IRAN PIPELINE
1.Dr. Asim informed that the cost of laying out the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline has been reduced from USD 1.50 billion to USD 1.30 billion. (Jang)
INDIA
1. At an all-party, in-camera meeting held at Kashmir house, AJK PM Chaudhary Abdul Majid, JI (AJK) chief Abdur Rashid Turabi, Yasin Malik, Shah Ghulam Qadir, Matloob Inquilabi, and others have set up a delegation for dialogue on the Kashmir situation with Pakistan’s political leadership – President Zardari, PM Ashraf, Munawar Hassan, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, and Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain. This delegation will be headed by AJK PM. Another delegation was formed which will be headed by JI (AJK) chief Abdur Rashid Turabi to highlight the Kashmir issue at various diplomatic, media and other fronts. It was also decided to call the Kashmir Council and assembly meeting to discuss Kashmir’s current situation and Afzal Guru’s body. (Daily Dharti)
2. Commenting on a TV programme on Kashmir anchored by Hamid Mir, on Geo TV, columnist Asif Shaheen Rathor writes that he was surprised to see such a programme since Pakistan seems to have forgotten Kashmir off-late. He was even more surprised to see AJK PM pitted against Indian journalist Jyoti Malhotra on the show. He says though there was only one journalist against him, the AJK PM wasn’t able to give proper replies to her objections. The Indian journalist kept taunting AJK PM about how he didn’t remember Kashmir’s history. The columnist He criticizes that the AJK PM was not even able to tell the Indian journalist of the genocide being wreaked on Kashmiris by the Indian forces to wipe out an entire generation and about India diverting the course of Kashmiri Rivers. (Daily Dharti)
DEFENCE
1. Commander Pakistan Naval Fleet Rear Admiral Khan Hashim Bin Siddique said that until the restoration of confidence on an equal level in both India and Pakistan, joint exercises were not possible. He said that a threat always existed from the Indian side and that they were ready to deal with it. (Khabrain)
2. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila met PM Ashraf and discussed affairs related to the professional training of Pakistan’s naval force. Ashraf assured Sandila that the government was determined to provide all resources to strengthen its armed forces’ capability to safeguard the country’s borders. (Urdupoint, Jasarat)
3. PML-F chief Pir Pagaro said that his contacts with the GHQ were intact and that he was proud of these contacts. He said he didn’t want power; he only wanted to save his country. He also said that much injustice had been done to government institutions over the last 5 years; so much so, these institutions were at the brink of a collapse now. He said no one could carry on with any campaigning due to the blasts happening across the country. Pagaro said that Pakistan was regressing and conditions were worsening. He also met with the Punjab CM to discuss an election alliance. He also urged for the unification of all Muslim League factions to make Muslim League a formidable force. (Kawish)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1.Sources said LeJ has been separated from TTP and three groups of LeJ are active currently. In future LeJ could be a major security threat. According to sources at the time of the release of Malik Ishaq, LeJ was split into various groups and they were working under different names but since Asif Chhotu who belongs to Gujranwala was released, smaller groups were uniting and in fact the seniors who had left LeJ because of the absence of a central structure were once again joining LeJ.
According to sources, Asif Chhotu was released a year ago but he was harassed by police so he went to Waziristan where he reorganized LeJ members from all groups of TTP and also invited those LeJ members who were disturbed due to constant harassment by police. Qari Zafar’s group in Karachi was also strong which was run by his brother Abdul Hamid Khanjari.
Some sources have claimed that all groups of LeJ were shifting to Balochistan in view of reports of negotiations between the government and TTP. In Balochistan they are establishing training centres and at places they were taking support from Baloch nationalists. (Ummat)
2. Writing under the ‘Al Murabitun’, columnist Talhe Assaif claims that JeM’s department ‘Al Murabitun’ serves to promote the concept of jihad in educational institutions.‘Al Murabitun’, comprises 2 wings -. 1) Al Murabitun Dini Madaris and 2) Al Murabitun (Asri) which means contemporary. Dini Madaris Al Murabitun works to infuse ideas of Shah Waliullah, Sayyed Ahmed Shahid and strives to defend the aims of Darul Uloom Deoband along with promotion of religious thoughts. This wing works on the ideological front and to promote the ability of speech and writing in the students of Madaris for which it organizes elocution competitions at the division level and then national levels. Assaif writes that to reach out to contemporary students, Al Murabitun Asri was established which aims at introducing students of contemporary educational institutions with the ideology of jihad and Islam.
Assaif writes that under American pressure, the ideology of jihad was suppressed in Pakistani contemporary educational institutions and hence working in such institutions was difficult but the challenge was taken up by some students of Al Murabitun and now things have improved as the elocution competition held at Faisalabad and Gujranwala on the topic ‘Jihad in the light of life of Prophet Muhammad’ was impressive and there was third program in the first week of March in Bahawalpur in which he had taken part where he glorified jihad.
Assaif writes that students belonging to Al Murabitun were optimistic that they will spread this movement across Pakistan and a similar competition will be organized in other cities. Assaif advises students of Al Murabitun to follow Quranic verses when they speak about jihad or promote the message of jihad and for this purpose they should refer to ‘Fat-ul-Jawab’ a book on jihad by Maulana Azhar Masood.
Assaif advises students that when they refer to jihad, they should refer to it in the light of life of Prophet Muhammad and states that for this purpose they should do study of life of Prophet Muhammad on 2 grounds 1) Participation of Prophet Muhammad in the jihad and 2) how Prophet Muhammad advocated jihad. For the second point he advises student to read a book called ‘Sirat-e-Mustafa’ by Maulana Muhammad Idris Kandalvi and states that the preface of this book has answers for hundreds of questions on jihad which people in general raise when the issue of jihad was raised. Assaif insists that constant study and preaching was necessary to develop the skill to convince audiences on the topic of jihad.
Assaif writes that students should gather more and more information about world affairs concerning to Muslims and states that information about movements must be taken from mujahideen and relied upon, as reports in the media are incorrect in many cases. (Al Qalam Weekly, 1March – 7 March)
3. JuD Karachi started an anti-measles vaccination campaign. JuD claims that in the next five days, it will have held free vaccination camps in 31 areas of Karachi. (Jasarat)
4. No organization owned up to the responsibility of the Abbas Town blast including LeJ and TTP. TTP spokesperson Ahsanullah Ahsan said that his group has nothing to do with the Abbas Town blast. (Ummat, Nawa-i-Waqt)
5. Speaking in Lahore, JuD chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed accused foreign powers for perpetrating terrorism and for carrying out bomb attacks in Karachi, Quetta and other cities. He announced a nationwide protest against terrorism in cooperation with political and religious parties. (Khabrain, Nawa-i-Waqt)
6. Various religious and political leaders said Abbas Town blast was America’s reaction to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and Americans and Jews were against progress in Pakistan. (Jasarat)
Sunni Ittehad Council Chief Fazl-e-Karim said that the government should adopt a ‘do or die’ policy against terrorists. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
7. In an article, Zulfiqar Wahocho talks about how secular forces were tight-lipped against growing fundamentalism in Sindh. He says that at present, Sindh was under multiple attacks, with religious fundamentalism rearing its head as well. He says that ethnic and religious clashes had started being reported from Sindh interiors as well. Wahocho says that he sees specific planning and a controversy behind this. He says that if Sindhis did not mend their ways, their decline was inevitable. He calls upon every secular person in Sindh to play their role, especially Sindhi nationalists, secular forces and enlightened people to break their silence. (Awami Awaz)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Opposition and the government have agreed to appoint Mehmood Khan Achakzai as the caretaker PM. The announcement would be made within 48 hours. (Khabrain)
2. As per a Gallup survey, at present, PML-N was the most popular party, PPP was running second and PTI was third. Earlier, PTI had been on number 2 position. (Jang)
3. Nawaz Sharif has claimed that if his party is elected in the coming elections, he will form the Hazara state before taking any other decision. (Daily Hazara News)
3. Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira said that fundamentalist groups were going in for alliances for the upcoming elections while democratic parties were making sacrifices and that it was up to the nation to decide. He said that though it was true that it was the government’s responsibility to protect the people, it was equally true that terror elements had become very active in Pakistan. He claimed that the government had weakened these elements but they kept indulging in sporadic incidents. He said that there were several elements that wanted elections postponed but let it be known to them that the elections will take place anyhow. He said that the caretaker set up should come up by March 16th or at the latest by March 19th or 20th. He said that it wasn’t possible to name the caretaker PM now. (Kawish)
4. A union of 53 NGOs, Ittehad-e-Pakistan Humanitarians Forum, has voiced grave concern after the murder of 20 social workers. (Jang)
ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1. During the first 7 months of the current financial year, under the NFC award, Rs. 604.586 billion have been provided to the provinces. Rs. 0.653 billion has been paid to Balochistan, out of Rs. 0.870 billion allocated under the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan package. Punjab has been paid Rs. 299.142 billion, Sindh Rs. 141.94 billion and KP Rs. 94.684 billion and Balochistan has been paid Rs. 68.820 billion under the NFC award. Balochistan has also been paid Rs. 6.183 billion, out of Rs. 10 billion under the Gas Development surcharge. (Urdupoint)
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWAH (NWFP/FATA)
1. Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai said that to end violent orientations and to improve conditions, people will have to show sufficient seriousness. He further said that if policies are not properly modified now, serious implications will follow. He said that for durable peace, the Army should talk to the Taliban. (Daily Intekhab)
SINDH
1.CIS SSP Fayaz Khan has said that the LEJ which was involved in Quetta blast is involved in the Karachi blasts. (Jang, Urdupoint)
2.IGP Sindh Fayaz Ahmed Leghari said that 5 dangerous terrorists – 4 belonging to LeJ and one from TTP – have been arrested. (Jang)
3. PML-Q leader Halim Adil Sheikh said that conditions in Karachi were worsening by the day. He said the Police had failed in controlling the law and order situation. He said that all parties should play a role to maintain the law and order situation in the city. (Awami Awaz)
4.Sindhi nationalist parties leaders said that martyrs were the assets of the communities they belonged to. Sindh National Movement chairman Ali Hassan Chandiyo said that the communities which remembered their martyrs were able to progress. Chandiyo said that they had been tolerating the ‘rulers’ oppression for the past 60 years and not a single day passes without reports of Sindhis being killed across Karachi; he said that the rulers still claimed all was well in Karachi. He said that they will avenge each martyr including Bashir Qureshi. He urged all Sindhis in Karachi to unite. He accused the rulers of being responsible for blasts in Sindh, including the ones in Karachi and claimed that this was to delay elections. (Awami Awaz)
5.In his article, Qadir Lashari says that there was a time when people were scared of visiting crowded places for fear of terrorist strikes, but today the situation had worsened to such a degree that the public has started feeling unsafe even in their own homes. Lashari says Karachi is fast becoming a city where people think twice before visiting. He says it is incomprehensible why a residential area was targeted in the recent Karachi bombings. Referring to Rahman Malik’s earlier warning of more Quetta-like blasts happening across the country, Lashari says these blasts were equally powerful and the bombs used similar chemicals as used in the Quetta blasts. He claims that the government is very well aware of the groups who keep calling each other ‘Kafirs’, but it has not taken any action so far. He questions who will protect the people of Karachi. He says that unless the government takes measures to protect the people, the people will be forced to take law into their own hands. He warns of spectacles in Karachi similar to the ones witness in Egypt and Libya. (Kawish)
6.In his article, Asar Imam says the recent attacks show the growth of fundamentalism in the Sindh province. He says the government and the establishment were trying to create rifts, especially amongst politically aware people to keep them engaged. He adds that poverty in northern Sindh is due to feudal system with no university or medical facility in the entire belt – Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Sukkur and Pano Aqil. He says that this area has madrassas everywhere. Imam says these madrassas give religious education to children and offer free facilities like housing, food and employment if the children agree to become suicide bombers. (Awami Awaz)
BALOCHISTAN
1.Kashmir and GB Affairs Minister Manzoor Wattoo said that the explosives were being transported from Punjab to carry out terrorist activities in Balochistan. He added that Punjab has become a depot of terrorists having the support of the Punjab government. (Baad-e-Shimal, Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. As a part of state wide security drive, particularly in Quetta, Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad issued instructions to all concerned departments to keep themselves ready for any eventualities and challenges. Police have been instructed to obtain and maintain detailed records of all residents of Quetta. Property dealers will be made to provide complete data of all purchases and rentals to the police. (Daily Intekhab)
3. Secretary for Education Balochistan Munir Ahmed Badini revealed in a programme that 78% children in the age group of 5-16 were not attending schools in Balochistan. The education budget of Balochistan was Rs. 24 billion but obtaining targets of fundamental education was becoming a serious challenge. (Daily Intekhab, Nawa-i-Waqt)
4. Kharan, Nushki, and Khuzdar districts of Balochistan are experiencing long hours of power cuts and this has affected drinking water supply and standing crops. (Daily Intekhab)
POK/ G-B NEWS
1.Baad-e-Shimal editorial remarks that though PPP’s Gilgit-Baltistan government has completed three years it has failed to do anything for the welfare of the region. At least during the reminder of its tenure, it should something tangible for the good of the people. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)
