Pakistan Archives - Page 8 of 16

19Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Let us rise

“No one is above the law and every citizen, including the state, is subservient to the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution,” said the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court in his verdict on the kidnapping of senior journalist Matiullah Jan in broad daylight on July 21.The court held that the case of kidnapping was a challenge to the federal government and public office holders. “They have to demonstrably show that there is a political will to put an end to impunity for crimes against citizens and to protect journalists from harm for exercising the right to free speech,” said the chief justice. “Abduction or enforced disappearance of any citizen is one of the gravest offences,” he lamented.It is heartening to note that the reaction from civil society, media, diplomats, pol

European governments mustn’t stay mum over Baloch Journalist’s death

19Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

European governments mustn’t stay mum over Baloch Journalist’s death

It’s the same every time, the story breaks out, gets written and advertised for at least a month before it disappears from the radars of the press. The story starts with a body dumped into a river. The body of a Baloch journalist, Sajid Hussain.Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to find mutilated dead bodies, in various stage of decomposition and beyond recognition dotting the roads of Balochistan; it is part of the nefarious ‘kill and dump’ policy of Pakistani intelligence agencies highlighted many times by human rights organizations, both national and international. But this time, there was a twist in the usual plot.Sajid was dumped into a river, but the river was in Uppsala, Sweden - the place where he had fled to and asked for political asylum. “His body was found on 23 April in the Fyr

Condemning ‘tragedy’ of citizen’s killing, US urges Pakistan to pursue reforms

18Aug

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Condemning ‘tragedy’ of citizen’s killing, US urges Pakistan to pursue reforms

The US State Department has called on Pakistan to take immediate action after an American citizen was killed in Pakistan's courtroom.Tahir Ahmad Naseem, from the minority Ahmadi community, was shot dead in a courtroom in Peshawar. He was was arrested two years ago on blasphemy charges."Condolences to family of Tahir Naseem, an American citizen who was killed today inside a courtroom in Pakistan. We urge Pak to take immediate action and pursue reforms that will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again," Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs, US State Department said in a TweetThe assailant, identified as Khalid Khan who managed to get into the court amid tight security was arrested later.Ahmadis, a four million-strong minority group in Pakistan, have faced death, threats, ...

Those who lived in J&K but were never considered citizens

17Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Those who lived in J&K but were never considered citizens

Hindu and Sikh refugees living near India-Pakistan borders, better known as West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) left their homes in Pakistan decades back during the 1947 partition. However, the word Pakistan never stopped chasing them.Generally, domicile is understood as the status of being a lawful permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction. A person can remain domiciled in a jurisdiction even after he has left it, if he maintains sufficient links with it. Now, apply this definition to Hindu and Sikh refugees who crossed over into areas in Jammu from adjacent areas of Sialkot and other areas which became Pakistan.These refugees had entered Jammu, which became a part of India, in 1947. They didn't maintain any links whatsoever with Pakistan, from where they had barely escaped. They thus los...

Five Pakistan policemen killed in midnight raid in Gilgit-Baltistan

15Aug

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Five Pakistan policemen killed in midnight raid in Gilgit-Baltistan

In an exchange of fire with suspects during a midnight raid, five Pakistani police officers were killed in Diamar's Chilas district in Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan area on July 28.Another five officers from the Gilgit counter-terrorism department sustained injuries. The incident happened in the Chilas area when suspects opened fire on the officers.The investigation into the incident is underway. Caretaker Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister Mir Afzal Khan said that "the suspects were involved in trading weapons, apart from terrorist activities," according to a Pakistani channel.

11Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Second-class citizens of Sindh: Women

The incidents of honor killings in Pakistan’s Sindh are no less than gruesome horror stories – women burned, shot, strangled, drowned, decapitated in cold-blood every year. One such case came to limelight on July 4, when Sindh police discovered a severely beaten body with the disfigured face on Indus Highway. Initially unrecognizable to police, it was finally found to be of a 24-year-old married girl, Waziran. Her father and husband accuse each other of her murder. A joint investigation team (JIT) has been set to investigate the incident. According to local witnesses, the murder was carried out in the name of honor.Marks on the body show that Waziran was pelted with stones and repeatedly hit with a wooden stick. Waziran is another innocent soul that has lost her life to the menace of honor

Article 370: Can Jammu and Kashmir regain statehood?

9Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Article 370: Can Jammu and Kashmir regain statehood?

Soon after the Indian government announced abrogating the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in 2019, converting the state into two Union Territories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said it was a "temporary" situation.PM Modi said statehood of Jammu and Kashmir would be restored at "some point of time".In March this year, PM Modi told a visiting delegation of politicians from Kashmir that "the government will work with all sections of the population to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity".Union Home Minister Amit Shah also told the Jammu and Kashmir leaders that "visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months".However, around 10 days after the meeting, the coronavirus lockdown had to be imposed across the coun...

8Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Xi’s attempted coup against Pakistan

In order to expand his direct influence over the political and economic processes of Pakistan, Chinese President Xi Jinping is all set to sideline the democratically elected representatives and civil servants of the people of the country.Since 2016, Xi has been forcing the Pakistani establishment to put pressure on the government (it was Nawaz Sharif’s government back then) to sideline the Planning Ministry’s role in the implementation and monitoring of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).He pushed for the creation of a supra-constitutional CPEC Authority that would freelance the management of the predatory infrastructure and power-generation projects under his direct command.The proposal was rejected then, but in 2019, it was again presented before the current

Jammu and Kashmir: A year without Article 370

8Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Jammu and Kashmir: A year without Article 370

It has been a year since the government of India scrapped Article 370 (and Article 35A), taking away the special status of Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcating it into two Union Terrirtories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Undoubtedly, August 5, 2019, was a watershed moment, popularly dubbed as “historical blunder being corrected in one stroke”. Of course, the cynics cried foul – ranging from the killing of a democratic polity, recommitting a historical blunder, a betrayal, to a sinister ploy to alter Kashmir’s demography, so on and so forth.Nonetheless, it was a monumental step taken by the Narendra Modi government to seal Kashmir’s fate. In one stroke it removed all the ills of Kashmir misfortune, which boosted national domestic confidence, struck a deadly blow to Pakistan’s ostentatious

Pakistan pushing terrorists in Kashmir to disrupt peace in Kashmir

8Aug

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Pakistan pushing terrorists in Kashmir to disrupt peace in Kashmir

During the last week of July, Indian Amy had reported repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan, saying these violations are being done to push more terrorists in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.The most recent one took place on July 23 in Nowgam and Tangdhar sectors of frontier district of Kupwara in north Kashmir. Senior Indian Army officials of the Srinagar-based 15 corps said that on the LoC, the number of ceasefire violations have gone up since last year and has remained high since.“The Pakistan Army is keen on pushing more terrorists,” a senior Army officer said. “First anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 is very near and we believe they might try to disrupt the prevailing peace.”The figures available with the Indi