Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
PPP MNA continues to protest govt inaction over Hazara killings
By Qamar Zaman
Published: November 21, 2011
MNA Nasir Ali Shah says party has failed to deliver. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: At a time when the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government is a target of the opposition’s scathing criticism, its member in the National Assembly from Quetta, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, seemed to have joined the opposition chorus saying that the PPP had failed to “deliver”.
“The PPP has distracted from its manifesto and has failed to deliver,” said the PPP leader while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday with special reference to the Hazara community killings last month outside Quetta.
“I had stated this in party meetings and even in a meeting at the President House,” said Shah while adding: “I had joined the PPP for its manifesto and the vision given by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.”
“The party should stop promoting personalities and give preference to its manifesto.”
Shah had boycotted the NA and staged a sit-in at the entrance of the Parliament House in October after 14 people of the Hazara community – an ethnic minority that follows Shia Islam – were gunned down outside Quetta in the second such incident within a fortnight. Shah is still not attending the NA session.
The onslaught against the government by Shah, who is an ethnic Hazara himself, was vehemently backed by the opposition. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had staged a token walkout to express solidarity which was joined by some members of the ruling PPP and its coalition partners as well.
The PPP leader from Quetta has not participated any NA session thereafter but the government seems be indifferent to his opposition.
The MNA said that the Balochistan government had lost all credibility and was incompetent to handle the law and order situation in the province. “The only solution to the problem is imposition of the governor’s rule and new elections in Balochistan,” he added.
“I will continue my protest till the day the government accepts my demands of a governor rule and fresh elections,” he said in response to a question regarding future plans of his ongoing protest.
Shah revealed that the government has made several attempts at defusing his sit-in.
“There had been statements on PTV that I have ended the protest on government’s behest,” he claimed, saying he had never made any such announcement.
It is quite unfortunate that the law and order situation in Balochistan has even worsened due to government’s apathetic attitude, he lamented.
Responding to a query whether he approached the leadership prior to or after his ongoing sit-in, Shah said: “It was the last option for me as I already had raised the issue on all forums.”
When asked whether he had any plans of following the footprints of former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who bid farewell to the PPP recently, Shah said: “I would continue my struggle while staying within the party.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2011.
Published: November 21, 2011
ISLAMABAD: At a time when the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government is a target of the opposition’s scathing criticism, its member in the National Assembly from Quetta, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, seemed to have joined the opposition chorus saying that the PPP had failed to “deliver”.
“The PPP has distracted from its manifesto and has failed to deliver,” said the PPP leader while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday with special reference to the Hazara community killings last month outside Quetta.
“I had stated this in party meetings and even in a meeting at the President House,” said Shah while adding: “I had joined the PPP for its manifesto and the vision given by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.”
“The party should stop promoting personalities and give preference to its manifesto.”
Shah had boycotted the NA and staged a sit-in at the entrance of the Parliament House in October after 14 people of the Hazara community – an ethnic minority that follows Shia Islam – were gunned down outside Quetta in the second such incident within a fortnight. Shah is still not attending the NA session.
The onslaught against the government by Shah, who is an ethnic Hazara himself, was vehemently backed by the opposition. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had staged a token walkout to express solidarity which was joined by some members of the ruling PPP and its coalition partners as well.
The PPP leader from Quetta has not participated any NA session thereafter but the government seems be indifferent to his opposition.
The MNA said that the Balochistan government had lost all credibility and was incompetent to handle the law and order situation in the province. “The only solution to the problem is imposition of the governor’s rule and new elections in Balochistan,” he added.
“I will continue my protest till the day the government accepts my demands of a governor rule and fresh elections,” he said in response to a question regarding future plans of his ongoing protest.
Shah revealed that the government has made several attempts at defusing his sit-in.
“There had been statements on PTV that I have ended the protest on government’s behest,” he claimed, saying he had never made any such announcement.
It is quite unfortunate that the law and order situation in Balochistan has even worsened due to government’s apathetic attitude, he lamented.
Responding to a query whether he approached the leadership prior to or after his ongoing sit-in, Shah said: “It was the last option for me as I already had raised the issue on all forums.”
When asked whether he had any plans of following the footprints of former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who bid farewell to the PPP recently, Shah said: “I would continue my struggle while staying within the party.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2011.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
BBC; Why hunger looms in aid-rich Afghanistan
18 November 2011 Last updated at 05:12 ET
Snows will soon arrive to cut off remote villages where crops have failed
Continue reading the main story
More than 2.5 million people face hunger in drought-stricken areas of Afghanistan despite billions of dollars of aid that have poured into the country in recent years, aid agencies say. Many villagers have only limited supplies of food left as winter looms, as the BBC's Mike Thomson reports from the central province of Bamiyan.
In the far north of mountainous Bamiyan Province, to the east of the capital, Kabul, a mother sits in despair with a small boy on her lap. Bibi Nakiba tells me that all she has left is some dried fruit and a few potatoes.
"Whatever we have in our house we give, but we've come to the time when there is little left. We have to say no to our children, there is nothing for you. Sometimes they cry because they are so hungry."
She fears that things will only get worse as snow, which already caps the many mountain peaks surrounding her village, cuts her isolated community off from help.
"We've sent so many messages to the government about our plight but they never listen. Our children could die here this winter," she says.
Bibi Nakiba says she has little left to feed her children
"Even if our neighbours have food they would not be able to help us because they will need all they have for themselves. In these times everyone has to think of themselves, not others."
Aid groups say 14 of the country's 34 provinces, most of them in the north, have been hit by the drought, believed to be one of the worst this decade.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) says harvests in some areas have been almost completely wiped out, doubling the price of wheat and causing other food prices to soar.
Some 90% of households in affected areas are living in debt and many schools have closed because children have been sent to find work. The WFP says only half the funds needed were raised after an earlier appeal for assistance.
Bibi lost everything she owns in the spring when floods, which preceded the drought, washed her home away along with everything she owned.
She now lives with brother, Abdul Kadir, and his family. They too are struggling.
Abdul says his crops failed, many of his animals have died and local food prices have soared. His community, he says, has had no help at all, either from the government or international aid agencies.
Yet he has heard on the radio that large sums of aid have come to his country, though not, Abdul insists, to peaceful areas like his.
"There is no fighting here and nobody cultivates poppies. All the international aid seems to go to Kandahar and Helmand, none of it comes here," he says.
"Maybe people in those provinces are powerful, or maybe because they are fighting they send all the aid to them."
Abdul's theory may not be far from the truth. Aid agencies have been concerned for some time about the amount of aid directed towards conflict areas of Afghanistan.
Much of it is designed to win hearts and minds through "quick impact projects" in insurgency-plagued provinces in the south and east of the country. According to a US Congressional study, 80% of US aid has gone to troubled regions.
For example, last year Kandahar province received four times more US aid per head than Bamiyan, while the equally quiet neighbouring Daykundi province saw five times less.
It is a policy that is roundly defended by the US ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker.
A drought has ruined this year's crop
"We have put substantial assistance into the south. You know, we are trying to end an insurgency here and that means, in part, funding a better future and giving people alternatives," he says.
"You know, that's part of a counter-insurgency strategy."
Oxfam's policy and advocacy director in Afghanistan, Louise Hancock, insists that such a policy means that political and military objectives are often being allowed to outweigh humanitarian need when the allocation of aid is decided.
"Militarised aid is a major issue here. They are aiming on winning hearts and minds by implementing quick fix, quick impact projects," she says.
"These result in schools being built in areas where there are no roads going to them, where needs are not at their greatest or where there are not enough teachers to staff that school. This is what we say should not be happening."
Villagers in north Afghanistan complain that food aid is being directed to more troubled regions
Other aid agencies, including Save The Children, take a similar view. They further argue that more longer term development aid is needed and that blurring the lines between aid work and military objectives puts their staff, as well as the people they help, at more risk.
The UN World Food Programme's country director in Afghanistan, Louis Imbleau, refuses to get drawn in to what he regards as "politics" but is passionate about the urgent need to help those here suffering from drought.
The UN, he says, has already supplied more than 20,000 metric tonnes of food to the country's worst-affected areas, but more is urgently needed before the snows fall. If it does not arrive in time, Mr Imbleau insists, malnutrition could cause permanent damage to the health of many of Afghanistan's children.
"They will not achieve either the physical stature they could as well as the mental ability. It could reduce their IQ by upwards of 15 points, which is substantial," he says.
"It's very sad, it's irreversible and should just not be allowed to happen. It should not be allowed to happen."
BBC
Continue reading the main story
More than 2.5 million people face hunger in drought-stricken areas of Afghanistan despite billions of dollars of aid that have poured into the country in recent years, aid agencies say. Many villagers have only limited supplies of food left as winter looms, as the BBC's Mike Thomson reports from the central province of Bamiyan.
In the far north of mountainous Bamiyan Province, to the east of the capital, Kabul, a mother sits in despair with a small boy on her lap. Bibi Nakiba tells me that all she has left is some dried fruit and a few potatoes.
"Whatever we have in our house we give, but we've come to the time when there is little left. We have to say no to our children, there is nothing for you. Sometimes they cry because they are so hungry."
She fears that things will only get worse as snow, which already caps the many mountain peaks surrounding her village, cuts her isolated community off from help.
"We've sent so many messages to the government about our plight but they never listen. Our children could die here this winter," she says.
"Even if our neighbours have food they would not be able to help us because they will need all they have for themselves. In these times everyone has to think of themselves, not others."
Aid groups say 14 of the country's 34 provinces, most of them in the north, have been hit by the drought, believed to be one of the worst this decade.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) says harvests in some areas have been almost completely wiped out, doubling the price of wheat and causing other food prices to soar.
Some 90% of households in affected areas are living in debt and many schools have closed because children have been sent to find work. The WFP says only half the funds needed were raised after an earlier appeal for assistance.
Bibi lost everything she owns in the spring when floods, which preceded the drought, washed her home away along with everything she owned.
She now lives with brother, Abdul Kadir, and his family. They too are struggling.
Abdul says his crops failed, many of his animals have died and local food prices have soared. His community, he says, has had no help at all, either from the government or international aid agencies.
Yet he has heard on the radio that large sums of aid have come to his country, though not, Abdul insists, to peaceful areas like his.
"There is no fighting here and nobody cultivates poppies. All the international aid seems to go to Kandahar and Helmand, none of it comes here," he says.
"Maybe people in those provinces are powerful, or maybe because they are fighting they send all the aid to them."
Abdul's theory may not be far from the truth. Aid agencies have been concerned for some time about the amount of aid directed towards conflict areas of Afghanistan.
Much of it is designed to win hearts and minds through "quick impact projects" in insurgency-plagued provinces in the south and east of the country. According to a US Congressional study, 80% of US aid has gone to troubled regions.
For example, last year Kandahar province received four times more US aid per head than Bamiyan, while the equally quiet neighbouring Daykundi province saw five times less.
It is a policy that is roundly defended by the US ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker.
"We have put substantial assistance into the south. You know, we are trying to end an insurgency here and that means, in part, funding a better future and giving people alternatives," he says.
"You know, that's part of a counter-insurgency strategy."
Oxfam's policy and advocacy director in Afghanistan, Louise Hancock, insists that such a policy means that political and military objectives are often being allowed to outweigh humanitarian need when the allocation of aid is decided.
"Militarised aid is a major issue here. They are aiming on winning hearts and minds by implementing quick fix, quick impact projects," she says.
"These result in schools being built in areas where there are no roads going to them, where needs are not at their greatest or where there are not enough teachers to staff that school. This is what we say should not be happening."
Other aid agencies, including Save The Children, take a similar view. They further argue that more longer term development aid is needed and that blurring the lines between aid work and military objectives puts their staff, as well as the people they help, at more risk.
The UN World Food Programme's country director in Afghanistan, Louis Imbleau, refuses to get drawn in to what he regards as "politics" but is passionate about the urgent need to help those here suffering from drought.
The UN, he says, has already supplied more than 20,000 metric tonnes of food to the country's worst-affected areas, but more is urgently needed before the snows fall. If it does not arrive in time, Mr Imbleau insists, malnutrition could cause permanent damage to the health of many of Afghanistan's children.
"They will not achieve either the physical stature they could as well as the mental ability. It could reduce their IQ by upwards of 15 points, which is substantial," he says.
"It's very sad, it's irreversible and should just not be allowed to happen. It should not be allowed to happen."
BBC
Thursday, November 17, 2011
PEL in clear and present danger of losing PPFL berth
Nabeel Hashmi
Friday, November 18, 2011
KARACHI: Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) is facing a possible ouster from Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) and could end up being banned from Division ‘B’ too, it was learnt by ‘The News’ on Thursday.
PEL were not able to appear in their match against KRL at the Municipal Stadium in Rawalpindi and KRL were awarded the walkover.
This correspondent has learnt that security issue is the main reason why they did not appear because the authorities have failed to provide security to their players.
Seventy percent of PEL’s team are ‘Hazaras’ and since their home ground is in Quetta playing there is a big risk as they are being targeted by terrorists in the Balochistan capital.
“PEL has written to Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and has described that their players have faced life threats that’s why they won’t be able to appear in their matches,” a top PFF official told ‘The News’.
“It is the responsibility of departments to provide security not the responsibility of PFF so we take it as a failure on the part of PEL. Their further matches in the event will be counted as walk-overs. We are preparing a case against them and would forward it to our disciplinary committee. It’s the discretion of the committee to decide their fate. However, we would recommend them to ban PEL from Division B as well.”
When asked whether two teams other then PEL be relegated, the official replied that there is a window for two teams to be relegated and no matter for whatever reasons a team has been disqualified or banned from division B, they will be counted as relegation candidates.
He added one more team other then PEL will go down because the team which will end up in bottom third would feel betrayed as the league was played with the spirit that two teams at the bottom will go down.
Meanwhile, when PEL coach was contacted, he said that they cannot replace seventy percent of players on emergency basis.
“The tragedy with us is that most of our team is formed by players from Hazara community and 13 players of our team had already migrated to Europe because of security concerns,” Asghar Anjum told ‘The News’.
“The families of the players were concerned for their kids’ lives and thus have sent them abroad. Most of them have moved out to Czech Republic through Iran while others who are left are in a state of shock.”
He revealed that they were facing transportation problem as well as people were not willing to even allow the players of Hazara to board public buses.
PEL’s coach added that he even tried to arrange air-travel for his side but that did not work as well.
“At the end of the day the responsibility falls on my shoulders that I picked up players from one region but my intention was clean and I never knew that circumstances will get out of control,” he added.
“I have not been able to sleep because of all this and it’s really disheartening because I gave my all to build this side.”
Meanwhile he said that they plan to fight in Division B but their future is not clear since it is up to the owners that whether they are willing to invest again to rebuild the team.
He added that it is sheer disappointment for owners as well as not a single match of PEL was televised after hefty investment.
In other matches of PPFL, WAPDA thrashed Police 3-1 at the Railway football stadium in Lahore while Army-HBL tie ended in a stalemate.
THE NEWS
Friday, November 18, 2011
KARACHI: Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) is facing a possible ouster from Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) and could end up being banned from Division ‘B’ too, it was learnt by ‘The News’ on Thursday.
PEL were not able to appear in their match against KRL at the Municipal Stadium in Rawalpindi and KRL were awarded the walkover.
This correspondent has learnt that security issue is the main reason why they did not appear because the authorities have failed to provide security to their players.
Seventy percent of PEL’s team are ‘Hazaras’ and since their home ground is in Quetta playing there is a big risk as they are being targeted by terrorists in the Balochistan capital.
“PEL has written to Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and has described that their players have faced life threats that’s why they won’t be able to appear in their matches,” a top PFF official told ‘The News’.
“It is the responsibility of departments to provide security not the responsibility of PFF so we take it as a failure on the part of PEL. Their further matches in the event will be counted as walk-overs. We are preparing a case against them and would forward it to our disciplinary committee. It’s the discretion of the committee to decide their fate. However, we would recommend them to ban PEL from Division B as well.”
When asked whether two teams other then PEL be relegated, the official replied that there is a window for two teams to be relegated and no matter for whatever reasons a team has been disqualified or banned from division B, they will be counted as relegation candidates.
He added one more team other then PEL will go down because the team which will end up in bottom third would feel betrayed as the league was played with the spirit that two teams at the bottom will go down.
Meanwhile, when PEL coach was contacted, he said that they cannot replace seventy percent of players on emergency basis.
“The tragedy with us is that most of our team is formed by players from Hazara community and 13 players of our team had already migrated to Europe because of security concerns,” Asghar Anjum told ‘The News’.
“The families of the players were concerned for their kids’ lives and thus have sent them abroad. Most of them have moved out to Czech Republic through Iran while others who are left are in a state of shock.”
He revealed that they were facing transportation problem as well as people were not willing to even allow the players of Hazara to board public buses.
PEL’s coach added that he even tried to arrange air-travel for his side but that did not work as well.
“At the end of the day the responsibility falls on my shoulders that I picked up players from one region but my intention was clean and I never knew that circumstances will get out of control,” he added.
“I have not been able to sleep because of all this and it’s really disheartening because I gave my all to build this side.”
Meanwhile he said that they plan to fight in Division B but their future is not clear since it is up to the owners that whether they are willing to invest again to rebuild the team.
He added that it is sheer disappointment for owners as well as not a single match of PEL was televised after hefty investment.
In other matches of PPFL, WAPDA thrashed Police 3-1 at the Railway football stadium in Lahore while Army-HBL tie ended in a stalemate.
THE NEWS
Simple remedies that are cutting deaths in Afghanistan
17 Nov 2011
Afghan doctor Abdul Javid sadly recalled the deaths of two one-year-old babies as he stood nearly 9,000 feet up in the mountains of his country's most isolated regions.
"Poor hygiene killed them. It was so unnecessary," he said. "They were dehydrated through illness, but they didn't need to be. That is what we are trying to stop." Dr Javid explained that preventable deaths are common in the remote districts of Bamiyan province, where he works for international charity Medair. Disease and dehydration caused by poor hygiene are bigger killers than guns and bombs.
The charity's life-saving work involves providing free washing lines, plastic buckets and nail clippers, plus latrines, washrooms, piped spring water and wells.
The pipes and wells bring clean water for villagers previously forced to use potentially disease-bearing ponds and streams, while the latrines mean that human faeces are no longer deposited outside homes.
Dr Javid said that Medair's efforts to change cultural attitudes towards cleanliness would also save lives. "People are used to drying their clothes on the ground, even though it is covered in manure from the village animals, so we tell them the dangers and give them washing lines so that they can hang them up safely," he said. "There is also a tradition that it is bad to cut your nails. But that means that dirt gets in their mouth and causes illnesses so we give them nail clippers."
The free buckets come with lids to keep clean water untainted. Other gifts include toothbrushes and toothpaste to improve dental hygiene.
Medical research in the area shows that diarrhoea among children could be cut by nearly half simply through regular hand-washing.
As Dr Javid speaks, the good hygiene message is being drummed home in the village of Sar-e-Qalat in a class organised by Medair as part of a six-month health project in isolated Bamiyan communities.
The teacher, 18-year-old local girl Najibah, uses an illustrated flip chart to teach her largely illiterate audience of women and children, with images showing how to combat diseases by keeping food free of dirt and flies, washing fruit and vegetables, and using latrines.
Mother-of-four Parigul, 40, said: "We are learning a lot and our children are much healthier. There used to be a lot of diarrhoea and illness, but now they look handsome and well and we are very happy."
With funds limited, Medair has been unable to help all of those scattered among the mountains. In Shuiek, one of the villages to miss out, father-of-eight Ibrahim, 56, said he hoped that latrines, a well and hygiene training might one day be provided.
"In the winter we have to go half an hour by donkey in the snow to fetch water," he said. "So it would make a big difference to us if the spring nearer to us could be piped here. We also have no latrines so people go near the houses and you can imagine what that is like."
Back in Sar-e-Qalat, Ali Jumah, a 70-year-old village elder, thanked the departing Medair staff for their help. "Before this, up here in the mountains we were the forgotten people of Afghanistan," he said.
London Evening Standard
Afghan doctor Abdul Javid sadly recalled the deaths of two one-year-old babies as he stood nearly 9,000 feet up in the mountains of his country's most isolated regions.
"Poor hygiene killed them. It was so unnecessary," he said. "They were dehydrated through illness, but they didn't need to be. That is what we are trying to stop." Dr Javid explained that preventable deaths are common in the remote districts of Bamiyan province, where he works for international charity Medair. Disease and dehydration caused by poor hygiene are bigger killers than guns and bombs.
The charity's life-saving work involves providing free washing lines, plastic buckets and nail clippers, plus latrines, washrooms, piped spring water and wells.
The pipes and wells bring clean water for villagers previously forced to use potentially disease-bearing ponds and streams, while the latrines mean that human faeces are no longer deposited outside homes.
Dr Javid said that Medair's efforts to change cultural attitudes towards cleanliness would also save lives. "People are used to drying their clothes on the ground, even though it is covered in manure from the village animals, so we tell them the dangers and give them washing lines so that they can hang them up safely," he said. "There is also a tradition that it is bad to cut your nails. But that means that dirt gets in their mouth and causes illnesses so we give them nail clippers."
The free buckets come with lids to keep clean water untainted. Other gifts include toothbrushes and toothpaste to improve dental hygiene.
Medical research in the area shows that diarrhoea among children could be cut by nearly half simply through regular hand-washing.
As Dr Javid speaks, the good hygiene message is being drummed home in the village of Sar-e-Qalat in a class organised by Medair as part of a six-month health project in isolated Bamiyan communities.
The teacher, 18-year-old local girl Najibah, uses an illustrated flip chart to teach her largely illiterate audience of women and children, with images showing how to combat diseases by keeping food free of dirt and flies, washing fruit and vegetables, and using latrines.
Mother-of-four Parigul, 40, said: "We are learning a lot and our children are much healthier. There used to be a lot of diarrhoea and illness, but now they look handsome and well and we are very happy."
With funds limited, Medair has been unable to help all of those scattered among the mountains. In Shuiek, one of the villages to miss out, father-of-eight Ibrahim, 56, said he hoped that latrines, a well and hygiene training might one day be provided.
"In the winter we have to go half an hour by donkey in the snow to fetch water," he said. "So it would make a big difference to us if the spring nearer to us could be piped here. We also have no latrines so people go near the houses and you can imagine what that is like."
Back in Sar-e-Qalat, Ali Jumah, a 70-year-old village elder, thanked the departing Medair staff for their help. "Before this, up here in the mountains we were the forgotten people of Afghanistan," he said.
London Evening Standard
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
32 cameras installed in Quetta
Muharram security plan
QUETTA: Thirty-two closed circuit cameras have been installed in the city to keep close check on anti-peace elements during Muharram-ul-Haraam gatherings, sources said on Wednesday. According to sources, a high-level meeting was held here to review the security arrangements with regard to the Muharram religious processions. It was decided to install as many as 32 cameras at various points of the provincial capital. Steps were afoot to chalk out foolproof security plan ahead of Muharram. Check posts of the Balochistan Constabulary, Frontier Corps and police would be set up in the sensitive areas, including Mariabad, Hazara Town and Aalmdar Road to avert any untoward incident.
THE NEWS
QUETTA: Thirty-two closed circuit cameras have been installed in the city to keep close check on anti-peace elements during Muharram-ul-Haraam gatherings, sources said on Wednesday. According to sources, a high-level meeting was held here to review the security arrangements with regard to the Muharram religious processions. It was decided to install as many as 32 cameras at various points of the provincial capital. Steps were afoot to chalk out foolproof security plan ahead of Muharram. Check posts of the Balochistan Constabulary, Frontier Corps and police would be set up in the sensitive areas, including Mariabad, Hazara Town and Aalmdar Road to avert any untoward incident.
THE NEWS
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