Silence Encourages Shia Genocide in Pakistan – by Rusty Walker
“When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.”
― Rumi
Once again in Quetta, having killed 81 people, a massacre by ASWJ-LeJ operatives that mudered media, police and rescue workers as double bombs exploded; again showing the callous disregard for both targets and non-targets, when Takfiri Deobandis are out to murder who? Absent in most press reports are the intended victims: Shias. The Rehmattullah Chowk on Alamdar Road explosion, and second Airport area blast brought the dead and injured to 69 and 120 respectively. This was a Shia-target operation by Takfiri Deobandis. Silence, so far, has met this and most all global Salafist terrorism from the Islamic world. There are those who speak out, but not in sufficient numbers to make a difference.
These explosions on Alamdar Road were clearly meant for innocent Shias, with no concern for others in collateral damage – subsequent bombs targeted Shias and anyone else in the way. On Twitter the ASWJ-LeJ have not only claimed responsibility, they are boastful about their part. If the Sunni community think that silence is appropriate, “because, after all, aren’t Shias Kafirs?” I would ask them to remember that moderate Sunnis are also being killed, as are Hindus, Sufis, Ahmadis, and Christians.
It is easy to default to doing nothing. To be of the unwitting consensual; to be silent; or, to report and do nothing. But silence encourages Shia Genocide in Pakistan. Pakistan authorities exist to protect its people. That is the purpose of government together with authorities of law and order. But, even laws don’t guarantee protection unless “the people” are willing to step up and make a change.
While some individuals within Pakistan’s civil society seem to have finally awoken from their self-imposed stupor on the ongoing Shia Genocide, a cautious trepidation should remain when one assesses the trends: Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was still denying Shia Genocide only days ago https://lubpak.com/archives/235017 . So was prominent TV anchor, incredibly, Nasim Zehra herself a Shia https://lubpak.com/archives/236329 .
Instead of informing the global community of the relentless Shia Genocide, Pakistan’s well educated urban elites preferred to misrepresent purposeful elimination of Shias today in dusty historical terms, “sectarian” and “ethnic violence”. In this way, they deliberately obscure both the victim (Shias) as well as the perpetrators (Takfiri Deobandi militants who belong to ASWJ-LeJ and the Taliban) by confusing past history with current, and newly documented facts on the ground.
While the Shia Killing blogs, Twitters, LUBP and World Shia Forum were vehemently articulating their message in desperation, Pakistan’s civil society were more concerned with selective condemnation of the murder of one influential young man by another influential young man in the posh suburbs of Karachi. The daily killings and massacres of Shias all over Pakistan did not merit their attention aside from token and vague references on social media. As an American, it concerns me that some of Pakistan’s celebrity activists are conducting their selective activism based on self-interest, from the proceeds of our tax dollars which have been granted to their various NGOs.
While Shias in Pakistan are standing peacefully on the front line against the Taliban and sustaining daily casualties, these civil society dilettantes pretend as if they are the only liberal partners we have in Pakistan. Meanwhile their stance against the Taliban ranges from opaque caution to apologist.
Genocide and elimination of oppressed minorities are often not noticed in its initial stages. Government silence on such catastrophes range from complicit to simple negligence. In the United States, pre-civil war and post-Reconstruction era, the U.S. government failed to protect its African-American population. Despite the well-intentioned congress that passed the 14th Amendment granting citizenship for blacks, and equal protection clause, this same government left the African-Americans on their own in regions where they were murdered by unlawful vigilantes, not unlike the Pakistani Shias today.
Pakistan is a young country compared to the U.S. Therefore, there are lessons we learned in our long U.S. history that contain true cautionary tales that can be warnings to Pakistanis- in particular, Shia minorities. Puritanism and persecution by Puritanical Christian Calvinism were as self-righteous and misguided by draconian, religious intolerance as the Taliban today. It condemned even unbaptized infants to Hell. The Salem witch burnings of radical Christians are in our history. No one dared speak out or be targeted, and so it went on all too long.
So, for Pakistanis, it is instructive to remember also that progress on paper does not always reflect realities on the ground. The subsequent U.S. congress 15th Amendment clause prohibiting the denial of voting (suffrage) based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude was progress. But, in practice, this changed little when an enemy (white vindictive Southerners, in our case; Takfiri Deobandis, in your case) remains undeterred. The U.S. government was still unable to protect its African-Americans, though these freed slaves, were proud of voting privileges and newly established citizens. This era began what I call the “hanging tree” era, and was historically called the “Jim Crow” period, largely unreported at the time. This is an egregious blot on our U.S. history. Everything is not an analogy, but it is reminiscent of the Shia extermination that has been “unreported” from any factual basis by the mainstream media.
Shias are a minority that have been oppressed since the 7th Century, and now suffer the termination “solution” the familiar term used by Nazis against the Jews. There is something to be learned by comparisons; the “solution” for the historical American Indian, for example, was subtle removal and government sanctioned killing, carried out by elimination over time. The U.S. story of the Native American, if not genocide, what would we call it? U.S. Native American population prior to European contact was greater than 12 million, and four centuries later, the population approximately 237,000 (close to 95% eliminated). This is an American tragedy we regret, in books that make one weep, Dee Brown’s, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” So, besides the Jewish Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, history shows the us, the U.S., and many countries out of the scope of this essay, that indeed, we sometimes fail to speak out loud enough, or at all, at the cost of genocidal numbers. In India (the recent fatal gang-rape of an innocent woman) and Saudi Arabia (beating of unescorted women), including China infanticide of female children; many Muslim (“Honor killings”) and African countries women die of female circumcision; governments and authorities fail to protect their women, or minority ethnic groups. Silence can be “golden,” and “Silence” can contribute to bloodshed; Silence can “kill.”
Sometimes I ask myself, “Do I have the courage to do the right thing when it matters most?” And that answer, I’m afraid, is silence.”
― Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not for Sale
The Shia genocide can no longer be attributed to lack of information. The #ShiaGenocide twitters, the Shia Genocide blogs, and LUBP, including even my early report on this: December 2011:
https://lubpak.com/archives/65179
and, again, my widely publicized 10 April, 2012 essay published in LUBP, picked up by other publications globally: https://lubpak.com/archives/75775
This is only a miniscule example of the many articles addressing Shia Genocide, on LUBP, in Dawn, in Blogs, and Twitter; Including marches in Pakistan with Sunni and Shia solidarity; in both the U.S. and Pakistan. Therefore, information has been plentiful. Action has not been the result; Silence has been the reaction!
“At times to be silent is to lie. You will win because you have enough brute force. But you will not convince. For to convince you need to persuade. And in order to persuade you would need what you lack: Reason and Right”
― Miguel de Unamuno
The mainstream media, also apparently in fear of Takfiri Deobandi Jihadists, remain silent, or obfuscate the issue as “sectarian conflicts,” or Hazara historical problems. In doing so, give themselves credit for speaking out, but, fail to address the real on-going genocide that mounts now to 20,000 Shia dead since mid-1980s..
“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers
Pitting Sunni against Shia, historically, affords a convenient spinning point for the media to emphasize sectarian over genocidal homicide and affords a point of departure for manufacturing animosity against Shia in general. It sets up the platform for brain-washing of the lower-income, uneducated and Madrassa orphans, to demonize Shia, and waste their lives and Shia lives, by suicide bomb. Enter the Takfiris! Those that cast all those that are different from their own beliefs, as Kafirs. This is not based on the Quran, but rather Wahabbi/Salafist interpretations. These self-appointed gatekeepers of the faith group all others as Kafirs. The genocidal intentions start there. Salafi-Takfiris, unlike the orthodox method of establishing takfir through the reasonable processes of the law, declare apostasy and personal Jihad against whom they will- in this case: Shia; among those lesser involved: Hindus, Sufis, Ahmadis, and Christains are also at risk. These are the Takfiri Deobandi of which we speak. They are paradoxically enemies of the state, and yet, state-sponsored. They are linked with and supported by every Salafist group from the Haqqani Network to al Qaeda.
The elected Pakistan state government has become unwittingly apologists for the Jihadists, through their silence of the duplicity of the Pak Army. Perhaps this is out of fear of the military, giving lip-service only to the loss of Shia lives; the only group with sufficient resources at this point in Pakistan to stop such slaughter is one of the region’s largest, wealthiest, and well-armed military – your own Pakistani Army. But, its support for Salafist jihadists protected within the Strategic Depth program, which awaits American troop pull-out in Afghanistan, and dreams of forays into Kashmir, and Mumbai-type bombings for the future, and remains silent on Shia-genocide. Therefore, all government officials now give only passing reference to Shias being massacred. The Supreme Court assists by releasing known terrorists; No help is on the way. No plan has emerged. Silence from the masses continues.
Where are the Muslim scholars that could speak out against Shia genocide? Some have, to their credit. But, en masse? No. Where are the Muslims with influence that could speak out against Shia genocide? (Though I acknowledge those Sunnis who join in voicing concern, still, the majority remain silent.) The Sunni mufti, qadi, faqih, or muhaddith? Or, the village mullahs and imams that might speak out? Is there in fact, an Ulema? The Ummah, a Jinnah might have expected to emerge; If there is an Ummah, they are largely silent, and therefore part of the problem. Moderate Sunnis, while not specifically the problem, join in the culpability by silence. (Again, in deference, my apologies to those brave Sunnis and Sufis that speak up):
Does not everything depend on our interpretation of the silence around us?”
― Lawrence Durrell, Justine
If silence continues, the only other recourse are the Shia and Sunni coming together with secular population to stop the slaughter and insist the government bring Takfiri Deobandis and its Jihadist supporters to justice. This is possible.
Condemning the silence of Muslims in Pakistan
RUSTY GOOD PIECE…
Condemning the silence of Muslim Majority in Pakistan
………. On the other hand, if you ever feel that the “other minority” community deserves to be persecuted, or “they asked for it” then you have a problem! You need help, please ask God to drain the solid waste from your system, it is dangerous for you, and you are your own enemy with that load of crap in you. Continued: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/01/condemning-silence-of-muslims-in.html
Thank you, Mike, so true!!!
Very well written.Great article.
Thank you, Anser, I appreciate that!
Silence…Indeed, we in the U.S. are too silent on past mistakes as a nation, for fear of appearing unpatriotic, or appearing to not support our veterans, or fallen troops, for whom we grieve; but- soldiers are given missions, and good soldiers follow orders from elected civilian government.
But, the flawed reasoning of elected U.S. Congress and Bush/Rumsfield (neither Memoirs apologized)over their Iraq invasion. Based on deceiving the American public with fears of WMD, that were non-existent, with no exit plan, “shock and awe” inappropriate conventional bombing of Iraq; and the conventional invasion of Afghanistan, when instead, a rapidly deployed U.S. Special Forces Commandos linked in communications with indigenous Afghans might have captured bin Laden and marginalized al Qaeda in 2001/2002. A thoughtful approach would have saved countless lives of non-combatant Iraqis, Afghans, and our own American troops; instead of a decade long COIN, and supporting an installed, corrupt President Hamid Karzai.
The U.S. is still remaining allies and oil-dependent on Saudi Arabia; KSA, the financial supporters of the very Wahhabi-Salafists we are both fighting! [Yet, we have sufficient untapped, oil and natural gas in the U.S. to be independent of Middle East oil, although we neglect drilling, and the prospect of creating related jobs]-
I say all this as an American patriot, because silence invites a repeat of history.
We all have a lot to learn.
You have said it!
We need to speak up on a worldwide platform. With the grace of God, there is a demonstration taking place Sunday, January 13th in Dallas, Texas at 1 pm for the shia genocide. Please join us in this effort to end the violence against all minorities. This will take place in front of the Holocaust Museum…because we want to learn from history and stop systematic killings of innocent individuals.
“Hazara” are Persian-speaking people living in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The Hazara people are predominantly Shi’a-Muslims. The Hazara is the third largest ethnic group of Afghanistan after Pashtun and Tajik. In Afghanistan, the Hazaras were prominent in the northern alliance supported by India and Russia, battling the Pashtun dominated Taliban of the South. After a string of Taliban victories against northern alliance at Bamian and Mazar-e- Sharif in July-Aug 1998, Hazara people were targeted by Taliban for supporting northern alliance and from there the rivalry of Taliban and Hazaras started.
Nearly a million Hazaras live in Pakistan, mostly in Quetta Balochistan. Soon after the American invasion in Afghanistan after 9/11 attacks, a wave of target killings of Hazara people in Balochistan was started. On 2nd March 2004, 53 Hazara people were killed in a terrorist attack on Ashura rally. In similar kind of attack on 3rd Sep 2010, 73 Hazara people were killed in a suicide attack on a rally at Mizan chock Quetta. In 2009, 39 members of the Hazara community were killed, 81 Hazaras were targeted in 2010, over 120 members of the Shia and Hazara communities were gunned down in 2011, and around 100 pilgrims have been killed in just the first half of the current year, including the 18 killed in dasht area of kech district, when an unknown gunman opened fire on a bus heading to Iran. According to an official report, covering the last 4 years, ‘400 Shi’a and Hazaras have been killed’. According to unofficial reports around 800 Shi’a and Hazaras are killed since 2001. Most of the attacks on Hazaras in Quetta, Balochistan are claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
On the other side, according to The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan the same number (around 800) of settlers, mostly Punjabis and including teachers and laborer’s, were murdered by Baloch Militant groups since 2006 and on occasions their spokesmen have justified the killings as revenge for the abductions and deaths of Baloch nationalists. Besides killing non-Baloch residents these groups are also involved in destroying national assets like gas pipelines/grid stations and targeting security forces deployed in Balochistan.
Who is behind Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Baloch Militant Groups?
To clearly understand, who is behind Lashkar-e-Jhangvi we can consider the example of “Jandullah” another terrorist organization with similar kind of strategy against Shi’a Muslims in Iran. Jandullah is responsible for assassinating Iranian government officials and killing Iranian women and children. Jandullah’s leader “Abdulmalek Regi” was captured by Iran with the help of Pakistani intelligence. In a tape aired on Press TV, Rigi claimed military support from the US, Rigi alleged that the US had promised to provide his group with military equipment and bases in Afghanistan, near the Iranian border. Report by Brian Ross and Christopher Isham of ABC News in April 2007 alleged that Jundallah‘has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials’ to destabilize the government in Iran. Until Abdulmalek Rigi was not arrested, US and International Community kept blaming Pakistan for supporting Jandullah and was pressurized to act against the group. But Abdulmalek Regi dennied the involvement of Pakistan in his statement on Press TV.
Similar is the case with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In the case of LEJ too, Pakistan is blamed by the US led International Community for helping the organization. They establish LEJ’s connections with the Afghan Taliban and on the basis of Tabliban-Hazara rivalry of Afghanistan; they assume that all the terrorist activities in Balochistan are done by LEJ/Taliban under the shadow of Pakistani security agencies.
Through the International/Pakistani Media it is shown to the world that no action is taken by the Pakistani security forces against the LEJ’s militants. In every discussion stress is made on the fact that no militant has been arrested or killed by the Pakistani authorities till now. Here is a line from The Guardian “Not a single person has been arrested or prosecuted; in fact, police investigators openly admit they are not even looking for anyone”.
But in actual reality it is not true. Sher Dil an alleged terrorist also known as Babu, was arrested for his reported ties with LEJ. Other than him there is a long list of arrests including Hafiz Muhammad Usman alias Abbas, Dawood Badeeni, Jalil Ababkki and Shafiq Rind. Terrorist like Khalid Bungulzai and Majeed were killed in Police encounters. In a recent Press Conference, the IG of the Frontier Corps Major General Ubaidullah Khattak said that his force had handed over 129 militants to the police. Still, when whenever one hears any discussion on a TV Channel or any article is printed in the newspaper on the issue, one will definitely find the line “not a Single person has been arrested” in it.
Some recent reports now have also revealed that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is supported by US/NATO. The arms like P226-pistols exclusively used by NATO and US security forces were provided to LEJ through the Afghan Army.
In 1970’s, when the Baloch Militant Groups were fighting against Pakistani Security forces, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto dismissed the Balochistan Provincial government and arrested three main Baloch nationalist leader, after the Pakistan security forces discovered arms in the Iraqi embassy. These arms were supposed to be delivered to the Baloch militants groups. Pakistan’s government also announced an Iraqi, Soviet and Indian plan to break up Pakistan and Iran.
Last year Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated that Brahamdagh Bugti was operating terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. These camps were dismantled after Pakistan conveyed its knowledge of these camps to Kabul. Malik claimed that the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai had accepted that militants based in Afghanistan were fuelling terrorism in Balochistan.
According to Wikileaks cable British intelligence strongly believes that New Delhi is covertly supporting the insurgency in Balochistan. That is why after the Mumbai attacks British officials feared that Delhi may respond by ramping up covert support to nationalist militants fighting the Pakistani security forces in Balochistan.
The IG -Frontier Corps Major General Ubaidullah Khattak disclosed in a press conference that 20 foreign intelligence agencies were active in the province with a mission to destabilize Balochistan. He added that these forces have established 30 training camps in Afghanistan.
Foreign involvement in Balochistan was more clarified by Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, chief of Inquiry commission on the ‘Missing Persons’. He disclosed that foreign agencies are involved in the issue of the missing persons. He said that propaganda has been done pertaining to the number of missing persons. He rejected the impression that thousands of people were missing from Balochistan. The list sent by chief minister of Baluchistan comprises of 945 missing people but actually only 460 people are missing from across the country and only 57 are from Balochistan.
All the above facts clearly show that there is involvement of Foreign Elements in Balochistan. They want to destabilize and break Pakistan. But they don’t know that Pakistan is not only a piece of land. It is a bond between 170 million people. These foreign elements tried to destabilize Pakistan from Sindh without any success; they tried to break it through KPK by 24 hrs announcements on Media that‘Islamabad is only 120 KM’s from Swat and soon Taliban will capture Islamabad’. But the people of KPK and Pakistan Army destroyed their dreams. Attempts were also made to destabilize Punjab and number of Terrorist attacks were made in Punjab with the face of “Punjabi Taliban” but that term was also buried with the hopes of foreign elements, and it is definite that Baluchistan will also treat these foreign elements with the same spirit and will not disappoint them and will once again prove that “There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan. It has come to stay” InshaAllah.
Brilliant article Mr.Walker, a true fact sheet I must say.
To be honest it’s a shame and a complete failure of the Govt. , where the minority of the country regardless which religion or Belife they follow are not safe, because to me a killing one human is the murder of the human race !!
Thank you, Syed, So true, what you say.
If our efforts to stop the silence, and bring a voice to the minorities, we hope to bring awareness to this by writing about this on-going genocide. Then perhaps it will reach Human Rights groups, and the UN so that maybe there will be a paradigm shift from dismissing it as “sectarian conflict,” to the more accurate and actionable term: “genocide intentions” of Salafist Takfiri Deobandis. Insh’Allah!
Hazara community has asked for handing over the city to Pak Army for handling LeJ and SSP idiots. They understand Pak Army can take on these beasts being fed through Indian and US funding. Hell for Lej , Long Live Pak Army, Long Live Pakistan, May Allah protect Shia Muslims
“Islamic” Republic of Pakistan has let loose its conventional (non-nuclear) “strategic assets” against Shias, Ahlul-Bait lover Braelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and other minorities. It has become a proxy-state of Saudi Arabia. This is the only model to explain the bitter realities there.
LeJ and SSP are not assets to Pakistan, these are actually beasts funded through Indian and US money. Soon the money will boomrang to Indian territory and Banya will lick his wounds
Iram, get a clue- your ignorance never ceases to amaze me, unless you are a Salafist apologist, intentionally spreading conspiracy falsehoods to confuse the real issues!
It is in the best interest of the United States and its policy to have a balance of power between India and Pakistan.
The US has no interest in destabilizing Pakistan. The U.S. policy has consistently been to keep Pakistan out of the hands of terrorists. This includes LeJ and SSP/ASWJ, among others, whom we target with drones, because your Pak Army refuses to in order to keep their Strategic Depth policy in reserve.
The U.S. and the Pak Army have one thing in common: neither wants Pakistan destabilized, neither want LeJ and SSP/ASWJ to capture Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Hey Rusty,
Remember that quip from yesteryear that the Islamists would not give up their pathological hatred for America even if we Dubya converted to Islam in a Parisian mosque?
The World now has the American President it always wanted; Obama the post-modernist post-American faculty lounge lizard. One would have thought his Al-Azhar multi-culti bromide of a speech, appointment of Muslim Brotherhood operatives to key offices at home and the novel innovation of dedicating NASA’s resources to Muslim outreach abroad would have elicited Hosannas from the Islamist camp.
The consequence of `making nice’ with just about any permutation of Islamism is suicidal. Old ZAB’S capitulation to the Islamists left ruin in its wake…and he was truly a political giant. Can any lesser statesman, which any contemporary politician is when compared with the great Bhutto, hope to go along to get along with these savages and not get incinerated in the process?
I hate to say this; but the present American administration through their supine coddling of the Ikhwani hordes has made America vulnerable to The Brotherhood’s grand scheme of a global Caliphate. Ben-Ghazi, where that preppy Berkeley liberal Ambassador Stevens was butchered is but a taste of things to come.
The LUBP variety of Muslim, whom you evidently have good will and affection for is increasingly at threat in this scenario.
Rusty, go find and confiscate that `reset’ button Barak has been fiddling with, because I really; really want to live my life unmolested by Shariah.
Asma bint Marwan, very articulate. I can’t argue with so much truth in your analysis.
My compliments.
” The US has no interest in destabilizing Pakistan. The U.S. policy has consistently been to keep Pakistan out of the hands of terrorists. This includes LeJ and SSP/ASWJ, among others, whom we target with drones, because your Pak Army refuses to in order to keep their Strategic Depth policy in reserve.
The U.S. and the Pak Army have one thing in common: neither wants Pakistan destabilized, neither want LeJ and SSP/ASWJ to capture Pakistan’s nuclear weapons”……Rusty tell me somethin, If Pakistan Army decides to liberate Americans from University / Schools target killers through remote controlled drone attacks , will that be acceptable to you????
Great article Rusty bhai. “Pakistani”, I cannot understand your point. In a fictional scenario, If the Pakistani army saved US lives by taking out domestic terrorists that have taken over most of the Eastern Seaboard and that too with minimum casualties, I am sure Americans would view Pakistanis as liberators.
“Pakistani”- I don’t debate absurd scenarios.
…You don’t like drones. Okay, I get it.
Bashir Bhai, thank you for your intelligent response- that I agree with, by the way!
Bashir Malik Saheb,
You shot my fox!
I jest of course, excellent put down there- this `Pakistani’ has been spewing conspirazoid bilge far too long.
Asma,
as always, v. interesting comment. Obama has been a huge disappointment. I was speaking to some LUBP friends and they came up with the most interesting analogy which I am sure you will appreciate. Here it is:
“Just like the Pakistan army has fooled itself and much of the mummy-daddy burger types into accepting the Good Taliban-Bad Taliban differentiation, the US under the influence of the Saudi-Qatari billionaire lobby is experimenting with a similar imaginary differentiation. This is the Bad Al Qaeda- Good Al Qaeda (false) binery.
The mass murdering Arab-Punjabi-Chechan-Uzbek-Uighar terrorists that are enjoying the patronage of Pakistani generals are the Bad Al Qaeda. Same goes for the Islamist thugs in Mali who are in the process of remaking North Africa as the next Nejd. However, the same set of Medieval Fascists become the “Good” Al Qaeda when they are “Spring” cleaning Libya and now Syria. The FSA is the Good Al Qaeda that is wined and dined in Paris even as they are flown in from Pakistan via Turkish Airlines to massacre Christains, Shias, Alawis and Non-Salafist Sunnis in Syria. No fan of Bashar Al Assad or the late Qaddafi but these countries are being flushed down the Saudi toilet and the US is playing the role of Pakistani generals here!”
What do you think Asma? Are these LUBP comrades of mine on to something. btw, did you see that post where LUBP was asking Iran to accept Israel and make up. These guys are writing some interesting stuff.
In the last comment, I think it would be fair to say that it is the current US administration that seems to have allowed the Ikhwanis to infiltrate the State Department. To be fair, its not just the US but Europe too that has been romancing the Al Qaeda dominated FSA. I hope I am wrong. Atleast I can have this conversation and be critical of a certain US policy. In Pakistan, anytime I critise the generals and judges, I am shouted down and ostrasized from the next few social events.
True, guys, I couldn’t dispute the LUBP commentary you quoted.
Obama is way over his head in foreign affairs (no better than Bush), and Biden is either clueless, or useless- The U.S. has been confused about the Who’s Who of Terrorists going back to Bush’s first term -through- Obama’s second term.
We looked at the “Arab Spring” with rose colored glasses and “led from behind”…whatever that means.
From Egypt’s regime-non-change – to Libya – and Syria, not to mention Bahrain there is only rhetoric, but no policy. That includes Iran (questionable sanctions) and North Korea.
We seem forever, unnecessarily married to Saudi Arabian petro-dollars, and any change in a Middle Eastern regime is naïvely imagined and reported by the US mainstream press as a victory “for the people.”
Hilary’s deference to the Taliban and Haqqani Network over Afghanistan are cases in point that the U.S. has been eternally naïve. American’s that were and are critics of Obama often said correctly: “hope is not a policy.”
The Benghazi American Embassy killings were preventable, but the US Administration ignored the Ambassador’s requests for more security, thus, 4 Americans died because of lack of protection; Answers from the Obama administration? White House Lies and obfuscation… Indecision, and a certain cover-up. And from the American mainstream media? Hear no evil…See no evil…Speak no evil……Silence.
No different than my “Silence” message in my article.
Yes, President Obama is a disappointment.
Rusty, you are the true patriot who has the courage to stand up for right and wrong and not just wallow in blind nationalism. In stark contrast to the urban elites of my country. That is why America has a future.
Thank you, Bashir Bhai!
Pakistan and the United States, remain allies, but, both have a lot to learn, Inshallah!
My Dear Malik Saheb,
your analysis is one I never thought I would hear from Pakistanis, not even from my Jiyala brethren. Will miracles never cease? Just when I thought I was in a shrinking congregation here in darkest East England, I hear your gang riffing like Mark Steyn on Turkish coffee.
In my opinion, things are very much as you describe them to be. Here is a confession of inherent prejudice:though I differ a great deal in my world view from my antecedents, their loathing of the Tableeghi Jamaat (pre-partition) and the Pakistani Military Mullah alliance I carry intact in my blood.
After 9/11, my woolly liberal Angrez friends admitted that my anti-fundamentalist animus was justified for exactly five minutes and then all went back to reading the Guardian and marching for Hamas, particularly the left-liberal Jews.
Yahan par agar koi Mullah ke shar ko pehchanta hai to voh ghareeb tabqay ka Angrez hai, magar uss ka hashar Faisal Reza Abidi sey bhi bad-tar hua karta hai.
I am delighted of course that I can vent my spleen around you chaps . Prior to this my sole recourse has been reading stuff by Victor Davis Hanson(because he sees it the way we do,despite being an academic and a liberal Democrat)…plus haranguing my congenitally liberal spouse.
Here’s a thought: regardless of the outcome of the battle, we jiyalas, the canaries in the coal-mine saw it coming before the `experts’.
P.S:I have yet to read the post you refer to. BLESSINGS1
Love this:
“the canaries in the coal-mine saw it coming before the `experts’.”
@Asma,
Here it is. I have also included other articles where LUBP editor, Nishapuri stands out for supporting ties between Pakistan and Israel. Ofcourse, I don’t agree with everything on LUBP, especially the post appreciating Imran Khan – just cannot trust him. But there are many voices here. From my fellow LUBP comrades, they always encourage everyone to submit articles to them and often publish them.
Ok, here goes
1. “In principle, we at LUBP oppose the growing role of the Saudi-Ikhwan Lobby and hold this lobby directly responsible for the disastrous US foreign policy in Bahrain and Syria. However, the incoherent, anti-Semitic and conspiracy theory policy of the hardliners in Iran and their mullah proxies in Pakistan has only made things worse. The world needs the US and Iran to make peace and for Iran to accept Israel and vice versa. Egypt, Jordan and Turkey have all accepted Israel while Iran continues its illogical romance with Hamas. Hamas, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey meanwhile continue to promote anti-Shia sentiment in line with the Sheikhs of Qatar, KSA and UAE.”
Of “good” Shia mullahs and “bad” Shia activists: A response to Ali Murtaza Zaidi http://criticalppp.com/archives/235583
2. “As a Pakistani Muslim of Sunni Barelvi origin, I have always supported human rights of Pakistan’s persecuted and target killed communities including but not limited to Shias, Sunni Barelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus etc. I have not only condemned Pakistan’s military-dominated government’s atrocities against its own citizens but also condemned Saudi Arabia’s treatment of Sufi Sunnis and Shias, Iran’s treatment of the Bahais and the Balochs, USA’s double standards in Bahrain and Syria and Iran and Saudi Arabia, Hamas’s violence against Israeli civilians and Israel’s apartheid against its own Arab citizens and out of proportion violence against Palestinians.
It is my principled view that Shias of Pakistan have been hurt not only by the ISI & proxies, but also by those Pakistani Shias who remain blind followers of the policies and agendas of the Iranian clergy-led regime, eg, in terms of the DPC style anti-Semitism, Xenophobia, condemnation of NATO supplies, silence on Zarina Marri (Baloch) but support for Aafia Siddiqi (Farhat Hashmi and Al Qaeda supporter). For the life of me, I can’t understand Iran’s criminal silence on Shia genocide in Pakistan at the hands of Pakistan army-sponsored ASWJ-Taliban terrorists.”
http://criticalppp.com/archives/133122
3.“Editor’s note: We are pleased to cross-post this excellent article by Paul Rockower which he wrote for the Jerusalem Post. Paul visited Pakistan in 2007 and wrote an article for the Jerusalem Post on Pakistan’s more cosmopolitan side. Let us not forget that before Partition, Karachi was home to a vibrant Jewish community which was said to number over 2000 people. This included Solomon David, a Karachi Municipal Corporation official who built the Magain Shalome Synagogue.
We have posted a surviving photo of the synagogue’s interior. The Magain Shalome Synagogue, which was at the corner of Jamila Street and Nishtar Road was sadly demolished in the 1980s to make way for a shopping plaza. This Taliban-style act of demolishing Pakistan’s Jewish heiritage has failed to erase the memories of one’s own and the Jews of Karachi will live on.
Paul is an editor of the Pakistan Israel Peace Forum (ttp://www.pakistanisraelpeace.org ) which aims to build bridges and people to people contact between Israel and Pakistan. In principle, LUBP believes in building dialogue and bridges instead of violence and war. Therefore, we fully support the Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum’s mission statement, which states: “We believe in promoting dialogue and establishing relations between Pakistan and Israel , at the political, cultural, social, and economic levels.”
http://criticalppp.com/archives/57303
4. +972-LUBP dialogue: Fostering people to people contact between Israel and Pakistan – by Dahlia Scheindlin
@ Bashir Malik
Only just saw the links; will read them immediately.It was thoroughly decent of you to be so thoughtful, your generous gesture is much appreciated.
Tah-e-dil se shukria, Maula aap to apney hifz-o-aman mein rakhay.
P.S: Your point about the LUBP being a broad church is very welcome; we cannot lay any claim to intellectual freedom or point out its absence in other camps if we do not allow for difference of opinion and an honest, robust debate.
You only ever have roaring disagreements with people you have an affinity and camaraderie with, and I have always seen the `Asli te Wadhi PPP’ as a large, chaotic,neurotic, dysfunctional but essentially loving brotherhood. Long may that fellowship last!
Asma and Bashir bhai, Proud to be in your company – such civilized, dialectical thought process is seldome found, Asma and Bashir bhai, with such sensitivity, insight and open debate many of the world’s problems would simply melt away! Alas, it does not happen between politicians, military, nor most of social society.
Philosophers need to run governments.
Asma, it is that and much more. Mercurial, honest in accepting fault and at the forefront in bearing State oppresion. I have been lucky and not courageous as my mates who spent nearly a decade in jail during the 1980s under Zia. Who can forget the public flogging of dissident journalists. Most importantly, we accept the mistakes of our leaders because that is precisely the culture that has been fostered by ZAB, BB and now Zardari. Unlike MQM (“you can check out any time you like but you can never leave” Hotel California), we have a long tradition of being back stabbed by our own too.
Mr Malik: Stanford Uni report already concluded that Drones kill too many civilians. Wake up, open your eyes
Replies need to be addressing the article;
“Silence Encourages Shia Genocide in Pakistan”
This is not an open forum fro debate.
Pakistani Prime Minister himself went to Quetta and talked to victims. Crackdown has already started against the sectarian killers, two of them were killed in Mastung on 19th Jan. Pakistan will fight and finish off these beasts . 2013 is the year of rise of Pakistan through strict law enforecement and fair elections. Long Live Pakistan
Long Live Pakistan!
Prime Minister and important political laeders visisted Quetta including Imran Khan of PTI. Baluchistan goverenement has been dissolved. Quetta is witnessing strict law enforcement. ASWJ will be wiped out and ASWJ miltants will be hanged for killing unarned shia muslims. Long Live Pakistan
There has been no inceident of voilence in Quetta during last few days. Whole media erupted in favour of Shia Mulsims and situation has improved. Long Live Pakistan