Islamabad is Ready - India, US, & Israel!

India ready to discuss all issues with Pak: Krishna - Hindustan Times

India ready to discuss all issues with Pak: Krishna - Hindustan Times

India ready to discuss all issues with Pak: Krishna
Press Trust Of India

 
New York, September 25, 2010
First Published: 11:00 IST(25/9/2010)

courtesy: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/americas/India-ready-to-discuss-all-issues-with-Pakistan-Krishna/Article1-604356.aspx

Brushing aside recent stepped up rhetoric from Pakistan, India on Friday said it was ready to discuss all issues with Islamabad, including Kashmir. "Everything that they want to discuss and everything we want to discuss with them will be discussed" during Pakistan

He was reacting to questions on recent Pakistan Foreign Office statement that there can be no result-oriented discussions with India on Kashmir unless it stops treating it as its integral part and Qureshi's remarks seeking US intervention on the issue.

Krishna, who is here for the UN General Assembly session, said he looked forward to hosting Qureshi in India. "Well I was in Islamabad and we did talk and I have invited Excellency Qureshi to come to India and he has very graciously accepted my invitation," Krishna said. "I am looking forward to hosting him in Delhi... and the dates have to be worked out."

Qureshi, who is also here, has raised the issue of Kashmir several times during the past few days and called for international intervention.

Addressing a small gathering at the Asia Society, the Pakistani Foreign Minister described Kashmir as a "festering sore of South Asia."

"The United States, as the world leader, has special responsibility towards finding a just and peaceful solution of Kashmir," the minister said.

However later in the day, Qureshi appeared to tone down, noting that the US could play a "facilitating role." "I know India is allergic to third party intervention," he said. "They (US) can play a facilitating role but ultimately ... we have to see what Kashmiris want," he said.

Rebuffing Pakistan's attempt to involve the international community in resolving the Kashmir issue, India has categorically said there is "no scope" of third party mediation on Kashmir which is an integral part of the country.

Krishna, however, underlined that despite these recent remarks by Pakistan, talks would continue. "India wants to keep Pakistan engaged in talks because we do not see any other alternatives...talks are the only way to take this forward," the Indian minister said.

"I think India has already reacted to whatever Foreign Minister Qureshi has said and I do not have to repeat...," he said in response to a question.

Qureshi and Krishna had a "chance encounter" on Thursday at the UN, where they greeted each other warmly and talked about the floods in Pakistan.

At this stage, Indian diplomats have not confirmed any bilateral meeting between the two ministers here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, but a senior diplomat from Pakistani claimed that a meeting had been cleared by both ministries and was expected to take place early next week.

Krishna is in New York till September 29 while Qureshi till September 30.
 

'China should be stopped from building N-reactors for Pak' - Hindustan Times

'China should be stopped from building N-reactors for Pak' - Hindustan Times

'China should be stopped from building N-reactors for Pak'
Press Trust Of India
Washington, September 25, 2010
First Published: 13:17 IST(25/9/2010)

 

courtesy: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/americas/China-should-be-stopped-from-building-N-reactors-for-Pak/Article1-604401.aspx

China should be stopped from going ahead with its move to transfer new atomic reactors to Pakistan which is "not a responsible nuclear power," a top American Congressman has said. "Pakistan greatly damaged global security by allowing this rogue (nuclear scientist AQ Khan) free reign in that India takes note of Chinese move on N-reactors in Pakcountry. 

China's plan to build another two nuclear reactors in Pakistan violates Nuclear Suppliers' Group rules. It should be stopped," Congressman Ed Royce said at a Congressional hearing.


He recalled that years ago, he had raised the issue of the "ring magnets" that China was transferring to Pakistan "to develop a nuclear weapon, that was obviously what was intended on the part of Pakistan."

Royce, who is co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, said at the hearing on nuclear cooperation and non-proliferation: "Now we know that China's irresponsibility in proliferation ... gave rise to the capability of Pakistan, which subsequently trumped China's irresponsibility with its own, because that knew no limits in terms of AQ Khan's ability to proliferate."

"So the fact that AQ Khan, supposedly Pakistan's most popular man, two weeks ago went on Pakistani television and spoke about his future as the nation's president that should be more than troubling to us in terms of Pakistan and the future. The government there just is not a responsible nuclear power. That needs to be addressed," Royce said.

Participating in the Congressional hearing held by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, several other US lawmakers also expressed concerns about the latest Chinese move to build two nuclear reactors to Pakistan.

"If China proceeds with the sale of the two new reactors to Pakistan, what is the likely impact on the Nuclear Suppliers Group? Should the US attempt to persuade the NSG to disapprove the sale? Should China be expelled from the NSG? What is the cost of doing nothing?" Congressman Joe Wilson asked.

Here's what is happening in India Capital suggestion By Dr Farrukh Saleem

Here's what is happening in India

Capital suggestion By Dr Farrukh Saleem

courtesy: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=134761546566747

Indians and Pakistanis have the same Y-chromosome haplogroup. We have the same genetic sequence and the same genetic marker (namely: M124).We have the same DNA molecule, the same DNA sequence. Our culture, our traditions and our cuisine are all the same. We watch the same movies and sing the same songs. What is it that Indians have and we don't? INDIANS ELECT THEIR LEADERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And also to mention: They think of Construction of own nation, unlike other nations who are just concerned with destruction of others... Simple answer to why the Indians fare better than the Pakistanis - They don't focus on religion all the time and neither do they spend time and money in devising ways to kill their own and everyone else over religion.

The two Ambani brothers can buy 100 percent of every company listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and would still be left with $30 billion to spare. The four richest Indians can buy up all goods and services produced over a year by 169 million Pakistanis and still be left with $60 billion to spare. The four richest Indians are now richer than the forty richest Chinese. In November, Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex flirted with 20,000 points. As a consequence, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries became a $100 bill ion company (the entire KSE is capitalized at $65 billion). Mukesh owns 48 percent of Reliance. In November, comes Neeta's birthday. Neeta turned forty-four three weeks ago. Look what she got from her husband as her birthday gift: A sixty-million dollar jet with a custom fitted master bedroom, bathroom with mood lighting, a sky bar, entertainment cabins, satellite television, wireless communication and a separate cabin with game consoles. Neeta is Mukesh Ambani's wife, and Mukesh is not India 's richest but the second richest.

Mukesh is now building his new home, Residence Antillia (after a mythical, phantom island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean ). At a cost of $1 billion this would be the most expensive home on the face of the planet. At 173 meters tall Mukesh's new family residence, for a family of six, will be the equivalent of a 60-storeyed building. The first six floors are reserved for parking. The seventh floor is for car servicing and maintenance.. The eighth floor houses a mini-theatre. Then there's a health club, a gym and a swimming pool. Two floors are reserved for Ambani family's guests. Four floors above the guest floors are family floors all with a superb view of the Arabian Sea On top of everything are three helipads. A staff of 600 is expected to care for the family and their family home.

In 2004, India became the 3rd most attractive foreign direct investment destination. Pakistan wasn't even in the top 25 countries. In 2004, the United Nations, the representative body of 192 sovereign member states, had requested the Election Commission of India to assist the UN in the holding elections in Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah and Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan. Why the Election Commission of India and not the Election Commission of Pakistan? After all, Islamabad is closer to Kabul than is Delhi . Imagine, 12 percent of all American scientists are of Indian origin; 38 percent of doctors in America are Indian; 36 percent of NASA scientists are Indians; 34 percent of Microsoft employees are Indians; and 28 percent of IBM employees are Indians. For the record: Sabeer Bhatia created and founded Hotmail. Sun Microsystems was founded by Vinod Khosla. The Intel Pentium processor, that runs 90 percent of all computers, was fathered by Vinod Dham. Rajiv Gupta co-invented Hewlett Packard's E-speak project. Four out often Silicon Valley start-ups are run by Indians. Bollywood produces 800 movies per year and six Indian ladies have won Miss Universe/Miss World titles over the past 10 years. For the record: Azim Premji, the richest Muslim entrepreneur on the face of the planet, was born in Bombay and now lives in Bangalore.India now has more than three dozen billionaires; Pakistan has none (not a single dollar billionaire).

The other amazing aspect is the rapid pace at which India is creating wealth. In 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh and Anil Ambani's father, left his two sons a fortune worth $2.8 billion. In 2007, their combined wealth stood at $94 billion. On 29 October 2007, as a result of the stock market rally and the appreciation of the Indian rupee, Mukesh became the richest person in the world, with net worth climbing to US$63.2 billion (Bill Gates, the richest American, stands at around $56 billion). 

Indians and Pakistanis have the same Y-chromosome haplogroup. We have the same genetic sequence and the same genetic marker (namely: M124).We have the same DNA molecule, the same DNA sequence. Our culture, our traditions and our cuisine are all the same. We watch the same movies and sing the same songs. What is it that Indians have and we don't? INDIANS ELECT THEIR LEADERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And also to mention: They think of Construction of own nation, unlike other nations who are just concerned with destruction of others... Simple answer to why the Indians fare better than the Pakistanis - They don't focus on religion all the time and neither do they spend time and money in devising ways to kill their own and everyone else over religion.

every muslim thinks that he is on a higher moral ground than other non muslims on the basis of his religion and thats the root cause of their problems...

Musharraf eyes return to Pakistan politics

Musharraf eyes return to Pakistan politics

Musharraf eyes return to Pakistan politics

Bureau Report

Updated on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 14:19

courtesy: http://www.zeenews.com/news655228.html

Hong Kong: Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday he is gearing up for a return to politics and will launch a new party next month — two years after he stepped down as president after nationwide protests and left the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of an investor conference in Hong Kong, Musharraf expressed confidence he could regain popularity and would return to Pakistan for the next national elections, scheduled for 2013. He said he will announce the establishment of the All Pakistan Muslim League in London on Oct. 1 and outline his political platform.

Musharraf stepped down from office in August 2008 after months of protests and a heavy election defeat for his supporters. He now spends most of his time in Britain.

If he returns to Pakistan, he could face legal scrutiny over the bloodless coup in October 1999 that brought him to power and the subsequent nine years of military rule — particularly a state of emergency declared as protests against him mounted in late 2007.

"My going back is dependent certainly on an environment to be created in Pakistan," Musharraf said, but added, "I would say with certainty in the next elections, whenever the signs of the next elections come up, I will be there in Pakistan."

Despite serving as army chief and dominating his volatile country for years, it remains unclear if Musharraf, 67, would now wield much political clout.

While he retains links to the country's army elite, he lacks a solid political constituency. During his rule, he was widely perceived as subordinate to Washington for supporting its fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, which could also hurt his standing among a largely anti-U.S. public.

Musharraf acknowledged he had lost popularity in Pakistan, especially after firing the chief justice — who has since been reinstated — and the subsequent state of emergency. But he said he was confident he can rebuild a support base rooted in Pakistan's youth and others disillusioned with politics. He noted that more than 75 percent of his 295,000 followers on Facebook are between the ages of 18 and 34.

"Therefore I know that it is the youth that is yearning for change. It's the youth that is demoralized today. And I know that they can be awakened and brought out to introduce a new political culture into Pakistan," he said.

Musharraf said he isn't aware of any pending legal actions in Pakistan against him stemming from his presidency but is prepared to face any that emerge.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the state of emergency was unconstitutional, but Pakistan's current prime minister has ruled out bringing treason charges against Musharraf unless Parliament passed a unanimous resolution requesting them.

"I'm prepared to face that for the sake of Pakistan. And I know since whatever I did has all the legal backing and legal cover, I'm very confident that nothing can happen legally against me," he said.

Bureau Report

Kashmir News - People of Gilgit Baltistan resist Pakistan's militarisation

TheKashmirNews | April 06, 2010

Gilgit,April 06:Gilgit Baltistan today is going through a phase where protests and rallies are rising by the day.From Diamer to Gizer people are rising against Pakistan and its army. While some are raising their voice against military atrocities,some are rallying against the radicalization of the younger generation.

Kashmir News - Poor health facilities exacerbate Gilgit Baltistan situation

TheKashmirNews | April 13, 2010

Gilgit, April 13: The people in Gilgit Baltistan, the northern most part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, are facing severe health problems due to lack of basic facilities, especially in the far flung areas of the mountainous region. Outwardly, the region ranks among the most beautiful places in the world, but beneath it is an expanse of the most enduring oppression and despair.

Kashmir News - Kashmiri leaders renew call for complete autonomy in Paki...

TheKashmirNews | April 28, 2010

Muzaffarabad, APRIL 27: Pakistan Occupied Kashmir appears to have been finally caught in a mess of the making of its leaders. Though called Azad or independent Kashmir, the region stills finds itself under the tight grip of Islamabad and in a neglected state with basic human rights and development a far cry.

Kashmir News - People of Gilgit Baltistan want to remain a part of Jammu...

TheKashmirNews | May 04, 2010

Gilgit, May 04: Terming the 2009 Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment Ordinance as a colonial-type package, nationalist leaders of Gilgit and Occupied Kashmir has said the reforms are a move designed to divide Kashmir.

Kashmir News - Ethnic and Religious Divide deepen in Pakistan occupied K...

TheKashmirNews | June 01, 2010

Muzaffarabad, June 01:The identity factor has marked the political history of pakistan in the last sixty years.Much like the early colonizers, Islamabad continues to exploit the religious differences to oppress and rule occupied Kashmir and its people.

Kashmir News - Pakistan continues to export terror to Kashmir

TheKashmirNews | June 08, 2010

Muzaffarabad,June 08: A two-decade-old long insurgency may not end in Jammu and Kashmir unless Pakistan stops arming,training and sending militants to the Himalayan state,security analysts have said.

The Pakistani government has pledged to not allow the use of its soil for any terrorist activities and to rein in the militant outfits, but much of the terror infrastructure in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir has remained intact.

India has long accused Pakistan and its main spy agency the ISI of sheltering, training and arming these militant groups and has become another sore point in bilateral relations.

Kashmir News-Survey debunks Pakistan's propaganda on Kashmir

TheKashmirNews | June 15, 2010

Muzaffarabad,June 15:Despite being the flash point of the dispute between India and Pakistan for over six decades,the political stalemate over the Himalayan region of Kashmir is far from over.

A latest independent survey has also indicated that 98 percent of Kashmiris are against joining Pakistan and a plebiscite is no longer an option in the Valley.

Kashmir News - LSE report exposes Pakistan's links with Taliban

TheKashmirNews | July 06, 2010

London, July 06: Islamabad has always been in a constant state of denial over its linkages with the Taliban and other militant groups. Pakistani military intelligence not only funds and trains the dreaded militia but is officially represented on the Taliban's leadership council, a London School of Economics report has said. The Pakistan government's apparent duplicity could have enormous geo-political implications in the region.

Kashmir News - Pakistani mafia tightens hold on LoC trade

TheKashmirNews | July 13, 2010

Muzaffarabad, July 13: For the people of the Kashmir Valley locked as they are into an isolated region surrounded by high mountains, the opening of trade routes with Jammu and Kashmir in 2008 was a huge relief. But ever since, a cartel of Pakistani bureaucrats and traders has exploited the transit routes to meet their own ends.

Would like see some facts from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir). Last 60 years it is with Pakistan it has no development at all. Though it is called as Azad Kashmir by some people, Pakistan shows it as it's own.

Unemployed Youth Seething with Anger in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

TheKashmirNews | July 20, 2010

Muzaffarabad, July 20: Unemployment among the educated youth in Pakistan occupied Kashmir has touched new heights with several thousands of candidates applying for a few hundred posts advertised by the local authorities.

Kashmir News - Anti-India Terror Camps Mushroom in Muzaffarbad

TheKashmirNews | August 24, 2010

Gilgit,August24.Even though the Pakistani government has pledged to not allow the use of its soil for any terrorist activities, the terror infrastructure in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir has remained intact.These groups continue to recruit foot soldiers for jehad from the numerous seminaries they have established in the region.

In the areas closer to LoC, the Line of Control these militants are controlling matters. So people living in this area their human rights… where are their human rights if these militants here? These militants only know to kill.

For all the years of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad has been the hub of terrorist activity, where militants from across Pakistan regroup and rearm before trying to infiltrate into Indian territory.

In the absence of a genuine democratic setup, Muzaffarabad has continued to play according to the dictates that come from Pakistan and its all powerful military, who are known to have formed many of these terror groups in the eighties and nineties for waging a proxy war against India.

Kashmir News - People of Gilgit Baltistan Demand Complete Independence

TheKashmirNews | July 27, 2010

Gilgit,July 27: Legally and constitutionally Gilgit Baltistan is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir,but practically Pakistan has annexed these areas.Irony is Islamabad still presents itself as a champion of Kashmiri people's right to self determination,even as it

suppresses the same in the part it occupies.

In a region ruled by a puppet government and a corrupt bureaucracy, life has always been a struggle for the two thirds of the population that lives below the poverty line.

And nationalist’s seven parties were even NOT allowed to participate in the elections.

The election held was total fraud. Those who were pro- Pakistanis, those in Pakistani parties, they participated in the elections and they were allowed to win.

Kashmir News - Pakistan destroys Gilgit Baltistan's heritage

TheKashmirNews | August 03, 2010

Gilgit,August 03: Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is a treasure trove of ancient history.But rampant smuggling of its ancient artifacts and a proposed dam which will inundate the area is likely to destroy the rare heritage of the Himalayan region.

Gilgit Baltistan which spans over an approximately 27,000 sq mile area is a treasure trove of ancient history.

An incredible 50,000 rock carvings and 5,000 inscriptions in as many as 39 different scripts have been discovered here so far, dating back to the 9th and 8th millennium BC.

Kashmir News - Kashmiris in Pakistan occupied Kashmir Observe October 22...

Muzaffarabad, November 03 (ANI): It was on 22nd October 1947 that the Pakistan army in the guise of tribals invaded a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiris have since suffered the worst- facing repression, death and destruction, all for a cause that has been misguided and distorted to match the expansionist policies of Islamabad.

October 22nd continues to be observed as a 'Black Day' by Kashmiris across the world.

Kashmir News - Protests against Pakistans Gilgit Package

Gilgit, November 17 (ANI): Despite strong and wide spread opposition to the Presidential Ordinance by Pakistan titled Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009, election was induced on November 12 in the long suppressed and exploited region of the divided Kashmir state. The reforms package promises to give full internal and political autonomy to Gilgit Baltistan by restructuring the existing legislative set-up which critics say is an old wine in a new bottle.

Although Gilgit-Baltistan does not have representation in the national assembly and Senate, that did not stop the government of Pakistan from collecting direct and indirect taxes from the people, without taking enough care to plough these resources back for development of the region.

protest aganest Gilgit Baltistan Self Governance Ord in rawalakot ajk

Check out Political Autonomy for Gilgit Baltistan a Distant Dream

Check out Political Autonomy for Gilgit Baltistan a Distant Dream

Political Autonomy for Gilgit Baltistan a Distant DreamGilgit, September 14: The Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Ordinance promulgated in August 2009 was directed towards granting internal political autonomy to Gilgit Baltistan. The...

Pakistan: A land left to drown by the ‘timber mafia’

Pakistan: A land left to drown by the ‘timber mafia’

courtesy: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/a-land-left-to-drown-by-the-timber-mafia-1.1051230

29 Aug 2010

The warnings regularly given by all manner of experts had been ignored for decades.

If Pakistan’s authorities continued to allow the country’s timber mafia and a benighted and oppressed peasantry to strip the country’s forests at a faster rate than anywhere else in Asia, as is happening, floods of Biblical proportions would be inevitable. They would not be acts of God. They would be man-made catastrophes.

And so it came to pass – as August began – that heavier than usual, but not unprecedented, monsoon rains fell on the largely forest-denuded northwest Himalayan, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains and foothills, swelling the mighty 2000 mile-long Indus river, originating in Tibet, and others such as the Jhelum, Swat, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and their many tributaries.

What then happened, reports by Pakistani journalists and environmental campaigners have steadily established, was truly terrifying.

Trees felled by so-called illegal loggers – an infamous “timber mafia” that has representatives in the Pakistan Parliament in Islamabad and connections right to the top of government and the military – are stacked in the innumerable nullahs [steep narrow valleys], gorges and ravines leading into the main rivers. From there they are fed into the legal trade, earning the mafia billions of dollars yearly. “Other than landslides, soil erosion and the occasional homes and crops being swept away, it [the forest denudation] was not considered a disaster and hence didn’t make the headlines,” wrote Ayesha Tammy Haq, a columnist with the Pakistan daily Express Tribune newspaper.

These forests used to absorb the ferocity of the floodwaters, Tahir Qureshi, forestry expert

But the deforestation and other actions of the timber mafia were ticking time bombs waiting for a trigger to set off explosions.

This year’s monsoon lashing northern Pakistan with unusual intensity would historically have been absorbed by extensive forests, much like multiple layers of blotting paper, allowing the rains to run off more sedately than in modern times.

But this month the mud and water deluge cascaded off the tree-bare mountains and hills with exceptional force and barrelled down towards the plains in mammoth fury. In a trade-off, the timber mafia had allowed the mountain poor to raid the logs stacked in the nullahs to make doors, window frames and furniture for their homes. But, propelled by the force of the run-off, the logs turned into instruments of destruction, smashing all in their wake. Rivers and dams turned black with timber. Relief workers said bridges, homes and people were destroyed and swept away by the hurtling and swirling logs before the waters spread on to the plains below, engulfing an area of more than 60,000 square miles, more than twice the land area of Scotland.

The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that some 8000 schools were either destroyed or partially destroyed by the torrents.

It is not only the mountain forests that have been devastated. When Pakistan became independent from Britain and separated from India in 1947, thick riverine forests lined the Indus on its thousand mile journey across the plains.

“These forests used to absorb the ferocity of the floodwaters,” said Tahir Qureshi, a Pakistan-based forestry expert for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

“The riverine forests were the first line of defence against the raging floods [which have inundated the plains annually for thousands of years]. They have been cut everywhere from Murree [a hill station on the Jhelum River before it fans out onto the plains] to lower Punjab [in the heart of the plains] to upper Sindh [the province where the Indus flows into the Arabian Sea via a massive delta].”

Just before this year’s monsoon broke over Pakistan, local journalists reported that a landlord, a leading member of the plains branch of the timber mafia, had sent in hundreds of employees, equipped with guns and heavy machinery, to chop down thousands of trees in one of the most important remaining riverine forests in Sindh, the Khebrani and Rais Mureed Forest along the banks of the Indus.

Despite a ban on the cutting down of forests, local journalist Salam Dharejo reported that the landlord, with support from top forestry and environmental protection officials, established a camp for his labourers “and within two nights cleared 180 acres of forest land by chopping down 90,000 trees”.

Dharejo continued: “As a consequence of political interventions, the corruption of forest officials and the nexus between land grabbers and the timber mafia over the last 25 years, the riverine forests of Sindh are on the verge of extinction … They have been ruthlessly exploited by the law enforcement agencies, politicians and bureaucrats for their own vested interests. Policemen took bribes from the timber mafia in return for allowing them to fell trees.”

Dharejo quoted a forest department official as saying of the Pakistan government’s much trumpeted reforestation strategy: “You will not find a single fresh forest. The reforestation exists only on paper, while on the ground you will find ruthless deforestation. Forestry officers are involved in unauthorised wood-cutting and issuing of unauthorised passes for the transportation of forest wood and disposal of government machinery.”

Ghulam Hussain Khoso, a cattle herder resident within the Khebrani and Rais Mureed Forest, said: “I have been born and brought up here. Over time I have seen the rapidly decreasing size of the green patches. I do not trust that the forest department will ever improve forest conditions. The dacoits [traditional fabled bandits] were better custodians of the forest than the forest department itself. The thick forests served as a hideout for the dacoits: therefore they protected them and did not allow anyone to destroy them.”

Dawn, Pakistan’s most widely circulated English language daily newspaper, said 80 million trees had been chopped down in the “protected” Khebrani and Rais Mureed Forest in the three years before the floods inundated the plains this month. In just 36 months the forest had shrunk from nearly 20 square miles to barely three square miles, causing serious damage to the environment and hurting the livelihoods of local herders, like Ghulam Hussain Khoso, whose ancestors had grazed their livestock in the woodlands for generations without devastating the ecosystem.

“The claims and slogans of officialdom are completely divorced from reality,” said Dawn in an editorial. “The government is promoting ‘Green Pakistan’ even as trees continue to be slaughtered across the country in the name of development. The timber mafia is denuding the country’s woodlands. The situation is desperate and is deteriorating by the day.”

Some 900 miles to the north, in the mountains north of Murree, the story is similar. In the Ayubia National Park – legally a government-protected forest – the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported, before the current flooding happened: “The forest is disappearing fast, threatening the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people.”

A forest official, quoted by the UN agency on condition of anonymity, said government officials were encouraging the forest mafia to extract trees from the Ayubia Park. “The first major illegal tree-felling took place in 1988,” said the official. “About 400,000 cubic feet of forest wood was illegally cut in that year, and one million cubic feet was extracted illegally in the next three years. Huge fellings continue.”

The official said the government allowed the illegal timber to be exported to other provinces without a fine, which encouraged the timber mafia to cut down ever more trees knowing it had political clout. “The government did begin to fine fellings, but the fine was so small that it encouraged the timber mafia instead of discouraging them,” the official added.

By 2005 Pakistan had lost 25% of the forest cover that existed in 1990. Experts predict at current rates of exploitation – more than 100 square miles of trees clear-felled annually – the remaining forests will all be gone by 2010. It means this year’s catastrophic floods will be repeated again and again, and all the aid in the world will do little good until someone, somehow, begins a reforestation programme. As John Muir, the great Scottish naturalist, once said: “God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.”

Response to Ahmadiyya Mosque Attacks in Lahore, Pakistan

An Ahmadi Muslim responds to the attacks on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore. The root cause of this terror against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community lies in the anti-Blasphemy laws which are part of Pakistan's Constitution.

'Mumbai II could spark off full blown Indo-Pak war' - Hindustan Times

'Mumbai II could spark off full blown Indo-Pak war' - Hindustan Times

'Mumbai II could spark off full blown Indo-Pak war'

Press Trust Of India

Washington, September 11, 2010First Published: 08:07 IST(11/9/2010)

Last Updated: 10:45 IST(11/9/2010)

As US observes the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, a reputed Washington-based research group today warned that a repeat of 26/11 may lead to a full blown Indo-Pak war. Preventing Mumbai-II from occurring remains a major foreign policy challenge for the US, the report said.

"One of the more predictable foreign policy challenges of the next years is a 'Mumbai II': a large-scale attack on a major Indian city by a Pakistani militant group that kills hundreds," said the 42-page report from the Bipartisan Policy Centre's National Security Preparedness Group, a Washington based research group.

Authored by Peter Bergen and Bruce Hoffman, the report "Assessing the Terrorist Threat" appreciated the considerable restraint shown by India in its reaction to the provocation of the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

"Another such attack, however, would likely produce considerable political pressure on the Indian government to 'do something'. That something would likely involve incursions over the border to eliminate the training camps of Pakistani militant groups with histories of attacking India," the report said.

"That could lead in turn to a full-blown war for the fourth time since 1947 between India and Pakistan," it said. "Such a war involves the possibility of a nuclear exchange and the certainty that Pakistan would move substantial resources to its eastern border and away from fighting the Taliban on its western border, so relieving pressure on all the militant groups based there, including al-Qaeda," said the report.

Over a three-day period in late November 2008, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out multiple attacks in Mumbai targeting five-star hotels housing Westerners, as well as a Jewish-American community centre, it noted. Additional incidents involved the Pakistan-born US citizen David Headley (who had changed his name from Daood Sayed Gilani).

Headley's reconnaissance efforts on behalf of LeT were pivotal to the attacks in Mumbai, the report said. "Last year he also planned an operation to kill those responsible for the 2005 publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which many Muslims had deemed to be offensive," the report said.

The Hindu : News / National : “To engage Pakistan does not mean surrender”

The Hindu : News / National : “To engage Pakistan does not mean surrender”

“To engage Pakistan does not mean surrender”

SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN

NEW DELHI, September 7, 2010

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article617940.ece

Stoutly defending his decision to resume talks with Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday that India must engage with its neighbour “regardless of the complexion of the set-up in Islamabad” and that “engagement does not mean surrender.”

Dr. Singh also said the leaderships of India and China were committed to the peaceful resolution of all outstanding differences, even if the bilateral relationship was a mix of both competition and cooperation.

He was speaking to a group of editors at his residence. “Engagement is necessary in order to convey our concerns to Pakistan. Conveying our concerns through the media or harsh statements in public or statements in Parliament is not as effective as talking face to face with the regime that may be in power in Pakistan,” he said.

The dialogue process came to a halt after 26/11 because Indian public opinion demanded that “Pakistan [be held] to account for this tragedy.” India had hoped that this would give India leverage “to coerce Pakistan to pay greater attention to our concerns but unfortunately that has not happened,” he said. “I think Pakistan has acquired a greater amount of leverage in dealing with the United States and others and [so] the results were not as expected.” That is why at Thimpu “my effort was to find ways and means of getting the two countries once again back on the path to a dialogue,” the Prime Minister said.

Acknowledging that things had not moved smoothly since then — in India-Pakistan relations there are always mishaps, uncertainties, some things happen like what happened at the two Foreign Minister meetings — Dr. Singh said it was his sincere belief that the process of engagement had to continue regardless of the government that was in power there. “But that does not mean Pakistan will change its thinking vis-à-vis India, that it would cease to regard an India-centric policy as its number one priority. We have to be realistic enough to take account of all the uncertainties that have been our bedevilling relations for nearly 60 years. But at the same time, if we don't want to go to war then engagement and dialogue are the only way forward,” he added.

Asked how the process was likely to be carried forward, Dr. Singh said he hoped Pakistan's Foreign Minister S.M. Qureshi, “accepts the invitation of our Foreign Minister and visits us.”

On Afghanistan, he said, India was committed to assisting the people of that country in their efforts to develop as well as to maintain their democratic system and independence. This was a commitment India would abide by even after the U.S. and other foreign forces left Afghanistan, he added.

Keywords: India-Pakistan relations, Mumbai terror attacks, Manmohan Singh

DAWN.COM | Islamabad | Meat prices set to go up by 20 per cent

DAWN.COM | Islamabad | Meat prices set to go up by 20 per cent

Meat prices set to go up by 20 per cent

By A Reporter

Sunday, 15 Aug, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Aug 14: The local meat sellers are planning to increase the price by Rs50 on the pretext that the country is facing shortage of animals due to floods, Dawn has learnt.

This is despite the fact that the villagers are willing to sell animals at lower than market rates.

Meat sellers want to increase price by Rs50 per kilogram for mutton and around Rs30 per kilogram for beef, claming that large number of animals were killed in the floods and the remaining were not enough to meet the requirement.

“The situation is serious and we expect that meat prices would increase by up to 20 per cent in two weeks,” said Khursheed Qureshi, Chairman Jamiat–ul-Quraish, meat welfare association.

The authorities, including the international donors, estimate that around 450,000 domestic animals—goats, sheep, cattle, and loading animals—might have perished in the floods.

The meat merchants claim they were facing problems in purchasing animals from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and western and southern Punjab as weekly animal markets have not been held. “Unfortunately most of the cattle and goat rearing areas like Mianwali, Bhakhar, Layyah, Kot Addu and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been hit by floods,” Mr Qureshi said.

This situation has created a new crisis for animals sellers. “There is no grass around, and the straw stored in the open and fields for animals has been swept away,” said Akram Burq, a resident of Khushab district, whose village has been inundated. “A young cow having a market value of Rs40,000 is being sold only for Rs25,000,” he added.

Many villagers are selling livestock at lower prices, as they cannot feed their cattle and fear that animals would die of disease and weakness.

“Actually it’s a balancing act to get away with some of the animals to save others,” said Asfandyar Khattak, who lives in a village near Nowshera. He said the older cows and buffaloes that give milk are costlier and people try to save such animals.

Mr Qureshi, who is also a director of the Dairy Development Board, acknowledged that livestock rates have declined in flood-hit areas.

“But the real benefit is being bagged by the middleman,” he said, adding that the devastating flood was hindering transportation of animals to main cities. He said the only way out of the situation is to import fodder to feed the surviving livestock.

Nineteen killed in Lakki Marwat terror attack By Ghulam Mursalin Marwat

Nineteen killed in Lakki Marwat terror attack

By Ghulam Mursalin Marwat 

Tuesday, 07 Sep, 2010

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/schoolchildren-among-19-killed-in-lakki-marwat-terror-attack-790

LAKKI MARWAT, Sept 6: A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a police station here on Monday, killing 19 people and injuring 57. 

Four schoolchildren, aged between nine and 10, a schoolteacher and nine policemen were among the dead in the early morning blast, police said. 

(According to Reuters, Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack and warned the government not to use lashkar to fight the group.) 

An official said the bomber detonated about 500 to 600 kilograms of explosives in a land behind the police station at around 7 am. The explosion destroyed or damaged adjoining buildings, shops and a mosque. 

The official said that policemen were inside the building while local people, including schoolchildren, were passing by when the bomber struck. Several policemen were trapped in the debris. 

A rescue operation was launched to pull out the dead and the injured from the debris. The bodies of nine policemen were retrieved from the wreckage. 

DCO Muhammad Ayaz Mandokhel, DPO Gul Wali Khan and SSP Investigation Qayyum Jan Marwat supervised the rescue work. 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters that 19 people had been killed in the bombing. 

“The militants are taking advantage of the flood situation. They know that we are busy in relief and rescue work,” Mr Hussain said. “We are not going to lower our guard. We need a relentless, comprehensive and effective strategy to chase and hunt them down in their tribal sanctuary. These terrorists can no longer deceive the people in the name of Islam,” said Mr Hussain whose only son was killed recently by terrorists outside his home in Pabbi area. 

Government officials insist that while back of militancy has been broken, the scourge is yet to be eradicated.“It will take years,” said a security official. “We will have to live with these attacks for quite some time.” 

A security official claimed that the bombing was in retaliation for a raid to capture the mastermind of Shah Hassankhel suicide bombing last year. The mastermind, Sanadullah, alias Sanad, blew himself up when security forces raided his house. 

In January a suicide bomber killed 99 people when he drove an explosives-laden car into a crowd of men, women and children watching a volleyball match in Shah Hasan Khan village.

Agencies add: There were some 45 policemen inside the building when the bomber struck the building. 

Doctor Ghulam Ali, medical superintendent of Lakki Marwat’s main hospital, said that 17 bodies and 45 wounded had been brought to his hospital, which was also damaged in the blast. 

“Three schoolboys and a girl waiting for their school van also died in the bombing,” district police chief Gul Wali Khan said. 

The information minister said that terrorists were regrouping and they needed to be hit hard. 

“We are standing on a powder keg and if an effective action is not taken, it will be a failure of the government,” the minister said. 

“It goes to show that the terrorists have no creed except bloodshed and chaos, and are desperately carrying out their agenda regardless of the precarious conditions,” Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told a meeting of provincial officials. 

'Dawood suffered Rs 50 crore loss due to third no-ball': Sports : India Today

'Dawood suffered Rs 50 crore loss due to third no-ball': Sports : India Today

'Dawood suffered Rs 50 crore loss due to third no-ball'

Aariz Chandra

Mumbai, September 6, 2010

Updated 10:05 IST

The third no-ball bowled by Pakistan against England in the fourth Test match during the recently concluded series cost underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Rs 50 crore in Mumbai alone as his bookies had no clue about it.

The latest match-fixing scandal has put the spotlight on cricket's dirty links with the underworld where spot fixing is not new. Sources told Headlines Today that only two no-balls were to be bowled by the Pakistan pacers. Bets of Rs 300 crore were riding on this match worldwide out of which betting worth Rs 50 crore was from Mumbai only, sources said.

Pakistani bookie Mazhar Majeed was assigned the task of spot fixing in this match. He was assigned the task of fixing two no-balls in two overs. The information was made available to all the bookies who had links with Dawood's betting syndicate.

Everything was happening as per the plan. Both Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif bowled one no-ball each and the bookies made huge profits. But the tables turned when Asif bowled the third no-ball. It left the bookies in Mumbai stunned as they incurred huge losses, sources said.

Dawood's men responsible for his betting syndicate in Mumbai -- Junior Kolkata and Kothari -- called up their boss Sunil Dubai. They requested him to call off the bets as following the third no-ball Mumbai's bookies had started demanding that they return their money.

Sunil Dubai then informed Shoiab Khan -- the man running Dawood's betting syndicate from Karachi. Shoaib made it clear that any hue and cry over botched up fixing could expose the syndicate so it was better to return the money and bear the losses.

Underworld links in the betting syndicate have been speculated for quite sometime. But it is only now that stronger evidence has emerged. Instructions are given from Dubai and Karachi and all moves are planned before the game. As far as profit and losses are concerned, it is all a part of the game.

Suicide bomber kills 20 in northwest Pakistan

Suicide bomber kills 20 in northwest Pakistan

Suicide bomber kills 20 in northwest Pakistan

Tags : Shiite Muslims, al Qaeda, Taliban, suicide attack

Posted: Mon Sep 06 2010, 08:48 hrs

Updated: Mon Sep 06 2010, 11:32 hrs

Peshawar:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/suicide-bomber-kills-20-in-northwest-pakistan/677750/0

A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a police station in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 20 people, including 11 policemen and four schoolchildren.

The attacker targeted the main police station in Lakki Marwat, a key city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, shattering the premises with the blast leaving 40 others wounded.

The police station, a nearby mosque and a government office collapsed while portions of two other government buildings were damaged.

The bomber struck at 7 am, when most of the 45 policemen at the station were asleep following 'sehri', the pre-dawn meal partaken ahead of a day-long fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan.

A school bus was passing the area when the blast occurred. A live electric wire fell on the vehicle, killing four children and injuring several others.

At least 10 policemen were among the injured. Several of the injured were in a critical condition, officials in local hospitals said.

Local residents joined rescue operations and rushed the injured to hospital in private vehicles.

The bomber targeted the police station from the rear as its front side and entrance were barricaded with cement blocks, officials said.

Experts of the bomb disposal squad said over 40 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.

Officials said they feared the death toll could rise as rescuers were still clearing the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Lakki Marwat has witnessed several deadly terrorist attacks that targeted members of anti-Taliban militias and policemen.

In January, a Taliban bomber blew himself up at a football ground on the outskirts of the city and killed nearly 100 people. The people were targeted as they had resisted the Taliban's efforts to infiltrate the area.

Malik, Chidambaram discuss Pak's 26/11 trial

Malik, Chidambaram discuss Pak's 26/11 trial

Malik, Chidambaram discuss Pak's 26/11 trial

Tags : P Chidambaram, Rehman Malik

Posted: Sun Sep 05 2010, 14:56 hrs

Islamabad:

The trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in Mumbai attacks and Pakistan's proposal to form a commission that would visit India to record testimony of two key witnesses figured prominently in the telephonic talks Interior Minister Rehman Malik had with his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram.

"We discussed security issues and the ongoing trial here in Pakistan, of those accused in the Mumbai blast," Malik wrote on Twitter, a social networking website.

During their conversation yesterday, the Pakistani minister proposed that a Commission may be formed to visit India to record the testimony of two key Indian witnesses for taking forward the trial of the seven Pakistani suspects.

"I also proposed that a Commission may be formed to visit India and record the statements of the witnesses... I explained to Mr Chidambaram that the appearance of two main Indian witnesses in Pakistani Court is most important for trial process to continue here," he tweeted.

Malik, who has over 5,000 followers on Twitter, also "appreciated" the sympathy and condolences extended by Chidambaram on the loss of lives and property due to the devastating floods in Pakistan.

The Pakistani Interior Minister, who held talks with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal here yesterday, had earlier told reporters that the trial of Lakhvi and six other suspects was "stuck" over the issue of Indian witnesses testifying via video-conferencing as this was not allowed under Pakistani laws.

He had said that Chidambaram told him that the Pakistani proposal about formation of a commission would be "examined" when it is received.

Though India proposed that the testimony of the two witnesses -- the magistrate who recorded the confessional statement of lone surviving Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab and the police officer who investigated the incident -- should be recorded via video conferencing, Malik said this was not permitted by Pakistani laws.

Teammates fixed every game, Pak cricketer tells NOTW - Hindustan Times

Teammates fixed every game, Pak cricketer tells NOTW - Hindustan Times

Teammates fixed every game, Pak cricketer tells NOTW

Press Trust Of India

London/Karachi, September 05, 2010First Published: 07:53 IST(5/9/2010)

Last Updated: 15:23 IST(5/9/2010)

In a sensational twist to the spot-fixing scandal, former Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed on Sunday claimed that his teammates were involved in fixing "almost every match" even as a fourth touring Pakistani player came under investigation in the scam which grew in proportion after fresh

Even before the dust could settle over the suspension of the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, British tabloid News of the World, came out with more explosive revelations.

While the tabloid gave startling details of the conversations and the modus operandi of the bookies, the report of a Sri Lankan player being investigated by the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit added to the crisis facing the game.

Hameed told the tabloid that he had been asked by a bookmaker to help fix a Test for 100,000 pounds, but he turned down the money and said his teammates were fixing almost every match.

"They've been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages", Hameed is quoted as saying in the sting interview which was released by the tabloid.

But within a few hours after the video of the interview was released, Hameed denied having given any such interview, saying he could never think of accusing his teammates of fixing matches.

"I have told the team management that the newspaper is claiming that I have given them an interview. This is not correct. I deny it", he said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board was huddled in an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation amid speculation that the team's tour of England could be called off to avoid further embarrassment.

Pakistan has all along maintained that its players were innocent and the entire episode was a conspiracy to alienate the country, which has not hosted any international cricket since last year's Lahore terror attack on the Sri Lankan team.

Pakistan's High Commissioner in Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan has called the suspension of its players unethical and threatened to sue the ICC if the trio is eventually found innocent.

Hameed, on the other hand, could face disciplinary action from the ICC for violating its anti-corruption code of conduct which states that it is an offence if a player "fails to disclose to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (without undue delay) full details of any approaches ... that would amount to a breach of the anti-corruption code".

Ban Pakistan for match fixing

Ban Pakistan for match fixing

Ban Pakistan, save the faith!

Updated on Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 12:38

http://www.zeenews.com/blog/58/blog417.html

When the match-fixing news story involving Pakistan captain Salman Butt and his fellow players being involved in taking money for bowling three blatant no-balls at “crucial times” against England broke, it came across more as ‘depressing’ rather than ‘shocking’ for the people who follow Pakistan cricket closely.

Pakistan have had a turbulent cricket history and the allegations of ‘throwing’ wickets, underperforming, faking injuries for money have been a regular feature in Pakistan cricket.

It is said that you need to be an archaeologist to find out the primitive trace of this problem in Pakistan and it is due to these fixing allegations-counter allegations from Pak cricketers that this has become the single greatest threat to its sporting ethics.

From the year 2000, when the ghost of match-fixing first came to haunt the cricketing world, the number of blames, accusations and allegations of ‘fixing’ followed by setting up of judicial commissions to find out the ‘truth’ has lost count.

The upsetting ‘truth’ however is that Pakistan is the only nation which has not managed to shake off the ghost of match-fixing since its inception. The ‘truth’ is that the Pakistan Cricket Board have never set any exemplary punishment which can serve as a stern warning to the new generation of cricketers. The ‘truth’ is that dummy judicial commissions set up for probes have never been able to clear the whispers of ‘greedy cricketers’ around their team.

The only thing that the board has succeeded so far is providing the ‘cover-up’ for these cricketers and in process, the silent nod for continuing with this malice.

From small to big and old to new; the names of ‘clean’ Pak cricketers have been few!

The tainted list of Pakistani cricketers or at least the ones who have been alleged of underperforming in past includes Salim Malik, Ata-ur-Rehman, Mushtaq Ahmed and even the likes of Wasim Akram.

But blame it on the utterly shambolic nature of PCB, Pakistan has never managed to make a clean break with match-fixing, merely cleaning the old and unwanted from the scene and leaving the deep-rooted problem unanswered!

Before these spot-fixing allegations in England, Pakistan cricket team was rocked by fixing and indiscipline allegations during Australian tour under captain Mohammad Yousuf.

While the Pakistan’s terrible collapse during the fourth innings chase reeked of match-fixing, the indiscipline followed by an impotent cricket board’s cover-up was out there for everyone to see.

Indiscipline loomed so large across Pakistan’s dressing room that Akmal brothers openly challenged the touring management with Kamran even insisting that he would play in the final Test in Hobart despite the board having released a statement saying he would be dropped. Not only that, it was alleged that Umar Akmal feigned an injury and refused to play in next Test if his brother was dropped.

A finger was raised on Shoaib Malik too as it was also reported that he has consistently been at the centre of accusations of intrigue and factionalism within the team since he was removed as leader in 2009.

The allegations were probed and PCB enquiry saw Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan being banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for a year and Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Umar and Kamran, fined and placed on probation for six months.

But what happened next was a classic example of PCB’s tendency of brushing dirt under the carpet.

After all the players- barring Mohammad Yousuf -appealed against their bans and fines, the charges were revoked!

It looked as if Shoaib Malik was given the ‘award’ to marry Indian tennis player Saina Mirza and after poor show from Pakistan in the England tour, even Mohammad Yousuf, who was earlier termed as ‘leader of the mess’, was recalled.

Now, with the same Sydney Test coming under the scanner of also being ‘fixed’, the question which arises today is if we can trust what we see on the field.

Cricket has always been termed as the game of uncertainties but with these shameless practices of ‘fixing’ floating around, every unusual error or action on the sporting field, be it a no-ball, a dropped catch, slow scoring rate, or conceded penalty, will raise eyebrows for uglier reasons than lack of ability!

After being dogged by corruption claims for years, there is no sympathy if any of their players are now found guilty of fixing results.

Nothing can be more disturbing for fans than allegations that the faith for the ‘Gentleman’s Game’ has been sold.

Ban Pakistan from all games of cricket, if that provides the solution to the epidemic. When South Africa, arguably the strongest team of the world during 70s, can be banned for 21 years of International cricket from 1970-91 for ‘apartheid’ and racial segregation, then why not Pakistan- who has bluntly refused to take any initiative for years to stop the practice of bringing regular shame to the game!

The loyalty of fans just cannot be taken for granted and that should be the final word!

(The views expressed by the author in the blog are his/her own)

Gandhi's grandson pitches in for Pak flood aid - Hindustan Times

Gandhi's grandson pitches in for Pak flood aid - Hindustan Times

Gandhi's grandson pitches in for Pak flood aid

Indo-Asian News Service

United Nations, September 04, 2010First Published: 12:42 IST(4/9/2010)

Last Updated: 12:46 IST(4/9/2010)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/pakistan/Gandhi-s-grandson-pitches-in-for-Pak-flood-aid/Article1-595915.aspx

Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, has asked people for more help in flood relief efforts in Pakistan, saying humanitarian needs should transcend international rift. "Let us praise and honour the stoic bravery of the victims of Pakistan's floods," Gandhi said. The floods in

Pakistan have affected over 18 million people. The UN had appealed for at least $ 459.7 million for Pakistan, but only 63.4 per cent of the amount has been raised, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.

"These millions of Pakistanis are life-loving, not death-loving millions," Xinhua quoted Gandhi as saying at the UN headquarters on Friday.

Gandhi is a research professor at the Centre for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois, US. He is a former member of the Rajya Sabha and has written many books.

For the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people much more help is needed from the whole international community, either through the UN or private donations, he said.

"The UN has helped, the US has helped, this aid has been priceless, but so much more is needed," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said India's sympathy for the Pakistanis could be an opportunity for the "removal of the wall of enmity and mistrust" between the two countries.

"It is a possibility, and it really depends on so many of us in India and Pakistan if we are to take advantage of this," Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, Abduallah Hussain Haroon, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said he greatly appreciated donations from "people of all races, all colours and all religions", including the people and government of India.

Disease, displacement and economic problems are certain to linger long beyond the initial recovery stage, he said, adding "This is the tip of the iceberg, the worst is yet to happen".