Response against Quetta Blast

By Waqas Imam

Mere denunciation for the Quetta bomb blast by all political segments of society in which eighty people had been assassinated is not sufficient. It has become a custom or an official state practice in Pakistan to give a condemnation message as a fulfillment of responsibility. Similarly the silence of government for two persons that were thrashed on Thursday night in Islamabad by a car belonging to US embassy is not required, people want serious actions. Additionally we must not undermine the Bara massacre as well which is at present in the state of national ignorance which is quite unfair.

Pakistan is in a state of turmoil from more of a decade that it was never before. Therefore we need to think that Governor Raj in Baluchistan was no solution, neither a new demand for military takeover is! As proved in the case of Swat military operation. We must think analytically that what is the point of inflection for such chaos in Pakistan’s geo-political timeline? Such chaos never materialized in Pakistan before the American War. American political and military manifestation in the region is the biggest threat to Pakistan's stability. Since American presence encourages Indian supremacy in the region which is accomplished by weakening Pakistan through internal chaos & engagements within.

Therefore in order to get out of this internal chaos, Pakistan has to revisit her policies about the American war in the region. Pakistan’s contribution towards American War has brought miseries to its own people. Pakistan should stop supporting American war and American presence in the region and should withdraw all intelligence, military & logistics support.

Author Profile: Waqas Imam is a freelance commentator: his opinions, letters and analyses had been published in various national newspapers, blogs & magazines of Pakistan, Saudia Arabia, Bangladesh, & India.

Obama’s ‘kill list’ critic found dead in New York City

Prominent American blogger and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz

Prominent American blogger and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, who spoke against US President Barack Obama’s “kill list” and cyber attacks against Iran, has been found dead in New York.
Police found the body of the 26-year-old in his apartment in New York City borough of Brooklyn on Friday, said a spokeswoman for the city’s chief medical examiner. Brooklyn’s chief medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by hanging, but no further detail is available about the mysterious death.

India: Girls asked to Wear Modest Cloths

"Women in India are now told not venture out late at night, not to travel alone, not to wear certain type of clothes. This is what precisely Islam teaches. In maharashtra Shiv Sainiks are acting as moral police stopping valentine celebrations by force, vandalising shops that sell chocolates, Card and flowers for Valentine's day. Girls were stopped from dancing in the Bars and Anna Hazare activists in his model village stopped all liqicuor trade and Liquor shops.
 

A Wave of Sexual Terrorism in Iraq

Behind the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family lies a far larger story of what's happened to women in Iraq since they were 'liberated' by the Bush administration. - It is crazy that these women are sitting there on the floor of a prison cell with a goddamn man and gun standing over them. At the very maximum, these women may have somehow assisted their men to get these brutal soldiers, these beasts in human form, these rapists and sodomists, out of their blessed country. Is that a crime?? It is much more likely that these women on the floor have done nothing at all. They were picked up to be used by animals. - WPA

“F**K You Lady”; Americans Harasses Shireen Mazari in Islamabad

A military-looking American with a female companion tried to intimidate known Pakistani defense expert Dr. Shireen Mazari during Sunday brunch at a restaurant in the federal capital. Dr. Mazari refused to budge and forced the alleged American serviceman to leave after yelling at him saying, “President Zardari cannot protect you everywhere.”

Terrorists Job made easy

I am in a state of depression since i watched this ... as usual the same rhetoric is being heard "this matter will be investigated, a joint investigation team has been formed, the culprits will be punished ... blah blah blah ... " listening to which has now become an insult to ones ears ...

The guy pleaded to be taken to a hospital before he fell ... but this is a routine in Pakistan, only a fraction of such events are reported, and only a fraction of a fraction of them get this much coverage ... but we will not wake up, because this is not enough ... not enough to wake us from the slumber ... perhaps we will not wake up unless each one of us feel the pain the same way felt by the father, mother, sister and other relatives of this fellow ...

How Pakistan was sold to America

By Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal

The standard narrative of Pak-US relationship always goes back to Liaqat Ali Khan’s so-called historic visit to the United States in May 1950, but there are gaps in that narrative which have never been filled. While it is true that Liaqat Ali Khan received a very warm welcome, it is seldom mentioned that this was due to the foresight of President Harry S. Truman, who saw opportunities in Pakistan against the Soviet Union with which the United States was locked in a cold war. Truman eagerly cultivated his relationship with the emerging country. Liaqat Ali Khan was invited to address the House of Representatives, he was taken to Lockheed Martin’s factory, he inspected aircraft, he was given high honors and his wife, Begum Liaqat Ali, was likewise treated as a royal guest. All of this was reflected in Liaqat Khan’s speech to the nation upon his return.

Geronimo's Tribe Calls on Obama to Apologise !

Air Blue Crash Conspiracy

I don't know why but since the day one I had very similar thoughts in my mind about this incident. Something was telling me that the pilot has intentionally sacrificed the entire aircraft to safe Pakistan from colossal catastrophe, something similar to catastrophe faced by Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11 false flag attack ... 


The very next day of this crash, I was of the opinion that perhaps this flight was hijacked and was destined to crash on some high profile target like American Embassy etc ... and then the blame would have been put on Al-Qaeda or Osama B.L for planning this attack, and that OBL is hiding in tribal belt of Pakistan, ... and the spectators would have seen history of Iraq and Afghanistan repeating on the Pakistani soil ... or perhaps American's would have brought Pakistan on the front foot in the entire region in this so called war on terror allowing itself to operate only as a financier, hence spending only a fraction of the total current expenditure ...   

I personally think that this is something, not exactly, but closer to the truth ...

Courtesy - Nawa-e-Waqt Newspaper

Google data about Pak ranking in porn sites false: ISPAK

Saturday, July 17, 2010

By Abrar Mustafa @ The News Newspaper

ISLAMABAD The FOXNews report - quoting Google - that Pakistan is at No 1 in using porn sites at the Internet is false and showed inaccurate data when it comes to identifying searches from various regions, said Pakistan’s Internet association.

There are 1.5 to 1.8 billion Internet users worldwide and Pakistan has only 5 to 8 million Internet users, less than 0.5% of global users and Internet penetration is less than 5% of total population, Wahajus Siraj, spokesman for Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK), said in a statement issued here on Friday.

The FOXNews story refers to Google Insights and Google Trends, he said, adding, Google Trends shows the searches coming from countries as well as their cities. In some searches like “how to make bomb”, New Zealand ranks No 1 and one of its cities is at No 2. This shows that if a country is ranking number one in a global search, some its cities should also be among top ranking cities. But if someone searched “horse sex” as reported in the story, Pakistan is at the top whereas none of Pakistani city is among the top ten. Similarly if someone tries all other words reported in the story, Pakistan comes on top but its cities don’t come on the top 10. This means that this data is badly managed and fabricated.

He said that if one goes to Google Insight and uses key porn words as mentioned in the story, Pakistan comes on the top. But if word “optical fiber” is typed, Pakistan also comes at No 2. Not many Internet users even know what fiber optic means and have little interest in it. Similarly, if word “missile” is typed, Pakistan again comes on the top. For word “nuclear”, Pakistan is on top again. For word laser printer, Pakistan is on sixth ranking and for “wimax”, Pakistan is on 4th number. 

Anyone having little knowledge can understand that not many Pakistanis would be using these sophisticated and high tech searches. This means that data and analysis of Google is false and not correct. 

Now if someone is searching Google for a particular porn website, the user must be viewing that site. If websites with key words reported in the FOX story are searched in the Google and then their names are matched from the Google’s own record of users accessing that site from a particular country, those websites are not accessed from Pakistan but from the USA and other countries. 

The data from another renowned ranking site, alexa.com, that ranks top sites accessed from a country does not show any pornographic site among top 40 websites frequently accessed from Pakistan. Top website accessed from Pakistan is Google, followed by Youtube, Facebook and others.

Siraj said: “We demand an immediate apology from FOXNews for exploiting the data to let 170 million Pakistani people down as part of wicked campaign against Pakistan and also from Google on showing these wrong statistics and to correct its indexing.

Poisoning Children in Pakistan

An investigation undertaken by this newspaper (The Dawn) has revealed the presence of dangerously high levels of contaminants in toys commonly available in Karachi.

These toxic metals and chemicals include elements such as lead, cadmium and various phthalates that are serious health hazards. Worryingly, there is no system in Karachi — or indeed the country — to keep a check on contaminant levels in toys, whether locally manufactured, imported or smuggled. The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority, the country’s apex body for quality control, has no toy-specific guidelines.

Without instituting quality-control guidelines or laws, Pakistan has allowed the unbridled import of toys on the one hand, and permitted local manufacturers of such items to set their own profit-driven standards on the other. The manufacturers are not required to meet any safety or standardisation guidelines, and no audit has ever been undertaken to examine the quality of materials used, such as plastics and dyes. This can cause untold harm to children. For example, even exposure to low levels of lead can have a cumulative effect and retard mental growth, while phthalates, which are absorbed through the mouth or skin, have been linked to hormone/metabolic disorders besides birth defects in the user’s children.

The risk posed by toxic toys is high enough for other countries to pass legislation on the matter; the US, for example, banned toys containing phthalates in 2008, while in 2007 nearly 19 million toys were withdrawn worldwide by Mattel, a toy company, because of health risks to children. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission undertook an investigation into lead levels in toys last December, and the government of India has also recently committed to testing all toys for toxicity. It is vital that Pakistan undertake similar efforts; with the country’s population skewed so heavily towards the young, any exposure to toxins is unacceptable.

US plans $1.4bn media aid for Pak

By Reuters Published Monday, March 01, 2010

The Obama administration sent lawmakers this week a plan for $1.45 billion (Dh5.32bn) in aid for Pakistan this year, funding media campaigns to counter extremist views as well as water, energy and other projects.

The 2010 spending plan, obtained by Reuters, was sent to lawmakers as part of the US administration's obligation to consult Congress over the civilian aid package.

"It represents a rebalancing of the military and civilian assistance," Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew told Reuters of the package, part of a $7.5bn, five-year aid plan passed by Congress for Pakistan last year. There is strong anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and the hope is this new assistance will help ease that tension.

About $50 million is set aside for a "comprehensive communications strategy" to counter extremist views and strengthen Pakistani institutions and moderate voices, the report to Congress said.

"This effort will reduce the ability of Al Qaeda and other extremists to influence public perceptions and attitudes and support Pakistan's people and government as they establish a more secure, prosperous and lasting state," the report said. This would include a so-called rapid response team to monitor Pakistani and regional media and "swiftly correct inaccurate reporting," of which the US complains it is often a target.

The US has a difficult relationship with Pakistan and at the end of last year, Islamabad said US funding had slowed despite promises of a big injection of aid, which was more than $10bn in the past nine years.

Bolton Market CCTV Footage Controversy: Tension between CDGK and Sindh Government

Karachi: Tension between City District Government Karachi and Sindh Government has increased after the blast at Moharram procession in Karachi.

Provincial Interior Minister Zulfiqar Mirza said in a statement on Thursday that the footage released by City Nazim Mustafa Kamal is not the whole truth. This statement came after a controversial episode between the law enforcement agencies and CDGK officials at the Command and Control Centre at City Government Head Office on Monday.

Federal Investigation Agency and two other secret agencies raided the City District Government Karachi office on Monday evening, right after the Karachi Blast, and ceased an effort to destroy evidences of Karachi Blast aftermath from the CCTV footage. The agency seized all CCTV camera recordings and took copies of the unedited video record from City Government, Investigation Cell learnt from reliable sources. The FIA Team was headed by Mir Zubair Mahmood, Director FIA Sindh.

During the raid, several employees of City District Government were interrogated about the editing of footages. Important information from different departments of CDGK, including the Fire Department, were collected about the fire at Bolton market and surrounding areas. Raids were carried out later the following night in the light of this information.

City Nazim Mustafa Kamal at City District Government Karachi Office

The intelligence agencies are swiftly proceeding in the investigations of Karachi Bomb Blast and its aftermath. Sources from within the intelligence told Investigation Cell that there are several CCTV cameras installed at M.A. Jinnah Road and due to the recordings, the culprits can be traced easily and brought to justice. Hence, the original unedited CCTV footage is extremely important.

The source said that the footage was released by the City Government after editing, without consulting the intelligence agencies. It was not the original footage and was extensively edited.

The source also said that City Government officials threatened the security officials, including a serving Major in an agency, and resisted harshly when asked to hand over the original videos. However, when some ‘techniques’ were used for few CDGK officials, they handed over the CCTV recordings.

The Fire Department also came under investigation by the intelligence agencies including FIA. The officials of Fire Department were inquired about as to why the fire tenders reached the crime scene after 3 hours and what caused the delay.

City Nazim Mustafa Kamal and Interior Minister Sindh Zulfiqar Mirza

However, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal said that we handed over the entire footage to the administration on day one and his team reached the bomb blast location in 3 minutes and 32 seconds. He further said that we should not fight with each other and try to deal with the current situation.

When asked about Zulfiqar Mirza’s statement City Nazim Mustafa Kamal said that he does not want to comment on that. City Nazim said that the police did not try to arrest a single miscreant and the responsibility of police lies with Sindh Government. He said that the people involved in burning the markets are enemies of Karachi and Pakistan.

Source: http://www.awamimarkaz.com/2009/12/footage-controversy-intelligence-agency-raids-cdgk-office/