12 August 1948 Babrra Massacre, victims' families demand justice

The author is a Peshawar-based freelance journalist in Pakistan. He tweets @theraufkhan

A few days ago, the fourteenth Dalai Lama drew a lot of flak for saying that India would have remained a united country if Muhammad Ali Jinnah would have become the first prime minister of India. He regretted his statement later but the truth remains that many incidents that led to Partition (and followed it) will probably remain buried in the shrouds of time and ignorance. The Babrra Massacre in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan is one such incident, which happened 71 years ago on this day, and is rarely mentioned in the history books of either Pakistan or India. The relatives of the victims, many of whom were part of the Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God or Red Shirts) led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also known as Frontier Gandhi, continue to face consequences of the incident till now, years after communal politics divided the vast Indian land into two countries on the world map, and later into three with the formation of Bangladesh in 1971.

A brief history of Khudai Khidmatgars

Back in 1946, the British imperial government were in favour of a separate Muslim land based on religious philosophy. Pakistani socialist, author and son of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, in his book Facts are Facts — The Untold Story of India's Partition, wrote that the first British loyalists formed the Muslim League which sowed the seeds of hatred in the centuries-old pluralistic Indian land. And then with the support of feudal, parachute and planted politicians and religious clergy, the imperialists created a state (Pakistan) based on religious ideology.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan with Jawaharlal Nehru when the Indian prime minister visited NWFP in 1946. Image courtesy: Bacha Khan Markaz

Till date, the religious philosophy, upon which Pakistan was crafted in 1947, has not been implemented in the country. The philosophy was probably a mere political slogan for a secular Jinnah and his mates.

The communal tussle, which forced mass migration and killing of innumerable people on both sides of Wagah and Atari, is a part of the shared history of Pakistan and India. The new generation of Pakistanis consider Partition and the consequent violence as a bleak chapter of human history. However, for the Pashtun-dominated North West Frontier Province (NWFP), now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the history of violence is something they will not forget for a long time to come.

In 1947, the region, neglected by the British, was caught in the power tussle between India and Pakistan, and the Khudai Khidmatgars support for United India left them desolate; on the right side of history but on the wrong side of both Indian and Pakistani governments.

The Khudai Khidmatgars led by Khan (also known locally as Bacha Khan), were always staunch supporters of United India and opposed Lord Mountbatten's plan for a Hindu majority India and a Muslim majority Pakistan.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan observing Mahatma Gandhi's 100 years at New Delhi in 1969. Image courtesy: Bacha Khan Markaz

The NWFP bordered Afghanistan with most of the residents being Pashtun/Pakhtun who spoke Pashto language. The region was deliberately kept backward by the British Raj to be used as a buffer zone because the residents were known for their resistance and warrior approach. Till 1930, there was not much political awareness in the region, but after Bacha Khan launched the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, indigenous people took keen interest in politics and joined him.

In 1937, Khudai Khidmatgars won the election and later in 1946, a year before Pakistan came into being, the party of anti-Partition Khudai Khidmatgars again won with an absolute majority.

But before the official announcement of Pakistan or Partition, the Muslim League started to topple the elected government of Khudai Khidmatgars including using undemocratic ways.

The position of the Muslim League was that since the Khudai Khidmatgars, represented by Bacha Khan, then chief minister of the province, didn’t attend the flag-hoisting ceremony of the newly formed state of Pakistan on 14 August, 1947, their loyalties to the nascent country of Pakistan were questionable. This was also the reason why the Pakistan government sacked the provincial government of Bacha Khan.

Others, however, dispute that view. A letter was written by Governor Lockhart to Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, in which he stated: “The Muslim League wants to dissolve Khan’s ministry before 15 August. Hence, I, along with my colleagues, decided that Pakistan government shall find a way for it. But I will be opposing any such act and it will be harmful to Pakistan.” (National Archives, Serial No 634, 11 August, 1947, page 161, Special Branch on 7 August).

On 10 August, 1947, Mountbatten wrote to Liaquat Ali Khan, “I am instructed by the Secretary of State that dismissing Dr Khan’s government will be undemocratic and unconstitutional”.

For harsher critics of what came next, it was the beginning of “horse trading” and unconstitutional decisions in Pakistan during Jinnah’s life. It is claimed that the new government of Pakistan sacked an elected provincial government. Further, it is said, the process was spearheaded by one of Jinnah’s important leaders, Qayyum Khan, in a ruthless manner. It must be noted that until at least 1945, Qayyum Khan himself was part of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, and even dedicated his lone book (Gold and Guns on the Frontier) to Khan in 1944; he banned in later after becoming he replaced Bacha Khan as the chief minister of the province. It made the non-violent followers of Khudai Khidmatgar (street workers) furious but they did not resort to violence.

Ghazi gul mosque from where indiscriminate firing was done on Khudai Khidmatgar protesters on 12 August, 1947. Image courtesy Abdur Rauf Yousafzai

In his research paper on the Babrra Massacre, Professor Minhaj-ul-Hassan wrote: “In May 1948, the renowned anti-colonial leader of the Khudai Khidmatgars, Bacha Khan, had started his annual visit to villages and towns of NWFP after the participation in Legislative Assembly. He had been arrested in district Kohat’s Bahadur Khel village for three years under 40 FCR, of British draconian Frontier Crimes Regulations. The authorities in newly-formed Pakistan alleged that Bacha Khan was working on a plan along with the separatist militant Faqir of Ipi to topple the government."

The Khudai Khidmatgars passed four resolutions where they asked the government to provide details of the amount and receipt that Bacha Khan had given to separatist Faqir of Ipi, and that if the charges were proven they would separate from him, while also demanding fresh elections in the country.

The Khudai Khidmatgars workers also announced a peaceful protest against the illegal detention of Bacha Khan.

The State organs were against the protest and the provincial government deployed paramilitary forces and police in the area. They even set their guns and other heavy weapons on different buildings of Babrra village. The Khudai Khidmatgars workers also started to gather on the specific ground.

On the day of Babrra Massacre

On 12 August, 1948, a Khudai Khidmatgar worker, Speen Malang led a protest in Charsadda district of NWFP. As Malang marched holding high a red flag along with other protesters, indiscriminate firing began from the top of Ghazi Gul mosque. Malang fell, but the firing continued killing more than 600 Pashtuns both young and old and injuring over 1,200.

When both Pakistan and India were busy preparing for their first Independence Day celebrations, the Pashtun region of Pakistan was mourning the death of their loved ones.

“You have thrown us to the wolves,” the historical sentence of Bacha Khan after Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru voted in support of Lord Mountbatten's plan for Partition, echoed in the surrounding hills that day. No reconciliation took place, unfortunately, and the effects are felt till today.

Muhammad Tahir, a fourth-grade student at the time of the massacre, narrated the tragedy to this scribe in his own words. “We were at the school playground when we heard gunfire and thundering of heavy weapons. The teachers rushed us into classrooms,” 83-year-old Tahir said.

Muhammad Tahir, a fourth-grade student at the time of the massacre, narrated the tragedy to this scribe in his own words. Image courtesy Abdur Rauf Yousafzai

The firing had taken enough time leaving everyone terrified and unaware of the outside situation, Tahir recalled. He couldn’t remember the total time the firing lasted, as the shots ceased and everyone rushed towards their homes.

After the massacre

“The main door and other room doors were open, I shouted and cried when I saw no one was inside,” Tahir said. Then Tahir ran towards the incident ground where he saw his mother tearing her shawl and bandaging the injured to stop the bleeding. Calling it doomsday, Tahir said wives, sisters, and mothers were wailing, crying and shouting on the 12 August, 1948, "the ugliest day in Pakistan’s history".

Muflis Durrani's father was a tehsildar during the British rule but he left the illustrious job and started teaching at Azad School, which was formed by Khudai Khidmatgars, and became a freedom fighter. Durrani was also studying in a nearby school. At the time of Babrra Massacre, Durrani was inside the school building. When they visited the spot after the firing had stopped, all they saw were bodies and injured persons lying everywhere, said Durrani.

Muflis Durrani's father was a tehsildar during the British rule but he left the illustrious job and started teaching at Azad School, which was formed by Khudai Khidmatgars, and became a freedom fighter. Image courtesy Abdur Rauf Yousafzai

British atrocities against Pashtuns had continued even after the formation of the State of Pakistan, Durrani informed. After the shooting, most of the bodies were taken away and thrown into the river, he revealed, explaining why most families couldn’t bury their near and dear ones.

Chairman of Pashto Department at Abdul Wali Khan University, professor Sohail Khan, during his research work, met with some of the victim's families. Sohail recounts meeting Jaypur, 83, at Nowshera district's Mohib Banda village. Jaypur's father Surrendar was a staunch supporter of Khudai Khidmatgars. He was part of the protest and never returned home. Surrendar's body could not be found, like many others, and his death left the family in dire financial straits. For many months, Jaypur visited hospitals and graveyards but couldn't find his father's body.

In Charsadda district's Prang village, 70-year-old Murad Kaka’s father Sultan Khan was among the protestors. "We were waiting for father in our mud kitchen late in the night. As the disturbing news of shooting came from Babrra, I vaguely recall my mother and grandmother wearing tense faces as father arrived at midnight. My grandmother was very angry at him when my father said that I was busy digging graves and buried more than one person in each grave," Murad Kaka said.

Sohail said that the Qayyum Administration was charging Rs 50 per grave. He added that the government had also collected the expenses for this operation, and even the bullets, from Khudai Khidmatgars workers.

"The Babrra Masssacre was the result of British policy against Red Shirts," Aimal Wali great-grandson of Bacha Khan said.

"They still stigmatise, bomb with suicide bombers and kill us but we remain determined," he said firmly.

"Bacha Khan has prepared a force of non-violent red shirts who don’t have a breaking point, don’t step back, and don’t surrender," said Aimal recalling his great-grandfather's teachings.

Sohail sheds light on the reasons behind the Babrra Massacre, “The Pakistani state was created in the name of Islamic welfare and democratic state, it wasn’t in favour of selfish politicians, feudal and generals so they introduced a narrative that Pakistan was in the danger of diverting its attention from its problems and promises. That’s why the state's baseless narrative has never been challenged and if anyone does, he/she is labelled a traitor."

The professor says that it's hypocritical how in Pakistan's history books, Jallianwala Bagh massacre is widely publicised but the Babrra tragedy is not even mentioned since the State was involved.

The Indian National Congress, and particularly Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's relations with Bacha Khan didn’t remain loyal till the end. Sohail says that because of their bewafai Khudai Khidmatgars faced severe consequences and are still facing it.

It was another day of mourning when Bacha Khan, freed from jail, stood at the site of the massacre with people asking him to take revenge. However, Bacha Khan told Khudai Khitmatgars' workers that all those who want violence should leave him as he has pledged non-violence till his last breath and won’t deviate from it.

The Babrra Massacre was never investigated independently, which is why officially the Babrra incident lies under layers of dust even though the Awami National Party (ANP) formed by Bacha Khan and his followers demand a free and transparent inquiry of the bloody incident.

The current editor of Pakhtoon Magazine, which was founded by Bacha Khan in 1928, Hayat Roghani arranges theatre every year to tell the young generations about the sacrifices of Khudai Khidmatgars and state cruelty.

“Unfortunately Pashtun freedom fighters are labelled as traitors by the State of Pakistan and that’s why Bacha Khan spent 17 years in prison after Partition (he had already spent over 14 years in jail before that),” says Roghani.

"Bacha Khan is also deliberately kept out of Pakistani textbooks, but we tell to our young Pashtun that he and his Khudai Khidmatgars are heroes and champion freedom fighters," Roghani added.

Every year, a monument is built at the same spot to keep the history alive and pay tribute to those killed in the massacre. The party workers gather at the famous Ghazi Gul mosque, from where the security forces fired at the protesters and recall the sacrifices for democratic rights and supremacy of the Constitution.

Party general secretary Mian Iftikhar said that for Pashtun, the Babrra massacre is not over yet, as they lost more than 800 workers including the top leaders in a long war against militants and even now in the recent two elections they were not provided a level-playing field.

Published in First Post on 12 August 2018 

Newest U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan Mirrors Past Plans for Retreat- Divsion of Afghanistan.

Image : An Afghan Army soldier in Kabul, the capital, one of the urban population centers that a shift in strategy is meant to safeguard. Credit Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

Newest U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan- Division of Afghanistan and Giving control to Taliban of Half of Afghanistan , Via Efforts of Pakistan and its Creation Taliban and Arab Al-Qaeda Which Gifted American bases in Afghanistan. With Poppy /  Drugs/ Cocaine Cultivation and Export via Pakistan Ports and Airports as financial System to Fund the Taliban Governance Known as strategic Depth  to Crush the Independent Governance of Pashtuns Afghans who are Crushed on both sides of Durand line by the Punjabi Establishment and their Mineral Wealth and Natural Resources are plundered and looted by Pakistan and its Creation Taliban . Al-Qaeda / ISIS will be used to keep the Taliban in check via competition . 

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is urging American-backed Afghan troops to retreat from sparsely populated areas of the country, officials said, all but ensuring the Taliban will remain in control of vast stretches of the country.

The approach is outlined in a previously undisclosed part of the war strategy that President Trump announced last year, according to three officials who described the documents to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. It is meant to protect military forces from attacks at isolated and vulnerable outposts, and focuses on protecting cities such as Kabul, the capital, and other population centers.

The withdrawal resembles strategies embraced by both the Bush and Obama administrations that have started and stuttered over the nearly 17-year war. It will effectively ensure that the Taliban and other insurgent groups will hold on to territory that they have already seized, leaving the government in Kabul to safeguard the capital and cities such as Kandahar, Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad.

The retreat to the cities is a searing acknowledgment that the American-installed government in Afghanistan remains unable to lead and protect the country’s sprawling rural population. Over the years, as waves of American and NATO troops have come and left in repeated cycles, the government has slowly retrenched and ceded chunks of territory to the Taliban, cleaving Afghanistan into disparate parts and ensuring a conflict with no end in sight.


When he announced his new war strategy last year, Mr. Trump declared that Taliban and Islamic State insurgents in Afghanistan “need to know they have nowhere to hide, that no place is beyond the reach of American might and American arms.”

After the declared end of combat operations in 2014, most American troops withdrew to major population areas in the country, leaving Afghan forces to defend remote outposts. Many of those bases fell in the following months.


During a news conference last month in Brussels, Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan, said remote outposts were being overrun by the Taliban, which was seizing local forces’ vehicles and equipment.

“There is a tension there between what is the best tactic militarily and what are the needs of the society,” General Nicholson said.

The strategy depends on the Afghan government’s willingness to pull back its own forces. A Defense Department official said some Afghan commanders have resisted the American effort to do so, fearing local populations would feel betrayed.

“Abandoning people into a situation where there is no respect for them is a violation of human rights,” said Mohammad Karim Attal, a member of the Helmand Provincial Council. “This might be the weakest point of the government that does not provide security and access to their people’s problems.”

Just over one-quarter of Afghanistan’s population lives in urban areas, according to C.I.A. estimates; Kabul is the largest city, with more than four million residents. Most Afghans live and farm across vast rural hinterlands.

Of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, the government either controls or heavily influences 229 to the Taliban’s 59. The remaining 119 districts are considered contested, according to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan ambassador to the United States, disputed that American and Afghan forces were leaving rural areas and essentially surrendering them to the Taliban.

The intent was not to withdraw, Mr. Mohib said in an email, but to first secure the urban areas to allow security forces to later focus on rural areas.

Hundreds of Afghan troops are being killed and wounded nearly every week — many in Taliban attacks on isolated checkpoints. Over the last year alone, the number of Afghan soldiers, police, pilots and other security forces dropped by about 5 percent, or 18,000 fewer people, according to the inspector general’s office.

“This brings a very serious tension — when you’ve had significant loss of life, and blood and treasure,” said Paul Eaton, a retired two-star Army general who helped train Iraqi forces in the year after the 2003 invasion of Baghdad. “But it is time to say that we need a political outcome.”


Mr. Eaton said the plan to prod the Afghan military to abandon the unpopulated areas and retrench to cities is “a rational approach to secure the cities, and provide the Afghanistan government the political opportunity to work with the Taliban.”

The strategy for retreat borrows heavily from Mr. Obama’s military blueprint in Afghanistan after he began withdrawing troops from front lines in 2014.


Under President George W. Bush, and during Mr. Obama’s first term, the Pentagon established a constellation of outposts across Afghanistan, affirming that the American-led military coalition would fight the war in far-flung villages and farmlands.

In 2006, the United States Army set up a string of small bases in the Korengal Valley — an effort that was planned in part by General Nicholson, who was a colonel at the time.

But by 2009, an Army document outlined a shift from “attacking the enemy in remote areas” to “protecting and developing the major population centers” in eastern Afghanistan.

That approach began to take hold months later, in 2010, when American forces withdrew from the Korengal Valley after suffering bloody losses in isolated northeastern outposts. At the same time, however, United States Marines were surging into the rural areas of Helmand Province and the Army was pushing into the Taliban heartland in Kandahar.


In 2015, the Obama administration encouraged Afghan commanders to give up defending some of the most remote checkpoints and outposts that were seen as difficult to reclaim and hold. General Nicholson supported the idea after he took command in 2016, the official said.

Should Afghan troops pull back now, defending remote pockets of the country would mostly be left to the local police, which are more poorly trained than the military and far more vulnerable to Taliban violence. In some areas, police officers have cut deals with the Taliban to protect themselves from attacks.

Ghulam Sarwar Haidari, the former deputy police chief of northwestern Badghis Province, said his forces withdrew from the small town of Dara-e-bom after the Afghan National Army abandoned their outposts in past months. “We should lose 100 lives to retake that area,” he said.

Not all of the roughly 14,000 United States troops currently in Afghanistan have pulled back to cities. Some who are training and advising Afghan troops as part of Mr. Trump’s war strategy are stationed in bases in remote areas and smaller towns.

Mr. Trump has long called for ending the war in Afghanistan and only reluctantly accepted Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s advice to send an additional 4,000 troops in an attempt to claim victory.

The Trump administration is also instructing top American diplomats to seek direct talks with the Taliban to refuel negotiations to end the war, and two senior Taliban officials said on Saturday that such talks had been held in Qatar a week ago. If they happen, the negotiations would be a major shift in American policy and would serve as a bridge to an eventual withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan.

Evan McAllister, a former reconnaissance Marine staff sergeant and sniper, fought in parts of Helmand Province in 2008 and 2011 — areas that are now almost entirely under Taliban control. He said trying to maintain an Afghan government-friendly presence in rural areas was, and still is, a “fool’s errand.”

“Attempting to control rural areas in Afghanistan always eventually ends up boiling down to simple personal survival,” Mr. McAllister said. “No strategic gains are accomplished, no populace is influenced, but the death or dismemberment of American and Afghan troops is permanent and guaranteed.”

Authors : C.J. Chivers contributed reporting. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, and Najim Rahim from Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.

Printed / Source :  New York Times

China’s Global Building Spree Runs Into Trouble in Pakistan

By Jeremy Page and  Saeed Shah
July 22, 2018 1:27 p.m. ET

To fund a 70-nation infrastructure initiative, Beijing has been extending loans in opaque deals often contingent on using Chinese contractors and Trapping Pakistan in Debt Burdon that will only Benefit the Chinese Banks and also Arm Twist Pakistan into selling its Assets , like Gwadar Port for 99 Year Lease and Making Pakistan a slave Nation under Chinese Imperialism reminding of Ming Dynasty . 

The Punjabis Running Pakistan as Mullah and Military Alliances and the Right Wing Political parties like PTI , PML, MMA , MQM , PSP and Taliban Aligned Parties are all controlled by GHQ and they are selling the Assets of Baluchistan and Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit and Baltistan Provinces that are out of Punjab for the Money making Schemes of Punjabis . 


LAHORE, Pakistan—Pakistan’s first metro, the Orange Line, was meant to be an early triumph in China’s quest to supplant U.S. influence here and redraw the world’s geopolitical map.
Financed and built by Chinese state-run companies, the soon-to-be-finished overhead railway through Lahore is among the first projects in China’s $62 billion plan for Pakistan. Beijing hoped the $2 billion air-conditioned metro, sweeping past crumbling relics of Mughal and British imperial rule, would help make Pakistan a showcase for its global infrastructure-building spree.
Instead, it has become emblematic of the troubles that are throwing China’s modern-day Silk Road initiative off course.

Deepening Debt

Pakistan’s external debt and the money it needs to borrow yearly have increased sharply, partly due to the infrastructure program China launched there in 2015.

Three years into China’s program here, Pakistan is heading for a debt crisis, caused in part by a surge in Chinese loans and imports for projects like the Orange Line, which Pakistani officials say will require public subsidies to operate.

China’s global plan, called the “Belt and Road Initiative,” involves some 70 countries and has been likened to the U.S. Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Europe after World War II. By building a network of ports, railways, roads and pipelines, China aims to open new East-West trade routes, generate business for Chinese companies and expand its strategic influence.

While the Americans mainly used grants in Postwar Europe, China has mostly extended loans in opaque deals often contingent on using Chinese contractors. Pakistan is now one of several countries grappling with the financial and political fallout of taking on so much Chinese debt.

With a general election in Pakistan scheduled for July 25, an ascendant opposition is pledging to publish secret details about the financing of Chinese projects, including the Orange Line, and Pakistani industry is agitating for less-generous perks for Chinese companies.

Pakistani authorities have fallen behind on payments for electricity from new Chinese power projects—the bulk of the infrastructure program—because of longstanding problems getting Pakistanis to pay their bills, according to a senior Pakistani official.

The problems are expected to come to a head by early fall, when Pakistan’s new government is likely to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, the nation’s first since 2013, according to Pakistani officials. Such a bailout would likely include restrictions on borrowing and spending, the officials say, which would force the country to curtail its Belt and Road program with China, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC.

That would be a big embarrassment for China, which has portrayed its plan as a game-changer for this chronically unstable nation of 200 million—and a chance to prove the benefits of its development model to other nations.

Game Changer?

Three years into China's $62 billion infrastructure program in Pakistan, about half of the planned projects have been started.“You’re then effectively having the West bail out this country,” says Andrew Small, an expert on China-Pakistan relations at the German Marshall Fund, a Washington think tank. “If this is where Pakistan ends up financially, I think that’s going to be a big kind of black mark against the entire Belt and Road.”
It also would give the U.S., the largest contributor to the IMF, a strong influence over China’s plans in Pakistan. Washington has been pushing back against what U.S. officials have called Beijing’s “debt-trap diplomacy.”
European Union and Indian officials also have stepped up criticism of Belt and Road, saying it lacks transparency and sustainability and is designed to expand China’s strategic influence.
“The Ming Dynasty appears to be their model, albeit in a more muscular manner, demanding other nations become tribute states, kowtowing to Beijing,” U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in June.
Chinese President Xi Jinping rejects such criticism, telling a conference in April his infrastructure program was neither a Chinese conspiracy nor a would-be Marshall Plan, but an attempt to build a “community of shared future.”
China’s foreign ministry said in a written statement to The Wall Street Journal that its Pakistan program remained a model for Belt and Road countries. “Naturally, it will have to adapt to changing conditions, and necessary adjustments will be carried out,” it said, adding that China was in close contact with Pakistan on its financial situation.
China's Infrastructure Initiative
China is building and financing a global network of trade and energy links to fill gaps in existing infrastructure spanning Asia, Europe and Africa.

In Malaysia, the second-biggest recipient of Belt and Road loans after Pakistan, a new government suspended work this month on a $20 billion Chinese railway project and is reviewing other Chinese projects. Myanmar is trying to renegotiate a $10 billion Chinese port project. Nepal has halted plans for two Chinese-built hydroelectric dams since November.
Chinese projects in Pakistan now vulnerable to chopping include an $8 billion railway upgrade central to Beijing’s vision of a new overland trade route, which would link China’s northwest to Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast, Pakistani officials say. The upgrade aimed to double the average speed on 1,170 miles of track between the port of Karachi and the northern city of Peshawar.
“I can’t see how the money would be repaid” for the upgrade, says one senior Pakistani official involved in discussions with China.

The IMF also would likely require Pakistan’s new government to be more transparent about existing CPEC projects. Critics of the outgoing government accused it of channeling funds to wasteful political projects, often in opaque deals, without competitive bidding.
“Deals like the Orange Line cannot be secret,” says Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, spokesman for the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. He says his party backed CPEC but wanted all agreements put before the parliament for review.

Pakistan’s outgoing government blames its debt crisis on an overvalued rupee, and it questions Western motives in criticizing Chinese loans. “Before China came along, they weren’t worried about Third World debt,” says Miftah Ismail, the departing finance minister.
The U.S. helped build Pakistan’s infrastructure in the 1950s and 60s, when it saw the country as a Cold War ally. More recently, Washington focused on other economic aid and security assistance to fight groups such as the Taliban.

All Benefits to Chinese Banks and IMF and Punjab in Pakistan 

With the U.S. freezing all security aid and winding down economic support this year, Pakistani officials now say its financial future lies in emulating China’s emergence as a low-cost manufacturing hub. CPEC, they say, will ease energy and transport bottlenecks, paving the way for Chinese-style “special economic zones” to lure foreign investors.

Thousands of Chinese nationals are working on China’s infrastructure program Pakistan, including at a giant coal mine and power project in the Thar desert in Sindh province.
Thousands of Chinese nationals are working on China’s infrastructure program Pakistan, including at a giant coal mine and power project in the Thar desert in Sindh province.

Beijing and Islamabad say that of 43 CPEC projects due to be finished by 2030, around half—worth $19 billion—are completed or under way, including a dozen power plants. Much of the infrastructure is badly needed, especially the energy projects, which will help ease Pakistan’s chronic electricity shortages.

Even so, some ministers in the outgoing government said in interviews they should have negotiated better terms with China, and been more open about details.

Official figures reviewed by the Journal show that Chinese-backed power plants were promised annual returns on investment of up to 34%, guaranteed by Pakistan’s government, in dollars, for 30 years.

There is skepticism about government forecasts that CPEC will boost economic growth from 5.8% this year to 7% by 2023, allowing Pakistan to service its debt. A March IMF report blamed Pakistan’s rising current-account deficit and external debt obligations partly on CPEC, and predicted growth would flatline at 5% until 2023.

“The new government will have to do some adjustment, with us or without us,” says Teresa Daban, the IMF representative in Pakistan.

Pakistan could seek a bailout from China. Chinese banks have already provided $3 billion in emergency funds, at commercial rates, to stabilize Pakistani foreign-exchange reserves, Pakistani officials say.

Nadeem Javaid, chief economist of Pakistan’s planning ministry, suggests China should rescue Pakistan with an interest-free loan. “It would be a kind of favor,” he says. If not, “for what do we have this friendship?”

Another senior Pakistani official says an IMF bailout would need to be $8 billion to $10 billion. The outgoing government, he says, “made lots of attempts” to negotiate a Chinese bailout instead, but the Chinese disengaged in recent weeks because they wanted to deal with the new government after the election.

A Chinese bailout could keep Beijing’s plans intact but would set a worrying precedent. Chinese banks have provided at least $200 billion of loans to Belt and Road projects since 2013, Chinese officials say.

The rationale has been partly to generate better returns for Chinese banks than they can obtain at home, and to drum up overseas business to use China’s surplus industrial capacity.
Gwadar, a port on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast, is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Gwadar, a port on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast, is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Some Chinese bankers and officials, though, are growing more concerned about the financial risk of Belt and Road projects, according to people familiar with those discussions.

In its latest guidance to Chinese companies investing in Pakistan, published in March, China’s tax administration warned that Pakistan’s capacity to repay debts “is extremely low.” Returns on Chinese investments in Pakistan were “very low, and some may become bad debts,” it said.
A Chinese bailout could feed worries that Beijing is using Belt and Road to extract onerous concessions, including equity in strategically important assets.

Sri Lanka’s government, unable to repay a Chinese loan for a port in Hambantota city, last year granted a Chinese state company a 99-year lease on the facility. U.S. and Indian officials have long thought China wants a naval outpost there, which China denies.

Trade Imbalance

China’s trade surplus with Pakistan has grown by more than 400% since the two countries signed a free-trade agreement in 2006.

They now suspect China could do the same at Gwadar, a port on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast that is part of CPEC and that Chinese and Pakistani officials say is purely commercial.

Some diplomats believe Beijing will keep throwing money at Pakistan, regardless of the returns. China and Pakistan have had close ties since the 1950s, when each saw the other as a counterweight to India.

More recently, China has been anxious to prevent Islamic extremism spreading from Pakistan into China. Still, China’s goals depend on political stability in Pakistan, which requires strong economic growth to create jobs.

One problem is that Pakistan has yet to establish any of the planned “special economic zones.” With local business wary of Chinese competition, provincial governments won’t agree to generous incentives China wants for its private companies to invest in them.

The Karakoram Highway, which China helped to build between 1959 and 1979 and is now upgrading, is the only land route between Pakistan and China.

The Karakoram Highway, which China helped to build between 1959 and 1979 and is now upgrading, is the only land route between Pakistan and China.

Many Pakistani and Chinese business leaders are skeptical about Pakistan’s potential as a trade route, especially if railway upgrades are canceled. The only land route across the border into western China is a two-lane road over the 16,000-foot Khunjerab Pass. It is closed four months of the year by snow, and passes through a region claimed by India. On a recent visit, a Journal reporter saw little traffic.
At the other end of the proposed route, Gwadar has failed to attract significant cargo traffic.

A visiting Journal reporter found that work hadn’t started on a planned power plant and airport. Locals complained of a shortage of jobs and drinking water.

Chinese officials have grown accustomed to the security challenges in Pakistan. It is the politics that frustrates them more.

They single out the Orange Line, which wasn’t in the original CPEC plan. It was added at the insistence of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who saw it as a vote winner in Punjab, his power base. China eventually agreed, with Premier Li Keqiang describing it as a “gift,” Pakistani officials say.

Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province and brother of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, lobbied personally for the Orange Line and attended a test run in May.

he Export-Import Bank of China provided a $1.6 billion loan—local media reports pegged the interest rate at just 2%—on the condition the contract went to two state-run Chinese companies. They were exempted from income tax, sales tax and import duties on construction materials.

Sibtain Halim, Pakistan’s official in charge of the Orange Line, says no other countries expressed interest in bidding. He says the project will benefit Lahore but will require government subsidies, although how much remains unclear because ticket prices haven’t been decided.

Opposition parties complained that CPEC disproportionately benefited Punjab. To appease them, China agreed in late 2016 to build metros for three more cities—Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi—each controlled by opposition parties and often racked by violence.

Beijing had hoped the Orange Line and other early projects would be finished in time to help secure victory for Pakistan’s ruling party in July, according to people involved. Last year, however, Nawaz Sharif was dismissed as prime minister and this month was sentenced to 10 years in jail for corruption.

Work on the Orange Line was halted for 22 months after a legal challenge from activists who said it came too close to historic sites. Chinese officials were “perplexed,” says one person involved in the project. “They said that in China, no one can touch a government project.”

Although work resumed in December, the opposition continues to demand investigations into Orange Line contracts.

“The real reason for building these loss-making megaprojects has always been massive kickbacks,” Imran Khan, the main opposition leader, said on Twitter in March.

The Sharifs, and Pakistani and Chinese officials, deny that, and Mr. Khan has produced no proof. The controversy leaves Beijing in an uncomfortable spot as Pakistan’s military appears to have thrown its weight behind Mr. Khan.

At an Orange Line test run in May, Shehbaz Sharif —Nawaz’s brother and his party’s new candidate for premier—repeated a promise to build metros for Karachi and Peshawar, despite Pakistan’s debt crisis.

“My crime is that I made this Orange Line for the people,” Shehbaz told supporters, standing in front of a banner decorated with his portrait alongside President Xi’s.

Writers :  Jeremy Page at jeremy.page@wsj.com and Saeed Shah at saeed.shah@wsj.com

Published in

Pakhtunkhwa Police Reforms Myth and Reality

Politics is the art of perception management. Politicians often employ the old tried and tested advertisement techniques of repeating certain phrases or sentences umpteen times till the listeners believe them as a matter of truth. “We made police misali in the K-P province” is one such piece of mythology that has become an essential part of list of achievements presented by Imran Khan. I am proud of serving the police department for almost 30 years but in my capacity as a former home secretary and having held senior positions in the K-P police, I deem it as my duty to put the record straight by differentiating the myth from reality.

The last two governments that served the province were of the PTI (2013-2018) and the ANP (2008-2013). I would, therefore, briefly review the nature of reforms introduced by these two governments and the financial injections provided in each of the tenures.

Let us first look at the situation that existed in the country and the K-P province in 2008. The Taliban outfits had established parallel governments in many districts of K-P province and were regularly attacking personnel and premises of the law-enforcement agencies. In such an environment of real and imminent danger, the then provincial ANP government rightly considered revamping and rebuilding of the police department its top priority. It, therefore, developed a “Comprehensive Development Strategy and Post Needs Crisis Assessment Programme” with the assistance of the World Bank. As money makes the mare go, the ANP government enhanced the budget of the police besides increasing its Annual Development Programme. We can notice that financial resource allocation reached its peak in 2010-11 during the ANP’s government. With more finances available, the police force acquired better human resource as the number of police personnel swelled to 75,000 in 2013 from 32,000 in 2006-7, which is a staggering increase of 134 per cent. In order to achieve reforms-related targets, a ‘Project Coordination Unit’ was also established which empowered the police force to initiate and run its developmental schemes.

Besides recruitment, capacity building was another important strategic priority for the-then ANP government. As the existing training centres could not accommodate such huge numbers, arrangements were made in collaboration with the Army for imparting training. Another strategic priority was to raise a counterterrorism force and within a short span of time a highly trained Anti-terrorism Elite Force was raised with 7,000 members. In the same period, a state-of-the art ‘Joint Training Centre’, with the assistance of the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, was built in Nowshehra which is now the main training feeder for the anti-terrorism personnel. The Directorate of Counter Terrorism was established which played a crucial role in bringing hundreds of terrorists to justice and in preparing a database of 3,500 militants with 350 of them being the highly wanted terrorists. To improve the physical infrastructure, the damaged buildings of the police in the whole of Malakand were reconstructed under the US-assisted Rule of Law and Peace Building programme. In a nutshell, by 2013, a highly well-developed police system was in place to tackle the law and order situation.

Now let us turn to the 2013-18 period of the PTI government and examine what specific reforms were initiated and executed by this government. PTI leader Imran Khan, in his speeches, and also in the manifesto, had vowed that the Station House Officer (SHO) system would be replaced by the US-styled sheriff system where the SHOs would be elected by the local people. Nothing of such sort came about in the PTI’s era. We, however, did see some pictures being splashed on social media pages of the party showing a model police station on the pattern of police stations in the developed countries to create a perception that the K-P police have been modernised to an extent. The reality on ground is that the buildings of main police stations in Peshawar, let alone smaller cities, are still in dilapidated condition. People, however, did see greater presence of traffic police personnel but that was possible due to the additions made to the police force by the previous government. Therefore, the credit should go to whom it belongs. In the PTI’s tenure, the police force’s strength reached 82,000, thus registering an increase of 9 per cent which dwarfs in comparison with what the ANP government did in its tenure. The ‘Directorate of Counter Terrorism’ was renamed as ‘Counter Terrorism Department’ making it a focal agency against terrorism and thus relieving the police stations. Hence, the main channel of collecting intelligence and interaction with the community was absolved of its duties. The much-needed forensic lab got completely neglected while the safe city project did not either materialise for improving policing in the KP province.

In terms of financial support, we can see from figures that the growth momentum fell sharply and reached its lowest in 2015-2016 during the PTI’s government. Rather than introducing any substantive reforms, a high-pitched and well-organised propaganda was unleashed to create a perception that the previous government had done very little to provide peace and security to the people. The comparative analysis would, however, make it clear that myths can’t stand long when exposed to the light of facts and evidence.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2018.

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How I, a Punjabi, was brainwashed with anti-Pashtun bigotry. And how I unlearnt it

When's Pakistan was being made  in 1947 , there was no Muslim League Sir  jinah or Sir Allama iqbal known in Pashton lands or  having any real power in the elected Leadership of Pashtons. Lands , or any power in elected Assemblies over then till 1947 .

Muslim league was non existent here in elected Assemblies but was represented by a few bureaucrats and servants of British like some Sahbizadas , Khan Bhudurs and Arababs etc title holders of British like Sahbizada Abdul Qayum a Qadiani of Topi Swabi or some Mullahs on pay role of British in Jameet ulema hind some Deobandi agents of British.

The only representation Muslim league had was , maybe less than 6  seats in both provinces  of Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan which was one and same  at that time. As name Baluchistan name did not come till 1971 when new constitution of Pakistan was made by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto  ......

Out of hundreds of elected Pashtons in Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and Baluchistan Assmbly called state of Kalat at that time in 1947 which ,was Nationalist and reformist party of  Awami national Party of Bacha Khan, Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan is forgotten and not mentioned in text books of Pakistan but history is not taught in Pakistan but a fed lies in as Pakistan Studies ..

Muslim league that were never Voted by Pashtons and balauchis  in 1947 ,  in fact the elected Asemblies of Baluchistan was bombed with Artillery by Pakistan Army and Air force in 1947 -48 , Air force  was used to destroy the session of parliament ,when we are gifting Kashmir our human rights were being trampled.
The Pakhtunkhwa elected Asembly was discharged with out any reason in dictatorial manner by Sir jinnah in 1947 being a non elected head of newly formed Pakistan in partner ship with British was discharging and sending home elected leaders of Pashtons in Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan . FATA people were directly under bureaucrats as slaves in 1947 till today .

As it was British who put all the Congress people in jail and jinnah and Muslim leaguers  never went to jail and was allotted British titles as a loyalist and kept as loyal servants to British   .

We Pashtons joined Pakistan  because of our own will and for love of  Islam as we did not wanted India which was far away and not geographically joined with us with Pakistan in.between .

Afghanistan was not even  offered as a choice , by the British conducting referendum we did not love or like sir  jinnah or  sir iqbal  wearing British dresses and looked more of a Kala sahib replacing a white Gora sahib a British agent than a leader who was  working for Islam .

But we were already a  free Nation at times of partition in 1947 but we did a grave mistake in that referendum by believing in Punjabis and their leaders and we are still paying for our mistake every day every hour to this day .

We should have not  belived in Religion but should have gone for Pashton Nationalism and we did a foolish mistake that reminds us every day that why we are prejudiced and hated because of that mistake in believing in Islam .

75 years have passed but we are never Accepted as Real Pakistani by Punjabis  . We face  bias and Racism and   inequality as We don't have  a fair constitution of Pakistan over us for more than half of our Pashton population and Pashton areas .

We are treated by a special Draconian and degrading and insulting laws call FCR frontier crimes regulation a set of 40 laws made by Lord curzon viceroy of Britain in 1800 ,a , these same laws at applied by Kala sahib Punjabis  to this day on Pashtons

We gave 100 percent Kashmir as a gift  to Pakistan in 1947 and kept All of Kashmir for Pakistan  up to 1949 for Pakistan and Indian a
Army was shamed and defeated by us  , 

But the Punjabis shamelessly ,   later gave  60 % of Kahmir was given back to India  by Punjabi leader Mr Laiqat Ali  to India without a single shot being fired as a gift in 1949 what we call Indian occupied Kashmir now or IOK and that gift is with India to this day.

The shame continues ,  even today the Pakistan Army cannot take IOK ,  back to Pakistan from India ,  with its atomic power , and being 4th  largest and strongest Army in the world  , it has lost all the wars it fought over Kashmir in 1965, 71, Kargil and also war on terror it cannot be victorious but a looser Army  vet it celebrates all it as victories as defence day when it lost all th wars and it would never celebrates the 1947 war which we won and got Kashmir for Pakistan .

it supports terrorists like  Punjabi Taliban Lashkar toiba or jhangavi , over Kashmir and Afghanistan but they are killers and terrorists  loosers who cannot do thier job as We did for Pakistan as Pashtons

All Pashtons , who did not all go to war in Afghanistan and Kashmir if we all go together  the world will be at our feet as promised by God as Bani Israel when we were evicted from Israel by orders of God . But he promised any land we out our feet on and it stands true to this as it will of God .

We saved Pakistan from USSR , and we fought  alongside , Arab Jihadists and Islamist who were brought on our lands as guests  by the same Punjabis who did not offer Punjab to there foreign guests and was out of bound for Arabs and Afghans. So much for Pan Islamism bull shit ...

Punjabis  asked us to forget ourselves and become Muslims or Bedoos Nation  and promoted Pan Arabian Islamism philosophy cunningly which does not exist as we are not even considered as brother by the same gulf countries and Arabs counties and concept of Islamic brother hood  lies only in books not in reality and in world today.

Pashton are only fools who believe in Pan Islamism bull shit  even the Punjabis don't believe in it when it comes to Pashtons and Balauchis ..as Punjabis  running the country we are never Muslims in Pakistan when treated by Punjabis.

We did fight for Pakistan as after Afghanistan it was Pakistan they wanted and our lands of Pashtons were there , then Arab countries and it's oil and warm waters oil fields was the  ultimate target. We saved the Pakistan Arabs  and the Punjabis brothers and sisters with our blood and usa too from Soviets and communsim.

Pashtons destroyed Soviet union and we liberated the Europe from Iron curtain fell because of us as the  Berlin Wall and it became one United Europeans union because of us and it was no more Soviets and communists in the world because of us Pashtons .

Punjabis was saved from Soviets and Europe liberated  was made one and United with more than 3 dozen counties made as one United Europe , the  Berlin wall fell and people were United in Europe with lost families and relatives .  Americans were saved from global super power Soviet union with its Atomic weapons .

Arabs  progressed  peacefully and they made tall buildings envy of the world with our the Russians , and great progress  was made in GCC in  Dubai Saudia,  as we saved them  and what we got ? Nothing but disability deaths and poverty and we were left tp collect the garbage for Punjabis with donkey carts and drivers of transport  and security guards and boot polisher cobblers of Punjabis and Arabs in Gulf countries.

The American and the  world celebrated and Arabs who paid dollars for dollar with Americans , became victors  Liberators and heroes with Americans as their partners celebrating  and they were never called terrorists or called bad names neither was the Punjabis .. Punjabis were called brothers Allies of USA  and partners in NATO ...

.. Only The Punjabis and it's ISI declared themselves  as  victors and only Heroes victorious over Sovietes getting all the glory from us and forgetting us Pashtons  in celebrations .

We Pashtons were left in poverty neglect by all of them including Pakistani Punjabis , who started fearing us and despising and hating us as a Dog and called us Terrorists and criminals.

We were hated by Punjabis , Arabs and American and Europeans for whom we sacrificed so much even we are not involved in 9/11 or any European terrorism .

We would loose our Homes ,families brothers and sisters our lands , our business and our honour for being a patriotic Pakistani .

It's is said Give a Dog a Bad Name and Kill it and we were , exactly treated like that , worse then dogs from 1947 to now , no mention exists in Paki media or history  of our Kashmir victories and 1947 -49 was and it's  liberation in Pakistan ,

No mentions of history of Pakistan Studies of our defeat of Soviet union and  fall  of communism or the liberation of Europe because of Pashtons

Or our sacrifices then and now on fake war on terror , which is nothing but war on Pakhtons ,  we are bad Dogs and that has to be killed , hated and despised .

We become IDPs on our lands and we have become the largest on Earth or universe displaced Pashtons as IDP  and out of their homes....

and yet when Pakistan budget is passed we are given not a single extra  Rupee by Punjabis  as measure as token of sympathy or empathy or  appreciation ,.recently in latest government of PTI , that is a party made by Punjabis for the punjabi  establishment under Punjabi domiciled imme Taliban  Khan ,

half of Budget of Pakhtunkhwa was lapsed in amount of 100 Billion rupees out of 200 billion  that was given back to Punjabis as a gift by Punjabi imme Taliban  Khan Sahib back to  federation run by Punjabis and it's establishment as a policy .

PTI criminals Punjabi establishment backed right wing parties , to cover that 100 Billion deficit ,  PTI took loans that have to be paid back with huge interest  from IMF and world bank's , resulting in more taxes and poverty on just Pashtons but not on Punjabis ,

burdening  a province that is active in war , and destruction ,  being destroyed every day and blown up , this is what you get as token of appreciation.

There is no money for us but a lot of money for Army Basses on our lands snatched from Pashtons ,  who were not ready to sell and who resisted were either made Disappeared missing Persons or declared  terrorists and killed in fake police encounters

Pakistani media controlled by Punjabi establishment  looked the other way conveniently as it serves as the prostitute to the establishment as people say , it cares shit about humanity or human rights or even citizens of Pakistan as We are sometimes called by mistake .

Most of terrorists even if there are actually are Pashtons who are one as Gul Khans , who  follow the Punjabi mullahs like that of Raiwind , Mansoora and Wafiq ul madarissahs all run by Punjabi mullahs of Takht I Lahore as we call the Punjabis establishment , and Loyal puri faislabadis  ,

Terrorists Punjabi establishment  lashkars toiba lahoris or jhangavi loyal puris faisalabadi  Punjabis , are all translations of Pakistan Army as  Lashkar toiba in Arabic is translated as Pakistan Army ,

Pashtons are all misled by Punjabis mullahs with connections with Punjabis establishment , led by them to kill our own blood and Pashtons  in Af-pak area of Pakhtunkhwa , fata and Baluchistan on this side of durrand line and over other side of durrand line we kill in Pashton dominated area Afghanis for the love of Pakistan and punjabi who treat us like dogs and shit .

Half of our nation has its ID cards and Pakistani nationality blocked and we are not even considered Pakistani , and other half has had no rights since 1947 , as there is no constitution on half of our people in 7 FATA and PATA  divisions / Agencies ( total 14)  and another 6 FR areas / Districts are not even counted as citizens of Pakistan and under Article 247 , we are not entitled to Pakistani constitution at all , neither any of its human or basic rights of objective resolution allows to that half of our population at all .

Yet we are supposed to call ourselves as Pakistani and have to prove our loyality and face the bias and racism and hate of punjabi establishment ,

Same terrorists are supported by the Punjabis establishment and they have become rich riding in 20 million Land cruisers each and all of them and we real citizen of Pakistan are Facing the brunt of Racism and bias and hate , loosing our Homes and lands and our families and everything we have for what ?? For nothing

Punjabi establishment has decided that they will use the brutal methods against us Pashtons  they want to make a another division between Pakhtons and Afghanistan like  Wahga in Torkham where they Punjabis army men would show the under wears to Afghanis , when they raise their feet to sky ...........as they show to Indians at Wahaga each day at Sunset by Marching and raising their feet to the sky in a comical ceremony that has become a media spectacle .

The syllabus of Punjabis in schools is full of Hate of Pashtons. And we are traitors in books taught to children in Punjab . And they are not just books but official Text books ..

Have after 75 years Will never go away and will remains and no efforts is under way to rectify it even when we saved the Punjabis in 1965 , 71 , Kargil and in words of a Khan who gave Atomic power to Pakistan Abdul Qadir khan , "" I am not treated like equal Pakistani like the punjabis """, he was disgraced by the Punjabis establishment recently for sacrificing his life for, making us strong after humiliating defeat in 1971 war and making Pakistan Atomic power.

He said in one of his Article , that Punjabis are thinking of Enslaving Afghanistan and Pashtons as Fifth Province and dreaming about it and forgetting Alexander , Changez Khan , Romans , British , Rusians and now the Americans who lost in.Humiliation to Pashtons  , Punjabis and it's establishment may be next on the list soon as things are going .

Here is a letter of Punjabis to Pashtons , in all its sincerity , hats off to him or her who did not publish name .

Dear Pashtuns,

I am a Punjabi who has been living in the capital of Punjab for almost four years. I am studying both politics and sociology simultaneously at the University of Punjab, Lahore. I know very little about your culture and political beliefs but, for sure, I know more than any ordinary Punjabi . I am sharing my educational background and familiarity with your culture and politics to demonstrate one very important thing which I am intending to discuss in this piece: politics and social philosophy of life. 

We know your loyalty is beyond any doubt, your dedication, passion, and commitment with your assigned goals do not need any certification. And your sense of self-esteem is probably the thing the whole Pakistan is proud of.

You did a lot for Pakistan, for Afghanistan, for Saudi Arabia, for America and for the whole world. But in return you got blood, pain and a bad-name. Hold on… this is not what God has done with you. This is what humans, your so-called brothers, did with you.

There was a time when Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of the nation, trusted you and gave you both respect and responsibility. And what you returned us was probably something our strongest army wouldn't be able to give us. I, like the father of the nation, feel proud of you. 

But since 1980s you were used, misused, exploited, maimed, beheaded, murdered and ultimately declared as the biggest terrorists of the world. All this happened when you were fighting a ‘holy war’ for the capitalist America to defeat the atheistic Soviet Union under the leadership of Zia and his Saudi brothers. Americans gave dollars, Saudis surfaced ideological grounds, and Zia being a strategist devised murderous strategies to fight this war. As a result, the Soviets were white-washed, America came out as the sole superpower of the world, Zia went away to meet his awaiting- seventy two virgins and Saudis  joined Americans to celebrate their victory. 

You remember you were ‘jihadists’. You were ‘ghazis’. You were brothers of Zia. But you were so as long as there was war. At the end of the war you were zombies, terrorists, and the biggest enemies of peace of the world.

This is a sad story. This is a bitter past which dominates the bloody present. This is what your brothers did with you.  

The important question remains: who got what from this war? Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are paying the heaviest price of their bravery and love for their brothers and friends. A harsh reality of the day! 

This is what happened in history. I can’t change it. Nor can you or anyone else. We have to accept it. 

Let’s talk about other things. Why do we, Punjabis, not regard you as trustworthy friends? There is a reason behind this mistrust and awkwardness. I still remember when I was a child I used to go out almost all the time. My mother used to assert: ‘Do not go out. There are Pathans in town and they will take you with them.’ And believe me I used to be very scared of you whenever I heard about your presence. 

Then I came to Lahore and here what I initially learnt was so scary: “Pathans are dirty. They love ‘naswar’, smoke, and eat tasteless food and follow stupid things. Girls don’t like them. Most of them are gay, so try to avoid them as much as you can.” This is what I learnt from my friends, their friends and from lay public. 

Unfortunately, when I formally joined my university I had a very bad image of the Pathan in my mind. I remember in my first ever class at the campus when I saw that there were some Pathans in my class I was just thinking so many bad things about them: abductors, heartless, homosexuals…

With all this I started reading with them and reluctantly interacted with them. I started finding things contrary to what I had learnt. They were more loving than Punjabis, more loyal than anyone else in my social circle, more intelligent, more outspoken and more concerned about Pakistan than us. This is what I learnt about Pashtuns in my own classroom and through my extensive interaction with them. 

Moreover, I read about you. I was interested to learn about your culture including marriage system, badal (the concept of revenge) and everything about Pakhtunwali. I found you people with a strong sense of identity in a Pakistan where everyone else is struggling with his/herself because of identity crisis.  

I was lucky to get a chance to stay at Peshawar University when I was selected as a participant of Third International Summer School. I ate your traditional foods and took the same tea. I love Afghani Pulao and want to visit again my friends, Sajid and Abid in Peshawar. 

The bottom line is, dear Pashtun friends, you have been stereotyped in a very bad manner in Pakistan. Who did it? I really don’t know. But I know it has been done so smartly that there must always be a dividing line in Pakistan between “us” and “them”.

Image Courtesy: Pakistan Today

The sadder part is that now terrorists are being profiled on racial basis and so many Punjabis believe Pashtuns are bad people; violent extremists. Our police is issuing notices and warning us to report if we see any Pathan selling tea in their traditional outlook. I am sad to read this notice. All this made me teary-eyed. 

I wrote this letter to convey my love, not any sympathy, because I know you people neither need nor like it. I am a Punjabi who believes you people are misrepresented, misread and misused. I am a Punjabi who urges you to come here and interact with common Punjabis and let them know what they believe is absolutely incorrect. Come here and teach these people how to love, what it means to be sincere, what it means to be Pakistani and most of all tell them what it means to be Pashtun .

God bless you!

Published in the Nation newspapers , on 27 Feb 2018. By a Punjabi who did not care to mention his or her name  -     https://nation.com.pk/27-Feb-2017/how-i-a-punjabi-was-brainwashed-with-anti-pashtun-bigotry-and-how-i-unlearnt-it

Pakistan Plans to Reform Nation's Religious Seminaries skipping Punjab

February 16, 2018 6:12 PM
Madeeha Anwar

In an effort to control militancy and the alleged abuse of madrassas (religious seminaries) by some militant groups operating in the country, Pakistan’s government recently announced plans to bring all madrassas under the formal education structure of the country.

Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s interior minister, reportedly told a seminar last month the government already has allocated funds for initiating the reforms in the country’s education sector, and they include modernizing the educational curriculum and bringing traditional seminaries into the formal government structure.

The new measures are part of efforts to prevent the abuse of religious schools in the hands of militant groups.

Of the four provinces of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seems to suffer more than the others from the problem of madrassas being abused by militant groups, according to officials.

Damming Report of involvement in Terrorism

A 2015 report by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government called 145 religious schools in the province “highly sensitive” and noted that 26 percent of madrassas in the province remained unregistered and off the official books.

Officials charge the problem still exists, and the government plans to address it.

“Unfortunately, some madrassas in the terror-wrecked KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] had been involved in promoting extreme ideologies in the past decades and some even have worked as facilitators and sympathizers for terror groups,” Sardar Yousaf, Pakistan’s federal minster for religious affairs, told VOA.

“By mainstreaming the madrassas, the government will ensure that no one is allowed to promote extremist ideologies, terrorism, hatred or sectarianism. We cannot allow it at any cost,” Yousaf added.

Yousaf said the planned reforms would be implemented across the country in all madrassas, but the government has not yet set any deadline for provinces to meet.

“All provinces are required to implement the madrassa reforms. Sindh, Baluchistan and Punjab are also working on plans to implement these reforms in their provinces at their own pace,” he said.

National Action Plan Non Implementation

Pakistan’s interior ministry last year directed all provinces to devise strategies and mechanisms to place madrassas under the national educational system in an effort to comply with the National Action Plan (NAP), a 20-point national strategy adopted in 2015 to counter terrorism in the country.

Yousaf said the registration of madrassas and efforts to bring them into the mainstream educational system are all part of the NAP.

“The initiative shows our effort and commitment to implement the National Action Plan that clearly states religious schools should be regulated and monitored by the government,” Yousaf said.

Some analysts applaud the government’s recent efforts, but point to past failed attempts.

Rahimullah Yousafzai, a Peshawar-based journalist, pointed toward the failed madrassa reform project initiated by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2002.

“There had been attempts to bring reforms to the madrassa system in the past as well, but there was no success. Remember what happened to the madrassa reforms program initiated by Musharraf?” Yousafzai asked.

Yousafzai said change has to be participatory in nature and must involve religious scholars in order for it to succeed.

“In order to achieve long-lasting results and to bring revolution in the madrassa education system, the government will have to get full consent of the religious scholars belonging to different sects of Islam,” Yousafzai said.

Yousaf asserted that problem has been ironed out this time around and the planned reforms have the blessing of religious leaders across the country.

“We’ve got phenomenal response from the religious clerics and scholars representing different madrassas across the country. They're willing to introduce the reforms in their religious seminaries,” Yousaf said.

According to Pakistan’s Board of Madrassas, there are about 2.5 million students enrolled in more than 3,500 registered madrassas across the country.

Additionally, there are thousands of unregistered madrassas for which the government has no exact count.

Resistance to science

Madrassas, for the most part, follow a curriculum that’s heavily dependent on Islamic theology and the Arabic language. There seems to be resistance from religious clerics to the introduction of scientific subjects. Some experts are hopeful the government will modernize the system and allow millions of children access to science and other necessary subjects.

“These are much-needed and long-awaited reforms. It is time to introduce modern academic tools to the enormous and unregulated madrassa network, which houses millions of children across the country,” Yousafzai said.

Some madrassas in Pakistan have been accused of links with terror groups and promoting hatred and intolerance.

For instance, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-based Darul Uloom Haqqania, a madrassa with thousands of students, is believed to have sympathy for the Afghan Taliban fighting the U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. The Islamic seminary is often called the “University of Jihad” by critics inside and outside Pakistan.

“There is evidence that many Islamic seminaries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa openly participated in militancy in the past and some even worked as promoters and recruiters for terror groups, such as Taliban fighting in Afghanistan,” Hasan Askari Rizvi, a regional analyst from Lahore, told VOA.

Rizvi said the number of madrassas in Pakistan grew over the years partly because of a lack of formal education in poor neighborhoods and the government’s negligence.

“The government is responsible for the deteriorating social, educational and financial setup of the religious seminaries. It was because of government’s negligence that some madrassas promoted extreme and ultraorthodox ideologies and continued to impose a hard-core interpretation of Islam,” Rizvi said

Rizvi noted that religious schools in Pakistan are a good alternative for people because they promise food, shelter and education, and attract a large number of students, mostly from the impoverished classes of society.

Madeeha Anwar is a multimedia journalist with Voice of America's Extremism Watch Desk in Washington where she primarily focuses on extremism in the South Asia region.

Follow Madeeha on Twitter at @MadeehaAnwar

Reference : https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-plans-to-reform-nation-religious-seminaries/4258297.html

Pakistan Army Sent to Saudia Arabia in Yemen Campaign to Save the downfall of Saudi Kings

Pakistan army is not concerned about Terrorism in Pakistan and after failed operations in Pakistan against Terrorists and Failure to do national Action plan and not concerned about Pashtuns and Baluchi's ,  that is only Killing People in Pakhtunkhwa  FATA and Baluchistan only. 

Punjabi Establishment , support the Taliban Terrorists and feeds on Tax Payers money of Pakistanis , but is not concerned about Safety of Pakistanis but rather it wants to support the Corrupt Dictators of Middle east who are hated by its own people , and want to fight wars for these Monsters and corrupt rulers and fight the Yemenis Muslims who are Opposing the Saudis , Over Populated corrupt  Punjabis Running Pakistan are using these tactics for Earning money for Punjabis as Mercenaries and Karai ka Gorrilas  .... No Permission for this Military Miss adventures was given by Pakistan Politicians in National assembly and Senate and Parliament's 

ISLAMABAD: A contingent of troops of the Pakistan Army is being dispatched to Saudi Arabia as part of continuation of the ongoing bilateral security cooperation between the two countries.


“These [troop] or [the] troops already there will not be employed outside KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]. Pak Army maintains bilateral security cooperation with many other GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council]/regional countries,” the military media wing said in a statement issued on Thursday.


The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) did not provide the exact number of troops being sent. However, the army’s emphasis on sending the troops as part of ‘bilateral security pact’ is apparently to avoid any controversy since Pakistan is also part of the Saudi-led 41 nation counter terrorism alliance.


Former army chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif is heading the coalition, which Saudi Arabia and other members insist, is only meant to fight terrorism. However, Iran and some other regional countries are not convinced as they believe the coalition aims at furthering the Saudi agenda.


Pakistan joined the grouping on a condition that it would not become part of any initiative that targets any other Muslim country. Islamabad has been walking a tight rope to maintain balance in its ties with Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are at odds with each other because of divergent strategic interests.


The announcement regarding army troops being sent to Saudi Arabia came just a day after army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa met the Iranian ambassador. The meeting suggests that the army chief might have taken the Iranian envoy into confidence about Pakistan’s move to send the troops to KSA.

reference : https://tribune.com.pk/story/1635965/1-pak-army-contingent-sent-saudi-arabia-training-advisory-mission/

Waziristan Tribe In FATA Threatens to return to Pakhtunkhwa and Protest If Landmines Not Cleared

TANK, Pakistan -- A Pashtun tribe in northwest Pakistan endured Taliban bombs, Pakistani military sweeps, and displacement for years to return to what they hoped would be a peaceful homeland.

But an estimated half a million Mehsuds are once again threatening to abandon their towns and villages in South Waziristan if authorities fail to clear landmines and unexploded ordinance from the mountainous regions.

A major Mehsud jirga or tribal council this week warned the government to either protect their children from being blown up in landmine explosions or brace for unprecedented protests and a mass exodus of Mehsud tribespeople into Pakistani cities.

Qayyum Sher, a former Pakistani military officer and Mehsud tribal leader, says government efforts to rehabilitate his community amount to nothing if it continues to fail to protect them from the scourge of landmines.

“We are calling on the [Pakistani] army to cleanse this region from mines if they want us to live a peaceful life here,” he told Radio Mashaal. “We Mehsuds are united in demanding an end to frequent incidents where men, women, and children are either killed or lose their limbs to landmines.”

Saeed Anwar, another Mehsud tribal leader, says during the past year landmines have killed or maimed more than 70 children. Many Mehsuds returned to their homeland after a Pakistani military offensive forced them to abandon their homes in 2009. Most sought shelter in the hot and arid plains of neighboring Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

“I think this situation [the prevalence of landmines] is a violation of international laws and conventions,” he said. “We are adamant that if the authorities fail to cleanse Waziristan from landmines, we will abandon it altogether.”

The Mehsud ordeal began soon after a handful of extremists from among the community became leaders of the Pakistani Taliban movement after the demise of the hard-line Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan in late 2001. Over the past 16 years, hundreds of thousands of Mehsud civilians have paid a heavy price as militants killed tribal leaders and targeted civilians while they also became collateral damage in military offensives that ultimately forced them to leave their homes.

The community now appears to have learned hash lessons from their past silence over their suffering. Anwar says they plan to protest until authorities succumb to their demands. “How can we live in a place where the lives and limbs of our children are not safe?” he asked.

Anwar pledged that the corridors of power in Islamabad will now have to listen to their demands. He accused Islamabad of treating them as lesser citizens, saying that when a landmine killed seven Mehsud children last year, authorities only offered them the equivalent of $150 in Pakistani currency in compensation while the victims of a fuel tanker accident in Punjab Province received more than $27,000 in compensation.

“Even when killed by unexploded ordinance that are left behind after military sweeps, our dead are worth less than Punjabis trying to collect fuel from an overturned tanker,” he said. “It is the government’s responsibility to clear all these mines.”

Sherpao Mehsud, the head of a welfare organization in South Waziristan, says his fellow tribespeople returned to their homeland after the government assured them of complete security.

“For nearly 10 years, we suffered in every nook and cranny of Pakistan,” he said. “We demand that Pakistan’s chief of army staff immediately dispatch professional military demining teams to clear Waziristan from the curse of landmines.”

Pakistani authorities have not commented on the demining demands. But senior Pakistani officials usually project the return of the displaced tribespeople as a major success. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nearly 75,000 displaced families have returned to South Waziristan.

Activist Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen says some students from his community are eager to protest to bring attention to the deadly threat of landmines in Waziristan.

“We are ready to launch a sit-in in Islamabad until authorities move to address this problem,” he told Radio Mashaal.

Hundreds of Mehsud tribal leaders are now scheduled to meet on January 22 to devise a final strategy for pushing the government to respond to their demands.

Abubakar Siddique wrote this based on Radio Mashaal correspondent Sailab Mehsud’s reporting from Tank, Pakistan.

Gandhara Rferl

source : https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-waziristan-landmines/28983454.html