Former Gitmo detainee now running Afghan battles Dawn.com In this May 14, 2009 file photo, reviewed by the US military, Guantanamo detainees pray before dawn near a fence of razor-wire, inside Camp 4 detention facility at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba. — AP Photo World India, Pakistan’s ‘proxy war’ in Afghanistan SHADOW WARS India, Pakistan’s ‘proxy war’ in Afghanistan LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan: A man freed from Guantanamo more than two years ago after he claimed he only wanted to go home and help his family is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to the US-led offensive in southern … Continue reading Gitmo detainee now running Afghan battles

Posted by Sana Saleem Dawn blog For a society to progress, human rights have to be guaranteed, with the assurance that rights are maintained without gender bias or discrimination. Gender-based violence reflects and reinforces injustices and compromises the health, dignity, and liberty of its victims. Such violence covers a wide range of human rights violations, including harassment, domestic violence, sexual abuse of children, rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, and indenture. The impact of any one of these abuses can leave psychological scars, or, in extreme instances, prove fatal. Violence against women has been called the most pervasive yet least recognised … Continue reading Logging on to empower women

A tale of Afghan women’s plight —by Miranda Husain The Patience Stone By Atiq Rahimi Other Press; Pp 160 Afghanistan, a nation still on fire, a nation still home to a centre-stage Taliban. An entity that still remains resoundingly more concrete than an outward manifestation of an inner descent into madness, despite its supposed toppling. Back in 2001, the coalition of the willing told the world that their invasion of this country had been determined by a single goal: the dead-or-alive capturing of Osama bin Laden. When this revealed itself to be nothing more than a pipedream, the narrative swiftly … Continue reading Woman are to be respected and empowered…

The naked truth —Farrukh Khan Pitafi The pious ones in the Islamic republic, who cannot digest the image of a newscaster sitting without a scarf on her head, have hardly any issue with gory and violent images on the screen Dr Amartya Sen is known for his work in welfare economics and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences that he received. But our knowledgeable ones, so effectual at connecting dots, have not traced him back to another of his interesting works — that of procreation. His daughter Nandana Sen is consistently building her reputation as not only an established … Continue reading Are you more concerned about headscarfs or killing innocents in Allahs name?

India-Pakistan: hiding behind excuses again? —Naeem Tahir The 2008 terrorist act in Mumbai surely needs to be condemned in the strongest possible words, but one wonders why was the incident allowed to happen when all advance information was available. Why? Once again, India and Pakistan “fail to make a breakthrough”. The Kashmir and Mumbai attack issues have blocked any progress. Over 60 years have passed since independence and we still cannot show the maturity to shed the old baggage and move forward like civilised, progressive people. The reservations are too deep, vested interests too strong, and there are suspicions about … Continue reading India-Pakistan the maturity of the common man compared to the politicians and religious types….

Sir, the militants have multiplied —Sher Ali Khan When Rana Sanaullah visited Jhang, it was a cause of great worry for the citizens when SSP leader Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi was included in the entourage and given full government protocol The recent admission by Rana Sanaullah about his association with the banned militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) illuminates that Pakistan is a country where a nexus between politicians and militants is still active. Since only a few political parties have picked up on this issue, it is worrying to assume that relationships between the government and militant outfits still exist. … Continue reading The eggs that Mullahs laid are now hatching…

A lesson and a few reminders —Syed Talat Hussain The Saudis, in their national interest, can get into a tighter hug with Pakistan’ archenemy without fearing as much as a raised eyebrow in Islamabad, because Saudi Arabia is a giver and Pakistan is a taker Imagine Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu speaking to the National Assembly of Pakistan and saying the following: “We seek cooperative relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our objective is a permanent peace because we recognise that we are bound together by a shared future. If there is cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia, vast … Continue reading A lesson for Pakistan in realpolitik!

By M K Bhadrakumar United States AfPak special representative Richard Holbrooke enjoys a fabulous reputation, no matter the current prospects of the Afghan war. The Eurasian space knew him as a potential Nobel winner who evicted Russia from the Balkans. The world at large expects him to take over if and when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton steps down to enter the US presidential election ring in 2012. Holbrooke’s tours abroad inevitably get noticed. His maiden tour of Central Asia and the Caucasus last week was no exception. A State Department spokesman drew attention to it as a significant happening … Continue reading An AfPak star over Central Asia

By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler TEL AVIV – The United States is raising the stakes in its bid to halt Iran’s nuclear program, putting the issue on a “pressure track”, says the chief of US Central Command General David Petraeus. The US and other world powers are drumming up support for a fourth round of United Nations sanctions against Iran for its refusal to comply with repeated ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment and to agree to a United Nations-backed deal involving Iran’s nuclear fuel being enriched abroad. The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, meets this week to discuss a tough … Continue reading US’s top brass target Israel

By Julian Delasantellis Ancient Greece built outdoor amphitheaters at Delphi and Thespis for performances of the plays of Sophocles and Antigone; in England, it was The Rose and The Globe theaters that first saw the brilliance of the Bard. Let no one believe America lacked the commitment to culture and fine arts that produced Oedipus and Twelfth Night; those people will be humbled by their ignorance very quickly. America’s great contribution to the Thespian gods, is, and always will be, the invention of dinner theater. Almost like the product of a time and motion study that seeks to more effectively utilize the … Continue reading Greece calls in war debts