VIEW: War for freedom —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad The allies and the Pakistan government have termed the military initiative as the war on terror. It is not. To my understanding, it is the war for freedom. Freedom of choice, of thought and movement Self-concept is a strange phenomenon. It encompasses not only our religious, social and political beliefs but is also based on a lethal cocktail of fact and fiction. An individual might be self-delusional to the extent that s/he starts living the delusion. Paranoia, schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness are based on a self-concept that is not rooted … Continue reading War for freedom

VIEW: The continual killing of physicians —Dr Mahjabeen Islam There is something seriously wrong with a society that harasses those who stand for justice. If I protest the killing of Ahmedis, then I am labelled as one. And now watch me metamorphose into a Shia What do you do with a nation that has been killing its physicians for the last 10 years? Not in the name of vigilantism and avenging malpractice or the egregious deaths of patients but for insane ideologies that fault a physician for being Shia. Or worse: Ahmedi. The spectrum of consent is vast: on the … Continue reading killing of physicians

COMMENT: The ‘Great Game’ resumes —Zafar Hilaly The trouble with the role we have chosen to play in Afghanistan is its inherently contradictory nature. An interested party cannot play the role of an honest broker. The conflict of interest is too glaring Hamid Karzai has finally decided to break with the Northern Alliance partners and return to his Pashtun roots for deliverance from the Taliban and the Americans. This, one feels, is the reason behind his brusque sacking of his national intelligence chief and his interior minister, both belonging to the Northern Alliance. Pakistan’s response was immediate, namely, to begin … Continue reading ‘Great Game’ resumes

VIEW: Pakistan at war —Jan Assakzai The militant infrastructure, regardless of the geo-political rationale for its existence, means Pakistan will continue to live under the spectre of a full-fledged war with India The attacks on worship places of the Ahmedis merely underscored the fact that Pakistan is at war on many fronts, involving religious and ethnic minorities, governance issues, neighbouring countries and the world at large. Let us start with religious minorities. The bigoted state and non-state actors launched a war against the Ahmedi minority in the 1950s. In the mid-1970s, they were declared non-Muslims. Their persecution continued over the … Continue reading Pakistan at war

Birmingham stops camera surveillance in Muslim areas Project halted after Guardian exposed use of 200-plus cameras in predominantly Muslim areas for counterterrorism Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 June 2010 11.51 BST Article history An automatic numberplate recognition camera to the right of a conventional CCTV camera in the mainly Asian area of Sparkbrook in Birmingham. Photograph: Andrew FoxA project to spy on two Muslim areas in Birmingham using more than 200 CCTV cameras has been dramatically halted after an investigation by the Guardian revealed it was a counterterrorism initiative. Bags are being placed over the cameras, recently installed in the … Continue reading Birmingham Council and Cops stops spying on Muslims?

Shanghai builds to the skies By Daniel Allen SHANGHAI – Anyone wanting the clearest vision of Shanghai in 2020 should take the lift to the third floor of the city’s dramatic Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. A vast megalopolis in miniature decorates the floor, showing how 25 million-plus inhabitants could be living in harmony and prosperity. A Utopian dream or effective blueprint for orderly development, the next decade will judge the city’s real-life experiment in urban growth. The 2010 Shanghai Expo opened last month under the banner of “Better City, Better Life“, but China’s largest city had one eye on the … Continue reading Shanghai rises

Armed contractors in firing line By Pratap Chatterjee WASHINGTON – A US Congress commission is to consider whether private contractors such as Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, should be allowed to continue to provide armed security for convoys, diplomatic and other personnel, and military bases and other facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. The bi-partisan commission will over two days cross-examine 14 witnesses from academia, government and the companies themselves. “Some security tasks are so closely tied to government responsibilities, so mission-critical, or so risky that they shouldn’t be contracted out at all,” says Christopher Shays, a former Republican member … Continue reading Blackwater in firing line?

China opening trade doors to Pakistan By Syed Fazl-e-Haider KARACHI – China has pledged to provide trade concessions to Islamabad that it is not getting from the United States and European Union, according to a Pakistan government official after a visit to the country last week by Chinese Vice Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang. At meetings with Pakistani officials in Islamabad, Zhang called for strengthening economic and trade linkages through improved transportation, communication and energy corridors. China has given assurances it will provide trade concessions that will have a positive impact on Pakistan’s economy, Business Recorder reported, citing Federal Commerce Secretary … Continue reading China open door policy for Pakistan

Agent Orange bill set at $300m By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON – Thirty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, a joint United States-Vietnamese panel endorsed a 10-year, US$300 million “plan of action” to deal with the deadly health and environmental legacy of the US military’s widespread use of Agent Orange during the conflict. The US government, according to the panel, which included policymakers, citizens and scientists, should provide most of the assistance, which would be designed both to clean up more than two dozen sites in southern Vietnam where contamination was particularly severe and to expand health and related … Continue reading Agent Orange $300m bill?

A North Korean leadership car crash By Aidan Foster-Carter Succession is the Achilles’ heel of dictatorships, for obvious reasons. In extreme cases, such as North Korea, even contemplating the mortality of the leader is seen as lese-majeste, as if this somehow threatens the quasi-monarch’s vaunted omnipotence and implicit immortality. Yet such an ostrich attitude only makes matters worse. There aren’t many certainties about North Korea, but the fact that Kim Jong-il will die is one of them. The only issues are when and how he dies, and what will come after him. The latter needs planning for, right now. But … Continue reading North Korean crash?