South Punjab and Taliban
Monday, October 26, 2009
In a TV discussion, ex-Jama’at-e Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad asserted that the terrorists who were killing innocent Pakistanis were not only not Muslims but that the killing was being done by three enemy states: the United States, India and Israel. In another TV discussion, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah made the case that South Punjab was not the home of terrorism and that the territory of South Punjab was being exaggeratedly expanded by critics to include cities like Jhang.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad rounded off his scenario of a three-state attack on Pakistan by saying that the US wanted to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear programme because it did not want an Islamic state to possess the atom bomb and join the club of nuclear powers. The discussion did not pinpoint the identity of those who killed innocent Pakistanis, so we will not know what he thought of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), especially when it routinely announces ownership of the lethal suicide attacks being carried out in the country.
The JI line on the TTP is that they are own people determined to fight the Americans and that the government should talk to them instead of despatching troops into their territory. One can say that it has tactfully placed itself at the head of all the elements in Pakistan who embrace anti-Americanism and reject “conditional” American aid to Pakistan in these days of economic crisis, manifested each day by protesting state employees who have not received their salaries for months.
But one must note the reluctance on the part of JI leaders like Qazi Hussain Ahmad to define the Taliban as terrorists after alleging that those who kill are not Pakistanis but those paid to do the dirty work by the US-Indian-Israel combine. But in Indian-administered Kashmir, the Jama’at chief Mr Ali Gilani is prepared to concede that “the Taliban are defaming Islam by killing innocent people and destabilising Pakistan”.
Labels: JI, Southern Punjab, Taliban, War on Terror
posted @ 12:58 PM,
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Talibanisation of Southern Punjab
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Daily Times, Pakistan, Saturday, July 18, 2009
Southern Punjab, also known as the Seraiki belt, based on the local language, a distinct variation from the Punjabi spoken elsewhere, has always considered itself exploited by Northern Punjab; and with some justification
A few weeks ago, an individual called Zubair, alias Nek Muhammed, was arrested in Lahore and accused of being one of those involved in the attack on the Sri Lankan team. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, eyewitnesses had stated that some of the attackers spoke Pashto, apparently they also had local assistance. Since this boy belongs to the Punjab Taliban, affiliated with the banned Lashkar-e Jhangvi which is known to have links with Al Qaeda. This incident is of no particular significance, except to again highlight the fact that Southern Punjab has a significant portion of people under the influence of the Taliban.
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Southern Punjab, also known as the Seraiki belt, based on the local language, a distinct variation from the Punjabi spoken elsewhere, has always considered itself exploited by Northern Punjab; and with some justification
A few weeks ago, an individual called Zubair, alias Nek Muhammed, was arrested in Lahore and accused of being one of those involved in the attack on the Sri Lankan team. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, eyewitnesses had stated that some of the attackers spoke Pashto, apparently they also had local assistance. Since this boy belongs to the Punjab Taliban, affiliated with the banned Lashkar-e Jhangvi which is known to have links with Al Qaeda. This incident is of no particular significance, except to again highlight the fact that Southern Punjab has a significant portion of people under the influence of the Taliban.
More
Labels: Southern Punjab, Talibanisation, War on Terror
posted @ 11:22 AM,
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PM’s firm ‘no’ to more provinces
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The News International, Pakistan, Saturday, July 04, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani put his foot down on the issue of more provinces, saying the Pakistan People’s Party has rejected outright the creation of new units, as the country could not brook such a move at this time.
“We cannot afford to open up the Pandora’s box by creating new provinces at a time when the country is passing through the most difficult phase of its history while facing the challenges of terrorism, economic slowdown and energy crisis,” he said while replying to a volley of questions from newsmen here on Friday after addressing the first convocation of Islamabad Model College for Women, F-10/2, Islamabad.
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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani put his foot down on the issue of more provinces, saying the Pakistan People’s Party has rejected outright the creation of new units, as the country could not brook such a move at this time.
“We cannot afford to open up the Pandora’s box by creating new provinces at a time when the country is passing through the most difficult phase of its history while facing the challenges of terrorism, economic slowdown and energy crisis,” he said while replying to a volley of questions from newsmen here on Friday after addressing the first convocation of Islamabad Model College for Women, F-10/2, Islamabad.
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Labels: Division of Punjab, More Provinces, Southern Punjab
posted @ 10:24 AM,
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PML-N to quiz Hashmi, others for backing new province
Friday, July 3, 2009
The News International, Pakistan, Friday, July 03, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders will seriously question in the next party meeting its senior stalwarts, including Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, about their support to the division of the Punjab. “The issue will come up in the next PML-N meeting to be presided over by Nawaz Sharif,” PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal confirmed to The News.
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ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders will seriously question in the next party meeting its senior stalwarts, including Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, about their support to the division of the Punjab. “The issue will come up in the next PML-N meeting to be presided over by Nawaz Sharif,” PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal confirmed to The News.
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Labels: Division of Punjab, Nawaz Sharif, New Province, PML(N), Southern Punjab
posted @ 8:53 AM,
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Will South Punjab be another Swat?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Daily Times, Pakistan, Sunday, June 28, 2009
The interior minister, Rehman Malik, has told the Financial Times that “we suspect something similar to Swat may arise in South Punjab”. He says he has been sharing “information” with the Punjab government because jihadi militias like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) hail from South Punjab and “perhaps all those terrorists who fled from Waziristan or Swat might have taken refuge in South Punjab”.
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The interior minister, Rehman Malik, has told the Financial Times that “we suspect something similar to Swat may arise in South Punjab”. He says he has been sharing “information” with the Punjab government because jihadi militias like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) hail from South Punjab and “perhaps all those terrorists who fled from Waziristan or Swat might have taken refuge in South Punjab”.
More
Labels: Southern Punjab, Taliban, War on Terror
posted @ 4:11 PM,
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Southern Punjab’s troubles
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Daily Times, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 16, 2009
analysis: Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Although all cities of Punjab have been rotting for decades under massive political and bureaucratic corruption, the towns of Southern Punjab have suffered the most
Culturally, there is not one but three Punjabs, excluding the one on the Indian side. If we don’t consider religion and its influence on community and identity formation, Indian Punjab would culturally and linguistically be a part of Central Punjab in Pakistan.
Read More
analysis: Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Although all cities of Punjab have been rotting for decades under massive political and bureaucratic corruption, the towns of Southern Punjab have suffered the most
Culturally, there is not one but three Punjabs, excluding the one on the Indian side. If we don’t consider religion and its influence on community and identity formation, Indian Punjab would culturally and linguistically be a part of Central Punjab in Pakistan.
Read More
Labels: Punjab, Southern Punjab
posted @ 9:54 AM,
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