No Taliban shura in Quetta, Raisani tells Munter

QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani on Thursday said that there was no Taliban shura (council) in Quetta, DawnNews reported.

Mullah Omar and Ayman al-Zwahiri are not in Pakistan, Mr Raisani said in a meeting with US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter.
Both Mr Raisani and Mr Munter agreed that a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan was in the region’s interest.
Regarding the issue of missing persons, Mr Raisani expressed his anxiety and said that the issue could lead to hostility between the parties. He further said that the government should bring the disgruntled groups in the national fold.
Mr Raisani also referred to recent sectarian attacks in the province and said those attempting to spark sectarian tensions in the region would not be allowed to succeed

Zardari khappay

I am going to attempt doing something that many folks from the class that I belong to (urban middle-class), can’t imagine doing. I am going to praise President Zardari.

 Forget about praise, my class contemporaries don’t even bother to give him a fair critique. This is all the more baffling because in spite of the fact that these men and women are always ready to offer an objective critique of the Taliban and assorted extremists, they just cramp up when it comes to a man who may be controversial, but does not go around murdering innocent people in mosques and bazaars.
 Maybe he should start doing that – along with, of course, mixing his Edward Said and Chomsky with Mawddudi and Syed Qutb. This is bound to bag him a sympathetic trial from our oh-so-occidental, urban talking heads.
 The president I am sure is least bothered by what this section of the middle-classes have to say about him. Because how much do they mean to the on-the-ground dynamics of the kind of populist democracy that takes place in this country?
 Secondly, how many of these thousands are actually potential voters? Very few. In fact most of them find the whole idea of taking part in an election rather off-putting. The elections are never fair, y’know. 
 Nevertheless, some ‘adults’ among them have found a platform in the electronic and print media where they peddle fancy theories as startling facts and package the act of inhabited hatred towards the president as something to do with their concern for Pakistan’s moral wellbeing and sovereignty.
 The funny thing is, even though many of them have often been caught out churning out barefaced fibs and delusions, they soldier on. Losing face is never an impediment.
 But then Zardari also soldiers on. Some of his most vocal opponents too have begun to grudgingly admire his survival instincts; instincts that are a sublime mixture of astute Machiavellianism, hawkeyed pragmatism and some simple street-smartness.
 Yes, but what about things like vision?
 Well, in Pakistan (so far), any government that comes in through a democratic process has to be at its Machiavellian best to ward off the usual diatribes and manoeuvres that it has to face from what we call the ‘establishment’, and from political instruments that may not have any electoral attraction but do tend to generate enough nuisance value through the media.
 Sure this PPP-led coalition government is certainly not the most visionary thing to happen to Pakistan. But what gets lost in all the knee-jerk whining one gets to hear in urban middle-class drawing rooms and TV studious is the fact that Zardari and co. have actually managed to turn politics in this country on its head – for good.
 The concept of reconciliatory politics indicated as a thought by late Benazir Bhutto some five years ago and then first exemplified through the historic meetings between Benazir and Nawaz Sharif, is today a living, working reality.
 So what if PML-N is no more a part of it, and there is growing tension between PPP, ANP and MQM? This does not reflect a failure of the said thought and action.
 In fact it has set a positive precedent for the coming governments in a country where the whole concept of single party majority rule is now an almost implausible outcome.
 Coalition governments are the future and this government, like it or not, is setting the pattern where coalitions would be formed by mainstream parties and not by any benevolent military dictator cherry-picking his way into the parliament with the help of electoral rejects, sell-outs and assorted disgruntles.
 Unfortunately, since we are a nation that is always late to count our blessings, the media failed to grasp this aspect of new democratic politics in the country by still ‘analyzing’ it through the tainted glasses prepared by the ‘establishment’ and its political, economic and religious lackeys in the 1990s.
 They fail to notice that it is due to this reconciliatory politics that the PPP’s infamous Bhutto ego of going it alone was actually put aside – an event that has done wonders to make parties like the MQM and ANP retain their membership in the PPP-led coalition for far much longer than was expected.
 It is also this brand of politics that has made PML-N’s leadership to refuse spoiling its hands with another round of musical chairs so lovingly orchestrated by the figurative establishment and so obsessively enjoyed and contemplated by a section of the media.
 Of course PML-N would like to see the demise of Zardari’s rule, but it won’t be playing ball with any cherry-pickers, especially those still under the delusion and impression that the world awaits another (self-claimed) messiah in Pakistan. It doesn’t. The messiah cannot escape the election process anymore. He will have to dirty his hands with ballot ink like everybody else.
 The PPP, like any other party, is not beyond criticism. But the way some sections of the media have gone about attacking its every move, this is not criticism, its sheer harassment.
 The PPP-led government wasn’t handed a land blooming with a hundred flowers. Any government would have struggled in the current scenario. The current version of the party, in spite of being at the helm of a country boiling with an unprecedented number of problems, is still in a good position to formulate a lot of policies that, say, the PPP government under BB couldn’t.
 For this it must continue to engage with parties like the ANP, MQM and PML-N. In fact, it already is.
 The current PPP-led government still has a lot of potential, even if there are now more chances of early general elections.
 So, more than just concentrating on survival, this government has to come out with some bold decisions, especially in the context of what this country has been facing in the name of economics, religion, crime and governance. And though I am not an economist, I believe this government has handled the situation the best way one could in this environment. I mean how differently would any other party have acted when in 2008 the country’s economy went kaput?
 It’s very easy to chant slogans about self-reliance, but even an economic novice like me realizes that a bankrupt and defaulting Pakistan would be ten times more dangerous, chaotic and bloody than it already is.
 It is political parties like PPP, PML-N, MQM and ANP that hold the key to a better, more stable and tolerant Pakistan. Not the military, mullah and the right-wing media that the middle-classes keep calling and falling for

Balochistan is of importance for US: Munter

QUETTA: US Ambassador Cameron Munter said Pakistan and specially Balochistan is of importance for them and US would continue to work for strengthening democracy in the country, Geo News reported.
He was talking to media after a meeting with Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani here today. Munter noted that we US would always be there whenever needed.
'People of Balochiatan are very hospitable and I have always receive respect by them.' He told journalists that US would cooperate in Balochistan's water and energy projects.

In meeting with Speaker Aslam Bhootani, they discussed matters of mutual interests.

Two including child killed in Lyari building collapse

KARACHI: A five-storey residential building in Baghdadi area of Lyari collapsed Thursday that killed two people including a girl while dozens are injured, Geo News reported.
According to police sources, a five-storey building came down in Baghdadi Mosa Lane area of Lyari killing two persons while 70 people are feared trapped under the rubble.
Rescue teams and fire brigades are taking part in rescue efforts while twelve injured have been shifted to hospital so far.
Approximately 12-15 families were residing in the building, sources added.

Zardari authorised to hold talks for peace in Karachi

ISLAMABAD: The coalition partners in Sindh government authorised President Asif Ali Zardari to hold negotiations with political forces for bringing peace to Karachi by taking appropriate administrative and law and order measures.

The coalition partners took the decision in three back to back meetings held here at President House on Wednesday on the situation in Karachi.

Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the decision authorising the President to hold political negotiations was taken at the first in the series of meetings of the Sindh cabinet comprising of provincial ministers belonging to PPP, ANP, PML-Q and PML-Functional and chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani.

The meeting reiterated the government's resolve to restore peace in Karachi at all costs and to bring the culprits to justice regardless of their affiliations, if any.

The meeting that lasted for over two hours was attended among others by Federal Minister for Interior A. Rehman Malik, Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Senator Dr Babar Awan, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, and members of Sindh cabinet belonging to all coalition parties in the province.

Matters concerning law and order situation, coalition matters and performance of various provincial ministries were discussed during the meeting.

The President during the meeting called upon all the political forces to complement the government's efforts in bringing peace and normalcy to the city and to bring the criminal elements to justice.

He said, "we believe in taking along all the political forces on the issues of national importance and would continue to do so in future also. He said Karachi was not only the economic hub of the country but also a factor of social and political stability and had international significance.

The President called for emergent administrative, political and law and order measures to bring peace to Karachi.

Addressing the coalition partners the President said, "We have to resolve this issue ourselves and at the earliest keeping in view the importance of this city and its role in the economy of the country.

Briefing the meeting, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that police and rangers were fully prepared and motivated to maintain peace in Karachi.

Farhatullah Babar said that the larger meeting of coalition partners was followed by another meeting of the President with the PPP Ministers in the province during which not only the subject of peace in Karachi was taken up further but the performance of various PPP ministers was also reviewed.

Military should intervene to end unrest in Karachi: MQM

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said Wednesday that the army and rangers should intervene to end the unrest in Karachi, DawnNews reported.

He further said that the army should take action against elements regardless of their association.
MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, addressed his followers by telephone and invited the military to come to Karachi and see who is involved in “the ongoing terrorism”.
He said that the he had given an ultimatum to the president and the prime minister to impede violence in Karachi within 48 hours but there was no response.
“MQM condemns acts of violence in Karachi. The government has failed to establish peace in the city, innocent people are being gunned down in Qasba Colony.” said Hussain.
“President should end the supremacy of lyari gang war mafia,” said Hussain.
Hussain said that he is a Sindhi and declared a social boycott against those who do not consider Muhajirs as Sindhis.
“I also request the international community to use its influence on the Pakistani government to restore law and order in Karachi,” he added, warning that the situation could worsen if not “tackled seriously”.
In an overnight statement, Hussain had warned people to stockpile food for a month as the law and order situation worsens.
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, with a population of 17 million. It was gripped by deadly communal violence throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
The Arabian Sea port city is used by NATO to ship the bulk of supplies to troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Government officials and coalition party members have distributed stickers, pamphlets and placards pleading for peace, but to little effect.

Eleven killed in Karachi; Malik says situation improving

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday said the government would take strict action against terrorists operating in Karachi, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives here, the minister said “no targeted killings had taken place in the city since yesterday”. However, at least 11 people had reportedly been killed during violence in Karachi during the past 24 hours.

He moreover requested the media and other institutions to act responsibly given the sensitive law and order situation.
Mr Malik further said that the reservations of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s chief Altaf Hussain regarding the situation in Karachi were legitimate and that the government would act against criminal elements operating in the city.
Mr Malik said restoring peace in Karachi was necessary.