Mumbai vs Karachi: is the blame game ever going to end?
Before I begin this rant, I must out-rightly condemn all terrorism activities, be it from a ruthless terrorist in India or even in Pakistan wherever there is loss of life it must be condemned regardless of who is suffering The Mumbai attacks were shocking for everyone, for the three days the killers were on rampage killing over 200 innocent lives everyone specially in India was shaken to the core. While we in Pakistan sat watching in earnest prayer hoping that this bad dream would simply go away, we too are sick an tired of these terrorist and truly do not wish this plague to get worse
What followed soon after the dust settled in Mumbai, was an all out aggressive propaganda waged by the Indian Government against Pakistan trying its best to pin the blame on Pakistan. Generally the accusations were based on some scanty evidence that the bureaucracy could muster up in the short few hours, it was for us, as if the entire book of conspiracies were suddenly cracked open by RAW and brought into quick production simply to exploit this disaster for its own gains, all in an attempt to bring Pakistan on its knees and into Indian submission [being a patriot Pakistani, I assure you that will not happen, Indians would agree vice versa if they were in the same spot] To believe that this highly professional group of terrorist could conduct a fully coordinated attack while leaving a blatant bread crumb trail seems too dubious. A team of terrorists hitchhiking a boat ride from Karachi to land smack in the middle of Mumbai and take the city om a target shooting spree, seems all too James Bond’ish. To have a confession by a person allegedly a Pakistani, is definitely a poorly enacted video, as the accent completely defies all dialects spoken anywhere in Pakistan.
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Pakistan ICT policy being formulated within ‘closed doors’
Many may recall when a few weeks back the newly elected government had quietly put into effect the Cyber Crime Law without taking into confidence either the IT industry or for that matter putting it up before the parliament for a proper debate before making it a fully implemented law. The Cyber Crime Law was the same old unedited document which had initially been prepared by the Ministry of IT back in October 2007, in the eagerness to implement the cyber law they ignored all suggestions that had been requested by the IT industry after the October draft was made public. Since then much has happened, once Musharraf promulgated the law in the early part of 2008 which lapsed after ninety days and more recently Mr. Asif Ali Zardari also pushed the law into effect.
The repeated attempts by the government to sneak a very important law has created a significant amount of mistrust between the civil society and the government, but despite all the negativity we as civil society cyber activists were genuinely pleased to welcome the initiative by the MoITT to have an open door meeting in preparation for drafting an ICT Policy for Pakistan and it resulted in a genuine participation by a large delegation of stake holders within the IT Industry ranging from public & private entities and even significant players from within the civil society to join forces and work towards a mutually acceptable futuristic looking ICT Policy for Pakistan.
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Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attack
STRATFOR: Strategic Forecasting Inc. In its weekly series of articles has discussed the motivations behind the attacks in Mumbai, I think its definitely worth reading to better understand the issue with a more neutral perspective without getting embroiled in a heated Indo-Pakistan debate
Last Wednesday evening, a group of Islamist operatives carried out a complex terror operation in the Indian city of Mumbai. The attack was not complex because of the weapons used or its size, but in the apparent training, multiple methods of approaching the city and excellent operational security and discipline in the final phases of the operation, when the last remaining attackers held out in the Taj Mahal hotel for several days. The operational goal of the attack clearly was to cause as many casualties as possible, particularly among Jews and well-to-do guests of five-star hotels. But attacks on various other targets, from railroad stations to hospitals, indicate that the more general purpose was to spread terror in a major Indian city.
While it is not clear precisely who carried out the Mumbai attack, two separate units apparently were involved. One group, possibly consisting of Indian Muslims, was established in Mumbai ahead of the attacks. The second group appears to have just arrived. It traveled via ship from Karachi, Pakistan, later hijacked a small Indian vessel to get past Indian coastal patrols, and ultimately landed near Mumbai.
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Amaresh Misra talks about the Mumbai tragedy
ABN Chicago on Sunday did an interview with Amaresh Misra, a renowned historian, an activist who witnessed the tragic events in Mumbai. He has a very different view of the things occurred. He is one the few voices who were not given much coverage by the “Pseudo Secular” Indian media and brought some interesting insights into the tragedy:
- The mysterious circumstances under which the ATS Chief Karatke and the top brass was wiped out.
- The number of muslims killed which are around 30.
- The mystery behind Nariman House and his inside scoop on this place.
- The identity of Terrorists.
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Also read an article by Amaresh Misra written in October 2008 - ‘Bomb blasts are now doing what riots used to’
Amaresh Misra is the author of Mangal Pandey: The True Story of an Indian Revolutionary; Lucknow: Fire of Grace: The Story of Its Renaissance, Revolution and the Aftermath, and more recently War of Civilizations: The Road to Delhi and The Long Revolution
Karachi Bloggers Meetup: Dec 6th
Well after the success of the Lahore Bloggers Meetup, Google Pakistan and CIO Pakistan have quickly cobbled together an event in Karachi.
The location is yet to be announced as the team is just finalizing the last minute preparations but do register yourself quickly as the seat will most definitely be limited. Should be a fun event, and with the growing buzz around the new media, I think this is a must attend event for anyone even closely associated with the new media
Considering the deteriorating situation in Karachi, it does stand a little concerned, but lets see how the situation slowly unfolds over this upcoming week
Register here or visit it the Facebook event page its a FREE event
Twitter Hashtag to follow #KBM08
Queen Rania uses YouTube to spread message of Peace & Understanding
Queen Rania of Jordan has been Video Blogging for some time on YouTube sharing with the digital world her dedication to breaking down stereotypes about the Arab and Muslim worlds and an attempt to bridge the East-West divide. Recently she was rewarded the in the YouTube Visionary Award during the YouTube Live event last week. Her acceptance speech
I support her effort to build these bridges peace and understanding
Riots in Karachi
There are reports of wide spread ethnic riots in Karachi - the clash started of in Lasbella area where three people have been reported as dead, Rangers have been seen in certain areas
best way to keep an eye on the situation is to sign up on Twitter and follow #Karachi or #PEN my Twitter updates can be found on http://twitter.com/DrAwab
Instructions have been given to police authorities to resort to Shoot-to-kill orders - thats a dangerous order as the ethnic parties involved will misuse it for their own advantage
Stay safe Karachi
Fake Housing Scheme revealed “Shaheed Pinky Housing Society”
Yesterday the Sindh Assembly erupted with a very unique controversy when a PPP MPA from Nawabshah Tariq Masood Arain accused one ‘Bahawal Zardari’ for occupying over 100 acres of land and launching a housing society in the name of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto “Shaheed Pinky Housing Society” ‘pinky’ was a nick name used for BB’s by her father Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the family.
Tariq Masood Amin presented to the Sindh Assembly a handbill in which details of the housing scheme were outlined and was later furious at his party members for not supporting his case in the assembly and soon walked off in protest.
Speaking boldly on the matter, Mr. Amin had informed the house that land was located near Qauid-e-Awam Engineering College Nawabshah and had been occupied through forged documents. Senior PPP Minister Pir Mazharul Haq and even the speaker Nisar Khuhro rose to pacify the legislator advising the furious member to take his seat but Mr. Arain refused, protesting that his matter was not being given any importance, and ultimately walked out the house with a resolve to sit on a hunger strike to highlight his issue.
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A must read article by Shaheen Sehbai published in The News yesterday, sheds light on the present political chaos. “The over-riding sense of failure is that after a free and fair elections a genuinely popular and elected government should have created a tidal wave of trust and confidence, at the domestic and international levels, which would have translated into massive political, economic and moral support for Pakistan” - He goes on to share the gloomy reality “Whatever is being said, heard and thought about in Islamabad, is testimony to the fact that our politicians are failing to meet the challenge that the present window of opportunity has provided them. If they ultimately fail, God help them, and us all” God Help Pakistan → [5 Comments]
This news report was just too good to miss. It seems that President Asif Ali Zardari called up Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday night and condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai which has left over 160 people dead and many more injured. Anyone having a Deja Vu of the Zardari-Sarah Palin encounter a few months back. Suspiciously, why should the ‘President of Pakistan’ call up a random party president? Shouldn’t he have picked up the phone and called the Indian President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil but NOOOO….. Sing-a-long — … He’s a Bachelor … Pappu Cant Dance Saala → [10 Comments]
Hindu Terrorism touching Great Heights
Guest Post by Yaseen Khawar of pakistanic
Reuters, The biggest news agency of the world published a report on 17th November “India wonders how deep “Hindu terrorism” goes This story was consequentially published in all the leading newspapers and magazines of the world the next day
While earlier terrorism was usually connected with Islamic terrorism especially after 9-11 attacks in America, but this report shares information about 10 Hindu extremists who were arrested among them one was on-duty army officer . They been accused of bomb blast in thickly Muslim populated “Melegon” area of state western Maharashtra.
While Hindu Terrorism was never a new term, the fresh reports in world media about Tamil Tigers which portrays itself as a terrorist organization fighting for independence in Sri Lanka since 38 years. This terrorist organization is found involved in suicide attacks not only in Sri Lanka but in India as well.
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Mumbai Under Attack & Pakistan to blame
Since last night when hell broke loose in Mumbai, I, like millions of people across the world remained in a state of shock watching the events unfold on TV, it for many may have been like a prime time blockbuster film being recorded on the streets of Mumbai, a coordinated attack in seven locations seemed to be a perfect Hollywood script but the difference here was that it was ‘real blood and real people’, not funny in the least bit. Tired and deranged of hearing the same depressing news coming out of India I gave up watching the updates late last night. A special shout out to Dina Mehta, Vani [Flickr images] & many others who were the eyes and ears for millions of people across the world, out doing the main stream media in their brief 140 character SMS messges to the twitter network, these real updates were probably the only life line the world had with Mumbai otherwise it was a ghost town with terrorists on a rampage
What has also sadly transpired within the following day is that the ‘official’ blame game circus is in full swing, contrary to my initial message where I expressed my relief that Pakistan was not being blamed since Deccan Mujahideen were taking the blame, but much to my dismay the good news [?] was short lived and very soon the Indian government was livid at the Pakistani intelligence agencies for having masterminded this attack, in all honesty it might even had been the ISI [ironically we cant trust them either] but whosoever created the mess, Indian or Pakistanis it must be condemned at all costs.
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Sassui Palijo after Sindh’s archaeological sites?
If people may recall that about a month back in late September we had on this blog highlighted the land grabbing mafia after the Makli Necropolis in Thatta. The new incoming ministers were conveniently digging around the archaeological site apparently claiming to innocently dig a water channel to their land, but credible reports emerging from the area suggested that it was more of a land grabbing attempt by Ghulam Qadir Palijo, who has a few pieces of land in the surrounding area
The people orchestrating the fiasco was the ex-MPA Ghulam Qadir Palijo who also happens to be the father of the Sassui Palijo a Sindh Minister for Culture and Tourism. Ironically a news report appeared in The Nation yesterday where Sassui Palijo while speaking in the Sindh Assembly urged the President of Pakistan Mr. Asif Ali Zardari to fulfill his promise and hand-over the control of archaeological sites to their respective provinces. She went on to claim that the paperwork was being done to give control of the historical sites to provinces very soon.
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Dogar’s Daughter results linked with Islamic Medical College admission
As if the revelations could not get any worse - Ansar Abbasi in his article in The News today trumps Pakistan with an even more interesting investigation about the fiasco surrounding the Intermediate results of the daughter of Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Abdul Hameed Dogar.
What has come to light is that all this was orchestrated so she could get admission into Islamic Medical College as with her initial low grade at 640 Farah could not even apply to appear in the admission test which was scheduled for September 21st a fact which was confirmed by Major (retd) Munir Azam, who was associated with the college administration So in preparation to ensure that she appears in the admission test the bureaucratic wheels were set in motion and from the 10th of September the Chairman of the Federal School board was able to muster up the necessary re-examinations to gingerly tip Farah’s score over the magical 660 barrier.
On one hand every parent wishes for the best education for their children, but sadly the irony of this specific case is that she unfortunately happens to be the daughter of CJP Hameed Dogar, who was the judge to replace, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry who was thrown out of office for a number of allegations of which one incidentally was helping his son Dr. Arsalan in his CSS exams. With such a torturous history it seems Justice Dog-ar has too been caught red handed literally with his pants down
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Pakistani and Indian geeks in a Hacker War
With continued military tension across the border between India and Pakistan, it was imminent that Cyber activists might soon embroil themselves into a mini cyber war. It may have started off a few days back when an Indian group called HMG defaced Pakistan Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority, in response a few Pakistani calling themselves the Pakistan Cyber Army responded with a defacement of the Indian Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority. Though all this may be entirely illegal, so I hope that our friends understand the limitations and keep it on a friendly level. Story being extensive followed on ProPakistani.com
