates a perception of terror as something finite, existing in particular times and contexts and with a distinct end. The second leaves a vast gap in the transnational legal tools available to prosecute crimes beyond national jurisdictions.
Cumulatively, both leave the issue of terror to foreign policy experts and military strategists, both of whom conceptualise the elimination of terror and the terrorist as a linear task with finite parameters accomplished via bombs and targeted killings.
On the Pakistani end, there is the inability to conceptualise terrorism as a moral issue with dimensions beyond imperialism, nationalism and sovereignty.
As a result, people appear at rallies where known terrorist leaders are present; mobs collect and enact fatwas that punish religious minorities, and any failing to echo the populist rhetoric of denouncing America and railing against the West.
On the basis of this dynamic, the end of the war on terror and the withdrawal of the US and Nato forces is equivocated with the end of terror itself, possibly even the end of all scourges leaving a pristine Pakistan untrammelled by want or famine or disaster.
The beneficiaries of these delusions — American and Pakistani — are Hafiz Saeed and Malik Ishaq, who can discard their banned outfits for new fashions of populism, managing to dupe both those in Pakistan and those in America.
The former invest these chameleons with the bravado of facing down a bossy superpower; the latter believe that the terrorist is a product of ideology, demography, faith and a smattering of other variables.
Neither seems to understand that terror, like crime, is an ugly fact of life, the result of the failure of conscience and a detriment to all human beings. It will never go away, not with the exit of a superpower or the elimination of a terrorist leader.
Its denunciations must rest not on strategic calculations, the disbursement of aid, the passage of shipments, the counting of corpses and ruined lives and destroyed futures, its biggest casualty is our universal loss of faith in the possibility of justice.
The writer is an attorney teaching political philosophy and constitutional law.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
DAWN
IT has been a decade of bans and lists. As the world of terror revealed itself to be more and more amorphous, nation states have fought back collecting the names, identifying the leaders and eliminating the followers of terror groups.
There are lists of banned organisations in Pakistan and lists of people not permitted in America. Along with lists there are typologies and profiles; the richer the nation, the more detailed the conjured portraits of terror.
In one of the latest episodes revolving around terror and terrorists, Malik Ishaq, leader of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, was recently released from detention from Kot Lakhpat jail.
A few days later, he attended a rally in Multan organised by the Difa-i-Pakistan Council, seen as a new motley coalition of groups such as the Jamaat-i-Islami, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (formerly known as Sipah-i-Sahaba), Maulana Samiul Haq’s faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and others.
Malik Ishaq was not the only freed terrorist present at the rally. Also in attendance was Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, head of the Jamaatud Dawa. Under the new rhetorical flourish of ‘defending Pakistan’ each emerged in public, untouched by previous sins committed under old names.
The massacre of Shia Hazaras in Mastung and the horrific attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team that left this country humiliated all seemed to be forgotten in view of the latest indignities imposed by the United States, the desecration of Muslim corpses by ‘infidel’ soldiers and the absolving magic of a new patriotic name.
The name game — the coining of new names as one agenda for hatred morphs into another — and the painstaking tracing of genealogies of terror by American experts has become such a well-oiled cycle that both ends follow practised sequences enacted with well-rehearsed outrage.
As per this worn script, two days after the rally the US ambassador to Pakistan reportedly warned that aid disbursements to Pakistan would be ceased unless action was taken against the two individuals.
Also as per the stage instructions, Pakistani heads nodded and made responsive motions, yet the curtain fell on January with no conclusions and no catharsis.
Adequate room was left by all involved for sequels that capitalise on the same plotlines with mildly altered angles and slight variations of dialogue. There are many critiques of course: everything written on either side of this issue; the inadequate denunciation and pursuit of terror on one end, the imperialist overreach and illegality of secret wars and surreptitious killings on the other.
Neither is able or willing to see the new pathology spawned by the entrenchment of these roles. Pakistanis and Americans as well as their respective governments are unable to see terror except in the limited shades of this scripted tragedy.
The challenges of labelling terror as endemic and the terrorist as a criminal, his pursuit and apprehension as an act of law enforcement rather than war-mongering at the American end rest on two issues.
First is the fact that the American criminal justice system rests on the precept of innocence until guilt has been established in a court of law and robust scepticism towards pre-emptive punishment even in situations where individuals pose a significant risk of future criminal activity.
Because the core of the ongoing war on terror is largely pre-emptive, there is resistance to the prosecution of alleged terrorists in American criminal courts or as the passage of the National Defence Authorisation Act reveals, the creation of a parallel system that permits acts such as indefinite detention that would otherwise be deemed unconstitutional.
The second factor has been the United States’ long-standing reticence to join the International Criminal Court, established in 2002 through the Rome Statute to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The first creates a perception of terror as something finite, existing in particular times and contexts and with a distinct end. The second leaves a vast gap in the transnational legal tools available to prosecute crimes beyond national jurisdictions.
Cumulatively, both leave the issue of terror to foreign policy experts and military strategists, both of whom conceptualise the elimination of terror and the terrorist as a linear task with finite parameters accomplished via bombs and targeted killings.
On the Pakistani end, there is the inability to conceptualise terrorism as a moral issue with dimensions beyond imperialism, nationalism and sovereignty.
As a result, people appear at rallies where known terrorist leaders are present; mobs collect and enact fatwas that punish religious minorities, and any failing to echo the populist rhetoric of denouncing America and railing against the West.
On the basis of this dynamic, the end of the war on terror and the withdrawal of the US and Nato forces is equivocated with the end of terror itself, possibly even the end of all scourges leaving a pristine Pakistan untrammelled by want or famine or disaster.
The beneficiaries of these delusions — American and Pakistani — are Hafiz Saeed and Malik Ishaq, who can discard their banned outfits for new fashions of populism, managing to dupe both those in Pakistan and those in America.
The former invest these chameleons with the bravado of facing down a bossy superpower; the latter believe that the terrorist is a product of ideology, demography, faith and a smattering of other variables.
Neither seems to understand that terror, like crime, is an ugly fact of life, the result of the failure of conscience and a detriment to all human beings. It will never go away, not with the exit of a superpower or the elimination of a terrorist leader.
Its denunciations must rest not on strategic calculations, the disbursement of aid, the passage of shipments, the counting of corpses and ruined lives and destroyed futures, its biggest casualty is our universal loss of faith in the possibility of justice.
The writer is an attorney teaching political philosophy and constitutional law.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
DAWN
Asian Human Rights Commission; PAKISTAN: Brutal sectarian violence against Shias continues unabated
February 8, 2012
It is a recognized fact that a state's police and law enforcement agencies play a critical role as the first line of defense against the threats of terrorism and insurgencies.
Police is often failing to protect the members of religious minorities including Ahmadias, Shias, Christians and Hindus. Militant groups are carrying out suicide bombings and targeted killings across the country. The Taliban and affiliated groups are increasingly targeting civilians and public spaces, including marketplaces, hospitals, and religious processions.
Although Shias are a minority in the country, Pakistan holds the second largest Shia community after Iran in terms of numbers. The total Shia population in Pakistan is approximately 50 million and may be as high as 60 million. Globally, Shia Islam represents 10-20% of the total Muslims population, while the remaining 90% or nine-tenths practice Sunni Islam.
The increase in the number of suicide bombings and militancy has added to the sectarian tension that is played out in Muharram (the month of mourning for the martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet PBUH) every year. A series of bomb blasts and shootings, mostly targeting Pakistan's minority Shia community in recent years shows that sectarian violence in the country can be every bit as deadly as that instigated by al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Attacks in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and the north-west seem to be manifestations of the bitter split between Sunnis and Shias. In most cases, no-one claims responsibility for such attacks.
But Pakistan's fateful involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war of the 1980s, General Zia-ul-Haq's controversial 'Islamisation' policies, and a sense of Shia empowerment in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 had the combined effect of limiting the freedom of the Shia's to practice their religion and challenging their loyalty to Pakistan.
Among those blamed for the sectarian violence in the country are mainly Sunni militants such as Sipah-e-Sahaba and members of Shia militant groups such as Tehrik-e-Jafria and others. However, predominant Sunni terrorist groups are often blamed for frequent attacks on minority Shiites and their religious gatherings resulting in reprisal attacks by them.
Pakistan's ISI-backed Punjabi judiciary once again demonstrated its institutional hatred of Shia Muslims today by releasing the notorious leader of the Jihadi-sectarian organization Malik Ishaq, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (also known as the Punjabi Taliban or Sipah-e-Sahaba). Punjabi judges, backed by Punjabi generals, released a Punjabi terrorist to enable further massacres of Shias, Ahmadis, Christians and other targeted communities.
Malik Ishaq was released less than a week after his followers killed at least 20 Shia Muslims in his home town of Rahim Yar Khan. On the last occasion he was released from jail, he killed many Shia Muslims in various parts of the country, and the news items were either ignored or misrepresented in Pakistan's mainstream media. He has now embarked on his next bloody mission.
While right-wing proxies of Pakistan's military establishment are legitimately celebrating Malik Ishaq's release, the ISI's liberal proxies in the English speaking class are busy in blaming the prosecution, ignoring the important links between ISI and LeJ and ISI and the judiciary. For example, Pakistan's English media routinely presents Malik Ishaq as the "Sri Lankan team attack suspect". Therefore, the murder of 70 Shias does not mean much to this class. Reference http://criticalppp.com/archives/69517
Over the past three decades, violence between Sunnis and Shias has ebbed and flowed, but two things are clear. First, despite spawning banned violent sectarian outfits of their own, the Shias have largely been on the receiving end of the violence. In recent years, the violence has spread from southern Punjab and (sporadically) Karachi to Quetta in Balochistan, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on Pakistan's troubled border with Afghanistan.
Hundreds of Shias have been murdered by militants in Quetta in the past few months. In the last couple of weeks, Shias have been taken off buses, lined up and shot dead. Quetta, however, is not an exception. Shias are not safe in any major town in Pakistan. Their places of worship, religious processions, and civilian and religious leadership has come under relentless attacks while the State's machinery has either refused or failed to protect Shias and other religious minorities in Pakistan.
The organized systematic genocide of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan has claimed 58 lives and injured 67 during the month of January 2012 in 32 attacks.
Based on January 2012 statistics, the projected number of deaths per year could be somewhere in the vicinity of 500 to 800 Shia Muslims killed per year and the number of those injured could be estimated to be between 700 and 1000.
In terms of the total number of attacks in January 2012, Sindh, Karachi in particular, was most problematic (15 attacks out of total 32), however, in terms of total deaths, Punjab proved to be most deadly province (36 out of 58 deaths).
The list of recent sectarian attacks makes for grim reading:
September 2011: Gunmen open fire on a bus carry pilgrims at Mastung in Balochistan province. At least 26 Shia Muslims are killed
January 2011: At least 10 people killed after twin blasts targeted Shia Muslim processions in Lahore and Karachi.
September 2010:At least 35 Shias were killed and 160 people were injured in a blast during a procession in Lahore.
September 2010: At least 50 people killed in a suicide bombing at a Shia rally in Quetta, south-western Pakistan
July 2010: Sixteen Shias killed in an attack on Shias in north-western tribal areas
February 2010: Two bombs in Karachi kill at least 25 Shias and injured more than 50 people.
December 2009: At least 40 people killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing on a Shia procession in Karachi
Feb 2009: Bomb attack on a Shia procession in Punjab leaves 35 dead
It is a sad fact that the scores of deaths in the last few months is particularly alarming all over Pakistan. Due to paucity of resources and lack of communication networks there are still incidents of Jihadi sectarian attacks on Shia Muslims which are not recorded. This means that no exact statistics is available about Shia killings in Parachinar and other areas in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
The Punjab government for having a soft spot for terrorist outfits, especially The Jamat- ud- Dawah (JUD) and Lashkar - e- Jhangvi (LEJ). Granted that the Punjab government must be held accountable for allowing these organisations and other extremist groups to hold public rallies full of hate speech all over Punjab.
The Pakistani government claims that it has taken measures to suppress the violence. The Pakistani Interior Chief Rehman Malik said the Shia population was in need of greater protection. Therefore, Islamabad ordered security forces to carry out this task, yet the violence has continued.
Our voices should no longer remain muted. We must convince the Pakistani government and its affiliates that it is crucial to take greater action against the violence perpetrated by these terrorists.
Officials must target the sources and support for the sectarian violence by apprehending known leaders and members of Taliban-associated militant groups across the country. Their influence has reached major cities as well and must be stopped.
Saudi-funded madressas (Islamic schools), which are used to target impressionable children and youth and preach the mentality that Shias are infidels, should be closely regulated and, in some cases, shut down.
Document Type :Article
Document ID :AHRC-ART-008-2012
Countries : Pakistan
Issues : Freedom of religion
Asian Human Rights Commission
It is a recognized fact that a state's police and law enforcement agencies play a critical role as the first line of defense against the threats of terrorism and insurgencies.
Police is often failing to protect the members of religious minorities including Ahmadias, Shias, Christians and Hindus. Militant groups are carrying out suicide bombings and targeted killings across the country. The Taliban and affiliated groups are increasingly targeting civilians and public spaces, including marketplaces, hospitals, and religious processions.
Although Shias are a minority in the country, Pakistan holds the second largest Shia community after Iran in terms of numbers. The total Shia population in Pakistan is approximately 50 million and may be as high as 60 million. Globally, Shia Islam represents 10-20% of the total Muslims population, while the remaining 90% or nine-tenths practice Sunni Islam.
The increase in the number of suicide bombings and militancy has added to the sectarian tension that is played out in Muharram (the month of mourning for the martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet PBUH) every year. A series of bomb blasts and shootings, mostly targeting Pakistan's minority Shia community in recent years shows that sectarian violence in the country can be every bit as deadly as that instigated by al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Attacks in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and the north-west seem to be manifestations of the bitter split between Sunnis and Shias. In most cases, no-one claims responsibility for such attacks.
But Pakistan's fateful involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war of the 1980s, General Zia-ul-Haq's controversial 'Islamisation' policies, and a sense of Shia empowerment in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 had the combined effect of limiting the freedom of the Shia's to practice their religion and challenging their loyalty to Pakistan.
Among those blamed for the sectarian violence in the country are mainly Sunni militants such as Sipah-e-Sahaba and members of Shia militant groups such as Tehrik-e-Jafria and others. However, predominant Sunni terrorist groups are often blamed for frequent attacks on minority Shiites and their religious gatherings resulting in reprisal attacks by them.
Pakistan's ISI-backed Punjabi judiciary once again demonstrated its institutional hatred of Shia Muslims today by releasing the notorious leader of the Jihadi-sectarian organization Malik Ishaq, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (also known as the Punjabi Taliban or Sipah-e-Sahaba). Punjabi judges, backed by Punjabi generals, released a Punjabi terrorist to enable further massacres of Shias, Ahmadis, Christians and other targeted communities.
Malik Ishaq was released less than a week after his followers killed at least 20 Shia Muslims in his home town of Rahim Yar Khan. On the last occasion he was released from jail, he killed many Shia Muslims in various parts of the country, and the news items were either ignored or misrepresented in Pakistan's mainstream media. He has now embarked on his next bloody mission.
While right-wing proxies of Pakistan's military establishment are legitimately celebrating Malik Ishaq's release, the ISI's liberal proxies in the English speaking class are busy in blaming the prosecution, ignoring the important links between ISI and LeJ and ISI and the judiciary. For example, Pakistan's English media routinely presents Malik Ishaq as the "Sri Lankan team attack suspect". Therefore, the murder of 70 Shias does not mean much to this class. Reference http://criticalppp.com/archives/69517
Over the past three decades, violence between Sunnis and Shias has ebbed and flowed, but two things are clear. First, despite spawning banned violent sectarian outfits of their own, the Shias have largely been on the receiving end of the violence. In recent years, the violence has spread from southern Punjab and (sporadically) Karachi to Quetta in Balochistan, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on Pakistan's troubled border with Afghanistan.
Hundreds of Shias have been murdered by militants in Quetta in the past few months. In the last couple of weeks, Shias have been taken off buses, lined up and shot dead. Quetta, however, is not an exception. Shias are not safe in any major town in Pakistan. Their places of worship, religious processions, and civilian and religious leadership has come under relentless attacks while the State's machinery has either refused or failed to protect Shias and other religious minorities in Pakistan.
The organized systematic genocide of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan has claimed 58 lives and injured 67 during the month of January 2012 in 32 attacks.
Based on January 2012 statistics, the projected number of deaths per year could be somewhere in the vicinity of 500 to 800 Shia Muslims killed per year and the number of those injured could be estimated to be between 700 and 1000.
In terms of the total number of attacks in January 2012, Sindh, Karachi in particular, was most problematic (15 attacks out of total 32), however, in terms of total deaths, Punjab proved to be most deadly province (36 out of 58 deaths).
The list of recent sectarian attacks makes for grim reading:
September 2011: Gunmen open fire on a bus carry pilgrims at Mastung in Balochistan province. At least 26 Shia Muslims are killed
January 2011: At least 10 people killed after twin blasts targeted Shia Muslim processions in Lahore and Karachi.
September 2010:At least 35 Shias were killed and 160 people were injured in a blast during a procession in Lahore.
September 2010: At least 50 people killed in a suicide bombing at a Shia rally in Quetta, south-western Pakistan
July 2010: Sixteen Shias killed in an attack on Shias in north-western tribal areas
February 2010: Two bombs in Karachi kill at least 25 Shias and injured more than 50 people.
December 2009: At least 40 people killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing on a Shia procession in Karachi
Feb 2009: Bomb attack on a Shia procession in Punjab leaves 35 dead
It is a sad fact that the scores of deaths in the last few months is particularly alarming all over Pakistan. Due to paucity of resources and lack of communication networks there are still incidents of Jihadi sectarian attacks on Shia Muslims which are not recorded. This means that no exact statistics is available about Shia killings in Parachinar and other areas in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
The Punjab government for having a soft spot for terrorist outfits, especially The Jamat- ud- Dawah (JUD) and Lashkar - e- Jhangvi (LEJ). Granted that the Punjab government must be held accountable for allowing these organisations and other extremist groups to hold public rallies full of hate speech all over Punjab.
The Pakistani government claims that it has taken measures to suppress the violence. The Pakistani Interior Chief Rehman Malik said the Shia population was in need of greater protection. Therefore, Islamabad ordered security forces to carry out this task, yet the violence has continued.
Our voices should no longer remain muted. We must convince the Pakistani government and its affiliates that it is crucial to take greater action against the violence perpetrated by these terrorists.
Officials must target the sources and support for the sectarian violence by apprehending known leaders and members of Taliban-associated militant groups across the country. Their influence has reached major cities as well and must be stopped.
Saudi-funded madressas (Islamic schools), which are used to target impressionable children and youth and preach the mentality that Shias are infidels, should be closely regulated and, in some cases, shut down.
Document Type :Article
Document ID :AHRC-ART-008-2012
Countries : Pakistan
Issues : Freedom of religion
Asian Human Rights Commission
Couple die of gas suffocation in Quetta
QUETTA: A couple died of suffocation in Hazara Town area of the provincial capital on Tuesday. According to official sources, a couple identified as Owais Ahmed and his wife Fatima Bibi forgot to switch off their gas heater before going to sleep. Resultantly, gas filled the entire room, causing the couple to fall unconscious. They were shifted the Civil Hospital where they were Their bodies were handed over to their relatives for burial after legal formalities. staff report
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
PAKISTAN: Quetta's Hazara community living in fear
QUETTA, 7 February 2012 (IRIN) - Widespread fear of harassment, discrimination and killings has prompted some Hazara community members living in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province in southwestern Pakistan, to consider leaving the country, even by illegal means.
“Over 600 Hazaras have been killed since 2000,” Abdul Qayuum Changezi, head of the Hazara Jarga, a group representing Hazaras, told IRIN. Media reports speak of dozens recently killed in attacks on the community in Quetta and in other parts of the province.
The Hazaras constitute a distinct ethnic group, with some accounts tracing their history to central Asia. Almost all belong to the Shia Muslim sect, speak a dialect of Farsi, and are concentrated in central Afghanistan and some parts of Pakistan. There are some 6,000 to 7,000 Hazaras in the country, according to a Hazara chief, Sardar Saadat Ali.
In Quetta, many of them live in Alamdar Road. Close by, Ali Hassan, 55, and his two sons, both in their 20s, were engrossed in a fierce argument in their small house - when IRIN visited - about leaving the country, even if illegally.
According to the two, there is too much discrimination against the Hazaras for them to have a future. “It is simply too dangerous to live here. Besides, Hazaras get no opportunities in education or for jobs, because of the bias that exists,” said Ibrar Ali, 21, the younger of Hassan’s sons.
However, their parents were terrified of allowing them to try and leave, mainly because of an incident in December last year in which at least 55 Hazaras from Quetta were killed when a boat carrying some 90 illegal immigrants to Australia capsized off the coast of Indonesia.
“The boat was overloaded with over 250 people, including children and women,” said Nasir Ali, whose brother was on the ill-fated boat, but survived.
“Persecution”
Following the incident, the autonomous Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded a government inquiry. In a statement, HRCP chairperson Zohra Yusuf said the fact that “Hazara young men chose to leave Pakistan by taking such grave risks is a measure of the persecution the Hazara community has long faced in Balochistan.”
The statement also urged the government to act against those illegally ferrying people out of the country in exchange for large sums of money, and demanded it “take urgent steps to find a way to put an end to the persecution of the long-suffering Hazara community”.
The New York based monitoring body Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also condemned the sectarian killing of Shia Muslims in Pakistan, and has noted: "Research indicates that at least 275 Shias, mostly of Hazara ethnicity, have been killed in sectarian attacks in the southwestern province of Balochistan alone since 2008." HRW Asia director Brad Adams says a start can be made to ending such killings "by arresting extremist group members responsible for past attacks”.
Anger within the Hazara community runs deep, and has been growing.
“The news of the killings and the desperation of the community is terrible. I weep often when I read of what is happening. I want to return to Quetta, because I love my home town; I want to be close to my parents and live there with my own family. But my fiancé and I ask if it will be sensible to raise our children in a climate of death,” Mina Ali, a medical student from the Hazara community currently based in Karachi, told IRIN.
Her fiancé, also a Hazara, is keen to try and flee the country, whether “legally or illegally”, Mina said.
“Genocide”?
Statements to the media from top government officials, including the chief minister of Balochistan, have also been perceived as insensitive in their failure to strongly condemn killings that some commentators have described as a “genocide”. Others in Pakistan are demanding that the International Court of Justice look into the matter.
Hazara chief Sardar Saadat Ali, a former provincial minister, told IRIN most Hazaras in the country were based in Quetta but there were “also some in Hyderabad [in Sindh Province] and other Baloch districts”.
Ali, who has lost close relatives including his brother in targeted killings of Hazaras, said: “We can expect nothing from the government; so we act for ourselves. I personally went to Indonesia to bring back the bodies of the young Hazara men who had died in the boat tragedy. They were fleeing because of the security situation and in search of a chance to gain an education.”
Hazaras, he added, were being targeted on “both ethnic and sectarian grounds” by extremist groups - mainly the sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba, which have origins in the Punjab. He was also concerned about further persecution if the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.
“I don’t understand much about politics, but I worry constantly for my grown children, and their children," said Zareen Bibi, 60, a Hazara resident of Quetta. "Too many Hazaras have died, for no reason - and this inhumanity has to end. We all deserve dignity and the right to life."
kh/eo/cb
IRIN
برفباری بازار ورزش اسکی را در بامیان گرم کرده است
مقامهای محلی در ولایت مرکزی بامیان گفته‌اند که برفباری سنگین در این ولایت باعث گرم شدن بازار ورزش اسکی و هتلداری شده است.
عباس خاوری، مسئول بخش گردشگری در اداره اطلاعات و فرهنگ بامیان به بی بی سی گفته که این ولایت زمستان امسال شاهد حضور شمار زیادی از اسکی بازان داخلی و خارجی بوده است.
بامیان از مناطق کوهستانی و برفگیر مناطق مرکزی افغانستان است و در عین حال به دلیل داشتن محلات تاریخی، برای گردشگران منطقه محبوبی است.....Continue Reading...
عباس خاوری، مسئول بخش گردشگری در اداره اطلاعات و فرهنگ بامیان به بی بی سی گفته که این ولایت زمستان امسال شاهد حضور شمار زیادی از اسکی بازان داخلی و خارجی بوده است.
بامیان از مناطق کوهستانی و برفگیر مناطق مرکزی افغانستان است و در عین حال به دلیل داشتن محلات تاریخی، برای گردشگران منطقه محبوبی است.....Continue Reading...
Monday, February 6, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Pakistan braces itself for 'game changer' elections
As a long stand-off between Pakistan's military, courts and government slowly subsides, election fever has now gripped the country following hints by the government that it will compromise and bring the vote forward from 2013 to this autumn. Writer Ahmed Rashid considers the likely campaign pitches of political parties taking part.
For the past few months the tension between the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on one side, and the military and the Supreme Court on the other has paralysed the nation's politics, its economy and international relations.
The breakdown of ties between the army and the US has still not been tackled two months after Pakistan cut off relations....Continue Reading...
For the past few months the tension between the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on one side, and the military and the Supreme Court on the other has paralysed the nation's politics, its economy and international relations.
The breakdown of ties between the army and the US has still not been tackled two months after Pakistan cut off relations....Continue Reading...
Indonesia boat capsize: Two months later, only one body brought to Quetta
By Shehzad Baloch
QUETTA: Only one body out of as many as 90 young men, missing after a boat capsize in Indonesia in November, has been brought to Quetta for burial so far.
The body Syed Kefyat Hussain, 20, was buried in a local graveyard on Alamdar Road in the provincial capital. Kefyat, the son of a schoolteacher, had wanted to go to Australia in search of better economic opportunities.
“Seventy to 90 people hailing from Quetta were onboard when the boat, bound for Australia, capsized near Java in Indonesia. But, unfortunately, after waiting for 50 days, we have received only one body,” said Mohammad Zaman, a relative of the deceased.
Most of those missing belong to the persecuted Hazara community of Quetta.
According to Pakistani officials, survivors who claim to be Pakistani nationals do not possess valid travel documents and own Afghan passports. This, they say, is making it difficult to identify the bodies.
Faisal Naeem, assistance director for relief activities at Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said that most bodies are mutilated beyond recognition. “Hazara community elders have informed us that about 90 people from Quetta are among those missing but only 42 families have approached the cell established to cooperate for bringing back bodies.” Half of the families submitted fake computerised national identity cards and are Afghan nationals thus making it tough for officials to bring back bodies, he said.
He said that it would be incorrect to say that the Balochistan government isn’t cooperating with the Hazara community. “The government is in contact with Pakistan’s ambassador in Indonesia. Also, it was the government that sent a delegation of Hazara elders to Indonesia.”
Express Tribune
QUETTA: Only one body out of as many as 90 young men, missing after a boat capsize in Indonesia in November, has been brought to Quetta for burial so far.
The body Syed Kefyat Hussain, 20, was buried in a local graveyard on Alamdar Road in the provincial capital. Kefyat, the son of a schoolteacher, had wanted to go to Australia in search of better economic opportunities.
“Seventy to 90 people hailing from Quetta were onboard when the boat, bound for Australia, capsized near Java in Indonesia. But, unfortunately, after waiting for 50 days, we have received only one body,” said Mohammad Zaman, a relative of the deceased.
Most of those missing belong to the persecuted Hazara community of Quetta.
According to Pakistani officials, survivors who claim to be Pakistani nationals do not possess valid travel documents and own Afghan passports. This, they say, is making it difficult to identify the bodies.
Faisal Naeem, assistance director for relief activities at Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said that most bodies are mutilated beyond recognition. “Hazara community elders have informed us that about 90 people from Quetta are among those missing but only 42 families have approached the cell established to cooperate for bringing back bodies.” Half of the families submitted fake computerised national identity cards and are Afghan nationals thus making it tough for officials to bring back bodies, he said.
He said that it would be incorrect to say that the Balochistan government isn’t cooperating with the Hazara community. “The government is in contact with Pakistan’s ambassador in Indonesia. Also, it was the government that sent a delegation of Hazara elders to Indonesia.”
Express Tribune
Pakistani footballers break into international scene
Agencies May 18, 2011
Both Naveed and Mahmood have signed two-month loan contracts with Saraswoti Youth Club (SYC) of Nepal for the 2011 Nepal Martyr's Memorial A-Division League campaign. -File Photo
ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani footballers Naveed Akram and Mahmood Ali of Wapda FC have become the first two footballers in over four decades to accept offers to play in foreign football leagues.
Both Naveed and Mahmood have signed two-month loan contracts with Saraswoti Youth Club (SYC) of Nepal for the 2011 Nepal Martyr’s Memorial A-Division League campaign which is already underway.
The loan periods began mid-May and ends in mid-July 2011, which coincides with the final two months of the three month long Nepal A-Division League season, with the top eight teams out of eighteen will then play in the Nepal National League 2011, according to a press release.
Midfield maestro Mahmood Ali from Quetta and dynamic fullback Naveed Akram from Multan have expressed their desire to make all Pakistani football fans proud by giving their best in Nepal.
Naveed said that this is an honour for him and Mahmood to be given the chance to play in a foreign league to really experience international club football.
“It was my dream as a footballer to play outside Pakistan and I am thankful to SYC and the people at both GoalNepal.Com and FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) for helping both of us to avail this golden opportunity.”
The two Wapda starters have managed to complete all required NOCs (No Objection Certificates) from Wapda Sports Board and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), as well as contract signing for registration with All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and are hopeful to be eligible to make their debut in SYC’s next game against rivals Brigade Boys Club.
DAWN
ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani footballers Naveed Akram and Mahmood Ali of Wapda FC have become the first two footballers in over four decades to accept offers to play in foreign football leagues.
Both Naveed and Mahmood have signed two-month loan contracts with Saraswoti Youth Club (SYC) of Nepal for the 2011 Nepal Martyr’s Memorial A-Division League campaign which is already underway.
The loan periods began mid-May and ends in mid-July 2011, which coincides with the final two months of the three month long Nepal A-Division League season, with the top eight teams out of eighteen will then play in the Nepal National League 2011, according to a press release.
Midfield maestro Mahmood Ali from Quetta and dynamic fullback Naveed Akram from Multan have expressed their desire to make all Pakistani football fans proud by giving their best in Nepal.
Naveed said that this is an honour for him and Mahmood to be given the chance to play in a foreign league to really experience international club football.
“It was my dream as a footballer to play outside Pakistan and I am thankful to SYC and the people at both GoalNepal.Com and FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) for helping both of us to avail this golden opportunity.”
The two Wapda starters have managed to complete all required NOCs (No Objection Certificates) from Wapda Sports Board and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), as well as contract signing for registration with All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and are hopeful to be eligible to make their debut in SYC’s next game against rivals Brigade Boys Club.
DAWN
Afghan Hazara leader sceptical of Taliban peace
(Reuters) - Scepticism is growing inside Afghanistan's ethnic communities that a peace deal can be struck with the Taliban, under whose rule they were brutalised and persecuted, with many fearing a return to civil war, a prominent Hazara minority leader says.
Mohammad Mohaqiq said he was deeply worried about NATO plans to pull out combat troops by end-2014, and a French government proposal to leave a year earlier, by 2013.
"It is silly to say al Qaeda and Taliban can come together with Afghans, or (with) our allies who have come to this country," Mohaqiq told Reuters late on Sunday in an interview at his heavily-guarded Kabul mansion.... Continue Reading....
Mohammad Mohaqiq said he was deeply worried about NATO plans to pull out combat troops by end-2014, and a French government proposal to leave a year earlier, by 2013.
"It is silly to say al Qaeda and Taliban can come together with Afghans, or (with) our allies who have come to this country," Mohaqiq told Reuters late on Sunday in an interview at his heavily-guarded Kabul mansion.... Continue Reading....
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
دستگیری یک طالب مسلح در ولایت بامیان
جمعه ٠٧ دلو ١٣٩٠ ساعت ١٢:٠٧
مقام های امنیتی در ولایت بامیان می گویند در عملیاتی که توسط نیروهای ریاست امنیت ملی این ولایت راه اندازی شده بود، یک طالب مسلح با مقداری اسلحه و مهمات دستگیر شده است.
به گفته مقام های محلی ولایت بامیان این دستگیری،اولین باری است که در ولایت بامیان اتفاق می افتد
سمونوال غلام سخی نیک پی آمر امنیت قوماندانی امنیه بامیان در پیوند به این موضوع به خبرگزاری بخدی گفت:" شخصی به نام ملازوی که با نیروهای طالبان در ولسوالی تاله و برف ولایت بغلان همکاری داشت، روز گذشته در یک عملیات نیروهای امنیتی بامیان دستگیر شده است".
نکیپی افزود:" اسلحه و مهماتی که از نزد این شخص بدست آمده شامل پنج فیر مرمی راکت انداز،یک میل تفنگچه تی تی روسی،هفت شاژور مرمی کلاشینکوف،یک عدد ماین ضد تانک مجهز با سیستم ویرنگ،یک عدد بمب دستی، یک میل تفنگ چره یی، یک عدد دوربین راکت انداز، یک عدد دوربین عادی، دو عدد پرتله کلاشینکوف، 218 فیر مرمی پیکا و 19 فیر مرمی دهشکه است".
به گفته آمر امنیت قوماندانی امنیه بامیان؛ این فرد مسلح مربوط به گروه طالبان از دره شکاری ولسوالی شیبر بامیان دستگیر شده که دوسیه نسبتی او همراه با سلاح و مهمات بدست آمده رسماً به سارنوالی مبارزه علیه جرایم داخلی و خارجی این ولایت تسلیم داده می شود.
گفتنی است که در سال روان این اولین بار است که یک فرد مسلح مربوط به گروه طالبان از ساحه ولایت بامیان دستگیر شده است.
محمد زمان احمدی - بامیان
Bokhdi News
مقام های امنیتی در ولایت بامیان می گویند در عملیاتی که توسط نیروهای ریاست امنیت ملی این ولایت راه اندازی شده بود، یک طالب مسلح با مقداری اسلحه و مهمات دستگیر شده است.
سمونوال غلام سخی نیک پی آمر امنیت قوماندانی امنیه بامیان در پیوند به این موضوع به خبرگزاری بخدی گفت:" شخصی به نام ملازوی که با نیروهای طالبان در ولسوالی تاله و برف ولایت بغلان همکاری داشت، روز گذشته در یک عملیات نیروهای امنیتی بامیان دستگیر شده است".
نکیپی افزود:" اسلحه و مهماتی که از نزد این شخص بدست آمده شامل پنج فیر مرمی راکت انداز،یک میل تفنگچه تی تی روسی،هفت شاژور مرمی کلاشینکوف،یک عدد ماین ضد تانک مجهز با سیستم ویرنگ،یک عدد بمب دستی، یک میل تفنگ چره یی، یک عدد دوربین راکت انداز، یک عدد دوربین عادی، دو عدد پرتله کلاشینکوف، 218 فیر مرمی پیکا و 19 فیر مرمی دهشکه است".
به گفته آمر امنیت قوماندانی امنیه بامیان؛ این فرد مسلح مربوط به گروه طالبان از دره شکاری ولسوالی شیبر بامیان دستگیر شده که دوسیه نسبتی او همراه با سلاح و مهمات بدست آمده رسماً به سارنوالی مبارزه علیه جرایم داخلی و خارجی این ولایت تسلیم داده می شود.
گفتنی است که در سال روان این اولین بار است که یک فرد مسلح مربوط به گروه طالبان از ساحه ولایت بامیان دستگیر شده است.
محمد زمان احمدی - بامیان
Bokhdi News
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Brutal killings: Deweaponisation is the answer
TARGET killings have become order of the day in the country and the authorities seem to have no answer to control the situation. Three lawyers and five others were killed in Karachi and another three in Quetta on Wednesday in what appears to be a free for all to take the lives of innocent people and law enforcement machinery unable to nab the culprits.
The lawyers fraternity boycotted the courts on Thursday to protest against the killings and some other organisations also organised demonstrations in Karachi and Quetta against the incidents. Angry people set tyres on fire on roads suspending traffic on Shahra-e-Faisal and National Highway but that is no solution and in fact it is like playing in the hands of subversive elements that want to destabilize the country on the orders of their masters. These killings are the result of massive weaponisation of the society. In Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa too weapons are being indiscriminately used to settle scores on grounds of personal enmity and in marriage parties and electioneering days aerial firings have become a culture. Though there is a ban on display of weapons but one may say that weapons, in the VIP circles security guards accompanying the political leaders openly display theirS arms giving terrifying scenes which is not symbol of a civilized society. Similarly terrorist groups and members of different mafias are heavily armed and they roam around freely creating a psychological dent in the society. In such an environment, people with some resources also acquire illegal weapons for their personal security and there is huge demand for such weapons all over the country. In a society where every third person is armed with legal or illegal weapons, one can expect killings on petty issues and with the passage of time the situation will certainly deteriorate. To prevent it, the only answer is deweaponisation and a total ban on issuance of arms licences. We understand that it is easy to suggest and difficult to implement but it is the foremost duty of the government to provide security to its citizens and it will have to find a way out to end the menace of target killings.
Pakistan Observer
The lawyers fraternity boycotted the courts on Thursday to protest against the killings and some other organisations also organised demonstrations in Karachi and Quetta against the incidents. Angry people set tyres on fire on roads suspending traffic on Shahra-e-Faisal and National Highway but that is no solution and in fact it is like playing in the hands of subversive elements that want to destabilize the country on the orders of their masters. These killings are the result of massive weaponisation of the society. In Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa too weapons are being indiscriminately used to settle scores on grounds of personal enmity and in marriage parties and electioneering days aerial firings have become a culture. Though there is a ban on display of weapons but one may say that weapons, in the VIP circles security guards accompanying the political leaders openly display theirS arms giving terrifying scenes which is not symbol of a civilized society. Similarly terrorist groups and members of different mafias are heavily armed and they roam around freely creating a psychological dent in the society. In such an environment, people with some resources also acquire illegal weapons for their personal security and there is huge demand for such weapons all over the country. In a society where every third person is armed with legal or illegal weapons, one can expect killings on petty issues and with the passage of time the situation will certainly deteriorate. To prevent it, the only answer is deweaponisation and a total ban on issuance of arms licences. We understand that it is easy to suggest and difficult to implement but it is the foremost duty of the government to provide security to its citizens and it will have to find a way out to end the menace of target killings.
Pakistan Observer
HDP protested against the targeted killing of three people belonging to their community in Quetta.
Balochistan violence: Hazara Democratic Party stages protest
By Our Correspondent
Published: January 26, 2012
PHOTO: AFP/FILE
QUETTA: Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) on Thursday staged a noisy protest demonstration outside the Balochistan Assembly building, against the targeted killing of three people belonging to their community in Quetta.
Inspector of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Vilayat Hussain, TV actor Abid Nazish and Mohammad Anwar were shot dead by unknown assailants on Wednesday night in Quetta, in what appeared to be an incident of sectarian killing. However, no outfit had claimed responsibility for the killings.
Protestors marched through various roads and held a demonstration on Zarghoon Road outside the Balochistan Assembly building. They were carrying placards and banners with messages against target killing.
They raised slogans against the government and the chief minister for their failure to overcome the growing incidents of target killing and kidnapping for ransom in Quetta.
Vice President of HDP Mirza Hussain said Hazara community was being subjected to target killing for the past several years and the government had failed to launch a crackdown against the criminals. “Government should answer who are the target killers? And how they carry out deadly attacks with complete impunity,” he added.
Protestors said four people belonging to Hazara community were kidnapped a few days ago from Quetta-Chaman highway and were still missing. “The kidnappers approached the families and asked for a huge amount as ransom for the release of these four people,” one of the protestors said.
HDP warned that they will hold protest demonstrations across the world where Hazara community is residing, to lodge their protest against the organised target killings if government and law enforcing agencies failed to protect the innocent lives.
“We are Pakistanis and do not want to give a bad name to our country by holding protest in other countries. But now we are being pushed against the wall and left with no option,” Hussain said, adding that Hazara community is demanding an end to the target killing and kidnappings.
Meanwhile, Provincial Ministers Ayinullah Shams of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Sultan Tareen of Awami National Party (ANP) addressed the protestors and assured them that government will soon hold a meeting to review the law and order situation.
Express Tribune
By Our Correspondent
Published: January 26, 2012
QUETTA: Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) on Thursday staged a noisy protest demonstration outside the Balochistan Assembly building, against the targeted killing of three people belonging to their community in Quetta.
Inspector of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Vilayat Hussain, TV actor Abid Nazish and Mohammad Anwar were shot dead by unknown assailants on Wednesday night in Quetta, in what appeared to be an incident of sectarian killing. However, no outfit had claimed responsibility for the killings.
Protestors marched through various roads and held a demonstration on Zarghoon Road outside the Balochistan Assembly building. They were carrying placards and banners with messages against target killing.
They raised slogans against the government and the chief minister for their failure to overcome the growing incidents of target killing and kidnapping for ransom in Quetta.
Vice President of HDP Mirza Hussain said Hazara community was being subjected to target killing for the past several years and the government had failed to launch a crackdown against the criminals. “Government should answer who are the target killers? And how they carry out deadly attacks with complete impunity,” he added.
Protestors said four people belonging to Hazara community were kidnapped a few days ago from Quetta-Chaman highway and were still missing. “The kidnappers approached the families and asked for a huge amount as ransom for the release of these four people,” one of the protestors said.
HDP warned that they will hold protest demonstrations across the world where Hazara community is residing, to lodge their protest against the organised target killings if government and law enforcing agencies failed to protect the innocent lives.
“We are Pakistanis and do not want to give a bad name to our country by holding protest in other countries. But now we are being pushed against the wall and left with no option,” Hussain said, adding that Hazara community is demanding an end to the target killing and kidnappings.
Meanwhile, Provincial Ministers Ayinullah Shams of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Sultan Tareen of Awami National Party (ANP) addressed the protestors and assured them that government will soon hold a meeting to review the law and order situation.
Express Tribune
Juggling for peace in Afghanistan
It’s easy enough to find war in Afghanistan: step out of Kabul, head south and it will most likely find you. I’ve found it often enough: chasing after the Taliban and embedding with Canadian troops in Kandahar. But finding peace, unearthing hope, is another thing altogether. It takes a firm heart to resist the temptation for cynicism, to fight the overarching feeling that every attempt to challenge war with peace is pointless and doomed to failure. It’s a common theme here in Kabul among the foreign aid workers and journalists: Afghanistan will never change; it’s hopeless.
I’ve felt myself slipping into that state of mind in recent years. After 10 years of covering the Afghan war, war had become the lens through which I saw Afghanistan. But then I had a revelation: I decided to join the circus, and everything changed....Continue Reading...
I’ve felt myself slipping into that state of mind in recent years. After 10 years of covering the Afghan war, war had become the lens through which I saw Afghanistan. But then I had a revelation: I decided to join the circus, and everything changed....Continue Reading...
Three Hazara men shot dead in Quetta
Saleem Shahid | National | From the Newspaper
QUETTA: An inspector of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a TV artiste and another government official were gunned down near Mecongi Road on Wednesday evening, police said.
The three were going home in a car when assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on them with automatic weapons in a street.
“All of them died on the spot,” hospital sources said.
Police said it appeared to be a case of targeted sectarian killings because the victims — FIA Inspector Walayat Hussain, Quetta television artiste Abid Hussain Nazish and Mohammad Anwar Hussain, an accounts officer at the Balochistan Accountant
General’s office — belonged to the Hazara tribe.
“We are also looking into other aspects of the investigation,” Quetta city police chief Ahsan Mehboob said. He said police were checking vehicles and carrying out raids in different areas to arrest the attackers.
The bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital and handed over to the victims’ families after post-mortems.
In a statement, the Shia Conference Balochistan condemned the killing and said provincial authorities had failed to protect citizens and urged the federal government to ensure an immediate arrest of killers.
DAWN
QUETTA: An inspector of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a TV artiste and another government official were gunned down near Mecongi Road on Wednesday evening, police said.
The three were going home in a car when assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on them with automatic weapons in a street.
“All of them died on the spot,” hospital sources said.
Police said it appeared to be a case of targeted sectarian killings because the victims — FIA Inspector Walayat Hussain, Quetta television artiste Abid Hussain Nazish and Mohammad Anwar Hussain, an accounts officer at the Balochistan Accountant
General’s office — belonged to the Hazara tribe.
“We are also looking into other aspects of the investigation,” Quetta city police chief Ahsan Mehboob said. He said police were checking vehicles and carrying out raids in different areas to arrest the attackers.
The bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital and handed over to the victims’ families after post-mortems.
In a statement, the Shia Conference Balochistan condemned the killing and said provincial authorities had failed to protect citizens and urged the federal government to ensure an immediate arrest of killers.
DAWN
MIGRATION: Asylum-seekers in Australia suspend hunger strike
BANGKOK, 25 January 2012 (IRIN) - About 150 asylum-seekers in Australia have suspended their hunger strike after accusing the government of reneging on a promise for community detention and bridging visas for long-term detainees who posed no risk, activists confirm.
At least 34 of the participants had been on hunger strike for a week.
"The ball is now in the government's court," Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), told IRIN from Sydney. "I hope this will be followed by action and not just words.".....Continue Reading....
At least 34 of the participants had been on hunger strike for a week.
"The ball is now in the government's court," Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), told IRIN from Sydney. "I hope this will be followed by action and not just words.".....Continue Reading....
How Iran Controls Afghanistan
Afghanistan has suffered from foreign meddling since its inception. But while Pakistan’s role has been widely discussed -- most Afghans will point to concrete examples -- Iran’s involvement is more subtle.
Iranian influence is all encompassing--the Islamic government funds Afghan Shiite sects and politicians, has invested in building roads and providing fuel and transport, and is fighting hard against the Afghan opium trade that supplies millions of addicts. But Iran’s lasting power on Afghanistan is cultural as well as political, broadcasting state radio and television programs inside Afghanistan....Continue Reading....
Iranian influence is all encompassing--the Islamic government funds Afghan Shiite sects and politicians, has invested in building roads and providing fuel and transport, and is fighting hard against the Afghan opium trade that supplies millions of addicts. But Iran’s lasting power on Afghanistan is cultural as well as political, broadcasting state radio and television programs inside Afghanistan....Continue Reading....
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
کوئٹہ میں ’ٹارگٹ کلنگ‘ تین افراد ہلاک
آخری وقت اشاعت: بدھ 25 جنوری 2012 , 18:10 GMT 23:10 PST
کوئٹہ میں ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے واقعات ایک معمول بن گئے ہیں اور اس میں فرقہ واریت کا عنصر بھی شامل ہے۔
بلوچستان کے دارالحکومت کوئٹہ میں بدھ اور جمعرات کی درمیانی شب کو نامعلوم افراد کی فائرنگ کے نتیجے میں تین افراد ہلاک ہوگئے۔ جن کاتعلق شیعہ فریقہ سے تھا اور پولیس نے اسے ٹارگٹ کلنگ کی واردات قرار دے کرملزمان کی گرفتاری کے لیے شہر کی ناکہ بندی کر دی تھی۔
کوئٹہ سے بی بی سی کے نامہ نگارایوب ترین کےمطابق کوئٹہ شہر کے میکانیگی روڈ پر بدھ اور جمعرات کی درمیانی شب نامعلوم مسلح افراد نے ایک گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی جس میں سوار تین افراد شدید زخمی ہوگئے جنہیں فوری طور پر سول ہپستال کوئٹہ پہنچایاگیا۔ ہسپتال میں وہ زخموں کی تاب نہ لاتے ہوئے چل بسے۔ فائرنگ کے بعد نامعلوم مسلح افراد موٹرسائیکل پرفرار ہونے میں کامیاب ہوگئے۔
ہلاک ہونے والوں میں ایف آئی اے کے انسپکٹر ولایت حسین، ٹی وی اداکار عابد نازش اور اے جی آفس کے اکاونٹینٹ محمدانور شامل ہیں جن کاتعلق شیعہ فریقے اور ہزارہ قبیلے سے ہے۔
واقعہ کےبعد پولیس نے نامعلوم افراد کی گرفتاری کے لیے مختلف مقامات پر ناکہ بندی کردی اور مقدمہ بھی درج کرلیا۔
لیکن آخری اطلاع تک کوئی گرفتاری عمل میں نہیں آئی اور نہ کسی تنظیم نے اس واقعہ کی ذمہ داری قبول کی تھی۔
اس بارے میں جب کیپٹل سٹی پولیس آفیسر کوئٹہ احسن محبوب سے رابطہ کیاگیا توانہوں نے اس واقعہ کو ٹارگٹ کلنگ قرار دیا اور کہا کہ جلد ملزمان کو گرفتار کرلیاجائے گا۔
یاد رہے کہ اس سے قبل بھی کوئٹہ میں ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے ذریعے شیعہ فریقےسے تعلق رکھنے والے بہت سے لوگوں کو ٹارگٹ کانشانہ بنایاگیاہے اور اکثرواقعات کی ذمہ داری کالعدم تنظیم لشکرجھنگوی نے قبول کی ہے۔
BBC Urdu
کوئٹہ میں ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے واقعات ایک معمول بن گئے ہیں اور اس میں فرقہ واریت کا عنصر بھی شامل ہے۔
بلوچستان کے دارالحکومت کوئٹہ میں بدھ اور جمعرات کی درمیانی شب کو نامعلوم افراد کی فائرنگ کے نتیجے میں تین افراد ہلاک ہوگئے۔ جن کاتعلق شیعہ فریقہ سے تھا اور پولیس نے اسے ٹارگٹ کلنگ کی واردات قرار دے کرملزمان کی گرفتاری کے لیے شہر کی ناکہ بندی کر دی تھی۔
کوئٹہ سے بی بی سی کے نامہ نگارایوب ترین کےمطابق کوئٹہ شہر کے میکانیگی روڈ پر بدھ اور جمعرات کی درمیانی شب نامعلوم مسلح افراد نے ایک گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی جس میں سوار تین افراد شدید زخمی ہوگئے جنہیں فوری طور پر سول ہپستال کوئٹہ پہنچایاگیا۔ ہسپتال میں وہ زخموں کی تاب نہ لاتے ہوئے چل بسے۔ فائرنگ کے بعد نامعلوم مسلح افراد موٹرسائیکل پرفرار ہونے میں کامیاب ہوگئے۔
ہلاک ہونے والوں میں ایف آئی اے کے انسپکٹر ولایت حسین، ٹی وی اداکار عابد نازش اور اے جی آفس کے اکاونٹینٹ محمدانور شامل ہیں جن کاتعلق شیعہ فریقے اور ہزارہ قبیلے سے ہے۔
واقعہ کےبعد پولیس نے نامعلوم افراد کی گرفتاری کے لیے مختلف مقامات پر ناکہ بندی کردی اور مقدمہ بھی درج کرلیا۔
لیکن آخری اطلاع تک کوئی گرفتاری عمل میں نہیں آئی اور نہ کسی تنظیم نے اس واقعہ کی ذمہ داری قبول کی تھی۔
اس بارے میں جب کیپٹل سٹی پولیس آفیسر کوئٹہ احسن محبوب سے رابطہ کیاگیا توانہوں نے اس واقعہ کو ٹارگٹ کلنگ قرار دیا اور کہا کہ جلد ملزمان کو گرفتار کرلیاجائے گا۔
یاد رہے کہ اس سے قبل بھی کوئٹہ میں ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے ذریعے شیعہ فریقےسے تعلق رکھنے والے بہت سے لوگوں کو ٹارگٹ کانشانہ بنایاگیاہے اور اکثرواقعات کی ذمہ داری کالعدم تنظیم لشکرجھنگوی نے قبول کی ہے۔
BBC Urdu
Three people shot dead in Quetta: police
QUETTA: Gunmen shot dead three Shia Muslims on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Quetta , police and local intelligence officials said.
“Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a car in Quetta city, killing three Shia Muslims including two government officials and a local television artist,” senior local police official, Muhammad Tariq told AFP.
He said it seemed like a sectarian attack, but the police had launched an investigation into the incident. A local intelligence official also confirmed the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pakistani government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region’s oil, gas and mineral resources.
DAWN
“Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a car in Quetta city, killing three Shia Muslims including two government officials and a local television artist,” senior local police official, Muhammad Tariq told AFP.
He said it seemed like a sectarian attack, but the police had launched an investigation into the incident. A local intelligence official also confirmed the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pakistani government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region’s oil, gas and mineral resources.
DAWN
FIA inspector, TV actor killed in Quetta
By Our Correspondent
Published: January 25, 2012
QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen killed three people, including a Federal Investigation Agency inspector and a television actor, near Quetta’s Mekangi Road on Wednesday.
Police said the victims were travelling in a car on Ibrahim Street on Mekangi Raod when the attackers, riding a motorcycle, opened fire at them, killing them on the spot. The assailants managed to escape from the scene.
Police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area. The bodies were taken to Provincial Sandeman Hospital for an autopsy where they were identified as FIA Inspector Vilayat Hussain, actor Abid Nazish and Mohammad Anwar, an employee of the accountant-general of Balochistan’s office.
Hospital sources said the victims were shot in the upper torso, causing immediate death.
The motive behind the murders could not be known immediately. “Police are investigating the incident and it is premature to comment on possible reasons for the killing,” a senior police official said, on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, a man identified as Alam Khan was gunned down by unidentified people in Nawa Killi, a suburb of Quetta. The attackers escaped on a motorcycle while the body was moved to a state-run hospital for an autopsy. The motive behind the murder could be an old enmity, police sources said.
Express Tribune
Published: January 25, 2012
QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen killed three people, including a Federal Investigation Agency inspector and a television actor, near Quetta’s Mekangi Road on Wednesday.
Police said the victims were travelling in a car on Ibrahim Street on Mekangi Raod when the attackers, riding a motorcycle, opened fire at them, killing them on the spot. The assailants managed to escape from the scene.
Police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area. The bodies were taken to Provincial Sandeman Hospital for an autopsy where they were identified as FIA Inspector Vilayat Hussain, actor Abid Nazish and Mohammad Anwar, an employee of the accountant-general of Balochistan’s office.
Hospital sources said the victims were shot in the upper torso, causing immediate death.
The motive behind the murders could not be known immediately. “Police are investigating the incident and it is premature to comment on possible reasons for the killing,” a senior police official said, on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, a man identified as Alam Khan was gunned down by unidentified people in Nawa Killi, a suburb of Quetta. The attackers escaped on a motorcycle while the body was moved to a state-run hospital for an autopsy. The motive behind the murder could be an old enmity, police sources said.
Express Tribune
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
عزیز مدبر، جوانیکه رویا اش به حقیقت مبدل شده است
شاید این مقوله را شنیده باشید که وقتی از ته دل بخواهی چیزی را به دست بیاوری، همهء کاینات در کار می شوند تا آن آرزویت به واقعیت بدل شود.
این سخن در مورد عزیز مدبر جوان 23 ساله و مستعد افغان صدق می کند.
مدبر که به گفتهء خودش از یک پدر و مادر بی سواد به دنیا آمده است، یک آروزی بزرگ را همواره در ذهنش می پرورانید: تحصیل در ایالات متحده امریکا و کسب یک درجهء تحصیلی معتبر.
اما او فکر می کرد که شاید این آرزویش خیلی آرمانگرایانه باشد و تحققش هم دشوار.
شاید همهء کاینات دست به کار شدند تا او به این مقصدش نایل آید.
وضعیت دگرگون شد به گونهء که سرنوشت مدبر را متحول ساخت....Continue Reading...
این سخن در مورد عزیز مدبر جوان 23 ساله و مستعد افغان صدق می کند.
مدبر که به گفتهء خودش از یک پدر و مادر بی سواد به دنیا آمده است، یک آروزی بزرگ را همواره در ذهنش می پرورانید: تحصیل در ایالات متحده امریکا و کسب یک درجهء تحصیلی معتبر.
اما او فکر می کرد که شاید این آرزویش خیلی آرمانگرایانه باشد و تحققش هم دشوار.
شاید همهء کاینات دست به کار شدند تا او به این مقصدش نایل آید.
وضعیت دگرگون شد به گونهء که سرنوشت مدبر را متحول ساخت....Continue Reading...
Monday, January 23, 2012
Afghani asylum 'threat' was free to roam for seven months
In a case that raises questions about the rigour of the security checks applied to boatpeople, Haji Saied Firooz Zadah, 59, was released from Christmas Island in April last year after he was found to be a refugee and was issued a permanent protection visa.
Seven months later, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen cancelled his visa after ASIO advised it regarded the Afghan national as a threat to security.
As is the practice, ASIO did not give any reason for its decision...Continue Reading....
Seven months later, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen cancelled his visa after ASIO advised it regarded the Afghan national as a threat to security.
As is the practice, ASIO did not give any reason for its decision...Continue Reading....
NT Human Rights award winner in Hobart for Australia Day
The winner of the NT 2011 HUMAN RIGHTS ART AWARD, Mr Javad Javadi, a former mason, will be arriving in Hobart in time to celebrate Australia Day.
Pontville Detention Centre is in receive mode awaiting his imminent arrival. Mr Javadi has produced some truly remarkable artworks including a model boat
which won him the coveted award in Darwin in December and a model house, a cross between an Afghan traditional home and an Australian suburban dream home ...Continue Reading...
Pontville Detention Centre is in receive mode awaiting his imminent arrival. Mr Javadi has produced some truly remarkable artworks including a model boat
which won him the coveted award in Darwin in December and a model house, a cross between an Afghan traditional home and an Australian suburban dream home ...Continue Reading...
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Kiwi aid plan stalls as Japan plans takeover
New Zealand moves to upgrade the airport at Bamiyan in Afghanistan as a flagship aid project have fallen foul of local bureaucracy, delaying the plan by a year and opening the way for Japan to step in and fund the work.
It is hoped a $7 million airport upgrade, including sealing the rough runway, will attract commercial tourism to the region, especially from the better-off in the capital Kabul, drawn by the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas site and the Band-e Amir lakes...Continue Reading....
It is hoped a $7 million airport upgrade, including sealing the rough runway, will attract commercial tourism to the region, especially from the better-off in the capital Kabul, drawn by the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas site and the Band-e Amir lakes...Continue Reading....
Bactrian Greeks, the Bamiyan and Avukana Buddha statues
Rajitha Weerakoon discusses the Greek connection with colossal Buddha statues
Around 30,000 Greek bhikkhus had arrived in Anuradhapura from the monasteries of Alasanda (the city of the Yonas, Alexandria in present Afghanistan) according to Geiger’s Mahavamsa (chapter XX1X (39)) to participate in the inauguration of the construction of the Mahaseya (Ruvanveliseya.) The Greek bhikkhus led by Yonamahadharmarakkhita Thera had been part of 96,000 foreign bhikkhus who had arrived from several ancient Indian states and Persia for the ceremonial event.
Evidently, Buddhism had been the vibrant force behind Sri Lanka’s interaction with foreign countries in early history and as studies reveal, Bactrian Greek (Indo-Greek) influence in days gone by has had a lasting impact on Sri Lanka.
Professor A.D.T.E. Perera of the Department of Philosophy, University of Mexico and former Editor of the Buddhist Encyclopaedia writing a scholarly essay on “Colossal Buddha Images of Ancient Sri Lanka” had stated that Bactrian Greek art influenced the sculpture of colossal images of the Buddha in Sri Lanka.
Bactrians, on leaving NW India spread out from Kabul to Punjab after their defeat by Chandragupta in the Mauryan Period. But having been attracted to the new Buddhist doctrine while they were in NW India, they, after their shift, sculpted imposing images of the Buddha in standing position in the Bamiyan Region in Afghanistan which were destroyed by the Taliban a few years ago.
These images Professor Perera states led to the ideas pertaining to the turning out of colossal statues of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. The first attempt was the carving of the Avukana Buddha Image in the ancient Rajarata.
The Avukana Buddha statue and inset, the Bamiyan Buddha statue
Bactrian images of the Buddha in the Bamiyan region in Afghanistan Prof. Perera traces may have been a veritable source of inspiration to the early artists who crossed the Kabul valley which linked the Southern branch of the Great Northern Highway referred to in the early Buddhist and Indian texts as “Uttarapada” – the trade route of the then known world which bridged the East and the West on commercial, political and cultural levels.
Traders, pilgrims and even men of learning had crossed the region in search of various fortunes. Prof. Perera says that Sri Lankans too may have had links with this ancient world known as Gandhara which covered a vast area extending beyond NW India and it was such religio-cultural-trade contacts that had prevailed between Sri Lanka and the Gandhara region that may have led to the invitation to be extended by King Dutugamunu to the Greek bhikkhus to participate in the inauguration of the construction of the Mahaseya.
According to the essay, archaeological researchers and art historians distinguish a close similarity between the Avukana image with that of the Bamiyan. The Bamiyan region had been referred to in early Buddhist Prakrit as Vokkana, Avakana or Vakana. The name Avukana it is surmised had been derived for the colossal statue in Sri Lanka from the name of the Bamiyan region.
Bactrian Greek Buddhist artists had been very active in the 2nd or the 3rd centuries BC in the Bamiyan region in West Asia and the Buddha images silhouetted against the vast sandy valley bearing a calm and serene composure may have been an awe-inspiring vision for the travellers who passed by. The images had stood at 112 and 172 feet respectively and were housed within their own chapels.
The 43 feet tall Avukana Buddha image depicts the abhaya mudra with the right hand raised towards the right shoulder indicating that the devotee is protected from all fears (bhaya.) The raised left hand is touching the left shoulder with the palm turning towards the Buddha – a gesture seeking the Buddha to release the devotee from sentient bondage (samsara). The back of the image is not separated from the rock boulder out of which the figure is hewn.
Professor Perera however states that the Maligavila Buddha image, 52 feet in height with its lotus pedestal, was considered as one of the world’s tallest standing images sculpted in ancient times. It was discovered in southern Sri Lanka fallen with broken limbs and beaten by the elements. This may have been due to the fact that the image carved on limestone was sculpted on the round. It may have fallen unlike other images since it was separated from a living rock. The third colossal Buddha image which Professor Perera had discussed was found at Sasseruva close to Anuradhapura. Sculpted in high relief with the back cleaving to the living rock boulder, the image was either badly weatherworn when it was found or left unfinished by the sculptor. Although it falls short of the elegance of the Avukana image, it bears the same features with regard to stylistic concepts, the hand posture, the method of wearing the “civara” with the right shoulder kept bare and the drapery delineated by parallel ridges as followed by sculptors of the classical period.
These Buddha images are dated to around the 4th – the 6th centuries in the present era. All colossal Bamiyan statues had been sculpted by those who advocated Mahayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism it is believed had its birth in the Bamiyan part of the Gandhara region. Professor Perera states that the concept of portraying the Buddha in super human qualities – as a saviour of all human and divine beings was followed wherever Mahayana Buddhism spread.
The concept of the bodhisatvas belonging to the Mahayana pantheon eventually had found its way into the ensemble of architectural compositions of colossal sculptures in Sri Lanka. Close to the Maligavila Buddha image, a huge bodhisatva image had been disovered. And in the group of colossal sculptures at Buduruvagala, the primary image of the Buddha is flanked by bodhisatva Avalokitheshvara of the Mahayana pantheon with Goddess Tara. On the other side is the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta with his consort Prajna – all referred to as acolytes of Buddha Amitabha who resides in Sukhavati.
The colossal Buddha in parinibbana manca (death bed) sculpted in the Polonnaruwa period does not belong to the Mahayana pantheon. But Professor Perera says that the concept had gained currency even after the fall of Anuradhapura and hence the Polonnaruwa images belonged to the last lap in the classical period of Sinhala art.
The Greeks’ entry to the Buddhist theatre in India could be traced to the invasion of Alexander in 334 BC when he captured some parts of the NW India extending as far as the Indus. With the conquest and setting up of Greek settlements, his Greek garrison and a host of camp-followers had poured into NW India who may have been assimilated into the Indian populace. These Greeks, fascinated by the new Buddhist doctrine introduced about 200 years earlier, had embraced Buddhism. Some had joined the Bhikku Order.
Although Alexander’s rule in India ended with his death 18 months later, Greek influence continued for several more centuries. It is recorded that Emperor Dharmashoka (about 273-232 BC) in the Mauryan Period sent Greek Bhikkhus such as Dharmarakkhita and Mahadharmarakkhita Theros to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus as emissaries of Dhamma.
In the pre-Graeco period, the image of the Buddha in India was represented symbolically by His Footprints, a lotus, the Bodhi, the Dharmachakra, the Caitya etc. From the Greek-Indian fusion rose the Graeco-Buddhist art of Gandhara when Greeks contributed to the sculpted work of the Ashoka Pillars and to the commencement of the Mauryan art with Buddha image carved.
In the earliest sculptures excavated in the Gandhara sites, the Greek influence is seen in the representations of the Buddha where the Buddha had been elevated to a God. The Bactrians who had spread out from NW India and Kabul to Punjab and West Asia progressed into portraying the Buddha figure in superhuman qualities which brought about the origins of the titanic image of the Buddha. With the spread of Mahayana the concept too spread.
Besides the colossal images of the Buddha, Greek influence on early literature is discussed by Professor Merlin Peris in his book titled “Mahavamsa Studies Greek myths in Ancient Tradition” where he discloses an element of Greek mythology in certain anecdotes related in the Mahavamsa.
Elaborating on his statement he says that L.S. Perera, A.L. Basham and G. C. Mendis in the “University of Ceylon, History of Ceylon” had commented on the affinities which could be seen in Vijaya-Kuveni affair with that of the Greek adventure of Odysseus with Circe in Homer. Professor Peris says that besides, the Greek myth Jason and Medea is emulated in the killing of the yakshas with Kuveni’s help and the dismissal of her and her children for a royal marriage (men are afraid of enchantresses.)
Greek story motifs Professor Peris says may have found their way into the “Attakatha Mahavamsa” (pre-Mahavamsa literary work) before being incorporated by the Mahavamsa author when he wrote on the reigns of our earliest kings.
Professor Peris sees motifs of the Greek myth of Danae in the episodes of Ummadacitta, certain early heroes and the sacrifice of Viharamahadevi. However, while Professor Peris’ interpretation of incorporation of Greek story motifs in the earliest literary tradition gives food for thought, Greek impact on Sri Lankan religio-culture illustrates the fact that Sri Lanka had been very much in the international whirlpool.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
Around 30,000 Greek bhikkhus had arrived in Anuradhapura from the monasteries of Alasanda (the city of the Yonas, Alexandria in present Afghanistan) according to Geiger’s Mahavamsa (chapter XX1X (39)) to participate in the inauguration of the construction of the Mahaseya (Ruvanveliseya.) The Greek bhikkhus led by Yonamahadharmarakkhita Thera had been part of 96,000 foreign bhikkhus who had arrived from several ancient Indian states and Persia for the ceremonial event.
Evidently, Buddhism had been the vibrant force behind Sri Lanka’s interaction with foreign countries in early history and as studies reveal, Bactrian Greek (Indo-Greek) influence in days gone by has had a lasting impact on Sri Lanka.
Professor A.D.T.E. Perera of the Department of Philosophy, University of Mexico and former Editor of the Buddhist Encyclopaedia writing a scholarly essay on “Colossal Buddha Images of Ancient Sri Lanka” had stated that Bactrian Greek art influenced the sculpture of colossal images of the Buddha in Sri Lanka.
Bactrians, on leaving NW India spread out from Kabul to Punjab after their defeat by Chandragupta in the Mauryan Period. But having been attracted to the new Buddhist doctrine while they were in NW India, they, after their shift, sculpted imposing images of the Buddha in standing position in the Bamiyan Region in Afghanistan which were destroyed by the Taliban a few years ago.
These images Professor Perera states led to the ideas pertaining to the turning out of colossal statues of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. The first attempt was the carving of the Avukana Buddha Image in the ancient Rajarata.
Bactrian images of the Buddha in the Bamiyan region in Afghanistan Prof. Perera traces may have been a veritable source of inspiration to the early artists who crossed the Kabul valley which linked the Southern branch of the Great Northern Highway referred to in the early Buddhist and Indian texts as “Uttarapada” – the trade route of the then known world which bridged the East and the West on commercial, political and cultural levels.
Traders, pilgrims and even men of learning had crossed the region in search of various fortunes. Prof. Perera says that Sri Lankans too may have had links with this ancient world known as Gandhara which covered a vast area extending beyond NW India and it was such religio-cultural-trade contacts that had prevailed between Sri Lanka and the Gandhara region that may have led to the invitation to be extended by King Dutugamunu to the Greek bhikkhus to participate in the inauguration of the construction of the Mahaseya.
According to the essay, archaeological researchers and art historians distinguish a close similarity between the Avukana image with that of the Bamiyan. The Bamiyan region had been referred to in early Buddhist Prakrit as Vokkana, Avakana or Vakana. The name Avukana it is surmised had been derived for the colossal statue in Sri Lanka from the name of the Bamiyan region.
Bactrian Greek Buddhist artists had been very active in the 2nd or the 3rd centuries BC in the Bamiyan region in West Asia and the Buddha images silhouetted against the vast sandy valley bearing a calm and serene composure may have been an awe-inspiring vision for the travellers who passed by. The images had stood at 112 and 172 feet respectively and were housed within their own chapels.
The 43 feet tall Avukana Buddha image depicts the abhaya mudra with the right hand raised towards the right shoulder indicating that the devotee is protected from all fears (bhaya.) The raised left hand is touching the left shoulder with the palm turning towards the Buddha – a gesture seeking the Buddha to release the devotee from sentient bondage (samsara). The back of the image is not separated from the rock boulder out of which the figure is hewn.
Professor Perera however states that the Maligavila Buddha image, 52 feet in height with its lotus pedestal, was considered as one of the world’s tallest standing images sculpted in ancient times. It was discovered in southern Sri Lanka fallen with broken limbs and beaten by the elements. This may have been due to the fact that the image carved on limestone was sculpted on the round. It may have fallen unlike other images since it was separated from a living rock. The third colossal Buddha image which Professor Perera had discussed was found at Sasseruva close to Anuradhapura. Sculpted in high relief with the back cleaving to the living rock boulder, the image was either badly weatherworn when it was found or left unfinished by the sculptor. Although it falls short of the elegance of the Avukana image, it bears the same features with regard to stylistic concepts, the hand posture, the method of wearing the “civara” with the right shoulder kept bare and the drapery delineated by parallel ridges as followed by sculptors of the classical period.
These Buddha images are dated to around the 4th – the 6th centuries in the present era. All colossal Bamiyan statues had been sculpted by those who advocated Mahayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism it is believed had its birth in the Bamiyan part of the Gandhara region. Professor Perera states that the concept of portraying the Buddha in super human qualities – as a saviour of all human and divine beings was followed wherever Mahayana Buddhism spread.
The concept of the bodhisatvas belonging to the Mahayana pantheon eventually had found its way into the ensemble of architectural compositions of colossal sculptures in Sri Lanka. Close to the Maligavila Buddha image, a huge bodhisatva image had been disovered. And in the group of colossal sculptures at Buduruvagala, the primary image of the Buddha is flanked by bodhisatva Avalokitheshvara of the Mahayana pantheon with Goddess Tara. On the other side is the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta with his consort Prajna – all referred to as acolytes of Buddha Amitabha who resides in Sukhavati.
The colossal Buddha in parinibbana manca (death bed) sculpted in the Polonnaruwa period does not belong to the Mahayana pantheon. But Professor Perera says that the concept had gained currency even after the fall of Anuradhapura and hence the Polonnaruwa images belonged to the last lap in the classical period of Sinhala art.
The Greeks’ entry to the Buddhist theatre in India could be traced to the invasion of Alexander in 334 BC when he captured some parts of the NW India extending as far as the Indus. With the conquest and setting up of Greek settlements, his Greek garrison and a host of camp-followers had poured into NW India who may have been assimilated into the Indian populace. These Greeks, fascinated by the new Buddhist doctrine introduced about 200 years earlier, had embraced Buddhism. Some had joined the Bhikku Order.
Although Alexander’s rule in India ended with his death 18 months later, Greek influence continued for several more centuries. It is recorded that Emperor Dharmashoka (about 273-232 BC) in the Mauryan Period sent Greek Bhikkhus such as Dharmarakkhita and Mahadharmarakkhita Theros to Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Epirus as emissaries of Dhamma.
In the pre-Graeco period, the image of the Buddha in India was represented symbolically by His Footprints, a lotus, the Bodhi, the Dharmachakra, the Caitya etc. From the Greek-Indian fusion rose the Graeco-Buddhist art of Gandhara when Greeks contributed to the sculpted work of the Ashoka Pillars and to the commencement of the Mauryan art with Buddha image carved.
In the earliest sculptures excavated in the Gandhara sites, the Greek influence is seen in the representations of the Buddha where the Buddha had been elevated to a God. The Bactrians who had spread out from NW India and Kabul to Punjab and West Asia progressed into portraying the Buddha figure in superhuman qualities which brought about the origins of the titanic image of the Buddha. With the spread of Mahayana the concept too spread.
Besides the colossal images of the Buddha, Greek influence on early literature is discussed by Professor Merlin Peris in his book titled “Mahavamsa Studies Greek myths in Ancient Tradition” where he discloses an element of Greek mythology in certain anecdotes related in the Mahavamsa.
Elaborating on his statement he says that L.S. Perera, A.L. Basham and G. C. Mendis in the “University of Ceylon, History of Ceylon” had commented on the affinities which could be seen in Vijaya-Kuveni affair with that of the Greek adventure of Odysseus with Circe in Homer. Professor Peris says that besides, the Greek myth Jason and Medea is emulated in the killing of the yakshas with Kuveni’s help and the dismissal of her and her children for a royal marriage (men are afraid of enchantresses.)
Greek story motifs Professor Peris says may have found their way into the “Attakatha Mahavamsa” (pre-Mahavamsa literary work) before being incorporated by the Mahavamsa author when he wrote on the reigns of our earliest kings.
Professor Peris sees motifs of the Greek myth of Danae in the episodes of Ummadacitta, certain early heroes and the sacrifice of Viharamahadevi. However, while Professor Peris’ interpretation of incorporation of Greek story motifs in the earliest literary tradition gives food for thought, Greek impact on Sri Lankan religio-culture illustrates the fact that Sri Lanka had been very much in the international whirlpool.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Snow may end Afghan drought, but bitter winter looms
Jan 18 (Reuters) - Heavy snow that has blanketed large parts of Afghanistan, killing at least 20 people, could end a long-running drought that last summer threatened millions of people with severe food shortages, government and aid officials said on Wednesday.
But the weekend snowfall and avalanches across the mountainous north and centre could bring a bitter winter and short-term hardship to many people, with many roads still cut off, hampering food delivery in several hard-hit provinces...Continue Reading...
But the weekend snowfall and avalanches across the mountainous north and centre could bring a bitter winter and short-term hardship to many people, with many roads still cut off, hampering food delivery in several hard-hit provinces...Continue Reading...
Man (Hazara) shot dead in Quetta
QUETTA: Unknown armed men shot dead a youth due to unknown reasons here at Killi Kashmirabad, Sariab officials said Wednesday.
According to the local police, the youth identified as Sardar Muhammad was on his way home when unidentified armed men shot him at Killi Kashmirabad, Qambrani area of Sariab police station.
As a result he died on the spot. Motive behind the killing could not be ascertained.
THE NEWS
According to the local police, the youth identified as Sardar Muhammad was on his way home when unidentified armed men shot him at Killi Kashmirabad, Qambrani area of Sariab police station.
As a result he died on the spot. Motive behind the killing could not be ascertained.
THE NEWS
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