| |
 The
British Terror Plot
DJ’s Editor SYED JUNAID AHSAN
says this is another attempt at mass murder.
|
The Plot
On 10 August 2006, the British Police disclosed the
conspiracy to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners after
indications that the plotters were virtually ready
to strike. Both the United States and Britain were
put on high states of alert and hundreds of flights
were delayed or cancelled.
The British security agencies arrested and charged
11 people in the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners.
The Police department revealed that they had uncovered
bomb-making equipment and “martyrdom”
videos in the course of their investigation.
The authorities disclosed that eight of the suspects
– all men, aged between 19 and 28, were from
London mostly and that British nationals would face
charges of conspiracy to commit murder and preparing
acts of terrorism. A 17-year-old boy is accused of
possessing items useful for terrorists, and two other
suspects, including a young mother, have been charged
with failing to disclose information that ‘could
have helped prevent a terrorist attack.’.....more
|
The
Composite Dialogue Survives
Columnist SULTAN AHMED says that despite
dire predictions in the wake of the recent Mumbai
bomb blasts, the Indo-Pak talks are going ahead.
|
The Composite Dialogue between India and Pakistan
has been saved. The foreign secretaries of Pakistan
and India who met on the sidelines of the SAARC foreign
ministers conference at Dhaka have decided to continue
the dialogue that began in January 2004 and has been
through three rounds. When the Indian and Pakistan
foreign secretaries meeting scheduled for July 20th-21st
was put off following the Mumbai train explosions
which killed 181 persons and injured hundreds, it
seemed the composite dialogues was doomed. But the
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was quick
to announce that the peace process will not be abandoned.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries who met
in Dhaka asserted that the valuable achievement of
the composite dialogue during the last two and a half
years should not be wasted. And that is the right
thing to do, war is no solution to the dispute between
the two nuclear weapons armed neighbors. Negotiations
for a peaceful settlement of all the disputes are
the only way out after the futility of wars has been
clearly established. ......more
|
Judging Our Leaders
Contributing
Editor Air Marshal (Retd) AYAZ AHMED KHAN looks at
the quality and calibre of the leadership since the
Quaid.
|
Did Pakistan
have any leader of merit after Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah? The answer is no. The military and civil
rulers who followed Jinnah did not have the qualities
of head and heart that Quaid-e-Azam had. They corrupted
institutional democracy, failed to respect rule
of law, rigged elections, did not respect judiciary,
prevented implementation of election results, triggering
a rebellion and consequently the breakup of one
Pakistan. Their sense of commitment was polluted
by ill advice and the desire to perpetuate. Jinnah
was an educated, enlightened and sagacious leader.
He repeatedly warned the nation about provincialism,
obscurantism, fanaticism, sectarianism and ethnic-ism.
Great leaders like Jinnah are born once in a century,
and frankly it is wrong to compare other fallible
beings of lower stature with the great man who was
Pakistan's only true leader. Rulers who followed
him did not have the character or commitment to
serve Pakistan selflessly. Some of them promoted
the above "poisons" as Jinnah called them.
They thought they were above the law, and they twisted
the law to suit their own purpose. But each one
of them did something good as well, which should
not go unsung ......more
|
The
Capture of Jaurian
Columnist M A GILANI presents his views
on Operation Grand Slam-September 1965 War.
|
Introduction
The capture of JAURIAN is based on my personal reminiscences
because I had the honour of commanding 14 Punjab in
CHAMB-JAURIAN sector during the September 1965 war.
It was a resounding victory, at low cost of casualties,
for the small force operating as part of Operation
Grand SLAM. It was captured on 5th September 1965.
JAURIAN was the Administrative Box
of the enemy for the units operating in front. It
was situated on the CHAIMB-JAURIAN-AKHNUR road, and
well protected by the TROTI feature on its right and
front, and by the semi hilly ground on its left, with
the river CHENAB on its extreme left. The strategic
communication centre of AKHNUR was located about 14
km in the east.
The famous BERI PATTAN Bridge over
the CHENAB situated in the vicinity of AKHNUR was
the most important link over which military convoys
passed to and fro regularly. For the interest of our
learned readers it is mentioned that the BERI PATTAN
Bridge was demolished with direct hits by our long
range artillery guns during December 1948.......more
|
Politics
of the Corpse
Columnist RIAZ JAFRI regrets that Akbar
Bughti’s demise will be used for political manipulations.
|
Though
the death of Akbar Bugti is unfortunate it was
more of his own choosing and had to come sooner
or later. It was writ large on the wall for
all to read, yet it cannot be slighted away
as an ordinary event. It is no victory for the
conqueror or the vanquished. It was a simple
case of bringing order to a house disarrayed
and make the delinquent respect the authority
of the ‘family’ elders. However,
the 80 year old juvenile thought it otherwise
and wanted his diktat to rule supreme. It was
a matter handled amateurishly by both –
the late Bugti and the law enforcing agencies.
Akbar Bugti was known for his obstinacy that
bordered on fool hardiness and at the same time
for his avarice for worldly possessions and
ostentation. He had been a trouble maker almost
throughout his political life but previous rulers
were somewhat successful in taming him by use
of the carrot and stick policy. This had in
a way spoiled him also and during one of his
cell phone interceptions he was heard lamenting
as to why was the present government not negotiating
with him as had all the previous governments.
In order to enforce his terms he adopted a still
harder stance. He not only confronted the power
of the state but also literally waged a war
against .....more
|
Some
thoughts on the present Lebanese situation
Columnist FAZAL HABIB CURMALLY gives an
overview of what he surmises the situation to be in
Lebanon after the recent cease-fire.
|
America is still
under the misconception that it has won the Cold War.
The Soviet Union did not vanish under a brutal American
onslaught but it imploded economically on itself and
was defeated in Afghanistan militarily by multiple
Muslim guerilla militias fighting an unconventional
war. Europe was not made more secure by conventional
warfare. It was made free firstly in the mountains
of Afghanistan that forced the Soviets to retreat
and then it was Gorbachev’s penchant for the
Perestroika that undid the Soviet Union. After the
Yeltsin years of dissolution, Russia in the Putin
years has been brought back to the World not as a
decomposed rotting leaderless mass of people but as
a people who have regained their élan and are
now willing to retake their rightful place in the
comity of nations......more
|
Crisis
in Lebanon
Air Commodore (Retd)
JAMAL HUSSAIN makes a detailed analysis of the recent
war in Lebanon.
|
If
Hezbollah can do without F-16s, do we need them?
This was the gist of an article by a renowned columnist
published in one of the leading newspapers of Pakistan,
titled ‘How many F-16s does Hezbollah have?’
The F-16s, I imagine was used symbolically to represent
the modern military hardware comprising aircraft,
battle tanks, ships and submarines that are considered
essential appendage of all modern conventional armed
forces.
Yes, it is true Hezbollah confronted
the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and has successfully
foiled their military and political objectives.
They stood their grounds inflicting telling blows
on the Israeli forces and have emerged unconquered,
which will be hailed as a major victory for them
by all neutral observers. Although this victory
has been achieved at a very heavy cost to Lebanon
– and Hezbollah is an indigenous Lebanese
outfit – in the final analysis it is still
a major and remarkable achievement. But to conclude
that since the best conventional armed forces in
the region has been stymied by a small, dedicated
guerrilla outfit, countries like Pakistan facing
a hostile neighbour armed to the teeth does not
require modern arms to defend itself, will be extremely
unwise and dangerous.”......more
|
Representing
History
OMER TARIN wants to set
the record straight.
|
We have previously
talked about how certain Western perspectives have
prevailed over the last two centuries or so, and
are still significant determinants of global realities
in political and socio-economic terms (DJ August
2006).
One very significant perspective
that the Muslim polity shall have to address in
today’s world, if we are to ‘modify’
the existing paradigms and/or discourses, is that
of historical representation.
It was Elizabeth Tonkin who remarked
that the word ‘history’ signifies both
the past (history-as-lived) and the representation
of pastness (history-as-recorded) (p.117). This
is a crucial distinction, since it highlights how
history—at least, recent history from the
19th century onwards—has been manipulated
to serve the dominant Western agendas, because for
the greater part of the 20th century the Western
powers have enjoyed almost unrivalled control over
the means and modes of academic and literary production.....more
|
Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty
Ms
RABIA AKHTAR discusses what happens if there is non
compliance and what will be future of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
|
Introduction
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) entered into force in March 1970 to
curb the spread of nuclear weapons. The state parties
to NPT are divided into the Nuclear Weapons States
(NWS) and the Non-Nuclear Weapons States (NNWS)
which make up a total of 189 signatories. NPT enjoys
the success of universal adherence to the treaty
with only India, Pakistan and Israel out of the
loop since according to NPT only those states “which
exploded and manufactured the nuclear devices prior
to January 1, 1967 are to be considered NWS.”
Therefore, United States, Russia, China, France
and the United Kingdom are the declared NWS in the
world committed to pursue complete nuclear disarmament
whereas the NNWS under the treaty are obligated
not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons for military
purposes.....more
|
