According to Kuldip Nayyer the noted Indian journalist, “the government to task on the data revealed by its appointed commission on the unorganised sector. The report says that 836 million people, 87 per cent of India’s population, live on Rs20 (half a US dollar) or less per person per day.”..” In a country like India where the marginal group consuming less than Rs15 per person has increased from 290 million to 392 million (nearly 40 per cent of the population), the priority should have been livelihood, not energy, however important it is for development.”

It was amazing to see these” eulogies for India a country that is sending terrorists to Pakistan and making problems for Pakistan by supporting the Baluchi terrorists. The world must be blind not to know about the religious incarceration of 50 million Hindu White widows, the millions of disenfranchised Dalits (Untouchables), the 150 million subjugated Muslims, and the swath of huge lands owned by the Naxalites rebels. What about the democratic rights of the state of Hyrabad (destroyed in a police action), and the rights of the Asaamese? Naxalites? Mizuram?
India's horrid interference in Baluchistan is state terrorism and will be paid back in kind. China and Pakistan and Bangladesh will teach the lessons. India has failed her population and kept South Asia in penury. China and Malaysia have provided their citizens with a decent standard of living. Pakistanis will work out their problems. Don't worry and don't pontificate. The best development in Asia was NOT achieved by India, but by China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. A discussion on reasons why external powers imposed leaders on small countries is well known. Perhaps it is the uneducated, illiterate, teeming millions in India that have been making stupid decision that have kept India as one of the poorest countries in the world.

IF THERE HAD BEEN NO PAKISTAN

Interesting concept. Perhaps a better title could have been “"If the Subcontinent had remained divided into 526 states"” or "if the Indian national Congress, Jan Sangh, and the RSS had not been intransigent" bent upon enforcing Rama Rajha on all the Muslims of the Subcontinent, there could have been better accommodation between the Muslims of India and India.

The adoption of devanagri script in 1940 ensured the death of Urdu in India. Pakistan saved Urdu.

Quaid e Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the undisputed and senior leader of the Indian National Congress. When the Congress allowed extremist elements like Patel to join the party, Muslims felt alienated and left the Congress.

Gandhi introduced religious symbolism into the Indian politics which ultimately led to the creating of Jamiat e Hind.

The Cabinet Mission Plan was the best bet for the Subcontinent with unit A, unit B and unit C. The plan was accepted by Nehru, but later rejected by extremists like Patel.

Bihar, Gujarat and Assam were Muslim majority areas and belonged to Pakistan. The Radcliff commission illegally gave away Ferozepur, & Gurdaspur (Muslim majority areas) to India so that access to

Kashmir could be created for the armed forces of India who landed in Srinigar before the "accession" was signed over.

Alister Lamb has written many anomalies with dates on the article of accession. Hari Sigh had no right to sign over the state without the approval of the people.

Even after 1947, if India had not taken the route of belligerence conquering Hyderabad, illegally annexing Kashmir, and not allowing Junagarh and Manvanagar to join Pakistan, things could have been different.

The article of accession of Kashmir to India is missing and brings to doubt if it ever existed. It was never produced in front of the United Nations.

The issue of numbers would have made sure that India became a perpetual Bosnia with Muslims totally disenfranchised like they are in India. All Muslims centers of excellence have been destroyed in India, Delhi, Lucknow, Agra, and Hyderabad.

India is a derivative of Hind, from the river Sindh. Through history, there was no monolith called “India”. The Subcontinent was more than 500 states that existed before the British came to the Subcontinent. When they left it was still a conglomeration of more than 500 states. Many states banded together to form Pakistan, and many states banded together to form India. No “partition” ever took place. “Partition” is a nightmare of those who believe in Akhand Bharat, and “India” as the mother Goddess. No such entity existed in 500 years. Pakistan existed on the banks of the Indus 500 years ago as Mekan and Melhula in the Indus Valley Civilization.

Pakistan has now become immune to “prophecies of doom”. Pakistanis are sick of “do more” lectures from a 3^rd rate country that piggy-backs on superpowers to get a kick out of beating up vulnerable populations.

2 million Muslim kids died destroying the USSR. Today, Pakistan is suffering because of the failed policies of Britain and the USA. The blowback faced by many is because of the short sighted policies of London and Washington.

Your selective amnesia is amazing. Pakistan was used by the USA in the First Afghan War against the USSR. India at the time was on the losing side of the battle and the USSR was not only defeated, it imploded.

Analysts see major cavities.  Today there is an overwhelming body of evidence that a similar fate faces "India." India's major problem is not a nuclear armed Pakistan, or 160 million belligerent Pakistanis or even 160 million Bangledeshis or the 160 million Indian Muslims. India's problem is the 40 million Hindu White widows, and the Dalits and Naxalite insurrection that threatens to destroy the heart of midland. While the urban penury competes with rural poverty the plutocratic, dynastic democrats, the extremist rightists, and the megalomaniacs (Nero's) dream of a global power, the heart of India is in pain and destitution.

Congress has taken notice, and last month passed a resolution calling for the United States to work with India to address the problem of untouchability by “encouraging US businesses and other US organisations working in India to take every possible measure to ensure Dalits are included and are not discriminated against in their programming”.

“It is now time for this Congress to speak out about this ancient and particularly abhorrent form of persecution and segregation — even if it is occurring in a country considered to be one of America’s closest allies,’’ Rep Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said during a speech last spring on the House floor. Franks went on to call Dalits “one of the most oppressed peoples on Earth.’’

The 2006 study found that public health workers refuse to visit 33 per cent of Dalit villages, while mail is not delivered to the homes of 24 per cent of Dalits. The reason for the neglect, the study said, is that some in the upper castes believe lower-caste people are dirty and lack dignity in their labor as latrine cleaners, rickshaw drivers, butchers, herders and barbers.
The debate on affirmative action in India is similar to the one in the United States in terms of discrimination and ways to end it. But in India, those who experience discrimination, especially in rural areas, are the majority and are ruled by an elite. The issue here is complicated by India’s turbulent history of race, class and caste. Centuries-old customs of arranged marriages and inherited professions perpetuate caste divisions, which are further reinforced by some interpretations of Hinduism, India’s dominant religion, which sanctions the caste system.
The country’s education system also hardens caste. Lower castes largely attend public schools, which teach local languages, while private schools attended by upper castes teach English — the most important criterion to be hired at a call center, where young employees spend their nights helping customers phoning from the United States.

Sitting in a circle as they waited to hear whether they would get jobs, Kamble and the other students talked about the often harrowing discrimination they faced. “I knew there was hatred in the world and in India, when as a child I watched some upper castes refuse to sell my mother lentils and rice in the nicer part of the market because we were `dirty,’ and from a backward caste,’’ said Vivek Kumar Katara, 22, who has a master’s degree in social work focusing on helping the mentally ill. Without quotas, Katara said, “I honestly don’t know if professors would have even let me sit in the same class as upper castes”. http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/features/featuredetail.asp?file=augustfeatures302007.xml

How poor is India? Some startling statistics have just been released by a forgotten wing of Dr Singh’s own administration, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. Around 80 per cent of India’s working population is in this sector. Nearly 80 per cent of this group earns less than 20 rupees a day and 85 per cent of this sub group is trapped in debt. By that usual sleight of hand we have drawn an arbitrary line to define poverty: Rs 12 a day constitutes the poverty line. This encourages the illusion that 77 per cent of India is now above the poverty line. It isn't that much above in any case. Nor is this poverty line index-linked to inflation. Twelve rupees a day buys much less today than it did three years ago. The traditional poverty groups remain where they were: 88 per cent of Scheduled Tribes and Castes, 80 per cent of "Other Backward Classes" and 85 per cent of Muslims belong to the "poor and vulnerable" class.

M. J. Akbar is Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. He can be reached at mjakbar@asianage.com

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ColumnistHomeNew.asp?section=mjakbar&col=yes

Once again, India is on the losing side in the war in Afghanistan. The real Afghans sick of the extremist "talibaan" and the other stooges will take power in Kabul. Soon Mr. Karzai, the Mayor of Kabul will be seeking Indian asylum again, choosing a condominium next to the Delai Lama. Afghanistan will soon be liberated again , the other traitors and non-Pashtun puppets will hang from the trees in Kabul. As the Afghans win, the Indian Consulates (the den of deceit and inequity) will once again be shut down and the Indian Embassy will again be sent packing back to old Delhi.

If the plutocrats in India do not learn their lessons, there will be another Mahmud of Ghazni and another Ahmad Shah Abdali to teach her that lesson. Missile pun intended. This time New Delhi will lose more than the peacock throne and the Kohinoor.

It is rare in the history of the world that so many millions of people were turned homeless in a few seconds. The Pakistani earthquake caused the destruction of several dozen Katrinas. Pakistan and Pakistanis had no warning. Within a few seconds all of Azad Kashmir was destroyed. The Pakistani nation and the army was present in the highest hills within the 2 days providing relief to the people. ERRA was formed on the fly and is now under civilian control. Compare the fantastic response to the earthquake to the feeble response of FEMA to Katrina. 90% of the people have received funding from the government and most of them are living in tent cities. It will take years to rebuild, and the Azad Kashmiris realize this.

The root of the word “republic” is from the French which means “of the public”. Pakistan was created by constitutional means. The dictionary defines the word “republic” as:

1. (initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato dealing with the composition and structure of the ideal state.

2. a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.

3. An autonomous or partially autonomous political and territorial unit belonging to a sovereign federation.

Our glorious experiment in establishing the first Islamic republic after the Meeskh e medina” cannot be ridiculed by ill-informed authors. Our experiment in democracy boldly declares in the preamble “Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust;”

Any audit of our republic clearly shows that we have not lived up to all the ideals of the Quaid-eAzam and or Quaid-e-Millat as listed in our constitution. “"Wherein the principles of democracy freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed"”. (from the preamble of the constitution of 1973). However this is no reason to repudiate all Islamic republics.

Various definitions of democracy and sovereignty have been around for years. Moulana Mawdudi used the term "Theo-democracy" for Islamic state in his book "Political Theory of Islam". He didn't deny the term 'democracy'. Rather he accepted democracy while this system will work under the sovereignty of Allah. Our Pakistani experiment in establishing a republic eliminated the kingship and hereditary succession. It places parameters on sovereignty because we believe that all sovereignity rests with God not man/woman.

Self-flagellation by South Asian authors fail to mention the CIA and KGB intervention in eliminating the elected leadership of Pakistanis, Iranians, Mauritanians and Afghanis. Why are only Muslim republics targeted by many. Iran with all her faults has eliminated poverty, and illiteracy and provide her citizens with security, prosperity, scientific research and power. The flags of almost every European nation tell us if they are Christian or not. Why wasn't the "republics" of other religions also discussed. The history of the Roman republic was also replete with violence towards the leadership as well as other peoples. Even the Greek city states had issues of internecine warfare, conquest and hedonism. Plato’s ideas of the republic included using women as communal property and Socrates wrote reams against Democracy, equating it with “mobocracy.” The American republic was based on the extermination of the native Americans as well as occupation of Mexican lands. The American republic was not created as a democracy (read, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison speak out against democracy). The  European republics (French, Spain etc.) colonized and occupied countries and used instituted slavery to help the white citizens. Which ideal republic are they talking about?

British Raj (rāj, lit. "rule" in Hindi) or British India, officially the British Indian Empire, and internationally and contemporaneously, India, was the term used synonymously for the region, the rule, and the period, from 1858 to 1947, of the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent. The region included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom (contemporaneously, "British India") as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown. The princely states, which had all entered into treaty arrangements with the British Crown, were allowed a degree of local autonomy in exchange for accepting protection and complete representation in international affairs by Great Britain. The British Indian Empire included the regions of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and, in addition, at various times, Aden (from 1858 to 1937), Lower Burma (from 1858 to 1937), Upper Burma (from 1886 to 1937), British Somaliland (briefly from 1884 to 1898), and Singapore (briefly from 1858 to 1867). British India had some ties with British possessions in the Middle East; the Indian rupee served as the currency in many parts of that region. What is now Iraq was, immediately after World War I, administered by the India Office of the British government.

The Indian Empire, which issued its own passports, was commonly referred to as India both in the region and internationally. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, and a member nation of the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932 and 1936.

Source: Wikipedia

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Some level of alterity is in order. When the last British general left the Subcontinent, Pakistanis and Afghans believed in the cynosure chimera that “you” would really leave. We thought we would remember you for the trains bequeathed by Lord Delhousie’s. The West Asian aviary must have apocryphal magnetic powers over Englishmen. The Union Jack keeps coming back to the Middle East and South Asia. The Empire is gone but incredulously you keep coming back. Why is it so? Is there an eschatologically obsessed version of Christianity that tries to make British foreign and domestic policy conterminous with their biblical worldview?" Is it because there were no lessons learned and the pusillanimous Kiplingish “White Man’s Burden” keeps on raising it’s ugly head every few decades. How many times will you try to civilize us?

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

Even in the 19^th century technology was not the panacea that prevented defeat. Are there any lessons learned from the “Charge of the Light Brigade”.

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

How many times will you “To veil the threat of terror”?

Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain

Unfortunately the lessons of unmitigated disaster of "Auckland's Folly", (First Anglo-Afghan War 1838–42) have not been taught to the Oxbridge students. Perhaps Blair and Brown never saw Lady Butler's famous painting of Dr William Brydon, the sole survivor, gasping his way to the British outpost in Jalalabad. This painting epitomized the limits of the British Empire and focused on Elphinstone’s retreat from Kabul and established Afghanistan's reputation as a graveyard for foreign armies.

Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought

The lessons learned from the defeat of Lord Curzon’s (1878-1893) “On to the Oxus” policy are not taught to the Eaton and Harrow graduates.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred

The lessons of the Peloponnesian war when Athens lost its democratic roots and it's independence, because of her prolonged war with Sparta are very appropriate in our current times.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

The lessons of the British defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan should be codified.

Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.

Will Britannia learn her lessons ever?

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Does no one in Britain read Robert Fisk anymore?

Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"

The minority Northern Alliance led non-Pashtun government has been a total failure. The worst is yet to come in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last allied or NATO troop will be reminded to "turn the lights off"..

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

Images of the last American helicopter leaving Saigon is etched into the collective memory of political scientists around the world

Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke (1) your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.

The only way out of the Afghan quagmire for NATO is to negotiate with the Talibaan and the Pashtuns. Pakistan's vital interests in Afghanstan have to be taken into account, and the Hindu Kush mountains cannot be used to launch terrorism into Pakistani Baluchistan.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

An American led “Marshall Plan” for Pakistan and Afghanistan will reduce tensions, and provide employment to the disaffected youth of the area.

Take up the White Man's burden--
Have done with childish days--
The lightly proferred laurel, (2)
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!

The British were responsible for the death and destruction of millions of people in South Asia. London was a shanty-town in the 15^th century, where Benaras, Calcutta and Delhi were the epitome of cosmopolitan and tolerance, industrialization, art, music and culture. The British destroyed the local industries. When will the British pay reparations to India, Pakistan Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the 250 years of colonialism?

It is amazing that a small cult with a few dozen followers makes headlines in the Indian press with dire warnings and admonitions of impending doom. "Pakistan in Peril" screams one such wishful-thinking headline in one of the newspapers. Pakistanis are used to this nonsense. In 1947 the same type of bigots predicted that "they would come begging" in 3 months. In 1947 Pakistan had one dilapidated university and one textile mill. Today Pakistan is a Nuclear state, with large industrial estates, with a huge army, and a modern Air force. For all his faults, President Musharraf has presided over a robust growth rate with hundreds of universities churning out professionals. Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are at a all time high, and investors are pouring in most sectors. Hardly a country in peril. Worry about the Naxalite insurrection, the 50 million white widows, the rampant penury, sati, the Chinese threat, the Bangladeshi invasion, the Kashmiri insurrection...the list is long.

When it comes to Pakistan, nothing is ever enough. When the elected representatives elect a president in Pakistan, it is a "charade." When the pugnacious vibrant and free press shows all sides of the picture, it is not enough. When the opposition leaders can voice their opinions on 50 independent TV channels it is not enough.

It is not surprising that an esteemed British newspaper writes this sort of erroneous article full of mistakes seething with bias. From Clive to Cornwallis; from Mountbatten to Brown, Pakistanis and Muslims have been used to these lectures emanating out to London. This abominable soporific screed is typical of the ignominious anti-Pakistan cacophonous tripe so pervasive in the photo-copying section of the augean stables of press laziness.

Your selective amnesia is amazing. Pakistan was used by the USA in the First Afghan War against the USSR. India at the time was on the losing side of the battle and the USSR was not only defeated, it imploded. Analysts see major cavities.  Today there is an overwhelming body of evidence that a similar fate faces "India."

When your last general left the Subcontinent, Pakistanis and Afghans thought that you would really leave. But you keep coming back to the Middle East and South Asia. Will Britannia learn her lessons ever. Neither the sun, nor the world cares for the little island North of “Le Mange”

From Clive to Cornwallis; from Mountbatten to Blair, Pakistanis and Muslims have been used to these sort of dire consequences emanating out to London. The first governor General of India, and Nehru’s lover, Edwina predicted that Pakistan would last three months. Kashmir, Manvanagar, Junagarh, Pakistani life is full of British broken promises.

When your last general left the Subcontinent, Pakistanis felt that you would really leave. But you keep coming back to the Middle East and South Asia. Will Britannia learn her lessons ever. Neither the sun (which does set in the UK), nor the world cares for the little island North of “Le Mange”. Your editors should pay more attention to Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.

Pakistan has now become immune to British “prophecies of doom”. Pakistanis are sick of “do more” lectures from a 3^rd rate country that piggy-backs on superpowers to get a kick out of beating up vulnerable populations.

2 million Muslim kids died destroying the USSR. Today, Pakistan is suffering because of the failed policies of Britain and the USA. The blowback faced by many is because of the short sighted policies of London and Washington.

Your selective amnesia is amazing. Pakistan was used by the USA in the First Afghan War against the USSR. India at the time was on the losing side of the battle and the USSR was not only defeated, it imploded.

Analysts see major cavities.  Today there is an overwhelming body of evidence that a similar fate faces "India." The Northeast of India (seven sisters) is up in arms against the central authority. Out of 600 districts in India 150 districts are plagued by a Maoist insurgency. India's major problem is not a nuclear armed Pakistan, or 160 million belligerent Pakistanis or even 160 million Bangledeshis or the 160 million Indian Muslims. India's problem is the 40 million Hindu White widows, and the Dalits and Naxalite insurrection that threatens to destroy the heart of midland. While the urban penury competes with rural poverty the plutocratic, dynastic democrats, the extremist rightists, and the megalomaniacs (Nero's) dream of a global power, the heart of India is in pain and destitution.

Once again, India is on the losing side in the war in Afghanistan. The real Afghans sick of the extremist "talibaan" and the other stooges will take power in Kabul. Soon Mr. Karzai, the Mayor of Kabul will be seeking Indian asylum again, choosing a condominium next to the Delai Lama. Afghanistan will soon be liberated again , the other traitors and non-Pashtun puppets will hang from the trees in Kabul. As the Afghans win, the Indian Consulates (the den of deceit and inequity) will once again be shut down and the Indian Embassy will again be sent packing back to old Delhi.

If the plutocrats in India do not learn their lessons, there will be another Mahmud of Ghazni and another Ahmad Shah Abdali to teach her that lesson. Missile pun intended. This time New Delhi will lose more than the peacock throne and the Kohinoor.

I commend “The Independent”on writing an effulgent and prodigious article "Why? Six years on from the invasion of Afghanistan" providing profound insight into the Afghani quagmire.

When the last general left the Subcontinent, Pakistanis and Afghans thought that “you” would really leave. We thought we would remember you for trains started by Lord delhousie’s. But you keep coming back to the Middle East and South Asia. This is because there were no lessons learned and the Kiplingish romanticization of the British Raj. The main purpose of introducing railways was to “immensely increase the striking power of the military forces at every point of the Indian empire, to bring British capital and enterprise to India and to bring into the ports the produce from the interior.’’ Even in the 19^th century technology was not the panacea that prevented defeat.

Unfortunately the lessons of unmitigated disaster of "Auckland's Folly", (First Anglo-Afghan War 1838–42) have not been taught to the Oxbridge students. Perhaps Blair and Brown never saw Lady Butler's famous painting of Dr William Brydon, the sole survivor, gasping his way to the British outpost in Jalalabad. This painting codified Elphinstone’s retreat from Kabul and established Afghanistan's reputation as a graveyard for foreign armies

The lessons learned from the defeat of Lord Curzon’s (1878-1893) “On to the Oxus” policy are not taught to the Eaton and Harrow graduates.

Will Britannia learn her lessons ever? Does no one in Britain read Robert Fisk anymore?

The minority Northern Alliance led non-Pashtun government has been a total failure. The only way out of the Afghan quagmire for NATO is to negotiate with the Talibaan and the Pashtuns. Pakistan's vital interests in Afghanstan have to be taken into account, and the Hindu Kush mountains cannot be used to launch terrorism into Pakistani Baluchistan. An American led “Marshall Plan” for Pakistan and Afghanistan will reduce tensions, and provide employment to the disaffected youth of the area.

Mr. Borchgrave bias against Pakistan is well known. He does not have an iota of credibility or integrity when reporting on Pakistan. The allegations against Pakistan are false. They are based on anti-Pakistan bigotry and the filed policies perpetuated in the past few years. President Bush, and Prime Minister Tony Blair have repeatedly praised Pakistan for her fight against terrorism. Pakistan is a founding member of SEATO, and CENTO and was a frontline state against the USSR. She is a Non-Nato Ally (NNA) and a cold war ally. This week Pakistan suffered many blasts first initiated by the USSR and Afghanistan against Pakistan during the first Afghan war. Neither Pakistan, nor Pakistanis nor President Musharraf signed up to indentured servitude to anyone. Friendship is a two way street, and the anti-Pakistan government in Kabul is an impediment to a NATO victory and peace in Pakistan.

When an anti-Pakistan government was installed in Kabul, surely Pakistanis were not happy. The geo-strategic interests of Pakistan have to be taken into account. Neither the government, nor the people of Pakistan have signed up for indentured servitude to carry on the follies of a broken foreign policy that supports an incompetent and corrupt non-representative government in Kabul. The NATO troops are teething on annihilation by the anti-occupation insurgent (wrongly labeled as "Talibaan"). All this has created immense problems for Pakistan, and Pakistanis are not too happy fighting Pakistanis......neither Musharraf nor anyone else supports Pakistanis fighting Pakistanis. The Tribal areas are "tribal". They joined Pakistan under treaty obligations that allowed them total autonomy...that was the deal for joining the Federation. They have helped Pakistan for the past 60 years. The articles of the confederation of the constitution of Pakistan cannot be changed because of failed US policies in Afghanistan. NATO and America needs to build peace by wining the hearts and minds of Afghans not by cluster bombs and missiles.

Pakistanis are not indentured servants of anyone. Pakistan is a proud nation of 160 million people on the way to progress and prosperity. It is the 4^th largest country on earth, and deserves respect. Pakistan has nuclear bombs and missiles to deliver them to all corners of the globe.
Violence begets violence. “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword”.Few political scientists have fully identified the inherent risks of direct US action in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Not only will this generate a tsunami of anti-Americanism, it will also push the miscreants to the urban areas of Pakistan destabilizing the country. Al-Qaeda will thrive in chaos and threaten the government and the people of Pakistan.
The push theory (pushing miscreants out of one area) does not work. When the Police raids a street gang on a street, they simply move over to the next street. The solution is a comprehensive plan to interdict drugs and create alternative employment for the youth. Similarly fighting terror is a two pronged strategy. An unstable Pakistan is bad for the entire planet. The solution is a massive "Marshall Plan" for Pakistan, which creates incentives for the people to earn a proper living. To start with, the US should abolish the quotas and subsidies on textiles. This will enhance Pakistani exports and provide jobs to the youth.

Already all the roads to Kabul are in Talib control. America made a critical mistake in imposing a non-Pashtun Northern Alliance anti-Pakistan Karzai government in Kabul. Pakistan and Pashtuns will never tolerate a Northern Alliance government in Kabul. The worst thing America can do right now, is to invade the FATA areas. This will unite the Talibs as never before, and the fall of Kabul will be expedited.
American policy makers are blind to all this. Just like they never found WMDs in Iraq, they will never find OBL in Pakistan. Pakistani cooperation is crucial in this part of the world. They are destabilizing a country of 150 million people which will have long term consequences for India, China, the Central Asian republics and Iran. If attempts to continue the destabilization Pakistan will join Iran and create a nexus with China or even Russia.

There is no defense of Benazir’s Bhutto’s indefensible banal and bilious blathering which jeopardizing the sovereignty of the Pakistani nation. I was an ardent supported of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and also Benazir but I am totally disappointed by her the egregious words, ignominious deeds and feint petards.

How could she allow AQ Khan to be interviewed by foreign forces? This is totally unacceptable. By kowtowing to others in foreign capitals and acting out the cognac-eyed coquet, the credulous, cowering Benazir is jeopardizing any vestige of sovereignty that remains. The National Assembly should pass resolution preventing her from doing any such thing and should repudiate her comments. Her husbands deleterious supervision of the augean stables of national corruption emaciated her career twice. To save herself from being anathematized as a discarded varmint Benazir needs to explain the claim that she wears a white "chador" per Sindhi custom to take revenge on Pakistani who she blames for the death of her father. Is this a “Fifth column” amongst us? She has been impugned for her furtive and malevolent machinations which led to the hapless emaciation and denouement of the Khalistan movement. We also await here mea culpa on these events and an apology to the Pakistani nation.

Balauchistan decided to join Pakistan in a referendum held under the auspices of the Independence of India Act of 1947.

Pakistan and Pakistanis have supported the USA since it was founded in 1947.  She also was the base where the U2s used to fly out from.

1. During the period of the British Raj, there were four Princely States in Balochistan: Makran, Kharan, Las Bela and Kalat, the largest and most powerful.

2. In 1876 Sir Robert Sandeman concluded a treaty with the Khan of Kalat and brought his territories--including Kharan, Makran, and Las Bela--under British suzerainty. 2) After the Second Afghan War of 1878-80, the Treaty of Gandamak concluded in May 1879, the Afghan Mmir ceded his districts of Pishin, Sibi, Harnai, and Thal Chotiali to the British. 3) In 1883 the British leased the Bolan Pass, southeast of Quetta, from the Khan of Kalat on a permanent basis,.

3. In 1887 some areas of Balochistan were declared British territory.

4. In 1893, Sir Mortimer Durand negotiated an agreement with Amir Abdur Rahman Khan of Afghanistan to fix thethe Durand Line running from Chitral to Balochistan to as the boundary between the Afghans and the British.

5. The Government of India Act, 1935, treats Kalat as an Indian State and provides representation for it in the Federal Legislature

6. In 1947, Kalat was ruled by Mir Ahmed Yar Khan.Indeed, the British had given many Princely States the choice of either India, or Pakistan during the immediate pre-partition period (though they were worried of having too many independent nations).

7. The Indian Independence Act, 1947 allowed the independent states to join either India or Pakistan.

8. The people of Balauchistan, overwhelmingly voted to join Pakistan in a referendum that was held on June 30, 1947, to ascertain their wishes on this issue.

9. The Khan of Kalat acceded to Pakistan on March 27, 1948. Like Kalat, Hydrabad and Kashmir, hundreds of other states also had the choice of either joining India or Pakistan.

There is no problem in Balauchistan. The US and Europe snubbed India last week and will be emulating the Pakistan-Waziristan peace deal across the border. This new deal calls for the Taliban in Kabul, and Pakistan’s role in the official Afghan jirga. This comes from a clear realization on the part of NATO that Pakistan has to be given a role in Pakistan. They have realized that propping up the Mayor of Kabul and the Northern Alliance was a flawed policy.

Obviously Kabul has been unable to create a state. NATO will one day leave. The solution to Afghanistan is to break it up into Pashtun, Tajik and Shia parts and parse them out to Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan.

Swaraaj Chauhan does not list the external factors that changed Pakistani history. Nor does he mention the tough neighborhood that Pakistanis live in, a belligerent India on the East, a fundamentalist Iran on the West and an always occupied and fighting for independence Afghanistan on the Northeast.

Pakistan’s setup is a direct result of the belligerence of India.

Swaraaj Chauhan also fails to mention the fact, that it was 52 countries and their intelligence agencies that brought in 30,000 Arab fighters to Pakistan to fight the USSR. President Musharraf is right, the West owes Pakistan a historical debt for defeating and destroying the USSR.

A simply country was transformed by 3 million refugees, and the culture was changed by drugs, terror and Klashnikovs. Pakistan paid a heavy price for this.

To top it all, as soon as the USSR retreated from Afghanistan, the West dumped Pakistan like a used Kleenix

Swaraaj Chauhan in her tirade on everything Pakistani, could not find an iota of anything positive about either the country, her leaders or her population. Pakistan has 150 million people who aligned themselves with America and the West against the USSR and her allies like India. For this Pakistan paid a very heavy price. The Generals usually rode on American tanks, and the elected leaders were removed after being threatened by American Secretary of States. Henry Kissnger for example told wrote to Bhutto that "he would make an example out of him". Soon afterwards a coup was supported by the USA, and the general remained in power, 'till he was no longer useful.

Writings like this remind Pakistan of the ugly Indian, and Swaraaj Chauhan perfectly fits that role. Next time, perhaps her visa to Pakistan should be cancelled. There is no cure for bigotry Pakistan bashing and Islamphobia. I am disappointed by the blog that prints such nonsense

Incursions may ignite a fire that may not be containable.

Do we want to deal with cardboard caricatures, or do we deal with reality?

One forgets that this is the fourth largest country in the world, nuclear armed and in certain regions of the country the entire population is armed. Does sanity suggest that we antagonize 160 million people? For what and for whom? For getting OBL? One of the worst case scenarios is if Americans are taken hostages and then attempts are made to rescue them. This would be embarrassing for the USA and Pakistan.

The risk vs. reward may not be worth it.

Then there is always the possibility of a catastrophe where many Pakistani civilians die as a result of a strike. An accident could occur. If the Pakistanis are not aware of a strike missiles could be launched which could start a regional war. Pakistan and India are nuclear armed. In such a case, all bets are off, and the result would be horrible for the planet.

Pakistan has a 10 division well trained and well equipped army, one of the most professional armies in the world. Most of the officers were trained in the UK, USA, and Australia etc. The army has a centralized control with intense loyalty to the officer corps. More than 500,00 soldiers are in reserve, and like Israel all Pakistani high-schoolers (11th and 12th grades) are trained in basic two year military training called NCC (National Cadet Corp).The army is armed to the teeth, with local arms production M-16, Kalashnikovs, heavy artillery and now airplanes (knockoff of F-16s called JF-17 Thunder). They also have one of the best missile programs in the world, better than that of India.

“The Regime” consists of the army support, an elected National Assembly and Senate with representation of all the political parties including a heavy and intense presence of the MMA, PML and PPP opposition.

Now to eliminate all this would require a full scale invasion. 400,000 American soldiers and mercenaries (contractors) could not do it in Iraq, which has one fifth of the population and was sanctioned for ten years.

Now let us talk about invading Pakistan. Whose army is going to do it? One will need at least two million soldiers to occupy the country partially, and no one in 5000 years has been able to hold it.

Before the country is attacked many unnamed capitals and cities may go up in smoke, the Gulf of Hormuz would be blocked (ending supply of oil to the world), the Suez Canal would be choked, and many oilfields would be radio active for the next ten thousand years. This would mean the end of life as we know it. MAD (mutually assured destruction is the wave of the future).Any takers?

Pakistan may also decide to re-realign itself with Russia and China and leave the USA high and dry.

Peace is the only way. Let us build bridges of harmony and rethink the strategy of war and “taking out nukes”

Do we want to deal with cardboard caricatures, or do we deal with reality?

Pakistan has a population of 165 million. She has 10 division well trained and well equipped army, one of the most professional armies in the world. Most of the officers were trained in the UK, USA, and Australia etc. The army has a centralized control with intense loyalty to the officer corps. More than 500,00 soldiers are in reserve, and like Israel all Pakistani high-schoolers (11th and 12th grades) are trained in basic two year military training called NCC (National Cadet Corp).The army is armed to the teeth, with local arms production M-16, Kalashnikovs, heavy artillery and now airplanes (knockoff of F-16s called JF-17 Thunder). They also have one of the best missile programs in the world, better than that of India.

“The Regime” consists of the army support, an elected National Assembly and Senate with representation of all the political parties including a heavy and intense presence of the MMA, PML and PPP opposition.

Now to eliminate all this would require a full scale invasion. 400,000 American soldiers and mercenaries (contractors) could not do it in Iraq, which has one fifth of the population and was sanctioned for ten years.

Now let us talk about invading Pakistan. Whose army is going to do it? One will need at least two million soldiers to occupy the country partially, and no one in 5000 years has been able to hold it.

Before the country is attacked many unnamed capitals and cities may go up in smoke, the Gulf of Hormuz would be blocked (ending supply of oil to the world), the Suez Canal would be choked, and many oilfields would be radio active for the next ten thousand years. This would mean the end of life as we know it. MAD (mutually assured destruction is the wave of the future).Any takers?

Peace is the only way. Let us build bridges of harmony and rethink the strategy of war and “taking out nukes”.

SUBJECT: Of judges and generals

The uncertainty of Pakistan's political future argues for action, writes Gamal Nkrumah

It is sad that journalism has fallen so much at Al-Ahram since the days of Mr. Husnain Haikal. The story shows a lack of historical knowledge of Pakistan and only peripheral knowledge of the political process of Pakistan. Pakistanis are always amazed, hurt and confounded to see so much anti-Pakistani rhetoric coming from Egypt. This is endemic of all Egyptians who are not taught anything positive about Pakistan. Someone needs to do his/her homework. I wonder why such shoddy “journalism” is published by a great world-class newspaper. Mr. Gamal Nkrumah article is factually incorrect, and this writing is typical of Egyptian anti-Pakistan writings published in Al-Ahram. Mr. Nkrumah’s writing has several errors in it, is biased and presents only one side of the picture. Mr. Nkrumah’s biased analysis has serious flaws and has factual errors in it. The sad fact is that many of your readers may read this dribble.

Mr. Nkrumah says “Pakistan is not that easy to read” Perhaps a real journalist would present both sides of the story, and not write an article based on other newspapers.

Egyptians living in glass houses should not throw at others. This strange pontification is coming from the land of “Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen” and a series of selected dynastic leadership. The entire planet knows that Cairo is sitting on a power-keg called “Islamic Brotherhood” and has been exporting this theocratic terrorism to Palestine, and Lebanon and to Afghanistan. Egypt best known exports of course is known to the world as Ayman Al-Zahaeri. Since your country is the beacon of "democracy" why is it that this dynastic democracy elects leaders usually from only one family and the world “jokes” that it would elect a monkey if it were put on the ballot of the current Egyptian party. What qualifications does the new “prince” have to run a country? or a failed airline pilot? Your false sense of programming kicks in to treat the “ajami” with contempt!..bigotry shows!

It was amazing to see “mighty and dynamic” eulogies for India a country that is sending terrorists to Pakistan and making problems for Pakistan by supporting the Baluchis. The world must be blind not to know about the religious incarceration of 50 million Hindu White widows, the millions of disenfranchised Dalits (Untouchables), the 150 million subjugated Muslims, and the swath of huge lands owned by the Naxalites rebels. What about the democratic rights of the state of Hyrabad (destroyed in a police action), and the rights of the Asaamese? Naxalites? Mizuram?
India's horrid interference in Baluchistan is state terrorism and will be paid back in kind. China and Pakistan and Bangladesh will teach the lessons. India has failed her population and kept South Asia in penury. China and Malaysia have provided their citizens with a decent standard of living. Pakistanis will work out their problems. Don't worry and don't pontificate. The best development in Asia was NOT achieved by India, but by China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. A discussion on reasons why external powers imposed leaders on small countries is well known. Perhaps it is the uneducated, illiterate, teeming millions in India that have been making stupid decision that have kept India as one of the poorest countries in the world.

For all of President Musharraf’s faults, Pakistan is forging ahead with a 7% growth rate and record foreign reserves. Pakistan is the fourth largest state in the world, and a nuclear state advancing at a phenomenal rate of economic growth. She has motorways that can only be the envy of South Asia, and is building bullet trains and huge new cities in Baluchistan and Sindh. Pakistan is attracting huge investments in automobile and technology. Just in the past few weeks Dubai based companies are investing $26 Billion Dollars in two islands. Pakistan's FTA with China will be a boon to Pakistani and Chinese industrialists. Pakistani universities are churning out 50 times the number of doctors and engineers than Egypt. While you enjoy your life on charitable donations, Pakistan is industrializing fast. Pakistan produces everything under the planet—from tanks, to cars to planes to machinery.

What action are you recommending, creating an autocratic state like Egypt or creating a Mubarak dynasty?