Author: Mohammed Abbasi

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Thailand Coup: General Prayuth Chan-ocha

Mohammed Abbasi

Thailand’s Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha declared a coup, taking control of the government two days after invoking martial law and bringing political opponents into talks aimed at finding a compromise to six months of anti-government protests.Prayuth said the army had to restore order and push through reforms to prevent further loss of life and stop the political conflict from escalating. The Peace and Order Maintaining Command has seized power from the caretaker government, he announced in an address broadcast on all television channels. “In the interest of rule and order, we are taking over powers,” Prayuth said. “Please do not panic and carry … Continue reading Thailand Coup: General Prayuth Chan-ocha

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Break the silence: World War is beckoning

Mohammed Abbasi

Why do we tolerate the threat of another world war in our name? Why do we allow lies that justify this risk? The scale of our indoctrination, wrote Harold Pinter, is a “brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis”, as if the truth “never happened even while it was happening”. Every year the American historian William Blum publishes his “updated summary of the record of US foreign policy” which shows that, since 1945, the US has tried to overthrow more than 50 governments, many democratically elected; grossly interfered in elections in 30 countries; bombed the civilian populations of 30 countries; used chemical and biological … Continue reading Break the silence: World War is beckoning

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Pakistan: When blasphemy charges make no sense

Mohammed Abbasi

If we thought we had seen the worst of what the blasphemy laws of this country could be used for, we really had not seen anything until the very unusual, very outrageous current case of as many as 68 lawyers being booked for the ambiguous ‘crime’ of committing blasphemy. In what can only be termed absurdity, the Punjab police has charged the largest number of people ever for a single blasphemy case after the same lawyers protested when one of their colleagues was detained by the police. Now, one wonders how a blasphemy case is applicable to a protest and … Continue reading Pakistan: When blasphemy charges make no sense

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The Silence of Muslims is Haraam!

Mohammed Abbasi

Imagine your daughter, sister, wife or mother – kidnapped and the kidnappers use your religion – Islam as an excuse for their crime. What do you as a Muslim say? Imagine a criminal using Islam as a front to carry out atrocities against innocents – imagine that an innocent victim is your loved one. What do you as a Muslim would feel? Imagine a criminal using and abusing the teachings of the Last Prophet PBUH and claiming he is doing this because he believes that this is what Islam teaches him. Would you defend the Prophets honour or would you … Continue reading The Silence of Muslims is Haraam!

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TTP’s ambiguities

Mohammed Abbasi

The purported Taliban intention to hold talks with the government and the government’s desire to bring the talks to some logical conclusion have fallen flat owing to mismanagement and lack of trust between both the parties. The inevitability of the lack of trust cannot be argued about any further. The frustration of Chaudhry Nisar with the Taliban’s committee for its flip flop method of working out a peace deal has revealed the absence of common areas of interest between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Whatever has been done to appease the TTP by the government such as releasing its … Continue reading TTP’s ambiguities

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How the US created, and lost, Afghan war

Mohammed Abbasi

It was a typical Kabul morning. Malik Ashgar Square was already bumper-to-bumper with Corolla taxis, green police jeeps, honking minivans, and angry motorcyclists. There were boys sellingphone cards and men waving wads of cash for exchange, all weaving their way around the vehicles amid exhaust fumes. At the gate of the Lycee Esteqial, one of the country’s most prestigious schools, students were kicking around a soccer ball. At the Ministry of Education, a weathered old Soviet-style building opposite the school, a line of employees spilled out onto the street. I was crossing the square, heading for the ministry, when I saw the suicide … Continue reading How the US created, and lost, Afghan war

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Will Qatar Supply EU With Gas?

Mohammed Abbasi

EU Reconsiders Russian LNG, Qatar Waits in Wings By Daniel Wagner, Giorgio Cafiero, and Sufyan bin Uzayr A tanker transports liquid natural gas (LNG) through the province of A Coruña, on Spain’s Atlantic Coast. Credit: Robert/cc by 2.0 WASHINGTON, Apr 25 2014 (IPS) – Throughout the Ukraine crisis, European Union (EU) leaders have become more vocal about their interest in reducing Europe’s consumption of Russian natural gas. As a result, Qatar — the world’s number-one provider of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — is well positioned to play a more influential role in Europe’s energy landscape. Although unlikely to replace Russia as Europe’s top natural gas provider, … Continue reading Will Qatar Supply EU With Gas?

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Waiting Game

Mohammed Abbasi

While government negotiators distance themselves from talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a high-level meeting on Monday morning, chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, agreed to formalise an agenda for a final push in talks with the terrorists, even as a series of attacks in Karachi and other parts of the country over the last two days left several people dead. An explosion killed three peace committee members in Landikotal on Sunday, while a small bomb exploded inside a Karachi seminary on Monday, killing three children. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar reportedly told the meeting that either the talks needed … Continue reading Waiting Game

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Change in FATA?

Mohammed Abbasi

    The shockwaves of 9/11 hit deep in the tribal areas. Maliks were killed, drones fired and the long-established political agents lost much of their status and authority. The army campaigns against the Taliban forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. Even now IDPs languish in camps. Some fear the conflict is not yet over. Others can’t afford to rebuild properties destroyed by the army campaign against the Taliban. And a few – maybe quite a few – have decided that the bright lights of the big cities are so enticing they are in no hurry to go back … Continue reading Change in FATA?

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The Viagra of Mullahs, Rabbis & Pastors – Armageddon

Mohammed Abbasi

  The battle of Armageddon   The nineteenth century reformer, Jamal ad-Din Afghani (1838-1897), wrote, “Every Muslim is sick, and his only remedy is the Quran.” But to some writers in the west, notably the Irish politician, historian and academic Conor Cruise O’Brien (1917-2008), “the sickness gets worse the more the remedy is taken…Muslim society looks profoundly repulsive…It looks repulsive because it is repulsive…A Westerner who claims to admire Muslim society, while still adhering to Western values, is either a hypocrite or an ignoramus or a bit of both.” On his death he was acclaimed by The Guardian as “probably … Continue reading The Viagra of Mullahs, Rabbis & Pastors – Armageddon