Jammu, March 20 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar Saturday referred to Anantnag district in south Kashmir as Islamabad – a name made mandatory by the militants in 1990.
While replying on grants of departments under him in the state legislative assembly, Sagar called Anantnag “Islamabad” while naming all the districts where the rural development department has done exemplary work in the past one year.
“We have spent Rs.139 crore in the rural development works in the far-flung areas of Kupwara, Kulgam, Islamabad,” he said.
Anantnag, located 52 km south of Srinagar, was called Islamabad by a section of people in the Valley but militants made the name mandatory.
Anantnag is a Sanskrit word, which means plenty of springs. It has, among others, Verinag – the source of river Jhelum. There are springs in Mattan, Kokkernag, and Acchabal, which are tourist spots.
The town itself has number of springs, Nagbal, Sher Bagh and Malak Nag.
Islamabad, March 20 (IANS) Pakistan faces a staggering 4,500 MW power shortfall, leading to outages of up to 16 hours in rural areas.
On Friday, the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) said that the total demand was for 13,026 MW, while only 9,426 MW could be supplied across the country.
The gap between demand and supply could rise due to water shortage in reservoirs and this would severely affect consumers, The News Saturday quoting a source in PEPCO as saying.
While PEPCO claims that the outages last only 5-8 hours, the actual duration in urban areas is 8-10 hours while it is 14-16 hours in rural areas, The News said.
PEPCO sources said there was no getting away from unannounced outages.
The industrial sector is near its closure owing to the acute power shortage. Several factories have stopped one shift.
Islamabad, March 20 (IANS) The Pakistan Army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, left Saturday on an official visit to the United States to participate in Pakistan-US strategic dialogue scheduled for March 24.
Kayani is visiting America at the special invitation of US Central Command head, General David Petraeus, Online news agency quoted Inter-Services Public Relations as saying.
During the visit, Kayani is scheduled to meet senior US military and government officials in Tampa, the headquarters of the Central Command, and Washington.
Among those he is slated to meet are Defence Secretary Roberts Gates; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral
Michael Mullen, and US Army chief Gen. George W. Casey.
Issues related to the Pakistan-US defence and military relations, the security situation in the region, the ongoing military operation against Afghan Taliban in Helmand by the US and allied troops, the new US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan’s military and defence needs would be discussed during the meetings, sources said.
A high-level Pakistani delegation is also headed for Washington for the strategic dialogue. The delegation includes Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, advisor to the prime minister on finance Hafeez Sheikh, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Defence Secretary Athar Ali.
Islamabad, Mar.20 (ANI): Pakistan Punjab province’s Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s recent statement imploring the Taliban to exempt his region from violence has shocked many, but the bigger question is as to what prompted Shahbaz to make such an irresponsible statement.
Some analysts believe that the recent series of suicide attacks in Lahore has surprised Shahbaz to such an extent that he was unable to make out why extremist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is regarded as a strategic asset by the authorities, has broken its promise to not to create trouble in the region.
In her article in The Dawn, noted strategist and political analyst, Ayesha Siddiqa, pointed out that scores of Pakistani leaders have made deals with banned terror outfits to win seats in Parliament.
Siddiqa said that it is due to this nefarious nexus between militants and politicians that the ever expanding wave of ‘radicalism’ and ‘jihadism’ in Pakistan has not been challenged substantially.
She, however, warned that politicians must realise the dangers involved in joining hands with outlawed organisations only for fulfilling their petty objectives.
“ The problem with strategic assets, as Shahbaz Sharif may realise, is that they often bite the hand that feeds them since they can also feel insecure,” Siddiqa said.
Shahbaz Sharif is keeping silent on the jihadi ‘assets’, and according to reliable sources there was an understanding that he would take care of these elements, especially while the military was busy fighting the Taliban and other militant organisations in the lawless tribal regions, she added.
“ The ‘boys’ who feel they are not getting the right signals are likely to jump the gun and turn into splinters of the splinters. It is up to the Punjab chief minister to face this reality before it’s too late,” Siddiqa said. (ANI)
New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) Asserting that the US was aware of Indian concerns about the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, an official of the Obama administration Saturday said it was “very important” for Islamabad to rein in the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group that has “global ambitions” and has been targeting Americans as well.
“It is very important for Pakistan to take on Lashkar-e-Taiba threats, not only for the US but for India and other countries,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake told reporters here.
Blake was speaking at a news conference after addressing the Asia Society Corporate Conference here.
He said there was growing concern in the US that the LeT, based in Pakistan, has “global ambitions and presence”. “It is targeting Americans… I will discuss this with Pakistani (authorities),” said Blake, who will also travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan – his first official trip as assistant secretary.
In Delhi, he will meet Indian and American business representatives and have discussions with his counterparts in the ministry of external affairs to prepare for the US-India strategic dialogue between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later this year.
Blake said he was in India also to prepare the ground for President Barack Obama’s visit later this year, “for which I don’t have the exact dates”.
In Pakistan, he will meet with officials, civil society representatives, religious leaders and business representatives in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.
Blake said that Pakistan has always maintained it won’t allow its soil to be used for terror activities. “I hope Pakistan will abide by that commitment.”
About New Delhi’s concerns that Pakistan was using against India the US arms meant for countering terrorists, Blake said “we are aware of Indian concerns and we had a good dialogue” during Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s visit to Washington earlier this week.
“The military relationship with Pakistan is increasingly changing… We are trying to enhance its (Pakistan’s) counter-insurgency capabilities and are trying to give them civilian assistance too.”
Lahore, Mar.20 (ANI): Responding to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s statement that it was now America’s turn ‘to do more’ to help Islamabad tackle the menace of terrorism more effectively, President Obama’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said the US is already ‘doing more’ and will ‘announce more’ for Pakistan.
Briefing the US State Department, Holbrooke said the Obama Administration has been doing all that it could for the overall development of Pakistan.
“We are doing more, we will announce more, we want to do as much as the Congress will support, but Congress writes the cheques,” The Daily Times quoted Holbrooke, as saying.
Commenting on the upcoming strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the United States, scheduled to be held on March 24, Holbrooke said the deliberation “marks a major intensification in the relationship” between both countries.
He said the US would also discuss with the Pakistani delegation, which would be headed by Qureshi, issues related to the distribution of water and power.
“Beyond the strategic broad-range discussions, we want to move into operational things like water, energy,” he said. (ANI)
Washington, March 20 (IANS) The first strategic dialogue between the United States and Pakistan here next week would not be at the expense of India or any other country in the region, according to a top US diplomat.
“We have an important strategic dialogue with India and with other countries, including China. It makes it all the more important we have one with Pakistan,” US Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke told reporters Friday.
“But this is a bilateral dialogue,” he said when asked in what way would it be different from the one with India. “Let me put this very clearly: This strategic dialogue with Pakistan is not at the expense of any other country in the region.”
However, one difference between the dialogues with India and Pakistan was made amply clear with Holbrooke saying that there can be no strategic dialogue with Pakistan without the active participation of its military.
This is the reason why Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and Inter Services Intelligence Chief Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha have been included in the March US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, he said.
“How can you have a strategic dialogue without including the military?” he exclaimed responding to a suggestion that the army chief had been included in the Pakistani delegation because the US is more comfortable talking with the military rather than the political government headed by President Asif Ali Zardari.
“If we have a strategic dialogue in our country, we’re going to include the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or some other representative. So we are very pleased that General Kayani is part of this delegation. We think that it’s one country, one government, one team. It was their decision, and we welcomed it,” Holbrooke said.
Holbrooke said the strategic dialogue means that the two countries talk about their basic core objectives, which in this case means defeating and destroying Al Qaeda, helping the Afghans become self-reliant and strengthening Pakistan’s ability to take care of its own security.
“So we need to sit down with our Pakistani friends and hear their points of view and give us ours.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmoud Qureshi would be co-chairing the meeting. Besides the army chief, the Pakistani delegation will include Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar.
On the US side Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen are also included.
Asked if the US would address Pakistan’s water disputes with India, the envoy said: “We have a very broad and complex agenda in these talks, and this is the first strategic dialogue ever at this level, and the first of this Administration. And we’re going to listen carefully to whatever the Pakistanis say.”
In reply to another question Holbrooke said he “will definitely be going to India soon”.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
Islamabad, March 19 (IANS) At least 21 militants were killed in a clash with tribesmen in northwest Pakistan, sources said Friday.
Xinhua news agency reported that during a Jirga (tribal council meeting) Thursday in Nekah Ziarat area of Kurram tribal agency, pro-government tribesmen opened fire on militants of the Pakistani Taliban, killing 21 and injuring several more.
The Taliban militants have an active presence in Pakistan’s northwest where the security forces regularly conduct search and clearance operations in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Washington, Mar.19 (ANI): Pakistan has reportedly decided to return four Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters, which were given to it for free by the United States less than a year ago.
According to a Pentagon spokesperson, Islamabad has decided against keeping the helicopters, which were used extensively against extremists in the tribal regions, after one of them crashed in February killing at least one person on board.
“Pakistan has recently informed us of its intent to return the helicopters in accordance with the lease agreement,” The AOL News quoted the spokesperson, as saying.
The transfer of helicopters to Pakistan was technically seen to be a lease agreement between Islamabad and Washington. However, Pakistan was not asked to pay for their use.
The chopper which crashed had a problem with the tail rotor. This accident prompted Pakistan to request that the leased helicopters, at least one of which was more than two decades old, be returned to the United States.
Pakistan’s request to return the ageing choppers has also been confirmed by a US State Department spokesperson. He, however, denied to comment further on the issue and referred further queries to the Pentagon.
Pakistani Armed forces have had several crashes involving Russian helicopters in the past few years, including that of a Mi-17 accident which killed more than two dozen soldiers. (ANI)
Islamabad, Mar.19 (ANI): Influential Pakistani scholar Dr Tahir ul-Qadri has issued a 600-page ‘fatwa’ against terrorism and suicide bombing.
Speaking to reporters after releasing the ‘fatwa’ here, Qadri said suicide bombers are ‘destined for hell’ and that Islam does not support violence in any form.
“Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence, and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it,” The News quoted Qadri, as saying.
Qadri said the Al-Qaeda has not been sufficiently challenged and that his global ruling against terrorism completely dismantles the banned terror organisation’s violent ideology.
In his 600-page ruling, Qadri said Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings.
The fatwa also challenges the religious motivations of would-be suicide bombers who are inspired by promises of an afterlife.The famous Muslim scholar developed his document last year as a response to the sudden increase in suicide bombings across Pakistan.
The fatwa, which is being promoted in Britain by Qadri’s organisation, Minhaj ul-Quran International, covers global issues in an attempt to get its theological arguments taken up by Muslims in western nations.
Terming the fatwa as ‘hard hitting’, Minhaj ul-Quran International’s spokesperson Shahid Mursaleen said the ruling would inject doubt into the minds of potential suicide bombers.
“Extremist groups based in Britain recruit the youth by brainwashing them that they will with certainty be rewarded in the next life. Dr Qadri’s fatwa has removed this key intellectual factor from their minds,” Mursaleen said. (ANI)