Indian Consulates Involvment in Baluchistan Unrest

Morsi awarded the death sentence

By Muhammad Jamil

Unemployed youth along with other sections of society, including the opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood, came out in droves to protest against the government

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced former president Mohamed Morsi and 106 others to death for a mass jail break in 2011. However, the verdict will be referred to the grand mufti, the highest religious authority in Egypt, for confirmation and the court will pronounce its final verdict on June 2, 2015. The verdict has drawn condemnation from Amnesty International and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan but most European countries that have banned the death sentence are mute. Even though the Brotherhood has long opted out of violence to pursue its objectives through acceptable, peaceful means and had been winning elections even before the Arab Spring, it was outlawed as a terrorist outfit in 2013. Its assets were frozen and seized, and even voices sympathetic to it were muzzled and silenced. Hundreds of its members have been killed and thousands incarcerated. Not even female members were spared the deep state’s campaign to decimate the Muslim Brotherhood into extinction. Morsi was deposed by his then military chief and minister of defence, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, after mass protests against his rule in the summer of 2013. Following the coup, the former president’s supporters launched a series of protests and sit-ins across the country culminating in a crackdown by security forces that left hundreds dead. Egypt’s military junta declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation on account of a deadly bomb attack on the police establishment in the country’s Mansoura city. However, the responsibility of that bombing has been claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an al Qaeda aligned outfit, hostilely disposed towards the Brotherhood for its renouncing violence and joining the political mainstream. 

In September 2013, an Egyptian court banned the Muslim Brotherhood and the ban was extended to the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing. Last month, an Egyptian court sentenced Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years in prison for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012. The junta charged ousted president Mohamed Morsi as a ‘terrorist’ for meeting with Hamas leaders during his term in office even though the meetings were in the context of long-standing Egyptian attempts to broker a Palestinian rapprochement. In fact, there is a long history of banning the Muslim Brotherhood; it was banned in Egypt in 1948. It was accused of attacks on prime ministers, government functionaries and judges, and an attempt on Gamal Abdel Nasser’s life was made in 1954.
In the 1970s, President Sadat allowed the Brotherhood and Islamists to regroup in an effort to use them against the Nasserists and socialists. In 2005, the Brotherhood was a banned organisation and fielded its candidates as independents, managing to get around 20 percent of the seats. One could see that the Brotherhood had changed stripes coming out of clandestine activities and treading the democratic path. It was able to mobilise the people to get rid of Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship. After the January 2011 revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood was allowed to form a political party, the FJP. In June 2012 elections were held, and the FJP managed to get 46 percent of parliament’s seats. But within one year after forming the government, protests started. The protestors on the street were, in reality, the inveterate traditional opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

They found a chance to achieve what they could not at the ballot box but their hopes came crashing down when they found that the beneficiary of the protests would be someone else. They are concerned that a new Hosni Mubarak is in the making in the strong man el-Sisi, who had thrown his hat in the ring for elections and was elected. Of course, Morsi’s government had neglected the economy, which was in shambles. Unemployed youth along with other sections of society, including the opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood, came out in droves to protest against the government. Events leading to the ouster of Mohammed Morsi as the president of Egypt have reinforced the widely held belief that, for a democratic government to be meaningful, it should deliver and always be sensitive to the interests and aspirations of the people. 

Just as the military rode on the back of 18 days of popular protests to topple Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year-old government to pave the way for the emergence of Morsi, once again the Egyptian army lent a helping hand to millions of protesting crowds to get rid of president Morsi, who came to power on the basis of the religious fervour of his supporters. Rather than integrating diverse interest groups with different religious, political and social affiliations in order to mould a cohesive society, he was accused of playing the politics of alienation and discrimination. The first sign of trouble for Morsi came when he attempted to incorporate a clause into a draft constitution to grant him sweeping and unrestricted powers. The plan was quickly abandoned following sustained pressure mounted by the people through days of street protests. The clause would also have conferred on him immunity from judicial oversight.

His decision to back out and flee the presidential palace, however, did not stop the Egyptians from pressing ahead with more demands, asking for more secularity in governance, as against the bid to subject their freedoms, through an uncalled for constitutional amendment, to the authority of the strict Islamic law, sharia. Even though the sagging economy was one of the reasons for the rise against Mubarak, Morsi had absolutely no idea how to reverse the free fall nor did he appreciate the necessity to do so at all. Indeed, protesting voices are now ruing woefully their actions against Morsi, as they will have to bear the brunt of another dictatorship for a long time to come. However, if the vengeful campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood does not come to an end, the organisation is sure to go underground and peace will elude Egypt for a long time to come. 

Our wanting counter terrorism effort

By Khalid Iqbal

Whenever those responsible for counter terrorism claim success, terrorist make their presence and power felt through increasingly ferocious attacks. While one understands the complexity and enormity to terrorist activity, matching counter terrorism effort is glaringly missing. In the forefront is lack of will to implement the policies at the middle and lower levels of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Every time there is a high profile attack, new laws are made, LEAs and trial courts are given additional powers, politicians hold meetings under pomp and show and rhetoric is uttered; for a couple of days bureaucrats run from here to there, but end result is zero. Within weeks, another high profile incident takes place, and the previous one is passed on to distant memory. This cycle is going on at least since 2008. Over the years, LEA’s, bureaucracy, political parties, religious outfits and other state and private institutions have become complacent and take acts of terrorism as a matter of routine. Number of deaths of personnel of law enforcement agencies far exceeds the fatalities suffered by terrorists, which indicate poor professional skills of LAEs. Likewise number of deaths of noncombatants is phenomenal. This clearly indicates that something is seriously wrong somewhere and national counter terrorism effort needs a revisit at professional and technical levels. 

Mere empowerment of these entities, without compatible structural reforms, won’t lead the country anywhere. We have examples that whenever there was requisite will, successful operations were conducted and the terrorists were nailed in. We can certainly do it even now. External and internal factors of terrorism need to be handled concurrently and conjointly. There is a welcome change at policy level, external factors contributing towards acts of terrorism are now being exposes openly and squarely.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad has recently said that Indian RAW is involved in terrorist activities across Pakistan; he disclosed that matter had been taken up a number of times at the highest level with India through diplomatic channels. This position should have been taken by the foreign office a long time ago; now time has come for issuing demarche not only to India but also a number of other countries involved in similar acts. During Prime Minister’s visit to Afghanistan on May 12, Pakistan has told Afghanistan that RAW should not be allowed to operate against Pakistan from Afghan territory; by now, this has been done so many times that repetition is nothing more than a joke. At appropriate time, after collecting solid and irrefutable evidence, the matter may also be taken to the United Nations Security Council. Involvement of RAW and other external factors in fermenting acts of terrorism in the urban centres is all too well known. However, this can’t be put up as an excuse for our failures to counter them. Rather it exposes gaps in our counter intelligence effort. By now effective measures should have been in place to neutralize RAW and associates.

Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has very pertinently emphasized the need for a more proactive and coordinated role of intelligence agencies for an effective counter-terrorism campaign, and to counter hostile agencies’ moves to destabilize Pakistan.
One could agree with the army chief that most of the achievements and successes of intelligence agencies go unnoticed, but this is how it is supposed to be. Their activities are not meant for attracting immediate glamour and hit news headline; but they never go unregistered and unrewarded. It would be better if we let the results speak for themselves, and let the people be the judge. 

Need of the hour is to strengthen all intelligence agencies at professional level so that they anticipate actions of RAW and other affiliated outfits and prevent their plans from translating into horrible acts of terrorism; this is what professional intelligence agencies are expected to do. Attributing the acts of terrorism to enemy agencies, ant yet being unable to counter them is certainly an indicator of failure of own boys. Once on ground results are good, the appreciation would automatically come. Likewise, all front men executing the plans of external agencies are local Pakistanis. Which itself speaks about inability of non-military intelligence agencies in carrying out their surveillance related functions. Army chief is right in stressing the need for a combined civil-military intelligence effort at national level by providing requisite support to the intelligence agencies, and developing modern intelligence techniques—so let’s do it.
Certainly, ISI is doing good job in preventing numerous terrorist attacks, however the number of attacks taking place is good enough to radiate a perpetual feeler of insecurity amongst the public at large. More attention should be paid toward locating and destroying the sleeping cells of foreign intelligence agencies. This is certainly not an easy task; but we may not succeed in stemming out acts of terrorism without accomplishing this tedious potion of the intelligence job. 

While the US-Pakistan relationship is on an upward trajectory, especially in the context of counter terrorism; effort is on to discredit and derail it. Some biased writers continue to churn out speculative pieces to degrade the prevailing environment of goodwill between the two countries. Seymour M Hersh in his expose published on the London Review of Books website has claimed that Bin Laden was a prisoner of the Pakistan military, whose leadership not only knew of his location, but were keeping him under house arrest and accepting funds from Saudi Arabia for his upkeep. Likewise, Christina C Fair in her article “America’s Pakistan Policy Is Sheer Madness” recently carried by “The National Interest” has ridiculed the necessity of recent congressional approval of counter terrorism specific arms/munitions sale to Pakistan by claiming that: “The items that Washington has conveyed to Pakistan have little utility in fighting insurgents and terrorists; rather, they enable Pakistan to better fight India… Fearing that Pakistan is too dangerous to fail, pusillanimous members of Congress, as well as officials in the White House and the Departments of State and Defense, are wary of moving away from the status quo… One thing is certain: their failure to act now will ensure more terrorism and more death in the future”. This is despite the fact that success of ongoing military operation Zarb-e- Azb in the last bastion of militants in Pakistan—North Waziristan—has earned acclaim from everywhere including American military and political leadership. 

Cover of terrorism is also coming handy for those wishing to disrupt the progress on China Pakistan Economic Corridor; acts of militancy are likely to increase in number and intensity during the coming months. RAW has been assigned this task and allocated $ 300 million as initial grant; RAW chief is personally supervising this project. RAW will seek assistance from its strategic partners as well; it will mastermind some false flag operations to accentuate Pakistan’s traditional ethno-sectarian fault lines. Terrorism confronted by Pakistan is being sponsored by many sources, both external and internal; each having its own objectives; we cannot follow a cut and dry approach to counter it, made of cobbled pieces from here and there. There is a need to evolve Pakistan specific counter terrorism policy right from concept to implementation level. Communities and LEAs have to work together to achieve the end objective—Pakistan free from the fear of terrorism. 

Indian cultural invasion on Pakistan

By Sajjad Shaukat

Socialists agree that historical background and national character play a key role in moulding the behaviour pattern of a country’s people, while customs and beliefs also influence the thoughts of individuals. But electronic media of the rival countries have accelerated the process in formulating the opinion of persons against each other. In these terms, as part of psychological warfare, besides supporting subversive acts in our country, India has started cultural penetration in Pakistan through movies, dramas, shows and advertisements which are directly targeting our own ideology and cultural values. The practice amounts to Indian culture invasion on Pakistan.

In this regard, Pakistan government issued licences to various TV channels with a view to earning revenue, showing utter disregard to the core values of our culture. However, the job of media houses has been facilitated by some of us by encouraging projection of Indian films and dramas including advertisements. Shameless interest groups are promoting foreign contents just to protect their monetary benefits.
Meanwhile, the civil society has resisted this practice through their meagre voice, but those enjoying political, social and economic influence favoured storming attack of external media instruments which have power and the ability to kill without firing a bullet. In such situation, any uncertain and cynic grain of mistrust injected through Indian media will never allow us to strengthen our real values and beliefs as Muslims. Therefore, the hostile elements, as Indian TV channels also target us with their cartoons and animated caricatures. The aim is to capture Pakistan’s loyal audience of the future and injecting them with dissenting thought to challenge the teachings and traditions of Islamic culture including ideology of Pakistan. Indian hostile propaganda against our customs and beliefs advances at a gradual pace, starting with a positive thought and supporting a just event. But, it contains deeply entrenched acrimony to create sense of suspicion amongst our youth who are passing through a formative stage of development and are at the initial phase of understanding their religious beliefs, cultural norms and core values. Besides Indian films and dramas, Pakistan’s cable networks also display Indian commercials on our channels, projecting Indian products and consumer goods. In such phenomenon, people, especially the youth and female audience are likely to prefer brand of Indian products and goods.
On the other side, New Delhi does not allow telecast of Pakistani dramas and movies on Indian soil. In this context, New Delhi has adopted very strict policy of restricting Pakistani channels, having their footprint in India. In August 2009, Indian daily, “The Asian Age” disclosed that the Indian government banned Pakistani TV channels in its country and it was also planning to establish high-frequency transmitters and towers in the bordering areas to stop transmission of Pakistani programmes. But, Indian rulers’ decision was taken as a preventive move to keep the new generation ignorant about other side of the coin—from Pakistani media, while continuing Indian propaganda against Pakistan. Nevertheless, more shocking aspect is that there is not lack of supporters of Indian TV channels in Pakistan. These internal elements neglect the fact that the Indian media, news or entertainment tend to malign Pakistan and to dominate its culture rather than to entertain the audience. In fact, Indian film industry often makes movies against Pakistan which project our country as a villain. Pakistan-bashing, denigrating Pakistan and burning its flag are common in Hindi films. Such films are exempted from heavy taxes and win prestigious awards, even if they totally flop in the Indian cinemas. 

It is mentionable that with the rapid development of science, range of the TV channels has been extended to many countries. And, India has deliberately been sending high electronic waves so that its cultural propaganda could reach every part of Pakistan. In this respect, particularly, Indian films, dramas and special-shows which display dances and songs including cartoons and caricatures are full of obscenity and vulgarity. These sorts of entertainment, seen by our youngsters and teenagers are negatively influencing their minds, as being immature; they are becoming more prone to Indian media’s propaganda campaign. 

It is regrettable that owing to the absence of a clear-cut media policy, some renowned private TV channels of Pakistan are also following suit, and present dance competition shows in imitation of Indian programmes by displaying, as if dance is a part of our culture. There is also a misconception among the supporters of Indian channels in our country that both the neighbouring countries share a common culture.
Pakistan’s viewers must know that in one of his speeches, while explaining separate culture of Muslims, Quaid-e-Azam said, “We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life.” 

There are number of countries which allow access of their citizens to the government-controlled Internet only. In order to protect the nation particularly the youth, the concerned authorities must take immediate note of Indian cultural penetration in Pakistan, against our traditions, and values. In this connection, first of all, the right option is that Indian contents should be banned in Pakistan. For the purpose, proper legislation or law could prohibit TV channels and cable networks which show Indian programmes. Will the high-ups in our media regulator – PEMRA – find some time to go through their own law, rules and regulations, and do a bit of their regulatory portfolio to address this foreign media onslaught into the Pak territory?
And, there is need to promote our own culture by helping our TV channels and film industry, making them lucrative so that Pakistani talent could divert their energies in serving their own audience. Once Pakistani artists and audience are satisfied with local means of entertainment, they will not depend on Indian channels. Media houses should also realize their responsibilities and discourage facilitating or proliferating the Indian contents and help the government in its drive. Nonetheless, Indian cultural invasion needs to be stopped through a strong national commitment to ‘Say no to Indian cultural onslaught’ and ‘No Indian movies’ in Pakistan. 

Naltar tragedy and display of valour

by Muhammad Jamil

Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman told state television that “the MI-17 helicopter was fully airworthy, but just prior to landing it suddenly lost control due to technical reasons”. He dismissed as bogus claims by Taliban of having shot it down. Pakistan Air Force has constituted the board to investigate the deadly air crash at Naltar, which has begun its proceedings. “It was purely an accident, and accidents do happen,” Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said. Envoys of the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors were among seven persons killed when the helicopter, carrying 12 foreigners, crashed in Gilgit-Baltistan area in the north. Two army pilots and a Pakistani crew member were also killed in Friday’s crash. The nation will always remember their valour, sense of responsibility and for laying down their lives to save many precious lives.

When the helicopter crash-landed at the school, it caught fire. According to a TV channel report army and Air Force officers and jawans virtually went through the flames to evacuate the dead and especially survivors before fire could reach the fuel tank. The survivors of course are the witness to the tragic incident, who did not notice any hit by the rocket. South African High Commissioner Mpendulo Jele, who was on board the helicopter but miraculously remained unhurt, was all praise for military officials and jawans. “It’s an accident that can happen anywhere in the world. Unfortunately we lost some of our colleagues, but Pakistan military saved many lives,” he told a news channel. He added it was a miracle that there were many survivors - twelve passengers survived the crash, as in all there were 19 people on board. 

International community has shown solidarity with Pakistan on Naltar tragedy, which was not sabotage or an act of terror. It was an accident, an adversity or one may call it misfortune. Though tragedy or an accident sometimes does not have a cause, a board has been set up by PAF to investigate the Naltar Helicopter incident. Reportedly, the black box of the helicopter has been found and according to initial investigation the incident was not an act of terrorism. President Mamnoon Hussain has expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic Naltar incident. He prayed for the departed souls and extended heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families. The President stated that the government and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened over the tragic death of foreigners in the unfortunate incident and equally share the grief of the affected families. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended condolences on the demise of the two ambassadors and the spouses of two other envoys who died in the crash and had declared one day-mourning on Saturday for the loss of invaluable lives in the tragic accident. The prime minister on Saturday called Malaysian premier Najib Razak to convey his condolences over the death of Malaysian ambassador’s wife. He had contacted the Prime Minister of Norway on Friday to extend condolences on the death of Norwegian ambassador to Pakistan. “The entire Pakistani nation is heartbroken on the incident,” he told the Norwegian prime minister, according to a statement issued by the government. It is just sheer bad luck for Pakistan that a tragic accident took the lives of foreign diplomats. However, the TTP spokesman claimed the responsibility for having downed the helicopter. 

Indeed, it was a false claim and nobody believed that TTP militants have had the capacity to launch such an attack in that area. According to ISPR it was not sabotage or an act of terror but an accident; and there is no reason to disbelieve him. DG ISPR said: “The helicopter crashed due to a technical fault and ruled out the possibility of any terrorist or subversive activity. However, human error has to also be ruled out after a thorough inquiry so that we can rest easy.” The US State Department said Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman told state television that “the MI-17 helicopter was fully airworthy, but just prior to landing it suddenly lost control due to technical reasons”. He dismissed as bogus claims by Taliban of having shot it down. Pakistan Air Force has constituted the board to investigate the deadly air crash at Naltar, which has begun its proceedings. “It was purely an accident, and accidents do happen,” Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said. Envoys of the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors were among seven persons killed when the helicopter, carrying 12 foreigners, crashed in Gilgit-Baltistan area in the north. Two army pilots and a Pakistani crew member were also killed in Friday’s crash. The nation will always remember their valour, sense of responsibility and for laying down their lives to save many precious lives.

When the helicopter crash-landed at the school, it caught fire. According to a TV channel report army and Air Force officers and jawans virtually went through the flames to evacuate the dead and especially survivors before fire could reach the fuel tank. The survivors of course are the witness to the tragic incident, who did not notice any hit by the rocket. South African High Commissioner Mpendulo Jele, who was on board the helicopter but miraculously remained unhurt, was all praise for military officials and jawans. “It’s an accident that can happen anywhere in the world. Unfortunately we lost some of our colleagues, but Pakistan military saved many lives,” he told a news channel. He added it was a miracle that there were many survivors - twelve passengers survived the crash, as in all there were 19 people on board. 

International community has shown solidarity with Pakistan on Naltar tragedy, which was not sabotage or an act of terror. It was an accident, an adversity or one may call it misfortune. Though tragedy or an accident sometimes does not have a cause, a board has been set up by PAF to investigate the Naltar Helicopter incident. Reportedly, the black box of the helicopter has been found and according to initial investigation the incident was not an act of terrorism. President Mamnoon Hussain has expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic Naltar incident. He prayed for the departed souls and extended heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families. The President stated that the government and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened over the tragic death of foreigners in the unfortunate incident and equally share the grief of the affected families. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended condolences on the demise of the two ambassadors and the spouses of two other envoys who died in the crash and had declared one day-mourning on Saturday for the loss of invaluable lives in the tragic accident. The prime minister on Saturday called Malaysian premier Najib Razak to convey his condolences over the death of Malaysian ambassador’s wife. He had contacted the Prime Minister of Norway on Friday to extend condolences on the death of Norwegian ambassador to Pakistan. “The entire Pakistani nation is heartbroken on the incident,” he told the Norwegian prime minister, according to a statement issued by the government. It is just sheer bad luck for Pakistan that a tragic accident took the lives of foreign diplomats. However, the TTP spokesman claimed the responsibility for having downed the helicopter. 

Indeed, it was a false claim and nobody believed that TTP militants have had the capacity to launch such an attack in that area. According to ISPR it was not sabotage or an act of terror but an accident; and there is no reason to disbelieve him. DG ISPR said: “The helicopter crashed due to a technical fault and ruled out the possibility of any terrorist or subversive activity. However, human error has to also be ruled out after a thorough inquiry so that we can rest easy.” The US State Department said on Friday it had no reason to doubt Pakistan’s claim that a helicopter crash, which killed several people including two ambassadors, was an accident. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said: “The Pakistani air force has already said something about this. They described it as a technical fault that they believe was responsible.”
Reminded of a claim by the banned TTP that it had brought down the helicopter, he said: “We have no reason to doubt what the Pakistani authorities have said.” Envoys of Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Philippines, Sweden, Lebanon, Malaysia, Poland and Indonesia were on the unfortunate flight. Ambassador of Indonesia Burhan Muhammad was reported to be in a critical condition with 75 per cent burns. The 10 survivors had “varying degrees of injuries”. The injured are being treated at the Combined Military Hospital at Jutial, about 30km away from the area in which the crash occurred. The delegation was on its way to inspect projects on a three-day trip to Gilgit-Baltistan, and also to pay a visit to ski-resort where they were set to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Having that said, international community has stood by Pakistan in this hour of grief. 

The Naltar incident was the fifth crash involving the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters since 2004. Most of the crashes, according to investigations into previous incidents, happened because of technical failures. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called his Malaysian counterpart Dato Sri Mohammad Najib to condole the death of Mrs. Datin Habibah binti Mahmud, wife of the Malaysian High Commissioner in the crash. Adviser to PM for Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz called Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert Rosario to convey condolences on the death of Ambassador of the Philippines Domingo Lucenario. United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon expressed his sorrow and condolences over the helicopter crash in Gilgit-Baltistan that resulted in seven deaths, including two foreign ambassadors. In a statement, the UN secretary-general extended his condolences to the families of the crash victims of the Philippines, Norway, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as his wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. 

  on Friday it had no reason to doubt Pakistan’s claim that a helicopter crash, which killed several people including two ambassadors, was an accident. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said: “The Pakistani air force has already said something about this. They described it as a technical fault that they believe was responsible.”
Reminded of a claim by the banned TTP that it had brought down the helicopter, he said: “We have no reason to doubt what the Pakistani authorities have said.” Envoys of Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Philippines, Sweden, Lebanon, Malaysia, Poland and Indonesia were on the unfortunate flight. Ambassador of Indonesia Burhan Muhammad was reported to be in a critical condition with 75 per cent burns. The 10 survivors had “varying degrees of injuries”. The injured are being treated at the Combined Military Hospital at Jutial, about 30km away from the area in which the crash occurred. The delegation was on its way to inspect projects on a three-day trip to Gilgit-Baltistan, and also to pay a visit to ski-resort where they were set to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Having that said, international community has stood by Pakistan in this hour of grief. 

The Naltar incident was the fifth crash involving the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters since 2004. Most of the crashes, according to investigations into previous incidents, happened because of technical failures. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called his Malaysian counterpart Dato Sri Mohammad Najib to condole the death of Mrs. Datin Habibah binti Mahmud, wife of the Malaysian High Commissioner in the crash. Adviser to PM for Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz called Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert Rosario to convey condolences on the death of Ambassador of the Philippines Domingo Lucenario. United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon expressed his sorrow and condolences over the helicopter crash in Gilgit-Baltistan that resulted in seven deaths, including two foreign ambassadors. In a statement, the UN secretary-general extended his condolences to the families of the crash victims of the Philippines, Norway, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as his wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. 

Cultural invasion

S M Hali

The interest of the Pakistani public in the Indian entertainment industry has been aroused to the extent that Pakistani private television news bulletins extensively air reports about the latest Bollywood releases and developments in the Indian film industry
US philosopher Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 to May 7, 1915) once commented: “He who influences the thought of his times influences the times that follow.” This lesson has been learnt well by India, although it did not lack tutelage on the subject because of the maxims provided by that master of deceit and guile in statecraft, Chanakya, who professed that the “mind is the ultimate weapon”. The Indian electronic media, comprising film, television, radio and social media, has been more than adept in the art of promoting Indian culture. Sushma Swaraj, the current Indian external affairs minister, in her earlier tenure as minister for information and broadcasting (MOIB) under the BJP regime, had declared that India does not need to invade Pakistan physically as it can conquer the minds and thoughts of Pakistanis through an onslaught of Indian television and film content. 

India has indeed invaded Pakistan culturally through the use of all-pervasive media tools. Pakistani society comprises of two schools of thought: one pursuing an orthodox bent of mind and the other a relatively liberal one. The Pakistani electronic media had a head start over India and its content was so strong that it was being followed with interest, awe and admiration in India too. For Pakistani viewers, Indian television’s only appeal was the broadcasting of Hindi films but, before the advent of the satellite dish, only the residents of the border areas could view them. Pakistani television content was moderate and devoid of propaganda elements since it was directed towards domestic audiences. Moreover, the Pakistani electronic media, until 2002, comprised of only the state-owned television channel, PTV, and the PBC radio network. Satellite television and the cable network, which made some ingress into Pakistani viewership in the 1990s, enabled Indian television channels to be accessible to Pakistani viewers. The Kargil incident prompted the Indian government to ban the ingress of Pakistani television channels into India, perhaps because India wanted to insulate its viewers from the truth regarding the Kargil operations, compelling them to accept the Indian version. Pakistan also followed suit and banned Indian television channels from its cable network. 

With the advent of media freedom and the granting of television and FM radio licenses to the private sector, unbridled power was gained by the private media sector. India found it opportune to invade Pakistan’s airwaves by entering into agreements with various Pakistani entertainment television channels to air Indian dramas, talk shows, song and dance programmes and even quiz and infotainment content for children. Indian movies also started being aired on Pakistani television channels and, at a later stage, the government of Pakistan relaxed conditions for Indian movies to be screened in Pakistani cinema houses. 

The result has been explosive; the Indian cultural invasion has pervaded Pakistani minds, especially the youth and the tender thoughts of children. The interest of the Pakistani public in the Indian entertainment industry has been aroused to the extent that Pakistani private television news bulletins extensively air reports about the latest Bollywood releases and updates regarding developments in the Indian film industry.
Resultantly, Sushma Swaraj’s prediction of invading Pakistan culturally appears to have been fulfilled. Song and dance tableaus being presented by Pakistani school children now render Indian film songs and dances instead of following Allama Iqbal, Khawaja Altaf Hussain Hali, Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Hafeez Jallandheri’s nationalistic poems. The Pakistani fashion industry, even our bridal couture, is under Indian influence. So much so that Pakistani children have started mimicking and emulating Hindu customs in their social events. This cultural invasion has softened the stance of average Pakistanis towards India, eliminating enmity, hatred and promoting overtures of friendship. The latter would have been welcome if the Indian government, its intelligence agency RAW and the current Indian national security advisor, Ajit Doval, had not been engaged in machinations to destabilise Pakistan. 

Under these circumstances, the government of Pakistan, especially the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB), which appears preoccupied in day-to-day political firefighting, must adopt policies to check this Indian cultural invasion. One step could be to outright ban Indian movies from being screened in Pakistani cinema houses and Indian television content on local media. This would be a harsh move and could be counterproductive since, in this age of information technology, even the ban of YouTube in Pakistan has not been effective as the youth manages to view it through proxy servers. Instead, the MoIB must adopt measures to motivate the Pakistani film and television industry to produce content superior to Indian media instead of making cheap copies so that Pakistani viewers slowly lose interest in Indian programmes and this cultural invasion can be checked effectively with a counter-narrative. 

Forces behind Karachi massacre

Dr. Muhammad Khan

FOLLOWING the Karachi massacre where 45 people belonging to Ismaili community were killed on May 13, 2015, there arose question, as to who is behind this strategic targeting of those communities and what could be the objective, behind. Ismaili community is the most peaceful community living anywhere in Pakistan. Similarly, the children of APC Peshawar were innocent and so were the Christians, killed during multiple attacks. They all had no enmity or clash with any sect or ethnic group. Then, why these people were being targeted, in a sudden rise of terrorism in Pakistan.

Just a week ago, it was revealed during the Corps Commanders’ conference that, the Indian spying network, RAW is involved in organizing the terrorism in various parts of Pakistan. It was also revealed that, RAW is sponsoring the activities of TTP as well as Baloch sub-nationalists. In a recent press conference, a senior police officer of Karachi Police also revealed that RAW is involved in the target killing of Karachi. There are deep-rooted linkages between some political groups of Karachi and RAW.
It is worth mentioning that, the very establishment of this spying network (RAW) in 1968 was aimed at destabilizing the neighbouring states. It was RAW, which planned the insurgency through instigation of locals in former East Pakistan and paved the way for Bangladesh. The activities of RAW in today’s Pakistan are reality. According to Indian media, RAW is the most powerful tool than ever before in the dispensation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, while dealing with Pakistan. Destabilization of Pakistan is part of Indian strategy and India is doing that since decades. 

The current wave of terrorism under the RAW is aimed at sabotaging the economic development of Pakistan, which has just concluded a $46 billion project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The project connect Gwadar Port with the Kashgar, a traditional Chinese business centre in Xinjiang autonomous region. On its part, Kashgar connects China with South and Central Asia, the Gwadar Port provides an excess to Middle East, Persian Gulf and Africa through Arabian Sea besides providing shortest possible land access to Central Asia and Afghanistan. For the development and generating economic activities in Western China, Gwadar port provides shortest possible route to China. CPEC would be a strategic linkage between Pakistan and China, which will benefit not only these two historical and friendly neighbours but other regional countries including India and ASEAN.
In many ways, the CPEC offers a panacea to most of its problems, facing the state and society of Pakistan at economic, social and political level. Besides, the corridor provides China, an alternative overland route for the transportation of its energy needs, especially from Africa and Middle East, avoiding the Chinese Malacca Dilemma. CPEC is a historical opportunity for strategic linkage, but there are many domestic and external challenges, which may be confronted in the completion of CPEC. The security situation in some of the areas along the CPEC route may present a challenging situation, thus need a special consideration. Pakistan Army has already taken the responsibility for the protection of this corridor and facilities linked with CPEC.
Whereas, dealing with the security challenges and desire of people that the CPEC must pass through their areas is a domestic factor, Pakistan can handle efficiently, the regional and global forces, opposing the very construction of Gwadar Port and the CPEC need proficient handling through seasoned diplomacy and political engagements. Upon construction, CPEC will not only benefit Pakistan and China, but contribute towards regional peace, harmony, stability and economic opportunities for all even including India. 

The abrupt increase in the terrorist activities after it was known that, Pakistan and China has finally worked out the modalities to implement this gigantic task means a lot. Indian Shipping Minister made a visit to Iran and offered this Pakistani neighbor to complete the Chabahar port, long pending for its completion. The objective one can abstract from this visit and offer for financial and technical assistance is very clear. India is making all out efforts to counter the operationalization of Gwadar Port and create all out obstructions and hurdles in the construction of CPEC. This speaks of a very narrow approach Indian Government is following. 

Apart from this RAW has strong linkages with some political parties in Pakistan. All the terrorists belonging to such political parties get training, weapon and finances from RAW and carry out terrorism in Karachi and even other parts of Pakistan. The massacre of Ismaili community has to be analyzed keeping in view various angles. Murder of Sabeen Mehmood and killing of Ismaili community has to be seen in the same context. It may an attempt to divert the attention of the LEAs, people of Pakistan and even the media, from the ills and evils of this group. Let us not through the blame of all killings in the credit of TTP or religiously mislead people. Sabeen Mehmood was killed to defame security and intelligence agencies and Ismaili community to de-track the LEAs from chasing the terrorists of political and ethnic parties.

Although the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has chaired a high-level meeting on Karachi’s security situation at the Governor House on May 13, 2015, and assured the grieved families for justice, yet there is a need that the real forces, and their abettors are exposed and brought to justice. It is high time that the province of Sind be governed through rules of governance and justice should be given to the people who have been deprived of this. Pakistan cannot afford such a law and order situation in any part of the country and Karachi is the economic hub of entire Pakistan. This is a clear conspiracy against the state and its perceived economic development. Let us join hand against the enemies of Pakistan and those among us, working against the interests of the state.