42 Articles

Sunday, May 13, 2012
Pakistan: The Herculean job of defending a corrupt president
The Supreme Court of Pakistan last Tuesday (May 8, 2012) announced the much-awaited detailed judgment in the contempt case against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for refusing to obey the court's 2009 order to write to the authorities in Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against President Zardari.

Saturday, May 5, 2012
Pakistan Commission Failed to Complete Probe of bin Laden Assassination
(1 comments) With the majority of Pakistanis skeptical about the assassination of Osama bin Laden, Pakistan's judicial commission entrusted to probe the assassination had failed to do so until now.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Terrorist, a forbidden jargon when you are writing about the Norway terrorist Breivik
Perhaps terrorist is a prohibited jargon when you are reporting about the Norway terrorist Anders Behring Breivik whose trial began on Monday for killing 77 people last July. He killed eight people by detonating a bomb in Oslo and a further 69 during a shooting spree at political youth camp on nearby Utoya island.

Sunday, April 15, 2012
The politics of religious freedom
(1 comments) A broad national coalition of more than 60 civil advocacy organizations and individuals have sent a joint letter to Senators Inouye, McConnell and Durbin expressing "deep concern" at the recent controversial appointment of Zuhdi Jasser to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Sunday, February 26, 2012
Turmoil in Balochistan and the debacle of East Pakistan
(1 comments) It is said that history repeats itself. Perhaps it is true in the ongoing strife in Pakistan's largest province, Balochistan. The current wave of socio-economic and political turmoil in Balochistan resembles with the social and political unrest that had led to the separation of East Pakistan and establishment of Bangladesh in December 1971.

Saturday, February 18, 2012
Redrawing the map of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan: Independence for the Balochi people
(3 comments) Ten days after he chaired a Congressional committee's hearing on Balochistan, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Friday (2/18) introduced a concurrent resolution in the congress, calling for an independent state for the Balochi people living in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

Saturday, February 11, 2012
The case of disappeared persons in Pakistan
(1 comments) Two proceedings this week highlighted the issue of thousands of disappeared persons in Pakistan. On Wednesday the subcommittee of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on the human rights situation in Balochistan that included target killing and disappearance of people. Pakistan's Supreme Court Friday issued directives to produce seven missing prisoners before the court on February 13.

Friday, February 10, 2012
US Congressional hearing on Balochistan/dismemberment of Pakistan
The subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on Wednesday (2/8/2012) to discuss the target killings and human rights situation in Balochistan and termed it a matter requiring urgent attention.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Anti-Muslim rhetoric by the Republican presidential hopefuls
(5 comments) In the post-9/11 America, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate has become commonplace and increasingly acceptable in political and civic discourse. Anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric or Islamophobia is no longer questioned, even by our elected representatives. During 2011 there was phenomenal rise in anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric particularly by the Republican Party politicians.

Monday, February 6, 2012
US drones also targeting mourners and rescuers in Pakistan
(1 comments) The US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, the British newspaper Sunday Times has reported. The Sunday Times Bureau Investigative report says that since Obama took office three years ago, between 282 and 535 civilians have been credibly reported as killed including more than 60 children.

Friday, January 20, 2012
Govt remains adamant to reopen graft cases against President Zardari in Swiss court
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has again refused to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari in a Swiss court. Gilani appeared before the Supreme Court on Thursday (1-18-2012) to explain his refusal to ask Switzerland to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Growing Sino-Pakistan military ties ring alarm bells in India
(1 comments) India Today reported on January 4, that a secret report prepared by the government's joint intelligence committee has confirmed India's worst fears - China is planning a military base in Pakistan. The paper said that the report, based on inputs from the (Indian Intelligence agency) Research and Analysis Wing, is meant for the Prime Minister, members of the cabinet committee on security and the national security adviser.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A "smart legal coup d'etat" is underway in Pakistan?
It is said that power in Pakistan rests on three "A's: America, Allah and the Army. While America was mollified by obedience and Allah by giving in to key demands of religious forces, the army was mollified by following its policies. But for the two years a rift between the Army and the US-client government of President Zardari was widening and the latest Memogate scandal has brought it to an open confrontation.

Sunday, January 1, 2012
Murder of Dr Shah highlights the insurgency in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province
In an apparent attempt to erase key forensic evidence in the Kharotabad, killing of five unarmed foreigners by Army led para-military force, Dr Baqir Shah was gunned down Thursday in Quetta, the capital of the strife-torn Balochistan province where a nationalist insurgency is underway.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011
An economic planner of Zardari regime calls for dismantling of Pakistan's nuclear program
With the US-client Zardari regime at loggerheads with the powerful army on the Memogate Scandal, The News, a leading English newspaper of Pakistan, reported Monday that the government economic planners are promoting an economic growth strategy based on major cuts in the country's nuclear budget or completely giving up the nuclear program.

Sunday, December 25, 2011
2011 another hard year for Muslims in America
"Where there are Muslims, there are problems." This alarmingly sweeping comment by the New York Post best reflects the dilemma of the seven-million strong American Muslim community which remains under siege in the post-9/11 era.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Memogate Scandal Escalates in Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari returned to Pakistan Sunday after assurances from the Army Chief General Ashfaq Kiyani that he will not be implicated in the so-called Memogate scandal that has destabilized Zardari's U.S.-installed government.

Thursday, December 1, 2011
US-led NATO deadly attack on Pakistani posts aimed at gauging response of nuclear Islamabad?
With more details coming out about last Saturday's US-led NATO attack on two Pakistani posts in the remote area of Pak-Afghanistan border analysts in Pakistan believe that the unprovoked two-hours attack was aimed at gauging the response of nuclear armed Pakistan.

Monday, November 28, 2011
US-led NATO attack on Pakistan worsens Islamabad-Washington ties
(1 comments) The already frayed US-Pakistan relations have fallen to their worst point after US-led NATO helicopters destroyed two Pakistani military check posts killing 25 soldiers and injuring 13 others. The checkposts - located about 2.5 kilometres inside the Pakistan-Afghanistan border - were set up to stop the cross border violation and infiltration of militants from Afghanistan into Pakistani area.

Thursday, November 24, 2011
Memogate scandal: Zardari regime again fails to control the powerful army
The so-called memogate scandal, that cost the job of Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, is perhaps a sequel to the July 2008 abortive attempt by the US client government of President Zardari to put the powerful military-run spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), under civilian control.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The politics of gas pipelines in Asia
(1 comments) On November 14, Pakistan and Turkmenistan signed an agreement to build the $7.6 billion Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (TAPI) gas pipeline project under which Pakistan will get 1.3 billion cubic feet per day of gas. The agreement was signed during a visit by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan to Islamabad.

Saturday, September 17, 2011
FBI training material portrays Islam as an indicator of terrorist activity
The seven-million strong American Muslim community was shocked to know that the FBI has been using anti-Muslim instructors and Islamophobic materials in counterterrorism training. An article published on Wired Room.com on Wednesday revealed that the FBI training materials teach counterterrorism agents that mainstream American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011
American Muslims ten years after 9/11
The 9/11 attacks have left a lasting and damaging image for American Muslims who to this day are still fighting stereotypes and a negative image. The challenge that most Muslims face is their concern in the way they dress or their name might make them an easy target for stereotyping. Arab and Muslim Americans increasingly feel targeted by negative media portrayals and concerned about profiling.

Sunday, August 28, 2011
2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties' erosion in America -- Part Three
In the last ten years we have seen a steady erosion of the fundamental rights and civil liberties, all in the name of national security. The FBI is now investigating domestic peace activists and under the cover of studying "violent radicalization," the already-fluid definition of "terrorism" is being broadened to encompass political activity and protest by dissident groups.

Friday, August 26, 2011
2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties' erosion in America -- Part Two
(1 comments) In the last ten years we have seen a steady erosion of the fundamental rights and civil liberties, all in the name of national security. Peacemaking and whistleblowing has been virtually criminalized. FBI agents encouraged to search your trash, public databases just to sniff around for crime. Obama administration wants to read your email and search your laptops.

Friday, August 26, 2011
American Muslims alarmed at CIA-NYPD covert surveillance
(1 comments) The seven-million strong Muslim American community is alarmed at the revelation that the New York City Police Department have carried out covert surveillance on Muslims with the help of the CIA.

Thursday, August 25, 2011
2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties' erosion in America -- Part One
(1 comments) In the last ten years we have seen a steady erosion of the fundamental rights and civil liberties, all in the name of national security. The gradual erosion of our civil liberties came in the shape of Warrantless Wiretapping, abuse of the USA PATRIOT Act, the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System, the Real ID Act, the Military Commissions Act, No Fly and Selectee Lists and Abuse of Material Witness Statute.

Saturday, July 30, 2011
The FBI recommended new recruits read anti-Islam books
(2 comments) The FBI was teaching new recruits about Muslims with a power point presentation that recommended they read anti-Islam books, according to a grainy copy of the PowerPoint obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union's Northern California chapter and the Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based civil rights group.

Thursday, July 28, 2011
Peter King continues anti-Muslims witch hunt
Republican Rep. Peter King continued his anti-Muslim witch hunt Wednesday with his congressional hearing on the so-called "radicalization" of American Muslims. This time the focus of his hearing was the Somali community. This was King's third such hearing that came five days after the Oslo Massacre by the right-wing terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik who was perhaps radicalized by a group of anti-Muslim American bloggers.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Oslo massacre exposes the nexus of Islamophobia and right-wing extremism
More details have emerged on the Norwegian terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik and now we have enough details to piece together what's behind Friday's massacre which saw car bombings in Oslo and a mass shooting attack on the island of Utoya that caused the deaths of more than 90 people. Hours before his terrorist acts, Breivik left a 1550-page manifesto on internet. Its title is 2083: A European Declaration of Independence.

Saturday, July 23, 2011
Alleged Norwegian massacre gunman Anders Breivik is a right-wing anti-Muslim extremist
(3 comments) Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian who allegedly killed at least 90 people, most of them children, in Europe's worst terrorist attack since 2004, was reported Saturday to have a history of hatred of Muslims and of links with Christian fundamentalists and rightwing extremists such as Geert Wilders of Netherlands.

Friday, July 22, 2011
Dr. Fai's arrest tit-for-tat move by the US
US-Pakistan relations took a new twist Tuesday when Washington arrested the Kashmiri leader, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, on charges of working for the Pakistani spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) which purportedly gave $4 million to Dr. Fai for years to lobby for the Kashmir issue.

Sunday, July 10, 2011
The US mounts pressure on Pakistan Army as Washington-Islamabad relations get worse
(1 comments) Washington's latest accusation against the Pakistani spy agency ISI and the purported North Korean letter, claiming transfer of millions of dollars to Pakistani generals, came amid reports that the United States has been pressing the Pakistan Army to allow the posting of a Security Liaison Officer (SLO) at every corps headquarters of the military but the army has rejected the demand considering it a security threat.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Bridagier Ali a scapegoat for rising anti-Americanism in Pakistan Army
(1 comments) Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Mirza Aslam Beg does not believe that Brigadier Ali Khan and four other officers have been arrested on the grounds of having contacts with a banned organization, the Hizb-ut-Tehrir. "There are some other reasons behind these arrests, which, the present army leadership is concealing," he told The News, a leading newspaper of Pakistan.

Sunday, June 26, 2011
Politics is to Blame for Islamophobia Rise in US, says UCB/ CAIR Report
(1 comments) The University of California Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender (CRG) along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has released a report outlining the exponential growth of Islamaphobia in the United States. The report argues that politics is to blame for much of the problem. The UCB/CAIR Berkeley report - called Same Hate, New Target - says Muslim-bashing factored into the 2010 midterm elections.

Friday, June 17, 2011
Peter King's witch hunt continues with second anti-Muslim hearing
(2 comments) The Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Peter King (Republican-NY), is back again to exploit fear of American Muslims. On June 15, he continued Muslim witch hunt with another controversial hearing. This was the second in a series of hearings King has said he plans to hold on the issue of the so-called radicalization within the American Muslim community.

Thursday, June 16, 2011
Pakistan army's commercial ventures slammed
(1 comments) Awami National Party (ANP), an important ruling coalition party has asked the finance minister not only to provide details of the defense budget, but also give details of income of the commercial institutions being run by armed forces. The ANP says that today the armed forces were involved in construction of plazas, cement and pharmaceutical businesses and even running petrol pumps, CNG stations and marriage halls.

Monday, June 13, 2011
Extra-judicial killings in Pakistan
(3 comments) Disappearance of innocent citizens, extra-judicial and target killings are not uncommon in Pakistan but last Wednesday's brutal killing of young Sarfraz Shah by para-military Rangers in Karachi has shocked the nation. The execution-style killing of Sarfraz Shah is not an isolated incident.

Sunday, June 5, 2011
Ilyas Kashmiri reportedly killed in US drone attack in South Waziristan
Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, the commander of Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), was killed in a US drone attack near Wana, South Waziristan, on Friday night, Pakistani officials said Saturday. Shoaib Khan, a political agent, confirmed that Kashmiri had died in the strike at a militant compound in Ghwa Khwa area. "Kashmiri was killed in the late night attack," Mr Khan told journalists.

Thursday, June 2, 2011
Who is Behind the Abduction and Killing of Saleem Shahzad?
In Pakistan, where the disappearance and torture of people is not uncommon, Saleem Shahzad, a prominent journalist who wrote about the army's alleged links with al-Qaeda, was tortured and killed after being abducted from Islamabad Sunday, May 29 by unidentified men.

Sunday, May 29, 2011
Osama episode reinvigorates China-Pakistan ties
Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar announced on May 22 that China had "acceded to Pakistan's request to take over operations" of the Gwadar port while Islamabad also requested Beijing to build a naval base at the same port. This is perhaps the biggest shift in Pakistan's policy in the aftermath of Osama episode.

Saturday, May 21, 2011
Obama's reset rhetoric is unlikely to translate into meaningful policy change in the Middle East
(1 comments) President Barack Obama delivered a major foreign policy speech Thursday on historic changes in the Middle East. This was his second major address about America's relationship with the Muslim world which may be dubbed as Cairo-2. There were at least two parts to the president's speech. In the first part he outlined his administration's response to the "Arab Spring."