It's Yet Another Pakistani Nuclear Anniversary Today

Worried about the release of Hafiz Saeed, read the following story published in Dawn May 31, 2009.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newsp aper/front-page/from-much-sought-after-to-most-wanted-159

Re: # 370 A pakistani talking about due process of law.....:D :D

har har! Riaz, you do know how to take the piece(T)

Re: # 373

Dost - Also see this link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8530206

India during the last couple of weeks has started warming up to the idea of a an alternate to dollar currency along with BRIC. BRIC summit is on 16-June in Moscow, I think. This will raise hackles in Washington, for sure.

Re: # 370 Riaz

"...Either you believe in rule of law, or you don't..."

This is not an issue of 'not believing in the rule of law'. Of course, we all do. The issue is: Were the Pakistani authorities sincere in prosecuting Sayeed with the full weight of the law?

Re: # 360 Tahmed

"...our point that he was once the head of a terrorist organization..."

Not was. He is.

"...there has been no evidence made public by the indian government on this account, so the judge ordered him released..."

Like I wrote previously, it is an indicator of Pakistan's intentions on what it decides to do with Sayeed. This simply reinforces the hypothesis that Pakistan is not interested (as Dost Mittar pointed out, and how the US Govt. is now reacting: "U.S. criticizes Pakistan for releasing Saeed" http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20090603/738/tnl-u-s-criticizes-pakistan-for-releas in.html )

"...dont expect the judicial system to solve political problems..."

What 'political problem' are you alluding to? Sayeed is the current head of a UN-proscribed organization. What are the political impediments?

Re: # 373

Dost - You are absolutely correct from a pragmatic foreign policy standpoint. However, the point that I was making is not from an Indian or American standpoint but from a moralistic stanpoint. I am obviously aware that morals mean crap when it comes to foreign policy.

Re:change in Indian mindset resulting from Obama strategy. There are clear signals that it is already happening.

The other day I came across a recent policy speech by Shyam Saran, Indian PM's special envoy.

Here's the link:

http://meaindia.nic.in/cgi-bin/db2www/meaxpsite/coverpage.d2w/coverpg?s ec=ss&filename=speech/2009/02/28ss02.htm

In this speech Saran articulately links how India should shape its national and foreign policy to the still developing global financial situation.

Pew#371:

Why would you expect tahmed saheb to view Hafiz Sayeed in the same way that Indians do?

dude#368:

The US does not see Pakistan through Indian eyes. If anything, it views the extremist problem in Pakistan through the liberal Pakistani viewpoint; namely that Pakistani army, with its ISI, dominates Pakistan because the Pakistanis in general share their obsession with India and the problem of extremism in Pakistan is a direct result of the army's use of "strategic assets" to balance the superior army might of its neighbour. The only way this obsession can be decreased, according to this view, is to address Pakistani concerns vis-a-vis Kashmir and other issues. Since India is not willing to cooperate with the Obama administration to address those concerns, Obama is not going to be sensitive to Indian concerns re. Pakistan's strategic assets. Indians are not as smart as they think they are, so they are taking it longer to understand this change.

Re: # 359 Aleph

"...Yet when it comes to an obese Punjabi mullah who has in full public view and for more than a decade been the point man for the JuD/LeT and its terrorism in India, he gets all legalistic..."

You made the point quite elegantly. I was giving Tahmed some rope (but not to hang himself)

Re: # 354 Dost

"...Why do Indians expect Pakistanis to prosecute someone who serves their strategic interests? ..."

Agreed. The issue is whether the 'ordinary' Pakistani (e.g. Tahmed32) view this just as you do, or one in which justice was served since no 'evidence' was produced.

Re: # 346

Any declaration of who is terrorist by US, UK, India, Pakistan or anyone else is not sufficient proof in a court of law. It requires due process, evidence and trial. In most instances, such proof has been sorely lacking. Just look at how innocent people were picked up by Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq, jailed and tortured, but most had to be eventually released because the charges against them could not proved. Either you believe in rule of law, or you don't. You can't just make allegations and expect such allegations to be upheld in a court...any courts, US, UK, Indian, Pakistani, etc.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

It is often said, "Judge a Society by How It Treats Its Most Vulnerable Members".

By this measure, India has clearly performed worse than almost any other country of the world, including its beighbors.

There is nothing more basic than food for the poor and hungry children. According to economist Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on hunger, India has fared worse than any other country in the world at preventing recurring hunger.

In the context of unprecedented economic growth (9-10 percent annually) and national food security, over 60 percent of Indian children are wasted, stunted, underweight or a combination of the above. As a result, India ranks number 62 along with Bangladesh at 67 in the PHI (Poverty Hunger Index)ranking out of a total of 81 countries. Both nations are included among the low performing countries in progress towards MDG1 (Millennium Development Goals) with countries such as Nepal (number 58), Ethiopia (number 60), or Zimbabwe (number 74).

Pakistan ranks well ahead of India at 45 and it is included in the medium performing countries. PHI is a new composite indicator – the Poverty and Hunger Index (PHI) – developed to measure countries’ performance towards achieving MDG1 on halving poverty and hunger by 2015. The PHI combines all five official MDG1 indicators, including a) the proportion of population living on less than US$ 1/day, b) poverty gap ratio, c) share of the poorest quintile in national income or consumption, d) prevalence of underweight in children under five years of age, and d) the proportion of population undernourished.

None of us can be proud of the South Asian record on lack of sanitation and health issues in general. But, let me repeat what UNICEF says about it when comparing India with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan:


India might be an emerging economic power, but it is way behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan in providing basic sanitation facilities, a key reason behind the death of 2.1 million children under five in the country.

Lizette Burgers, chief of water and environment sanitation of the Unicef, recently said India is making progress in providing sanitation but it lags behind most of the other countries in South Asia. A former Indian minister Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told the BBC that more than 65% of India's rural population defecated in the open, along roadsides, railway tracks and fields, generating huge amounts of excrement every day.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 367

dost - Yes, India is on her own as is any sovereign country.

America, despite the fresh eyes of a new presidency, continues to fail to see this insane state AS IT IS rather than how it SHOULD BE. Paying billions of dollars to a bunch of utterly corrupt goons to watch a bad movie. This is called a foreign and military policy!?

The Obama administration will learn its lessons the hard way - after a few years.

As long as they (Mullah Omar and Saeed) and others like him are free, Pakistan will remain a terror state. Until Pakistan shows it is serious about taking down the leadership of the Taliban (all varieties), Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, these groups will regenerate and prosper. And law enforcement in Pakistan will shy away from taking them on.

A few years ago most Pakistanis used to say no Taliban will ever harm Pakistanis. Guess what, some of them are beheading/killing fellow Pakistanis now. In a few years time, the brand of terrorists Pakistan currently supports (Afghan Taliban and Punjabi Kashmiri groups) will come back and bite them.
Pakistan is doomed for failure sooner or later - unless it realizes this.

dude:

"No self respecting country would have anything to do with it."

Dream on! Pakistan is crucially important for the world, esp. the US. The US under Obama has changed its policy towards Pakistan and it is now more concerned with collaborating with Pakistanis than with the army. A good indicator is the reaction to Hafiz's release: while Holbrook initially expressed some unhappiness, he soon changed his stance (presumably after receiving instructions from above) and said that he doesn't want to interfere with Pakistan's judicial process. The US has certainly decided to be sensitive to Pak sensitivities while fighting 'bad' taleban.

India is on her own!

MatloobZaman,

No, my contention is that, hateful people like Riaz
are not doing this out of any concern, but just to
score points. His concerns are not genuine, he does
not care for those people.
Anyway, I have no time to waste time on discussing
dime-a-dozen people like Riaz, they are not worthy of
any attention.

Re: # 358
Why is it necessary to stop people from expressing their views based on reality?
Malnourishment is not good and thats is what he highlighted in his remarks, nothing he mentioned is out of reality or made up.